Chapter 20

20

Simon throttled Tracy down the streets toward the Pine Barrens, bouncing across potholes he didn’t bother to avoid.

What the fuck was she thinking? After everything we discovered?

He’d woken up seconds before she’d closed the door to his apartment. And when he’d stood in the window, had seen her looking into the darkness, he’d seen it on her face.

She was going to the Barrens again to risk her life.

He pulled alongside the rescue trucks, wrenched the key from the ignition, and jumped out, searching for signs of her.

He stood rigid with tension, debating which way to go.

And then he heard it.

Booms and crashes echoed over the crackling of flames in the distance. Simon took off, racing through the scorched landscape. Roars rang out, joining the sounds of a fight and enormous cracks preceding the groaning of trees as they fell to the ground with a crash.

An animalistic sound, halfway between a roar and a scream, tore through the air, gripping Simon with its pain.

Lilis .

He doubled his pace, sprinting through the trees in the direction of the cry, panicked more by the lack of sound that followed. His lungs burned with exertion in the dense smoke, but he pushed through it.

He crested a small hill, and fear seized him. There, in the middle of a crater, a large black dragon lay unmoving on its side.

“ Lilis! ”

He tore down the hill to her.

“Lilis! Can you hear me? Answer me!”

No response.

He darted around her to where her chin rested on the ground. One eye was so swollen and bloodied, he didn’t think she’d be able to open it.

“Hey, Lilis, it’s me. It’s Simon. I need you to open your eyes for me.” He raised his voice when she didn’t respond. “You’re tougher than this! All you need to do is wake up.”

Leaving her head, he walked around her massive body to assess her condition. Several scales were missing along one shoulder, and just below it, a huge gash opened her skin to the muscle. Smaller wounds bled along her back and tail, and one wing had a large tear.

All his nurse’s calm, all his training abandoned him in the face of the severity of her wounds.

As he continued around to her face, he spotted the hilt of a knife sticking out of her side, covered in blood.

He choked. No. She can’t be…

“Hey, Lilis, don’t do this.” She was really going to leave him like this? Who the hell did she think she was? “Come on, Patient Twelve! Is this all it takes to beat you?”

He leaned his head against hers, one hand over her snout.

A faint puff of air tickled him, and Simon pulled back, searching her face.

“There’s my girl! Come on, open your eyes for me. Prove what a stubborn ass you are, Lilis.”

Her good eyelid parted a fraction, and Simon’s heart soared. She blinked a watery eye at him as though trying to remember who he was, then let out a sound somewhere between sigh and cough.

She lifted a massive paw to him, and Simon turned it over, checking for damage. But she continued to push him away.

“Lilis? What are you doing?”

The pressure increased.

A cracking sound made her whip her head around. She opened her mouth, and Simon heard the telltale whoosh of hot air.

Right before she spat something liquid, molten, and chunky onto the nearest bush. It instantly caught fire, releasing the most repulsive smell, like burning juice from the bottom of a dumpster.

It took all Simon’s willpower not to vomit everything he’d ever eaten or thought about eating.

She opened her mouth to try again, and Simon panicked.

“Stop! For the love of God, Lilis, please don’t puke again.”

Her jaws snapped closed, and she let out a low whine.

“It’s okay. I’m here. I’m going to fix this, and you’re going to be fine. You hear me?”

As soon as the words were out, Simon paused. Where did he even begin? If she were human, he’d be able to do more.

“Can you transform into your human shape? I don’t know what to do, Lilis. You have to help me.”

She lowered her head, eyelids drifting closed. “Nonono! Lilis! Don’t you dare do that. You stay awake for me, you got that? You said you’re tough? Prove it!”

A light breeze rustled the leaves at their feet as her body shrank. Another whine was rung from her, which turned into a scream as she became fully human.

It was music to Simon’s ears. If she was screaming, she was fighting. He had to remind himself to breathe. Her human body, covered in wounds… god… so much more frail. What looked like a scratch on a dragon became a gaping gash on a woman.

He ripped off his shirt and wound it around her torso where the knife had driven into her side, staunching the blood flow. Lilis cried out. She wrapped her hand around the hilt, and Simon stopped her before she could pull.

“I found him!”

“I don’t care.” He checked the rest of her body with quick presses, making sure she didn’t have any broken bones around her windpipe or spine.

“Simon. He’s… the fires.” She gasped. “Ah! Coming for you. I need… to fight.”

“You’re the only thing I care about right now. Lilis, stop!” He pulled her hand away when she gripped the handle again. “That’s keeping your blood inside you. Where it belongs.”

“Poisoned.” She panted. “Can’t heal with it… take it out… please, Simon.”

Her plea sliced at him, and his training warred with what he knew of her ability to heal.

“Okay,” he said before he could rethink his decision. “On three. One. Two—” He yanked it out before three, and she screamed again.

“What the fuck , Simon?”

“Oh, come on, that didn’t hurt.” He attempted a smile, swallowing uncomfortably when he saw the jagged shape of the blade. He pressed his shirt harder into her side, ignoring her small whimpers. Each one threatened to shred him more efficiently than the blade he’d just ripped from her side.

“Go, Simon…” Her head lolled backward.

“Don’t worry. We’re leaving.” Sliding one arm under her legs, he lifted her bridal style and started back for Tracy. She rested her cheek against his shoulder. Such compliance from the woman who’d rather fight tooth and claw than rely on anyone else. And now she lay limp and helpless in his arms. Simon picked up his pace, his terror for her beating at him.

“I’ll get you fixed up, don’t you worry. As soon as we get to the?—”

“No hospital.”

Simon snorted as he moved with her through the trees. “You’re going to have to suck it up. I can’t?—”

“No!”

She struggled against him, and Simon slowed to avoid dropping her.

“Lilis, stop fighting me! I can’t take care of you properly from my apartment. You need stitches. You need something to flush the poison. You need?—”

“I’ll revert when I die!”

“What?” Simon stumbled.

“When I die, I’ll revert to my dragon form.” She squeezed her eyes shut and took several short breaths as another wave of pain seemed to hold her in its grip. Her skin had taken on a deathly pallor. “We decompose quickly… fire and acid… too dangerous…”

“Then don’t die.”

She shoved against him. “I can’t… be around… people. Promise me, Simon.”

He clenched his teeth. “Fine.”

She said nothing for so long, he feared she’d passed out again. When she finally spoke again, he wondered if he’d imagined it.

“Simon?”

“Almost there,” he soothed. He spotted Tracy through the trees.

“Promise me…”

“I already did.”

“Prom… promise you’ll lea’ me… when it happen...” Her words became sluggish.

Simon’s breath stuck in his chest. She didn’t say anything else, and Simon assumed she was unconscious. He fumbled with the keys, managing to open the passenger door and slide her in without too much jostling.

Her eyes were still closed, the back of her good eyelid purple, and her skin was now a sickly ashen gray. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Promise me,” she breathed.

Simon shook his head. “No.”

Tears slid from under her lids, and she tried to swallow, her neck swollen from angry black and blue bruising. “Simon…”

“You’re not going to die, Lilis. So there’s no point in me promising that anyway.”

Once in the driver’s seat, Simon put Tracy in gear and engaged her in what was certainly going to be her final ride.

They made it back to his apartment in less time than it would’ve taken a fighter jet to make the trip.

Please let Jenny and Lee not be home. He didn’t need his neighbors to see him carrying a bloody corpse through the door.

“Come on. Let’s get you inside.”

Lilis made no sound as he lifted her out of the car. He had no idea if she was even conscious, but he still talked to her, needing her to hear his voice. Anything to anchor her.

And as long as she was still human, she was still fighting for her life.

He kicked open the door to his little studio and placed her on his bed.Where she hadn’t stayed this morning. Damnit, he should be in bed with her, making love to her again, not watching her slip away from him!

No. She wouldn’t die. He wouldn’t let her.

Because losing her would destroy him.

He slid a heating pad under her and cranked it to the highest setting. Dumping the contents of his emergency kit on the floor, he grabbed needles and bandages.

He peeled his shirt away from her wound and inspected it closely.

“Well, it could be worse,” he told Lilis. “Whatever the poison, it hasn’t spread yet.I got the knife, so you can tell me what kind it is when you wake up.”

He opened a bottle of disinfectant and poured a generous amount on a sterile cloth.“This isn’t going to feel great.”

He settled it against her wound, wincing for her when she didn’t move a muscle. The laceration cleaned easily, and Simon stitched her closed quickly, stemming the flow of blood.

Just as he tied off the thread and cut it, the door to his apartment splintered open and rebounded off the wall.

A tall man with a goatee and long black hair stormed into Simon’s apartment and yanked Simon to his feet by his arm.

“ Get away from her! ”

He tossed Simon to the side, sending him crashing into his desk and spilling books and papers to the floor.

The other man towered over Lilis’ unconscious body, and when he bent to her, his face changed shape.

Another dragon!

Lilis’ words from earlier screamed through his head. I found him. He’s starting the fires. Coming for you.

Simon grabbed the closest syringe, filling it to capacity with a tranquilizer. He plunged the needle into the other dragon’s neck and emptied the contents.

The man rounded on him, menacing golden eyes burning with fury in his half-transformed face. His body enlarged, and he roared. “I’m going to eat your?—”

His eyes rolled back into his head, and he face-planted on Simon’s rug with a resounding crash.

Hopefully breaking his nose.

With no idea how long he’d be out, Simon retrieved twine from his kitchen and every charging cable he could find. He bound the other man’s hands together, then feet, then his hands to his feet, and rolled him onto his back, letting his body weight hold them down. Then he refilled the syringe.

Simon returned his attention to Lilis. Her complexion was still the color of wall spackle. Small beads of sweat dotted her forehead.

Can dragons even get fevers?

Simon swallowed hard. “You’ve got to hang on, Lilis. I’m going to fix this.”

“She can’t hear you.”

Simon nearly jumped out of his skin at the other dragon’s deep voice, and he whipped around, brandishing his syringe like a weapon.

The dragon lay still on the floor, liquid golden eyes fixed on Lilis.

“You don’t want her here when it happens.” He finally turned his attention to Simon, who was floored by the pain he saw in the depths of the other dragon’s gaze. “You have to let me take her.”

Simon shook his head.“Never.”

The sound of cord and twine ripping was the man’s response as he stood with ease, shaking his clearly ineffectual bindings away. “You can’t exactly stop me.” He dangled the shredded twine before letting it fall to the floor for effect. “I see what you’ve done for her, human. That’s the only reason I’ve decided not to eat you. Yet.” He moved around Simon to Lilis.

Rage colored Simon’s vision and he positioned the needle against the other dragon’s neck. “I have enough tranquilizer to down a charging rhinoceros. Tell me why I shouldn’t just keep pumping you full of it until either you or the syringe break.”

The dragon turned around slowly, vibrant honey-colored eyes again swimming with pain. “There’s no scenario in which she lives, human. I can smell the poison in her. I’ll keep her safe until she?—”

“ NO! ” Simon hurled the syringe at the wall, where it shattered, dripping liquid and plastic shards down the wall. “She’s not going to die.” He dug through the pile of supplies again, searching for something— anything —that would fix her, anger, frustration, and hopelessness boiling just below the surface like magma waiting to erupt. “Despite everything you’ve done to her, you?—”

“Everything I’ve done to her?”

“She told me she found you. She went after you to protect me ! I’m not?—”

“Lilis knew where to find me whenever she wanted, shit-for-brains,” the dragon growled. “And if we’d gotten into it, I’d be the one marinating in a puddle of my own blood on your bed.” He swept an arm down Lilis’ broken body. “Of the two of us, who’s doing more damage? I’m not putting her through additional torture just to make myself feel good. Humans will put tiny animals out of their misery and call it benevolence. But when someone who looks like you is ill, you pull out all the stops to make it worse!”

Simon’s world ground to a halt. A memory slammed through him.

The only time he’d ever seen his grandmother cry.

The soft sounds of weeping drew Simon out of bed, tiptoeing to the kitchen. He peeked through the doorway to find his grandmother sitting with one of her closest friends. Crying. His strong, intimidating grandmother. Her grief made her seem so small.

“They just let him die!” his grandmother sobbed. “He was my baby, and they didn’t do anything .”

“There was nothing the doctors could have done.” The friend wrapped an arm around his grandmother.

“But the machines, the ones that could breathe for him and ? —”

Her friend wrapped her other arm around his grandmother, hugging her tightly. “They wouldn’t have saved him.”

“But I could have told him I love him!”

Simon tiptoed away, his younger self rejoining him in the moment. In the horrible present where his heart lay dying on his bed. Was he doing the same thing his grandmother had longed for? Keeping someone he cherished in a state of trauma for himself?

Simon knelt by his bed and pressed a kiss to a small, unbruised spot on Lilis’ cheek.

He could not see her emerald eyes behind her black and blue lids, but he wanted to see them with a longing so deep it nearly crushed him. He tried to swallow, but his throat was too tight. His chest felt heavy, as though it were collapsing inward, suffocating him. “There’s really nothing I can do?”

The other dragon bowed his head. “The only thing that has any hope of saving her would take too long, and unless you know Traditional Chinese Medicine?—”

What? Hope bloomed in Simon’s chest. “Which remedy?”

“There’s no—” The dragon glanced at Lilis, and sucked in a breath. “ Dang shen . But it takes hours to prepare, and I don’t even know how to?—”

“I do.” Simon kissed Lilis again and grabbed a piece of paper from his desk. He scribbled an address on it and shoved it at the other dragon. “Get the dang shen from here. I don’t care if you break into the garden as a dragon?—”

“She doesn’t have hours!”

Confidence filled Simon, giving him strength. “Get the root. I’ll do the rest.”