Chapter 30

30

“Dude, come on. Do you ever wear clothes? At least put on some pants.” Simon scowled at Longwei, who lounged against an oak with his arms crossed over his chest, and tried to hold onto his temper around the dragon who seemed utterly determined to advertise his skills as a nude model.

“Why? So I can destroy those too when I shift and eat this sparky asshole?” Longwei unfolded his arms and stepped closer to Simon, squinting at him. “Interesting. I thought it felt a little colder in my corner of hell. She finally claimed you. And you survived it. But why do you smell like blood?”

“He got shot in the fucking heart,” Lilis grumbled.

Longwei erupted in laughter. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Didn’t you fall out of a helicopter last week? You are the most hazard-prone human I have ever met. And she mated with you?”

Simon offered Longwei a victorious shit-eating grin. “Disappointed?”

Longwei waved him off. “Nah. From the looks of it, she hasn’t really stress-tested your bond yet.” He slipped his arm around Lilis, and Simon clenched his fists, ready to beat some sense into the idiot. “It can still kill you, and then maybe she’ll realize her mistake.”

Lilis threw off his arm and shoved him into the nearest pine tree.

Simon chuckled and draped a possessive arm around Lilis’ shoulders, drawing her to his side to show off to Longwei how perfectly she fit with him .

“See that right there?” Longwei straightened, trying to seem dignified while simultaneously brushing pine needles off his naked torso. “He’s making you soft. Yesterday, you would’ve put me through the tree.”

“This is a mistake,” Lilis growled. “We shouldn’t have called him.”

Simon squeezed her shoulder. “As much as it pains me to admit it, it’ll be good to have the Fiery Nightmare with us when we meet this guy again.”

“Fiery Nightmare, huh?” Longwei lifted an amused eyebrow. “I like that one.”

Simon ignored him. “This guy has hurt both of you. But you were on your own. And he didn’t look so great earlier. I don’t think he’d be able to take you both on. Besides, he promised not to hurt you as long as we don’t attack first.”

“Not good enough.”

“Oh, lighten up, Lilis, you sound like a meowing katzei with that whine.” Longwei was still pulling needles from his hair. “You and I will have some fun frying this asshole in his own flames, and”—he winked at Simon—“you can see what your bond can really do.”

A ripple of awareness slid across Simon like a small ocean wave. Disorientation and fear dragged him under until he couldn’t breathe.

And just as quickly, the sensation passed.

“Hey, Lilis.” Longwei waved a hand in front of her. “You’re leaking. I think your pet just caught a whiff of whatever you’re feeling. He looks like he’s about to puke or pass out.”

Lilis turned wide emerald eyes on Simon, color rising in her cheeks. “Did I?—?”

“I’m fine,” Simon rushed to reassure her, narrowing his eyes at Longwei. “Don’t let him distract you.”

Lilis sighed. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

She stuck a finger in Longwei’s chest and opened her mouth, but Longwei cut her off. “Yeah, yeah. You’ll sacrifice me if it’ll save Scrubs over there.”

He started past them, but Simon stopped him with a hand to his chest. “Pants first.”

Longwei smirked. “For a recently mated couple, you two spend a lot of time touching me .” He waggled his eyebrows at Simon. “If you’re angling for a threesome, I can teach you some Chinese safe words.”

Simon clutched his own chest and grinned, eyes wide. “Can I use them to stop you from running your mouth? Because I’ll learn anything for that.” He slapped Longwei upside the head. “No, stupid. If you show up naked, your flamethrowing friend will think it’s exactly for the reason you intend: you want to be able to shift and hurt him. Don’t show up looking like you want a fight.”

Longwei snorted. He looked at Lilis and jerked his thumb at Simon. “Are we seriously letting him tell us what to do now?”

Lilis met Simon’s gaze, love and humor twinkling in her eyes. “It can be very worthwhile.”

“Fine.” Longwei’s words became muffled as he drew a shirt over his head. “But you’re buying me new clothes if I tear these.”

Walking with two stealthy dragons through the forest was another experience entirely. Though in their human forms, they moved with the predatory grace, speed, and unerring precision of apex hunters. Simon was grateful he worked out as often as he did, or he’d never be able to keep up with them as they marched through the charred Barrens, passing the fire-hollowed remains of trees and the twisted, blackened corpses of bushes.

The deeper they proceeded into the forest, the more at peace Simon felt, as though their surroundings were welcoming him into a comforting blanket fort despite their mission.

Where only days ago the smoke had choked his lungs and burned his eyes, now it receded into the background, like a pleasant campfire, and he found he could breathe easily. And the sounds .

He had no idea a recently burned forest could make so much noise! Why hadn’t he noticed it before?

Bonds transfer power to mates .

Simon snuck a peek at Lilis. Nothing in her determined, steely gaze hinted that she’d deliberately let anything through their bond. So, was he getting trickles? Or was this something else entirely? And if this was what it felt like to experience the world with her abilities, why didn’t it affect him like her emotions did?

And more importantly, if Lilis could share with Simon through their bond, could he do the same?

Simon shoved the thoughts from his mind as Lilis and Longwei flanked him from either side just before they rounded a cluster of pines and emerged on a small clearing. He blinked several times to make sure he was seeing things correctly. He didn’t know where to start, but Lilis beat him to it.

“Marshmallows?”

Kas sat on a camping chair next to a striking, slender black woman with high cheekbones, brown eyes so light they were almost camel-colored, and small braids that fell halfway down her back. She wore a flowy dark green dress and brown boots. They sat in front of a small fire, roasting marshmallows. A plate of at least three dozen sausages steamed next to the fire, and behind them were the remains of a crumpled orange and white camping tent.

Lilis crossed her arms over her chest. “You brought a friend.”

“As did you,” the woman answered in rich tones, arching a brow. Her voice relaxed Simon’s muscles, pouring a feeling of serenity through him. “I guess that makes you two even.”

“Guess again,” Lilis snarled at the woman. “You being here changes the game. This isn’t neutral territory with an earth endirim here.”

A small, cruel smile played across the woman’s lips, and her eyes flashed. “If you want me to leave, after what you did to Kas, you’ll have to make?—”

“After what she did to Kas ?” Simon’s blood pounded in his ears. “I found Lilis half dead in the forest. Your knife-happy friend stabbed her?—”

“And me,” Longwei added with a smirk. “Are you going to eat those sausages?”

Color rose in the mystery woman’s cheeks. “They’re dem?—”

“Don’t even bother uttering the word demon. ” Simon stepped toward her. “All I hear about from everyone else is the killing and suffering demons inflict. But since your flammable friend over there showed up, I’ve had my hands full fixing the damage he’s caused, from attacking and terrorizing a father-to-be to nearly killing my—” He paused, mouth slightly open. My mate sounded too new, too impossible to say out loud. Love of my life was likely true, but he wasn’t quite sure either he or Lilis were ready to say or hear those words yet. “Nearly killing Lilis. Not to mention stabbing my friend.” Simon raked Kas with a disgusted once-over. “You asked me to bring her. If all you wanted was to discuss the inferiority of the people who’ve done nothing but help and protect me, you can both fuck off. We’re leaving.”

Simon turned to see Lilis and Longwei staring at him, jaws hanging open.

Longwei recovered first, nodding at Kas and his friend. “What he said. And we’re taking the sausages.”

He reached for the plate but froze as Kas finally spoke up. “Stop.”

The woman’s pale brown eyes glowed. “Let them go, Kas. They can’t be trusted.”

Pain and defeat had etched grim lines into Kas’ face. “We don’t have a choice, Naleli.”

“We can?—”

Kas placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve seen what they can do. We need their help.”

Her mouth thinned into a stern line, but she fell silent.

Kas held out his free hand, and a small flame appeared in his palm, burning brightly. “My oath stands. I won’t hurt you as long as you don’t attack me. Or Naleli.”

“What about her?” Simon asked. “What does she promise?”

Sandy brown eyes met his. “To enjoy your painful death if you touch one hair on his head.” Though her tone and words were dark and menacing, Simon still felt oddly peaceful, as though with every word she spoke, his body grew lighter and his chest loosened. “You’re not the only one who’s had to put people back together.”

A tense silence permeated their little clearing.

Longwei’s barking laugh broke it without warning, making everyone jump. He rubbed his hands together. “Oh, I think I’m gonna like you. Sarcastic always tastes better going down. Like a fine…”

Anger. Fear. Those feelings licked like flames off Lilis’ skin and through her connection to Simon, dimming Longwei’s words to the background. What Simon knew about dragons could fit inside a mailbox, but she seemed ready to fight, to shift, as if her dragon screamed at her for release.

Pressing against that was a wave of deep calm rolling off Naleli’s voice.

His vision split in two, and he saw the world through dragon eyes as well as his own, the two images vying for dominance in his addled brain. Voices rose and fell around him. Heat welled inside, threatening to burn him from the inside out until?—

The sensations cut so suddenly that Simon nearly face-planted in the dirt in front of him. He blinked several times to clear his vision and found Naleli holding him upright, one hand in the center of his chest.

Lilis stood rigidly straight, eyes squeezed tightly shut, hands fisted at her sides, her entire body trembling. Longwei stood next to her, speaking softly.

“… is fine,” Longwei soothed in gravelly tones. “You’re not needed, so just pull back, and let your human half deal with this.”

Lilis growled, and Longwei snarled right back at her. “Just tell your dragon to go sit in the fucking corner. Every push it makes to take control is hurting your mate.” His voice was definitely more gnarly, as though he was half-transformed.

Simon felt as though someone were pouring his essence back into his body from a pitcher. And with Longwei’s words, the last of him settled into place.

Naleli released him and stepped back. “You can open your eyes, dragon. Your mate is well.”

Simon dreaded the fear, self-reproach, and shame he would see in Lilis’ eyes, as though she’d just gotten more confirmation that she shouldn’t have claimed him.

But when her emerald eyes met his, he found only relief. She drew Simon into a hug and kept him tight to her side as she pulled back. She offered Longwei a grateful smile before turning to the other woman. She cleared her throat. “Thank you.”

The woman inclined her head as she sat down again. “Don’t thank me. I did you a favor, and now you owe me.”

Lilis said nothing as she plopped onto a fallen log and reached for a sausage. Simon settled himself beside Lilis, jumping when Longwei sat on his other side, close enough to nudge his shoulders. He reached across Simon for a sausage but skipped his usual snarky sarcastic remarks.

Kas leaned back. “Before we start, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I didn’t attack your human firefighter. I heard the shout and found those little manjeja shits dragging him down the hill. I took off his helmet to see if he was alive and tried to flash him to Naleli here. I didn’t realize I didn’t have him until I got to her, and by then, I couldn’t get back to him. When I finally found him, he was in your hospital.”

“He said he saw you at the foot of his bed,” Lilis growled. “Watching him.”

Kas pinkened. “I didn’t know he was awake. I just wanted to check on him. And I haven’t hunted any demons in the last year. I’ve been too busy.”

Lilis snorted. “Forgive me if I don’t believe your schedule has been too full to hunt and kill my kind. Isn’t that your sworn purpose in life?”

“It was.”

“So you don’t deny it.”

“No. I don’t.” Kas held his hand out to Naleli, who took it. “My friends and I spent centuries hunting demons, protecting humans from those of your kind who would prey on them. And then a few years ago, we found ourselves in the position of needing help from a group of bear demons. Since then, we’ve worked more and more closely with demons.”

“Easy for you to say that now,” Lilis retorted. “After everything you threatened when we fought! You promised to use my scales to roast me and kill Simon after?—”

“You mean when you attacked me?” Kas lifted an eyebrow at Lilis.

“I attacked you to stop your fires!”

Kas nodded, his expression growing sheepish. “I know that now.” He blew out a breath. “When you and I first met, I let my frustration and rage talk for me and fell into old prejudices. I thought you knew the manjejas that had been hunting your human friends. I thought you’d been deliberately extinguishing my fires and that your human—excuse me, your mate , Simon—had been helping you in all of that. I apologize.”

Even without their bond open, Simon could feel Lilis’ indecision, her worry about trusting Kas after everything that had happened. She shifted restlessly on the log and grabbed a sausage. “I know now you didn’t attack my friend,” she said slowly. “I appreciate you checking on him and telling Simon what to expect when we first bonded. You could have hurt us then, and you didn’t. Thank you.” She blew out a long breath. “And sorry for attacking you.”

Kas inclined his head. “I would have in your position, too. I can promise you that.”

Despite their budding truce, Simon could hear the dark honesty in Kas’ voice, assuring the same thing as Lilis: Mess with me, and I’m coming for you.

This many powerful and dangerous creatures in one place would have been overwhelming if not for the almost ridiculous simplicity of the scene. Lilis and Longwei devoured sausage after sausage while Kas and Naleli calmly continued roasting their marshmallows over the small fire Kas might have ignited with his thoughts .

Naleli’s marshmallow had become a caramel shade of brown, and she pulled it off her stick, sandwiching it between two thin cookies with chocolate and a couple of tiny leaves.

She held it out to Simon. “Mint vanilla s’more?”

Why not? Simon accepted the unique confection and bit into gooey deliciousness.

“So, Captain Benevolence,” Longwei said around his own mouthful of food. Simon had lost count of how many sausages the dragon had shoved in his mouth. It was probably around nine. “Now that we’re all friends, what have you been doing with all your free time not hunting demons?”

“Hunting something else.”

Lilis and Longwei paused their nonstop sausage consumption, exchanging a quick glance. Both simultaneously moved a little closer to Simon, who nearly dropped his s’more. His heart pounded at their reaction. Did they already know what it was? Or were they both simply scared of whatever could elude Kas for so long?

Naleli stared at her new marshmallow, but Simon could tell she wasn’t really seeing it. Her expression was one of someone reliving haunted memories. “Last year, a friend of ours was attacked and poisoned with a substance that cut off his connection to his element.”

“How long did it take him to recover?” Simon asked, his gut churning. He already knew the answer would be bad, but he hoped it wasn’t too bad.

Kas cleared his throat. “He still hasn’t.”

A hush fell on the clearing. Not one animal made a sound, as though the pain of creatures connected so deeply with nature reached out to them as well. The fire’s dancing flames cast shadows and hard lines across Kas’ and Naleli’s faces. Their eyes were stone, unblinking, with a flicker of fear deep in them.

Even Longwei and Lilis refrained from commenting. Simon guessed that even though they didn’t harbor any affection for the beings in front of them, they were likely picturing what would happen if they could no longer transform into their dragon halves.

Naleli tilted her head slowly from side to side in frustration, tiny beads in her braids clicking. “We’ve tried everything. Everything. Fortunately, he has some reprieve from his mate. She’s quite powerful, and she shares her abilities with him generously. But… it’s been a struggle.”

“So you’ve been hunting the motherfucker who did it,” Longwei said.

Simon’s entire being vibrated with understanding. “No, they haven’t,” he guessed. “Why else would they come here, stay so long in the presence of two dragons and those little weasel things, and spend so much energy setting repeated fires? They’re hunting the source of the poison.” He addressed Kas. “You found it. Didn’t you? Here in the Barrens.”

Kas nodded. “I’ve been trying to burn it to the ground for days. But the human firefighters are more efficient with two dragons helping.”

“Can you even count?” Lilis scoffed. “I’m the only dragon on the Flame Jumpers team.”

Kas nodded his head at Longwei. “Your friend might not be an official firefighter, but he extinguished the entire thing a few nights ago. I had to start from scratch thanks to him.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Lilis said. “He…” She trailed off, clearly remembering the same thing Simon was.

“The night you caught me and got so injured,” Simon spoke their thoughts aloud. “When we returned to the Barrens for you to heal, you thought it was strange the fire was out.” He turned to Longwei on his other side, but the other dragon didn’t meet his eyes.

Instead, Longwei shrugged and worked on stretching the sausage in his hand to a thinner point before sticking several marshmallows on it. “Don’t look at me. I’d just slammed into a helicopter, after all. You can’t blame me for the stupid decisions I made after that.”

“Yeah, well, you two are making this job far harder.” Kas sounded exhausted. “Between restarting all the fires you’ve extinguished, checking on your human firefighter friend, fighting off both of you, and willingly exposing myself to the poison regularly, I’m exhausted.”

“Regularly poisoning yourself?” Longwei snorted. His jaw morphed, and he breathed a small stream of fire onto his sausage marshmallow roast before shoving the whole thing into his mouth. He swallowed and reached for a fistful of marshmallows. “If this shit’s so dangerous, how are you able to connect with your element at all?”

“The same way you’re both still able to shift into your dragon forms,” Naleli answered. “The effect is usually temporary, unless you’ve been hit with a concentrated dose.” She gave them a smug smile. “And, like Kas, you were both helped by an exceptional healer.”

Simon flushed at Naleli’s compliment.

“Well, what the hell is it you’re trying to burn?” Lilis asked.

“A tree.” Was Kas… blushing?

“A tree,” Lilis repeated, her voice completely deadpanned. She blinked.

“In a forest ,” Simon added. Surely they were missing something?

Longwei made huffing sounds, somewhere between a struggling radiator and an out-of-key tuba. The longer it went on, the more it slowly evolved into a laugh. A raucous, full-body snort laugh. “This is amazing,” he managed between guffaws. “All of this over a fucking plant? Commander Combustible and Colonel Creation over here can’t take care of it?”

If Naleli controlled fire the way Kas did, Simon had no doubt her scowl would have roasted all the marshmallows in Longwei’s fist instantaneously, like a bag of microwave popcorn. “Not just any plant, not just any tree. Shadow ash. Its leaves—or needles—release an aerosol that weakens not just our powers but our physical strength. And the bloodred sap can cut off your connection to your element—or dragon —permanently. I can’t even get close to it. Because it is of the earth, it shuts down my powers faster than Kas’.”

“Someone went to a great deal of effort to plant that thing here,” Lilis observed.

“That’s not our problem right now. No use going after someone when the tree is still around to weaken anyone who might try to fight them.” Kas stabbed one of the remaining two sausages with his stick and bit into it. “Our problem is getting rid of the damn thing, which is where you come in.”

“The hell we do,” Lilis fumed. “Just make something up and tell the park rangers. One of the fish and wildlife service people is a bigfoot. He can tell the humans on his team to remove it and?—”

“They’ll never find it.” Kas ran a hand through his long hair.

“You can’t describe it?” Simon couldn’t believe how deliberately obstinate they were being. “It’s an ash tree, and we’re in the Pine Barrens with mostly pine and oak.”

“Shadow ash grows in whatever form matches nearby foliage,” Naleli answered. “Hence leaves or needles. And even if they could find the one tree that needs removing, there’s no telling what it might do to them. The tree can survive any elemental environment or force. I can’t unearth it. Water cannot drown it, and it can survive without air. Kas’ efforts were our last hope, but after a week of this, we’re ready to accept fire won’t burn it.”

“As long as it stands,” Kas added, “it’s a tool for anyone who wants to murder endirim and demons. Easily.”

Longwei met Kas’ intense glare and swiped the last remaining sausage. “Let me get this straight. You,” he pointed his sausage at Kas, “stabbed both Lilis and me, and you ,” he indicated Naleli with the sausage, “hate our guts, erroneously believe we’re inferior, and would like to see us melted down to our gooey insides by this poison. And you expect us to just… help you? ”

“Did you forget the part where you both attacked Kas ?” Naleli scoffed. “You think we’re happy asking for your help after that?”

“I think ,” Lilis seethed, “that you can’t control your own shit. You never care about anyone but yourselves.” She stood, glaring down at the endirim. “You say you have demon friends, but would you try so hard to remove this tree if it didn’t harm you? If it only harmed those friends of yours ? How do we know you won’t accidentally kill us while we’re helping you?”

Longwei and Kas stood and began arguing.

Simon took a deep breath. Released it. He stood and took another one, seeking inner calm even as the strong personalities raged around him. “It doesn’t matter.”

“You wouldn’t—” Lilis paused mid-rant to stare at Simon.

“Right now, it doesn’t matter if they’d help or not,” Simon elaborated. “We’re facing a tool that can hurt you, can weaken you enough to the point that you were badly injured in your fight with Longwei and nearly died in a fight with Kas. What if someone like Shepherd gets ahold of that?” Simon laced his fingers through Lilis’ and squeezed her hand. “I’m not willing to take that chance.”

“And if they kill us?” Longwei asked.

“Really?” Naleli shook her head at Longwei. “After all that, you think we’re the untrustworthy ones? You don’t even?—”

“Enough.” Simon’s voice carried through the campsite, over the voices of the arguing demons and endirim. “If any of us want to survive, we need to take care of this. Together.”