Chapter Eight

Magnus

The battle of the century cometh.

A fight between Arnaud and I would no doubt bring the entire warehouse down, but I didn't care. Nor did the concern that humans might see us in our dragon form trouble me at the moment. I might not be able to kill him. At least I'd make him think twice about attacking me again.

Younger, stronger, more agile than Arnaud, I stood equal chance against his experience. Dipping my right wing, I swung around, barely able to maneuver in the warehouse, despite its tremendous size. Nor, for that matter, could my father.

My tight turn took him by surprise.

My jaws agape, I seized him by his throat and shook him, like a cat killing a mouse. But my father wasn't a mouse. His talons raked me across my long neck to my chest and shoulders. He arched his back to plant his hind claws against my chest.

I couldn't hold him. Arnaud ripped free from my jaws. His deadly fangs bared, his eyes flat, he lunged for my throat and missed. Slamming my front talons across his face, I shredded his scales, barely missing his eye. He roared, flaming, as though he hoped to cook me alive. As though he had no idea dragon hide was flame-proof.

"Bastard," he hissed, his forked tongue thrusting from his jaws. "You're no son of mine."

As talking distracted one from the fight, I said nothing in reply. Circling around him, seeking a weakness, I studied his movements. Chubby and out of shape in his human form, he was equally fat and slow as a dragon. I calculated my next three moves, anticipated his reactions.

I lunged forward, ducking low, moving fast. My jaws clamped shut on his left foreleg, and I ground down with all my strength. Arnaud screamed as his bones shattered, his jaws striking at my horns atop my head. Harder than solid bone, my horns protected my skull with ease.

Throwing myself backward, I brought Arnaud with me, flinging my head and neck back and upwards. He howled as my greater strength tossed him to the side at the same moment I released him. Thrown, crashing, into the cement wall, Arnaud's weight brought the wall down on top of him.

Bury the shit.

Launching myself toward the ceiling, I flamed, crashing through the girders, cement blocks, sending them tumbling down. The weight of the ceiling plus a dragon collapsed the floor under Arnaud. He vanished below, to his own prison, in a hail of dust and broken warehouse.

I wasn't done.

Extending my wings, I flew through the warehouse's roof, using my head and horns as battering rams. The structure couldn't withstand an annoyed dragon. I hit pillars that held up the roof with my hind legs, sending them into the gulf far below. I clawed cement and steel into the void, and flew free of the mess.

I still wasn't done.

The outer framework of the big building still stood. Flying outside their perimeter, I lashed out with my tail. The structure wobbled. Another heavy strike sent the entire warehouse crashing down into the subbasement. A flurry of dust rose to make me sneeze as I circled over the pile of rubble that buried my dad.

"Later, Pop," I called, then banked toward the street where I'd parked my truck. I landed gently in the intersection, furling my wings while glancing around for any eyes the collapsing warehouse might have drawn. In this neighborhood, however, I doubted any fool would linger around in a snowstorm to gape.

Shifting to two legs, now feeling the hot, slashing pain from my father's teeth and talons, I winced, lightly touching the cuts. I remote unlocked my truck, started it, then drove toward the freeway in the distance. The collapse wouldn't have killed Arnaud, I knew, but it certainly would take him some time to dig his way out from under all that rubble.

I grinned, thinking of how much pain he's currently in with a busted front leg. "You might think twice before taking me on, eh? Happy times."

I had to find Jade. Arnaud was stuck, sure, but he could be out and on his cell to his goons within the hour. If he got lucky and she didn't. Where would she go? Home? Not to stay, no. She'd know Arnaud would look for her there first thing. Her old man's place?

"Maybe I should try there first," I muttered. "He might be willing to protect her even if he refused to pay her ransom."

Clicking on my cell while trying to keep my truck on the road amid the slush sticking to it, I called up Jade's father's address. He lived in, of course, a neighborhood for the upper middle class. His house wasn't a mansion like my father's, but it was still ritzy. And on the other side of town.

"I hope you're helping her, dude," I said to the steering wheel. "She's gonna need it."

***

The storm intensified as I drove through the darkness and snow. Folks tended to get off the streets during snowstorms in this town, thus I encountered little traffic. Plows, red and blue lights flashing, cleared much from the freeways, but that hadn't stopped idiots who drove too fast from sliding into the guardrails.

Using my cell's GPS, I followed the directions into Kinnard's neighborhood, and soon located his house. The lights inside gleamed through the curtains over the windows. I didn't see Jade's car in the driveway, however, making my stomach sink. Could it be in the garage?

Parking at the curb, I studied the house for a moment. Taking a deep breath, ignoring the pain of my wounds, I stepped from my truck. The icy wind blasted into my face, stinging the cuts on my neck, as I trudged through the snow to his front porch.

Jade's old man swung the door open. If he recognized me, he gave no sign of it. Nor did he ask what I wanted. He merely gazed at me without expression.

"Is Jade here?" I asked.

"No. You're his kid."

Kinnard eyed my injuries with a lifted brow. "You'd better come in."

I followed him into the warmth of his house. He closed the door behind me but didn't invite me further than the entryway. Again, he gave me the once over, and what he thought, I couldn't read.

"Are you looking to take her back?" he asked at last.

"You know I'm not," I replied. "I blew it by taking her in the first place. I thought you'd pay up, and she'd go home unhurt. I was wrong."

"Who did that to you?"

"My father. I left him buried in a cellar with a warehouse on top."

Kinnard's lips twitched. "I'd heard rumors you didn't take after him. But you did his dirty work."

"Did. That's the operative word here. Where's Jade? I want to keep her safe."

"She left here. A few hours ago. I don't know where, but I'm giving her enough money to start a new life away from Arnaud, you, and me. She doesn't deserve any of it."

"No." I shoved my hands into my jacket's pockets. "Where would she go first?"

His brow rose. "You think I'll tell you? It's enough I haven't shot you in the face for what you did to her. Leave her alone. She'll make a new life for herself beginning tonight."

"And you don't believe my father won't stop looking for her? She could live in Antarctica among the penguins, and he'd still find her. And he'll kill her. Now that I've crossed him, he'll do the same to me."

"That's your problem, boy. Jade's smart. She'll cover her tracks. Now get out of my house before I change my mind about shooting you in the face."

I stared him in the eye, not blinking. "I'll find Jade. I'll keep her alive. Even if you don't care whether she lives or dies."

"Get out of here."

I left, listening to him slam the door behind me. Back in my still warm truck, I started the engine, then drove away. Next place to check – Jade's apartment. And if she's not there? Then what?

I had no answers. We lived in a large, industrialized city. Jade might be anywhere. She'll cover her tracks. Her old man told me he'd given her enough money to start a new life. Okay. Be that as it may. By now, my old man would have called all his cronies and set them on not just her apartment, but every avenue out of town. Bus stations, train stations, the airport. Perhaps the interstate highways, too.

Dragons watching for a single lone female. My father owned people, not just dragons. Human state troopers. City police. County deputies. All searching for a green-eyed redhead whose sweet looks could stop a charging bull in its tracks.

"Where'd you go, Jade?" I inquired of the air. "To that friend you always drank at the bar with? What's her name?"

For that, I needed to dig through the information I'd gotten on Jade during the time I'd spent stalking her. Keeping an eye on the road, one on my cell, I scrolled through the notes I'd taken and left on it. "There you are. Alix."

I recalled Alix. A cute blonde with blue eyes like saucers. She lived alone but had a boyfriend. Jade just might turn to her friend for help, comfort, needing a place to stay while she figured out her immediate future. Obtain Dad's money, buy a one-way plane ticket, say her tearful goodbyes, then fly away.

Unless Arnaud's bought TSA agents nabbed her. Okay, I didn't really know if he bought TSA agents. But how hard would it be to drop the hint that a gorgeous, green-eyed redhead carried a bomb in her bag? They nab her, Dad's bought people come get her.

End of the story for Jade.

Within a half an hour, I reached Alix's apartment building. The snow had covered most of the cars in the parking lot, their owners in their homes, staying warm and dry. The scent of woodsmoke drifted along with the blowing snow.

Leaving my truck, I crossed the parking lot to check out Alix's apartment windows. All dark. The place appeared dead compared to other units that had blazing lights and TVs' colors dancing on the walls. No one was home at Alix's. Going back, I parked my truck a short distance from where Alix and Jade might park, but where I could watch all traffic coming and going from the lot. I shut off the lights but kept the engine running for warmth. At this distance, I doubted they'd notice the exhaust from the tailpipe.

Thus, I settled into wait.

Naturally, I spent the time second guessing myself. Jade may not have gone to Alix after all. Still, she'd escaped the warehouse on foot. Surely she called for a ride. Kinnard didn't say that Alix was with Jade, but that didn't mean jack shit. I told myself that even if tonight ended in a dead end, at least I gave it a shot.

And I'd pick up Jade's trail tomorrow.

About twenty minutes after I parked, twin sets of headlights gleamed in the snowy night and pointed straight toward me. Two cars drove in, turned to line up side by side in the lot. Is it them? I leaned over my steering wheel, intently gazing through the windshield.

The cars shut down. The drivers both got out. Women. They flipped hoods over their heads to shield them from the snow, making it impossible for me to know if one was Jade. They appeared to be arguing.

As noiseless as possible, I eased my way from my truck and followed them.