Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

TANNER

T anner arrived on the ridge. The ice phoenix was nowhere to be found, but there was a large dark shape puddled on the ground, and for a moment he couldn't feel her life force. From the time they'd had sex, he'd been able to feel her presence without the feelings of disorientation and nausea. Instead, he felt lust and peace, which seemed to be an interesting combination that he was finding great comfort in.

He floored the truck, making short work of the distance between them. He threw open his door as he slammed on the brakes and put the truck in park. "Melisandre!" he shouted as he ran to her.

She lifted her head. "Could you not yell at me? The smoke and ash have given me the worst headache ever."

He skidded to a stop beside her, cradling her dragon's head. "Even worse than the one when you realized I was your fated mate?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure anything was worse than that."

"Not funny, drakaina mine. I know it had to be you that made the wind shift away from the city..."

"Not just me. There was a second dragon. I never could have turned the fire without it."

"Who was it?"

"I have no idea. One minute it was there, and the next, it was gone."

"Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out. What were you thinking when the ice phoenix challenged you?"

"Don't start getting pissy with me. He didn't challenge me. He didn't even know I was there. When he realized he'd be up against a dragon, he called it quits. But we can't let him get away. I can track him through the air. Wanna go for a ride, hellhound?"

"You're crazy…"

"But you love me."

"Yes, I do."

"Since you can't hang up on me this time, you should know, I love you, too. So, since we have that settled, how about we go put an end to Stuart?"

"I thought you'd never ask. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Let me put it to you this way hellhound, either you climb aboard, and we go together, or I leave you here and go end the little bastard myself."

"What a bloodthirsty creature you are, my fiery mate."

"Damn straight. Let's go."

Tanner crawled up on Melisandre's back, using her leg as a kind of step. Settling himself between some of her spine ridges, he tightened his grip on Melisandre's spiked scales. She stood up stiffly and he thought about trying to stop her, but he realized even weakened, as determined as she was, she would not be swayed from her course. She took several trotting steps and then launched herself from the ridge, her powerful wings sending a gust of wind that scattered ash and embers in all directions. The wildfire still burned below, but its once loud and powerful roar was now a death whimper.

His focus was on staying on Melisandre who flew carefully. He examined her wings as best he could from his vantage point and saw that some of the gossamer webbing had been singed. She seemed to be heading to the water tower in the distance. If he reached out with his own enhanced senses, he could feel they were on the right course. The arsonist had to be hiding or worse yet, planning another fire. The wildfire had been no accident; it had been a deliberate act of destruction, and Tanner was as determined as Melisandre to stop the culprit from escaping.

Melisandre's massive wings beat rhythmically, carrying them swiftly through the smoky and star-filled sky. Above them, the aurora borealis crackled in an angry rhythm he had not seen before.

"They aren't happy," she said.

"Who?"

"The northern lights. They're made up of the spirits of dragons who have died valiantly in battle."

"Sort of a dragon Valhalla?"

"Yes, but don't worry. I'll ask them to make an exception so we can travel the night sky between time and space together for all eternity."

Tanner's gift of gab seemed to fail him. No one had ever wanted to spend eternity with him. It was a good thing because he had no intention of spending even another minute without her.

Her ice blue eyes glinted with fierce intelligence as she navigated the turbulent night air, her keen senses attuned to the landscape below. Tanner crouched low, the heat from the fire a distant, fading sensation as they soared higher.

"Hold on tight," Melisandre's voice rumbled in his mind, a deep, melodic tone that matched her formidable presence. "We're almost there."

Tanner nodded, his jaw set in grim determination. The water tower loomed closer, a stark silhouette against the backdrop of the harbor lights. He could see a figure moving at its base, a shadowy outline that he now recognized as the chief's administrative aide, Stuart.

As they approached, Melisandre began to descend, her movements fluid and graceful despite her size and injuries. She landed with a ground-shaking thud, her wings folding neatly against her sides. Tanner slid off her back, landing lightly on his feet, and immediately drew his fire axe, the only weapon he'd had available to him.

"Stay back!" Stuart shouted, his voice high and panicked. He was a wiry man with wild eyes, holding a gas canister in one hand and a lighter in the other. "I'll burn everything if you come any closer!"

"Why, Stuart?" asked Tanner.

"The mayor was trying to cut our funding. And you know who loses their jobs first? Not you, pretty boy, or the chief's other darling firefighters, but support staff—guys like me. I love my job and my life here, and that bitch was trying to take it. I just showed her how much she needed us."

"But why the wildfire?"

"You two were closing in. I already knew you were a shifter, but I only recently realized what kind, and I had no idea there was a dragon in town. I don't understand why you're helping him. Dragons and hellhounds are mortal enemies."

"Not so much when they're fated mates," Tanner said, taking a step toward him to distract him as Melisandre tried to get behind him.

"Stop it," Stuart said moving back. "I swear I'll send the whole city up in flames."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Tanner replied, his voice cold and steady. "Drop the lighter and the canister. Now."

Stuart's eyes darted between Tanner and Melisandre, fear and desperation warring on his face. "You don't understand! This fire is just the beginning! I?—"

Before he could finish, Melisandre let out a low, menacing growl, her eyes fixed on the man with a predator's intensity. The arsonist flinched, his grip on the lighter faltering. In the blink of an eye, Stuart shifted to his ice phoenix form.

"Smash him with the axe," said Melisandre.

She really was quite bloodthirsty, and it really turned him on.

Tanner threw the axe, and part of the ice phoenix split off and shattered on the ground. Tanner moved, scooped up the axe, using it like the battle axes that had been used long ago to devastate armies. Shards of ice glittered in the pale moonlight, remnants of the fierce battle that raged between Tanner and Stuart as he tried desperately to complete the shift to his ice phoenix. But Tanner was relentless, striking the ice over and over, breaking it into hundreds of pieces.

Tanner was vaguely aware that Melisandre, her blue and silver scales glinting with flecks of frost, stayed out of the way, her eyes never leaving the monstrous avian. Stuart was an imposing figure of crystalline ice and fierce blue flames; he screeched in defiance, his half-formed wings beating to try and summon a blizzard. The cold wind bit at Tanner's exposed skin, but he gripped his axe tighter, his breath forming clouds in the frigid air.

With a roar, Tanner charged, his axe raised high. Stuart retaliated, a torrent of icy spikes shooting toward Tanner. Melisandre reacted swiftly, unleashing a stream of scorching flames that melted the ice mid-air, turning the attack into harmless steam.

"Tanner, now!" Melisandre's voice echoed in his mind, filled with urgency.

Summoning all his strength, Tanner leapt, bringing his axe down with a single forceful swing. The blade met Stuart's icy form with a resounding crack, splitting the phoenix into jagged fragments that scattered across the frozen ground. For a moment, silence reigned, the only sound the faint tinkling of ice settling.

But as Tanner stepped back, he saw movement among the shards. Stuart's eyes, still intact and filled with a haunting light, stared up at him. The fragmented pieces of the phoenix began to twitch, a faint blue glow pulsing from within.

"Please," Stuart's voice was a soft, desperate whisper. "Mercy…"

Tanner hesitated, his heart pounding in his chest. But before he could make a decision, Melisandre stepped forward, her jaws opening wide. She took a single deep breath and unleashed another torrent of flames, hotter and more intense than before. The flames enveloped the scattered shards, melting them together in a brilliant display of light and heat.

When the flames subsided, Stuart was no longer a menacing ice phoenix but a fused, crystalline figure, his eyes the only part still recognizably alive. He was trapped, unable to move, yet still pleading.

Tanner's grip tightened on his axe. "I'm sorry," he said softly, though his voice held no regret. With a swift, decisive strike, he shattered the fused ice once more, the sound of breaking crystal echoing across the barren night.

Melisandre's flames roared to life again, enveloping each fragment. This time, the ice did not simply melt but transformed. The intense heat and pressure fused the shards into flawless, glimmering diamonds, each one reflecting the light in a dazzling array of colors.

The battle was over. Tanner stood amidst the scattered diamonds, his axe hanging loosely at his side. Melisandre approached, her great head lowering to his level, her eyes reflecting both pride and sadness.

"You did what you had to," she murmured, her voice a comforting rumble.

Tanner nodded, his eyes lingering on the diamonds that now dotted the ground. "Let's gather these," he said. "We can use them to help those Stuart hurt and maybe create some kind of safety net for firefighters and the department itself."

"Come on, hellhound. I'm tired. You've got to be exhausted. Let's go home."

"Are you sure? I could get someone to pick us up."

"I'd rather not have to make explanations tonight."

He stroked her head and thought how beautiful she was as both drakaina and woman. "What would you rather do?"

"If you really don't know the answer to that, hellhound, I'm leaving you here and locking the doors."

Tanner chuckled and climbed wearily up on her back. There was a sense of closure to all that had happened, and yet as one door closed, another one opened. The ice phoenix was no more, but with Melisandre by his side, he knew they would face whatever challenges lay ahead and be as triumphant with them as they had been with the icy bird that had threatened the city.