Chapter 23

Zazie

By the time I woke up, the plane had landed in Moscow. Caspian was to my back and Murtagh was lying in front of me. Both of them had their arms around my waist.

Groggily shaking off the remnants of sleep, I carefully extracted myself from their embrace. The cabin was quiet except for the faint hum of the aircraft’s engines winding down. Caspian stirred first, his eyes opening slowly, reflecting a mix of confusion and drowsiness.

“We’re here,” I whispered, not wanting to startle him.

Murtagh was already sitting up, scanning the cabin with those intense, calculating eyes of his. I stood up, stretching my limbs, which were stiff from the flight.

Caspian finally got up too, running a hand through his tousled, blond hair. He shot me a sleepy grin, and I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat at the sight of it.

We dressed quickly, and I blushed when I realized that I didn’t have panties or a bra. Caspian shot me a knowing look, his lip curling wickedly at the edges. Once dressed, we gathered at the jet’s exit.

Murtagh opened the door, letting in a rush of cold air that instantly pushed aside any lingering sleepiness.

“Fuuuck this,” I said into the icy air in front of us.

The men didn’t seem too bothered by it. Maybe they couldn’t feel it for all I knew—there was a lot about their dragon forms I didn’t understand yet. Maybe they loved the cold? Caspian stepped out first, scanning the surroundings with a trained eye. Murtagh followed, his demeanor that of a soldier on a mission. I took a deep breath, bracing myself for the icy-cold air and whatever came next.

I could feel that diamond out there. In fact, it was very close, calling to me. Calling to something inside of me, telling me to come and get it. Well, I’m coming for you, baby.

“I chose the right city,” I assured them over the wind whipping around us. I looked around. The sprawling tarmac stretched out before us, dotted with an array of different aircraft, their sleek bodies glistening in the early morning light. The sky was a beautiful array of soft pinks and blues, hinting at the dawn of a new day.

Beyond the immediate vicinity of our jet, the airport buzzed with activity. Ground crews maneuvered around planes, fueling, loading, and unloading luggage from the cargo holds beneath each one.

The cold Moscow air nipped at my cheeks and fingers. I could see my breath form tiny clouds as I exhaled, mixing with the faint smell of jet fuel.

Murtagh turned around, his expression tense and his jaw tight, and I was immediately intimidated. My ass clenched with his expression of disapproval.

“What?” I asked, wrapping my coat tighter around me to protect against the brisk breeze.

“We need to move quickly while we’re here. We go in and we get out. No funny business. Am I clear, Zazie? If you disobey me, little girl, the last spanking you got will seem like child’s play. Don’t make me take off my belt.”

“I’ll behave,” I promised, biting back the retort I really wanted to give.

“You better,” Murtagh replied curtly, his tone leaving no room for argument. “I can’t summon you this time.”

“What?” Caspian and I both asked, alarmed.

Sure, I didn’t like it the first time I’d been summoned, but it had probably saved my life. The second time had definitely, without a doubt, saved my life. So summoning me seemed important now.

“What do you mean? You lose my lamp or something?” I demanded.

“You never had a lamp,” he groaned. “You had a rune that the demon gave me that I was using. And it was on a sticky note… That I think I lost in the treasure chamber.”

“What?” Caspian snapped.

“A lot was going on, Caspian,” he said, glaring at him wearily.

“Well, what if she needs to get out of a bad situation?” he asked, pointing at me.

“That’s what I’m saying!” He looked at me and pointed a finger in my face. “Don’t get in a bad situation.”

Caspian smoothed his hand over his face wearily. “This is going to be a nightmare.”

“No, it won’t,” I said, straightening. “I can get through the day without getting in life-threatening trouble, Caspian.”

He raised his eyebrow at me dubiously.

“I can!” I assured defensively, hiking my shoulders up to my ears.

He continued to give me that look until Murtagh shook his head. At least one of them realized that this was a spilt-milk problem and we needed to move on. “Let’s get moving,” he grumbled. “Where are we going, Zazie?”

I looked around, gazing over the Russian landscape, and then I finally settled on the horizon, where the sun was steadily rising, and I knew exactly what I was looking for.

“East. We’re going east,” I said.

Murtagh nodded in satisfaction, his lips pressed into a thin line as he looked around. Miles followed behind us, muttering something about how cold it was and how he didn’t get paid enough for this, but the rest of us ignored him.

As the four of us walked, Murtagh and I fell into step beside each other. Caspian and Miles kept their distance, trailing several yards behind us, talking sparingly.

There was a car waiting for us at the end of the tarmac. Miles slipped into the driver’s seat, Caspian sat beside him, and Murtagh and I sat in the back.

“So, where are we headed?” Miles asked, peering at us in the rearview mirror as he adjusted that and the seat for his own comfort.

I took a second, looking towards the east, trying to ‘hear’ the diamond. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for me to feel very certain about where it was. “The eastern outskirts of the city,” I said after a brief pause.

None of them questioned my innate ability. They must have finally started to trust me. So, I just sat back and watched the city pass by. It was a strange place, full of dark history and rich culture.

We drove in silence, passing the occasional car or truck, and before long, the bustling heart of the city began to give way to quieter suburbs and then to the vast countryside. Then we drove up beside a wrought iron gate, and I stiffened.

“Stop the car. The diamond isn’t far,” I blurted out.

Miles stepped on the brake almost immediately, and everyone shifted forward uncomfortably.

I opened the car door and jumped out, my pulse racing with excitement. Murtagh and the others got out of the car too, following my lead.

“This doesn’t look like a friendly place,” Miles muttered, and I looked around.

He was right. This looked like the antithesis of Disneyland: The Unfriendliest Place on earth. And really, I felt angry. For a second, I forgot the diamond was just rock—because it never really felt that way—and I thought, ‘Oh, the poor thing is trapped inside somewhere! What sort of monsters would do such a thing?’ And then I remembered that that wasn’t a normal thought and calmed myself down.

The building ahead was imposing, to say the least. The architecture was a curious mixture of medieval and gothic. The exterior walls were made of brick, and the roof was a jagged series of pointed spires. There were several arched windows, and the main entrance was flanked by two towers. And that didn’t even include the armed guards at the entrance and however many more were inside the compound.

One of them leveled us with a glare, and Murtagh took a step back, pushing me behind him.

“We should go,” Caspian said, his voice low and wary.

“But the diamond—” I blurted out, and Murtagh shook his head.

“We’re going to have to find a way inside, but it’s definitely not going to be through the front gate,” Murtagh said, his voice calm and decisive.

Caspian and Miles nodded.

“Miles, go hide the car somewhere,” Murtagh said, gesturing for the two of us to follow him.

Miles nodded and headed back to the car. The low hum of the engine sounded and faded away. I hoped he wouldn’t go far.

I didn’t know why, but I had a bad feeling brewing in the pit of my belly, and I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Miles drove away, and Murtagh led Caspian and me away from the road and towards a thick grouping of trees that bordered the property. The wrought iron fencing was rusted and ill-cared for, and Murtagh easily broke off several pieces so that we could all fit through.

Caspian, Murtagh, and I crouched down and moved silently and quickly through the tree cover, staying out of sight of the guards who were patrolling the perimeter.

“Where to now, Zazie?” Murtagh asked, and I looked around. The strange pull felt like it was coming straight from the building, and I grimaced, knowing that we were going to have to find our way inside somehow.

“We have to get inside. But there’s a way in, I can feel it,” I replied.

The three of us crept along the perimeter of the property, using the thick bushes as cover. The further away from the road we went, the more guards we saw. In fact, the place was crawling with them.

And they weren’t friendly guards, either. They looked like rugged gangsters.

“What is this place?” I whispered, looking up at Caspian. I knew for a fact that he knew gangsters a lot better than I did.

“I’m not sure, but I have a feeling we’re going to find out,” Caspian replied, his voice low.

The two of them followed me, and eventually, we came to the rear of the building where there was a door slightly ajar.

We crept closer, making sure to stay hidden.

Murtagh motioned for us to wait, and we watched as he approached the door, pressing his ear against it. When he was satisfied that there was no one on the other side, he pushed it open painstakingly slowly.

The door creaked slightly, and I held my breath, but no one came. After a moment of silence, Murtagh crept forward and gestured for the two of us to follow. We entered into what appeared to be a back hallway, where it seemed the janitorial staff came and went.

The floors were made of worn wooden planks, and the walls were an aged grey. It was quiet and dark, the only light coming from a row of narrow windows along the upper part of the wall.

There were several open doors off to the side, and I slipped inside one, looking around. The room was some sort of supply closet, but it didn’t smell like cleaning supplies or dusty blankets. The smell in the room was mostly a strange metallic sort of smell. I frowned, opened one of the boxes, and found it to be full of semi-automatic machine guns.

My eyes widened and I heard footsteps approaching and quickly grabbed a couple of guns and tossed one to Murtagh and another to Caspian, before the door opened.

There were three men in the hall, dressed in black combat uniforms.

“Fuck,” Murtagh rasped.

“Who the fuck are you?” One of the men asked, and Caspian literally growled. The rumbling sound reverberated throughout the room, and I shivered, feeling it deep down into the marrow of my bones. I turned my head to the side, seeing his nails lengthen into claws right before my eyes. Was he going to transform into a dragon here? In the middle of a supply closet?

The man who had spoken drew his weapon, aiming it at Murtagh’s chest. “Opoznaytes, inache my budem strelyat!” he demanded, and I had the feeling he was assuring us that he’d shoot us if we didn’t do something specific. I put my hands up in surrender just-in-case, unused to having guns pointed at me, or anyone in my party, and not liking the sensation.

Caspian slowly moved in front of me, but Murtagh was already gritting back, “You know, if you don’t want people breaking in, you should probably lock the door.”

The guard’s brows lifted in surprise, he took a second, then seemed to decide to respond to him in English, and barked, “Do you even know whose house you three broke into?”

Caspian straightened, his tone not seeming intimidated as he drawled, “Off-hand… no.” The guard bristled, shifting the weight of the automatic weapon in his arms. “But let me guess, someone important?”

“The boss is going to want to have a word with you,” the guard snarled and took a step closer, his eyes narrowing in open challenge.

“The boss, huh?” Murtagh said, and the three guards exchanged annoyed glances. “Which boss, then?”

“Gregor Drekov,” the main guard answered.

Caspian’s posture suddenly stood tall and he seemed to straighten out his coat. “Well, fuck me sideways,” Caspian muttered.

“Should I know him?” Murtagh asked, turning his head towards Caspian slightly.

Caspian snorted derisively. “You? No. Why would you know him? You’re a shitty little shop owner,” he waved his fingers dismissively at Murtagh. “I know him,” Caspian said, his tone back to his natural aloofness. “He might be one of the most powerful bratva bosses in Russia.”

“And you would know that how?” Murtagh asked, his voice clipped.

“Past business,” Caspian replied.

“You stole something from him, didn’t you?” I asked, and Caspian turned his gaze on me, the corner of his mouth lifting in a slight smirk.

“Not everything is about stealing from other people. I had an artifact he wanted, I didn’t want to give it up, he tried to steal it, I stopped him, so I stole something he liked to send a message,” he explained casually.

“So you stole something,” I gathered, my tone flat.

“Well, yes. But it was during a complicated situation,” he replied. “It’s not like I was flirting with him until he opened a box, then snatched some valuable artifacts under his nose or something,” he added pointedly, as if our conversation wasn’t being listened to by guards who also still had guns trained on us.

One of the guards wasn’t having it. It was like he snapped. Maybe he’d lost track of the situation, maybe he only heard part of it, or maybe he just didn’t like the fact that neither Murtagh nor Caspian looked too worried. Either way, he started to bark at us in Russian, and after another moment, he lunged towards me. Caspian snarled, and in a flash, his body morphed, his human form giving way to the powerful, scaled physique of a dragon. His massive size quickly overwhelmed the room and the walls buckled. Dust rained down, and I covered my mouth, coughing. Fuck me. I didn’t need more dust in my lungs, not after what happened at the temple. At this point, I already felt like I could cough up a whole pyramid.

As I choked for air, I missed how the guards reacted to seeing a dragon. I bet it was something to see. I imagined at least one of them probably pissed themselves, but by the time I drew a breath, one of the guards was simultaneously raising his gun in the air and firing, the loud noise echoing off the walls. Caspian let out a roar, but the bullets simply ricocheted off his scales.

He spread his wings and one guard screamed, the other ran. The guard that ran was smart. Caspian’s tail knocked into the other one, and I heard the sound of crunching bones. Amid the chaos, Murtagh fired several shots off with the gun in his hands, and I slipped off down the hall.

I’d find the diamond myself. At least that would get me out of this madness.

“Zazie! Get back here!” Murtagh shouted, but I ignored him, ducking around a corner.

“I’m going for the diamond!” I called over my shoulder.

I kept going. I didn’t turn back. The two of them would be thankful when I returned with what they came for. I slipped through one hallway after the next, finding that most of them were abandoned. A few times, I ducked into a nearby closet when a guard ran by towards the back of the house. I could hear both Caspian and Murtagh roaring, and I had no doubt that both of them had now transformed into dragons to fight back.

Eventually, I found myself standing outside a heavy-looking wooden door. My body hummed, and I closed my eyes, focusing on the strange tingling sensation that told me what I needed to know. The diamond was on the other side.

I tried the doorknob and surprisingly, I found it unlocked. I pushed it open, expecting to be ambushed, but the room was empty.

It was an office of sorts, and I scanned the space, noting the heavy desk, the tall bookshelves, and the leather chairs.

“And who might you be?” a raspy male voice called out, and I practically jumped a mile high as I spun around.

My eyes flew across the room, and I realized that a large panel on the opposite wall had slid open, revealing a secret chamber.

And then, a man emerged from the darkness, his features hidden by the shadows. There was a gun in his hand, and I swallowed hard. His face was hard, his features angular and harsh. His dark hair was streaked with silver, and his eyes were cold, almost black.

“I asked you a question,” he snarled in a thick Russian accent, and I took a step back. He leveled the gun straight at my head, and I froze as he cocked it.

“I’m nobody,” I stammered, and he let out a sharp bark of laughter.

“Nobody wouldn’t have been able to break into my compound,” he hissed.

I blinked, realizing who he must be. “Gregor Drekov,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Very good,” he said, his lips pulling into a smile that didn’t quite reach the darkness in his eyes.

From behind me, the sound of footsteps scuffed against the floor, and I looked over my shoulder, only for a pair of men to burst into the room. One of them grabbed at me, and I fought him off, landing a punch to his gut. He laughed, so I kicked out, aiming for his knee. He stumbled, but the other was already on me, his arms like steel bands around my waist.

I elbowed him in the ribs, but it was like hitting a brick wall. They were well-trained, and all I’d had was a series of self-defense classes back in high school. I was no match. I twisted, trying to break free, but the first man recovered and struck me across the face.

Stars exploded across my vision, and I tried to blink them away. I hadn’t quite realized how much it hurt to get punched in the face. It was a new experience for me.

Despite the pain, I refused to give up. I managed to land another punch, this time catching the second man in the jaw. He grunted, his grip loosening slightly. I took the opportunity to wriggle free, only to be slammed against the wall by the first assailant. A punch to my stomach left me gasping for air, and a blow to my back sent me to my knees.

I groaned, pain shooting through my entire body. Through my blurred vision, I could make out Gregor Drekov’s menacing figure towering over me.

“You put up a good fight, little girl,” he said, his voice cold and mocking.

“What do you want with me?” I spat, leveling him with a look that was fit to kill.

“Well, for starters, I want to know how you got in here. This place is supposed to be impenetrable.”

“You have a shit security team, then,” I retorted, and he narrowed his eyes, clearly not amused.

“Second, I want to know what you were looking for,” he said, his tone menacing.

“And what makes you think I’m going to tell you?” I replied. I gritted my teeth. I was going to hold my ground no matter what. This wasn’t the first time I’d been in a sticky situation, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

“Because I’ll make you,” he replied, his voice a low growl.

“Fuck you,” I snapped.

“Such language,” he murmured, his eyes glittering dangerously.

“Go to hell,” I bit out.

“Boss, there’s something outside you should see,” one of the guards blurted out, and that was when a giant black wing smashed through the window and sent glass flying everywhere. A dragon’s roar echoed just outside the building, and then the entire thing rattled dangerously.

“We might want to get out of here,” I said bluntly, looking out the window to see a giant black dragon breathing fire and another gold dragon chomping down some of Gregor’s men.

“Agreed,” Gregor said, and that was the last thing I remembered before the world went dark.

When I woke up, my head was throbbing. I blinked my eyes open, wincing at the bright light. As the world swam into focus, I realized I was lying on the cold concrete floor in a small, dimly lit room. There wasn’t anything else inside it except for me. The walls were grungy, and it appeared that I was somewhere underground, but I couldn’t tell anything more than that.

“You’re finally awake,” a deep, masculine voice rumbled, and my pulse quickened.

“Where am I?” I asked, trying to sit up. But the movement sent a fresh wave of pain crashing through my head, and I winced.

What the fuck…?

Last I remembered, Gregor’s goons had come crashing into the room, and everything went black. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision when a tall figure came into view.

“Now that I’ve got you all to myself, I figured you and I could have a conversation,” the man rasped, and I slowly realized that it was Gregor.

“A conversation? It seems a bit one-sided,” I spat, narrowing my eyes.

“You will have your chance to speak. But for now, let me talk.”

“Fine,” I muttered, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

“You were in my house for a reason. What were you looking for?”

“Nothing.”

“That’s not the answer I was hoping for. And I’m going to assume you have something to do with the two dragons currently wrecking my front lawn,” he snarled.

“Dragons aren’t real. You must be insane,” I lied. I hoped Murtagh and Caspian were alright. I knew they were hard to kill, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t get killed, and it sure as shit didn’t mean that they couldn’t get hurt.

“So, you expect me to believe that those beasts on my front lawn are just really big lizards?”

“Yeah,” I retorted, and he glared at me.

“You’re lying,” he said.

He reached into his pocket and drew out a knife. In several steps, he strode over to me, leaning heavily on his right leg, and pressed the blade against my throat. “Tell me the truth.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me?” I snarled with the unsettled feeling of being in a movie of a genre that I didn’t even like.

“Yes,” he growled, his voice low and threatening.

I twisted my body and landed a kick hard on his left leg, the one he wasn’t putting any weight on, and he went down like a sack of bricks, groaning and swearing.

“Fucking bitch!” he roared, and then the knife clattered to the floor, and his hands were wrapped around my throat. His grip was like a vice, and I struggled to breathe, but then I nailed him right in the nuts with my foot. His eyes went wide, and he let out a choked gasp, releasing his hold on me.

Seizing the moment, I rolled away, scrambling for the knife he had dropped. My fingers closed around the cold handle just as Gregor lunged at me. I slashed wildly, catching him across the cheek. He stumbled back, howling in pain. The scent of blood filled the air, and I looked down at the knife in shock.

I was not a violent person, so this was new. Not good-new.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart.

“That was a mistake,” Gregor growled.

He advanced, his movements slow and deliberate. My eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape route. There was a door on the opposite side of the room, but I knew that Gregor would be on me before I could make it there.

I needed to take him down.