Destiny Kills

Trae waited until she’d walked back to the kitchen, then added, “If a sea dragon can control any sort of water, why did you never call the loch?”

I grimaced. “I can’t tell you why my mother never did, because I just don’t know. In my case—”I blew out a breath. “I did try, but the loch didn’t answer. I thought at first it was because I was a half breed, that maybe I simply didn’t have the strength to make the water obey over any distance. When we finally realized they were giving us a drug that restricted our abilities and we managed to wean ourselves off it, I could have tried, but then there were the kids to worry about.”

He frowned. “Why would they be a worry?”

“Because while I might have been able to call freshwater, I can’t control its fury or its path like I can with seawater. Carli and a couple of the others couldn’t swim—I asked them. If I’d called the loch, they would have drowned.”

“Ah. A nasty situation, then.”

“To put it mildly,” I agreed. “What are we going to do about the car and the people within it?”

He picked up his coffee and took a sip. “First priority is to deflate the tires. Then we can ditch our car once we’re free and get a new one.”

I wrapped my hands around my coffee mug, but it did little to warm them. “You’re pretty free and easy with other people’s cars, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “Part of the joy of being a thief is an easy contempt for other people’s belongings.”

“Does that include the girlfriends of other men?”

His sudden grin was so sexy, so filled with heat, that an answering flame rose from deep within me.

“I am not my father’s son. Not in that regard, anyway.”

“So you’re a one-woman man?”

“I will be, when I find the right woman.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So you’re totally unattached right now?”

His gaze met mine, and something in those bright depths sent a shiver through my soul. This man was hunting, too.

“Currently, I’m single,” he said softly. “But you never know when that might change.”

Another tremor ran through me, and I wasn’t sure whether it was anticipation or fear. I pulled my gaze from his and tried to calm the idiotic racing of my pulse. “How do you intend to get out of the diner without being seen?”

“Simple. I’ll go to the bathroom.”

I took a sip of coffee, and raised my gaze to his again. The heat of hunting had faded from his eyes, but not the amusement. It leant a warmth to the cold, bright depths. “So there’s a window in the bathroom?”

“A small one, but I should be able to get through it.”

“I don’t know,” I said, skimming my gaze down his body and keeping my voice dry. “Your ego is pretty damn large.”

He laughed. It was such a warm and carefree sound that it dragged a smile to my lips and made my heart do an odd little dance.

“You could be right about that,” he said. “Maybe I should send you through it instead.”

“Sorry, I know squat about sneaking.”

“Considering you’ve escaped from what I presume is a very secure research center, I find that extremely hard to believe.”

“That was a mix of luck and good planning more than any ability to sneak, believe me.”

The old woman brought in the plates of food. Trae gave her a smile and waited until she’d recovered from the power of it enough to head back into the kitchen before he asked, “Luck how?”

I snagged a piece of bacon from the nearest plate and munched on it meditatively. “Part of the research center was destroyed by fire. That took down the security system, as well as distracted a lot of the guards, which enabled us to get out.”

Of course, there was a whole lot more to it than that. More violence, more pain, more death. Escape hadn’t been easy, just like remaining free hadn’t been.

“Am I right to assume the fires were dragon-lit?” Trae asked.

“Actually, they weren’t. They kept the facility so cold that the air dragons couldn’t use their fires.”

He raised his eyebrows. “That sort of cold can be a killer.”

“So they discovered.” I hesitated, and grinned. “Of course, when it comes to kids and temper tantrums, the cold isn’t really a restriction. Trust me, a few things got singed over the years.”

“But never by Egan?”

I shook my head. “But we were being drugged. The kids weren’t.”

“So when you and Egan escaped, why didn’t you take the kids with you?”

“We couldn’t.” But I’d wanted to. Oh, how I’d wanted to. I’d fought with Egan for days about it—until Jace had stepped in. Jace—the fifteen-year-old who was so much older and wiser than his years would suggest—had calmly told me that it just wasn’t practical, and that he’d look after everyone until we got back with help. “The kids were in a separate section than us, and there were common rooms and research rooms between us. We couldn’t get to them without going through a whole lot of scientists and guards.”

“So how did you and Egan escape?”

“We attacked one of the feeders as he was coming into the cell, then ran for the kitchen area. Egan didn’t have his flame, thanks to the cold, but there were plenty of lighters laying about. We put them to good use to blow up the kitchens.”

“Wasn’t that a little risky?”

Brief memories of flames and heat, combined with the metal ping of bullets against walls, rose like ghosts through my mind.

I closed my eyes against them, but there was no fighting it. The flames meant to free us had almost killed us both. It was Egan who had saved us—saved me. Despite the cold, he’d tamed the flames the same way I could tame the sea. In the end, we’d come out singed but alive.

The same could not be said about sections of the research center. Or the scientists within it.

“Destiny?”

I blinked, then tore off a chunk of toast to dip into the egg yolk. “The kitchen was a fair distance from where the kids were being held. It wasn’t that much of a risk.”

“I meant for you and Egan.”

“Well, yeah, but we had to do something to divert enough attention so that we could escape.”

He considered me for a moment, his blue eyes somber, as if guessing there was more to my glib statement. “How did they find you in San Lucas? How did they track us here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why didn’t they kill you when they killed Egan?”

“Some of them were definitely trying.” And I had the scar on my head to prove it. “But I think I’m still alive because I’m the only female of breeding age they have. Mom’s too old, and Carli’s too young.”

He didn’t say anything, just studied me for a minute before flicking his gaze to the black car. “Looks like those men are getting antsy.”

Trepidation ran down my spine, but I resisted the temptation to turn around. It would only let them know I knew about them, and that could prove dangerous. “Meaning they’re likely to come in here?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” His gaze met mine. Distant. Fiery. The dragon was getting ready to fight. “You know these people, not me.”

“I might know them, but that doesn’t mean I can predict everything they might do.” I picked up my coffee again to warm suddenly cold fingers. “All I know is that they prefer not to have witnesses, so we may be safe in here for a while. But the threat of witnesses won’t stop them for long.”

He didn’t say anything, just picked up his coffee and stared out the window for several minutes. Tension crackled through the air—evidence that he was not as calm as he appeared.

“Okay, one of them is on the phone,” he said, as he put his coffee down. His blue gaze came to mine, sharp with excitement. “I’ll head to the bathroom now. If you see any of them walking past the gas pumps, get up and head to the counter to pay our bill, then get into the bathroom. I’ll get you out from there.” He hesitated, and a grin