I’m the fear addicted…
Dario sat across from Deacon’s desk, wondering why he felt like he’d just been called to the principal’s office. After Deacon finished up a call, he turned his undivided attention to Dario. “Thanks for stopping in so quickly.”
“What is it you wanted to see me about?”
“I have something that might require your skills.”
Dario frowned. “What skills?”
“Your fire?” Deacon asked, lifting one brow.
He surely didn’t see it as a skill. He had no control. “What is it you need?”
“I’m not sure if you’ve met Jaeger or not,” Deacon began.
“What in the hell does this have to do with Jaeger?” Dario interrupted.
Deacon paused, frowning. “Is there a problem between you and him?”
“No,” Dario fibbed. It was only a little white lie, right? There was no official problem, per se.
“He was hurt by Zed and can’t shift into his dragon form. They poured molten metal down his back, imprisoning him in his human body.”
Dario cringed. “That’s terrible.”
“It is. The doctors have considered each possible treatment, and the cure might be worse than the problem. They want to melt the metal off him.”
“Ugh,” Dario said before a realization hit. “Wait, you want me to melt it off him?”
“The docs have looked at other tools—a blowtorch being at the top of the list—but I was hoping all that practice you’ve been doing with Samuel and Sky might have given you an edge over that. Maybe you could focus the heat on the top layers of the metal and thin it down enough that he can break free on his own.”
Focus? Practice? Who was Deacon kidding? “My control isn’t all that great.”
“Perhaps a real life scenario would be good practice to help you get better control. I’ve learned on the field of battle, some recruits don’t react well to practice scenarios. They need to see their training in action.”
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Dario murmured.
“Maybe you should take a look at his back. I can call him in here,” Deacon said as he grabbed the phone.
“I don’t think we should do this,” Dario said, but Deacon’s voice was louder and over his.
“Send Jaeger to my office, please.”
“Deacon,” Dario said, a little firmer this time.
The fire dragon lifted his stare as he replaced the receiver.
“I don’t have control. I could hurt him.”
A knock came to the door before Deacon could respond. “Come in,” Deacon called.
Jaeger opened the door wide. His stare landed on Dario before lifting to Deacon. “You wanted to see me?”
Dario sucked in a breath and held it. This was all spiraling out of control.
“Come in, come in… I was just talking to Dario about your back. I think he could help you.”
Jaeger closed the door, eyeing Dario. His jaw clenched. “He didn’t need to be a part of this.”
“He has the power of fire—we need metal melted off you. I think he should be a part of this,” Deacon said.
“I figured you’d do it,” Jaeger said to Deacon.
“That’s true—you’re a fire dragon,” Dario said to Deacon. “You should do this.”
“My fire is roar and not roar. I’d fry him,” Deacon said to Dario. He turned to Jaeger. “Take off your shirt and let him see what he’s dealing with.”
Jaeger’s jaw clenched, and he was silent a moment. He turned his stare to Dario, and it was blatantly obvious the dragon didn’t want to show off his back.
Dario didn’t want to see it. He didn’t want to see how evil Project Zed was. He’d already heard enough terrible things…
Yet he also felt this driving need. He needed to see what they’d done to Jaeger.
He sat there with bated breath.
After a tense few seconds, Jaeger drew his shirt over his head. He was all muscle and sinew, a perfect male specimen. Dario felt heat swirling within. The need he felt when Jaeger was near wasn’t anything he’d ever experienced.
The ice dragon met his gaze, eyes ablaze.
And then he turned.
Dario felt like crying when he saw the man’s back. For some reason, he’d seen a thin, smooth coating like a suit of armor. This was something from a nightmare. The metal swirled in odd ways, lumps of skin and muscle simply gone beneath the metal. There were divots and swells, ridges of sinew ripped apart.
Tears stung the backs of his eyes.
How could they have done this to Jaeger?
“Do you think you could help?” Deacon asked.
“I… I don’t know.”
Jaeger looked over his shoulder and in that moment, his chest ached for the man. He could see the anger… the torment… the vulnerability…
He saw shame in there, too.
Jaeger had been the victim, there was no reason he felt shame.
Dario looked down, that thought sinking in a little deeper.
No reason to feel shame.
“I can try,” he heard himself say. He had no idea what in the hell he was going to do or how to even begin, but he felt compelled to make this better in any way he could.
I just hope I don’t make it worse.
* * * *
Danger illustrated…
Jaeger’s shame was complete. He heard the pity in Dario’s voice, and it was killing him.
Unable to look Dario in the eye, he pulled his shirt back on and turned to Deacon. “If you don’t need me anymore?”
“Yeah, sure, go,” Deacon said, apparently oblivious to Jaeger’s discomfort.
Jaeger rushed out of the room, wishing he could shift and destroy something.
Anything.
Yet again, the reminder of how weak and ridiculous he was plagued him.
“Jaeger!” Dario’s voice called out from behind him.
He paused without turning around. He wanted his mate so desperately, but now? Now he needed a moment to vent his frustration and rage. His whole body shook with the anger he felt.
Not anger at Dario. Not truly.
Anger at the position Project Zed had put him in. To be made to look weak in front of the man he was fated to protect and care for. How could his human think him capable of protection when he himself had succumbed to them and become a victim?
Anger that this situation had made his mate pity him.
Hearing the sound of it in Dario’s voice had broken him.
He couldn’t stand to hear more.
Yet he couldn’t walk away, either.
The need he felt warred with the desire to hide away. The need won. He turned to eye Dario, his heart slamming into his rib cage and his mouth growing dry. There was so much he wanted to say, and he knew damned well that nothing would change how his mate now saw him.
“I want to help.”
“You do? Then don’t pity me.”
Dario looked taken aback. “I don’t.”
“You do. I can hear it in your voice.”
“No. What you hear is silent rage for what they did to you. I knew Zed was evil, but now? Now I can see the depths of it. And I want to help make it better.” Dario sighed. “If I can.” He caught Jaeger’s stare. “I worry that I’m not strong enough to help you. My control over my powers isn’t all that great. So that’s what you heard… my anger at them and my self-doubt that I can do anything to make it right.”
Jaeger was silent a moment. “And why is it that you want to make it right? You don’t know me.”
Dario looked away, but not before Jaeger saw his eyes widen and his face redden.
“You feel it, don’t you?” Jaeger asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Dario’s head came back up. His stare slammed into Jaeger’s. “I could lie and say I don’t… but just because I want to help you, it doesn’t mean I’m accepting whatever this is between us.”
Jaeger took a step forward instinctively. Dario took a step away, a flitter of fear crossing his face. The look defeated him. He felt his shoulders droop, and the fire fled him. “I would never hurt you.”
“Like you said,” Dario whispered. “I don’t know you.”
“You know what mates are, right?”
“I have a basic understanding, yes.”
Jaeger licked his dry lips and considered his words a moment. “Every instinct in my body tells me to protect you.”
“As it tells you to claim me.”
Jaeger nodded. “Yes.”
“I don’t know that I want to be claimed.”
That won’t stop me.
The thought gave him pause. Samuel’s words hung at the back of his mind.
Slow.
Jaeger drew in a deep breath, trying to calm his ravaged nerves. His control was slipping by the minute. If he let go, he could lose the man forever.
“You don’t know… and can never know… unless you let me in a little.”
Dario’s eyes darkened. There was need there, need Jaeger grabbed hold of and clung to. The human sensed their bond, it was obvious…
“I agreed to help you with your back. That’s all I’m willing to offer now.”
We have to start somewhere.
Dario would see him at his weakest. In agony. Memories of the times he’d tried to shift in his tiny cell and push past the metal covering his back returned with a vengeance. Limp and lying in the middle of the floor… sweat coating his body… him nearly mad from the pain.
He’d have to open that world to Dario and let his mate see him tortured.
Broken.
But if Dario could accept his worst…
Maybe he could prove himself worthy some day.
“Okay.”
Dario relaxed some. “Deacon asked me to come tomorrow morning and speak with Killian and Finn about the process. I assume we might get started soon after—so you might want to get some rest.”
“Thank you,” Jaeger murmured.
Dario nodded before turning around and heading down the corridor. Jaeger watched the man departing, hopeful he wouldn’t embarrass himself the following day.
One down, one to go.