Chapter Nineteen
Cassandra tried to keep her knees from shaking as she took in the desolate scene. Ash-colored lava covered everything in sight. Wisps of steam rose here and there. The air was stifling, as was the heat. A scene straight out of hell. Her heart swelled the second she’d spotted Silas, but moments later, it sank. She was too late. Drax stood behind him, and an entire squadron of dragons loomed on a rise.
A lure spell. God, it really had come to pass.
Just you wait and see… She could practically hear Eloise cackling in the background.
No, she wanted to scream. I don’t want to see. This can’t be happening. Please, Eloise. Undo this mess.
Nothing but silence greeted her ears, and she gulped. It was up to her now.
“What are you doing here?” Silas said, searching her eyes.
His clothes matched his grim expression. For the first time she’d ever witnessed, Silas wasn’t wearing formal, tailored clothes. Instead, it looked as if he’d raided Boone’s closet for a pair of camo pants and a plain black T-shirt. The military commander she’d always sensed in him was suddenly front and center. A man who led from the front and sacrificed himself for his men.
A man she could fall in love with all over again.
“Um… I was in the neighborhood?”
Which was only half a lie. Her mind spun over the past few hours. She had rushed to the airport on Maui without telling anyone, booked the last available seat on the next flight to the Big Island, and drove her rental car to Bernadette’s address. Bernadette was her father’s stepsister, the only member of that branch of the family Cassandra had stayed in touch with.
If you must, Eloise had warned, leave the Spirit Stone with a person no one would ever expect. She’d even joked, Like that no-good father of yours.
So, no, Cassandra hadn’t sent the diamond to her father. She wouldn’t know where to find him anyway. But her father’s stepsister, yes. Bernadette was the sweetest, least witchy person she’d ever met, and her address was the only one Cassandra could recall that petrifying evening of the auction, so she’d scribbled the lines quickly and thrown the package into a mailbox as she fled the auction house.
Bernadette Bernow, 17 Sunset Drive, Pahala, Hawaii, 96777.
Easy street address, easy zip code. It had always stuck in her mind, and Bernadette wasn’t the type to open a box marked, Please hold for me.
“But you just got here!” her shocked aunt had said less than an hour ago.
Cassandra had barely stopped for a quick hug before grabbing the package and rushing off again, promising to explain later.
She gulped, looking at the dragons. Would there be a later or would she die here?
She’d come on the hope of a best-case scenario — that the lure spell hadn’t worked and all her fears were unfounded. Drax would be nowhere in sight, and she and Silas could take the diamond back to Koa Point and talk things through.
The more likely scenario, she’d known, was encountering Silas and Drax. But the Windstone was purported to have incredible powers, so ideally, she would be able to use it — somehow — to help Silas. If only the jewel had come with a set of instructions…
Worst-case scenario? She’d be delivering the Spirit Stone directly into the hands of the cruelest dragon lord of all.
Drax grinned at her, showing the points of his teeth.
“Cassandra,” Silas whispered. “What are you doing here?”
What are you really doing here? his tone asked.
When she locked eyes with him, a little bit of courage crept back into her. She could have said any of a dozen things. I was wrong about all dragons being evil. Or, I love you. Maybe even, I need you.
But she settled for, “I’m here to help a stubborn dragon.”
One corner of his mouth curved up while the other remained firmly down. “Stubborn? I suppose that makes two of us.”
“I suppose it does.”
The air between their bodies stirred, coaxing them to step closer and touch.
Mate, she thought to herself. He really is my mate.
Silas took a deep breath, and his lips moved a few times. “For the record, I love you.”
She stuck her hands on her hips. “For the record? Silas — seriously?”
The right corner of his mouth crooked up. “Seriously. I wish I could follow you to the end of my days.”
Her cheeks heated. Hell, her whole body heated. “For the record, I love you too.”
“Aren’t they adorable,” Moira muttered.
Cassandra ignored her and leaned closer, faking bravado. “And about that following to the end of your days part — no one says they’re over yet.”
“I do,” Drax boomed.
Oh, shut up, she wanted to say. But Drax wasn’t a loudmouth customer at her bar. He was a dragon, and this was it.
She looked around and took a deep breath. Silas hadn’t protested the help part. Clearly, he needed backup — badly. But, shit. What was she going to do against six dragons?
She fingered the diamond in her pocket and steeled her nerves. Okay, diamond. You’d better have the power they say you do.
She nearly yelped when the jewel warmed under her hand.
Silas tilted his head at her, but before he could ask, Moira’s shrill voice turned every head.
“Isn’t that precious? She thinks she can stop us.”
Actually, Cassandra wanted to snort. I kind of doubt I can. But I’m here because I love my man. My man, you got that?
The way Moira’s hungry eyes roved over Silas hinted that whatever had once passed between them wasn’t entirely extinguished, at least in Moira’s heart — if she had one.
“Shut it, Moira,” Cassandra barked.
Silas’s eyes blazed. Ever the noble warrior, he took one step forward, shielding Cassandra with his body. But she wasn’t one to shrink back, so she stepped firmly to his side. If they were going to survive this, they’d do so together.
Drax let loose a peal of laughter. “Now don’t you wish you had let me buy that diamond at the auction?”
“You’re the one wishing,” she snapped.
In truth, her first reaction was yes, that would have been nice. She would have been three million dollars richer and ignorant of the archaic world of dragon shifters. But, no. She wouldn’t go back in time if she could. She never would have gotten close to Silas if she had let the diamond go, and she would have failed in the mission assigned to her.
You must keep the Windstone out of the hands of dragons. Kill if need be.
Eloise had been wrong about a lot of things, but Cassandra agreed with the core message. Keep the Windstone away from Drax, and kill evil dragons if need be. The question was, how?
Her thigh heated, and she placed her hand over her pocket, keeping the motion slow and subtle. If the dragons realized she had the diamond with her…
“You will never have it,” Silas declared.
“Oh, but I will. It’s here on the Big Island, isn’t it?” Drax crowed. “It’s only a matter of time before I track it down and claim what is mine.” His eyes glowed an eerie pinkish-orange.
Mine. Moira’s lips formed the word, though she didn’t speak aloud.
Cassandra looked between Moira and Drax. Something told her it was only a matter of time before Moira claimed the diamond for herself. And maybe more than the diamond. Was she after Drax’s empire?
Another steam vent huffed loudly, reminding Cassandra she had more immediate problems than that.
“You won’t be tracking anything, Drax. It all ends here,” Silas said, looking every inch the warrior. He held his arms out from his sides, ready for action, and his feet braced wide. Uncompromising. Determined.
“No, it starts here,” Drax shot back. “A new phase in my illustrious career. New properties. New powers. New horizons.”
Cassandra shuddered to imagine what that meant — not only for the shifters of Koa Point, but everywhere.
“Yes, I think I can make myself quite comfortable on that estate you’ve been taking care of for me,” Drax said. Then he looked right at Cassandra and licked his lips. “To the winner go the spoils.”
Cassandra’s stomach turned. What did Drax mean by that?
Silas growled, and his fingers flexed. He pushed Cassandra gently from his side — a subtle cue that he was preparing to shift into dragon form?
“To the winner go the spoils,” Silas echoed.
Drax hunched his shoulders and bared his teeth. Moira looked on, practically rubbing her hands.
“The winner? That would be me,” Drax grunted in a voice that grew deeper with every word. His eyes started to glow a greedy green.
Cassandra looked on dumbly, then stumbled when Silas nudged her back.
Run, his expression said. Run while you can. Hide.
Like hell, she’d run or hide. She slipped her hand into her pocket and closed it around the diamond.
A sea breeze had been blowing steadily, pushing wisps of hair over her face. But the second she touched the diamond, the wind direction reversed. She lifted her face, and the wind pushed her hair back behind her ears.
So the Windstone did have some power. The question was, how to harness it?
A powerful witch can control almost anything, Eloise had once declared.
Great. Cassandra couldn’t summon a single spell. She was totally out of her league.
Just fake it, her first bartending mentor, Louanne, had always said. Whatever you do, never show weakness.
Of course, Louanne had meant customers in a bar, not diamonds with magical powers.
She ran her fingers over the diamond’s hard edges and reached out with her mind. Are you really as powerful as they say?
The wind shifted again, and even Drax looked around, furrowing his brow.
She turned the jewel over in her pocket.
Okay, then. Here’s the plan. You help me, I help you.
The wind flickered, tossing her hair. Was that a yes or a no?
You have to keep your inner beast on a tight leash, she’d overheard Kai coaching Tessa. Make sure it knows you’re in charge.
Cassandra gulped. Did that apply to Spirit Stones, or was she playing with fire?
She made a split-second decision and gripped the Windstone harder, eying the nearest steam vent. But if you fuck with me…
The jewel burned in her hand, but she clutched it harder. I am in charge here, you got that?
She nearly yelped from the burst of heat, but hung on as she sidestepped to a crack in the earth where flowing lava glowed a menacing red.
Witches gave you power. Witches can destroy you, she grunted in her mind. So play along, all right?
The wind whispered in her ear, carrying the echo of an earthy voice. Oh, I’ll play, all right.
Cassandra wasn’t sure how to interpret that, but she was out of time. Silas was stepping toward Drax, growing taller by the second and yelling something that came out half roar.
“It ends here,” Silas boomed, raising his arms wide.
Cassandra stared then ducked as all hell broke loose.