“Watch your language. There’re ladies in the room.”
Aiden tuned out the bickering between the Knoxville siblings as Tucker’s words echoed in his head. Shoving away from the door, he raced to the box of gaming equipment. His heart thumping with adrenaline, he rifled through the games until he found the one in question. He flipped it over and stared at the images inside the caption box near the bottom. Grim exhilaration fired his insides. “I know where the bastard is.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
For the second time that day, Dana found herself squished in the backseat of Tony’s station wagon. After a short drive, Tony pulled into an unpaved area and they bumped along for a minute or so before he stopped the car.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” Laughing at his own joke, Tony climbed from the vehicle and slammed the door.
She strained to hear any noises that might tell her where she was or if any people might be within earshot. Taking her chances, she started yelling for help as loud as she could. Eventually her throat became raw and she took a break. “God, they make it look so much easier in the movies.”
Catching her second wind, she opened her mouth to start round two in her scream-a-thon. The door wrenched open and her breath sputtered when Tony leaned inside the vehicle. “Oh, you’ve got to be shittin’ me.”
Tony ran a hand down the front of his chain-mail tunic. “Like it? I had it specially designed so it’s fire retardant.” Without waiting for her response, he unhooked the bindings securing her to the metal bar and dragged her from the car. He plopped her into a large cart and yanked a restraining strap over her. Spying the initials drawn on the inner sidewall facing her, she ground her teeth.
“You’re wheeling me to my death in my kiddie wagon? Couldn’t you have at least bought your own?” Thieving cheapskate.
Her grumbles petered off when realization finally broke over the horizon. They were at the fairgrounds. Which meant out-of-state vendors were around.
She let out a blistering scream. Then another. By the time her voice resembled Raul’s after he’d inhaled a carton of cigarettes, she came to the conclusion they were alone. “Where is everyone?”
“Casino night.”
“How come I wasn’t invited?” Oh yeah, Dana. Clearly your lack of popularity is what you should be focusing on right now. “What about the security guards?”
“Drugged ’em. They’ll be sleeping like babies till the sun comes up.”
A crushing sense of defeat pummeled her. She’d given herself laryngitis for no reason and she was about to be sacrificed by a guy in flame-retardant chain mail. This day was getting suckier and suckier.
They passed through the castle gates. The row of food and artist shacks looked eerie and abandoned in the moonlight. Lifting her gaze to the glowing sickle overhead, she caught her breath. She’d always been mesmerized by the moon but tonight it tugged at something inside her, strong enough that for a nanosecond of time she forgot everything else.
She came crashing back to reality when Tony ran over a rock, jostling the wagon. Bouncing in her plastic prison, she stared at the flicker of lights in the distance. The jousting ring was ablaze, or at least it appeared that way. They drew closer and she could see the torches flanking the tournament arena. Obviously Tony was big into flashy spectacles.
He unlatched the gate and wheeled her into the corner of the field. The restraint strap released with a frippp and Tony lifted her from the wagon. She still couldn’t get over how easily he hefted her around. Maybe that pesky extra ten pounds was finally starting to hit the road. Again, something she probably shouldn’t be focusing on at the moment. “You do realize you don’t have a chance in hell of beating Aiden in a fight. He’s a freakin’ dragon, for God’s sake.”
“Any beast can be killed. It just requires the skill of a master slayer.” Tony backed her against one of the jousting ring’s tall support posts and slapped her bound wrists into the shackle dangling overhead.
Jeez, the guy must have stock in a shackle manufacturer to be able to afford so many pairs.
He walked into the center of the field and propped open the lid of the long wooden crate resting in the dirt. The blazing torches provided plenty of illumination for her to make out the fancy rifle she’d seen him with at the cemetery. She swallowed against the surge of bile rising in her esophagus. “What kind of master slayer requires a gun?”
“The kind who knows how to hedge his bets.” Tony set the rifle aside and pulled a sword and shield from the recesses of the crate. Torchlight reflected off the blade’s silvered surface, glinting wickedly. He tossed down the shield. Drawing his arms up, he parried with an invisible foe, the sword carving the night air. Faster and faster the blade swooped, making her dizzy. With a sinking in her gut, she silently acknowledged that he definitely possessed mad swordsman skills. Heavy emphasis on the mad part.
Out of the blue, the image of the tarot card from her last reading came hurtling onto her mental big screen. Other than the big honkin’ horse, the scene commencing in front of her fit the bill to a T.
Knight? Check. Sword? Check. Nasty enemy who’s off his rocker? Double check. “Haddie will never let me live this down.”
Tony abruptly stopped his whirling-dervish routine and lowered his sword. Unrestrained excitement radiated from him. Following his gaze to the eastern sky, she gasped. Six dragons raced amongst the scuttling clouds, descending toward the field with mind-boggling speed.
Oh man. She felt sorry for anyone flying the friendly skies who potentially crossed paths with that squadron. The poor folks must be thinking the stewardess slipped an extra mini bottle of gin in their tonic.
The torches sputtered, spitting fire as they caught the downdraft of the approaching Drakoni. In flawless syncopation, each dragon coasted toward a section of the jousting ring, the gossamer-like membrane of their wings ballooning with air like a ship’s sail. She easily picked Aiden out from the bunch. Besides having seen him in countless dreams, the electrical current ricocheting along her spine provided its own verification.
God, he was magnificent. Beautiful. His iridescent green scales gleaming brilliantly against the midnight blue curtain of sky.
Each dragon touched down, Aiden claiming the post directly across from Tony. He flapped his wings once before folding them against his massive body. Inhaling with a sharp snort, he slashed his gaze in her direction. Outrage flickered in his irises, accompanied a second later by smoke funneling from his nostrils. He took a step toward her and she shook her head.
“I’m fine. Just kick the son of a bitch’s ass so we can go home.”
Aiden returned his attention to Tony and adopted a smile that’d make a crocodile nervous. “Gladly.” He jumped from his perch, landing with a fluid grace that still managed to make the ground quake.
Tony staggered back and lifted his sword, his bravado armed and ready. “You figured out the clues I left in the hotel room. I knew I’d chosen the perfect adversary.”
“You’re going to regret making that choice.” Aiden lunged forward, narrowly missing the swipe of Tony’s sword, and snapped at his opponent’s heels. Caught unawares by Aiden’s unexpected location of attack, Tony stumbled. Laughing with maniacal delight, he righted himself and rushed at Aiden. His sword arced low, seeking the vulnerable target of Aiden’s underbelly. Slashing his forked tail sideways, Aiden deflected the blow and sent Tony somersaulting through the air. Tony thudded into the dirt with a grunt, dust billowing around him.
Aiden’s tail flicked in a way that was almost mocking. “This is the best you’ve got? My six-year-old cousin offers better challenge than your pathetic display.”