Chapter 8 : Nowhere to Hide

*Ember*

**Kieran ran his hands down my thighs, parting them, finding me wet and dripping for him.

“Mmm… nice, beautiful,” he murmured, leaning in and latching on with his lips.

I felt fire from them, all-consuming fire.

“Kieran…” I moaned, my fingers tangling in his thick, dark hair.

His tongue flicked out, circling my clit, then delving inside me.

I cried out and bucked beneath him, but my dragon was merciless. He sucked, nibbled, and added his thumb to bring me more pleasure.

If I were ever going to spontaneously combust, this would be that moment.

Instead, I threw my head back and came against his mouth, shouting his name. “KIERAN!”

Kieran prowled over me and gave me a wet kiss, smiling like the cat who got the cream. “Just think how it could be, beautiful. You. Me. Baby…”

Baby. **

***

I blinked my eyes open at that thought, frowning in the early dawn light that was spilling into my upstairs apartment. It was a dream after all.

Groaning, I threw my covers off me and padded to the bathroom to shower. I was covered in sweat and my own desire and I couldn’t exactly go to work all disheveled. Like a woman who’d just had sex.

Still, as the water sliced over my body, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have Kieran’s strong fingers rubbing shampoo into my hair, his warm body behind me, his hardness pressed in…

I shook my head, getting droplets of soapy water everywhere like a wet dog.

It wouldn’t do to keep thinking this way about him. I wasn’t going to see him again, anyway.

Once I was dressed in khakis and my bookstore uniform t-shirt, I headed downstairs.

Rowena was already fiddling with the window display, changing it over from politics to history. It was her favorite thing to do.

On the counter, I saw more envelopes. Since they were open already, I reached for them.

“Ember, darling, I told you, you don’t need to worry about such things,” she scolded me without even turning her head from the window display.

The woman had eyes in the back of her head, I swear. “I’m worried anyway, Rowena. Your health and the shop and these bills…”

She got herself out of the display window and hobbled over to me, her expression stern. “Ember Haiven, you stop poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Everything is going to be fine.”

“But–”

“I think you need to go back up those stairs and pull yourself together. I don’t want to see you again until you’re ready to stop being nosy,” she said imperiously.

“But–”

She tapped her cane on my butt cheek. “Up. Up!”

I sighed and turned back to the stairs, making my way to my small apartment.

A red dragon screensaver flew happily across my three monitors, welcoming me back home. I went to the computer and sat down in my gaming chair. Since Kieran wasn’t a threat - at least I didn’t think he was a threat - there wasn’t any reason I couldn’t sign back up for my forums.

I had just finished getting myself back into the fifth one when DracoK4u messaged me.

There were other pop-ups, of course, online friends wondering where I’d been. But this one surprised me since Kieran and I had parted on bad terms.

*Hey beautiful. I didn’t expect to see you on at this time of day. Is everything okay?* Kieran asked.

I was so relieved to read his concern that I wanted to cry. There was so much I wanted to say but couldn’t.

*No, not really.* I answered honestly. *Rowena sent me back upstairs because I was being too nosy about the bills and her health and stuff. She won’t let me come back down until I’m willing to shut up about it. But I’m worried. I’m so worried.*

*I’m sorry to hear that,* Kieran said.

*She’s just not facing facts,* I despaired, *she talks like everything is going to be okay, but nothing is okay, and I don’t know how she’s going to make it okay.*

*Ember… do you know how much she needs?* Kieran typed.

I stared at the screen, frowning. *Last I saw it was over $35,000 for the medical bills alone. Apparently cancer is expensive in the U.S.*

*… what if I sent you $50,000?* Kieran asked.

My jaw dropped. *Kieran, you couldn’t possibly!*

*It’s not a lot of money to me, and I know Rowena means a lot to you.*

I wondered if twenty million was supposed to buy him a baby, what he’d expect for fifty thousand dollars.

*No. Absolutely not. And if I see a courier carrying it into the shop, I’ll block you on my cell phone.*

*Okay. Okay. It was just a thought,* Kieran replied.

*Let’s just… let’s not talk about it anymore.* I twirled a lock of deep red hair around my finger. *How about… you tell me more about what you know about fire mages?*

*Well, Nola would be the best source to talk to about that. She’s been researching like crazy. Apparently she finds you almost as fascinating as I do.*

*Charmer.* I grinned at my screen. *Okay, well, if it’s okay, I’ll ask Nola later. Does she have an e-mail or something?*

*[e-mail]*

I added the e-mail to my contacts. *Thanks.*

*Anytime. So… I’m supposing you have some more questions about dragons… * Kieran said.

I jumped right on that one. *Questions?! I read through the books Nola gave me but boy, you have NO idea how many questions I have!*

*LOL. Okay. Hit me.*

My fingers trembled with excitement. *Are there lots of dragons in the human world? Do all of you come through that portal thing in the caves? Do all of you have that tattoo like you?*

Kieran answered each question patiently, even as I continued to fire them off.

I’d have continued for days on end, I knew, except I was worried about Rowena and the shop, and as the sun dipped down and cast long shadows on my floor, I knew it was time to go back.

*Maybe later we can talk face-to-face? Or rather over camera?* I typed.

*Going back downstairs?* Kieran asked.

*Someone has to keep her out of trouble. Anyway, I’ll talk to you soon. I’m glad you’re not… mad at me,* I said.

*How could I be mad at someone so sexy?* Kieran teased.

*Charmer,* I typed again. *I’ll see you later.*

*I’ll be waiting,* Kieran replied.

I smiled to myself as I signed off. I was glad we could still be friends.

The dragon clock on my desk showed me I’d been upstairs until nearly closing time. I quickly got up and bounded down the stairs.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I noted the lights were off.

“Strange…” I murmured to myself, going to the side and flicking on the switches.

My fear had been I’d find Rowena on the floor, helpless, maybe injured or overcome by her sickness.

As I looked at the two figures in black hoodies holding guns on me as the lights flickered on, I realized I didn’t have enough imagination.

They’d found me.

“Where’s Rowena?” I asked, trying to sound braver than I felt.

“The old lady?” one of them replied.

“Yes. The old lady,” I said.

The other dark-clad figure gestured to the counter.

Not even caring about the guns, I raced to the counter to find Rowena on the floor behind it, out cold, a nasty bump on her head.

“Christ on a cracker, don’t you people have ANY sense of compassion?! She’s, like, eighty!” I cried. I knelt over her and patted her hand. “Rowena? Rowena?”

I felt the cold press of the muzzle of a gun against my temple. “I think you’d better start worrying about yourself right now.”

“Look,” I said, not daring to move. “I’ll do whatever you want or go wherever you want, just please make sure she gets to a hospital.”

The one with the gun pressed to my head snorted. “Yeah, not falling for that one. Pesky cops at hospitals. Can’t have you drawing attention to yourself.”

Anger boiled in my gut and I began tugging at my gloves.

The gun pressed harder into my temple. “I wouldn’t. We were warned about you.”

“Yeah, hands of death,” the other one said.

“You just keep those gloves riiiight where they are.” The gun dug even deeper into my skin. “I don’t care how valuable you are. I ain’t plannin’ on dying today. So if it comes down to you or me, I’m gonna choose me.”

I stopped pulling at my gloves. “You are monsters. Both of you. And you’re crazy if you think I’m just going to leave her here like this.”

“Be a good girl and we might let you dial nine-one-one from the store before we take you,” the one who wasn’t holding a gun on me said.

I laughed bitterly. “You’re not going to let me do that.”

“Smart girl.” The gun twisted against my temple as though he were trying to drill it into my brain. “I never liked that quality in a woman. Now, get up.”

“No,” I said, just barely stopping myself from shaking my head. “Not without getting help for Rowena.”

That earned me a hard pistol whip across the face. My vision became full of stars.

“You seem to forget who’s in charge here. I said get the FUCK up!”

I swallowed, and was just starting to rise when Rowena’s cloudy eyes opened.

“I’ll have you know,” she shouted in as loud a voice as she could muster, “I am SEVENTY-SEVEN!”

Then, much to my shock and that of the men who’d come for me, Rowena brought her cane down on the wrist of the man holding the gun.

There was a rather satisfying crunch, and the man yelped, dropping the gun in shock.

“Oh, you’re gonna regret that, you old bat,” the man growled, reaching behind him for another gun, I supposed.

I wasn’t planning on letting him get that far. I whipped off my gloves and grabbed the man’s exposed wrist, my hot, bright hands barbecuing him from the inside out in seconds.

He let out an unholy shriek of agony, and then he was gone.

Seeing what had happened to his cohort, the other man aimed his gun at me.

A yellow, center-cut tennis ball bonked off the side of his head.

“What the–?” he muttered.

I took advantage of his confusion and grabbed him by the throat. There was a sizzle, and a gurgle, and then he was gone as well.

Rowena struggled to her feet, leaning heavily on her cane, whose four-prong bottom was now missing one tennis ball. “Young people these days,” she sniffed.

I ran back around the counter to help her as she swayed while standing. I quickly pulled my gloves back on before putting an arm around her. “Rowena, we need to get you to a hospital.”

“Of course, dear,” she agreed. “But what about our dead friends?”

I looked at the bookstore floor at the two burned bodies and winced. “I’m… really not sure what to do about them. I don’t suppose you have any friends in the mafia and could ask for a ‘cleaner’?”

Rowena chuckled, then groaned. “I think we’ll have to just turn the lights off for now. I do need a doctor.”

It was then I saw Rowena’s arm was at an odd angle. The anger I felt almost strangled me. I wished I could kill them all over again. “Okay. I’ll get you to the car.”

“You don’t have a license,” Rowena reminded me.

“Let that be the least of our problems,” I said, and guided her to the back door of the store, turning off the lights behind us.