Dragon Eruption (Ice Dragons Book 1) Read online

  It was so very tempting. She could picture herself now, heading to the beach on the weekends, exploring the cultural explosion in the downtown areas, meeting new people, making friends. People who had never met her or heard of her before. People who hadn’t seen her naked pictures on the internet. It would be so nice.

  But what about Cowl? What about justice?

  In return for all that, she would be letting Jack walk free, where he would be able to do the same thing to other women. More women he could hurt and expose. The actions of the rest of the Malkin clan would go unpunished as well. Jake would go free for the damage he’d caused to Mr. Logan’s bar, and Richard would continue to have an untarnished image, which she was sure he would put to use exploiting more innocent people.

  Then there was Cowl. A dragon. Her dragon, if she let him in close enough. There was something special going on between them. Something powerful that she kept shying away from, too terrified of the consequences of thinking about it too much. Whatever it was though, was she willing to sacrifice that, to forego what might become of their relationship?

  “Well, what do you think?” Richard was getting impatient.

  “I think…” she said slowly, collecting her myriad thoughts into one cohesive answer. “I think that you’re right. I will make more money when I graduate with a Master’s degree. A degree that I’ve earned all on my own, and one that I will finish out on my own as well.”

  It galled her give up the potential of so much money, but dammit, she would sooner take a loan from the banks than a bribe from this asshole. Jack was going to rot in prison for as long as possible if she had her way, and there was nothing he could do about it. Cowl had shown her the inner strength she possessed. It was about time she showed the rest of the world.

  “Such a shame.” Richard’s voice had become cool, devoid of emotion. “A real waste of potential.”

  “I’m not going to waste anything,” she countered. “The only thing that got wasted was the rest of your son’s life when he shared those pictures of me. I’m not the one you should be upset with here.”

  “You really should rethink going to that trial.”

  “I’m going. I’m not intimidated by you or your family anymore.” She was almost shouting by this point.

  “Now now, Andria. Let’s not jump to any conclusions. You still have a few days to reconsider your actions. You wouldn’t want anyone to innocently suffer, now would you?”

  “Jack isn’t innocent,” she laughed, hardly believing what she was hearing.

  Richard made an agreeable sort of noise, and then headed for the door. “I hear you have a new boyfriend. A handsome fellow. Say hello to Cowl for me, just in case I don’t get the chance to do so myself.”

  Then he was gone.

  Andria stared at the door, the pieces falling into place. Richard hadn’t been talking about Jack being innocent. He’d been threatening her friends. Threatening Cowl. Her blood ran cold, and she picked up the phone to call Cowl and warn him. Dragon or no dragon, if Richard Malkin wanted him dead, he would see him dead.

  She just hoped she could warn him in time.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Cowl

  “Andria, it’s been four days. Nothing has happened. It’s fine.”

  She pushed herself back out from underneath her car. “It’ll be fine after the trial is over tomorrow. Not before.”

  “He’s not going to plant a bomb under your car,” he said, exasperated. “The first person they’d investigate is him. It’s called motive, and he has it in spades.”

  “I don’t care. I’m not going to let you be hurt because you got involved with me.”

  “Oh, I’m involved with you now? Is that what we are?”

  “We’re more than that, but stop fishing for an answer as to what.”

  He grinned, lifting her to her feet and planting a kiss on her lips. “Darling, I’m a dragon. They can’t hurt me.”

  “Well, a bomb would probably hurt me.”

  “For the last time. They are not going to bomb you. Blow you up. Whatever. Typical bad-guy ploys in this instance are to go after me and threaten me to make you do what they want.” He grinned evilly, all his teeth showing. “But if they try that, they’ll realize they made a big, big mistake.”

  He pinned her between him and the car, kissing her some more.

  “Are you just boasting about the size of your dick?” she asked, reaching between them to run her hand up and down it.

  “I wasn’t, but now that you mention it…” He nipped at her earlobe, feeling her fingers tighten around his arms while she giggled into his neck.

  “Not here.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. Not with the things I want to do to you.” He whispered into her ear his idea.

  Andria gasped. “You savage! How dare you suspect me of being into such dirty, and um, naughty things!”

  Cowl chuckled. They hadn’t had sex again since that first rushed time in the dark, but Andria had certainly lightened up about talking about it, so he felt comfortable in making his comments.

  “You aren’t. Yet. But I’ll show you how fun they can be.”

  She went bright red at the suggestion. “Brute.”

  “Temptress.”

  “Barbarian.”

  “Goddess.”

  “Beast.”

  “Seductress.”

  “Fiend.”

  “Tease.”

  “Monster.”

  “Enchantress.”

  Andria pouted. “You’re just using the same words over again in slightly different ways.”

  He kissed her. “And you’re just upset you ran out of things to call me first.”

  “I hate when you’re right!”

  Cowl kissed her again, uncaring of who saw them in the parking lot. This was his mate, and he would kiss her wherever he felt like. He wasn’t ashamed of her; quite the opposite. Cowl thought his mate was the sexiest woman alive, and he was determined to show her off to everyone, making them all jealous.

  “Okay, can we go home now?”

  He nodded. “Of course.”

  “Can we…go to your place?”

  Cowl froze. His place? She wanted to go there? “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. Violet said she’s going to be up all night baking cupcakes, trying new recipes and stuff. I just want to sleep.”

  “Yeah. Yeah we can go to my place. Of course. It’s not far. Do you want to walk?”

  “Sure.” He pushed off the car and extended his bent arm for her to link.

  Something sounded from the alley between the pub and the dry cleaners. Without thinking, Cowl straightened his arm and pushed Andria behind him. He stared into the darkness, noticing shapes moving in it toward them.

  Something started to clang as it was bounced off the walls. Seconds later he heard the sound of metal dragging across concrete. Someone had a pipe, and another some chain.

  Cowl tested the air. Immediately he picked up the trace of a scent he recognized all too well. “Jake,” he hissed.

  True enough, the first person out of the alley resolved itself into Jake. He looked terrible. Days of unshaven hair covered his face. The leather jacket he wore hung from him loosely, ill-fitting and ragged, with rips and tears all up the sleeves and down the sides. Behind him came Mikey and Danny, both looking worse for wear, but definitely better than their boss.

  “You need to get out of here,” he said over his shoulder.

  “Uh, Cowl?”

  He turned around.

  Four more men were approaching from the rear. Cowl recognized two of them as the goons that Malkin had brought with him to the pub. The other two he didn’t recognize, but they were staring at him with unashamed glee in their eyes.

  “It would seem I’m a little famous,” he muttered, wondering how he was going to deal with this.

  “Cowl, what do we do?”

  “I take it I’m still not allowed to kill anyone?”

  “No, you can’t. They’re
bad men, but they’re still men, and they deserve a chance to change, to turn to good.”

  That was something he loved about his mate. She saw the best in everyone, even when it wasn’t there to be seen. She held out faith that they would see the error of their ways.

  Unfortunately, that made Cowl’s job a lot more difficult.

  “Hello, Cowl.”

  Jake was speaking.

  “What do you want, Jake? Are you sure you’re feeling okay? You look unwell.”

  The other man’s eyes flared wide with fervent anger. “Don’t tell me how I look. I’m good. I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a clear bag that contained several purple pills. A pair of them disappeared into his mouth. His followers each took one.

  Great. They were high.

  “Can I please kill them?” he begged.

  Jake laughed at the suggestion, while Andria again said no.

  “Nobody is going to die.” Jake stabbed the metal pipe in his hand at Andria. “Unless she decides to testify. Then, Cowl, I think your luck will have had run out. Isn’t that right, boys?”

  Evil laughter came at them from all directions.

  Cowl longed for the old days. He could feel the ice within him, frost eager to form wherever he willed it. Including freezing every inch of water in the seven warm bodies surrounding him. It would be so easy. But he couldn’t. Not without betraying Andria’s trust, something he’d worked too hard to gain.

  “I wouldn’t do this, Jake.” That was Andria now, sounding more confident. Maybe she’d recalled that he was a dragon, and wasn’t worried about the outcome. His only concern was how to do so without killing anyone, and without leaving her vulnerable. Cowl could handle seven of them, but that would take him time. Time enough that if one or two were smart, they could dart in and get Andria.

  At which point he would have no choice but to kill them. Nobody was going to lay a hand on his mate today. Maybe with Andria talking she could dissuade them.

  “Don’t tell me what to do, you stupid bitch. Stick to what you’re good at, getting naked and lying on your back!”

  Okay. Well that settled that. Cowl wasn’t standing by any longer. “Can I have the keys please, honey?”

  Andria stared at him wide-eyed. “What?”

  “The keys. Now please.”

  She handed him the keys. He popped the trunk and flipped up the mat in the back, remembering what his driving instructor back at the base had told him was usually contained there. To his delight, it still was. Cowl didn’t have time; he could already hear Jake talking to his followers.

  Instead of undoing anything Cowl simply snapped the metal restraints. Then he lifted the spare tire out of the back and without warning hurled it at Jake.

  That set everything off. The other six goons came at him at once, wielding chains and metal pipes. Andria did the smart thing and slipped under the car, leaving him free to engage anyone.

  A chain whipped out toward his face. He blocked it with an upraised forearm and twisted, yanking on the chain while also intending to lean down on one foot so he could kick the onrushing attacker in the stomach.

  Two things happened at once.

  First, his spin was stopped cold by whoever was holding the chain.

  Secondly, Jake loomed up in front of him none the worse for wear, and delivered a wicked right hook to his face.

  Cowl went down with blood spurting from his lips, but he’d been hit harder before. Bouncing to his feet, he grabbed Jake by the waist, intending to pile-drive the man into the ground.

  Two fists clubbed him brutally in the back, spasms of pain running up and down his spine. His legs stopped responding for a moment and he stumbled and fell to all fours. Glancing over at the car, he met eyes with Andria, who was staring at him fearfully.

  What the hell was happening here?

  “You think you’re so big and strong. But you aren’t,” Jake taunted.

  Cowl whipped his feet around, blowing Jake’s ankles out from under him and depositing the leader on his back. He tried to jump on him, but several of the other goons snatched him up. He flailed and punched and kicked, sending a pair to the ground, one nursing a broken nose.

  Something was very, very wrong. He was too weak. Far weaker than he should ever have been.

  Or they were stronger.

  Cowl’s mind went to the pills he’d seen them take. Was that making them stronger? Better able to fight him? It seemed unlikely. He’d never met a human before who could come even close to his strength.

  He slipped free of the grip of some others, backing away, taking his time to collect himself. If strength wasn’t going to win the battle, he was going to need to fight smart.

  Another chain whipped out of the darkness. Cowl caught it on his wrist, and this time he didn’t hold back with his strength. He heaved, and the surprised thrower was pulled from his feet, flying right at the dragon shifter.

  Cowl grinned and backhanded the man away, where he crashed to the ground in a heap. Maybe he was still stronger. He just couldn’t hold back any longer.

  Jake got to his feet, looking around at the situation. His eyes focused on Andria, who was now on the far side of his squad from Cowl.

  “Keep him occupied, boys. I’ll take her.”

  Cowl bellowed in anger and charged at the group. He launched himself feet-first at the nearest attacker, dropkicking him twenty feet through the air. Cowl bounced off the ground, delivering a spinning backfist into another’s knee, ligaments and bone crunching under the impact.

  Andria screamed as Jake got to her.

  Blows rained down on him as the others came back, injuries not seeming to slow them. Cowl fought hard, giving as good as he could get, but there were just too many of them.

  The last thing he saw were Danny’s jade eyes flashing with undisguised glee in the yellow light of the overhead lamp a split second before something metal made the world go dark.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Andria

  The sound of the metal pipe impacting Cowl’s head echoed in her ears over and over again. She’d thrown up in Jake’s car, the wet thwack nauseating to even think about now, several hours later. Cowl had stiffened and then fallen to the pavement. The very last image she had of him was his head bouncing off the concrete, blood streaming down his temple, jaw misshapen from the blow.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she asked wearily. “You can’t seriously expect to get away with this, can you?”

  Jake ignored her.

  He and his men were sitting around the room in one warehouse or another that was owned by the Malkin family, licking their wounds. Not literally, but it wouldn’t have felt completely out of place either if they were. They sat on couches and chairs, examining their own injuries as well as those of others nearby.

  The room wasn’t large, but it had enough room for two large couches, a single sofa-seat, and several other straight-backed chairs as well. In the middle of it all was Andria, tied to a wooden chair. Her arms were crossed behind her back, roped completely together and then to the chair itself. Her legs were tied tightly to the chair legs, and more rope wrapped around her upper thighs, keeping her secured to the base of the chair. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  They’d left her mouth free, however, and she was determined to use it. Cowl would surely go and get the police, and they would track Jake down, which would lead them to her. It was going to lead to the exact situation his father was trying to avoid. A public spectacle involving the Malkin family. And Jake had just gone and caused it.

  “Who the hell was that back there?” Jake asked suddenly, standing up and coming to face her.

  His face was unharmed, but she’d seen the mass of bruises across his entire body from where the tire had slammed into him.

  “How did the tire not knock you out or kill you?” she countered.

  Jake moved forward so quickly she could barely follow it. His fingers snatched up her hair and pulled h
er head backward so hard she yelped in pain. “I ask the questions around here, bitch.”

  She could smell his breath he was so close. It stank, and she started to gag on the smell.

  “Weakling.” Jake gave one last tug on her hair before flinging it free. He stepped to the side just before she vomited, the smell of ripe body odor and uncleaned teeth too much for her stomach. “You are pathetic.”

  Andria spit the last of the vomit clear, though unfortunately Jake dodged it all. “What is happening to you, Jake? You weren’t always like this. What are those drugs you’re taking? They’re killing you.”

  He made a disparaging noise, but that was all the response she got.

  “Tell me who that was with you.”

  “It was Cowl.”

  Jake wheeled on her. “YOU LIE!”

  “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Did he give you some boo-boos?”

  She had no idea where her courage was coming from, but seeing Jake and his friends knocked off their game and hurting was refreshing. She just hoped Cowl was okay. Someone must have heard her screaming and come to check on it. They would have found Cowl and called the hospital. He was a dragon; he would survive it.

  Hopefully.

  “What is Cowl?”

  Jake’s voice was calmer now, devoid of the fanatical glee that had infected it earlier.

  “What do you mean?” She tried to sound confused, as if she had no idea Cowl was a dragon, but something must have given her away.

  “You know exactly what I mean,” he hissed. “What is Cowl?”

  “You should let me go, Jake.”

  He frowned at her sudden change of topic. “Why the hell would I do that?”

  “Because if you don’t, when Cowl finds you, he will kill you, and this time I won’t stop him. Not after what you’ve done here.”

  Jake laughed. “Cowl couldn’t even protect you. Why should I be scared of him?”

  “Because he was holding back. When he gets here, trust me, he won’t be.”

  “How do you know he’ll find you?”

  She grinned. “Because he wanted to before you attacked us tonight. And he was going to kill you then. That was before you took me. Which was really, really stupid of you.” Andria laughed, surprising both of them. “Even if he didn’t, the authorities will track you down eventually, and then they’ll know you took me. Either way, this doesn’t work out well for you, Jake. Which is why I don’t understand why you did it.”