Her kiss could be his doom…
When dragon-shifter Kristofer feels his firestorm ignite, he eagerly follows its spark to his destined mate. To his surprise, the heat leads him to a Valkyrie intent on claiming his soul. Even so, Kristofer has never met a woman as alluring as the fierce warrior before him. Trusting in the firestorm, he must convince her to fight with him instead of against him.
Trading the life of a dragon shifter for that of her sister Valkyrie is an easy choice for Bree…until she meets Kristofer. Experience taught her that dragons are evil, but in him she sees a bold and noble warrior. Finding his confidence as irresistible as his touch, Bree fears she is being tricked into abandoning her sister. But how can she take Kristofer’s life when his very presence makes her burn with desire?
When they’re compelled to join forces, Kristofer seizes the chance to convince Bree that they’re stronger together. Yet as a sinister plan unfolds, an ancient dragon is roused from his slumber. With danger closing in, can Kristofer convince Bree to surrender her immortality for their forbidden love? Or will Bree’s distrust of dragons prove justified?
You can download a free bonus out-take scene, Bree’s Bargain, from BookFunnel. Read it at the end of the Prologue.
“What a magical, sultry romance with more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. Can Kristofer convince Bree to work with him instead of against him and win her heart? Loved it!!”
—Amazon reviewer
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An excerpt from Dragon’s Kiss:
Kristofer wasn’t a city dragon and he never would be. As he walked with his fellow Pyr down grubby urban streets, the sound of traffic on all sides, he thought of the forest around his home in Vermont. How did anyone survive with so much noise?
Eight of the Pyr had planned their annual reunion for the following weekend, but Theo had called them early. Only Kristofer, Rhys, Alasdair, Kade and Hadrian had been able to change their plans to arrive right away. It was late afternoon by the time Theo had shared his implausible story and the invitation from a wolf shifter for the Pyr to join a battle against the Fae.
Kristofer liked Theo but this story about Fae warriors and archers, about a woman with a book and a vampire protecting her, about wolf shifters and a night circus, was too bizarre to be believed. It wasn’t even plausible that Theo had flown cover for the vampire and woman, so they could move from one refuge—in the submarine Intrepid—to a second—in an antique shop in Soho. Kristofer hadn’t been the only one shaking his head. When Rhys had suggested they visit the so-called haven of the Others early, there’d been unanimous agreement.
Kristofer probably wasn’t the only one who saw this expedition as a chance to get the encounter behind them, reassure Theo and get back to the rented house in time for Rhys to cook an awesome dinner. He’d always noticed that the rooftop patio would be a great place to hang out and take refuge from the city’s bustle. Heading there and having a beer with his friends sounded ideal in this moment.
But there was work to be done first.
Bones was in the former meatpacking district of Manhattan and located in a converted warehouse. Kristofer disliked the place before he even crossed the threshold. Hell’s Kitchen was all concrete, steel and glass with a layer of grime and grit. Even though the area was being gentrified, the new buildings weren’t an improvement in his view. The place needed trees. A park. More green!
“Others,” Rhys said grimly. Rhys had dark hair and dark eyes and was a little shorter than Kade. He was powerful and a great fighter, the kind of dragon who got things done. Rhys liked plans and schedules, which ensured not only that his restaurant ran like clockwork but that every time he served a dish, it was exactly like every other time. No wonder he was so successful. He also skeptical of most things, including Theo’s story. “How can there be other shifters in the world and we don’t know about them already? I think it’s a lot of crap.”
“I saw them!” Theo insisted.
There was a conspicuous silence.
“I just don’t like that we didn’t know about them before,” Rhys said.
“Grumpy, grumpy,” Alasdair teased. He could always be counted on to find the humor in any situation.
“Guilty as charged,” Rhys acknowledged with a grin. He shook his head but didn’t manage to look rueful. “I’m never going to like surprises and I refuse to regret it.”
“They don’t fit on your spreadsheet,” Alasdair teased and Rhys laughed.
“Tell me how to add that column and I’ll give it a try.”
Kristofer grinned, doubting it was possible.
“Well, Theo can keep the vampires,” Hadrian muttered. He was Alasdair’s cousin and tended to be more grim than Rhys faced with a surprise. “If there’s any truth in the stories about them, they’re only out for themselves.”
“Maybe they see all non-vampires as walking snacks,” Alasdair said, but no one laughed this time. The cousins both had auburn hair, but Alasdair was a little taller. They’d always looked more like brothers to Kristofer. Alasdair’s eyes were green while Hadrian’s were brown, plus Alasdair had a faint Scottish accent while Hadrian’s accent was British.
“They’re real,” Theo insisted, his tone stubborn.
“Maybe these Others hid from us,” Kristofer suggested. He was the tallest of the group, thanks to his Drakkir heritage, and tended to be the one to smooth things over. Rhys liked to say that Kristofer could find the heart hidden in a stone, which was exactly true.
“Since they’ve hidden from humans, that makes sense,” Alasdair agreed.
“Self-preservation usually does,” Kade said. He was the youngest of the group and Kristofer didn’t know him very well. He could never get a good read on what Kade was thinking, which was weird. They both had an affinity to earth and that commonality usually led to an easy understanding—like the one he had with his mentor, Rafferty.
“And we’re back to vampires,” Hadrian noted, raising his hands in surrender.
“We’re here,” Theo said tersely. “Now, you’ll see for yourselves.”
They halted as one before the steel door at the address. There was a black sign above the door with the name of the place composed in white metal bones. There were no windows. Kristofer knew that none of them liked the look or the smell of it.
“It looks like a good place to set a trap,” Rhys noted, glancing up and down the empty street.
“If it is,” Theo noted. “Kristofer’s suggestion is brilliant.”
“Being four days early gives us the element of surprise,” Kristofer agreed. “If they’re serious about alliance, our choice might be seen as a good thing.”
“And if it’s a trap, we just might foil it,” Rhys agreed. “Okay, sometimes surprise has its merit. Let’s do this thing.”
They fist-bumped and Kristofer opened the door.
“I’ll go first,” Theo volunteered, which was only right as he was the reason they were even there. He stepped inside and Kristofer followed him, scanning the interior. Hadrian and Kade were right behind him, with Alasdair hanging back as usual. His easy manner often made others overlook his keen powers of observation. Rhys was the last to enter the bar, having taken a moment to scan the empty street first.
“Don’t eat anything,” Rhys muttered. “That kitchen is an abomination.”
When the door closed, it suddenly seemed very dark. The interior of the bar was all high ceilings and deep shadows, but the place smelled like stale beer, human perspiration and smoke. Even the air was thick because there was a palpable tension—despite the lack of patrons.
Or maybe because of it.
Kristofer’s eyes adjusted quickly and he saw the faint blue light surrounding his fellows. The Pyr shimmered blue before shifting shape, so he knew he wasn’t the only one who was ready for anything. The bar was long and black, as shiny as if it were made of obsidian. Two bartenders loitered behind it—they had nothing to do, given that the place was practically empty.
At the far end of the bar, a short burly guy with numerous tattoos stood with his arms folded across his chest. He wasn’t a bouncer because he wasn’t at the door. Kristofer figured he was the owner, and he was watching the money.
Or maybe hoping for some to turn up.
He glared at the Pyr, so Kristofer had to assume that he’d guessed who they were.
One silver-haired guy sat at the bar, drinking a beer, apparently the only customer in the place. Two waitresses were gossiping by the doors to the kitchen and Kristofer could hear movement back there, as well as smell barbeque. His stomach grumbled despite Rhys’s warning. The waitresses, the bartenders, the owner and the guy with the beer turned to stare at the Pyr in silence.
It wasn’t the warmest welcome and not what Kristofer would have expected from anyone who had proposed an alliance.
Theo crossed the floor to the guy with the beer and offered his hand. “Hey Caleb,” he said. “Good to see you again.” So, he was the wolf shifter who had spoken to Theo.
“It’s not Halloween,” Caleb said warily.
“We came to check things out.”
Caleb got to his feet, moving with an economy of movement that made Kristofer think he was a fighter or a cop. “Not everyone is excited that I’ve invited you to consider joining us,” he said in a low growl. “I have to think we’ll be stronger together, though.”
When the wolf shifter moved forward to shake hands with the other Pyr, Kristofer noticed his limp. “Old battle souvenir,” he said when he reached for Kristofer’s hand. At closer proximity, Kristofer saw that Caleb’s eyes were different colors, one blue and one grey. He inhaled but could only detect the scent of wolf when he concentrated. Could the wolf shifters disguise their scent? Kristofer knew his own senses were sharp and that power might explain how they’d remained hidden.
Caleb glanced down then, noticing the scars on the backs of Kristofer’s hands. “Looks like you have one, too.”
“Occupational hazard,” Kristofer said, which wasn’t strictly true. “But it’s just on the surface.” He would have pulled his hand back, but Caleb tightened his grip and took a closer look.
“Looks like you got burned,” he said.
“I did.”
Caleb’s survey moved to Kristofer’s face. “I wouldn’t think your kind would be susceptible to that.”
Kristofer wasn’t inclined to confide in this guy. “You might think a lot of things about my kind.” He smiled. “I might think a few about yours. I thought the point here was to move beyond assumptions.”
Caleb nodded then shook hands with the remaining Pyr. The short guy with the tattoos introduced himself as Murray, the owner. Kristofer could smell the element of earth on him and wondered what his nature was. He suddenly felt like he should have been paying more attention to those around him all his life, instead of just assuming they were humans. He felt like he’d been missing a lot.
The bartender was a tiny woman with dark hair and green eyes, and a red string tied around her wrist, as if she didn’t want to forget something. Theo seemed to be intrigued by her and she was ignoring him so studiously that Kristofer figured the attraction was mutual.
He exchanged a glance with Rhys, who rolled his eyes but said nothing.
“I don’t see any Others,” Hadrian said, folding his arms across his chest.
Murray snorted. “Besides us?”
“They’ll be here Thursday,” Caleb interjected smoothly. “Which is why you were invited to come then.”
“We need to know what’s going on first,” Alasdair countered.
“Why does this smell like a trap?” Rhys demanded and Caleb stood up again.
Kristofer could feel hackles rising and hostility brewing. “If it is better for us all to join together against the Fae, distrust isn’t going to help,” he said.
“I already helped out as a sign of goodwill,” Theo said.
“Don’t pretend you can stay out of it,” the tiny bartender said with a shake of her head. Her voice was low and sultry. “The Dark Queen will try to eliminate us all either way. I think it’s smarter to be fighting against that, no matter what alliances have to be made.”
“We don’t even know who else is involved,” Hadrian protested.
“Or what’s in it for us,” Alasdair added.
“Try to eliminate us?” Kristofer echoed, but no one paid any attention because everyone else was talking. Those few words were alarming.
“She?” Kade asked. “Who?”
Murray raised his hands. “Don’t say her name!”
Rhys stepped up beside Kade to confront Murray. “This is a waste of time. You can’t battle a foe without knowing her name or her goal.”
The tiny bartender joined Murray, hands on her hips. “You can’t just blunder into something without understanding what’s at stake, or how to keep things from getting worse.”
“Blunder?” Theo demanded, moving to stand beside Rhys. “We were invited here, although I’d never guess from this reception. We don’t need to be part of this. You wanted us here.”
The dark-haired bartender spun away and began to pull draft beers. “You have to understand. There are those who aren’t dragon fans,” she said tightly. “That whole television series about the Pyr with Melissa Smith makes Others who have chosen to remain hidden distrust your kind. Why would you reveal yourself to humans?”
“Apparently, there wasn’t a choice,” Theo said in a reasonable tone. Kristofer thought he was going to have to do some serious talking to get that bartender to lighten up. “Several of us were revealed…”
“Sloppy,” Caleb said and sipped his beer.
“Betrayed,” Theo corrected tightly. “It was the darkfire…”
The little bartender looked up so abruptly that the glass filled and the beer spilled. She didn’t even notice as the beer ran over her hand and onto the floor. “Darkfire?” she repeated softly. “What happened to that?”
“It’s loosed for good,” Theo said and shrugged. “Extinguished.”
She caught her breath, then looked back down at the beer. To Kristofer’s surprise, there was no spilled beer anymore, as if someone had cleaned it up—but there was no one else behind the bar.
Murray was studying her, a question in his expression. “Darkfire?”
To Kristofer’s surprise, she answered, her words falling quickly. “An ancient magic that breeds chaos and unpredictability in the world of the Pyr. Darkfire was trapped in three quartz crystals in the past by the Cantor, Pwyll, who was Rafferty’s grandfather. Darkfire burns with a blue-green light and crackles within the crystals as if there is lightning trapped within them. It provokes…change and uncertainty.”
The Pyr exchanged glances of surprise and Hadrian took a step back.
“How do you know that?” Theo demanded of the bartender.
“I’ve been around a while. I know a lot more about dragons than you might expect.” There was a fierce glitter in her eyes then, and she gave Theo a hot glance. “More even than Melissa Smith is inclined to share.” She pointed at Murray. “And once upon a time, it was believed that dragons had the most powerful magick of all.”
“Another reason to be wary,” Murray agreed.
Kristofer saw that they were already dividing into sides.
“We have questions,” Rhys said. “We need answers.”
“Is the librarian safe?” Theo asked. “The one that I helped get from the Intrepid to Soho?”
Caleb nodded. “If anyone can be safe in a vampire’s custody.”
“Who is she?” Kade asked again.
“And who are the Others?” Kristofer asked. “How many other kinds are there?”
“How did we miss them all this time?” Rhys added.
“Are we really supposed to ally with vampires?” Alasdair asked with distaste.
“Trust me, we share your reservations about any such alliance,” said a man with a silky voice. The Pyr looked up and spun as one to find a dark-haired man standing in the shadows. He wasn’t near the door and Kristofer was sure he hadn’t been there before. He moved toward the bar, reaching it in the blink of an eye, even though he had to have been standing thirty feet away. Kristofer didn’t see him walk or otherwise move from one point to the other: he was just at the door, then at the bar.
Kristofer frowned. From a distance, the man had no scent, which was strange. Was he a vampire?
That made at least two kinds of Others. He looked at Murray and the bartender. Maybe four.
“I am Micah, leader of the Coven of Mercy,” the new arrival said.
“Vampires don’t have mercy,” Hadrian said, his tone dismissive.
“I wasn’t aware that you were so knowledgeable of my kind,” Micah said. “Especially since you didn’t believe we were real until moments ago.”
“Point to Micah,” Alasdair muttered.
The new arrival inclined his head, then nodded at each Pyr in turn. Apparently, vampires didn’t shake hands.
Before he could ask again about the elimination comment, Kristofer felt a jolt of heat. It came from behind him, and sent desire flooding through him. He spun to look across the dance floor to the far wall, even as his heart leaped.
It couldn’t be.
“Not again,” Murray said, staring at the light outlining a brick on the far wall.
“I told you to get the steel installed,” the bartender said, speaking through her teeth.
“They’re coming tomorrow,” Murray protested.
“That’ll be too late,” Caleb said, rising to his feet.
Kristofer didn’t care what they were talking about. He raised his hand and saw the golden flame of the firestorm glowing around his hand. It brightened when he reached toward the wall and sparks flew from his fingertips. He heard each of his fellow Pyr catch his breath, but had eyes only for the flame.
His firestorm!
This was the challenge he would face, the one foretold by the rune, and Kristofer was more than ready for it. He’d been waiting for the moment he’d meet his destined mate all his life. There was a glimmer and a glow, then Kristofer spotted her against the wall, near that illuminated brick. Maybe because of the brilliance of the firestorm, she looked insubstantial and misty, but she couldn’t be an illusion.
She was tall and slim, with long auburn hair falling over her shoulders. She was staring right at him, the golden glow of the firestorm burning on her outstretched hand and lighting her features. She was dressed in black, wearing high-heeled tall black boots, a black leather jacket and a short skirt that rippled slightly around her knees.
Feminine and kick-ass. The combination was working for him.
Her smile turned wicked and she spun around as if to run. Kristofer was ready to play whatever game she chose. Rafferty had been right—the spark of the firestorm changed everything. His mate’s skirt flared, giving him a tantalizing glimpse of her thighs, then silver light flashed and she was gone. She’d vanished as if she had been a mirage or a ghost.
“No!” Kristofer shouted and raced after her. The one brick in that wall shone silver, then the light was extinguished. He landed hard against the brick wall.
She was gone.
There was a brick wall between them. It made no sense, but the truth was inescapable.
“It’s like she went into another dimension,” Kristofer murmured in old-speak. How could that be? He ran his hands over the wall in panic, then noticed that a golden gleam lit beneath his hands when they were in contact with the brick wall.
She had to be on the other side! The heat of the firestorm filled his body with need. His destined mate had come to him and she’d been snatched away. He’d tear the wall down brick by brick if necessary.
He’d follow his mate no matter where she’d gone.
Nothing was going to stand in the way of his firestorm.
Excerpt from Dragon’s Kiss
Copyright © 2019 Deborah A. Cooke
Deborah Cooke: Author 