Ashes to Ashes Read online

  "Did ya' see what he did to my kale? Them plants ain't gonna recover from that," Mrs. Peterson said. Alex could hear her shuffling around in the garden, muttering to herself.

  "I didn't mean to piss you off," Alex said, turning back to Jamie. "I've been trying to make it up to you." For the past three days he'd brought her coffee every morning and lunch in the afternoon. If he hadn't been afraid she'd slap him for asking, he would have offered to take her to dinner. So far he hadn’t made any headway and work had been less than pleasant with her mad at him.

  "I don't want you to make it up to me," Jamie said, her eyes narrowing into dark slits. "I want to know what's going on."

  Alex considered his next words carefully. Jamie's current expression reminded him of the look Mike got when he was angry about something--usually right before his old partner resorted to using teeth. If Jamie'd been a dog, she'd have her hackles up and lips back in a snarl. Alex forced the image out of his mind. It was probably best not to compare your partner to a dog when she already wanted your head on a platter. The words to tell her exactly what was going on were right on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to voice them. With dragons and a dark Grimoire involved, this could get ugly fast and he didn’t want Jamie caught in the middle. It was bad enough he was trapped there. “I can’t.”

  "That's not good enough."

  "You've got to trust me." Alex didn't like the desperate edge to his voice.

  "That goes both ways."

  A shriek sounded from the direction of the garden. "Get outta my garden, you mangy beast. You're trampling the tomatoes."

  Mike yelped.

  Alex sighed, grabbing the cage at his feet. "Guess I'll go reset the traps."

  * * *

  A shiny black Land Rover sat in his driveway when Alex arrived home. Outfitted with a roof rack and rhino guard, the vehicle looked like it would be more at home crawling over the plains of Africa than cruising down city streets. Out of state dealer tags still graced the back of the SUV.

  Mike fidgeted in the passenger seat of the truck. He glanced back and forth from the SUV to the house, eyes bright and ears up. Every muscle in his body was tight and they trembled under his fur as he rose into a half crouch.

  Alex surveyed the street. There was no one in sight. Still.... Only one of his new found friends needed a vehicle reinforced for water buffalo.

  Parking along the curb, Alex sat behind the wheel and took stock of the situation. He could hear the buzz of a lawnmower and the shouts of children as they played. Some modern pop song, more beat than melody, drifted from an open window somewhere. Everything seemed normal. Except for the vehicle parked in his driveway.

  Mike's whining grew louder and he scratched at the door handle.

  Alex started to reach under his seat for the lock box that held one of his guns, but then thought better of it. He was supposed to be a willing participant. Showing up at his own house, gun drawn, was going to look suspicious. Sighing, he pulled the keys from the ignition and climbed out of the truck. Might as well get this over with.

  Mike leapt out of the truck before Alex had the door all the way open. Not waiting, Mike ran to the side of the house and cleared the low chain link fence without breaking stride. Alex took his time. Installing a dog door in back had been one of the smartest things he'd ever done.

  By the time Alex had let himself in the front door, Mike had Trey cornered in the living room. Literally. The man had wedged himself between the couch and the wall as far from Mike as he could manage.

  "Nice work, Mike."

  Mike wagged his tail in acknowledgement, but didn’t take his eyes off Trey.

  "Call off your dog, would you?" Trey's voice shook slightly.

  "You probably shouldn’t call him a dog, he gets offended easily," Alex warned. "What do you want?"

  "To thank you for not blowing my cover the other day."

  "Your supervisors seem to think you’ve gone off script."

  "You've met Agent Mallory," Trey said. It wasn’t a question. "I did. A little. But only because I didn't want to end up as a tasty treat for a dragon. You heard what happened to the others?"

  "You still shouldn't have gone dark."

  "I made a mistake," Trey said. "But I did it to stay alive. I'm here talking to you now, aren't I?"

  "I'm not sure I'm the one you need to talk with." Alex studied the man in front of him. Trey had left the suit at home and had gone for a more causal, though no less expensive, look. Alex was sure that the rips in the jeans and the faded print on the shirt had cost extra. Trey still stood motionless in the corner, his feigned ease at odds with his choice of positions. No doubt a trick he'd picked up on the job. It didn't do to show fear when you worked around dragons. But the man's eyes were a little too wide...his posture a little too stiff....

  "Give him some space, Mike," Alex said.

  Mike sneezed in reply and turned away from Trey, padding over to the couch and hopping up in his usual spot.

  Trey wandered over to the covered cage across the room and lifted the corner of the sheet. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I can see why you keep this one covered up."

  "She likes her privacy," Alex said through clenched teeth. Seemed everyone had an opinion on his bird these days.

  Trey turned away from the cage. "To each their own, I suppose." He nodded towards Mike. "Quite the security system you've got." The aura of nonchalance was fully back in place, but he kept a wary eye on Mike.

  "Maybe next time you should try calling instead of breaking into people's houses."

  "I have a reputation to uphold and so do you at the moment. How are things with the girl? She seemed a little upset when you left the other night."

  Alex didn't like the smug look on Trey's face. "We work together, that's all."

  "Your loss then."

  "You still haven't told me why you're here. I doubt you crawled out of your secret dragon lair just to chit-chat."

  "They're not my dragons. I just work for their owner." Trey's smile widened, showing his too perfect teeth. "And I already told you why I'm here. It was obvious that you recognized me. Your eyes betray you."

  Alex's stomach churned and he imagined the acid eating away at his gut. There was a coldness to Trey’s words that sounded a bit like a threat. He worked in animal control for a reason—people were far too complicated for his taste. Alex stared at Trey, wishing—not for the first time—that he possessed even the tiniest measure of mindreading ability. Life had to be easier for Readers and Empaths.

  "There must be something I can do to convince you."

  Alex didn't give him the satisfaction of an answer.

  Trey's smile didn't fade. "Of course," he said. "You want to see the dragons.”

  "I saw the dragons."

  "You saw some of the dragons," Trey clarified.

  Alex bit his lip, forcing himself to remain quiet. Across the room, Mike lounged on the couch as if he couldn't be bothered to have an opinion on such a boring conversation, but Alex wasn't fooled and he didn't think Trey was either. Mike's eyes sparkled with a brightness that made Alex's stomach turn cartwheels in his belly.

  "I see I have at least one of you interested," Trey said.

  "The one with the opposable thumbs makes the decisions."

  "I'm sure you do."

  Chapter 7

  Alex typed Jamie's number into his phone, paused, and then erased it for the fifth time. "I'm not going to call her," he said. "There's no reason to ruin her evening. She's not part of this."

  Mike ignored him, staring out the truck window at a group of cows grazing in the pasture next to them. A tractor passed by at a crawl, throwing up a cloud of white gravel dust that made Alex sneeze.

  Turning away so that Mike couldn't see him do it, Alex put Jamie's number in one more time, hitting the send button. Jamie's phone went straight to voice mail and he hung up before the message had finished playing. Alex checked the clock on the dash. Trey was late.

  "
I'm beginning to get a bad feeling about this."

  Mike whined from the passenger seat.

  "It's a little late to voice your reservations now. It's not like we had much choice anyway. We're supposed to be gaining his trust or something dumb like that."

  A black SUV came into view over the hill and Alex wondered if he had time to put the truck in gear and drive off. The SUV stopped alongside Alex's truck and Trey rolled down the window.

  "There's nothing out here," Alex said.

  "You don't think we keep them sitting out in plain sight, do you? Climb in, I’ll drive up the rest of the way in."

  “You’ll get dog hair in your nice new car,” Alex said, reluctant to relinquish his truck.

  “It vacuums.”

  "Are you sure that no one is going to question why I'm there?" Alex tried to quiet the voice in his head that had been nagging at him since he'd agreed to this asinine plan. It sounded a lot like Jamie.

  "There won’t be anyone there to notice." Trey glanced down at the watch on his wrist. Gold glistened in the sunlight and Alex doubted it was a Made-in-China Folex. "We don't have a lot of time though."

  Alex forced himself not to roll his eyes. Of course they didn't. He climbed out of the truck and opened the Land Rover’s door for Mike.

  After several miles, the gravel road turned to dirt. The SUV bounced and rocked as it negotiated deep ruts made by farm equipment. Alex doubted anything except tractors usually ventured this far. Trey finally turned off the main road, driving over a cattle guard and into a large field. The dirt road continued nearly to the back of the pasture before stopping in front of a large concrete block building. Trey parked the vehicle around the side where it wouldn't be visible to anyone approaching. "We'll use the back entrance," he said as they climbed out.

  "Nice quiet spot you have here."

  "It works well enough for what we need."

  "How many people are part of the operation?"

  "Depends. Twenty-ish. It's a dangerous job. Pays well, but.... Let's just say you want good health insurance." Trey took a key from his pocket and unlocked a heavy dented metal door. The paint on the inside of the door was blackened and blistered in places. They looked a lot like scorch marks.

  Alex slipped inside the building. Hot air, thick with the stench of sulfur, made Alex gag. He could hear things moving out in the darkness. The door they’d come through slammed shut and Alex jumped. Mike growled.

  "Both of you calm down," Trey said. There was a click, a low hum, and then fluorescent lights flickered to life across the ceiling. "It's an old building, the wiring is a little sketchy. I usually bring a flashlight."

  The room was packed with cages of all shapes and sizes. Alex approached a large glass aquarium along one wall. Countless emerald green dragons so small they could perch on his thumb crawled over one another at the bottom of the enclosure.

  "Beautiful, aren't they?" Trey asked.

  "It's cruel to keep them like this. They should be running free."

  "There are no free dragons," Trey said. "What you call free is still trapped on a dragon sanctuary somewhere. Shot and killed if they cross an imaginary boundary."

  "Better than being farmed like cattle so some rich guy can perform in the bedroom. You should know better, Trey."

  "I'm not disagreeing, but I’m not here to save some dragons that would just as soon have me for a snack. I was sent after the Grimoire."

  "And to get the Grimoire, you’d turn your back on everything happening around you?" Alex asked. He knew exactly what the book was capable of, probably more than most, but he wasn't sure he could tolerate this in order to get closer to the Grimoire.

  "So you carry that gun for fun then?" Trey nodded at the holster on Alex's hip. "Wait here," he said, turning around and heading deeper into the room. "I'll be right back."

  Alex nodded to Mike and his partner trotted off after Trey, the soft pads of his paws silent on the building's concrete floor. Alex waited until the sound of Trey's footsteps faded before he pulled out his cell phone. Damn. No reception. He eyed the door. Maybe he could pick up a signal outside....

  "Here." Alex shoved his cell phone back into his pocket at the sound of Trey’s voice. Trey offered him a glove and a small wire cage. "No one will notice if one of them goes missing. They tend to eat each other on a regular basis anyway."

  Alex looked around for any sign of Mike. He was nowhere to be seen. Alex took the glove from Trey, slipping it on. The chainmail was heavy and cumbersome, but he managed to pry open the top of the aquarium. The dragons scattered as he reached into the tank. Grabbing one by the tail, Alex lifted it out of its prison. The dragon twisted and turned, snapping at his fingers with its tiny jaws.

  "Be careful," Trey warned. "They don't breathe fire, but they’ve got a vicious bite. I’ve seen them nearly take off a finger." He held the cage out and Alex dropped the squirming creature into it. Trey handed the cage to him. "There. Surely that's enough proof that I'm on your side."

  Alex held the cage up to his face and peered in at the miniature dragon inside. It cowered at the back, eyes wide with fear. Alex glanced around the room again. Where the hell was Mike? "How many dragons?"

  "More than you'd like."

  "One is more than I'd like.

  "One less now."

  "The Feds want you out of the field," Alex said. "I'm not sure that they're wrong."

  "The Feds want me on a shorter leash. I don't blame them, but if they don't quit interfering, I’ll get roasted and they still won't have the Grimoire."

  "What about the fires? All of Tulsa could burn."

  Trey nodded towards a large cube made out of thick sheet metal at the center of the room. "One of the nesting females has been a bit...temperamental. It's sorted now. We'll be moving soon anyway. Can't stay in one place too long with animal control officers nosing around in our business."

  "Have you seen Mike?" Alex asked, suddenly worried about his partner.

  "He's around somewhere, I'm sure. I'll search this side, you head the other way."

  "Mike?" Alex yelled, his voice echoing through the building. Something big moved not far to his right. Not Mike, but definitely something he'd rather not meet face to face. "Mike?" The building fell silent as the echo faded.

  "Mike?" Trey's voice sounded through the room.

  Alex stopped to listen. Still nothing. "Mike?"

  The sudden sound of metal on metal scared him. What the.... Alex's heart sank as he heard the unmistakable click of a dead bolt being turned.

  "Mike?" There was more urgency to his voice this time. "Come on Mike, where are you?"

  This time a faint whimper answered.

  Alex rushed towards the sound. As he passed their cages, dragons woke from their slumber, eyes full of hunger.

  Mike lay in the center of a cage at the far end of the building. A heavy padlock secured the door. "Seriously, Mike? How in the world...?" Trey had been gone no more than two minutes. How had he managed to discover he was being followed, subdue Mike without a sound, and lock in him a kennel all the way across the building? Unless they hadn't really been alone....

  "Wake up, Mike,” Alex hissed through the bars. "We've got a problem."

  One of Mike's ears twitched.

  A new odor tickled his nose under the overwhelming smell of brimstone. Gasoline. "Mike!"

  The other ear twitched.

  The floor trembled under his feet and Alex's heartrate tripled. While Oklahoma had its fair share of earthquakes anymore thanks to fracking, he didn’t think he was that lucky today. "Mike!"

  It started as a dull orange glow out of the corner of his eye and quickly turned into a red hot inferno. Alex turned and found himself face to face with the largest dragon he had ever seen. She had hide the rich blue of a summer sky and flecked with metallic silver. Her wings towered over her, large holes poked into the delicate membrane, grounding her for the remainder of her life. She stalked up the aisle, intent on only one thing. Alex froze, transfixed by
her deep black eyes that reflected the flames burning around them. She stopped and lowered her head. Alex could feel the hot air on his skin as she sniffed him. The dragon caged in his hand squeaked feebly.

  A familiar bark echoed through the building and the dragon pulled back, startled. Alex turned his head enough to see Mike clawing at the bars of his cage, the metal refusing to give way even to a Shifter. Sufficiently recovered, the dragon leaned forward again.

  "I think I may have made an error in judgment, Mike. Sorry," Alex said.

  Mike growled and whined, equal parts ferocious and pitiful, but the dragon didn't back off this time. Instead she turned and grabbed the cage with her jaws, the metal bars bending under the pressure. She shook the cage and Mike yelped as he was flung against the sides. Alex reached for his gun out of habit, but left it in his holster. The bullets had no hope of penetrating her scales. The dragons around him were agitated, pacing back and forth as much as their confines would allow, though whether from the encroaching fire or the impending bloodbath playing out in front of them, Alex wasn't sure.

  "Let him go," Alex yelled.

  The dragon stopped for a moment and tilted her head to stare down at him with one eye. Long whiskers along her muzzle twitched back and forth like the tail of a cat poised to pounce on a poor, unsuspecting mouse. She opened her mouth and Alex dove to the side as the cage crashed to the floor where he had been standing half a second ago. Mike lay still in the center of the twisted metal.

  The dragon roared and Alex closed his eyes, certain he didn't want to see what came next. Nothing happened. Alex opened his eyes, blinking several times as the smoke stung them. The skin on the side of his face prickled from heat and he turned to look. The bedding in the nearest cages had caught fire. The dragons clawed at the bars and flapped their worthless wings as the fire licked at their flesh. The female stared at them. She screamed and then turned, running back towards the center of the building and her solid metal cage.

  Dropping to his hands and knees in search of better air, Alex started to crawl towards the remains of Mike's cage. Several of the bars had snapped under the dragon's torture and Alex reached in to grab Mike by the scruff of his neck. His partner whimpered. Pulling Mike free, Alex collapsed all the way to the ground. Smoke filled the air to the point that he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him and his lungs burned as he choked on the toxic fumes. Mike lay on the floor next to him, whining with each labored breath.