Dragon Moon Read online

  In response, she moved against him, bringing his blood to a boiling point. He was about to pull off her shirt when a throat-clearing noise made his head jerk toward the door. Antonia was standing in the doorway.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” she murmured.

  He knew she couldn’t see them, but he still saw Kenna’s face redden.

  “We’ll be there in a few minutes,” he called out.

  When they were alone again, Kenna started to get up. But he held on to her. “Stay here for a little while.”

  “It all comes down to today,” she whispered.

  “Yeah. And we’re going to stop the bastard once and for all.”

  “We hope.”

  “We will! So let’s get the show on the road.” He laughed. “Another strange expression.”

  When they stepped into the living room, Ross was filling in Lance and Savannah, who had just arrived. Lance was another cousin; Savannah was his mate. To Talon’s way of thinking, she should be the most nervous. Unlike the rest of the women, she hadn’t been born with special powers. But the other life mates had been working with her over the past couple of years, and it seemed that she could fit into the nexus of power that they generated together.

  “We should eat before we go through,” Rinna said.

  “I don’t know if I can swallow anything,” Kenna murmured.

  “You have to eat a little—to keep your strength up.”

  They all went into the dining room, where a buffet was waiting. The men, except for Gallagher, ate their usual meat. The women ate more lightly. Nobody had much to say, since they’d already discussed what was going to happen when they got to the other side of the portal.

  OFFICERS Ken Eckert and Frank Milner pulled up in front of the Winslow house. Ordinarily, the lieutenant wouldn’t have sent them out to investigate a minor robbery. But this incident might be connected with the box of money that had turned up in the woods in the nearby state park. And then there was the added piece of strange information. When Winslow had called, he’d mentioned a green fountain of light down by the river.

  When Eckert knocked, a lanky man wearing a running suit answered the door. Behind him stood a redheaded woman and two redheaded little girls.

  “Mr. Winslow?” Eckert asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Can we come in?”

  “Sure.” He stepped aside. Eckert and his partner followed him into a living room decorated in relentless country kitsch.

  “Come sit down. Thanks for showing up so promptly. We came up to the cabin on Tuesday. It took a while to realize several things were missing.”

  Mrs. Winslow glanced at the little girls. “Why don’t you go to your room and play? This will only take a few minutes.”

  “Mom, we want to watch,” the older one whined.

  “This is adult stuff. You go to your room now,” Winslow said.

  The kids left, dragging their feet. When they were gone, Eckert read off a list of stolen items.

  “Yes. I know that’s not much, but the door was locked. I’m worried that someone has the key.”

  Yeah, Eckert thought. And you’re getting VIP service from us.

  “You don’t have one under a rock outside?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “How long since you’ve been here?”

  “A month.”

  “Any evidence that someone was living in the house?”

  “Not unless they cleaned up really well,” the woman answered.

  Milner took out a kit and dusted the kitchen and the bathroom for fingerprints, of which there were many, but probably mostly from the family.

  “And what about the green light you reported?” Eckert asked.

  “I was out on the back deck when I saw it,” the husband said. “It was like fireworks. It went up in an arc, from that direction.” He pointed toward Talon Marshall’s house. “Then it plunged into the river. The ground shook, and a big spout of green water shot up.”

  “And you’ve never seen or felt anything like it before?”

  Winslow shook his head. “No. It was weird.”

  “Anything else you want to tell us?”

  “Nothing I can think of now. But I appreciate your coming out here.”

  “Not a problem.”

  Eckert and Milner both stood, and Winslow walked them to the door.

  When they were back in the cruiser, Milner said, “Maybe they’re exaggerating about the ground shaking.”

  “You think the bank robber was in there—camping out?”

  Milner shrugged. “It’s a strange kind of robbery.”

  “Yeah.” He started the engine. “We should go over to the Marshall lodge and see if he knows anything about that light.”

  “Or maybe we should poke around in the woods where he said he found that box. Then pay him a visit. He’s hiding something.”

  “What?”

  Milner shrugged again. “I’d like to find out.”

  AFTER breakfast, Talon and Lance changed to wolf form. Then Kenna led the way toward the rock formation that hid the doorway between the worlds, the men carrying the supplies they’d bought and the wolves wearing the packs Ross had provided.

  Turning his head, Lance licked Kenna’s arm and gave her a wolf’s grin.

  “The cave on the other side will give you cover,” she murmured.

  He nodded against her hand, then turned to Logan. The two of them were going in first as werewolves, to assess the troop numbers, because they were less likely to be attacked. Lance was going to stay with the women.

  If it seemed that the force in the parallel universe was too great, Talon and Lance would retreat to the portal, where Grant would be waiting for them to open the doorway again. If they didn’t come back in fifteen minutes, the others would come through and attack.

  Talon made a low growling sound, telling Kenna it was time. She walked toward the rock formation and reached to press her palm against the place that would open the portal.

  He kept very still, watching the rock thin. This was new to him, and it was astonishing to see what looked like a solid wall disappear.

  He and Logan were poised to enter when they both spotted a guy who looked like a Roman soldier lying on a blanket near the portal.

  Apparently, he’d snuck in here to take a nap.

  Looking up, the soldier gasped when he saw two wolves stepping through what had been solid rock. But he recovered quickly. Leaping to his feet, he raised the spear in his hand and threw it directly at Talon.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  TALON DODGED TO the side, hearing Kenna scream behind him. The spear clattered against the ground as he growled deep in his throat and leaped through the opening, taking the man down and going for his neck. He knew this soldier had nothing against him personally, but he also knew from Kenna that Vandar’s forces were trained to kill any invaders. So his powerful teeth crunched through flesh and bone as hot blood spurted into his mouth.

  Behind him, a snarling Lance took down another warrior who had been sleeping at his post.

  They’d worked out an invasion plan, but the soldier at the portal had screwed it all up.

  As Talon and Logan burst from the cave onto blackened land that looked like it had been destroyed by a volcanic eruption, Ross and Grant stepped in front of the wolves.

  Talon saw Ramsay Gallagher come through, too. Then he disappeared from sight.

  The main body of the soldiers dashed toward the invaders, probably confident that they could take them down. But they didn’t know what was in store for them.

  Ross and Lance, who had already put on gas masks, waited until the warriors were thirty feet away, then lobbed tear gas grenades at the advancing troops.

  At the same time, Kenna and Savanna, also protected by masks, rushed to the waiting werewolves. The life mates each put a mask on a wolf.

  Talon watched the unfolding scene with awe. He had studied the effects of tear gas. He knew it caused burning skin, lungs, and eyes, but he�
��d never actually seen it in action.

  As the white cloud hit the soldiers, they began to cough and sneeze, their noses running as they clawed at their faces.

  Many cried out as they dropped their spears and knives and tried to run.

  But the wolves were ready to prevent their escape from the field of battle. They leaped on the backs of the warriors, knocking them to the ground.

  Grant, Lance, and Ross ran forward, shooting their automatic weapons.

  The battle was over almost before it had started.

  Talon knew the effects of the gas would wear off quickly. With his paw, he pushed the edge of the mask aside. When he felt no ill effects, he clawed it off his face.

  Kenna, who had also removed her mask, came up beside him. Kneeling down, she threw her arms around his neck.

  He heard her make a low sound. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know soldiers would be in the cave.”

  He pawed the ground, wanting to tell her that it wasn’t her fault.

  “Now we’ve lost the element of surprise,” she murmured.

  Talon gave a wolf’s shrug, turning his attention to the men scattered on the battlefield. Had they taken out all of them? Or had Vandar left some of his troops to guard the cave where the slaves lived?

  As he started forward, a great winged shape appeared in the air above them.

  Vandar!

  The monster roared as it circled above the massacred troops.

  AS the defending dragon appeared on the scene, Ramsay Gallagher felt a thrill of anticipation.

  Renata believed that he and the other dragon had been born into the same body. Now he would find out if it was true.

  He wanted to step into the open and wave his arm to attract Vandar’s attention.

  But not yet. Not until he found out how his other self would deal with the invaders.

  WHEN Vandar spotted Kenna and Talon, he roared and changed course, aiming for them. Swooping low, he sent out a stream of fire that singed the already blackened ground in front of them, the hate-filled expression on his face making Talon’s blood run cold.

  With a growl, he put himself between his mate and the monster, urging her back toward the safety of the portal cave. But the fire wasn’t the only weapon at Vandar’s disposal. As Talon led Kenna toward shelter, a bolt of pain slashed through his head. It felt like someone had cut through his skull with an ax, hacking away at his mind, each stroke almost bringing him to his knees.

  He stumbled, then fell.

  “Get up,” Kenna cried out, her voice high and strained. “You have to get up.”

  In a daze, he turned his head toward her, amazed that she was still on her feet when the pain inside his skull almost wiped out rational thought.

  But she must be able to shield herself, at least partially. Catching him under the front legs, she tugged him back toward the portal. Before they reached its shelter, another bolt of fire shot from the beast’s snout, this time singeing Talon’s fur.

  Kenna cried out as the monster wheeled around, preparing to come at them again with another blast of brimstone. This time it was going to fry them both.

  Before the beast could muster more firepower, a mighty roar made it turn in the air as another dragon came winging out from behind the mountain, its silver scales glinting in the morning sun.

  Vandar screeched in shock as he saw a mirror image of himself bearing down on him.

  His full attention was now on the new enemy, and to Talon’s profound relief, the pain in his head suddenly cut off.

  Vandar recovered quickly, this time directing his fire toward the dragon that had invaded his territory.

  Did he have any idea who it was?

  Transfixed, Talon watched the two beasts circle each other, both of their tails whipping, both of them sending out a stream of fire, and both of them missing the other as they maneuvered for position.

  Talon wanted to stay focused on the battle, but he knew that Gallagher was giving them the chance they needed.

  In back of him, the rest of the invading force came out of the portal cave, and they went into the formation they’d agreed upon. The women clustered in the middle, and the wolves and men formed a circle around them, guarding their front, back, and flanks.

  As they advanced across the blackened land, Talon glanced behind them to make sure all of the soldiers were neutralized.

  When one of them staggered to his feet, Talon turned and raced back, knocked him down, and gouged out his throat. Then he pawed among the other warriors. A few were still alive, and as soon as he made sure that they were no threat, he raced back to the main group.

  As they approached the cave where the slaves lived, about forty men and women, all clad in white, stepped from the shadows. Three men stood defiantly at the front of the group. They must be the ones Kenna had mentioned: Swee, Barthime, and Wendon.

  One of the leaders shouted, “Go back.”

  “Vandar is finished,” Ross answered. “Surrender before it’s too late.”

  The man looked toward the sky, seeing the two dragons circling each other. For a moment, Talon thought the adept might cut his losses. The notion evaporated as his face turned grim with determination.

  Seconds later, a blast of psychic energy hit Talon. It was something like what Vandar had thrown at them, but different. This was more diffuse, aimed at his whole body, not just his head. It wasn’t as intense, but the blow was enough to stop him in his tracks.

  The others also stopped, then staggered as another bolt hit them.

  “Quickly,” Rinna called. “They have great power. Close ranks.”

  The whole group moved into a tighter formation so that they were all touching.

  Talon could feel the others in the invasion party pressing in around him, and he could also feel the women sending a wave of psychic energy toward the adepts at the cave entrance.

  In defense, they also pulled into a tighter formation.

  “Swee,” Kenna called out. “I’ve escaped from Vandar. If I can do it, so can all of you. I’ve brought people to help you.”

  “Only Vandar can help us,” the man shouted back.

  IN the sky above the blackened land, Ramsay Gallagher circled the other dragon.

  At first they had simply struck out at each other with fire and mental jabs. But as they wheeled in the sky, he heard a silent question come from the other beast.

  Who are you? Where did you come from?

  I am you. From the other universe.

  Impossible.

  Who else could I be? As he spoke, he opened his mind to his other self, sharing his thoughts with an intimacy that he had never experienced before, not even with Kenna.

  He caught the silent gasp as Vandar took in his early history.

  The same.

  Yes.

  How?

  This world changed.

  He focused his thoughts on the last part of the nineteenth century.

  When Vandar understood where their lives diverged, he roared, wheeling in the air, his tail lashing. I suffered at the hands of the new psychics. They hunted me down like an animal. They caged me. I barely escaped with my life.

  We have both suffered over the years. Don’t make this all about you.

  You. Me. We are the same. Thank the gods you found me. Now we can rule this world together. And the other world.

  I have no desire to rule. Especially not with you. I know what you have done here.

  I survived.

  By making slaves of people you stole from their homes.

  I paid them back for what they did to me.

  Not the people down there. They didn’t have a chance against you.

  Vandar roared again. You are either with me or against me.

  I will not join you.

  Then die! Vandar lunged in the air, tail lashing as he shot a stream of fire at the invader. Ramsay had been prepared for the attack. As he dodged aside, Vandar shot past him.

  Turning, Ramsay took off, leading the other dragon away fro
m the people. He didn’t know if he could win the fight. He had been ruthless in his time, but he had changed, and he recognized that he lacked the killer instinct of his other self.