Page 1 of Love Fire

1

ERIN

Even though I've cast this spell hundreds of times, my heart rate spikes as the magic flows out of me and into the dragon scale, turning it into a fine powder. But it's not the rush of magic that quickens my pulse. No, it's my body's memory of what that powder can do to it. It's why I wear a mask as I work.

I'm the only one who does, the only one who has to, the only one who was stupid enough to get hooked on this shit and then determined enough to stop. I know inhaling the smallest amount will send me down a path of addiction that only leads to ruin.

"Can you believe how fucking dumb this one was?" asks Tami as the scale in her hands crumbles. She shivers as some of the powder floats into the air.

"He walked right into such an obvious trap. It was so easy to trick him into shifting and then swarm him." She pitches her voice up and bats her eyelashes. "How big does it get when you're a dragon?" Sarah laughs and inhales some of the floating dust. Her pupils are blown wide, making her green irises almost nonexistent.

When we both started here, people used to mistake us for each other. Same green eyes, long red hair. We both ended up using more than just what we breathed in making this stuff. But I got off that bullet train to Hell. She hasn't. I've managed to put on a healthy amount of weight, so I actually have some curves again. I've also got some color back in my skin.

Sarah... not so much.

It makes me want to scream, but I bite my tongue. The mask provides the added benefit of hiding most of my face, and the others I work with are just high enough not to notice the pain hidden behind my eyes. Granted, I don't know if they'd notice it if they were stone cold sober. My father certainly hasn't.

I'm able to play the smiling, devoted daughter with him, despite knowing what he did to my mother. I have no actual proof he made her disappear. But the fact she died so soon after telling him his drug operation was too dangerous to continue if he wanted to be part of his daughters’ lives is just too conveniently timed. Add on to that the fact that the car accident happened to be one of his favorite methods for removing rivals, and I'm almost certain he was behind it.

She's been gone eight years, but it seems her dire predictions have come true more than once. First my brush with Iridescence addiction, and then Leanne, my younger sister, disappearing a year ago. Though I wonder if maybe he had something to do with that as well. She was always the more rebellious one.

So even though I want to tell these two they're horrible fucking people, even though I want to set this entire tunnel system under Billings, Montana on fire, turning my father's drug manufacturing operation to ash, I can't. At least, not if I want to stay breathing. I know enough about how he operates that I could bring it all down swiftly, but I'm certain if I ever step out of line, I'll be dead.

So instead, I smile and nod. I play the part of the obedient daughter, and I bide my time. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to get out of this. Until then, I'll keep using my magic to crush dragon scales. There are only a few witches who even know the proper spells to do it.

Perhaps my father wouldn't kill me. Maybe I'm too valuable since I'm essential for him to keep production up. Would he just get me hooked on this shit again and force me to work making more of it? A shiver runs up my spine at the thought.

"How big was it?" Tami asks.

Sarah devolves into giggles as she tries to stretch her arms out.

I try to laugh along with them. Gotta play my part, at least for a few more hours today.

I'm exhausted by the time we've finished processing all the dragon scales. I take the elevator up to the warehouse above where the product is stored, and then submit to the pat down as they check to make sure I'm not trying to leave with any product I'm not supposed to.

As soon as I'm cleared, I head out the door and cast a cleansing spell to banish any of the dust that has settled onto my skin, clothes, and hair. I still want a real shower when I get home, but at least this way I can take off my mask without worrying about getting high.

One of my father's men drives me home, past the large gate with guards at attention. My life is a prison in almost every meaningful sense.

A nice hot shower helps wash away some of my weariness, but it comes surging back when my phone rings, and I see that it’s from Hank, my father's right-hand man. But like the devoted daughter I am, I pick it up.

"There's a new operation that must be taken care of quickly," he says, without even saying hello. Not that I want to talk to him more, but it's just common courtesy.

"What is it?" I ask.

Instead of answering, he just laughs. "Don't worry about it. You're the perfect person for the job."

2

BRENT

It's late when Commander Ryans calls me in for an emergency meeting. Some of the other members of Draconis Fire grumble, but I don't complain. I'm devoted to this job. Someone has to protect dragonkind.

As the largest collection of dragons in North America, Draconis Fire represents all dragons to humans. We keep them safe, stop any problems before an outsider notices – and when someone starts trapping them to steal their scales, we put an end to it. Which is just what Ryans calls us all in for.

"Shut up and listen," Ryans says in his clipped tone. He's blunt and to the point, at least, and the room goes silent immediately. "I'm assigning you all to a taskforce on Iridescence. This drug has been hitting the streets again and causing addiction, overdoses, and deaths."

My gut twists. For a while, we thought we'd stamped out the manufacturing of it. It's a terrible drug that messed up my cousin Alessandro. He's in recovery now, but it's been rough.

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