Bertram barely managed to twist away in time. *You—you can't do that!* He backpedalled rapidly, nearly tripping over his own tail. *I've submitted. You can't hurt me. You'd be outlawed!*
*And you'd be dead.* Dai's snarl made Bertram flatten to the floor in terror. *I'll kill you for touching my mate!*
"Dai, wait!" Virginia called down, but the red dragon ignored her, intent on stalking Bertram. Virginia danced from foot to foot, nearly toppling off the beam. She didn't know what happened to outlawed shifters, but she was betting it wasn't good. "No, he's not worth it!"
The white dragon made a break for the door, but the red shot a blast of fire that forced him away from it again. Bertram shrieked in pain as Dai's teeth closed with a sickening crunch on his throat. The white dragon writhed, futilely trying to claw at Dai, but the larger dragon pinned him down. Virginia could see the thick muscles of Dai's jaws strain, striving to choke the life out of Bertram.
If Dai killed him...Virginia took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Concentrating on the mate-bond, she threw her heart and soul into reaching her mate.
Chapter Sixteen
*DAI! STOP!*
Dai jerked as Virginia's voice echoed in his mind. Her mental shout broke his dragon's bloodlust, leaving room for human reason to take over. He could feel Bertram's jugular pulsing under his teeth. It would be so easy to bite down...but then he'd be declared rogue. His own fire team would have to hunt him down.
A moment of revenge is not worth a lifetime with our mate, he told his inner dragon. The dragon's rage boiled in his blood...and then slowly, grudgingly, began to subside.
Dai opened his jaws, allowing Bertram to squirm free. He stared disdainfully down at the cowering white dragon for a moment, then turned his back. Stretching upward, he held out one forefoot to Virginia, claws open.
She stepped into his grasp without hesitation, and Dai carefully lowered her to the ground. She let out a relieved sigh as her bare feet touched the piled gold of Bertram's hoard. She swayed, and Dai quickly shifted, supporting her.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Virginia leaned her head against his arm. "Never better." She reached up to his face, tracing the bruises and cuts Hugh hadn't had time to heal. "You?"
"I'm fine." He kissed her fingertips, overcome with relief. "Virginia. My mate."
Belatedly, he realized he still clutched the Dragon's Eye, now that he'd shifted back to human. He chuckled as he pocketed it, freeing his hands to embrace her tightly. "My clever, clever mate. Figuring out how to break Bertram's dominance over me."
"I wasn't sure it would work," Virginia said, slightly muffled against his chest. "But I thought, if the Dragon's Eye is that valuable..." She trailed off, and Dai felt her shoulders move in a small sigh, a twinge of regret passing down the mate-bond. Before he could ask her why, she pulled back a little, looking at Bertram. "What about him?"
The white dragon glared balefully at them both. Dai sent a wordless command to Bertram, exerting his dominance in order to force the other shifter to revert to human form.
Bertram struggled to sit upright, blood staining the front of his suit. "You won't get away with this." His voice was hoarse but outraged. Already his shoulders were settling into their usual arrogant lines. He pointed an accusing finger at Dai. "You attacked me after I submitted. I'll see you dragged before the Parliament and outlawed." His trembling finger jabbed at Virginia. "And as for you—"
Exactly what Bertram planned to do to Virginia, they never found out. A fiery, winged shape soared through the open doors, so incandescently bright that Dai instinctively squeezed his eyes tight shut. When he opened them again, Commander Ash stood in front of Bertram, hands clasped behind his back.
"Bertram Russell?" the Commander asked, perfectly composed.
Bertram stared at him. "Who the bloody hell are you?"
"Fire Commander Ash, of the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service." Wisps of smoke rose around Ash's feet. Behind him, the wooden floorboards were scorched black in the outline of feathered wings. "I am the phoenix eternal, and you are in my jurisdiction."
"I don't have to answer to some jumped-up bird shifter," Bertram spat. "I am a dragon, of the line of kings! You have no authority over me."
"By birth, by blood, and by order of the Parliament of Shifters, I do. All wildfires are mine, and those who light them. You have committed arson and assault by flame, and so put yourself into my power." Holding Bertram's eyes, Ash crouched so that their faces were level. "As you have sought to burn others, so shall you yourself burn."
Bertram seemed hypnotized, frozen in place. His expression still betrayed his utter incomprehension, but his breathing sped up with primal, instinctive fear. "You—you can't burn me. I'm a dragon. I'm fireproof."
"I am the phoenix. There is nothing I cannot burn." Very gently, Ash placed one fingertip on the exact center of Bertram's forehead. "From the ashes, you will rise anew."
White light flared. Dai pressed Virginia against his chest, turning to shield her from the wa
sh of intense heat.
"What was that?" Virginia exclaimed, as the blaze faded. She looked at Bertram, who was now slumped vacant-eyed and slack-jawed, but otherwise unharmed. She turned to Ash. "What did you do to him?"
The Commander rose, his expression as impassive as ever as he gazed down at Bertram. "I burned away his dragon."