Before the other dragon could recover, Dai shoved past him. Much as his own inner dragon wanted to formally challenge the arrogant bastard, there was no time for it. He appraised the burning barn with a single practiced glance. There was no way he could enter in dragon form without bringing the whole lot down on the heads of both himself and whoever was in there.
He shifted back into human form. Even as the other dragon struggled back upright, hissing with outrage, Dai ducked through the burning door.
Immediately flames surrounded him, licking at his skin—but the only fire a dragon-shifter needed to fear, even when in human form, was that which came directly from the jaws of a rival. This blaze had been started by dragonfire, but now the flames were just fueled by ordinary wood and air, and so couldn't harm him. Dai still wore the standard protective gear of a firefighter, but it was more for the look of the thing than any real need.
He drew in a breath, the heavy smoke passing easily through his lungs, guiltily savoring the tang of it like an ex-smoker sneaking just one puff from a friend's cigarette. The fire called to his dragon, beguiling in its beauty and power.
Pushing down the instinctive urge to luxuriate in the flames, Dai ducked to peer through the thinner smoke near the floor. "Fire and Rescue," he shouted. "Can anyone hear me?"
*That woman is my rightful prey!* The other dragon shoved his head through the door, the burning wall disintegrating around him. *She's stolen from my hoard. I demand—*
"Get back before you bring the building down!" Dai yelled back as beams snapped and popped warningly overhead. He couldn't burn or suffocate, but even a dragon could be hurt by a collapsing building. Not to mention the fact that there was a human trapped in here. "Or so help me God, I will find your hoard and personally melt it into slag!"
The other dragon narrowed his orange eyes, but grudgingly retreated. Fresh air sucked in through the hole it had made in the wall, making the flames roar greedily. Dai calculated he had barely a minute before the whole thing came down anyway.
Bits of falling debris clattered off his helmet as he searched through the swirling smoke. According to Griff—the dispatcher who'd taken the call—she'd taken refuge near the back of the building, away from the worst of the flames...
Just as he was giving up hope, he found her. She was unconscious, lying full-length on the floor with her face pressed against a crack in the wall. She must have been desperately trying to suck in fresh air from outside as the smoke overwhelmed the building. She wasn't a small woman, but Dai easily lifted her, cradling her limp form against his chest. He hunched over, trying to shield her from the falling embers as he ran for the door.
He burst out into clean air just as the central support beam in the roof gave way with a cataclysmic groan. There was no time to shift—Dai could only hurl himself to the ground, covering the woman's body completely under his own as burning debris sprayed in all directions. Pain pierced his shoulder as a foot-long splinter of wood hit him with enough force to get through his protective gear. Dai didn't flinch. He kept his body between the woman and the collapsing building until the last strut had crashed to the ground.
A sharp talon prodded him on his wounded shoulder. *As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted—*
Dai had never been so glad to hear the sing-song wail of the approaching fire engine. "If you have a legitimate grievance, you can either take it to the Parliament of Shifters, or have it out with my commander right now." The post-adrenaline surge crash was starting to catch up with him. His shoulder throbbed, and a dozen lesser pains were clamoring for his attention. "If you're feeling very brave. He's not very sympathetic to arsonists."
The dragon hesitated, glancing uncertainly in the direction of the siren. He backed up, opening his white wings. *Just remember, the treasure is mine. And I will be back to claim it.*
"Now there's something to look forward to," Dai muttered as the dragon took to the air.
Dai pushed himself up, wincing as the wooden splinter dug deeper into his muscle. With a bitten-off curse, he reached over his shoulder and yanked it out, tossing the red-stained wood away. He could feel blood trickling down his back, but the wound clearly wasn't life-threatening so he dismissed it from his mind. He was far more worried about the woman he'd rescued from the blaze.
She was still sprawled bonelessly, her eyes closed and her rich brown skin flecked with pale ash. Dai crouched over her, checking to see if her airway was clear. To his relief, she stirred at his touch, coughing.
"It's all right," Dai said, slipping an arm under her shoulders to support her in a more upright position as she fought to clear her lungs. "You're safe. Everything's all right now."
The woman opened her eyes. Dai looked into their warm, dark amber depths, and suddenly, for the first time in his entire life, everything was all right.
"Dragon," the woman whispered.
"Yes," Dai said, voice cracking as delight and awe spread through him. Of course, of course his mate would be able to see straight into his soul, recognizing his hidden nature at a glance. Then her eyes flicked away from his, her gaze skittering over the surroundings as a look of panic spread across her face, and he belatedly realized that she'd meant the other dragon. "I mean, no! It's all right, the dragon's gone. You're safe with me now."
She clutched at his hand. "You...saw?" Her voice sounded like she was having to drag words out of her throat on rusty barbed wire.
"Don't try to talk." Dai scooped her up, unable to help noticing her stunning, lush curves as he did so. She fit into his arms so perfectly, he never wanted to put her down again.
Cradling her with infinite care, he carried her further away from the fire, out of range of any further debris. He could feel the way she had to fight for every breath, and his own chest tightened in anxious response.
*Where ARE you?* he sent to Chase, the driver. *I need the crew here right NOW!*
Astonishment rippled back down the mental link. *You want me to go faster?* Chase's gleeful laugh echoed in Dai's head. *Well, if you insist...*
Barely seconds later, the fire engine screeched into the farmyard in a blaze of noise and color. Dai could have sworn that t
he madman actually managed to get the fifteen-ton vehicle to travel sideways round the corner. He had to duck to protect the woman yet again as the truck screeched to a stop in a spray of sharp gravel and dirt. The driver door flung open, and Chase bounced out, his tousled black hair nearly as wild as his grin.
"And it's a neeeew woooorld record!" Chase announced to the world in general, raising his clasped hands above his head as if posing on a podium.
"Out of the way, featherhead," John rumbled as he squeezed his seven-foot bulk out of the rear seats with some difficulty. He crossed the distance to Dai in two long strides, holding out his enormous hands. "Are you hurt, kin-cousin? Shall I take her?"