Playing With Fire: Heart Of A Dragon, #2

By Addison Sinclair

Two years have passed since I was left for dead in the graveyard and I still don't know who I am....

Saved from certain death by Victor, I have worked hard to recover my past, but I still don't remember my old life. Now living as Seraphina, I am trying to help those in need. Supernaturals in the city with no one else to turn to.

When several bodies are found, I discover that something is hunting the homeless population. Something with a taste for human flesh. A teenage girl comes to me for help and I can't refuse. She reminds me of someone, but I don't know who. Together we must find the creature before it strikes again.

This creature is going to learn that if you play with fire, you're going to get burned.

Playing With Fire is book 2 in the Heart Of A Dragon Series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Addison Sinclair
• Release date: Oct 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223810070

Book preview

Prologue

MIA

Pressing myself against the ground, I tried to stay as still as possible, barely daring to breathe. If it couldn’t see me, maybe it would pass on by.

Just be quiet, don’t move. It’s not like you haven’t done it before.

All those nights, hidden away under my bed, praying they would leave me alone.

Back then, at the home, it was a person I was hiding from. This was something else entirely. It moved so quickly that old Bert didn’t even have time to scream before it tore into him. The way it moved, he didn’t stand a chance and neither would I. If only he hadn’t been here, scavenging in the dumpsters, he might have survived.

I was sure his blood was still on me, but didn’t dare move to wipe it off, even though I desperately wanted to scrub my skin clean.

What is that thing? What does it want?

The smell of urine assaulted my nostrils, as did whatever was rotting in the dumpster above me. If I got lucky, it might disguise my scent, keep that thing from finding me.

If I have to stay here much longer, I might be adding my own urine to the mix.

A soft growling noise filled the air, getting closer. It was hunting, searching for me. The thought of being nothing more than prey scared me beyond reason. I couldn’t let it find me.

Concentrating, a familiar tingle ran along my hand. I summoned my essence and blew softly into my palm, sending a small puff of pink smoke out into the alley. Curling up through the air, it made its way toward its intended target with a clear message. You are alone. There is no one else around.

It might not even work on that thing, but I had to try. My ability was nowhere near as strong as my father’s, but I’d used it before on a

few weak-willed humans. Not willingly, I had no other choice. You did what was necessary to survive.

If it worked, it might confuse it enough for me to escape.

Something clattered to the ground close by and a soft yelp escaped my mouth. I pressed my lips against my fist, praying it didn’t hear me. My ability could conceal me, but only if I did nothing to break the illusion. That slip might have given me away.

If it is going to kill me, let it be over quickly.

The growling got closer and closer. I chanced a look, seeing a fur covered foot close to the dumpster. There were claws on it too. Sharp ones.

My persuasion didn’t work and now it’s going to eat me.

Closing my eyes, I lay there waiting to be dragged out and torn to shreds. Would it hurt? Or would I be dead before I knew it?

Is this how it ends? All those years surviving the home and living on the streets and I end up as monster food.

It wasn’t fair. I didn’t ask for this life or to be treated like dirt because of who my parents were, but I did my best to survive, to stay under the radar. It couldn’t end like this.

Pain spread through my chest as I held my breath. If I didn’t let it out soon, I’d explode.

I heard the growling pass me by and then grow fainter. It was going away. When I couldn’t hear it anymore, I let out my breath in a whoosh.

Pressing my head against the ground, I tried to calm my racing heart. It was gone, I was going to be okay.

The urge to laugh filled me, but I held back. With my luck I’d only alert the creature and it would come back to finish the job.

My whole body ached from the way I had been tensed up. That and I hadn’t slept for a few days given that I couldn’t find anywhere safe.

There wasn’t time to rest now. I couldn’t stay here in case it came back, I needed to get the hell out of here. Inching out from under the dumpster, I looked up and down the alley for any sign of the creature. Nothing.

Did it go out onto the road? There would be screams if it had.

Dragging myself out, I got to my feet, wincing as I noticed a scrape on my arm. I must have scratched it without realizing. Shoving my sleeve down over it, I knew it could have been a lot worse.

Where did it go?

Who cared. I needed to go now, before it came back. Something told me I’d only get once shot at escaping that thing.

Spinning on my heel, I ran in the opposite direction, feet pounding on the ground.

When I rounded the corner, I saw the carnage the creature left in its wake. I came to a halt when I reached Bert’s body. My stomach churned at the sight of it. The creature ripped a hole through his chest. Blood had spattered all around the ground and I could see broken bones in his chest. Bones the monster obliterated like they were nothing.

Memories of my mother’s body filled my head. Her lying on the ground, her eyes fixed and staring. This wasn’t the same, I wasn’t back in our tiny apartment. Mom was gone.

Heart racing, my breathing sped up as I tried to shut the images out. I never thought I would see someone dead like that again.

Stay calm. Don’t lose it now.

When I could focus again, I saw only Bert. Poor, old Bert.

At least it was quick.

He lay with his head turned away from me, which I was glad of. I didn’t need to see his face in my nightmares. Though the sight of his mangled body would make a few appearances, no doubt.

Remembering the blood hitting me, I scrubbed at my face with my sleeve. It came back stained with blood. Shit, how bad was it? I couldn’t walk the streets looking like this. The cops would go after me and I wasn’t getting the blame for this. The home was bad enough, I wouldn’t survive prison.

And they’d certainly never believe me if I said a monster did this.

Using both sleeves, I wiped my face as best I could, then zipped my hoodie up to hide as much of the blood as possible. It was black, so it didn’t show much of the blood. Checking the rest of my clothes, I hoped no one looked to closely at me.

Something clattered in the distance and my heart leaped into my throat. I took off running, not willing to wait around any longer.

What the hell am I going to do?

I reached the busy street and slowed down. There were people around, surely that thing wouldn’t come out in public, would it?

Crazy to think that all these people were walking around like nothing had happened when there was a dead body just a few feet away.

Not like they’d care about an old homeless man anyway.

Keeping my head down, I moved at a brisk pace, worried someone would look at me and raise the alarm. Once I got back to my spot I could get cleaned up. Dump these clothes, no, I’d burn them just to be sure. That way the cops could never trace anything back to me.

I had a few things hidden in one of my packs, though I’d hate to get rid of this hoodie. It was the warmest one I owned.

Still shaken, I knew now that all the rumors I heard around our camp were true. A few people said that there was something preying on the homeless and I knew some people had gone missing, but I didn’t believe it. People moved on all the time. But now I had seen it with my own eyes. They were ripped apart just like Bert. That thing lurked in the dark, waiting to chomp on them. It could have come for me too. It still might.

But if they were all killed by the creature, what happened to the bodies? Had they been found? I imagined the cops would be all over us if they had. They liked to haul us in from time to time, hassling us. While I doubted they gave a shit about a few dead homeless, they still had to investigate. They would definitely start with us.

So no bodies.

Did it eat them?

That thought made me feel sick. What if it doubled back and finished off old Bert? Bad enough that it killed him, but the thought of it eating him too...it’s not like I could do anything about it. I certainly wasn’t going back there any time soon.

A woman walked by me, giving me an icy glare. Crossing my arms, I walked faster. She didn’t yell or reach for her phone, which meant she hadn’t seen the blood. No, she was just disgusted by the dirty homeless girl who dared to walk the same street as her.

Pity the monster didn’t go after her.

I immediately regretted that. I didn’t want anyone to die. Not like that.

Where did the monster even come from? Did it just wander into the city? Or did someone set it loose on us?

People had a big enough issue with the homeless in general, but the supernatural homeless? We were treated worse than vermin. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone sent something in to get rid of us. The supernaturals human enough to pass, but different enough to cause problems. We lacked a clan or a pack and that made us dangerous. If anyone found out about us or saw something they shouldn’t, well...supernaturals could disappear. A safer solution than letting them reveal us to the world. Humans hated anything different.

I never had a place with my people anyway.

It was me and my mom for the most part. Dad came and went. At least he did in the beginning. If his people found me, they wouldn’t be welcoming me with open arms. That they made very clear when they took my mother from me. In the most brutal way possible.

When I went into the children’s home, I hated every moment of it and that made me lose control of my fae abilities. Abilities I inherited from Dad. He always told me to hide them, but it was so hard to keep them under control. They escaped me when I was stressed. That made me a target of both the other kids and the woman who ran the home. I had no choice but to run in the end. I wasn’t going to stay after the incident. So I chose this life instead.

Being on the streets is safer. Or it was, until now.

Chapter One

Kill him, Sera.

Sweat poured off me as I dodged the fist being thrown at me. One wrong move and it would connect. A hit from this guy would hurt like hell. While his body made him look like a regular guy who maybe hit the gym a few times a week, I knew better. Supernaturals had a lot of power and strength and it wasn’t always obvious until one of them took a swing at you.

He lashed out again, this time his glove skimming my cheek. Twisting, I managed to avoid a direct hit.

That was too close.

I couldn’t let this jackass get the upper hand, not in front of the guys.

Time to put him down before he got lucky. When he swung again, I ducked the blow and drove my fist into his gut. A grunt escaped him.

I followed it up with a punch to the jaw, not holding back. The power of the blow vibrated up my arm. If a human hit him, they’d likely break their hand and he wouldn’t even blink. But I wasn’t human.

He staggered backward, dazed from the blow, then went down, his body thudding onto the floor. His head lolled to the side, but he was conscious. Just about. A groan reached me and I grinned.

That’s what you get for thinking you could beat me.

A few people cheered as we waited to see if he got back up. Derek groaned again, staying where he was. A trickle of blood spilled from his lip. Guess I hit him harder than I thought. From what I heard he had a little bit of Minotaur in him, so I had to admit I felt proud about that. My gaze traveled over his slick abs. He was kind of hot too, but so not my type.

Winner, the ref said, raising my arm over my head.

I smiled, my record remained unbroken.

The guys cheered and I saw a few of them exchange money. I wondered what the odds were. And which of them were stupid enough to bet against me.

Pulling off my gloves, I held out a hand to help Derek up. I felt sorry for him. The guys liked to haze the new members who joined the gym. They convinced him to go up against me, not bothering to tell him about my strength. I bet he thought it would be an easy fight.

Derek turned his head, pushing off his head gear. Glancing up at me, I saw him hesitate. Would he accept my help? Some guys were too proud.

Finally, he took my hand and let me help him up, looking embarrassed at getting his ass kicked. At least he took it well, not many guys did. A definite point in his favor.

Good fight, I said, patting him on the back.

He muttered something before hobbling off. Guess I bruised his ego as well as his face.

Climbing through the ropes, I headed to the benches in the corner for some water. A few of the guys patted me on the back as I went. They were a good crowd for the most part. Most of them were older, trying to stay in shape, but we got a few young guys in too who wanted to become fighters. I heard Derek was looking to do that. He probably wouldn’t tell anyone how he got his ass kicked by me. That might put a dampener on his budding career.

Hank’s Gym was for supernatural use only. A rundown dive on the bad end of town, but I loved it. It was a place to train without having to worry about pulling my punches or hiding what I am.

I found it six months back while working a case and I’d been coming here ever since. I was here so much Hank even let me lock up sometimes. And even better, it let Joseph and I train without disturbing Victor at the penthouse. He was too polite to say anything, but he did a lot of work there and I was sure he didn’t need the interruptions.

Nice moves out there, Joseph said, handing me a towel.

My trainer and dragon shifter expert, he accompanied me to the gym a few times a week. We had been sparring before Lou convinced me to get in the ring. I didn’t take much convincing.

Joseph wasn’t a fan of this place, but even he couldn’t argue it had its benefits. Plenty of opponents who could take a hit from me. Hank didn’t care much what we got up to as long as we paid our fees and didn’t destroy his gym.

I wiped my face with the towel, trying to catch my breath. I was in desperate need of a shower. And maybe some ice for my shoulder. I’d be feeling that hit for a while, despite healing fast.

Well, I learned from the best, I finally managed to say.

I think we both know that you already had some moves.

Lifting my water bottle, I took a long drink. Yeah, but it’s not like I remember learning any of that.

It had been two years since Victor saved me in the graveyard and I still had no idea who I was before the attack. Left for dead, bleeding out, it still haunted me.

Though I tried everything I could to remember my old life, eventually I had to accept that it might never happen. I had to move on or risk driving myself mad. So I built a new life, taking a page from Victor’s book and helping supernaturals in need. What else could I do? Work in a bank? Or an office? No, that sounded like hell. I liked to stay active and to put my abilities to good use. When I wasn’t knocking guys on their asses.

Hey, Sera, when are you going to start fighting for me professionally? Harry asked.

He was a manager who liked to stop by to poach fighters.

I told you, I’m not a professional fighter, I said.

Could have fooled me. He turned his attention to Derek, who