Thankfully, Charlie didn't argue any further.
"The basement is safe. It's dragon-proof. And the witch who spelled it for my safety was Winter. No one can get through her spells." Arielle nodded to the door. "Go."
Charlie went, and Arielle watched until the door closed completely. Only then did she turn her attention back to the battle that was now raging in full effect in front of her. Although, calling it a battle was a little strong. It was more like a brawl between men.
They'd each taken one of the intruders, although it seemed like Adam was playing with his more than anything—cat and mouse. He hadn't even fired off a single shot yet, and the other man was covered in sweat. None of them had shifted, which was strange too.
Arielle focussed on Matthew, who had a dark-haired man in a chokehold, still in his human form. Matthew, however, had shifted completely. The man in his claws shifted and cried out as blood seeped through his clothes. Matthew didn't so much as move, and the man cried out again. As Arielle watched, the man stopped struggling. Matthew didn't let go, though. Part of Arielle wanted to call out to him, to tell him to let the man go. Still she knew better. If these men survived the night, they'd come back for her and do whatever they needed in order to take her. After all, Xavier swore that she'd be his.
Matthew snapped the man's neck effortlessly, dropping his body to the ground before beginning to shift back into his human form. Shameless, Arielle watched him do it, and saw that he was staring at her the entire time, too.
Once he pulled on his pants and shirt, sans underwear, Arielle turned to see how the others were faring. Matthew wiped his hands off, only smearing the blood from the intruder all over his clothes. He sighed in frustration, and Adam stepped into her vision.
"Adam." She said his name barely above a whisper, but there was no doubt that he heard every word that she said. "Stop playing with him, and end it already."
Adam didn't acknowledge her at all. He kept his eyes on the man that was panting and swaying on his feet.
"Sorry, pal." Adam said with what appeared to be genuine concern. "The lady says your time is up."
Two shots rang out, and the man dropped to the grass. A single bullet hole in his head, and one in his chest, both spilling blood onto the grass.
She wasn't afraid, which was a shock in and of itself. The entire time she'd been free from the Dragon Realm, Arielle lived in fear of Xavier and his men coming for her. Of him finding a way to take her back and to hurt her all over again. But now, standing with her men, Arielle wasn't afraid of him. She wasn't afraid of anything. She had no doubt in her mind that she'd be able to face Xavier himself, if he stood in front of her.
With both Adam and Matthew standing in the yard, free of the men that were plaguing them, that only left Stefan and the man she'd seen him go after with a snarl at the beginning of the fight.
Arielle didn't see Stefan at first, not until she turned all the way around in her search to find him. He was sitting on the rail to the house, the man he was up against nowhere to be found.
"What happened to him?" Arielle searched the yard, but there were only two bodies that she could see.
"He tried to run around the house." Stefan shrugged. "I used the knife I took from Adam and used him for darts practice."
"Oh." Arielle smiled. "Then, I guess you handled it."
"There will be more on the way," Matthew said. "If they think that you're undefended, they will send more."
Adam took the stairs two at a time until he was standing directly in front of Arielle. "I need to talk to you." He looked angry, and Arielle couldn't figure out why.
"Okay," she said slowly. "But we should check on Charlie." She tried to step around them to get back to the door, but the three of them made an impenetrable wall.
"No," Stefan snapped. "You're going to tell us the truth."
"I have told you the truth." Arielle looked around, confused by his accusation.
She wasn't stupid. She knew that Adam had told the other two about her being raped. It was clear when she'd come down for breakfast that morning. After the night she shared with Stefan, it didn't matter any more. He'd shown her that she was in control of her life.
Both Matthew and Adam had their arms crossed, staring at her as though she held the answers to all of their problems.
"Shouldn't we do something about the dead bodies?" She tried to joke, but none of them so much as cracked a smile.
"How long has it been, Adam?" Stefan's eye twitched as he spoke, and if he wasn't directing a ton of anger at Arielle, she would have thought it was cute. "A month? More?"
"At least."
"We've lived here with you for over a month, Princess." He practically spat the last word. "And not once during that time have you spoken to us about knowing Xavier."
Arielle stuttered, trying to figure out how they knew. "I don't." She lied, terribly.
"Adam," Matthew said softly. "Did you hear her say something about being returned to him?"
"Sure did," Adam answered with a grunt.
Arielle watched as he squeezed his hand on the gun that he was holding across his chest. She gulped, swallowing the little bit of spit that she'd managed to work up in her mouth.
"I didn't," she tried to lie again, feebly.
Stefan crouched down so that his face lined up directly with hers.
"He's the one who hurt you," he said coarsely. "He's the one who's been after you this whole time. You knew that then, before your birthday. You knew it that night. And you've known it every day since then."
"You used us." Adam's words cut through every wall that Arielle had erected to protect herself.
"I thought you were better than that," Stefan said quietly. "I thought you were more."
Arielle was unable to say anything for a few moments. They were hurting her, but she couldn't blame them. She had lied to them over and over again. She lied to everyone.
"I didn't," she said again. This time, she wasn't denying Xavier, but trying to tell them that she didn't use them.
"Lies," Matthew said sullenly. "I would have given up everything for you. Thank the gods I didn't."
He turned around and went into the house, letting the door slam shut behind him. Arielle flinched when nobody stopped him, the sound of that door closing echoing through her heart and into her soul.
Adam grunted. "I wouldn't say that I would have given everything up for you. But it just goes to show how much stock you should put in fate. Here I was thinking that there was such a thing. I was wrong."
Arielle reached out to touch his arm. "I didn't," she said again.
"Gods, can't you say anything else?" He pulled away before she could touch him. "I didn't need an excuse to kill anyone. I would have done it regardless. It's my job, Princess. You didn't have to act so sweet and innocent."
Adam left, too. He walked around Arielle and down the back steps, kicking the corpse he'd shot on his way. She turned to watch him go, hoping that Stefan wouldn't vanish before she had a chance to talk to him.
"I had your body wrapped around mine," he said quietly.
She turned to face him, and couldn't stop the tears any longer. They streaked down her face, but she didn't wipe them away. Nor did Stefan reach out for her, even though she could see the longing on his face.
"You had a piece of me," he said. "Something I wouldn't give to anyone else. And you betrayed me. You lied to all of us. Would you watch us die, as well? When he came for you would you stand there, beautiful as a deadly storm, and watch as he set his men to tear us limb from limb?" His words were filled with acid, and it was worse than she could have imagined.
"Stefan." She continued to cry. "I didn't lie."
"Yes, you did." He turned away from her, and she knew that he still cared. The pain in his eyes was more than enough to tell her that. "You had the chance, from the very beginning, to tell us the truth. To tell your brothers the truth. But you didn't. And my men could have died to protect you because of it. Because he thinks you belong to him."
"Dragons are selfish," she whispered through the heartbreak. "We take what we want without looking back or regretting it for a minute. I never belonged to him. But that didn't stop him from taking me, over and over again."
She expected Stefan to rage, to yell at he,. to do something, but instead he shook his head and left her alone. He didn't walk away, like Adam or Matthew did. No. He shifted as soon as he was clear of the house, and she'd never seen anything so beautiful in her entire life.
In all the years she'd been trapped in the castle with her father, she'd never seen a gold dragon. Stefan's wings were tinged with bronze, fading to black at their tips. But his scales were pure gold, reflecting in the night sky like a diamond in the rough.
He flapped his wings, and flew away, leaving Arielle alone with all the mistakes that she'd made.
"What have I done?" She asked the emptiness around her.
"Well, I'd say it's obvious."
Maddox stood at her side, looking at Arielle with a sad smile on his face.
"Where'd you come from?" Arielle didn't even bother to look around, though. She knew that Maddox would have some sort of magical sensors set up.
He ignored her question. "I think you've hidden yourself for so long, that when these men trusted you to give them the truth, you couldn't do it."
Maddox waved a hand in the air, and all the bodies vanished. "Get some sleep, Princess. You'll have time to handle your mess in the morning."
He was gone in her next breath, and Arielle looked at the door to her house without any enthusiasm. Charlie was in there, and she had to face her friend. She had to tell someone the truth.
The door creaked open, and Arielle walked into what had to be her worst nightmare come to life.
15
"You've taken your sweet time coming inside." Xavier stood in her kitchen, a knife to Charlie's throat. "Why don't you introduce me to your friends, Elle."
"My name isn't Elle," Arielle snapped. Her rage knew no bounds when it came to him. "My name is Arielle. And you have no power over me. You never have."
He looked just like she remembered. Black hair, tan skin, and eyes that showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever. His smile, though that was new.
"You belong to me," he said while tightening the blade across Charlie's neck. "Or have you forgotten that?"
"I don't belong to anyone." Arielle knew she was being stubborn, but if she could distract him then maybe Charlie could get free.
The problem was that Xavier wasn't stupid. He wasn't slow, and he wasn't old either. It was entirely possible if he hadn't forced himself on her repeatedly, Arielle might even admit that he was attractive. The thought made her sick to her stomach, though. He was strong, muscular, and had a persona of confidence that made it easy for him to command armies. It was also the reason her father gave her to him in the first place.
"Where's Matthew?" Arielle asked casually, while she shuffled forward into the kitchen a little more. "Did you kill him?"
"No," Xavier shrugged. "Although I could have, easily enough. He's there." He pointed to the hall, where sure enough Matthew stood.
"Arielle," Matthew said slowly. "It seems that he decided to come for you after all."
"My love," Xavier called to her. "Why don't you come home with me, and I'll let the girl go. After all, you don't want any more blood on your hands, do you?"
The way he spoke to her sent Arielle into a panic. She couldn't breathe, and she was back in the dragon realm just like before. Every movement made her flinch. Gone was the strength and determination that she'd had since moving to Gilcurry. She chanced a look at Matthew, who wasn't watching her. No, his eyes were glued to Charlie.
"Stay still," he said loudly. "Don't move and don't give him a reason to hurt you."
It hurt to see him ignore her in favor of another woman. Arielle's panic cleared slightly, though. Her feelings for Matthew just a little bit stronger than her fear of Xavier.
"Matthew," Charlie said. "I thought you swore to mom and dad that you would never live in Gilcurry." She laughed, bitterly, and Xavier tightened his hand around her throat.
"Little sister." Matthew sighed, and something inside Arielle broke. "I did it to find you."
"I'll go," Arielle cried out. "I'll go. Just give her back."
"Are you sure?" Xavier chuckled darkly. "I've always wanted to have two at once."
"No." Arielle might as well have screamed with how her voice carried through the room. "You swore, in the dead of night, that you'd claim no other body but mine." Repeating the words he'd said to her over and over made her sick, but there was no other way.
Matthew didn't move, but Arielle saw his eyes shift to lock on her instead. She smiled at him, putting all of her love into that smile, before turning back to Xavier.
"You swore that no matter how far I ran, or who you found me with, that you belonged to me. You'd wait. You'd claim me. You'd brand my soul the way I did yours simply by existing." She took a deep, shaking breath, and forced herself to go on.
"You'll go?" Xavier let go of Charlie, but not completely. "You'll come with me? If I let her go?" His eyes shifted, and she saw the blatant hope there. The twisted devotion that he'd created in his mind to justify his assault on her body through the years.
"Yes." Arielle didn't bother trying to stop the tears that fell from her eyes. He'd seen them every night, and thought they were normal. "If you'll give me the chance to say goodbye."
"Of course." Xavier changed instantly. Gone was the chaos and destruction that seemed to emanate from every pore on his body. In its place was the charming dragon that won over countless others. "Say goodbye, love."
Arielle turned to Charlie, instead of Matthew like she really wanted to.
"I love you," she said and hoped that he would understand her words were meant for him. "I love you all, so much more than I could have thought possible. That connection, you weren't wrong to think it existed. I fought it, but it was there. I lied to protect you. To protect everyone. But Xavier is right. My place is by his side. It always has been. Protect your sister. Don’t follow me, I don’t want to be found."
The lie burnt worse than any other she'd ever forced out of her mouth.
"Goodbye," she said quietly.
Arielle turned her back on the life she'd built, on the home she'd made, and on the love she'd never thought possible. She followed Xavier out of her house, but she left her heart in three pieces.
When Xavier shifted into his dragon, Arielle swore to herself and any gods that were listening that she'd find a way to get back to Gilcurry. No matter the cost.
Finish Arielle’s story now in Uniting Her Dragons
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Also by April Canavan
Destruction of Magic Series
Before the Darkness
Path to the Key
Prophecy in Blood
Door in the Garden of Shadows
Light in the Darkness
Birch County Blue Series
Kismet
Maelstrom
Inferno
Surprise Mystery Goddess Series
Rise Like a Goddess
Out Like a Goddess
Down Like a Goddess
Just Like a Goddess
Omega Series
Finding Her Dragons
Freeing Her Dragons
Using Her Dragons
Uniting Her Dragons
Standalone Stories
Cursed Beginnings
Cupid’s Curse
Wish
About the Author
April spends her time split between real and fantasy worlds. She lives on the rocky coast of Maine, in the perfect place to visit the ocean but still live surrounded by the woods. Her son inspires her to write, most of the time picking up a pen and creating his own worlds beside her. Along with her Newfie and the barn cat she rescued in the middle of winter, April and her family can be found enjoying the simple life. A
pril writes paranormal romance, romantic suspense, and cozy mythical mystery.
Connect with April
www.aprilcanavan.com
Using Her Dragons: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Omega Book 3) Page 11
