“The jet—” Karim’s face went pale and then his eyes burned again. “Amaya.”
Fear gripped Deedee’s heart. “Oh no. Is she back there already?”
He shook his head. “No, but she should be landing any moment.” He let out an anguished growl. “I swear, if they have hurt her, I will burn them to ashes.”
“Karim.” She stepped into his arms, embraced him, trying to comfort him. “What are we going to do?”
He stroked a hand down her back. “I will find a way to get back as soon as possible. Those usurpers, whoever they are, will pay for what they’ve done.”
She turned to her father. “Dad, we need to help Karim. His sister, she’s only eleven years old. Anything could happen to her.”
Sebastian’s face darkened. “As much as I’d like to tell you to go pound sand, I know my daughter. If I don’t help, then she might do something stupid like follow you back and get herself killed trying to save your sorry ass.”
Karim snorted. “I do not need saving, and she will not be coming with me.”
“At least we agree on that.”
“What?” Deedee shouted. “I need to help them. Amaya … Zafirah … they could be in danger.”
“Baby, you’ve got a dragon”—her father looked over at Karim—“two dragons, plus I have a band of Lycans at my disposal. You forget, this is what I do for a living.” Her father almost looked excited at the thought of staging an attack on Zhobghadi. “Besides, the answers I’ve been searching for, for decades, might be there.”
“We can take my jet,” Bastian offered. “I can have it ready in an hour.”
“A jet might be too late,” Karim said. “Your warlock friend; is he around?”
“He’s with his daughter and granddaughter, but I’m sure Daric wouldn’t mind giving us a ride.” Sebastian pulled out his phone.
Deedee clenched her hands into fists. “You’re not going without me.”
“Yes we are, and you are not coming!” Karim said.
Sebastian looked up from his phone. “Finally, you’re talking sense.”
Deedee wanted to pull her hair out. “And I thought one of you was overbearing. I’m coming with you, and you can’t stop me.”
“You cannot, I will not put you in danger.”
“I’m a Lycan, remember?” She raised her hands, curling her fingers. “Fangs. Claws. Remember that?”
“You still cannot go,” Karim roared.
“And why the heck not?”
“Because you are carrying my child!”
Deedee felt the world stop spinning under her feet. Heat crept up her cheeks, and she didn’t even dare look at her father, though she could certainly feel the anger off him in waves. “Karim, I told you, it’s not possible—”
“Unless we were True Mates.”
Her knees felt like jelly. “H-how do you know about that?”
“One of your kind—Julianna Anderson—told me.” Karim’s hands gripped her arms. “Search your heart … your soul … you know it is true.”
Air was trapped in her chest, making it hard to breathe. She and Karim … true mates?
Her she-wolf howled and she knew it. “Karim, I …” The breath expelled from her lungs. “Oh, my Lord.” Her hands went down to her belly.
“Are you sure?” Jade asked. “Darling, are you pregnant?”
“I don’t know for sure.” She swallowed hard. “But my wolf, she knows it.”
“The Great One has been telling me, from the moment I first laid eyes on you, that you were our mate.”
“Motherfucker!” Sebastian lunged at Karim, but was pulled back by his sons. “You got her pregnant? You better be marrying her—”
“Dad, stop!” Deedee rubbed a hand down her face. “Please, can we get back to the subject of how we’re going to rescue Amaya and take back control of Zhobghadi?”
“You mean how I’m going to do it,” Karim said. “You will stay here until I am done.”
“No—”
“I will not put you and my child in danger.”
“If I am pregnant then that means I can’t be harmed.” She looked at her mother. “Isn’t that right, Mom?”
Jade nodded. “It’s true. A woman pregnant with her True Mate’s child is indestructible.”
Karim looked taken aback. “What?”
“Didn’t Julianna tell you—and, by the way, how do you know Julianna Anderson?”
“It’s a long story.” He squared his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter, you are not coming with me.” He turned to Sebastian. “The warlock?”
“On the way.”
“Karim, please.” She gripped his collar. “I can’t let you leave without me.” Desperation clawed at her. What if something happened to him and she wasn’t there? “Can’t we figure this out?”
“There is no time, habibti.” He carefully pried her hands off his jacket. “You must stay here where you are safe and my enemies cannot get to you. You know the lengths they will go.”
“How can I forget? I was there, in the desert. I was the one who knew you were in trouble, and I was the one who took that net off of you. I’m not helpless, you know.”
“I know, Desiree.”
“I’m strong. You said it yourself.”
He took her hands and kissed each one. “I know. But I am not. If anything were to happen to you and our child, I wouldn’t be able to bear it. There would be no force strong enough to keep me here in this mortal world.”
“Karim—”
“I am here,” Daric said as he shimmered into the room. “What can I do?”
“I’ll explain on the way.” Sebastian grabbed his arm with one hand and planted the other on Karim’s shoulder, pulling him away from Deedee. “We need to go to Lone Wolf. Now.”
Karim pushed her away. “I will see you soon, habibti. Remember that I love you.”
“No!” Deedee reached out, but it was too late. Daric, her father, and Karim disappeared, her hands clutching only air. “No!”
Slim arms embraced her, and her mother crushed her against her body. “Deedee, darling, it’s all right. They’ll be back.”
A cold knot formed in her stomach. Her mind was telling her that her mother was right. Her father was a dragon, a trained soldier, and ran one of the top security firms in the world. His Lone Wolves were a force to be reckoned with, an elite group of Lycans who always completed their missions. Daric would be with them and could take them back in a second. And Karim, well, he was the bearer of The Great One.
But there was something about this whole thing that didn’t sit right with her. And she feared that there was more to this than meets the eye.
Deedee didn’t get a wink of sleep, nor did anyone else in the Creed household. She and her mother curled up on the couch while Wyatt and Bastian were busy coordinating with the Lone Wolves office, waiting for word. But the only thing they could tell them was that Sebastian had taken a few of the Lone Wolves with him to Zhobghadi and that anything else was on a strict need-to-know only basis.
It was dawn, and they had already gone through what seemed like a gallon of coffee—and Deedee ate most of what had been dinner because she was pregnant, after all—and still no word.
“Something’s wrong.” She jumped to her feet. “I know it.” Her she-wolf wouldn’t lie still. It was pacing, snarling, and scratching at her. “Bastian, is your jet on standby?”
“Yeah.” Her brother rubbed a hand down his face. “We can leave in an hour. But … does Zhobghadi even have an airport? And if there’s a coup and communications blackout, then we probably won’t get permission to land. I could find an alternative airport …”
“Do it,” she said. But leaving in an hour would be too late. She just knew it. If only there was a way she could just transport herself to Zhobghadi in an instant.
Oh, my Lord. I’m an idiot.
Jade yawned. “Darling, what is it?”
Her heart thumping in excitement, Deedee fished something out of her pocket. T
he coin Cross had given her. Call me if you need me, and I will find you. She rubbed the surface with her thumb and said, “Cross.”
“Cross?” Wyatt said. “What about—Cross?”
Sure enough, the hybrid appeared in the middle of their living room. He glanced around, frantic. “Deedee? Are you okay? Did he hurt—oomph!”
“Oh, Cross!” Relief poured over her as she threw herself toward him, embracing him tight. “I’m so happy to see you!”
He soothed a hand down her back. “I’m happy to see you too.” He pulled back. “What’s the matter?”
She straightened her shoulders. “You said to call you when I need your help, right? Well, do I ever need it.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
They’d been ambushed.
Karim didn’t know how his enemies knew, but they had been prepared for their arrival. He let out a frustrated groan, trying not to move too much, lest the chains wrapped around his body burned any more of his exposed skin. Beside him, Creed was in a similar position, restrained against the wall of the cell they shared in the palace dungeon.
When the warlock took them away, they first stopped by the headquarters of Lone Wolf Security, an elite team Creed ran under his security firm, employing only Lycans trained to do the most dangerous missions. They came up with a plan to take six of his men to initially infiltrate the palace and first rescue Amaya, Zafirah, Arvin, Ramin, and anyone else being held against their will, while figuring out who the leaders of the coup were and take them down.
They would take the azdaha passage into the palace and spread out in teams of two to search for the hostages. Karim would take Daric to the places where they could likely be—in the residential wing or perhaps the dungeons, so that the warlock could whisk them to safety back in New York. If any of the other teams found them first, they could radio Daric through their wireless comms devices.
But their enemies had been waiting, and as soon as they entered the secret passage, it filled with smoke, confusing them. It was chaos, and the Lycans went down one by one, while he and Creed had been chained up immediately. As for the warlock, he was easily knocked out, as, aside from his powers, he was completely human.
Once they were all secured, they had been separated from the others, and he and Creed were taken to the dungeon underneath the palace, and gods only knew where the others were. He didn’t recognize any of their captors as they all wore dark masks over their faces and spoke very little as they worked on securing them with the silver chains to the wall.
“I swear to all the gods above and below, when I get out of here …” He hissed as the silver chain slapped at his forearm, leaving a burning, itching sensation on his skin.
“You and me both,” Creed gritted. “Goddamn, what the fuck is this thing?”
“Zhobghadi silver,” he explained. “Non-toxic to humans and Lycans, but deadly to us. It is the one thing that can restrain The Great One. Makes it difficult to call on it.”
“Motherfucker. They’ve used this on me before.”
“They? Who?”
Creed gnashed his teeth together. “We—the New York clan and other Lycans—have enemies. Nasty motherfuckers called mages. They’re kinda like witches and warlocks, but evil. They’ve been trying to get rid of the Lycans for generations. Caught me one time and tried to control me.”
“I did not realize.” So, there really were more strange things out there in the world. “I wonder how they knew to use the silver?”
“The only thing that matters is we get outta here. If only we can get to Daric, he can free us. How the hell did these fuckers know we were coming?”
A dark, foreboding thought entered his mind. “Only the members of the royal family know about the azdaha passage. Myself, my sister, my aunt Zafirah, and my cousin Arvin. Oh, and my ward Ramin knows as well.”
“Hmm.” Creed’s silver eyes narrowed. “Your cousin … he’d be king if you were gone, right?”
“Yes, but—No.” He shook his head vehemently. “Arvin is loyal. He was the one trying to find out who attacked me in the desert and was trying to unseat me.”
“Sounds like he’s also in the best position to betray you.”
“Stop talking nonsense!” A large pit formed in his stomach. No, it couldn’t be. He couldn’t believe it.
“I’m just trying to help you narrow down the suspects. And—” Creed tensed and his brows snapped together.
Karim knew why; he could feel it too. The prickling sensation along his neck. The feeling that there was someone else in the room. The dungeon was dark and the only light came from torches lit in the hallway outside the cell.
“What the fuck—”
There was an awful creaking sound as metal grated against metal. The door swung open and an eerie feeling crawled over Karim’s skin as something came out from the shadows.
“My, you both look like you’re in big trouble,” Delacroix grinned. “Looks like we came just in time, mon petite.” He reached into the darkness behind him, and pulled someone into the light.
“Holy moly!” Desiree took a deep breath as she staggered in from the shadows. “That was—” She looked at Delacroix. “What are you?”
“Deedee!” Creed bellowed. “What the hell are you doing here?” He turned his razor-sharp gaze to the Cajun. “You! I told you to look after her and protect her, not bring her right into the middle of this shit.”
“Pardon, mon ami, but she was insistent and would have gone with or without me,” Delacroix said with a shrug. “It would have been better I was by her side, non?”
“You should not have come, Desiree,” Karim said with a shake of his head. “I did everything I could to protect you.”
She walked over to him and captured his face between her palms. “I knew it. Felt it in my heart that something was wrong.” As she touched her mouth to his, he savored her taste and scent before she pulled away.
“How do we get you out of here?” Delacroix rattled the chains around Creed, making the other man moan in pain.
“Wow! Goddammit, stop! That shit hurts!”
“Zhobghadi silver?” Desiree checked the chains carefully. “Where’re the locks?”
“I’m afraid they’ve been soldered in.”
The Cajun grabbed Karim’s chain where it was stuck to the wall and gave a strong tug. While it did budge slightly under his enhanced strength, the silver rubbing on Karim’s skin burned like the fires of Gibil. “Stop!” He commanded through gritted teeth.
Desiree winced. “We could try to rip it out, but we’d have to do it slowly so as not to hurt you both.”
“Unless you got a blowtorch on you, only Daric can get us out of here quickly.” Creed blew out an impatient breath. “But they knocked him out and took him away. If you get him, he can change the silver into something else. You’ll have to find him though.”
“The palace is huge. You may not have enough time. Go, Desiree. Save yourself and our—”
“We don’t need Daric.” She put a finger to his lips, then took something out of her pocket. It was a gold coin. “Cross came with us. He’s waiting outside the city with backup, and he can use this to track us and transport in here, even though he’s never seen the palace. He has the same powers as his dad, so he can free you.”
“Cross?” Karim’s mood darkened.
“Oh, come on,” Desiree rolled her eyes. “I chose you, remember?” She kissed him again, slow and sensual.
“For fuck’s sake,” Creed spat. “Can you lovebirds cut that out so we get out of here, now?”
“Mes amis.” Delacroix held up a hand. “I hear people coming.”
Deedee held the coin up to the light. “Let’s get you out—”
“Wait. Those might be the guards.” Karim took a deep breath. “If they do not find us here, they might sound the alarm. And we have yet to find Amaya or the others. You have the advantage as they do not know you are here.”
“Oh, poop.” Desiree bit her lip. “Delacroix, can you—”
“No worries.” He grabbed her and pulled her into the shadows.
Dagan’s beard, how did he do that? It was like he completely melted into the darkness, disappearing from sight.
The footsteps came closer, until finally, he could hear them just outside the cell. Someone stepped forward into the light, someone he didn’t expect.
“Aunt Zafirah!” He struggled against the chains, ignoring the way they stung at his skin. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you? If they have, I will make them pay.”
“Hurt me?” Zafirah’s tone sounded mocking. She didn’t look like she’d been hurt or tortured. In fact, she was dressed well in an elaborate kaftan that looked out of place in the dingy dungeon. “And why would anyone hurt me?” She walked closer to him, cocking her head to the side. “How are those chains, Karim? Keeping you secure?”
Something was definitely not right here. “What in An’s name is going on?”
She laughed and then flicked a finger at his chin. “You’re not so smart, are you, Karim?” Her eyes gleamed with malice. “Didn’t think your old aunt would be capable of staging a coup?”
“You!” He struggled again, biting his lips until they bled so as not to scream in pain. “I don’t understand. Why, Zafirah? We are family.”
“Yes, that we are, my dear boy.” Cold eyes bored into him as her mouth curled into a cruel smile. “I’m of royal blood, I married a nobleman my father had chosen and did everything he asked! And yet, because I was unlucky enough to be born second and a woman, I wasn’t fit to rule. But my brother, the one born with The Great One’s spirit, he was given everything. Even when he married that horrible English woman and further humiliated our family by making her queen, no one batted an eyelash. Not even when I spread rumors of her ‘supposed’ infidelity.” Her eyes narrowed to slits. “But now, the tables have turned. Decades of planning have finally come to fruition.”
He could not believe it. His loving, gentle Aunt Zafirah … she was behind all this? “So, you concocted this plan with Arvin to install him as king? And what of The Great One?”
“My darling boy knows nothing of this plan. Even now, he’s upstairs, locked up with Amaya in her room, thinking that they’ve taken his poor, poor mother to be tortured.” She grinned. “And as for The Great One, well … we already know it is possible to transfer its spirit to any vessel.” Her gaze flickered to Creed. “As proven by our experiments.”
Daughter of the Dragon Page 24
