He hated the position the world had put him in. His mind raced, trying to come up with options, but he was in too much pain to think.
His body was living in another moment, terrified of everyone who wanted to take everything he had and leave him crying in the rain.
No, they wouldn’t take Janet. He’d protect her no matter what it cost.
“I love you,” he said quickly. “I truly do.”
“No,” Janet said, and Xander could hear tears in her voice. “Don’t say it right now. Not like that. When people love people, they don’t just leave them. They don’t just run away.”
He rubbed his temple painfully. “Sometimes they do. Sometimes they have to.”
She was safer right now without him, and that thought hurt more than anything else.
“I’m sorry, Janet. I’ll get in touch later. I—”
“No, Xander,” she said. “Don’t. Whatever’s happening, let me help you.”
“You can’t help me,” he said solemnly. “And I have to go. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t do this, Xander,” she said, sounding desperate and panicked now. “I just began to trust again. I need you in my life. I love you.”
He closed his eyes at the pain that came with the words. “I’m sorry, Janet.”
She sounded choked. “Please, just wait a moment. Don’t—”
But he couldn’t wait any longer. The dragons might already be searching for him. He couldn’t afford to lose his resolve. “Janet, I love you. I’ll see you… when I can.”
Then he hung up the phone, hating himself for the way he was hurting her, but not seeing how he had any choice.
Xander felt utterly hollow as he stood, shoving his phone back into his pocket.
Where should he go now? What should he do? He’d already driven far past the normal city limits in his rage and panic.
Still, he had to keep going. When it was safe, he could change into his dragon and travel even faster that way.
No one could force him to form a triad.
He threw a leg over his bike and started it up, never even hearing the van coming up behind him.
It didn’t even hit its brakes before slamming into his back, sending him flying into the air as everything went black.
Chapter 17
Janet’s whole body was shaking as she threw her phone at the wall, watching it crash to the ground.
“Dammit,” she said, picking it up and looking at the cracked screen.
She seriously didn’t understand what was going on, and her heart was breaking for it.
Things had been going well lately. She’d been looking toward the future. She’d been happy, finally sure Xander was never going to leave.
Not unless they both decided on it.
But then he’d ruined everything with one phone call. He’d left her and proved her mom right.
Even worse, she still couldn’t give up on him. Perhaps it was a kind of triumph that even as he’d hurt her in the worst way possible, she still managed to care for him.
She was hurt, triggered, but it didn’t change the way she felt. The love she had in her heart.
But how could she possibly find him? Why did he sound so afraid?
Why had she let him keep so many secrets? Why hadn’t she asked him more persistently?
She supposed she had seen his guard and wanted to just accept him, let him tell her more when he was ready.
She didn’t think he would ever hide something that could come back to bite them in the ass.
He’d said it wasn’t for good, but was that just to mollify her?
Deep down, she’d never wanted to believe her mother. She’d wanted Xander to prove her wrong.
But she knew from experience, from watching her mom brokenly watching the doorstep, that sometimes men just left. Either because they were freaked out or tired of being responsible… or sometimes they gave no reason at all.
But this thing with Xander, she couldn’t help but feel it made even less sense.
Just before he’d left, he’d kissed her passionately, the way he always did, promising with his lips that he couldn’t wait to see her again.
Tears bit at her eyes as she wondered how he could possibly keep that promise.
She wanted to believe something had really happened. That he still cared but just had to leave.
But it was really a stretch no matter how she spun it.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit,” she said, pacing in her room. Her tears had melted in the face of her confusion, though she was sure the tears would come again soon.
She almost wanted to call Kelsie and Tristan, see if they knew anything about what Xander was doing.
But she had a feeling they had probably been left behind as well. And she wasn’t yet ready to admit to anyone what had happened. To say out loud that he’d left her.
Somehow, no matter how much it hurt, she couldn’t harden her heart against him.
She could remember too many wonderful moments. Too many warm smiles while she lay in his arms. Too many jokes and too much evidence that he was a good person.
Even now, she wanted to get in her car and just find him, as if her heart could simply lead her to wherever he was.
Stupid, sappy thought, she told herself, turning on the TV and changing channels until she found something violent. For a moment, she just needed a distraction.
She stopped on a scene of a zombie eating someone’s face and decided that was just the mood she needed.
She was almost all the way through the movie when she heard a knock on her door.
Her heart started pounding, and her chest ached. She slowly stood, wondering if it was Xander. She didn’t see any message on her phone. He would have texted first, wouldn’t he? Her screen was broken, but her phone wasn’t.
She walked to the peephole and looked out, surprised when she saw only Taylor.
Trusting him because he’d never tried anything weird and because he might have info on Xander, she unlocked and pulled open the door. “Yes?”
He motioned with his head at her living room, as if he wanted to come in.
He was wearing a heavy black jacket to block the fall air, and his broad shoulders looked even broader.
His dark hair was tied back, and some was loose, waving over his face.
His blue eyes seemed more intense than usual.
She opened the door for him to come inside because seeing him was at least a small connection to Xander.
She shut the door behind him. “Can I get you a drink?”
He shook his head, heading over to the chair by the couch to sit down. He sat rigidly, his big palms on his knees. “Have you heard from Xander?”
His voice was pleasant but gravelly. She figured that was the most words she’d ever heard from him at one time.
“Maybe,” she said, sitting on the couch and folding her arms. “Why?” She knew she was being defensive, but she couldn’t help it.
Her heart was utterly broken.
“I need to find him,” Taylor said solemnly. “I have a tracker on his phone, but I thought he might be with you since he’s not in any place I expected.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re tracking him?”
He rubbed the back of his shoulder nervously. “Not me. The people I work with.”
She sighed. “Well, Xander said he was leaving and it didn’t have anything to do with work, and—”
Taylor stood abruptly. “I need you to come with me.”
She eyed him warily. “Why?”
“Xander needs us,” he said, putting out a hand to help her up.
She blinked up at him in shock. “What?”
“He needs us.”
She shook her head. “He… no. He already told me the opposite. He doesn’t want anything to do with me, at least right now. He hurt me.”
“What does that matter?” Taylor looked almost disappointed as he tilted his head.
She stared at him, her heart still hollow and aching. “I don’t
know what I should do anymore.”
“I had a partner,” Taylor said, looking to the side. “I would help him if I still could.”
She blinked. “A guy?”
He stared at her. “It’s not what you think.”
She sighed, thinking of Xander. If he needed her, no matter how much he’d hurt her, no matter how ill-advised his moves were, she would still go to his side.
She simply loved him.
“All right,” she said, standing and grabbing her keys. “You think you can find him?”
He nodded but looked at her keys, shaking his head. “We aren’t going to need those.”
“Why?”
He took her hand and pulled her outside, barely pausing long enough for her to put the key in and lock her door behind them.
Where were they going in such a hurry? Was Xander really in danger? Her heart began to pound.
Taylor pulled her down the stairs, catching her when she almost tripped.
He really could be a force of nature when he wanted to be.
But instead of going to the parking lot, he took a turn behind the building, heading to an abandoned lot dotted with sparse grass.
It was the middle of the day, but no one was around.
Taylor stopped and turned to face her, and something about his eyes, the way they suddenly changed, unnerved her.
She took a step backward. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe she should go back and call Xander…
Taylor caught her by the hand, stopping her, and his eyes brooked no refusal. “I’m sorry, but it’s too late for that.”
She gaped at him, trying to pull at her hand. “Wait, let me go.”
“I’m sorry it had to happen this way, but I don’t have a choice.” He shook his head slowly.
“But what are you—” She fell back as he released her hand, her butt hitting the hard, scratchy ground abruptly.
Still, the pain was nothing compared to what she was witnessing in front of her.
She gaped, feeling she must be going crazy, as Taylor began to change.
Oh my God, holy—
His voice was a deep rumble. “You’re coming with me, dragon heart. You have much to learn about what you are and what you’re meant to be with.”
Janet just stared up at him, powerless, as he picked her up in giant talons—yes, talons—and took off into the sky.
Chapter 18
Xander blinked, trying to clear his head as he looked around him, trying to get his bearings.
One moment, he’d been on his bike, trying to take the next step in… in what?
He groaned as it all came back to him.
He’d been threatened with taking a partner. And he’d run from Janet.
She probably hated him right now. She was already probably writing him off, cursing him for hurting her in exactly the way he’d promised not to.
He went to put a hand up to his head, but his hand wouldn’t move at all.
He struggled, realizing none of him would move, and opened his eyes, this time seeing the world more clearly despite his throbbing headache.
He was in some kind of laboratory. And he was bound to a big slab of metal that held him in a standing but slightly leaned back position. His hands were pinned at the sides of his head with solid metal bands that connected to the slab beneath.
Another band wrapped around his waist, and then there were two more at his ankles.
He’d never felt so utterly helpless, or at least he would have if he wasn’t a dragon.
He smirked as he summoned his strength, ready to break out, because no metal on earth could hold him.
But then nothing happened, even as he jerked with all his might.
Slowly, he became aware of something cold and tight around his neck. Something… restraining him.
Not like the bands holding him to the slab, no, this was draped around his neck like a collar.
And it seemed to be doing something to him. Sapping his strength. At least, whenever he tried to use his dragon strength or partially shift, he felt something burn painfully, and then he felt weak.
He shook his head, trying to clear it, as the door to the lab, which was right in front of him but twenty feet away, swung open.
A man came through. He was tall and thin, wearing an odd black lab coat and silver-colored pants underneath.
Who the fuck wore silver pants?
Who the fuck kidnapped a dragon?
Xander realized belatedly that they might have been sent by the oracle. Perhaps she had been able to foil his plan to escape. She did apparently see the future sometimes.
He glared at the man, who simply appraised him over light-blue-tinted glasses. His hair was silver and hung down his back in a braid.
Behind him, several men came in, wearing odd robes.
“Who are you?” Xander asked, his throat feeling raspy. How long had he been out? When was the last time he had something to drink?
“So there really are unguarded double dragons,” the man said. “Interesting. When I heard about you, I had to see more. Is it true you can grow to tremendous size?”
Xander just glared at him. “It’s true that I can tear you apart, so it’s a good thing you bound me.”
The man only smiled, clasping his hands behind his back as he paced in front of Xander. Meanwhile, his lackeys filled the room.
“I’ve never seen such a specimen,” he said, coming closer, peering intently at Xander. Xander couldn’t help but feel a little bit creeped out as the man’s eyes wandered down him from head to toe.
The man reached out with one hand, stroking lightly along Xander’s arm, which was exposed in only his tee shirt.
The bastards had taken his jacket.
He tried to lean forward to head-butt the scientist, but the scientist simply moved back and Xander jerked, burning against the collar.
“Ah-ah-ah,” the scientist said. “You didn’t think we’d come unprepared, did you?”
Xander didn’t think they would come at all. He was beginning to get the idea that this didn’t have anything to do with the oracle.
“What did you do to me? Why are you doing this?” Xander tried to read the man’s mind but heard nothing. Was he even a shifter?
The scientist walked to a nearby table. “My name is Dalton, and I work for beings much more powerful than even you are. Though, I’m sure we have yet to see the limits of your powers. Twin dragons. So interesting.”
Xander shook his head. “Don’t you dare bring my twin into this.”
“I won’t have to if you cooperate,” the man said. “After all, we only need one of you.”
Xander didn’t know how his life had gone so wrong. How was he supposed to get back to Janet now? How was he supposed to tell anyone where he was? Was this it for him?
Dalton was walking back to him now, carrying a seriously sinister-looking needle, inches longer than any Xander had ever seen.
Xander began to struggle in earnest as the man approached. What was he going to do to him? He had to survive this. He had to get back to Janet.
Had to live with her. Protect her. Explain things.
The needle was getting closer. “This is just going to put you out so we can do what we need to.” The man’s creepy black eyes leered at Xander, making Xander honestly nervous about what he intended to do.
He tried everything to pull at his bonds, but the collar only burned deeper. It felt like something was burning him down to his blood.
“I suppose this is why you usually work in pairs,” Dalton said, putting the needle up to Xander’s cheek and just resting it there with the cap on, not yet pricking his skin. “Because it doesn’t matter if you can turn into a giant dragon if you’re collared.” He cocked his head. “The ironic thing is it wouldn’t even be hard to take off. But since we were able to knock you out and put it on and bind you, you’re pretty helpless.”
Xander cringed, and Dalton came even closer.
“I love helpless,” Dalton said, so close Xa
nder could smell his harsh antiseptic breath.
Dear God, he had no pupils. What was this horrible creature?
Dalton’s hand stroked along Xander’s arm. “So strong. My employers will be pleased with you. Maybe when I’m done with my other experiments, I’ll play with your brain. Make you more docile—”
“My friends are going to find me,” Xander said sharply. “The oracle—”
Dalton cocked his head, drawing back and folding his arms, pulling the syringe away from Xander, thankfully. “I don’t think so. You see, we don’t work in her sector. And I doubt she had the foresight to put a tracker on your bike like we did.”
“How did you—”
“I have a few informants,” the man said. “Some wolves you might be familiar with. One of them has a very particular alpha power. I assume you know what that is.”
Xander wasn’t sure he did. “What?”
“The alpha of every pack has a genetic trait. This one can see any shifter’s true form.” Dalton cocked his head. “And you broke his hand, silly.”
Xander’s eyes widened as he thought about the wolves in the club parking lot. The ones that had tried to attack Janet. “I have no regrets about breaking that hand.”
“I’m sure you don’t,” Dalton said, shrugging. “But anyway, they waited until you showed up at another club, put a tracker on your bike, and told me they’d found a unique shifter. Someone I might be interested in.” Dalton took a step forward, getting back in Xander’s face again. “And I am.”
“You—”
Dalton’s grin was cold. “We’ve been watching you. Waiting for the right opening. You were so far out of town. Out in the open where no one could see us take you. It was perfect.”
Dammit. Damn, damn, damn, and goddammit.
Xander was well and truly fucked.
He hadn’t told anyone where he was going. If they asked Janet, she’d say he just left.
Sure, they’d realize something was wrong eventually, if Tristan and Kelsie were persistent enough, but it might be too late.
Besides, Tristan and Kelsie were probably too busy with their own love lives, and they assumed he was still happy and safe with Janet.
Dragon Meets Girl: Forgotten Dragons Book 2 Page 11
