“No violence. I promise. Just someone willing to pay a lot of money for my connections.”
“Who’s the Draak?”
“His name is Rio, I believe. He’s one of the Draakir, though I’m not sure how much that sets him apart from others. They all seem the same to me,” he laughed, but Taurus was one of the most well-educated men I knew. He knew the Draakir and the important members that were a part of it, which meant he probably knew exactly who it was that he was escorting.
“As long as there’s no violence,” I said, trying not to disappoint myself by asking more questions he wouldn’t answer. “I don’t really want attention from them. That’s why we live on the border, right? We don’t have to live under their rules. I mean, out here they don’t even notice us.”
“You know,” Taurus sighed. “These days, living in one of the sectors might be more beneficial than it was decades ago. We might want to think about moving closer to—”
“Living under Draak laws? You know the human council is just for show. They don’t actually have any pull when it comes to decisions. I wouldn’t live near a city if I was paid to. If I could, I’d leave the sector altogether and—”
“Anything is better than the outer territories,” Taurus cut me off. “Trust me on that.”
“At least out there, I can practice my knife skills on the scummy population.”
Taurus laughed. He often laughed at me as if my words were funny. I wasn’t amused.
“Times have changed,” Taurus said. “The outer territories are becoming more dangerous and the sectors are accepting more outsiders than ever before.”
“I can’t believe—”
“I’m just saying that we should remain open-minded.”
I narrowed my eyes with suspicion, adjusting my weight from one leg to the other. “Who exactly is this guy? Has he put some crazy thoughts in your head about Draak being just and honest or something? Because they’re not.”
Taurus nodded, lowering his head for a moment as if in defeat. “We’ll talk more when I return. There are...things I would like to discuss.”
“What things?”
“When I return,” he smiled, his expression something strange and unlike him. Suddenly I was worried, but felt unable to express it seeing as his bags were packed and his decision was made. I was upset, yes, but Taurus raised me not to depend on him. Clinging to him now would only make things worse, despite the fact that I thought this little job of his might get us in some kind of trouble with the wrong people.
I smiled. “I’m going to go see if I can get us some cheese and grapes from the Brint’s place. I’m really craving it for some reason.”
“Hey, Ever,” Taurus called after me as I left the barn. I turned over my shoulder to look at him. “I’d do anything for you, you know?”
I hesitated, another smile twitching slowly into view on my lips. “Same here,” I said softly.
11
Everly
. . .
I awoke to a fever that made my whole body feel hot and cold at the same time. I squirmed, hand still cuffed to the heater, and tried to let it pass. Lukan said my body would change. There were stories of women growing ill for days after being marked. I couldn’t help thinking of it like a disease. I took refuge on the cold floor, soaking in the cool breeze and the icy tile against my skin. It helped a little, until the fever turned to violent chills and the tile was no longer a comfort but an irritation.
I sat there shivering, annoyed, and trying to survive an excruciating headache that lasted for hours. The sun was just starting to cast its muted, pink rays over the horizon when I heard that unmistakable sound echo through the air. I stared out the open balcony doors at the sunrise, listening to the haunting drone that flowed in from the distance. It was a deep, monstrous sound fitting of the beast from whom it came.
The creature sunk from the clouds just enough for me to see its massive, deep-red silhouette. Morning light shot through the crimson webbing that spread across its titanic wing bones. I’d seen Draak in those immense forms before, but never so close and never so large.
As the beast soared toward the building, all I could think was that this was where my hell was going to begin. The spikes down the dragon’s back and the muscled hind legs that stretched out behind it as it flew made my blood stop as it neared. It could tear me apart with one swipe of its claws. One snap of its razor-sharp teeth. The ember-like glow of its eyes sent hateful chills down my spine. He could change his body, but those eyes were ever the same. Hot and filled with a raging fire that would never calm.
The dragon rode the wind toward the building and passed overhead. As it proceeded over the terrace, I finally absorbed its full size. It was a giant. Bigger than any statue or painting could have made them out to be with a wingspan that stretched hundreds of feet. Dragons grew continuously throughout the years. Draven, judging by his size, was old. Very old. The building vibrated when it landed in the vast yard outside. Curling my knees up to my chest, I closed my eyes and awaited whatever horrors Draven had in store for me. I had known sadists in my life and no matter his species, he was no different from any of them.
A long while passed before I heard voices outside the door to my empty room. One of them was Keera’s. She spoke gently and though I couldn’t hear what she was saying, I could hear the pleading tone in her words. When Draven replied, his smooth resonance didn’t match the aggressive way he’d spoken to me the previous day. He was almost caring toward her, but as soon as the door opened and he stepped inside, that familiar hatred respawned inside of me and compelled me to look away in disgust.
As weak as I felt, I wasn’t prepared, emotionally or physically, for a confrontation with him. He moved into the room with a calm gait, closing the door behind him. Despite what he’d probably heard, he didn’t seem angry or stressed like Lukan had been when he found me trying to jump to my death. Instead, he moved with unrushed steps in my direction, the leather of his pants stressing around his moving muscles.
I stared out the balcony doors toward the brightening sunrise, my raw wrist hanging in the metal cuff still attached to the bars where Lukan left me. In my peripheral, I could see Draven crouching down nearby. I could smell the leather and vetiver on him, but now there was a hint of smoke layered on his body. I could hear him sigh at the sight of my wrist and the spots of blood that had dropped on the floor beneath it. He uncurled his fist to reveal a small key and slipped it into the cuff’s lock in a much gentler manner than I would have expected. I tensed my jaw, getting more uneasy the closer he was.
“What did you do with him?” I muttered under my breath. “With Taurus. What happened to his body?”
Draven didn’t answer. I was livid. As soon as I heard the lock click and I felt the cuff give way, I leapt up and lunged at Draven. I had barely slept and my body felt as if it had been trampled by a herd of bulls, but somehow I had the adrenaline to attack him. I reached out for his neck, but when he dodged, I grabbed for a knife that I spotted hanging on his belt. Pulling it from the leather sheath, I made a slicing motion across his chest. He dodged again with a subtle lean back, avoiding me just as easily as the last time I’d tried to hurt him. I felt stupid, but I couldn’t just sit there and submit. I wanted him to know how much I hated his presence. How much I planned to fight each moment I was with him.
It didn’t take long for Draven to catch my wrist. With a small twist, the knife was ripped from my hand and tossed across the room with a clank. Draven swept his foot behind my leg and knocked me to the floor. A sharp vibration rattled through my skull when my head hit the ground, sending my vision spinning for a short moment. My skull was still raw from the last time that had happened in the maze and my headache redoubled. He moved on top of me, putting us in the same position we were in at the prison, only this time I was much more vulnerable. My robe had been thrown open in the tussle and he straddled one of my legs, the other bare thigh raised at his side, pressed against his hip. Draven pinned my wrists on
either side of my head, drawing pain from the one that I’d spent all night battering in an attempt to break free from the cuff. Looking up at him, I saw the burning embers in his eyes alive with energy, like flames caught in tiny, glass orbs. His copper hair hung around his face, framing features that I found offensive considering our situation.
Draven looked into my eyes so deeply I could feel his gaze burning my soul. He had removed his leather coat before entering the room and wore a simple, black shirt with long sleeves that were rolled to his elbows, showing off an array of deep, red markings down one forearm. Leather cuffs were tied around both of his wrists, each decorated with a fang or claw of some kind from an unknown beast.
I struggled under the weight of his body to no avail. He pressed himself against me, rocking his pelvis between my legs. I was seething. I writhed, but he held me firm, his lips slanting into a crooked smile.
“Let me go,” I demanded.
Draven’s eyes drifted toward my chest where the robe had fallen open enough to bare more of my breast than I would have liked. He slowly slid his hands off my wrists, looking at me in a way that said he’d knock me out cold if I tried anything. I stayed put, uncertain whether or not he’d just burn me alive right there if I moved. His eyes traced every line of my body down to the bare thigh. My muscles trembled with the idea that he could very easily force himself on me at that moment. He could do anything he wanted and no struggle of mine would sway him. He was stronger. He clearly had a potent disregard for human life. I was nothing but a toy. A pet. Something to entertain him when he needed to take out his anger and frustrations. I was half expecting him to hit me. Rape me. Humiliate me until I was an empty sack of a woman. He shot Taurus right in front of me. I was sure he was capable of all kinds of torture.
“You do have a certain appeal, you know,” Draven said, his head tilting at a curious angle.
I slowly moved my arms, watching Draven’s eyes for signs of aggression as I carefully pulled my robe closed over my chest, concealing my breasts and the small patch of scarring that carried over my shoulder. I was sure he’d seen it. His eyes had skimmed it more than once.
“I will never be yours.”
“We’ll see.” His eyes studied me further, observing the length of my tense limbs caught under his. “You’ve never been touched by any man, have you? Not in that way.”
I didn’t answer for fear of arousing his hunger, but I knew he could tell. Draak seemed to have a knack for knowing virgins. They could smell sexual innocence like it was a delicious meal set out on a table. There was no way he didn’t know.
His eyes shifted toward the wounds on my wrist and he slowly moved off of me and pulled me to my feet with a forceful tug on my arms. I wrapped my robe even tighter, holding it firm around my body before tying the sash. I wanted to cry, but at the same time, tears were the last thing I wanted to shed in front of this Draak. I felt slightly more broken every time he overpowered me and I wondered how long it would take for him to really shatter me.
No. I said I’d never stop fighting and I meant it. I clenched my jaw and glowered daggers at Draven as he slowly circled me like a lion sizing up its prey. His gaze breached every part of my body and despite the robe, I felt completely undressed in front of him. I turned gradually, never letting my back face him, arms crossed firmly over my chest.
“Tell me about yourself,” Draven said, swiping the knife off the floor as he passed it. I eyed the blade as he flipped it skillfully in his hand.
“No. What did you do with Taurus?”
“Does it matter? He’s dead.”
“You’re disgusting.”
He smirked, stopping to face me as he played with the blade between his fingers, making sure I was completely aware of it. “So small talk is out of the question and you want to skip right to the fun.”
My heart thumped nervously, my eyes getting another glimpse of the dagger in his hands, but I stood firmly in place and raised my chin.
“Get it over with,” I said. “Whatever you’re going to do, I’ve endured worse.”
He stepped forward abruptly, grabbing my arm. With a hard swing, he spun my back against the wall and stepped in close, pressing himself against me. I missed where the blade had gone, but when I felt the sharp tip against my stomach, I was suddenly terrified that he was really going to do it. He could split me open and spill my guts right there and that heated glare in his eyes said he wanted to. I was shaking, despite how much I wanted to hide my anxieties from him. He had to be loving it.
“No, you haven’t,” Draven whispered, leaning in close to me. His words sent shards of ice shooting painfully through my veins because I believed him. “This torture will be slow. You belong to me now and you’ll hate it for as long as I allow you to live. I’ll haunt your thoughts every day, even when you sleep. I won’t have to touch you to hurt you, but I will. Because I enjoy it. Soon, you’ll start to enjoy it as well and that’s where the real torture begins.”
“I would never—”
“You will, and I’ll oblige, and every time you’ll know that I’m the man who killed Taurus. You’ll hate yourself. In the end, I won’t have to do anything.”
“That’s all, huh?” I said, narrowing my eyes.
Draven let out a low chuckle and stepped away from me, sheathing the dagger on his belt. As he backed away, he shot me a look that would have seduced the clothes off any other woman. I wanted to cut up his face with my nails so badly I ached. When his hand came up and pressed to my clammy forehead, he let out another sigh.
“It’ll all have to wait,” he said. “You still have a fever. Go rest. You’re weak.”
He was good at delivering words that should have been caring with a cold sharpness. When he disappeared back through the door and into the hall, I let out a long breath that I wasn’t aware that I'd been holding. Keera entered the room almost immediately after him and rushed to my side. She tried to tend to my wrist, but I shrugged her off and marched out of the room, eager to put on something more than a thin, silk robe. Keera followed all the way to the room where my belongings had been dropped. I didn’t have much, but I would wear what few things I had over whatever they would give to me. Anything but red, I thought to myself.
“You should rest,” Keera said sweetly.
I was so sick of that phrase.
While I dressed, Keera stayed, hands tightly folded in front of her. It was almost annoying how small her presence was and how much she hovered over me.
Rifling through my things, I pulled out a set of dark jeans and a t-shirt to replace the robe I was wearing. As I got dressed, I took a scan of my room, a little surprised I hadn’t been thrown into some dungeon beneath the mansion. Everything was rustic and shaped to give the room an outdoorsy feel. Wood furniture and decor that came in all sorts of natural shapes made the place look somewhat medieval.
By the large window was a sofa covered in silver, satin pillows to match the bedding. On either side of it were two tall lamps that looked like they were growing straight out of the floor in winding wood branches topped with white lamp shades. Opposite the sitting area was a small fireplace set into the stone wall and a polished, driftwood table. I actually liked the style of the room, but I hated that it was in a manor belonging to Draak.
Sitting on the bed, I laced up my boots. I dressed in my leather jacket and a pair of black pants before tying my hair back into a sloppy braid that hung over my shoulder. Grimacing at the raw elegance of my chambers as I stood, I turned and walked toward Keera.
“I’m hungry,” I said. “If I’m going to be stuck here, I’ll need food.”
“Of course,” Keera said with a small bow of her head.
“Stop that.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Stop acting like a slave around me.” I pushed past her, starting down the hall with a stern gate. “I hate talking to the top of your head.”
“I just—”
“I don’t care why you do it, just don’t do it around me
.”
“Of course,” Keera said in the same, small tone.
She jogged a few paces now and then to keep pace with me, but once we reached the elevators, she took the lead as I had no idea where I was going. The lift was lined in bronze with a metal gate. I propped myself against the back wall with a slouch as Keera pressed the button for the second floor. As the elevator began its descent, I tried to think of ways to wriggle out of the horrible situation I was in. Suicide hadn’t worked and to be honest I was glad Lukan had stopped me. I didn’t want to die. Hell, I wanted to think I would have caught myself. I was being dramatic and angry and disgusted over how far I’d fallen into enemy hands. Draven’s hands.
When the elevator doors opened, I was hit with the pleasant smell of pastries and coffee. I walked forward across a white rug that trailed down a long passage with the same warm lighting as the other floors. Keera continued taking two steps for every one of mine so she could stay in the lead. We reached a large room with double doors that were propped open like welcoming arms. Inside was a long table draped in a white tablecloth and on it were bowls and trays of different fruit, toast, and pastries. I eyed it all, taking in a lungful of the coffee that wafted through the dining room. I loved coffee, but it was a rare occasion that I ever got to drink it in Greyport. Here they flaunted it all in a decadent display of wealth and luxury.
Lukan sat at the end of the table in a dark, grey shirt with a deep neckline. I cursed myself for thinking he was attractive for even a split second. Next to him was Ronan, who shot up from his seat as soon as he saw me and rushed over. When he hugged my waist I was almost angered by the fact that I wanted to hug the kid back. More than that, I wanted to tell him to run and never become like his brothers, but instead of doing either of those things, I faked a smile and ran a hand over the kid’s silky, black hair.
Just as my smile faded, my eyes caught a glimpse of Draven standing at the other end of the table taking a bite out of an apple. He wore a constant smirk on his lips when he looked at me, eyeing me like I was his next course. Shaking with disdain, I stepped away from Ronan and cleared my throat to dislodge the lump of hate that was festering inside me, moving my head from side to side to relieve the tension I was feeling in my neck.
Ash Bringer (A Storm of Fire: Paranormal Dragonshifter Romance Book 1) Page 7
