Flood remained serious. A single frown line marred his forehead. “You would know.”
“Know what?” she asked. Sticking her foot into her mouth at every turn, it would seem.
“How much blood it would take to fill my cock, since you’ve seen it.” His eyes never left hers, or wavered.
“Oh…yeah… About that…your clothing was ruined and bloody and…I didn’t even look…there. I didn’t! I swear!” she lied through her teeth. Mumbling and bumbling. Again, sounding like a teenager.
One side of Flood’s mouth quirked up for just a second or two. His eyes lit up, just a touch. Then again, it was better to say they became less dark because there was nothing light about them, not ever. “If you say so, female.” There was humor laced into each word.
She cleared her throat. “I do…say so. I didn’t…look,” she whispered.
“I don’t mind you looking at my cock, so no need to try to hide it.” His voice was low.
“Okay.” She licked her lips, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. “Whatever,” she mumbled, feeling embarrassed to her core. She needed this conversation to end.
“Shifters don’t have hang-ups about being naked. Not like humans. We spend much of our time naked.”
“I could tell.” Why had she just said that? Why couldn’t she keep her trap shut?
He frowned. She could see the question in his eyes. It was just a matter of time before he asked her why she had made that comment.
“You don’t have any tan lines.” She felt her cheeks heat all over again.
“So you were checking me out.”
“No!” she cried, trying to keep her voice to a low whisper. “It’s not like that, I…”
Flood smiled. Full on smiled, deep dimples appeared on either side of his mouth. They were so darned cute. “I know that. I was only teasing you.”
“Thank you.” She leaned forward and took his hand, suddenly feeling a rush of emotion. “Thank you for saving me.” Her eyes stung and she blinked a few times.
“I didn’t do a great job of it.” He shook his head. “So no need to thank me.” His deep frown lines reappeared.
“You did save me.” She nodded, squeezing his hand tighter. “You weren’t supposed to help me, remember? We were on our own.”
“I know.” He pushed out a breath. “It was a stupid thing to do but I couldn’t watch that play out for even a second longer.” He clenched his teeth for a second or two, anger flaring in his eyes. “And technically I didn’t actually help you. That female came.” Then he frowned, looking like he was thinking really hard as his eyes narrowed. “There was a female, wasn’t there?”
“Yes, turns out that she’s the boss they keep talking about.”
“She stood up for you?” Flood didn’t look like he believed it.
“Yes.”
“We’ll talk about it later. It’s dangerous to talk now. I need to rest.” His lids looked heavy, and his blinks had turned slow.
“Okay.” She nodded. “I’m glad you’re not doing too badly.”
He made a snorting sound. “I was about a day ‒ two tops ‒ away from gaining back my strength. That’s not the case anymore. My hip is shattered.”
She winced. “I thought it might be.”
“I lost a lot of blood as well.” He shook his head, running a hand over his face, the thick stubble catching. “It’s going to take time to heal, all over again.”
“You must be in agony!” How was he even talking?
Flood shrugged. “I can handle the pain. I can’t take just lying here.”
She could see he was struggling to stay awake. His lids looked heavy, his voice was thick with fatigue. “Rest,” she whispered.
He nodded once, closed his eyes and was asleep in seconds.
“Tell me about this female.” Flood’s voice punctured the darkness, bringing her back from the sleep that was threatening to tug her under.
She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Once again, they lay side by side on the mattress. Flood was under the blanket. She was feeling the cold, especially since she was in only a t-shirt. Paige shrugged. “Nothing much to tell. She was well-dressed, well-spoken and…nice. Although, I realize she’s keeping us captive, so, she’s not really nice, is she?” she whispered.
“No! Not even a little bit.”
“I mean she wasn’t too upset about the guy you killed. She was pretty unperturbed by all of it. Not even about what they almost…did to me. She was more pissed about him disobeying orders and almost killing you.” She paused, gathering herself. “She pretty much gave them a slap on the wrist for planning to rape me. She’s a woman, you would think she would have more…empathy.”
“What did she look like?”
“Medium height. She looked like she worked out…nice body, I mean.” Stick to the facts, Paige. “Her clothing was high-end. Her blouse looked silk and she wore a string of pearls. In high heels and a skirt…she looked out of place down here. Her hair was colored and styled, definitely professionally done. Her nails were manicured. She just didn’t fit. She looked rich. Like she would be better suited sipping cocktails with a pint-sized pooch on her lap. You know the type.”
She heard him move. “Yes. Anything out of the ordinary? Did anything stand out about her?”
“No…” Wait just a second. She had seen something. “Actually, there was, yes, she had a tattoo, which seemed weird as well.”
His whole body stiffened. “Where was this tattoo?”
“That’s the thing. I wouldn’t peg her for the tattoo type at all. If she were to get one, I’d say she’d go for something concealed. Not on her hand.”
“Her hand.” His voice was gruff. “You sure about that?”
“Very. I think it was on her left hand… Yes, it was definitely on the left on the top part, in the middle. It really stuck out.”
“What was the tattoo of? Could you make it out?” His voice was animated. She could hear he was working to keep it down.
“I don’t know. I couldn’t make it out. It was small and black. No color.”
She heard him grind his teeth, the sound reverberating around the cell.
“What does that mean? You know something, don’t you?”
She could hear him breathing, could feel the tension radiate off of him. “It means we’re in deep shit. This is just as bad as I thought.”
“You know something about this tattoo? About this woman?”
“I don’t know her. I don’t have to.” He moved, shifting his weight. She heard him groan. “She’s a slayer. These are definitely hunters. The males are hired help but she’s something else entirely.”
“What is she then? Who is she?”
“That tattoo is of an eye. The All Seeing Eye. She belongs to a group. A society. They’re made up of generations of slayers. They all have a tattoo like the one you saw.”
“Slayers?”
"Dragonslayers. Relations to the males who slaughtered our kind many years ago. I'm sure you've heard tales of dragon slayers even in human tales. Of how they came with their swords and spears. It seems that although they thought us long gone, they still saw fit to pass down knowledge about our species from fathers to sons, through the generations. The ancestors of these bastards almost wiped us out hundreds of years ago. I think they believed we were gutted and buried. Ash. Until recently that is, when we were forced to take human females for mates. Not all of the earlier meetings were successful. Some females returned home. Apparently, there are those who talked because the helicopters started coming soon after. Flying grids over our territory. Searching for signs of life. Looking for more blood, no doubt." He paused, like he was thinking about telling her something else of obvious importance. Then he continued. "The invasions stopped some months back when one of their choppers crashed…I won't get into the details. It's been quiet for so long we thought having a hunt would be safe. We were wrong."
"Dragonslayers." It seemed far-fetched and yet, here they were. These people had not be
en shocked at finding them. They knew what Flood was even though they hadn't seen him shift. They weren't shocked to see those dragons give chase. They knew. This had all been planned. This bunker was newly built.
“Ruthless. Blood hungry. The real slayers will be extremely wealthy ‒ most of them, at any rate.”
“That woman looked like she came from money. Everything about her screamed wealth.”
He pushed a breath out through his nose. “They stole from us all those years ago. Took everything we had amassed. All of our…treasure. Now they’re back for more.”
“Treasure?” She could hear the shock in her voice. “What treasure? They’re crazy, right? It’s not like you dragons have anything to give.” All that talk of mines.
“I’ve said too much,” he said. “You’re right! We have nothing for them. They will take what they can, though, and they won’t be happy until every last one of us is dead. That is their real mission. To exterminate us.”
A shiver of dread made her clasp her arms around herself. He was right. Somehow, she knew it. There were facts but then there was also this gut feeling. It took money and lots of it to build an underground bunker like this. To infuse the bars with silver. To infuse weaponry. The helicopter would have cost plenty too. She shivered again.
“You’re cold,” he said.
“I’m okay.” She was cold, but the shivers had nothing to do with the temperature.
“Get under the blanket.”
“You may not have noticed but this is a single mattress. You take up most of it…which I understand,” she quickly added. “You’re also naked. Sharing would be…awkward. I’ll be fine.”
“Sharing would be the clever thing to do,” he whispered. “You might get sick otherwise. Get under the blanket. You’ve already seen me naked, so we may as well snuggle.”
“Um…I… It… It’s hardly the—” she spluttered.
Flood chuckled. “Get under the covers already. Stay warm. I’m joking about the snuggling part, although I wouldn’t mind. It would be for survival reasons. I wouldn’t take it the wrong way.”
Flood was right. She was damned cold. Her arms were covered in gooseflesh and her legs had that stiff feeling. The blanket would help and Flood was like a big hot-water bottle. He’d keep her toasty. She just wished they’d find some pants for him soon.
She climbed under the blanket, lying on her side. Even though she was on the tiniest bit of mattress, her back instantly warmed. It was against the naked length of him. Not thinking about that right now. This is for survival purposes. She needed to do whatever it took to keep them alive and safe. Staying healthy herself was a good start. She pulled the blanket over her shoulders, clutching it to her chest. Much better.
“I can’t do that again,” he whispered.
“Do what?”
“Protect you,” he said. “They’ll think we have an alliance, or that I have feelings for you or some bullshit like that. It’ll make it more difficult for you in the long run. The slayer female is here now, things are about to get rough around here.”
Paige frowned. “She had them bring this blanket. She’s the reason we got to brush our teeth. I know it’s her who organized hot meals for this evening as well. I know she’s still bad news, but things have improved.”
“Don’t be lulled into thinking everything is going to be fine from here on out. It’s not.”
“Yeah, I know. I guess it’s wishful thinking.” Stupid of her!
“Be on your guard and stay strong. I’m sorry if they end up hurting you.” His voice was gruff. “Your friends too,” he tacked on, reminding her that this wasn’t personal. They may have saved each other’s lives a couple of times but they still weren’t friends. Despite being pressed up tight against his naked body, she’d never felt more alone. She fought the tears that threatened to fall. This was no time to cry. It was time to be stronger than she had ever been in her life.
Chapter 12
The next day…
The guard swiped the card attached to the lanyard around his neck. He pushed the cell door open. “Come with us.” It was the same guard from the day before. The one who had brought the supplies. “The boss wants to have a word with you.”
They’d just finished eating breakfast. Boiled eggs, toast and a juicy plum. The food immediately turned to cement inside her stomach. “What does she want to talk about?”
“I don’t have a clue. Come on.” He glanced over his shoulder down the hallway. “We don’t want to keep her waiting.”
Paige nodded, she followed the guard. Another one stood just outside the cell. It was the fourth guy from the helicopter. She couldn’t recall his name. It felt like forever ago since they were first captured. Paige looked back to where Flood was lying. Dark eyes met hers for a split second before closing again. She’d also seen his frown lines. Flood was worried. He didn’t move though. Didn’t try to intervene. Then again, it wasn’t like he was in a position to help her. Even if he wanted to and even then he’d made it clear that he wouldn’t. The wounds on his chest were healing up nicely. His hip still had a way to go though. A silver bullet had broken bone and pulverized flesh. It had been blood loss on top of more blood loss. Flood would be ‘man down’ for a couple more days.
She allowed herself to be led down the hall. She glanced left, catching the quizzical gazes of the other women. There was no time to talk. They led her through a set of white double doors into a small room. There were two doors on the far side. The guard headed to the door on the right and knocked twice. Everything was stark white, from the vinyl floors to the walls.
“Come in.” Paige recognized the feminine voice.
The guard opened the door and they all filed into a cramped office. It was small but well appointed. The desk looked like hardwood teak.
"Sit." She gestured to one of the chairs. They were covered in soft, white leather. Hanging on the wall behind her was a large abstract painting. It was colorful and drew the eye. The boss lady was wearing a form-fitting red dress. It had a thin black belt that clasped just below her breasts. Her lips were the same color red. Paige was sure that if she looked under the table, she'd be in stockings and heels. Her ears were adorned with simple solitaire diamonds that probably cost more than Paige made in a year.
Blood money.
The woman wrinkled her nose. “There are showers in the cells.” She turned to the guard. “Did you give our guests those toiletry items like I requested?”
Guests. Paige had to hold back a laugh. Yeah right!
The guard nodded. “Yes, they all received their supplies.”
“Why didn’t you use them?”
Paige licked her lips. “Thank you for the supplies.” She’d better play nice. She’d first see where this was going before digging her heels in. She knew it was stupid to be hopeful after talking with Flood, but…she couldn’t help it.
The woman sat back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest. Her hand concealed. Maybe it wasn’t a tattoo of an eye. Maybe she wasn’t one of those slayers. Maybe this had all been a misunderstanding. Any second now this woman was going to tell them that they could go. Paige knew she was being silly to think along those lines but she still couldn’t help herself. “I’m sure you noticed that the cells are open. Anyone can walk by and,” she paused for a few seconds, “look in and well, I share with a guy. I don’t know him. I…”
The woman laughed, she covered her mouth with her hand and an eye tattoo starred back at her.
An eye.
It was an eye.
Shoot!
She was a slayer. This wasn’t a misunderstanding. She and the others were in grave danger like Flood had said. This woman was attractive, she was well-dressed and well-spoken, but appearances could be deceiving. They very often were.
Paige quickly looked the other woman in the eye; if she stared at the ink, it would give her knowledge away. Not that she knew much. She knew something though, which could be misconstrued. Her stomach gave a lurch and sh
e touched a hand to her belly, trying to hold back the nausea.
“Sit down, Paige. You may call me Alex.”
“Short for Alexandra?” Paige asked, wanting as much info as she could on the woman. They were getting out of there. They were! They had to. When they did, she wanted information to pass on.
Alex cocked her head and folded her arms again. The picture of calm. “Not short for anything. My father hoped for a boy. He planned on naming him after my grandfather. There was no boy! Just me. Alex isn’t short for anything. Now, you do know that shifters have no misgivings about being naked. There are no cameras pointing directly into the cells. You have no excuse for not showering.”
“No cameras that we know of. Look—”
“You have my word there are no cameras facing directly into the cells,” Alex interrupted.
Her word. Huh! Didn’t count for much.
“You will shower,” Alex went on, narrowing her eyes as she spoke. Then she pressed her lips together in disdain.
“What’s the point if we can’t even change our clothes?” This was a farce.
“You make a good point.” Alex nodded once. “Organize clothing,” she ordered the guard, flicking her eyes his way for a second.
“That’s easier said than done,” he said. “Items will be too big for the women and too small for the shifter.”
“Forget about the shifter. He can stay naked. It will make our interrogations easier with all of his skin bared. The women can roll up the sleeves and pants or go without.” Alex looked pointedly at her.
“We’ll roll up the sleeves,” Paige conceded.
“I’m willing to meet all of you halfway. I want your stay with us to be comfortable.”
Paige choked out a laugh. “I’m sorry.” She put up a hand. “You’re keeping us prisoner. We’re not guests. This whole situation isn’t comfortable.”
Alex smiled and cocked her head. “Trust me when I tell you that things are very comfortable right now. You’re being treated with nothing but kindness.”
“I almost got raped!” Paige yelled. She couldn’t help herself.
The Water Dragons Box Set: Books 1 - 4 (Complete) Page 28
