Bad Dragons: Special Edition Complete Series

by Terry Bolryder

  It’s at least something to consider.

  And a distraction from the thoughts that are still making me numb.

  I stretch nervously, wondering how Griffin and Seth will react to seeing me. Will they be mad at me for getting us in this mess?

  I walk to my door and put a hand on the knob, and when I go to turn it, I hear a little click.

  When I open it, Rainier is outside waiting for me. He must have telepathically unlocked the latch when he sensed me there.

  There is something attractive about being with someone like Rainier. Everything would always be managed. Carefully taken care of. Everything would be… pristine.

  But there’s also a coldness emanating from him. A cool, collected frost that makes you think he just doesn’t operate like other people. Or other dragons.

  When I walk toward him, he stands and puts out an arm for me to take. I shake my head, but his brows lower and he keeps his arm out insistently. “You go down there with me or not at all.”

  I sigh and wrap my hand gently around his bicep, trying not to think about how big or hard or warm it is. Rainier sucks, I tell myself. He sucks.

  I feel him flinch slightly and feel somewhat guilty, but he deserves it. He imprisoned my friends.

  He walks me to the door that leads downstairs and takes my hand as we go down the spiral staircase together. When we reach the ground floor, he takes me to a nearby door, opens it, and starts down another flight of stairs. This one is straight.

  As we descend, I can feel the air get cooler. It’s like we’re going into a cellar, and I can smell wet earth.

  Our feet touch dirt, and we walk a few feet down a tunnel before he reaches a big steel door. He pushes it open, and I stare at the sight in front of me as he pulls me in.

  It’s a lab but unlike anything I’ve seen before.

  There are tables with crazy-looking equipment. Bottles bubbling on tables. Shelves filled with potions. Strange, mechanical machines moving on their own.

  Rainier pulls me through this room to a door on the other side.

  He pulls keys out of his pocket and unlocks the heavy wood-and-metal door, and when he pushes it open, I smile in surprise.

  Behind glass, there are two cells next to one another, and in them, surrounded by comfortable furnishings like a bed and table and chairs, are Seth and Griffin.

  Griffin stands in his cell, his red hair matted in every direction.

  “Tell him to stop pulling at it,” Seth says from his bed where he is lying down and reading. He cocks an eyebrow at Rainier. “Was all of this really necessary?”

  “I can’t trust you,” Rainier says softly, keeping my hand on his arm as he turns to face the other dragons. “You’re both criminals.”

  Griffin snarls and comes forward to slam both fists on the glass in front of him, and the force of it startles me. But the glass doesn’t break. “You shouldn’t trust us.” He snarls at Rainier. “You let me out, and I’ll show you just how criminal I can be, you fucking traitor.”

  “Tsk, tsk, such language,” Rainier says mockingly, pushing me slightly behind him as he steps forward to meet Griffin.

  They’re both tall, but Griffin is slightly taller and a lot broader. His jaw is set stubbornly, and his blue-gray eyes are ablaze. “Get your fucking hands off of her.”

  “I’m protecting her,” Rainier says in that soft, calm tone he always uses. “And you aren’t helping your case by acting like you’re going to lose it.”

  “I was protecting her,” Griffin says angrily, his face flushed as he slams a hand into the glass again. “Let me talk to her. Alone.”

  “As if I would,” Rainier says, rolling his eyes. Then he turns to me and slowly removes my hand from his arm and goes to sit in a chair at the back of the room that I didn’t see before. “You two can talk, though, I suppose. Anna did earn it.” Rainier is smirking at Griffin as he says it.

  Griffin glares at him and then at me, and I feel like I’m missing something that was just communicated between them.

  I look Griffin over, wanting to make sure he’s okay. Last time I was with him, he flambéed some wolves who were trying to kidnap me. Was I ever able to be properly grateful?

  “Don’t,” he says gruffly. “I was just protecting my investment.”

  I take a step back, shocked. “Investment?”

  Griffin’s eyes are on Rainier again, and they’re so cold they could burn. “Yeah. That’s all you are to me.”

  It’s so different from how he was when we were together last, and I don’t understand why.

  “I don’t get why you’re angry,” I say, taking a step back from the cell he’s in.

  “How is it going with the silver dragon?” Griffin sneers, pacing as he glares at Rainier. “You’ve got him wrapped around your finger already? Here I thought you were in trouble up there and I’ve been breaking myself against this cell to get to you, and you’re taking care of yourself just fine.”

  “I don’t know what you’re implying, but—”

  Griffin’s eyes narrow. “You know exactly what I’m implying.”

  I feel my cheeks flush. “No, I don’t.”

  “Why even bother to check on us?” Griffin asks, turning his back on me. “Why not just stay up there ‘earning’ things with the superior dragon?”

  “It’s a good question,” Rainier says glibly. “Because—”

  “Shut up!” Griffin says, turning and banging on the cell glass as he does so.

  “Griffin, calm down,” Seth says, pushing himself up on his bed weakly.

  My face pales, and I move over to Seth’s cell.

  “Are you all right?” I ask, putting my hand on the glass there.

  Griffin is quiet, and Seth looks up at me from the bed but doesn’t come over. “I’m doing fine.”

  “You’re not,” I say, studying his complexion.

  “Yeah, he’s not,” Griffin says. “But what should that matter when you get to mess around upstairs with our mortal enemy?”

  I glance at Rainier. “He’s your mortal enemy?”

  “He knocked us out and put us in cells.” Griffin snarls. “Yes. That makes him our enemy.”

  “You know, I don’t blame him for not trusting us,” Seth says, shrugging. “Especially with how you’re acting right now, slamming up against things, losing your temper.”

  “He put us in cells,” Griffin retorts. “He took our dragon heart.”

  Seth glances at me, and his eyes are a vivid green that makes me nervous. “She seems to be okay, though. Is Rainier treating you all right, Anna?”

  I nod. I’m pissed at Rainier, but right now, I’m also pissed at Griffin because he seems to be making some huge assumptions.

  “Nothing has happened between me and Rainier,” I say angrily, folding my arms over my chest. “But you don’t really have any claim on me.”

  “You’re right. I’m just an easy lay,” Griffin says, his voice full of pure venom as he stands a few feet from the glass and glares at me. “Why don’t you go have another one with your new boy toy?”

  “I’m a captive,” I say to Griffin, tightening my hands into fists. “Just like you are. And I played games with him because I wanted to come see you, you idiot.” My hands release and then clench back up again. I’m so angry. I thought Griffin would be happy to see me.

  I thought…

  “You thought wrong,” Griffin says indignantly, slumping into a chair with his back to me. “I decided not to sell you, but that doesn’t mean I’m not happy someone has taken you off my hands. You’re better off with the silver dragon. Just get out of here.”

  I stand there for a long moment, wondering what I did wrong, until I feel Rainier come up behind me, his hands resting gently on my shoulders as he turns me away.

  “Perhaps we should come back when our… friends are in a better mood.”

  “You’re not my friend, fuckwad,” Griffin mutters, not bothering to look at us.

  “No, you’re right. I’m not,”
Rainier says carefully, moving his hand around my waist. “But at least I know how to talk to a lady.”

  “How to kidnap one, you mean,” I say, trying to escape his arm as it bands around me like iron. “Stop it.”

  Griffin turns to face us, his expression gaunt. “No. Wait.”

  “Sorry,” Rainier says, pulling me with him to the door and ignoring my struggles. “I’m afraid we can’t stay long.”

  “Wait,” I say, trying to get back to them. “Seth needs serum, and—”

  “We can discuss the terms for that once we’re safely upstairs again,” Rainier says coolly as Griffin moves along his cell to keep his eyes on us as long as possible.

  “I swear, Silver, if you hurt her—”

  But Griffin’s threat is cut off by Rainier slamming the door shut behind us, then leaning against it with a sigh.

  As we walk toward the steps, he releases me.

  He’s quiet as we walk up the stairs to the bedroom again, and I’m just trying not to think of all the horrible things Griffin just said.

  By the time Rainier has led me back to my room, my eyes are starting to tear up again. I slump on the bed facedown because it has just been a really overwhelming couple of days since I came to the Blur.

  “I’m sorry,” Rainier says quietly, and I’m shocked when I feel his hands gently playing with my hair, pulling it out of the ponytail.

  I’m about to tell him to shove it because between Griffin’s rudeness and the memories of my sister, I’m totally drained, but then his fingers deftly massage my scalp and all I can do is sigh and flop forward.

  Putty in his hands.

  “I’m sorry about Griffin,” Rainier says. “He does care about you, but—”

  “Why do you care?” I ask, rolling onto my back to glare up at him. “You’re the one who ruined everything. We were—”

  “Things were going well?” Rainier asks. “Think again. Seth is on the verge of destroying himself and taking everyone with him, as usual, and Griffin is barely in control of his own rage. They’re both stronger than you know, which makes them dangerous. I was right to put them in a cage.”

  I frown. “They were doing just fine out of it. They hadn’t hurt me.”

  Rainier studies my face. “Griffin did. Today.”

  “Yes, a little,” I say, turning onto my stomach. “But sometimes he’s just… I don’t know. Something must have upset him.”

  “It doesn’t take much,” Rainier says, and his eyes get an angry, faraway look that hints at history I don’t understand. “Griffin can ruin a lot of things.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Rainier stands, ignoring my question. “Is there anything else you need before I leave you?”

  I push myself up to a sitting position. “Yes. Seth needs serum.”

  I’m realizing now that Rainier was protecting me in his own way by pulling me away from the dungeon and Griffin’s hard words.

  And he isn’t hurting them. So maybe I can request—

  “It won’t be easy to get,” he says carefully.

  “How long are you going to imprison them?” I ask.

  “I don’t know,” he says. “Until I get in touch with Lee maybe. See when he’s coming.”

  “And when he gets here?”

  “I’m not sure what his plans are. But whatever they are, they don’t involve Seth and Griffin.”

  “So why not set them free?”

  “We’d have a fight on our hands,” Rainier says. “They’d fight me for you, and I mean to have you.”

  “I don’t want any of you,” I say quickly. “I’m just here to help my sister, and—”

  “That’s not true,” Rainier says, silver eyes pinning me to the bed. “You care for Seth and Griffin. You will learn to care for me too.”

  I sigh. “Maybe, but—”

  “If you want serum, you will spend the day with me tomorrow. Somewhere I want to take you. After that, we can take serum to Seth and I’ll even let you talk to Griffin again—if he can behave himself.”

  I’m not sure I even want to see Griffin, remembering how rude he was, but at the same time, he did help me.

  He is my friend.

  “Fine,” I say. “I’ll go out with you for the day, and then you help them.”

  “Fine,” he says. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to plan a date.”

  My eyebrows screw up in confusion at his odd words, but he shuts the door and walks away before I can say anything.

  Why does he always do that?

  At least when I look down at my wrist, I notice he has left the cuff off.

  26

  Griffin

  “What the hell was that?” Seth asked, turning on his bed and placing both feet on the ground as he glared at Griffin.

  Griffin glanced over at Seth but didn’t want to face him. Not after how he’d be behaved when Anna came down.

  Seth let out a groan. “You’ve just made Rainier think you’re everything he always thought you were. Impulsive and mean and brash.”

  “I am,” Griffin said. “Did you forget that?”

  “I can see why you two never met up in this world,” Seth says. “You suck together.”

  “We were supposed to be partners,” Griffin said quietly, more to himself than anyone else. “He didn’t want me.”

  “And that justifies you yelling at Anna? Just when we were starting to win her over?”

  Griffin scowled. “You think she’s going to pick us? He isn’t going to let us out until he has won her over himself. And she’s softening toward him. I can feel it.”

  “Why does that matter?” Seth asked quietly. “Why would that change how she feels about us?”

  “I don’t know,” Griffin said. “I just think she’s going to choose him.”

  “Ah,” Seth said. “So you wanted to reject her first?”

  Griffin didn’t answer; he merely stayed on his back with his hands behind his head. He didn’t know what he wanted from Anna. Things had moved quickly.

  Maybe it was best if she did pick someone like Rainier to protect her. He clearly had the upper hand.

  Griffin could go back to his bears…

  But then he remembered her face flushed with passion, her lips against his, her body—

  “Keep picturing it,” Seth said. “That’s hot.”

  Griffin quickly pushed the thought from his head and glared at Seth. “That’s not for you.”

  “I sent her to you,” Seth retorted.

  “Yes, and I don’t understand why.”

  Seth pushed himself up, wincing slightly. “We have to start working together. It’s our only hope.”

  “I won’t work with Rainier,” Griffin said irritably. “He’s always thought he was better than everyone.”

  “True,” Seth said. “But maybe he was raised to think that.”

  “Maybe we were all shittily raised,” Griffin said angrily.

  “Maybe,” Seth said, eyeing the ceiling. “But maybe it’s time for us to decide if we are going to actually end up shitty.”

  Griffin went quiet at that, thinking of the things he’d said to Anna in pure jealousy. The way her beautiful face had gone pale.

  He’d seen Rainier’s smirk, heard his words about Anna “earning” the right to come see them, and red had clouded his vision.

  Rage that he’d gotten himself captured. Rage that he’d tried to trust someone who clearly only thought he was a thug. Rage that the woman he was starting to love was upstairs thinking he didn’t care about her.

  Why couldn’t he just be honest for once?

  “Maybe you’re right,” Griffin said softly. “Maybe it is time to be less shitty. But how?”

  “For starters, behave yourself next time Anna comes down.”

  “I’m not just going to sit in a cell and wait for Rainier to violate her.”

  “He won’t,” Seth said. “I know that about him.”

  “Why not? He kidnapped her.”

  “It doesn’t
make any sense,” Seth said. “It would be counterproductive to his true purpose, which is to convince her he is better than us.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “He must know something we don’t,” Seth said. “About how it works with dragon hearts. We assumed as much. That’s why we came to see him.”

  “A lot of good that did us,” Griffin said, standing and pacing angrily.

  All he could think about was Anna. Where she was. How she was feeling. Was she okay?

  And then he’d seen her and she’d been defending Rainier, who’d imprisoned them, and all Griffin could see was his own inferiority.

  Because he wasn’t as smart or as capable as Rainier, he would lose her.

  Then again, that’s why he had wanted to convince himself he could sell her. Because he’d wanted her from the moment he met her, and he’d known she would want someone else someday.

  Why would she want him when no one ever had?

  Seth was peering at him now, and Griffin hoped he was too tired to read his thoughts.

  “I think things will work out,” Seth said, lying back down again, looking pale. “Maybe tomorrow when we talk to her again, we can get more info.” He glared at Griffin. “That’s if she wants to talk to us after all you said.”

  Griffin frowned. “She knows I didn’t mean it.”

  “Yeah, well, you might want to think about only saying things you mean from now on, just in case she loses patience.”

  Griffin’s heart tightened, and he knew Seth was right. “I know. If I see her tomorrow, I’ll be better.”

  “Good,” Seth says. “Because it’s going to be hard enough for us to win her over without you scaring her away.” Seth turned onto his side to stare at Griffin. “Wait, what do you mean if you see her tomorrow? What if you don’t?”

  Griffin stared at the glass, knowing that in some ways, it definitely couldn’t hold him. Not if he really wanted to get out.

  “Then I’ll deal with it however I want to,” he said, thinking of Anna, of her wide eyes whenever she was frightened.

  Unlike Seth, he didn’t trust Rainier.

  So if he didn’t see his dragon heart tomorrow, he would find her himself and apologize and kick that silver dragon’s ass to kingdom come. And then…