by Lola Gabriel
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Morgan snapped.
“That’s a long story, Morgan, and right now, we’re risking being seen. We’ll explain everything once we have you somewhere nice and quiet,” he said.
“Like hell,” Morgan said.
She let her dragon come forth and began to turn. She felt scales exploding over her body, power flooding through her veins.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” the other man shouted. “Unless you want this man’s blood on your hands.”
Morgan glanced over at them. The man stood over the cab driver, who was still unconscious on the ground. He held a blade to the man’s throat. Reluctantly, Morgan swallowed her dragon back down, feeling the scales receding, her power ebbing away. The man with the knife smiled at her.
“Good choice,” he said.
The man holding her arm began to move and Morgan felt herself being dragged along. She gave up resisting the pull and walked normally. The man stopped pulling at her arm, walking by her side, although he didn’t relax his grip on her. Morgan figured the best plan was for her to wait until the men were far enough away from the cab driver to be able to hurt him, and then turn and end this thing.
“Ow!” Morgan cried indignantly when they reached the other car and she felt a needle being jabbed into her arm. “What the hell was that?”
“Just a little insurance,” her captor grinned. “It’ll stop you turning.”
Morgan instantly tried to bring out her dragon and panic flooded her when she couldn’t do it. The men had successfully neutralized her dragon. The second man moved away from the cab driver and opened the back door of the car. The man holding Morgan shoved her roughly toward the open door.
“Get in,” he commanded.
“Wait,” Morgan said. She knew she was risking her life by arguing with the men, but she couldn’t just get in the car and let them kill the cab driver. She nodded toward him. “Whatever this is, he has nothing to do with it.”
“And as long as you cooperate, he won’t be harmed. He’s unconscious, but that’s all,” one of the men said.
Morgan knew it was the best she could do for the cab driver and she let herself be pushed into the car. The door slammed behind her. As soon as the men turned away, Morgan reached for the handle of the door. It wouldn’t budge. She leaned across the seat, already knowing the other door would be stuck fast but needing to try it anyway. She was right; the door handle wouldn’t budge.
A sheet of metal grating covered the seat backs in front of her, keeping her from moving to the front of the car, and she knew with her dragon subdued, she wouldn’t be strong enough to kick it down. She thought about trying anyway, but she knew if she did, she was signing the cab driver’s death warrant and she didn’t want that hanging over her head.
She watched out of the window as the two men dragged the cab driver to the side of the road. At least they’re not leaving him where he could be run over, Morgan thought to herself. One of them moved to the cab and came out clutching her handbag and suitcase. He walked to the trunk of the car and threw them in there.
“That’ll stop the police learning they have a missing person if someone spots the cab driver and calls them,” he said in a self-satisfied tone that made Morgan want to roll her eyes.
The other man slammed the hood closed and both men got into the front seats of the car. The engine started on the first go and Morgan gasped. The men laughed.
“There was no engine trouble,” one of them said. “Just a bit of steam to make it look good.”
The driver turned the car back onto the road and they sped off.
“Where are you taking me?” Morgan asked. “Who are you?”
The men exchanged glances and the driver shrugged.
“I’m Shem and this is Marty,” he said. “And you’ll see where we’re taking you soon enough.”
“What is this? What do you want with me?” Morgan demanded.
Shem sighed.
“Listen, lady, enough with the questions. When we get where we’re going, we’ll explain everything. Or maybe we won’t. But for now, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the view, okay?”
Morgan felt like she would never be able to relax again, but Shem and Marty were just ignoring her questions now and eventually, she fell silent, trying to work out who they were and what they wanted from her.
Morgan glanced at her watch. It was almost noon and she had been in the cage now for nearly an hour. That meant she was about three hours’ drive away from the cottage. She had no real idea where that put her geographically, and it made no difference anyway. It wasn’t like she could call the police or anything.
The men had hauled her from the car when they reached this area, a mountainous area covered in rocks and large trees, still in the middle of nowhere. They had dragged her into a cave and she had baulked when she saw the large metal cage inside, but as much as she had tried to resist the men, they had pulled her to the cage like she weighed nothing. She had been thrown inside and the door was locked and then the men had left her there alone.
Morgan could see no way out of this. At least not until whatever they had injected into her to curb her dragon wore off. Then she would be able to turn again and she knew her dragon would be strong enough to get through the bars.
Morgan sighed. She felt all churned up inside, a mixture of fear and yes, as strange as it felt to admit it, boredom. Each minute that passed felt like an hour. Morgan jumped up from the floor where she sat when she heard footsteps approaching the cave.
“Hello? Is someone out there? Please help me!” Morgan shouted.
She heard a laugh and then Shem came into sight.
“Do you really think we’re keeping you where people will be walking by?” he said, shaking his head.
Morgan shrugged her shoulders. She hadn’t really thought that at all, but it would have been foolish not to at least try and attract someone’s attention when she heard movement.
“I think it’s time you learn the truth about why you’re here. Don’t you?” Shem said.
Morgan nodded her head. Although she was afraid to hear she was going to be killed or used in some awful way, she thought the not knowing had to be even worse. She had imagined some awful scenarios and surely the truth couldn’t be as bad as the things her imagination had cooked up.
“As you know, my name is Shem. What you don’t know is that I am the alpha dragon of the resistance movement pack, and you, dear Morgan, have just become a big part of that,” Shem said.
“I don’t understand,” Morgan said, frowning.
“Oh, come on now, don’t play dumb with me. Surely Draven has told you about us.”
Morgan thought for a moment and then her eyes widened.
“You’re part of the pack who wants to overthrow the ruling couple and take over,” she said.
“Not exactly,” Shem smiled. “I have no intentions of taking over anything. We believe that every pack should be free to live their own way, by their own rules. The idea of one supreme ruler, or two in this case, is outdated and things need to change.”
“So, let me guess,” Morgan said. “You think you can use me as some sort of bargaining chip? Get the ruling couple to give up their power in exchange for my life?”
Shem nodded and smiled.
“You catch on quickly,” he said.
“You’re wasting your time,” Morgan said with a bitter laugh. “The ruling couple doesn’t care about me.”
“Oh, don’t worry, we know that. I mean, it’s nothing personal, I’m sure they think you’re a great match for their son and all that, but they have no interest in even hearing us out, let alone negotiating with us. They would happily sacrifice your life and condone it by saying it was for the good of the whole pack,” Shem said.
“So what? You’re going to kill me either way just to send some sort of a message? Tell the pack what happened and hope they overthrow the ruling couple themselves?” Morgan asked.
“N
o,” Shem said. “We did consider that. But Marty, he’s my beta by the way, brought up a very good point. There is a chance the pack would rebel against the ruling couple if they learned what they had done. But there is also a chance they would sympathize with them. And then they would become even more heroic in the eyes of the pack. Making the hardest choice to save them and all that, you know.”
“Right,” Morgan said. “So, what’s your plan?”
She didn’t really expect Shem to tell her, but he smiled and started to explain.
“Well, the ruling couple might be willing to sacrifice your life to save the whole pack. But they’re not going to sacrifice their own son’s life, not for anything. So we plan on using you to draw him in.”
Morgan actually laughed. She couldn’t help herself. Shem raised an eyebrow at her laughter and Morgan shook her head.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just ironic. Your plan would have been genius except for one thing. Draven doesn’t care about me any more than his parents do.”
“You’re his one true mate. You expect me to believe he doesn’t care about you?” Shem said.
“I’m not his one true mate. He asked me to play the role to fool his parents so they don’t question why the enchantment isn’t working. He doesn’t want a mate,” Morgan said.
“Is that what he’s telling himself? Oh, that’s cute,” Shem said.
It was Morgan’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
“The enchantment isn’t something you can fight. It works whether you want it to or not. If you’re speaking the truth, which I think you are, then Draven has told himself he came up with this plan, but the truth is, the enchantment is working. It pushed him straight to you because you are his one true mate.”
Morgan felt butterflies in her stomach at Shem’s words. Could it be true? She couldn’t let herself believe that. And besides, even if it were true, Draven had no idea where she was or what had happened to her, and if Shem made it known to him, Joy and Miller wouldn’t let Draven come running to her rescue. Either way, she was going to lose him and probably end up dead.
“So, there you have it,” Shem said. “And now you have a choice. Once we lure Draven in, we no longer have a use for you. So we can kill you, or you can join the resistance. The repression potion will wear off after twenty-four hours and if you choose to join us, then obviously you won’t be given any more. What will it be?”
“Go to hell,” Morgan snapped.
Shem smiled.
“I thought you might say something along those lines. But take some time to think about it. Think very carefully about the fact that the ruling couple would be quite willing to sacrifice your life and ask yourself if that’s really the sort of rule you want for a pack you’re a part of.”
Shem turned and walked away before Morgan could respond. She knew that whatever happened, she would never join forces with a monster like Shem. He could tell himself that this whole thing was about freedom all he wanted, but the fact was, the ruling couple system worked. It had kept the dragons safe for centuries, and Morgan suspected that Shem was all talk; she suspected that his plan was really to take over ruling the dragons himself and how that would play out, she dreaded to think.
Maybe it’s a good thing Draven doesn’t love me, she thought. Because if he did, he would come here to save me and end up playing right into Shem’s hands. She ignored the little voice that whispered in her ear, the little voice that told her that maybe Shem was right about how the enchantment worked. She couldn’t let herself have hope now, because when it was inevitably dashed, it would break her completely.
8
Draven had moved on from the stream, but he still hadn’t found the courage to return to the cottage and tell his parents the truth about Morgan. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn’t just because he knew how angry they would be. He didn’t want to tell them because saying the words out loud would make it real, and he couldn’t imagine a world where Morgan hated him this much.
He tried calling her again, and again, her cell phone went through to her voicemail. He didn’t bother leaving her another message. She hadn’t responded to any of the other messages he had left, so what was the point?
Draven forced himself to start heading back toward the cottage. He knew he couldn’t put this off forever and the sooner he told his parents what had happened, the quicker he could go back home and try to get Morgan to talk to him.
Draven felt his heart leap in his chest when his cell phone rang in his pocket. He told himself not to get his hopes up—it was probably one of his parents calling to see if they wanted to go out for lunch or something—but his thoughts didn’t slow his racing heart down. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen, then punched the air in delight when he saw Morgan’s name there.
“Morgan. Thank God,” he said as he took the call. “Please just let me explain.”
“Draven. How good to finally hear your voice,” a man said on the other end of the line.
Draven frowned, his relief turning to anger.
“Who the hell is this?” he demanded. “Why do you have Morgan’s cell phone?”
“My name is Shem,” the voice said. “I assume you know who I am?”
Draven’s heart sank and anger flared up in his stomach. He knew exactly who Shem was and it seemed that his worst fear had come true.
“If you’ve hurt her…” he started.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to be making threats, Draven,” Shem said. “But for the record, no, I haven’t hurt her. And I don’t plan to hurt her. As long as your parents do my bidding.”
“How much do you want?” Draven said.
He knew this wasn’t about money; he wished it was that simple. He could pay whatever Shem wanted—but he wanted to play a bit dumb, see if Shem would give anything away. And there was a tiny part of him that hoped that Shem wasn’t as invested in this cause as he made himself out to be. Maybe the idea of more money than he would know what to do with would sway him.
“Two million dollars? Three million dollars?” Draven added. “Name your price, Shem.”
“I think we both know I don’t want money,” Shem said. “But it’s good to know you value Morgan so highly. It makes me think you’re going to be extremely motivated to convince your parents to play by the rules.”
Draven had known the bribe wouldn’t work, but he was still disappointed to hear it confirmed.
“What do you want?” he asked.
Again, he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it out loud, hoping against hope that maybe Shem wanted less than he imagined, something he could actually deliver.
“I want your parents’ written agreement that they will step down as the ruling couple and disband the whole archaic ruling system. And in return, Morgan will be released,” Shem said.
He said it casually, as though he was requesting something simple. Draven knew for a fact that his parents would never agree to that, but he wasn’t about to tell Shem that. He knew that if he gave him any indication that his demands wouldn’t be met, Shem would kill Morgan now just to spite him.
“It might take some time for me to convince them to do that,” Draven said.
“You have roughly twenty hours,” Shem said. “Morgan believes she has been injected with a potion that will suppress her dragon for twenty-four hours. And indeed she has. But what she doesn’t know is the potion is so much more than just a suppression potion. If the effects aren’t reversed within twenty-four hours, the potion will kill her.”
“And how can they be reversed?” Draven demanded.
“Oh, that’s easy. True love’s kiss will reverse the effects of the potion. So I suggest you start working on your parents very quickly. Once you convince them to give me what I want, text Morgan’s cell phone and I will send you the details of where to meet me. Tick tock, Draven, tick tock.”
The line went dead. Draven roared in anger and slammed his cell phone back
into his pocket. He already knew his parents would never agree to Shem’s demands. And the worst part about it was, even if they did, he couldn’t save Morgan now. He couldn’t give her what she needed to reverse the potion. True love’s kiss.
The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Draven. He had known the second he saw Morgan’s name on the screen of his cell phone that she was his one true mate. He was desperately in love with her; he saw it now. But now she hated him and his kiss wouldn’t work to save her.
“Fuck!” Draven yelled.
How the hell did I get Morgan into this mess? he thought to himself. He didn’t have the answer to that question, but he knew that he had to get her back out of the mess. Whatever it took. He also knew that his parents would never agree to Shem’s terms. They would likely send in someone to try and rescue Morgan, but that left too much opportunity for things to go wrong. No, Draven thought to himself. I got Morgan into this and now I need to be the one to get her back out of it. And once she is free, then I’ll work out a way to make her see that this was all a mistake, that I love her more than life itself. I’ll make her forgive me somehow and then true love’s kiss will save her.
Draven pulled his cell phone back out, ready to send the text message Shem had requested. He stopped himself before he started to type. He had told Shem he would need time to convince his parents to do this, and Shem was no fool. If he messaged him too quickly, he would smell a rat.
It was going to be hard, but Draven knew he had to let a good few hours pass before he texted Shem.
The last four hours had been the longest, most agonizing hours of Draven’s life. Even worse than the hours he had spent this morning going over and over losing Morgan in his mind. Because this time, he could really lose her for good. And each minute that passed brought her closer to death, closer to being gone forever. Every moment that had passed had left Draven berating himself more and more for not doing something, anything, to try to save Morgan.
