Must Love Dragonsl (Space Dragons Seek Mates Book 1)

by Michelle Ziegler

  “Donnie, you never had me.”

  He snarled. Maddie had never seen what a half-breed might look like, but she supposed this was the Fae nature. Jealous. Fickle.

  He took a step towards her. Her skin began to burn, the fire was coming to protect her. She would do whatever it took to get back to her dragon, her Kal, her mate.

  A thunderous roar filled the room as the door dented.

  He was here.

  13

  A battle cry ripped from him as he rammed into the door.

  Fuck. All he’d done was dent the fucking thing. This wasn’t working.

  Think. He needed to be smarter than these humans. Scanning the door, another small pad caught his eye. He slammed the keycard on it. A red light lit up. Of course it did. Stupid humans.

  Nothing would stand between him and his mate. Anger shook him as Maddie’s emotions ripped through him like torrential rains. Her desperation. Disgust. Fear.

  Think. What did he have? He wasn’t the brains of the group; he was the brawn. And right now, the brawn was losing the damn fight. He ripped at the panel with his claws.

  Colored wires.Wonderful.

  Cy, what wire controls the circuit.

  Within a second he got his answer.

  Try purple. Most of the tech here is magnet based.

  Kal growled.

  I don’t care what it is.

  He searched the panel. Red, Green. Something that might be purple.

  You care, Kal. You need to cut the power.

  He followed the wire. It looked different. Sure. Why not? Leaning in, he sniffed the cable. It had an electrical scent stronger than any other. Hesitation took a leap off a cliff as a rip of pain hit him in the heart. Fuck it.

  He sliced through the purple wire.

  A buzzing sound stopped and then he heard a click.

  One more time, he was getting to her if he had to rip the entire building apart. Kal shoved his shoulder into the door once more, this time the door swung open.

  Maddie lay on a bed, the surrounding fabric singed.

  The asshole in front of him however, did not look okay. No. In Kal’s head he was already dead.

  “You touched my mate,” he growled.

  Donnie seemed to uncurl and grow an inch or two, but Kal really didn’t see the difference as he looked down on the small halfling creature. He didn’t care what Donnie was or how big he tried to be.

  “She isn’t yours. You can’t just claim her like property.”

  Donnie paused, a sneer spreading across his lips.

  “I already tried, and she doesn’t seem to tolerate that.”

  Kal’s eyes grew wide.

  He glanced from Maddie to Donnie.

  She started to whimpier. “Kal. Just take me out of here. Ignore him. Just get us out of here.”

  His heart broke. The scent of her terror curled his nose. Why wasn’t she coming to him? Reaching for her in his mind, the emotions rushed in clearly. Exhaustion. Weakness. Terror. Relief. It just kept coming.

  “What have you done to her?” he growled.

  Donnie postured. Kal knew what battle looked like. He knew what someone asking for a fight looked like, and Donnie was asking for it. Kal took a step closer and retracted his claws. He would beat this whiny human man-to-man.

  Donnie backed up. “Don’t come near me, asshole. This place is one giant trap for you. There is nowhere for you to go.”

  “I don’t think you understand what a trap is. It won’t matter when I rip your head off. Did you touch my mate?”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Maddie moved. Slowly.

  Good goddess, he’d make Donnie pay.

  “She isn’t yours, alien. And, if you must know. Yes. I kissed her.”

  A rage boiled within him. Before Donnie could blink, Kal clenched Donnie’s throat between his fingers. Kal lifted him off the ground, his feet dangling.

  There was no controlling his dragon now. Razor-sharp teeth filled his mouth and the urge to rip this creature to shreds took over any human logic.

  “Kal, stop!” screamed Maddie.

  Her voice broke through the blinding rage. He turned. Maddie wasn’t on the bed anymore. How had he missed this? How had he missed the attack on his mate?

  “Drop him,” said another voice.

  Kal did as commanded and Donnie hit the ground with a thunk.

  “Very good. Very good. He’s like a trained dog,” said a guard.

  There was only one in the room, but he had Maddie.

  The dragon retreated, enough that Kal was more human than beast.

  The guard backed into the hallway with Kal following. He would not lose his mate. “Release her,” he commanded.

  Stepping into the hall revealed more and more humans.

  Of course. He should have known.

  Eadric. Where are you?

  Out in the hall, the guard retreated into the small throng of white lab coats.

  “Now, now. There is no reason for violence.”

  Kal really wanted to go rip some throats out, and he damn near did, stopping at the sight of the gun pressed against Maddie’s head.

  Her eyes, large saucers, her body rigid. This wasn’t his Maddie.

  I will save you.

  She tried to force a smile.

  Yeah. Could you do it a little faster then?

  He chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” said a ragged voice beside him.

  Donnie climbed out of the room, his hand around his neck.

  He would die, if it was the last thing Kal ever did. Donnie would die.

  Kal. Ignore him. Just get us out of here.

  Ignore him? How? Fuck. Having a mate did complicate things. Kal tried to center himself, his soul. They needed to think straight. His dragon needed to be the brains right now. Take the emotion out of it. He couldn’t though. He needed her. A new feeling spiraled through him. Desperation.

  Why the fuck did the goddess give them all the power of the universe and yet require this? A mate. A balance. She was his weakness. He had something to lose, something other than himself.

  Fuck. This was a big day. Not only did the world not revolve around him, he didn’t care about his own safety anymore.

  Kal backed down long enough for Donnie to get with the others.

  What should they do? Maddie would be protected against his fire-

  No.

  Kal curled up his nose.

  What do you mean, no?

  Maddie’s voice came to him again.

  Do not just torch the place. Not without reason.

  Well, that just pissed him off.

  You’re in danger. That's a damn good reason.

  He watched her face. Her eyes glazed over. Shit. She was going to fall.

  And she did. Right into Donnie’s arms.

  A jealousy like none other flew through him. He was supposed to be the one catching her. Anyone else at this point would have been better than that thing.

  “Remove your hands from my mate.”

  Donnie snarled back. “Stop calling her that.” His voice still weakened. At least Kal had done some damage. Not nearly enough though. The fool was still walking.

  Okay. Head on straight. Head on straight.

  Where the hell was Eadric?

  Whatever.

  Okay. What would Maddie do? These were humans. They did things like talk it out or something dumb.

  “I apologize for destroying some shit. Can I please have my mate back?”

  There. That was good, right?

  Kal? What are you doing? Maddie thought.

  He smiled at her and nodded. He was doing what humans did. Or, that’s what he thought.

  “You keep using this term. Mate. I’d like to understand what you mean by this? We see you have a somewhat reptilian look to you. She is obviously human in some capacity.”

  Donnie barked at the guy. “She is human.”

  The older man nodded. “Yes. Yes. So you have led us to believe.”


  Kal’s patience was wearing.

  “Enough. Release her. Now.” He stopped and then thought better. “Please.”

  The older man smiled. “No. I’m afraid right now that won’t work. You see, right now you are not attacking my men. I don’t believe that we are safe if we release this woman.”

  He balled his hands and stood straight. He needed to control his next answer. The gun had disappeared from the back of her head. The negative, she was in Donnie’s grip. The positive was he saw a way out.

  Eadric? Whatever you do, don’t come down here.

  His plan was in motion. Only, maybe it was Maddie’s plan he was hearing.

  14

  Maddie elbowed Donnie. He recoiled back. Maddie would cry about all this later. She could see it plainly on Kal’s face. He wasn’t thinking clearly. Not thinking like someone who was a highly trained warrior, and she knew it was because of her. Maddie was his kryptonite. Damn it if she was going to be the cause of her own superman’s death.

  Donnie didn’t fight back this time. She braced herself on the wall, trying to fake a strength she didn’t have. A moment to think as everyone stared each other down.

  They were getting out of here. Right after her head stopped thinking the world was a top. Damn it to hell.

  How was she such a damn nightmare right now? This all still seemed to be happening to her, rather than being a participant. It was all a bad shitty nightmare that needed to end.

  Kal had come for her, he’d done his part. Now she needed to get him out of here.

  Focus. A quick shake of the head and she could at least see clear. This was the hangover stage of a magic drain. Great. Her mother was going to die all over again; if Maddie got out of this, anyway.

  Slapping her palm to the wall, she closed her eyes, keeping everything from turning and twisting.

  The pain her mom had left, the hole in her heart had been the driving force for everything in her life. But now? She no longer cared about the why. Her mother had a reason and if it was to help her see that a world without Kal was no world at all, then she won. Maddie would do anything to protect him. He might not see it, but she did. Behind that tank of a man, behind the anger, was fear. He was afraid, and she hated it.

  Kal watched them with a fire burning in his eyes. Maddie wanted to zap everyone and turn them all into something useful. Something without teeth. She tried to pull at the magic again. Now would be a great time to start her cockroach vendetta. Still nothing.

  Useless. And now, with this last attempt, the exhaustion was hitting her again. Fighting off Donnie had been too much. No. No. She needed to do this. She needed to protect him. Her mate.

  “Maddie, I’ll fix this. He can’t have you. All the doctor wants is that thing. They recruit witches to help this facility.”

  God. It was Donnie again. He needed to stop. She curled her lip. How was he not getting it?

  Kal, you should start towards the exit.

  She watched his face contort.

  Over my dead body will I leave.

  That was fair and expected. Well, best make the most of it then.

  Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. She tried to smile at him.

  A strength that she knew could only come from Kal, started to pulse through her. Standing taller, she took in a deep breath.

  “What is she doing?” asked one of the guards.

  Donnie turned. “It's that thing. He’s doing this to her.”

  Maddie scanned her arms, she was glowing again. Thank goodness, Kal would take her away soon. Somewhere where this might not be weird.

  Feeling marginally better, she finally assessed her side of the hall.

  Backing away, Maddie didn’t like the change in the doctor’s interest.

  “So, you aren’t powerless after all, then,” said the older man. “Perhaps we need to keep you under isolation. Donnie, find out where they come from while we eliminate this other threat. We don’t need him if we have her.”

  Donnie bristled, and as much as Maddie disliked him, backtrack, she had disliked him, and now she just hated him. But still, if he could keep her from becoming some bad science experiment maybe he wasn’t useless just yet.

  “Dr Rollings, she’s a witch. I told you she was a witch. She just isn’t powerful. I don’t know what those tattoos are. They happened when he got her, but I doubt it means anything.”

  The wonderful, and she used that term lightly, Dr Rollings was a giant douche-canoe.

  “I don’t think she’s being honest with you, Donnie. I also don’t think she’s your intended as you have led us to believe: it doesn’t appear to me that she’s brainwashed.”

  “She isn’t herself. I promise you this isn’t her,” Donnie almost whined.

  “Guards, take the female. Kill the male.” Dr. Rollings began to turn his back.

  A female in a white coat jumped forward. “No. Wait. We can observe mating habits as well as their powers and technology. Can you imagine? What if we can cross breed them into our own? Imagine the powers. Maybe they’d be the human weapons we’ve been failing to create. This is the species that our ancient texts talk about. It has to be. They’re still around. Can you fathom how powerful he really is?” She shut up as Dr. Rollings shot daggers her way.

  The doctor stepped closer to Maddie. She tried to slink away. Something was wrong with him. Magic began to flow through her veins like a flash flood. It was all coming back. She didn’t attack though, not yet. Not until she was sure that she would stay on her feet.

  Maddie’s head still swam from the power drain. Dr Rollings stood a few inches from her, his breath smelled of onions and she turned her face away, but not before catching Dr. Rollings’ eyes blink, only without blinking. Like an inner eyelid.

  “What are you?” Maddie gasped.

  He came closer. “I am someone who never quite gets the recognition that I deserve because I’m not altogether human, like you appear to be as well, if you are human at all.”

  His voice rose from a whisper as he put on what sounded like a practiced speech. “I had the money, but the Illuminati still stuck me here in charge of some looney operation that believes in aliens. The only positive is that I have had some success in cross breeding. You met one of my daughters upstairs.”

  Maddie stood a little taller as Kal’s energy filled her. Almost ready. She was almost ready.

  “I smell the magic on you now, my dear. I don’t know how you hid it before. I’ll need to get a ward placed on you, and quickly I’m guessing.”

  She ground her teeth.

  Calm yourself, Maddie. We will leave shortly. We need to neutralize this place.

  “My, my. Perhaps you are right, Irene. Well, right about this being the species that some of our texts obsess over,” cooed Dr. Rollings, his tone, almost more scary than before.

  “Well, doctor. I hate to burst your bubble, but we will be leaving. I don’t think you’ll be getting any free shows from either of us,” she said.

  “I do think you are right about one of you.” Dr. Rollings’ fingers snapped. “Kill that one. We’ll go after the male from upstairs. Perhaps we can see if she’s compatible with that one or if they only mate with one. I don’t really care. We just need one to see if human DNA and their alien DNA will do what we need.”

  They’d just said the wrong thing.

  A pulse rose within her, only this wasn’t hers. Kal’s dragon was talking over. All caution was gone. He was ready for the fight.

  “No one but me can and will ever touch her,” roared Kal.

  Maddie’s eyes followed as the girl, Irene, backed away.

  “Father? I mean Dr. Rollings. Perhaps we should call Lillyanna. Or, uh. One of the others up from the cells?”

  He turned away from Maddie. “Why? He won’t hurt her, and looking at her, she is indeed somewhat human. You.” He pointed to one of the guards. “Run up and ensure this is being recorded. Did you see how these markings burned brighter when we mentioned the idea of breeding her with s
omeone else?”

  Maddie’s blood boiled.

  “You don’t talk about me as if I am not here.” Her hands burned, the feeling new and powerful. “You don’t talk about me, like I would even think about leaving him behind. Like you can just throw me with someone and assume I’d want anything to do with them. I. Am. Not. An. Animal.”

  She welcomed the fire running along her arms.

  Donnie stepped away. “Maddie. Stop. They swore they wouldn’t hurt you. I -” He stared at her.

  “Dr. Rollings. You did this. She was fine, until you started to threaten her,” Donnie screamed.

  Too late, Donnie. Just too late.

  “Dr. Rollings? Is that your name? If you let me go now, and Kal, then I won’t hurt you.”

  He laughed. “Do you think I am without any protection?”

  She looked around him and sure enough the air seemed to shimmer around the edges. Maddie noticed though that none of the guards had this same distinction.

  “Perhaps you do. But they don’t.”

  He shrugged. “There will always be more to recruit. I may never find you again though.”

  The doctor nodded his head and Maddie yelped at a pinch in her arm. She looked down at a small dart.

  Wonderful.

  And now she was done being nice. Squeezing her hands tight, Maddie felt within herself. Transformation spells wouldn’t fix this, although it could make the guards less of an issue. As the surrounding air grew warmer and warmer, her anger grew with it.

  “Fine. Have it your way.”

  Maddie mumbled the only spell she could think of that would help protect some of them. She wasn’t a murderer.

  Kal, get us out of here in three, two …one.

  As if they were one, Kal half-shifted, breathing fire into the space, forcing everyone to scramble. She enchanted the only exit the doctor could get to, a wall of fire blocking them in as Kal grabbed her hand.

  “Run!” she said.

  The voice of the doctor echoed against the roar of flames. “You’ll need me soon enough.”

  She didn’t care to think what he meant as Kal shifted back to human and held the door at the opposite end of the fire.

  She sprinted through, taking the flights of stairs as quickly as her borrowed energy would allow.