Was she having a heart attack? That would be just fitting. Find your soulmate and then die. No, that wasn’t it though.
Another shadow loomed over her and all she heard was a growl coming from above her. Her head swam, the sounds filtering in but as if they were miles away rather than in the same room as her.
Leaning her head against the banister, Aisha struggled to keep it up. A shadow on the floor stretched out as a figure came closer from behind. It was too tall and skeletal to be Deo and should have made her squirm, move away, only her limbs wouldn’t respond. After a lot of effort, she could get her head to loll back to see what was happening, until it became too heavy and fell back.
The figure stepped back as something large flew by her. A growl that should have been deafening echoed through the house, but she was too tired. Her head too heavy to see what or who it was.
“Dragon shifter, you are much stronger than we thought. Always stronger. But this time I didn’t underestimate you.”
She couldn’t close her eyes, if she did, she knew that it would all be over and not in a good way. Rolling her head against the wood, she finally saw him. The shadowy figure. It was the creepy man from earlier.
Her eyes began to blur, and she blinked several times. The shadow guy moved further and further away until he was hard to make out. A larger blur, one that she was sure was Deo before he came into focus, stopped next to her. She wanted to cheer him on, only either he was going slower and slower or the world was moving in slow motion.
“I suggest you give into the sleep demons before they overtake your girlfriend here. Would be a pity to waste such a brilliant mind.”
Aisha listened again as her body slumped further to the floor.
“No,” growled Deo as she watched his form strain. A knee hitting the floor.
“Yes, perhaps she will be of use later. It is a pity she seems to be attached to you, alien.”
That voice was creepy man’s and it sent chills up her spine, even weak and nearly out of it.
Aisha tried to raise her lead weight of an arm and scratch at him, or at least point a very strategic finger to tell him to fuck off. Neither happened, though.
“Yes. Too bad. Perhaps she will see reason, though. Dragon shifter, we’ve offered her a very handsome sum for you.”
This voice wasn’t one she knew though, and it had the power to make her want to run. She wouldn’t have, even if she could though. Not while Deo was in danger.
Deo might have said something, she wasn’t sure. A static grew around her. Her eyes were so heavy.
She wanted to tell Deo to run, to get away from them. She wanted to tell him that they had offered her money for him, but she’d never have sold him out. But the conversation was in her head. She tried to think it, praying he could hear her already. There was nothing, though. Just more static.
This was fitting. Every time she was happy, fate crapped on her.
She couldn’t let the creepy man win. Aisha tried one last time to grip the railing, pulling on any last bit of strength she could muster.
Her hands slid down, her butt hitting the floor. She was useless.
Trying something new, she put her effort into her mouth; she tried to talk again and wasn’t sure what words actually came out.
Damn it. She knew that guy had been bad news. Deo was strong though, he should be able to get past this, right?
That had to be the case.
Aisha felt her body going limp as she yawned. No more fight left.
Maybe a five-minute nap would be okay, her brain said. But her heart squeezed in panic. No, no nap. Something was wrong. Deo. He should already be ripping someone to shreds in that dragon form of his. She didn’t even care if he destroyed her house.
But sleep sounded so good.
The sharp edge of the stair didn’t even feel that uncomfortable right now. Maybe one more minute and then she’d see Deo saving the day.
14
The words ricocheted around his skull.
We offered her a lot of money for you.
He offered his soul to her, and she’d traded him for money? How was that possible? What would this do for her?
Although his mind was trying to fight the sleep demon’s powers, his body was losing the battle. Demonic magic wasn’t something he knew how to fight well. This wasn’t his area of expertise, fighting a non-corporeal being.
He fell to one knee.
Looking back, he watched Aisha struggling until she wasn’t. Her hands had grasped to pull herself up, but when that failed she laid her head down and stopped moving.
Was she losing to the magic? Was she giving up? He tried to reach out to her in his mind, but it was blank. Their link still wasn’t strong. Or maybe she was sleeping or both.
Fighting against the magic, he started to lose. His other knee hitting the floor. He knew some demons, knew enough to recognize their magic. But his dragon couldn’t fight this many of them. His dragon sight could make out their dark shapes, but little else. Anger brewed within him.
“She wouldn’t trade me for money,” Deo said, his body beginning to shake as it struggled to remain alert.
The man laughed.
“Oh, but she did. Everyone has a price.”
He snarled at the man. “How did you find me?”
The man snapped his fingers, and two others came up on either side of Deo.
Deo tried to call his dragon for protection, his scales nearly impenetrable. The dragon tried to answer, but he wasn’t able to fully surface, not in this sleepy state.
Deo winced as a stinging sensation poked him in the neck. Fuck. This was going sideways. His neck burned as something worked its way into his system,
Deo called out to his brothers, sending an SOS.
As the first of five voices filtered in, he felt his eyes growing heavy. The last words he heard were enough to shake him to his core.
“Dragon, she led us straight to you,” said the man.
Deo couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t. But then again, she’d called him back.
But she’d offered herself to him. She’d accepted his mark. No female would be able to break the bond, it would be like cutting off your own arm. No, worse. Sacrificing your own heart.
He tried to answer the call of his brothers, but logic failed.
Trouble. Was all he got out before he accepted this darkness. What good would it do him to fight if the female he loved had given up on him, anyway.
Deo opened his eyes, blinking against the odd lighting. His eyes searched the room. Dirt floor sifted under his claws. He took in the taloned tips of his toes. When had he shifted?
A whimper behind him had Deo shuffling around. A chain jangled as the woman scrambled back. His heart leapt in anticipation. Aisha, she was with him. She hadn’t deceived him.
Only, it wasn’t Aisha.
He could feel Aisha, but he needed to block her out. Everything screamed at him to stop. To not ignore his mate. But he couldn’t. She would only bring out his weakness.
He lay down as his soul shattered. Laying there with his head resting on his feet, everything came back to him. The struggle. Or the lack thereof. They had finally bested one of them, one of the dragons. Finally figured out a way to beat them. It wasn’t the sleep demon magic; it was betrayal. His mate's betrayal.
Emptiness filled him. He had no purpose anymore. He would be a broken warrior if he returned. It would be better to just stay here, keep the Illuminati assholes happy, because without a doubt this was them. Again. Deo had assumed they’d all been destroyed. Warriors knew to never underestimate the enemy, and yet he had.
Although, judging from the current surroundings of metal walls, dirt floor, open ductwork this wasn’t below ground nor was it the same type of lab they’d once had.
Deo hadn’t seen their first facility, but Kal hadn’t been able to block out all his memories of the place. This was very different from Kal’s memories.
The female sniffled again. Deo lifted his head
and sniffed. The dragon snorted out the wretched scent of fear.
What was she afraid of?
He rested his giant dragon head on his front legs again, waiting. They weren’t after her. Perhaps she was a snack?
It took him a few moments to sift through his still sleepy system. They weren’t stupid, and it was doubtful they thought he ate humans, so what did they want with a human and why was she in here?
His dragon sighed as he shifted into human form, the argument from his beast that they were more susceptible in their two-legged human form. Deo agreed, but he needed answers.
As he moved closer, the woman skittered back into the corner, not that she could get away as chains jingled with her every movement.
“Who are you?” he asked. He kept his voice quiet and gentle hoping it would help.
She whimpered.
His lips formed a straight line as he thought.
“Look. I’m not here to hurt you. I will however do my best to save you, if you tell me who you are?”
Her teeth chattered.
Running his hand down his face he fought to control his frustration. He’d lost his mate today. He’d lost his freedom. What else would he have to lose that mattered?
He stepped closer, and the girl cowered. Damn it. This wasn’t going well, like everything else.
Deo felt the tug from his brothers’ mental connections. He closed them off. Right now, he couldn’t deal with them. Didn’t want them to find him. Not until he had any idea where here was or what they wanted from him. He would protect them.
There was no tug however from his mate. Nothing. He sucked in the air against the tightness in his throat, trying to ignore the stabbing in his chest. He braced himself against the nearest cold metal wall as he tried to push it all away.
Push away the fact that his whole world had made sense for a few hours until it no longer did.
Deo did not do weak. He couldn’t afford to on the battlefield, he couldn’t do it now. Not when he knew that this wasn’t good. Whatever it was. It wasn’t good.
“Female, I will not hurt you. Give me a moment to free you.”
He bent down, focusing on the issue in front of him. He wouldn’t allow this female to suffer at the hands of whatever evil lurked around this place.
Following the chain with his eyes, he traced the metal encircling a large pipe. She couldn’t move away any further, so that part was less complicated.
He held a hand out as if calming a small animal. She didn’t move, her saucer-like eyes following his every move.
Picking up the chain he pulled, two metal links breaking apart.
She gasped in surprise.
“I promise you, I am not the one to fear here.”
She nodded and appeared to have finally stopped quivering like a slight wisp of a tree caught in a windstorm.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He nodded and flopped down.
“What do you know of this place?” he asked.
She nodded up to the ceiling, his own eyes following as he traced the room. A camera. Seemed fitting.
“You’re a dragon?” she asked.
Deo turned his attention back to her. She needed to be calmer if he was going to get her out alive, so perhaps a simple chat may give him some time to assess the situation further.
“Yes. And you?” Deo sniffed the air. “Are human?”
She nodded.
“Are you with them?” he asked.
She shook her head.
Keeping his voice low, he whispered. “Have you seen them?”
She gave a nod as she pulled her knees tighter into her chest. “There are only two that I have seen. Also, screaming hasn’t gotten any attention, so I assume we are somewhere in an empty warehouse.”
“Why are you here?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. One minute I was walking home from school, I’m a teacher, and the next thing I know I’m here.”
“But you are human? Why would this group want you?” Deo wondered what they were up to. This wasn’t the same pattern as before. He knew it was tied together, though. They made it clear that they didn’t know him, but they knew of the brothers. They’d mentioned how they did not or would not underestimate their powers. He was still certain they were in the same group as before.
Deo had to hand it to them. They didn’t give up easily.
The female continued. “I didn’t even see them coming. One minute I was grabbing my keys and the next minute I woke up here,” she said, wiping her eyes. She wasn’t crying. But she obviously had.
“Well, give me a few minutes to figure out what we are up against. I promise you, I will get you out alive.”
She scratched at the crook of her arm.
“What’s that? Are you okay?” He pointed to the space she itched.
Looking down, her fingers ran over a red spot where small odd colored lines had spread from.
“I don’t know. I woke up with it. Maybe it’s a spider bite?”
He nodded, but it didn’t look like a spider bite. Not even a little. It looked like more black magic. Darkness. He sniffed the air again, finding foreign scents that he’d never encountered.
Listening, though there was little to hear. No whispers. No air vents flowing. Creaks of an old building. Wind blowing through a crack or hole. He couldn’t make out any traffic. Not near anything it would appear. This was complicated if he couldn’t figure out how she would get to safety even if he could get her out of the room to begin with.
“We will wait for a bit, see what they want. I will not hurt you, but until I know what we are up against, I will not set you free without any chance of rescue. Is anyone looking for you?”
Another shake of her head. “No. I mean, there’s a chance that my school will start looking if I don’t report back by Monday. But, no. No one else will look for me.”
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Walking to the camera, he looked up and growled.
“What do you want from us?”
Nothing, but then he didn’t exactly expect much. Hell, this wasn’t like before, so he expected nothing like it.
A few minutes passed. He tested the walls again. They weren’t thin, but they weren’t that thick either. What if he punched right through it? Got her to safety and then returned to keep them from chasing his family.
“I wouldn’t do that, dragon,” came a familiar voice. The same voice from Aisha’s house as he was thrust into an oblivion. He whipped around and didn’t see anyone, but then he saw the large hold on the door. How had he missed that?
Five strides and he stood front and center of the door. Would he be able to reach his arm through there and rip the guy's throat out? Possibly.
“Dragon, I highly suggest you choose not to act on whatever is going through that thick skull of yours. We have a proposition for you.”
A rumble rolled up his throat. “A proposition?”
The man smirked, or perhaps that was his smile. Deo sniffed the air and retched at the scent of dark magic and decay. The man spoke, distracting Deo for a moment.
“Yes. All you need to do is mate with that female. You give us what we want, and you are free to leave.”
Anger burned away his revulsion to make way for pure rage. His dragon screamed. His arms scaled up and Deo held the dragon in the limbo between their human and dragon forms.
“And, if I don’t?” he asked.
The man’s smile fell. “Then you are signing not only your death warrant but hers as well.”
Deo looked back at her, scared, cowering, innocent.
“Why her?” Deo asked.
The man shrugged. “Wrong place at the right time. We would have used one of our own, but your little hoard of dragons has all but wiped out our numbers.”
That gave Deo a burst of pride, but also understanding. “Why can’t you leave my brothers and me alone?”
A man that Deo swore he recognized from Kal’s memories pushed into view
of the small peek-through door.
“Why? Why? Because you are what I’ve searched for far too long. A superior species. I intend to create the perfect being, and your species is an integral part.”
He rolled his neck as a chill ran down his spine. “Perhaps you should let this go. I will not mate with the female.”
The man’s face twisted, his eyes growing cold.
“The scientist traded you for money. Why do you remain loyal to someone who doesn’t want you?”
Closing the slight gap between himself and the door, Deo braced his hands on the door frame and peered through. “You underestimate my species. We are devoted to our mates and to the freedoms of others. Regardless if I am wanted or not, I will never harm another.”
The familiar male’s pasty skin appeared to color with a tinge of pink. He was alive. Information Deo would continue to catalogue against this enemy.
“Look dragon, all I ask is for a small favor. Give me what you have taken from me, and I will let you walk out of here.”
Deo snarled. “I have taken nothing from you and what’s stopping me from walking out of here, anyway?”
The man, Dr. Rollings if he recalled correctly from Kal, did not appreciate his defiance.
“I have control over several demons. If you try, I will release them. Perhaps you are not as affected by them, but she wouldn’t survive. Are you really a superior species if you sacrifice someone for your own freedom?”
Deo stood still, thinking. Could he do this? Risk her for his own life. He wasn’t even trying to escape. He could not. He would not take another, though. He only wanted his Aisha, but he couldn’t let this female die because of him.
He didn’t want this woman to suffer. An innocent never deserved to suffer.
“I would not sacrifice her for my own freedom, but I will also not give you what you want,” Deo said.
The doctor's ashen skin shifted for a second, a blink of an eye and it was gone. It had turned to something even more repulsive, gone so fast Deo wasn’t sure what he’d even seen.
“There is no demonic magic in this room?” Deo asked, unsure he’d get an answer. Perhaps pushing an evil scientist too much was never an excellent idea. Deo wasn’t sure how the man was alive after their last attack. Perhaps that was why he was so pale? Trying to remember him the way Kal did though, everything was tainted. Blurred with the rage of Kal’s dragon's memories.
Dragon Wanted: A Dragon Shifter Fated Mates Novel (Space Dragons Seek Mates Book 3) Page 10
