by Isa Hunt
Li-wun smiled and nodded subtly.
“It will do,” she said. “Rise now, Sergei Petkov Vasili Vasenkov of the Vasenkov Tiger Clan. You are now a sacred mate to Kelly Pike, queen of the red dragons of the west.”
I stood up and sheathed my sword, and bowed to Kelly.
“It will be an honor to serve you, my queen,” I said.
“And I'm honored to, to have you serving me,” she said, still sounding a little unsure of herself.
Benoit stepped forward.
“Empress Li-wun,” he said, “there is something important we need to tell you about.”
“And what might that be?”
“We believe both you and Kelly could be in grave danger,” he said solemnly. “An assassin tried to take Kelly in an alley nearby on the way here.”
Li-wun nodded slowly.
“Do you think you were followed here?” she asked him.
“I'm not sure, but I don't think so,” he answered. “I'm sure I would have noticed if I had been followed, though.”
“Then the enemy may finally have found my hideout, after all these years,” she said. “And if that is the case, then it is not only Kelly who may be in grave danger – it may well be all of us.”
“So what do we do, Empress?” asked Paul.
“There is only one sensible course of action now,” she said. “We must flee, and we must flee now.”
CHAPTER 12 – KELLY
I knew that if Li-wun was worried, things had to be bad, so naturally anxiety started to flow through me as well. And on top of this, I was feeling embarrassed about screwing up in front of all of my guys. When Li-wun had battered me with hurricane-force winds in the air, as hard as I had tried, I hadn't been able to hold my dragon form.
I had shifted back into my human form – completely against my will – and had then plummeted earthwards in a terrifying fall, only to be saved at the last second by Li-wun. What sort of queen could I be if I couldn't hold my form in the face of danger, if I panicked even in controlled situations like this one, and couldn't maintain my form? I felt useless.
And now, now there was yet another guy who wanted to be my mate. I mean, of course, I was flattered – but this meant yet another person looking to me for leadership when I could barely keep my own freakin' head above water.
I had to say, though, that this newcomer was pretty hot. He had the blondest hair I'd ever seen, and pale, pale skin, almost like an albino. His eyes, set deep in their sockets beneath sharply-angled blond eyebrows, were ice-blue. He had a strong square jaw dusted with light brown stubble, and very broad, powerful shoulders.
And when he spoke his accent identified him as Russian, although his English was definitely flawless.
I still had a hard time believing that all these guys could be so devoted to me. I mean, sure, I was a dragon – that had been proved without a doubt a few times over now – but that fact aside, I didn't feel like a queen, like someone who was fit to lead a whole bunch of other people, let alone a whole group of clans, tribes and other bands of shifters.
I had always been able to keep a cool head under pressure, and yeah, I did thrive in situations of pressure and stress, but there had to come to a point where enough was enough. How much was more stress going to be piled on me? How many were more guys going to come and swear their allegiance to me? And to what lengths was Artemis – a seemingly faceless, almost omnipotent foe – going to go to catch and kill me?
It was all getting to be too much. I really wasn't sure just how much I could handle anymore. The facade of courage and determination I had put on was definitely starting to crumble.
Li-wun seemed to sense this. She stepped over to me and took my hand, and took me aside, to where the guys couldn't hear us talking.
“You are worried. I can see this. Worried about everything, yes?”
I nodded.
“That's right.”
“Worried that you cannot live up to their expectations, yes? And worried that you cannot be the queen that they hope you can be? Worried that you cannot face Artemis?”
“I'm worried about all of that stuff, yeah,” I said.
She nodded.
“It is understandable, of course. I felt the same way when I was a young woman when I had first ascended to the position of Empress. I understand the feelings of pressure, of worry. Believe me, Kelly, I know. But remember this – that is not all there is. Your sacred mates are not there to demand things of you – they are there to strengthen you. Remember what I have told you about chi – they can provide you with a lot of it, and the more they give, the more powerful you will become. Also, do not feel worried or ashamed about your failure to hold your dragon form under stress. Do you think I was able to do it the first time I was tested?”
“I uh . . . I don't know . . . were you?” I asked, uncertain.
She chuckled softly.
“No child, I wasn't. I too was unable to hold my form, and I too transformed hundreds of feet above the mountains, and fell to the earth, and was only just saved by my mentor. Do you know what helped me to maintain my form for a longer period of time after that?”
“Um . . . more chi from your sacred mates?” I guessed.
She smiled.
“Yes. Remember what I have just told you – they are not there to make demands of you, even though it may sometimes seem that way. They are there to help you, to provide you with energy and power and support. When you think of it that way, perhaps you will not feel that you are under such pressure.”
I smiled and hugged her small body close to me.
“Thank you, Li-wun,” I said. “I don't know how I'd handle all of this without you.”
Then I remembered what she had told me. She was dying. There would soon come the point at which I would have to handle all of it without her. I felt a sob rising in my throat, and tears began to sting at the corners of my eyes.
She sensed my pain and sadness and squeezed me tightly.
“Hush, child,” she said. “We both understand that soon you will have to handle all of this without me. We must not face this fact with sadness, but rather with gratitude. Let us be grateful for the time we do have together. Let us rejoice that I got to meet you and teach you the ways of our kind before I left this earth. We could so easily have lost this opportunity if Benoit had not found you all the way down in Florida when he did.”
I nodded, doing my best to stop myself from crying.
“I . . . yes . . . yes, we should be grateful,” I murmured. “I'll try, Li-wun, I'll try to think of things in that way.”
“You must,” she said. “Especially now. We cannot afford to linger here or to dwell on sadness or regrets at this time. Danger approaches, and we must act.”
“Alright, Li-wun,” I said. “You're right, you're right. I'm gonna pull myself together and be strong.”
“Good,” she said with a smile. “You can do this, child. I know you can. Always remember, you are a dragon. You have a heart of fire. You are a natural born ruler . . . even if sometimes you may not feel that you are.”
I nodded, still feeling the burn of tears behind my eyes.
“Come. We must speak to the men,” she said.
We walked over to the men. The newcomer, Sergei, stepped forward and bowed to me. He seemed like a very traditional kind of dude. I wondered how he felt about having to share me with other men, given his apparent conservative attitude.
“Sergei, you don't have to bow to me every time you speak to me, you know,” I said. “I've only just met you, and like, I have to say that I'm not totally used to this whole being a dragon queen thing yet. In fact, I mostly still think of myself as a bartender who's just trying to get by . . . so yeah, maybe cut down on the bowing a little – as cute and flattering as it is.”
“If you insist,” he said with a handsome smile. “Empress Li-Wun, and Queen Kelly,” he continued, “I can assist in evacuating you.”
“How?” asked Li-wun.
“I have a priva
te chopper. I can call my pilot right now and ask him to pick us up from the roof of this building.”
“There is no helipad on this building,” said Li-wun, “and did you not see that it is not nearly as tall as many of the buildings alongside it? I do not see how a helicopter would help.”
“The chopper is very small and very maneuverable,” said Sergei, “and the pilot is extremely skilled. He is an ex-Russian military, where he was part of an elite flying unit. Landing the chopper here will be no problem for him. However, because of the size of the chopper, we can only take four people.”
“So me and you,” I said to Li-wun, “and . . . who else?”
“Can the pilot speak English? Does he know where to take us?” asked Li-wun.
“He cannot speak much English,” said Sergei. “I can explain to him where he must take you, if you tell me first, though. I will stay here with the other men, and we will fight against whoever might come. We will make a stand—”
Li-wun held up a hand to stop him.
“I know you alphas with your macho ideas,” she said, “but making a suicidal last stand would be a waste of all your lives. You wouldn't be dying as heroes, you would be dying as arrogant fools, serving your own egos instead of serving your queen. If Artemis's forces are going to be launching an attack on us – which they may well be planning to – it would be far better for Kelly's interests if all of us were out of here long before their forces arrived. And if what Benoit said about the assassin in a nearby alley is the truth, then I do not think we have very much time at all before the enemy arrives. So, we will all evacuate at the same time.”
“But there is only space for four people in the chopper,” Sergei protested.
“Yes. And the others will escape on foot, through the secret escape tunnel that leads out of this cavern. You will come with Kelly and myself in the helicopter, so that we have a translator who can speak to the pilot, as will Benoit, because if I’m not mistaken he is injured and may not be able to handle the rigors of climbing through the escape tunnel. Then we will all meet up at the safe haven I have as a backup plan. It is a small house in the Appalachian mountains. I will give the coordinates to Paul and Rex, and they can drive and meet us there. This is the plan.”
There was no doubt in my mind now that Li-wun was an empress; this was an order she had just given, one that would not be disobeyed. Sergei bowed.
“It shall be done, Empress,” he said, and then he went over to the other men to tell them the plan, and to call his chopper pilot.
And at that moment, my phone rang in my bag. My heart started to pound; I knew, I just knew that it was Jason again. It had to be. My hasty, fumbling fingers grabbed the phone out of my bag, wondering whether it had a strong enough signal down here.
“Jason!” I gasped, not even bothering to wait to see if it was actually him. “Jason, speak to me!”
“Help me, Kelly,” he groaned. “I don't have much longer . . . Please, help me. Help me . . . ”
“Where are you? Tell me where you are, please! Please, Jason!”
“Who is that?” asked Li-wun.
I ignored her and carried on talking to Jason.
“Jason, you have to tell me where you are. I can't help you if I don't know where you are. Please!”
“Help me . . . help me, Kelly, help me . . . ”
The line went dead.
“No! Jason, no!”
“Child, what is going on?” asked Li-wun.
“My brother . . . he's been missing for years. Everyone thought he was dead . . . But just recently, he's started calling me on the phone, saying he needs help, that his time is running out, that he's in great danger. But I don't know where he is, or what danger he's in. And it's breaking my heart, it's destroying me. I don't know how much more of it I can handle.”
She nodded.
“This is a strange occurrence indeed, and I will help you if I can. I too believed that your brother had passed away. You are sure it is him?”
“I know that voice, Li-wun, believe me, it's him. He's alive.”
“I will think on this matter. Do not despair, child, the answers will come to you in time. Now, are you ready for an altogether different kind of flight?”
“I guess I am,” I said, realizing that I didn't exactly have much choice in the matter.
“Good,” she said, shuffling off toward the elevator. “To the mountains, we go then. Come!”
CHAPTER 13 – KELLY
I said a few hasty goodbyes to Rex and Paul and gave each of them a tight hug before they disappeared into the darkness of the escape tunnel at the end of the cavern. Benoit and Sergei, meanwhile, waited outside the elevator for myself and Li-wun.
Li-wun took one last look at the huge cavern and smiled sadly.
“This will be the last time I ever see my secret playground,” she murmured. “But such is the way of the world. Everything must come to an eventual end.”
And with that, she turned and shuffled into the elevator. I stared at the enormous, wondrous space, feeling a sense of bittersweet sorrow. I too then turned and headed into the elevator, followed by Benoit and Sergei.
“Will anyone ever see this place again?” I asked as the doors closed.
Li-wun shook her head.
“It is not likely. When we leave the apartment, I will have my servants wall up the door to this elevator. Perhaps one day when this building is demolished, someone may discover a shaft leading deep into the earth . . . but I do not think that will happen any time soon.”
“I'm sorry,” I said, feeling a tremendous wave of guilt and sadness washing over me. “I led them here, didn't I? The enemy found you because of me, didn't they?”
Li-wun slipped her fingers through mine and squeezed my hand.
“Of course not, child. Artemis and his thugs have been looking for me for years. With or without you, they would eventually have found me. I have known this day was coming for a very long time, and that is why I am prepared for it.”
After a long elevator ride, the doors opened. Li-wun and I were about to step out, but Sergei and Benoit held us back, and each of them drew their firearms.
“Wait here,” said Sergei. “We'll sweep the apartment first to make sure it hasn't been infiltrated.”
“How long before your pilot arrives?” asked Li-wun.
“He happened to be fueling up the chopper when I called, so he was ready to fly immediately. He will be here in around twenty minutes.”
Sergei and Benoit hurried off, guns drawn, to check the apartment. One of Li-wun's servants appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and bowed to her. She spoke to him in Mandarin Chinese, giving what sounded like a series of commands. He nodded, bowed again, and then hurried off to do her bidding.
“What did you ask him to do?” I asked.
“He and the other servants are going to gather all of my most valuable treasures and transport them out of this place to somewhere safe. There are artworks and artifacts in here that have been passed down through my family for a thousand years. I do not want Artemis's thugs to get their filthy paws on them.”
“Don't you have any children to pass them on to?” I asked. “I mean, there's just so much amazing stuff in here . . . ”
A look of immense sadness now came over her face.
“I had three children,” she said. “Two daughters and one son. My eldest girl would have been my heir . . . but life had other plans for us. Crueler plans. You see, I understand well the pain you feel when you think of your missing brother.”
“Oh,” I murmured. “I'm sorry, you don't need to talk about it. I didn't mean to—”
“Hush, child,” she said with a sad smile. “The memories are painful, yes, but the wounds have mostly healed, grievous as they were. It happened almost seventy years ago.”
“Wow . . . I'm really sorry.”
“I had my first child late, at the age of twenty-eight. Well, that was considered very late in the days when I was a young woman. She was a girl,
a beautiful girl, and I was overjoyed to have an heir who would become the next dragon empress. I had two more children in the next five years, all sired by my sacred mates. But things were changing fast in China, and in the world at large. I had my first child in 1921. Already the last Chinese human emperor had been forced to abdicate, and China was modernizing at a rapid rate. Then, ten years later, the Japanese invaded. After this, there were many years of war and turmoil, and traditions and the old ways fell. The palace in which I grew up, which I ruled from, which my family had occupied for centuries, was burned to the ground.
“I should have gotten out then, but I was stubborn. Somehow, I thought that there would a return to the old ways. I thought that we, in our remote shifter refuge in the north of China, would be spared, that we would somehow escape what was unfolding around us. But war contaminates everything with its poison. The conflict spread to us. Shifter clans began to fall, decimated by human armies from both sides as they ravaged the countryside. Still, I clung to hope. And then the war ended. For a while, it seemed as if things might get better. In the West, the Allies had won the Second World War, and in the East, Japan had been defeated.
“But this only gave way to another evil – the rise of Mao Zedong's Communist Party. When he took over in 1949 – right when my daughter was on the verge of becoming the empress of what was left of our realm – everything changed. The Communists had an obsession with destroying everything from the past, and from tearing everyone in positions of power down. Everything traditional was destroyed, everyone in the middle and upper classes was stripped of all their possessions and taken to 're-education' labor camps. That was when I knew the game was up. I made plans to flee, to take my family with me – but on the night before we were due to make our escape, the communists came for us.
“My children's shifter powers had not been activated; they could not yet shift into their dragon forms. They were taken away in chains. The last two of my sacred mates – one of whom was Sergei's grandfather – convinced me to flee instead of pursuing the communists and fighting to save my children from them. It is a decision I have regretted forever, even though I know my mates were right; the communists, with their tanks and anti-aircraft guns, would have shot me out of the sky long before I had gotten within a mile of my children, and then I would have died for nothing. Futility aside, it does not stop the feelings of sorrow, guilt and regret. I did everything I could to try to save my children . . . I paid millions in bribes, paid mercenaries to try to find and free them . . . But it was all in vain. They died, broken in mind, body and spirit in Mao's 're-education' camps.”
