by Dahlia Rose
“I didn’t tell her I loved her, I asked her for time,” Aki took a deep breath and tried his best to calm himself. He looked at Hawke hoping he’d see the panic in his eyes.
“And you will get to tell her yourself,” Orin said firmly. “So stop the bullshit and let’s go get your woman.”
“We’ll wake Bradley,” Jeff said and they turned to the house.
“Aki, you, out of all of us, are more tuned in to everyone and everything,” Gearar said. “Something pulled you to Larissa and you can channel that now to find your Caye.”
“I’ve tried but there’s nothing,” Aki answered.
“You’re letting fear and anger cloud you, how about focusing on loving the woman and finding her?” Kalv asked.
Aki took a step toward the brawny dragon that rode a Harley. He showed no fear but folded his arms and stayed exactly where he was. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
“I’d be inclined to have fear if you were working with all eight cylinders, but right now you’re focused on pain and that’s not helping any of us,” Kalv snapped. “I’m tired of the not-knowing and the fuckery with the Shen. Now the caretakers are involved, hell no.”
“Fuckery?” Hawke said.
“Learned it from Ginna,” Kalv said.
“Very apt at this point,” Orin stated. “We thought it best not to alert the caretakers in Paladin. Raul is with our wives and children, we told them of the new developments and the guard is on alert. The warriors are on alert to watch carefully and not for any reason let our families be alone with any caretakers.”
“I never thought the biggest threat would be from within,” Gearar said.
“I killed ten and the leader said there were more. The Shen have enough intelligence to create Maion and infiltrate our home.” Aki shrugged his friends off. “I’m fine, but we have seriously underestimated them and years of planning had to go into this new war.”
“The game has changed my friends and now we change with it, we become more deadly and by far we protect our home and the ones we love above all,” Orin said.
They all turned when they heard the sliding door open and Jeff, Dale, and Bradley walked out. Bradley was wearing his shoulder holster and it carried a weapon he’d insisted on getting from their home days ago. Now it was like he was a cop again, gone was the man who was making hotcakes and talking about herbs for dinner. He also carried the shotgun he used to threaten Aki the first night they met.
“Do we have a problem here?” her father’s voice was so authoritative and no-nonsense that even Orin gulped. Aki could almost see King Valkir in the man who stood before them.
“No, Bradley, we have no problem,” Orin said.
“You can call me Mr. Deveaux,” her father snapped and pointed at Aki. “I know him. I don’t know any of you yet. And if my daughter is hurt in any way none of you will sure as hell want to know me. Who am I riding to find my girl?”
“You’re with me, Bradley,” Aki said. “Jeff and Dale you’re in the SUV, she could be cold and tired or weak and I’d prefer for her to be warm when she comes home.”
Jeff unrolled the map they were studying earlier. “Here are the places we marked, working our way out from the abandoned hotel.”
Orin raised his hand to stop Jeff from talking and looked at Aki. “Look at this and tell me where she is. The life of the woman you love depends on it.”
Aki centered himself and saw past the gut-wrenching fear of losing Caye. He closed his eyes and focused on loving her and the mate bond that was created to let his instincts guide him. She wasn’t dead, that was for sure, the loss would have crippled him before the rage took hold. He felt her in his heart and in his soul, felt her in his arms that first night he slept. Aki followed it back to Caye.
“She’s there.”
Without opening his eyes he put his finger on one of the spots that they had chosen. It was an older looking farmhouse that once held a communal garden for vendors to grow produce. It was past Kent and in a semi-rural area.
“Are you sure?” her father asked.
“I’d stake my life on it, and we are,” Aki murmured. “Take our swords in the SUV, Jeff.”
“Let’s move then, sunrise will be here soon,” Orin said.
“What does he mean we’re staking his life on it?” Dale asked.
“If she is killed and we do not get to her in time, Aki will probably go insane and we may have to kill him,” Bior explained. “She’s left her mark on him and we’ve got too much loss going on right now. I don’t plan on us failing and making this another.”
Aki heard the comment and didn’t even want to think about if they were too late. They shifted to their dragon form and he lay his neck down to the grass so Bradley could climb on and find a hold on his neck. He’d handed off his shotgun to Jeff and Dale and then he called to Aki that he was secure. Aki in his dragon form took to the sky. For them the trip would be quick and even if Jeff drove at breakneck speeds, which he would, they would still have to wait for them to arrive. It would give them time to cover all the exits and figure out exactly where Caye was being held. Aki had every intention of fighting in his human form. He wanted to look into each of these traitor’s eyes as he killed them. He was going to let at least one go so they could let the enemy know they were now bringing the war to them.
They landed and Aki, Hawke, and Orin shifted. There was a tree line and then open grass where Gearar, Bior and Kalv waited, still in dragon form. They approached the house, found their intended targets, and assessed everything before going back to the rest of the group. Aki didn’t see Caye and that worried him, still he held the urge to rush in and fight at bay and followed the others back to the group.
“I didn’t see Caye,” Aki said and Bradley cursed.
“She’s in a downstairs room, pretty small like a pantry or something,” Hawke said. “One guard at the door and at least six more I see, I recognize some of them as caretakers.”
Aki’s heart leapt with joy. “She’s safe then?”
“A little banged up, tied and gagged, but I saw only a few scratches on her face and bruises at her neck,” Hawke explained.
“They will pay for putting a mark on her skin,” Aki growled.
“There are Shen in the basement, some of the usual ones and now what we know are half-breeds like Maion,” Orin said.
“There are at least seven upstairs that are sleeping. I could have killed them and no one would’ve known,” Aki said.
The SUV lights came into view as it came up a dirt path. With a quick twist of the wheel he brought it parallel to the group and they got out of the car.
“What’s going on in there?” Jeff asked.
“Bunch of nasties and Caye,” Bior said.
Bradley opened the door to the backseat, grabbed his shotgun and Aki’s sword. “Let’s go in, I’ll take the area where Caye is and get her secured.”
Aki wanted to be the one to rush in and find his woman but he knew between the caretakers sleeping upstairs and the Shen in the basement the dragon would need his help. Caye’s father would get her out.
He spoke to Bradley as he took his sword. “Wait until you see me at the top of the stairs and then start shooting. Give none of the caretakers a chance to shift, if they do the shotgun will be useless. Headshots, all of them.”
“We need at least one to question,” Orin prompted.
Aki gave an evil smile. “I was going to send one back in terror to tell them what was coming. But you’re right, I’ll leave one upstairs wrapped up nice and pretty for you.”
“Well thank you.” Kalv smiled. “While we get the slimy ones downstairs.”
“I’ll be down to help you in minutes.” He pulled the sword from the sheath. “Let’s get this done. Dale and Jeff, stay with the vehicle when Bradley brings Caye out. Do not wait for us. Take her to my house and safety.”
“I’ll be on guard in case we’re followed,” Bradley said.
“You won’t be,” Aki said with assuran
ce.
“I’ll take the prisoner through the portal when this is all done,” Bior said.
“Keep him hidden, use the portal in the war room so no caretaker will be summoned,” Orin ordered.
“Yes my king,” Bior said.
“I wish people would stop calling me that,” Orin sighed. “Let your dragons burn this place to the ground when we’re done. No evidence, not even bone, is to be left.”
With no other words, three dragons took to the sky while three went in on foot. Bradley moved to the door of the kitchen. Aki saw him and made sure he’d have a vantage point to see the stairs. With lithe movements he used an old trellis on the side of the house to get up on the window again and climbed into the second story window. The caretakers had turned one of the bedrooms into a kind of bunkhouse with thin pallets and blankets. Aki killed them one after another, feeling no mercy for the traitors until he came to the final one. He placed his hand over the man’s mouth and by the time the caretaker opened his eyes Aki’s other hand was at his throat.
“You’re lucky I’m just putting you to sleep,” Aki murmured when the man’s struggles ceased. He tied him up and unceremoniously threw him out of the window into the bushes below. He watched Orin and Hawke lift the old wooden doors to the basement carefully so they would not creak and slip into the darkness. Aki moved down the stairs quickly and gave Caye’s father his hand signal to move in as he did. He wanted to be coming down to the basement and flanking the enemy when the first shots rang out. He, Orin, and Hawke would have them cornered. By the time the first shotgun blast echoed he was kicking in the door as the sound of a fight already in progress came to his ears.
The house shook as some of the Shen tried to shift and were killed in mid-transformation. He took infinite pleasure in taking their lives, and with each death felt some kind of vengeance for Caye, Larissa, and the many women who were tortured. The shots were being fired in rapid succession from upstairs and soon Bradley yelled “I got her!” Aki felt such relief knowing that his mate was safe and fought with even more vigor. He heard steps on the stairs and shots were fired over his shoulder at the cornered Shen. He glanced to see a disheveled but very angry Caye firing her father’s nine-millimeter Glock at the serpents.
“Caye, go with you father,” Aki yelled and kept cutting down their opponents.
More Shen tried to shift and dust was falling from the old floors as the rock foundation shook. Collapse of the entire house was imminent and while they would be okay, Caye’s fragile human body would not.
“Bradley, get her out of here, this place is going to fall around our ears!” Aki’s next yell was mixed with a snarl.
“Not without you!” Caye said firmly.
“Caye this place is going down!” her father said and he grabbed her arm. “For once in your life let go of the stubborn streak and do as you’re told!”
“Fine,” she shouted and Aki was relieved to see she followed her father. She stopped at the stairs and turned. “You better not die, dragon!”
“I don’t plan on it,” he grinned and kept fighting.
The Shen who had a penchant for nests had been digging tunnels in the old basement. Where the wall once stood big holes had replaced the solid stone and it made the structure even more precariously unstable.
“Time to fly,” Orin shouted. “We’ll mop up any strays that escape when the house falls in.”
“What about the nests?” Aki yelled.
“Let them smother without any oxygen,” Orin’ voice bellowed over the noise. “We’re turning this to ash anyway, they won’t be surviving.”
Aki began to take the shape of his dragon even as he fought. He’d long learned how to fight while he was releasing the mythical beast that shared his body. He whipped his hair out and the blades caught two Shen across the throat before his braid disappeared when his dragon was finally free. Orin and Hawke had finished their morph as well and dwarfed the Shen. Orin took flight first, shooting out of the falling debris of the old farmhouse. Hawke was next and before Aki left he blanketed the basement with a steady stream of his dragon breath.
The screams of the dying Shen combined with the destruction of the house was almost deafening as he himself took flight and burst out into the night sky. Above, his dragon brethren were waiting and when he joined them they rained dragon fire down on the remnants of the abandoned building. The heat of their breath left nothing but ashes, and in some places turned sand to glass. For a while they circled, making sure no one crawled out of the fire, crumbled stone, or charred wood before they flew back across the tree line and landed where their human companions waited. Aki was shifting before his feet even touched the ground and he rushed toward Caye who was wrapped in a blanket standing next to the SUV. Aki took her in his arms and kissed her face, eyes, and then lips, convincing himself she was okay.
“I love you,” he said the words almost reverently. “I’ll never stop saying it. I won’t ever lose precious time again. I love you, Caye, you’re my mate and my heart is yours forever and beyond. I love you, I love you so much.”
“Gee, it only took me nearly being killed for you to figure that out.” She laughed huskily. “Don’t worry, I was planning to escape my capture and make my way back to you. Then force you to see that you love me and I didn’t need to give you time.”
“I’m glad you had the tenacity to deal with my hard-headedness.” Aki looked down at her and lovingly rubbed the dirt of her face with his finger. “Let’s get you home and cleaned up.”
“Food,” she said. “Those bastards didn’t feed me and I’m starving.”
Her father hugged her and kissed her temple. “Luckily I’m in a cooking mood. I say omelets, hash browns, bacon, crepes, and hotcakes.”
“God yes,” Dale sighed. “Glad this is over, I’m looking forward to my dull life again.”
“It’s not as yet,” Orin said. “You may need to stay on Paladin until we find the king and destroy this Shen sect. You are now known to be the mate’s friend and the friends of us dragons. You’ll be safe with us in our world.”
“We can close the offices for a time, no pending cases,” Jeff said.
“As long as there’s a kitchen and I’m close to my daughter, I’m good,” her father said. “Plus you can use my seriously mad cop skills to help you root out the traitors in your midst.”
“Geez dad, stop using terms you don’t understand,” Caye said in exasperation.
“Who says I don’t lil’ girl? I was talking trash before you were a glimmer in my eye,” Bradley replied.
She rolled her eyes. “I see your lips moving but you’re saying nothing new, good day to you sir.”
Aki saw his friends looking from father to daughter curiously and explained. “Don’t worry, they do this a lot, I find it interesting and funny to watch. They actually love each other.”
“God, I love you kid,” Bradley pulled her into an exuberant hug.
“No Caye Bear?” she asked.
“I thought you grew out of that?” her father said.
She hugged him tighter. “Never, Dad.”
“We love you too,” Dale sniffed and pulled Jeff along with him to join the hug.
“Okay, I guess,” Hawke said slowly. “Then it’s settled, we need to leave here before the authorities come to investigate the fire. We eat, we rest, and then we go home. Aki, are you flying with us?”
“No, I’m in the car with them.” Aki never took his eyes off Caye.
“Well in that case put some clothes on, son.” Bradley reached in the SUV and threw a bundle at him. “If you people are so free with being naked in Paladin, I may need to start drinking.”
“I’m totally cool with it,” Dale piped in eagerly.
“You would be,” Bradley grumbled. “I’ll fly back with one of you guys, I find the back of a dragon exhilarating.”
“You can ride with me, Mr. Deveaux,” Orin said.
“Bradley,” her father replied and walked away with them.
&n
bsp; “Are you sure you want all this chaos in your life?” Aki asked Caye. “I don’t know when we’ll finally win this war with the Shen, only that we will.”
“I’d walk through fire to be with you and this war is now mine as well.” Caye cupped his cheek. “The enemy of my mate is no friend of mine.”
Aki nodded and grinned before lifting her in his arms. In the car he didn’t let her sit in the back seat as Jeff drove and instead he held her in his lap. It made him feel secure in holding her and feeling her body against his. She was real and safe. He wasn’t about to let her go. Aki knew lost, and it felt so gut-wrenching that he couldn’t bear it. Caye had filled that void, healed those wounds he thought he’d conquered, and showed him how to love again. She was able to appease the dragon and give him rest.
“I love you,” he whispered against her ear as her head leaned against his chest.
He thought she was sleeping and wanted her to hear his voice even in her dreams to know that his heart was hers.
“I love you right back dragon,” she mumbled and then gave a snore.
Aki grinned at the vivacious woman he held in his lap giving him a little squeeze. The grin grew into a chuckle and then a full-blown laugh. Instead of the dragon leaving his mark it seemed that Caye was the one etched into his mind body and soul forever.
* * * *
“So this is Paladin,” Caye said as she leaned out of one of the windows of the palace and looked around.
One day later they’d gone through the portal and into a place that seemed to be built from the legends of storybooks. She’d read the myths of gods and Viking lore but nothing could compare to the gleaming street of Paladin, the people and children who lived there and the assortment of dragons that roamed the sky. They were now guests of King Orin and as a precaution each dragon had moved their mates behind the palace walls for protection. She’d met Valencia and her children, Ginna who was in the early stages of her pregnancy and watched as Kalv drove her crazy. Raven, Daisye, and Shanna were the rest of the wives and now she was one of them. They treated her, her father, and her friends like family. In turn her father, Dale and Jeff were all charmed by this place. She had taken so many pictures that she had to constantly load them on her laptop. There was not much technology in Paladin, in fact none. But when Orin took Valencia as a wife they had converted one of the rooms so computers and other items would have power.
