by Eden Ashe
Daniel didn’t move to pick it up. “What aren’t you telling me?”
For a moment, Shelby saw a storm raging in the giant’s dark green eyes, as if Adrian waged war somewhere deep inside himself. Finally, he cursed under his breath and grabbed the envelope. After he ripped it open, he pulled something out, tossing an intricate, ancient medallion face-up on the coffee table. “Look familiar?”
“Bullshit.” Luca sat up straighter. “Bull-fucking-shit.”
Cage shrugged as he met Luca’s temper head on. “I don’t like it any more than you do. It’s why I’m here.”
Shelby’s hand shook as she reached out and wrapped her fingers around the medallion. “Daniel.”
He didn’t seem to hear her, the whole of his attention on Adrian. “You’re saying whoever is after me and Shelby is protected by Alexi?” He stood, hauling her up with him, only to shove her behind his back. It blocked her from every other male in the room. “Why the fuck would Alexi Dragan use a goddamn Hunter…” his voice trailed off, before he cursed again. “If a Hunter kills the dragon king’s mate, my mate, I die with her. If I don’t bow to him, he’ll take my people another way.”
“Daniel.” She wasn’t sure how she managed to get his name out through the bile rising in her throat. She poked him in the back, but when he continued to ignore her, she finally raised her voice. “I’ve seen that before.”
The sheer insanity in Daniel’s eyes actually scared her more than anything else that had happened. “You’ve what?”
It took everything she had not to cover her ears when he roared, but it was nothing compared to the vicious pain in her chest. “In my manager’s–my dad’s–office.”
* * * *
Rage hit Daniel so fast it nearly blinded him. That bastard! Skinning him alive wasn’t going to be good enough. Maybe if he begged a healer to help, they could find a way to keep the asshole alive while Daniel ripped out his still beating heart and fed it to him.
He moved quickly, grabbing Luca by the throat before anyone could react. He threw him to the ground and kneeled on his chest, the tip of his dagger pressed at the sensitive spot beneath the chin. “You’re the psychopath’s son. What the hell could he possibly gain from this? Why me? Ryuu, why Shelby? Why would her father have one of Alexi’s medallions?”
Luca’s jaw ticked. For the first time in decades, the calm facade he projected slipped. In his eyes was the madness he kept at bay, the madness passed down from his father. The insanity they’d all hoped they’d never see.
He shrugged, his face and voice devoid of any emotion. “Cage and Seren.”
A low, inhuman sound tore from Adrian’s chest, the volatile tension in the room spiking with it. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Luca met Daniel’s eyes for a moment, before shifting to look up at Cage. “You and my sister are the first mating between the two species since the Hunters were created to battle dragons. The battle lines in a war as old as time have now blurred. Seren carries the first child born of the two races.” He shifted into a sitting position when Daniel finally withdrew the dagger. He spread his hands, palms out, before shrugging. “The Dragan underworld thrives on our war. With Seren and Cage mated, and peace on the horizon for all of us, Alexi is desperate. He would do anything to refuel that war, because without war, people are less desperate. Less desperation means less crime, which equals less money for him.”
Daniel moved back to Shelby, though he was careful not to touch her. His fury was still too close to the surface. “What the fuck does this have to do with me, let alone a Hunter shooting Shelby?”
Luca shrugged, his gaze flicking to Cage. “Do you want to answer that?”
“I pissed off a lot of Hunters when I took control last year. There were some who had gotten too trigger-happy, and were killing off dragons for sport. There were also some that were nothing more than assassins. It’s possible that whoever wanted her dead found a Hunter willing to do it for the right price.” He ran a hand over his shaved head. “Like Luca said, my mating only makes things worse.”
The pounding in Daniel’s head grew worse. “You’re saying one of your Hunters hates you enough that he’d be willing to get into bed with Alexi?”
“I don’t like it any more than you do,” Adrian said, “but make no mistake. While we are struggling for peace between us, there is still a war going on. There are Hunters who resent my control, who were happy functioning under no laws. They are more than willing to take me out to do it, even if it means working with Alexi.”
Luca sighed, his face troubled. “Alexi has always craved power. It’s never enough for him. Right now, we’re too close to peace, and he’ll do anything to disrupt it. He wants your fealty, and he’ll kill Shelby to get it.”
No one made a sound as the reality of what Luca said settled in the room like a live entity. One wrong move could have him blowing apart at the seams.
He could feel Shelby trembling behind him. “I don’t understand,” she whispered. “How would killing me reinforce the hatred between your species?”
“Me.”
She turned slowly to look up at him, her face frozen in fear. “How?”
“If the Hunter had succeeded in killing us that night, even if the human world didn’t know who I was, our people would have. Luca, Dallas, Broderick, Bain…all the dragons in the area would have hunted down the one responsible and taken revenge.”
“We would have retaliated,” Cage murmured. “Seren and I would have been in the middle, forced to choose sides against each other in a war that doesn’t make sense anymore.”
“When does war ever make sense?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. She wrapped her arms around herself. She was pale, her eyes too bright in her face. Daniel knew, with heartbreaking clarity just how much they were putting on her slight shoulders. This could break her. She’d been thrust into the middle of a war she didn’t understand, and her father and sister were mixed up in it somehow. For the first time since she’d found out what Daniel really was, he saw the faint edges of panic flash in the depths of her eyes.
Cage leaned back against the cave wall. “War never makes sense. You’re right. We were created by the goddess Gwendolyn when the first of her beloved race of dragons went bad. We were given immortality, along with magic and the superior strength needed to keep humans safe from the threat the dragons had become. Only the Hunters have turned out to be just as corruptible and susceptible to power as the dragons we hunt. So the war rages on as both sides avenge deaths, recent and ancient.”
Daniel turned to Cage, his voice a furious snap. “Enough. She doesn’t need to hear any more of this shit.”
She rounded on him, her eyes flashing with temper. “I’m not a damsel in distress, so stop waiting for me to break.” She took in a huge breath, and squared her shoulders. “What happens now?”
“Shel–” He lifted a hand to tuck a wisp of hair behind her ear. His face closed off, as much to protect her from his emotions as it was to keep his rage at bay. “We hide. If Alexi has one Hunter after us, he could have more. Going back into your world just isn’t an option right now, not until we can neutralize the threat.”
To his surprise, she didn’t get angry. The scowl he’d been expecting never appeared. “Alright.” She nodded once as she just stepped in closer to him, one golden brow quirked. She was terrified, but his sweet little hellion of a mate was holding. “What’s the plan?”
“I just told you. We hide.”
She snorted at him. “Daniel, I love you, but you’re capable of hiding as much as I’m capable of having a growth spurt overnight and waking up seven feet tall.” She patted his chest, while letting him know she knew he was full of shit. “You don’t know what the word hide–Daniel?” She took a hasty step toward him, arms outreached to stop him when he swayed on his feet, worry clouding her eyes. “Daniel, what’s wrong?”
He sat down hard on the couch as his vision started to grey. An ache worse than any wound he’d eve
r had started around the vicinity of his heart, squeezing until he couldn’t catch his breath.
“Daniel.” She said his name again, softer this time, as she went to her knees in front of him. She slid her hands into his chin-length hair, bringing herself up until they were at eye level. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”
His head buzzed as every ounce of sanity he possessed warred with his aching heart. “No, princess,” he croaked, his voice hoarse as he fought to say the words he needed to say, while keeping the ones she needed to hear buried where they belonged. “You are not allowed to fall in love with me.”
“Yeah, well,” she snorted at him again, balling a fist and shooting it lightly into his shoulder, “too late, pal. I’ve been in love with you for almost a year. I’m tired of fighting it and pretending I’m not, so you’re just going to have to deal with it.”
“Bullshit.” Lifting her easily, he set her away from him as he surged to his feet. Panic was starting to settle, slick and hot, in the pit of his belly. “Bullshit, princess,” he roared. “I am telling you it’s not real and you need to get over it.”
Behind her, Bain cleared his throat. “Maybe we should leave.”
Shelby shook her head. “No. Stay. Cage came for a reason, and Seren’s safety is on the line as much as mine.” Shifting her focus back to Daniel, she stood up slowly, her arms crossing over her chest. “Here’s a hint, Daniel. When a woman tells you she loves you, it’s not a smart idea to tell her it’s all in her head.”
“You’re right.” He nodded once, his mood darkening. “It’s probably not. I’m an ass. I’m surprised you haven’t realized it yet.”
This time, she snorted so hard he was a little worried she’d popped a vein. “I’m not blind, Daniel,” she snapped at him. “Yeah, you are an ass. You are also the strongest person I’ve ever met, and the only person in the world I can imagine sharing every moment of the rest of my life with. You’re the one I want forever.”
He pointed at her, feeling wilder than he’d ever had before and closer to the edge of insanity. “Look at me. Look at me, goddamn it, and tell me if you think I’m going to let you go after telling me this?”
“No.” She went on her toes and batted his hand away. “That’s the point. You’re supposed to be deliriously happy, and decide you’re going to keep me.”
“No.” He bared his teeth at her, battling the twin urges to strangle her or devour her for saying the words he’d never be able to block out. She was shoving him off a cliff he’d never get back up. “You’re not thinking about what you’re demanding of me, goddamn it. You’re letting your emotions rule your head, and expect I’m going to let you walk away later when you change your mind.”
She stiffened, and he knew he was hurting her. “It’s not your choice, Daniel. It’s not your call.” She let out a frustrated sound and climbed onto the coffee table to bring them closer to eye level. She gripped his shirt in both fists and yanked. “You can’t live in my world, and I don’t want to live without you. I won’t do it again, it hurts too damn much. So you’re going to accept I have you now, and I’m keeping you.”
Emotion slammed into him hard, until his only defense against it was to touch her. Just… touch her. He brushed a wayward curl out of her eyes, then dragged the pad of his thumb along the trail of the single tear that had slipped down her cheek. “What kind of person would I be if I let you give everything up for me?”
“A smart one.” She caught his hand. Without a word, she brought it to the mark over her heart. Her emotions pounded into him on a tidal wave.
His eyes flared, his pupils lengthening, before he dropped his head against hers. “Ryuu, Shel.” He closed his eyes for a moment, before he shook himself and straightened. It was as if a switch had been flipped inside of him. “This conversation isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is.”
Daniel glared at her for another second, before he forced himself to concentrate on the problem at hand, shoving everything else out of his head. She loved him, and he wasn’t stupid enough to argue about it anymore. The dam of emotions inside him had broken. There was no way he’d be able to repair it and get a handle on his possessiveness now. She wanted him, so she was going to get him in all of his glory.
There would be no turning back now.
22
“You’re insane.” Broderick’s harsh voice snapped out as he prowled the width of the cave. “You’re talking about full-on war.”
Bain snorted, his hands braced on the table. “Not just war, Ryuu, you’re talking about taking on Alexi Dragan and the entire Dragan fucking underworld. Broderick’s right, Ashborne. You’ve lost your fucking mind.”
“It gets worse.” Luca’s quiet voice settled hard in the room, drawing every eye to him. “Taking on Alexi is going to mean taking on Micah. I’m not sure any of us are prepared for that.”
They were silent as the warning hung in the air. Daniel cleared his throat, his gaze locked with Luca’s. If something happened to Daniel in battle, it would be up to Luca to make Shelby’s world right, and he knew more about Micah and their bastard father than anyone. “Alright, so how do we get through him?
“We don’t. He doesn’t have a weakness. There’s nothing and no one in this world Micah cares about.”
Daniel let out a string of curses. The Dragan family was an enigma all its own, but for as evil as Alexi was, what made Micah so goddamn terrifying, was he had no soul.
Daniel shook his head. Micah hadn’t just followed in his father’s footsteps, though. He’d forged his own path with a heart of sheer ice. “There has to be a way to neutralize him.”
“I haven’t found anything. He’s unstable and fucked in the head.”
Cage cleared his throat. “Luca’s right. I’d kill Micah before I let him near Seren. I don’t trust him.”
Daniel glanced over at where Shelby was curled up on the couch, watching them. A low rumble sounded in his chest. “We’re going to have to find somewhere to stash Shelby. I’m not taking any chances with her if we’re going to war.”
* * * *
Shelby was going to be sick. She’d known these men–dragons, whatever–were dangerous. Deadly. Lethal. She had, but hearing them talk about open war so casually…
Her stomach roiled, but it was Daniel’s attitude that kept her riveted. Something inside of him had changed. While she’d always been able to see the king in him, ever since she’d told him she loved him, his power had magnified. His presence dominated the room, commanding attention and respect, and promising swift punishment to anyone who defied him, for any reason.
“Princess.” Daniel crouched in front of her, bracing his forearms against his thighs. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She believed him. As she searched his face, she couldn’t imagine anything on Earth that would be strong enough to get through him to hurt her. “What about you, Daniel? Are you going to protect yourself the way you protect me?” When he snorted, as if the idea was actually laughable, she mimicked his growl as she unfolded herself from the couch and scooted into him. She wound her arms around his neck, her face buried in his throat. She loved breathing him in. “You can fight it all you want, but I love you, and I will be very pissed off if you die.”
“I’m not fighting you.”
“God, you are such a stubborn…”
“Bastard?” He supplied for her.
“Yes!” she yelled as she surged to her feet, with him still crouched in front of her. Then, as if she’d hit a wall, his words and the look on his face penetrated the hysteria that was building in her chest. “What?”
“Ryuu. You wanted me, princess. Now you’ve got me. I won’t let you change your mind.”
“Change my mind?” she repeated like an idiot, still feeling like someone had righted the world without warning her first. “Daniel, I’m not even sure I understand what you’re saying.”
“Ashborne. It’s time to go.”
She watched Daniel’s massive muscle
s tighten at Luca’s voice, before he nodded once and stood up slowly. He reached out and trailed the pad of his thumb down the side of her face. “I’m taking you to Gabriel and Seren. You’ll be safe there until this battle is over.”
She wanted to yell that he couldn’t do this to her. He couldn’t go to war on her behalf, and leave her behind. If something happened to him… if he died to make her safe…
Instead, she brushed her lips over his throat, his chin, before kissing him lightly on the lips. “Mine.”
He made an arrogant sound in the back of his throat. “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.” His kiss was hot and raw, and more possessive than anything she could imagine. “Yours, Shelby.” He nipped her bottom lip before he pulled back. “You ready to fly?”
“Damn straight I am.”
He snorted as he lifted her onto the coffee table, then turned so she could hop onto his back. She hooked her arms around his neck, wrapped her legs around his waist, and gave in to the urge to nip his ear with her teeth. He growled at her, a grin tugging at his mouth, before he turned his attention to the others. He jerked his head, and they headed out of the cave together. As they took to the air, Cage on foot beneath them, Shelby knew there was nothing–nothing, she wouldn’t do to keep that grin on her mate’s face for the rest of their lives.
* * * *
He didn’t want to let her go, and he sure as fuck didn’t want to leave her. Nothing about the last few days felt right to him. Unease had been slowly building in his gut since they’d started talking about war.
It still wasn’t enough to make him change his mind. Alexi was going to die, Shelby’s father along with him. Daniel would make sure of it.
The problem was he had to leave her to do it, and he couldn’t get those words to fit right in his head. It scared the shit out of him. He never second-guessed himself. He sure as hell never fucking doubted his decisions or instincts.
