The Dragon's Heart (Dragon Lore)

by Eden Ashe

  There was no compassion in his eyes, no gentleness to soften the blow of his words. “This war is a game I plan on winning.”

  Her face crumpled. “Daniel trusted you.”

  If he heard her, if her words affected him at all, she couldn’t tell. He simply jerked his head at Micah. “Get her out of here.”

  Micah nodded once. “I’ll make sure Alexi is appropriately grateful for his gift.”

  “Micah, don’t do this.” Seren put herself directly in his path, but the blue-eyed giant picked her up as easily as if she were a puppy and moved her to the side.

  Screw it. She shifted slightly and the second Micah reached for her, she went up on her toes and swung. It was the last thing she remembered before her world went black.

  * * * *

  “Where the fuck is he?” Daniel yanked his knife out of a dragon’s throat with his left hand while he swung up with his right, slicing another Dragan underling’s stomach open. As the dark-haired man screamed in agony and doubled over, Daniel kicked him to the side as he swung on Luca. “We’ve been at this for hours.”

  Luca shifted his grip on his long dagger and slammed his fist into the face of the man coming at him, shattering his nose on impact. Neither of them liked killing their own kind, but the underlings knew what fate waited them when going up against their king. “He’s playing with us.”

  “No, he’s feeding us.” Daniel turned his head and spit out blood. Some lucky bastard had gotten a cheap shot in. He was sure his goddamn jaw was broken, along with his other cheek and a few of his ribs. He would heal, but not before the next fight. He could fight in dragon form, which would make him harder to hurt, but it was never as fun, and was usually over way too quickly.

  Luca shook his damp hair out of his face and pointed at the sudden silence of the tunnel in front of them. “It’s his version of fucking bread crumbs to make sure we’re going the right way.”

  Daniel sneered as he looked behind him at the trail of bodies they’d left in their wake over the last two hours. “Glad to know their loyalty paid off.” He shoved a hand through his hair and started forward. “Let’s just find him. I’m tired of playing his damn games.”

  “Agreed.”

  Daniel followed the damp, stale tunnel with Luca directly behind. He wasn’t kidding. He’d had enough of this shit. He wanted it over now.

  As if Luca read his thoughts, or could sense the same itchiness crawling up Daniel’s spine, he rolled his head. “Something’s not right.”

  “No shit,” Daniel shot back. The mark over his heart was trying to jackrabbit its way out of his chest. “I’m about to come out of my goddamn skin.”

  Luca grunted his agreement just as they both caught sight of a single flickering light up ahead. “About fucking time.”

  “Remember.” Daniel swung both his blades once as they came upon the cavernous room. He shifted, pressing his back against the tunnel wall next to the room’s opening. “I want the fucking Hunter who shot Shelby. Nobody dies until I have answers, then you can have your father.”

  Luca nodded, a slow grin spreading across his face. “You ready for this?”

  Daniel nodded once. “The Highlands in the 1700s?”

  “Nah.” Luca snorted. “That was too easy. Over too quick. I say we go with what we did in Spain. You know, an actual challenge.”

  It was Daniel’s turn to snort. “Because we let it be.” He flashed Luca a grin. They’d fought side by side for thousands of years, and had combat down to a science. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

  Luca’s smile went manic as his hand flicked out, dowsing the light from the torches on the cavern walls. Daniel waited until the murmuring voices rose with temper and started to move to relight the wicks before he moved to the middle of the entrance. Without having to shift into dragon form, he opened his mouth.

  Flames shot into the middle of the room before anyone knew what was happening. Daniel and Luca took advantage of it as they charged in, blades swinging.

  26

  Shelby came to swinging.

  She jerked up in the passenger seat of the car the second her eyes were open, and launched herself at Micah before she’d even taken a breath. She even got in a lucky shot, nailing him dead in the eye before he’d managed to pull over and zip-tie her hands together.

  After a moment’s hesitation, he tied her feet together, too. She snorted. At least he wasn’t stupid. “Now be a good little girl,” Micah snarled, “or I’ll gag you, too.”

  Shelby rolled her eyes as he slammed her car door shut. Like she was going to give up and allow him to use her to kill Daniel.

  She backed into her door and glared at him as he slid behind the wheel again. It was pitch black outside, which meant she’d been out for awhile. “So what’s the plan?” she snapped. “Daniel’s not going to let you kill me.”

  He jerked the car back into traffic, ignoring her.

  Shelby searched his face by the faint lights from the dashboard of his vintage 1969 Camaro. She was desperate for a hint of humanity inside of him, but all she got was stone cold heartless.

  She wasn’t stupid. Her options were severely limited. Running wasn’t an option, nor was appealing to any decency inside Micah.

  Focusing on the sight outside her window, her throat closed up as she realized wherever he was taking her, it was bad. Like something out of The Crow’s, Devil’s Night bad.

  “What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Micah sneered as he pulled to a stop in a blackened alley. “Scared?”

  “Don’t call me that,” she snapped, refusing to answer the second part.

  He snorted as he got out of the car and stalked over to her side. “Don’t bother screaming. Death would be preferable to any help anyone around here would give you.”

  Shelby clamped her mouth shut as he hauled her up and tossed her over his shoulder. She didn’t bother fighting this time. The shadows behind him were starting to move, and her skin crawled with the feeling of being watched.

  He wasn’t gentle as he crouched down and yanked a grate off a storm drain. Without warning, he shifted her until they were face-to-face, then hopped down the twenty feet to the damp sewer floor.

  He smirked as he landed on his feet with more grace than a man his size should be able. “Impressed?” He sneered.

  She’d never thought to ask Daniel if their senses were different than humans. Was their hearing more acute? Could they see further in the darkness? She’d have to find out, as soon as she was out of this mess. “There’s a ladder right behind you, jackass, and I can walk, you know.”

  Judging by the way his body tightened against hers, and the aura he was putting off, she had succeeded in pissing him off.

  “It’s not like I’m going to run,” she snapped, slightly hysterical. “There’s nowhere to go.”

  He ignored her as he threw her over his shoulder again, hard enough to have her holding back a scream. “Stop talking, woman, or I will gag you.”

  “Then stop irritating me.” Shelby knew she was taunting him. Because it wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done, she decided to hold her tongue as he started down the dark, dank sewer. It was better not to breathe, anyway. She was sure he’d seriously bruised at least one of her ribs.

  * * * *

  They were losing. Daniel knew it. He didn’t need to see Luca taking a massive combat boot to the chest, knocking him across the cavernous room and into the stone wall to hit the reality home.

  No, they were out-numbered and out-gunned. Every time they cut through a swarm of Dragan soldiers, another one came out of nowhere. Just the kind of odds he was looking for.

  Daniel grinned as he took a shoulder to the abdomen, the force sending him sprawling backward. He hit the ground hard and rolled before the knife coming at him could slice his face open.

  Daniel kicked to his feet, using the dragon-shifter’s momentum against him, catching him under the arm and slamming him to the ground. He didn’t waste time playing with him as he slit the y
oungling’s throat. It was just one more dead body between him and his goal. Alexi would die, as would the Hunter who’d tried to kill his Shelby. Since there was only one Hunter in the room, an evil-looking son of a bitch with half his nose missing, he was on Daniel’s list.

  As if reading his mind, Luca jerked his head toward the back of the room. “Go. I’ll take care of this mess and be right behind you.”

  Daniel nodded once. He wiped his blades on his jeans as he stalked to the only other entrance off the cave.

  Alexi Dragan sat in the middle of the room, at home behind a lake-sized desk. Three millennia of sin and debauchery had sharpened his face to that of a born predator. Even in the firelight, his dark blue eyes shined with pure, unadulterated evil. Behind him were the lackeys he kept closest to him at all times, some of the most fucked-up sons-of-bitches Daniel had ever run up against.

  He ignored all of them, and focused on the human directly behind Alexi.

  Daniel’s lip lifted in a sneer as every muscle in his body tightened for battle. “Enjoy those next couple of breaths. They will be your last.”

  Shelby’s father panicked, his tear-filled eyes darting around the cavernous room. “Please. Just let me go.”

  Alexi held up a finger, silencing the man. “A deal’s a deal. You pay in blood.”

  Daniel relaxed slightly as he felt the presence of Cage, Luca and the other dragons walk in behind him. Without looking at them, he growled. “Give me a few to get some answers, and then the human is mine. You can have the rest.”

  Dallas nodded once as they moved in to flank him. “They’re all dying?”

  “Works for me.” Luca said.

  “Not so fast,” the bastard, Alexi, drawled with a slow, deliberate wave of his hand. Alexi was the wildcard, and they all knew it. One of the oldest dragons, his death would not come easy. Rumor was, the only person with enough power to take him out was his oldest son. “There’s some unfinished business we need to discuss.”

  “Good idea.” Daniel snapped as he started forward across the dark, damp room, his attention firmly on the bastard who had dared to use Shelby.

  “What the hell do you have to do with all of this?” Daniel asked her father, flipping the knife through his fingers.

  Her father tried to dart forward. “Please. She was just supposed to die. It wasn’t supposed to be this complicated. You have to help–”

  “Silence!” Alexi roared. The madman leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled over his chest. As he lifted a single finger, a door that hadn’t been there moments before slammed shut behind Daniel and the others. He turned his attention back to Daniel. “My game,” Alexi drawled, “my rules. Your mate was just a pawn. A tool. Her death would have been quick that night, but your inability to keep your dick in your pants was just the opportunity I needed to reignite the war.”

  Daniel rolled his eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You’ve been a pain in my ass for too long. If you won’t give me your fealty willingly, I’ll take what you love the most, and take it while you’re on your knees, broken.”

  Daniel opened his mouth to tell the sick bastard to go fuck himself, when a stifled sob that came from the darkness at the edges of the room, sent his heart into his throat. Fury and terror warred inside his head, the pressure threatening to explode as Micah walked out of the shadows, holding a terrified and pissed off Shelby in front of him. He’d bound her hands and her feet, but Daniel’s gaze was riveted to the gun pointed at his mate’s head.

  Alexi chuckled at the look on Daniel’s face as he waved his hand at Micah, motioning him to bring Shelby closer.

  “Touch her,” Daniel snarled, the icy fury of his temper echoed through the room with a force all its own, “and I will rip your spine out through your nose, old man.”

  “Tsk tsk. A deal’s a deal. She’s going to die, Ashborne. You won’t stop it.” Alexi reached out a hand and wrapped it around the back of Shelby’s neck. She jerked away from him with a strangled sound, but Micah held her still. “You’ve refused to bow to me long enough. Now I have something that you love, and you have no choice. Give me what I want and I promise to make her death quick. I may not even make you watch as I defile her beforehand.”

  Luca and Dallas grabbed one of Daniel’s arms before he could lunge at him.

  “Just wait, goddamn it,” Luca hissed. “He’s playing with you.”

  The fury in Shelby’s eyes beneath the terror didn’t surprise him. She was a fighter, his woman.

  Gritting his teeth together and forcing his common sense back to the surface, he kept his focus on Alexi and the man behind him. Daniel crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. The old bastard was waiting for him to make a move to rescue Shelby, and Daniel had no doubt the second he did, Alexi would make her pay.

  “What do you want?” he finally snapped out.

  Alexi smiled. “The same thing I’ve always wanted. Your men and your loyalty. Bow down to me, and this whole nightmare will be over. As an added incentive, I’ll even throw in her father for you to do with as you please.”

  Daniel glanced over his shoulder, raising a brow at the men who stood behind him, ignoring the swarm of soldiers that surrounded them. “Anyone feel like bowing to this psychopath?”

  Broderick snorted. “No.”

  “I’d rather you rip my spine out through my nose,” Bain said.

  “Yeah,” Dallas drawled, “what he said.”

  “You know how I feel about him,” Luca murmured.

  Adrian, who stood silent on the end, hadn’t taken his gaze off Micah since he’d walked in. His scar was ticking violently, and his voice was deadly quiet. “I don’t bow to anyone.”

  Daniel looked back at Alexi. “There’s your answer.”

  Fury flashed over Alexi’s face as he stood up slowly. “Then you will all die.” He leveled his gaze on Cage. “Except for you. You and I have unfinished business.”

  Alexi turned to look at his men. “You know what to do.” Reaching out, Alexi grabbed Shelby’s chin and yanked it up. “Whoever kills Ashborne can have his mate as soon as I’m through with her.”

  “Please!” George Kincade’s choked sob rang through the sudden stillness. “Please don’t let him kill me!”

  Daniel closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was across the room standing directly in front of George. He shoved his knife into his throat with so much force it pinned the bastard to the cave wall behind him. Though Daniel would have loved to let the bastard bleed out slowly, Shelby didn’t need to see it. So with one quick move, Daniel broke his neck.

  Daniel turned just in time to see Alexi try to kiss her. She gagged, and he read her intent to spit in the monster’s face when all hell broke loose around him. As if a dam had come down at the back of dungeon, Dragan minions in human and dragon form swarmed forward. They surrounded Daniel and his men, blocking his path to Shelby.

  The roar that tore out of him wasn’t human. It was savage, the pure beast inside of him as the primal part took over. He did not come this close to fucking happiness to allow a deranged madman stand in his way.

  If Shelby wanted him, she was damn well going to get him. And he would kill anyone who tried to stand in his way.

  He didn’t have to look over his shoulder to know his men were shifting into battle formation. They formed an outward-facing circle, protecting their backs at all cost.

  Daniel swung upward with his knives as the first of the lackeys rushed him. He cleaved the bastard in two, then ducked when the next idiot swung a broadsword at his neck. He came up with a battle cry, shoving a knife in his throat. Daniel spun to slam his boot in the asshole’s chest, knocking him backward into another idiot. He stooped long enough to rip his blade out of the dead man, before lunging at the next two. They crumpled as his knives impaled their hearts. He went down with them, slashing at the calf muscles of the minion trying to sneak up beside him. When he fell to his knees, Daniel slammed his fist into the
man’s face, sending him sprawling into Luca, who took his head off with one clean swipe of his sword.

  They were outnumbered, twenty to one, but Daniel put his money on his men any day of the week, against any odds. Fighting for someone you feared was a different ballgame than fighting with people you trusted against a common threat.

  They surged forward as a unit, cutting down everyone that stood in their path. If it held a weapon, it died.

  It didn’t take long to lay waste to every minion in the dungeon, and within minutes, there was no one else to stand between Daniel and Alexi.

  His gaze flicked over Shelby. She wasn’t harmed as far as he could see, and while she was terrified, she was holding steady. Pride and love swelled in his chest. That was his girl. He winked, to let her know it was almost over.

  She smiled at him.

  He cleared his throat, and forced his attention back to Alexi. He lifted a brow as he spread his legs, deliberately keeping his stance lazy. To show any weakness to Alexi was pure stupidity. He already had the one thing Daniel refused to live without, and they both knew it.

  “Let her go, Alexi. I got what I came for, and your men are dead. Let her go, and walk away.”

  Alexi laughed, mania flashing in his eyes. “I have your mate. Therefore, I hold all the cards. You’re too noble,” he sneered, “to do anything that would risk her.” He yanked Shelby in front of him, pressing a knife blade into her throat. “Last chance. Bow to me, and this will all be over.”

  The rage boiling in Daniel’s bloodstream went catastrophic. Alexi had nothing left to lose, and Shelby was his only bargaining chip. If he killed her, he knew he wouldn’t walk out alive, but Daniel had no doubt the bastard would take her with him.

  He cocked his head slightly, his voice low. “Luca?”

  “I’m ready,” Luca murmured. He tossed Daniel his sword.

  “Now.”

  The second Daniel’s fingers curled around the hilt, Luca and Daniel were airborne. Luca hit Shelby from the side, knocking her out of Alexi’s grip. Daniel saw a gun flash in Micah’s hand, and even as Daniel’s sword connected with Alexi’s throat, severing his head, the bullet exploded in the madman’s temple.