Love of A Dragon (Exalted Dragons Book 1)

by K. T. Stryker

  Isabel turned around to leave, only to bump into Gavin. “Whoa, you’re in a hurry,” he said, his pearly teeth flashing through his smile.

  Isabel opened her mouth but no words came out. She decided she wasn’t going to say a thing. If she was going to get to the bottom of this, then she was going to do it herself. “Sorry about that,” she said, the corners of her lips curving upwards. “I’m just kind of in a hurry.”

  “Well, I hope we’re on for tonight?” Gavin asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

  “Sure,” Isabel said, patting him on the shoulder and then squeezing past him. “I’ll catch you later.”

  Gavin didn’t like this. He didn’t like this one bit. For the first time, Isabel didn’t display any signs of uncontrollable hunger, and neither did she show any enthusiasm at the mentioning of sex. Was she growing immune to Gavin’s mind control? Were they doing something wrong? Gavin took in a deep breath and let it out through his teeth. Something was going horribly wrong. Isabel wasn’t easily tamed anymore, and soon enough, she would be able to resist mind control if they didn’t stop her. Something had to be done. Gavin waited until Isabel disappeared around the corner and then he went after her.

  “Um, hi,” Isabel said to one of the newcomers. He turned to her, his ashen skin almost glowing in the light. “I was wondering if you’ve seen Ava? She used to live on this floor,” Isabel asked, her eyes fixated on his.

  “No, I don’t think so,” he replied, fumbling with a pair of dice. Isabel peered into his room, catching a glimpse of a bunch of girls sitting on the bed with some sort of board game spread out in front of them. She smiled when one of them got up and popped her head out the door.

  “Hello,” she said. “I think I know who you’re talking about.”

  “You do?” Isabel asked, her eyes lighting up. “Have you seen her recently?”

  Immediately, the girl’s face dropped to a scowl. She stepped outside, motioning for her roommate to leave the two of them alone, and then she slammed the door shut, her eyes searching Isabel’s. “Listen,” she said. “I didn’t want to say anything, but they took Ava, I saw it happen in front of me.”

  “Who took her? And what did you see?” Isabel asked, her eyes darting back and forth frantically.

  “Ava was acting up… she found out what they’re doing to us, so she spoke up. And then this woman, I think her name was Analise, came and took her.”

  Isabel’s heart skipped a beat. A part of her wanted to ask more questions, to listen till the girl was done talking, but something told her that the more she listened, the more confused she would get. This mansion was all she knew, all she lived for, and now things were changing. Something was happening, something hideous, and Isabel was scared to uncover what it was. “Where did they take her?” she asked beseechingly.

  “I overheard Analise talking about the chambers,” the girl said, her eyes dropping to the floor. “They took her there, she was kicking and screaming, and they took her there…”

  “Hey,” Isabel said, placing a hand over the girl’s shoulder. “Do you know where the chambers are?”

  She shook her head. “No, but there is speculation… some say they’re underground, some say that only one room has access to them… I really have no idea.” She paused for a moment, inspecting their surroundings. “But I want you to be careful,” she hissed. “You don’t want them taking you there, it’s an ugly place, I hear.”

  Isabel nodded, and then the girl retreated back into her room and slammed the door shut. “What the fuck was that?” she muttered to herself, turning around and making her way for the stairs. She had been skeptical of what was going on for a long time now, but it was only when Ava went missing that Isabel truly start to believe that something was horribly, horribly wrong. As she hurried down the stairs, she caught a glimpse of Analise again. Isabel could feel her feet carrying her to where Analise was going, and she found herself following in zigzags between hallways and tiny little corridors that Isabel has never seen before. She was pretty careful, though. Every now and then she would stop for a couple of seconds, waiting for Analise to disappear, and then she would start following her again. Analise was pretty quick. She flew down the last set of stairs, and then finally, she disappeared into a dark hallway with cement walls. Isabel stopped dead in her tracks. She looked around her; all she saw were cement walls, part bare wire, part red brick. It was almost pitch black in there; a part of the mansion Isabel had never seen before. She let out a sigh, and when she felt a hand come over her shoulder, she jumped back, her heart feeling as though it would burst out of her chest.

  “Isabel? What are you doing here?” Gavin asked.

  Isabel didn’t say anything. Her eyes were darting from Gavin, to the shadows dancing on the walls, and then to Gavin again. She could feel his eyes boring into her, his glare almost deadly. He tried to smile but it looked fake as hell, and Isabel would have made a run for it, if it weren’t for the immense amount of control that Gavin was imposing on her. “I, I,” she stuttered, trying to figure out what to do. Her brain was on overdrive. She felt like this was some kind of uncharted territory, somewhere she wasn’t supposed to trespass. In a way, she felt like she had uncovered something, something that was better off left alone.

  “How did you even make it all the way here?” Gavin asked. “Isabel, dear, you’re not supposed to be here, only Analise and I have access to this place.”

  The more Gavin rambled on, the more Isabel became convinced that she had to get to the bottom of this. Something was off. There she was, namely the most powerful succubus of her time, and there were places in this mansion that she knew nothing about, hidden places. The very idea of there being an entirely different world underground made her stomach churn, and she figured that, if she was going to go on living the life she was living, then she had to be aware of everything that went on around her. Right now, it felt like she knew nothing. “Gavin,” Isabel said finally. “Let me pass.” She tried to squeeze past him but he stopped her, so she just stood there for a moment, straightening herself, trying to gather her thoughts. “Gavin,” she said again, her voice firm this time. “I said, let me pass.”

  “Who do you think you are?” he asked, leaning in close to Isabel. His face was only inches from hers, and she could feel the warmth of his breath colliding with her skin. It made her sick. “You think you know everything?” he asked. “Izzy, my love, you know nothing.”

  Isabel stumbled a few steps back. Suddenly she felt out of breath, like Gavin was sucking the life out of her. His eyes were piercing hers, demanding that she take a step back. But she wasn’t having it. “I’m not leaving,” she hissed. “I’m not leaving until I figure out what the fuck is going on.” Suddenly she could feel a gush of energy surge through her. She felt powerful, like something had stripped her of all her fear.

  “You’re still new to this world,” Gavin whispered, brushing Isabel’s cheek with the back of his hand. “It can get ugly sometimes, and it’s still too soon for you to find out about the ugliness of this world… embrace your naivety, honey, embrace it.”

  “Stop treating me like a child,” Isabel said, pushing his hand away. At that point, she was just plain furious. She hated it when Gavin babied her; he tended to do that a lot. “Is Analise in there?” she asked, peering over his shoulder.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, aren’t you going to tell me what she’s doing in there? I need to know what’s going on or I’ll go absolutely mad,” Isabel said, trying to hold back the tears. Suddenly she felt weak again. The more Gavin exercised his powers on her, the weaker and more vulnerable she got. She thought she would get stronger with time. She thought she would be able to resist his powers. “Alright,” she said finally. “I’m sorry.”

  Gavin nodded at her, and not long after Analise appeared again. When her gaze met Isabel’s, she stopped abruptly. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her head cocked to the side. “You must get out, right now.”

  “Analise,
where’s Ava?” Isabel asked, pushing past Gavin and just standing there, not taking her eyes off the blonde. Her emotions were all over the place; one second she was confident, the next second she felt helpless, like the working of some impenetrable force was taking her over.

  “Ava?” Analise replied, confused. “Oh, you mean the redhead?” In the distance Isabel could hear voices, like little cries for help. They echoed everywhere, and Isabel wondered if it was all in her head.

  “What is that?” she asked, scanning the room around them with her eyes. “What’s that sound?”

  “What sound?” Gavin asked, his eyes darting from Isabel, to Analise, and then to Isabel again. “Izzy, you’re not feeling well, let me take you to your room.” For a moment, it felt like time had stopped. Isabel didn’t know if it was Gavin who was making her feel this way, or the voices. Either way she felt like her head was going to explode; suddenly every muscle in her body felt fluid, her arms falling limp to her side.

  Isabel’s eyes dropped to the floor. Those voices were making her weak. She wrapped her arms around herself and started shivering, motioning for Gavin to lead the way. “Get me out of here,” she hissed.

  “Are you feeling alright, Izzy?” he asked, a smile settling back on his face. Isabel wondered if he felt any empathy towards her at all. It was like he wasn’t half the man— or vampire— that she thought he was and that scared her.

  “I’m okay,” she whispered through her teeth. But in reality, everything was spinning. It was like Gavin had a tight grip on her, and she was finding it hard— almost impossible— to escape. Her powers were diminishing, and she felt herself shutting down. “I just need to lay down for a while,” she said, turning around and starting up the stairs.

  “Wait,” Gavin said. “Analise, take her up to her room.”

  “Will do,” she said, reaching her hand out to Isabel. The couple exchanged glances before Analise led the way up the spiral stairs. Isabel was slow— painfully slow— like she had taken a bullet to her knee. She could feel the strength of Gavin’s powers penetrating through her, ordering her to back off, so she did. She followed Analise up the stairs to her room, and when they finally reached her floor, she could feel the insides of her cheeks drying up like prunes.

  “I need water,” she breathed.

  “Are you out of breath?” Analise asked, placing a hand over her shoulder.

  Isabel nodded. She unlocked the door to her room and stepped inside, sitting down over the edge of her bed and watching as Analise fumbled with some glasses on her bedside table. Her fingers tightened against the mattress edge; she knew Analise was hiding something, and she needed to find out what it was.

  “Here,” she said, handing Isabel a full glass of water.

  Isabel inspected it for a moment before downing it all in one gulp. Suddenly she felt drained of all her energy, but she wasn’t giving up. Deep down she knew that something was wrong, that she needed to find out who was down there. There was no way she was being delusional when she heard those screams; they were real, they were real and they were haunting her.

  “Do you feel better now?” Analise asked her. “You don’t seem very well… do you want me to call you a doctor?”

  Isabel shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  “Alright, I’m going to get going now, I’ve got some matters to attend to.”

  Like what I thought I heard down there? Isabel nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you soon,” she breathed.

  Analise flashed her a smile and then turned away, the train of her dress floating behind her as she left the room. Isabel buried her head in her pillow, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. “This is a nightmare,” she mumbled under her breath. She felt sick, like someone had ripped her heart out of her chest. Finally, she lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours. The hunger didn’t rise up in her anymore, but she knew it would strike again. Isabel closed her eyes. Maybe by sunrise she would feel better.

  CHAPTER 7

  The sunrise spawned a strange sense of confidence in Isabel. She jumped out of the bed and opened her door, only to find Aden standing in the next room. “Hello,” she said, her lips curving to a smile.

  “Isabel,” Aden said, gawking at her with bloodshot eyes. Isabel stopped to look at him, and it was only then that she realized he looked hideous.

  “Aden,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “You look… tired.”

  “Listen, you’ve got to do something about this, they promised they would enable us… but I don’t see it happening, not one bit!” he hissed, grabbing onto the edge of the bar. Isabel was pushed up against the marble counter, and for the first time, she felt like she was in danger. She could hear his nails clawing at the bar surface: it made her cringe.

  “Do something about what?” she asked, obviously confused. “Listen, I’ve been going crazy since yesterday, I don’t know what you— or anyone else— is talking about! I don’t know anything!”

  “Well I want you to know this,” Aden said, his voice boiling down to a sinister whisper. “Gavin isn’t trying to enable the succubi, and Oz isn’t an angel either… they’re both trying to control you, to distract you from what’s really happening, and you’re falling for it!”

  “Oz isn’t an angel? What are you talking about? Please, I don’t understand,” Isabel cried, trying to stay collected but failing miserably. “I haven’t been seeing him around lately, I’m getting worried.”

  “Oh, you need to choose who you worry about,” Aden snapped. “You better start with yourself.” He turned around to leave, but Isabel stopped him.

  “Please, just tell me where to look, you can’t just throw that at me without explaining shit,” she said, tugging at his sleeve.

  “You know where to look, you know because you were told where to look… you were just there last night,” he said. Isabel watched him run off, and so she followed him. She flew down the stairs, taking them flight after flight after flight, until she reached the basement. Surprisingly, there was no one around, not even Analise. She marched down the narrow path, the cement floors cold against her bare feet. Finally, she heard those screams again.

  “Help, help!” one of the voices said. Isabel cocked her head to the side and listened. “Help, help!”

  “Oh my God,” she whispered under her breath. She held onto the iron bars blocking the entrance, squinting at the shadows playing on the walls. “Isabel, is that you?” a familiar voice called.

  “Who is this?” she called out. “Speak up, I can’t hear you.”

  “It’s Oz.”

  Isabel froze. She looked around her, and when she was sure that no one was there, she turned back, trying to make out the source of the noise. She couldn’t see Oz, but she knew he was there. “Oz?” she asked. “Are you in there?”

  “Isabel, listen to me,” the voice said. “You know me, I’m Oz, but the man you’ve been with for the past couple of months, he’s not me.”

  “Then who is he?” Isabel asked, her voice trembling.

  “He’s a shape shifter.”

  Isabel could feel her heart drop to her knees. “A what?” she asked.

  “A shape shifter,” the voice said again. “Isabel, Gavin tricked you. He led you to believe that I would be the one escorting you to Paris, but he brought someone else.”

  “And who’s that someone?” she asked, grabbing onto the iron bars.

  “Mikael,” he said, his voice trailing off. “He’s one of the few shape shifters left of our time… his job was to replace me while I rot here.”

  “And what good would that do?” Isabel asked, feeling more lost than ever.

  “Gavin, he’s not on our side,” Oz said. “He’s on the vampires’ side… he lied to you that he could reel you into joining his army! He’s trying to control the succubi, all while recruiting more and more vampires to his cause.”

  “So Gavin’s just going around turning people into vampires?” Isabel asked, her eyes wide.

  “Yes, and it
’s not just him,” Oz said. “It’s Mikael, too.”

  “And you? What did he do to you?” Isabel asked, trying to hold back the tears. Suddenly she felt her entire world collapse. Everything she thought she knew was fading away, and she was only left with one distorted version of the truth. She wanted Oz to speak up, and she wanted him to do it right now. There were so many missing pieces to this puzzle; Isabel was done hearing lies. “Oz, what did he do to you?” she asked again.

  “This whole thing about tearing my wings off, it was a lie! Gavin just ended up sedating me and throwing me in here while Mikael did his job. He went around convincing everyone—including you— that he was me.”