Love of A Dragon (Exalted Dragons Book 1)

by K. T. Stryker

  “You gonna come with me, or?” he called back to Isabel.

  “I think we should assign ourselves rooms, first,” she said. “Because by the looks of it, we’re gonna be here for a while.”

  “Alright,” he shrugged. “Where would you like to stay?”

  “Well, when I was staying at the old mansion, the vampires were sure to assign me a room in the tower… they said they wanted to make me feel special or some shit, and, of course, I fell for it.” There was a pause. “Turns out they were just trying to isolate me from all that was happening. How could I have been so blind?”

  “Don’t beat yourself up,” Presten said, stepping back along the hallway. “We’ve got the entire mansion to ourselves, we can pick whatever room we want.”

  “That’s true,” Isabel said, smiling. “I think we should look for a room a couple of floors down… just so we’re closer to all the happenings.”

  Presten led the way downstairs as they strutted down the corridor, their eyes darting from one bedroom door to the other. “I find this door to be quite appealing,” Isabel said sarcastically. Besides Gavin’s room, they all looked the same. “I’ll just stay in here,” she said, picking out a room at random. She swung the door open and stepped inside. She had started to feel the hunger gnawing at her and thought it might be best if she and Presten parted ways. “Would you like to stay in the room next to me?” she asked.

  “I would very much like to,” he replied, the corners of his lips curving upwards. Isabel knew what he was thinking. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t think the same. But she knew she had to resist it; any imbalance could possibly cost them their lives. After all, Isabel had been warned time and time again not to feed on anyone else but Gavin and Oz, and even though she now knew that all she had learned was bullshit, these ideas were still engrained in her mind. The truth was, Isabel was having a hard time unlearning the things that were once so integral to her being. She was lost, like a little girl trying to find her way. One thing was for sure, though, she was free to have sex with whoever the fuck she wanted.

  “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” she asked, eyeing Presten as he retreated into the room across from hers. He nodded, flashing her a coy smile before he closed the door behind him. Isabel stepped back into her room, her mind spinning with images of Presten and what he could possibly do to her. She could feel herself getting wet, but she shrugged it off, trying to distract herself with anything else. “Maybe if I go out, I can get my mind off this,” she thought. But where would she go? She couldn’t leave the mansion right now; that was her responsibility. So she just wandered around the corridors, opening up random doors to see what was inside.

  “Hello, Isabel,” a voice said, as she opened a door. It took her a second or two to realize that the voice belonged to Oz.

  “Oz, what are you doing here?” she asked. “Weren’t you guarding the vampires?”

  “Well, you guys were taking too long, so I thought I’d check up on you,” he said. Isabel knew he was up to something. He was spread out over the bed, as if waiting for her to barge in there at any second. Was he jealous of Presten?

  “I appreciate that,” Isabel said, staring down at her feet. Seeing Oz always seemed to make her feel better.

  “Why are you standing all the way over there? Come here.”

  Isabel’s feet steered her in his direction. After all this time, Oz still had the most control over her; he was her weakness, the one person she knew she would never get over. It had occurred to her that maybe he had the most power over her because she loved him so much, but then she dismissed the idea, thinking that succubi don’t fall for angels, they don’t fall for anyone. “Are you going to stay in this room?” she asked, sitting down at the edge of the bed.

  “Yeah, it’s about time I get some rest from the cold hard prison cells, don’t you think?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her. Isabel moved in closer. He was reeling her in. Her head was on his chest and she could hear the sound of his heartbeat.

  “I missed that sound,” she said, burying her head in his chest. All at once, she took in his smell, that smell she had missed so much. She had been away from him for so long; all she wanted right now was to be one with him. He pulled her even closer to him.

  “I missed you,” he whispered. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his, and they made out in rhythmic, synchronized motion. She found herself lost in his arms, and everything around her seemed to melt, everything but him. He was the only one she saw, the only one she knew she wanted. Her memory of anyone else just melted away; his touch was the only touch she craved. His hands spread over to her thighs and he squeezed them lightly. Instantly, she could feel the fluids trickling down her leg. She had never been so drawn to someone in her life, and deep down, she knew no one else would measure up to him.

  “I want you so much right now,” she said against his lips. And suddenly, he rolled up on top of her, pressing his entire weight against her.

  “Just the way you like it,” he hissed. Isabel closed her eyes and freed her mind. She knew she wouldn’t be craving anything or anyone else in a long, long time.

  CHAPTER 4

  “So, what are you thinking?” Oz asked, brushing a hand through Isabel’s silky brown locks.

  “I’m thinking how much I’ve missed you,” she said, raising her eyes to his. He planted a kiss on her forehead and continued to stroke her hair. “What, don’t you miss me?” she asked, her eyes boring into his.

  “It’s not that… I’m just speechless,” he said, staring back at her. “Isabel, I don’t think you realize how beautiful you are.”

  “And I don’t think you realize how much I love you,” she said after a long pause.

  “I love you, too,” he said. They sat in silence. It had occurred to Isabel that maybe this was the first time she had ever been in love. When she was with Oz, all her doubts seemed to disappear, to dissipate into thin air. She felt safe with him and only him. “You know, the hardest part of all of this was having to be away from you.”

  “It was hard on me, too,” Isabel admitted. “It was really scary, seeing you in the state you were in... at one point I didn’t know if you would live or die.”

  “I didn’t know, either. Isabel, you have no idea how much I’ve suffered without you. You’ve given me strength.” He paused for a second, clearing his throat. “When Mikael decided to replace me, they locked me up in this room… and they tore off my wings and threw me into the cell. I thought it would be worth it, but it turns out, I was an idiot.”

  “There was no way you could’ve seen that coming,” Isabel said, her eyes swelling up with tears. The truth was, she couldn’t stand to see Oz get hurt. She knew how much he had suffered in those cells, and as much as she wanted to listen to him, it still hurt like a bitch. Somehow, she felt responsible for all of this. Was there anything more she could’ve done to prevent this? Were there any red flags she should’ve paid attention to? Of course there were. She knew from the second she saw Mikael that something was wrong. She knew he didn’t have Oz’s spirit in him. But she stayed quiet about it, thinking that maybe she was wrong. “I’m the one at fault here,” she said, sniffing. “I should’ve paid more attention, I should’ve known that something was wrong.”

  “Hey, there was no way you could’ve seen that coming,” Oz said, his lips curving to a smile as he repeated her words back to her. “I think we should both just give ourselves a break,” he continued, stroking her face with the back of his hand. “From now on, promise me you won’t worry about anything.”

  “I can’t guarantee you that,” she said, taking his hand and squeezing it. “I won’t rest until we end this, all of this.”

  “And we will,” he said, his eyes locked on hers. “You just need to believe in yourself, and in Presten.”

  “Right, Presten,” she smiled. She didn’t know what it was about the mention of his name that made her uneasy. Perhaps she wanted to feed on him just as much. Perhaps she would,
someday.

  “Isabel,” Oz said, brushing his hand under Isabel’s chin. “Don’t let me hold you back. We have a great time together, but that doesn’t mean you can’t feed on anyone else.”

  Isabel opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She wanted to tell Oz that she loved him more than anyone, that there was no one else she would rather feed on or be with, but she held back. Oz made her weak, and she didn’t like feeling weak, not anymore. “You’re right,” she said after a long pause. “You’re not holding me back… I want to be here right now, with you.”

  “Well, I was just making sure,” he said, brushing the hair out of her eyes. “I want you to forget everything you learned while I was away… I want you to start over.”

  “And I will,” Isabel said, raising her eyes to him. “I promise.”

  “We need to meet up, all of us, to plan our next move. Isabel, are you with me?”

  She looked at him with the determination of a thousand warriors. “I’m with you.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Isabel woke up with a strange sense of contentedness. Her nights spent with Oz always seemed to recharge her, to make her feel whole again. She was ready for that meeting. “Hey, hey,” she whispered into his ear. He shifted in his place before he drifted off to sleep again. “Hey, Oz.”

  “What?” he jumped. “Is it time for our meeting?”

  “I would say so,” she smiled. “Come on, let’s call the rest… we need all the time we can get.”

  Not long after all four of them were back around the round table next to the trapdoor. Every now and again, Ava would climb down, leave the hostages some food and then climb out again, a weary look on her face. “They don’t look so good,” she said, shaking her head. “They’re in really bad shape.”

  “Word’s going around that the vampire council’s out looking for them,” Presten said, rising to his feet and beginning to pace the room. “One of the hostages threatened me last time I brought them food… he said the vampires would come for us. I’m surprised they haven’t, yet.”

  “They must be plotting something,” Isabel said, looking a little frantic. “You can never really predict their next move.”

  “They’re going to come for us, we just need to be ready for when they do,” Oz said. There was a pause. “Holy shit,” he said suddenly. “We’re missing something.”

  “What, what do you mean?” Isabel asked, her eyebrows furrowed. “Oz, talk to me.” He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head. He clenched his eyes shut, and for a moment it looked like he was mumbling to himself.

  “They’re rebuilding the old mansion,” he hissed, his eyes fixated on the wall behind Isabel. “They’re trying to find another headquarters, and they’re leaving us to plan here like idiots!”

  Isabel felt a lump rise in her throat. “This’s crazy,” she said, shaking her head in denial. “Do you think a lot of them made it out alive after the fire?”

  “Right before the fire, the vampires had reached their peak; there were more of them at the mansion than we could count,” Oz said. “Gavin had already recruited tens, maybe hundreds of them… the hostages we have down there are nothing compared to the rest!”

  Suddenly it hit Isabel that they were all severely outnumbered. Gavin had managed to round up so many vampires while Oz was away. It was unbelievable he had gotten away with it. Isabel kicked herself for never questioning him, for letting all of this fly past her. She felt stupid, but right now, she knew how to recognize a vampire when she saw one. “But they’re still going to come for them,” she said finally. “They’re going to reassemble their army and attack us here. We need to act, fast.”

  “I know what we need to do,” Oz said, his eyes darting from Presten, to Ava, and then to Presten again. “You two need to go visit the mansion.”

  “What, are you crazy?” Isabel asked, slamming her hand against the table. “This is insane, do you want to get the both of them killed?”

  “Do you seriously think I would suggest such a plan if I thought it would backfire?” Oz asked, suddenly agitated. “Isabel, let me convince you on this.”

  “Why don’t we just let them speak for themselves?” she asked, nodding towards Presten and Ava, who were seated across from them.

  “I think Oz has a point,” Presten said. “A lot of the vampires don’t even know who I am or what I look like… they may know me by name, or that I’m the chosen one, but very few of them have actually seen me.” But Isabel wasn’t convinced. She shook her head in protest; were Presten and Ava about to throw themselves into the fire?

  “What about Rene?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “What if she sees you?”

  “We’ll be careful,” Ava said, leaning across the table. “Isabel, you don’t have to worry about us… I know the old mansion like the back of my hand, nothing bad can happen.”

  “Then I’ll go with you,” Isabel said.

  “See, now that’s crazy.”

  “If you can go, then I can go, too.”

  “Isabel, no,” Oz said, jumping to his feet. “This isn’t going to happen; do you realize how impulsive you’re being?”

  “These people know you, they’ve been after you for months now,” Presten said, his eyes locked on Isabel’s. Suddenly it felt like an intervention. The three of them were hunched over and staring at Isabel; they were going to talk her out of it if it was the last thing they did.

  “And what am I supposed to do, stay behind?” she asked, suddenly furious.

  “No, you’re going to come with me; we’re going to have a little talk with Gavin,” Oz said, raising an eyebrow at her. The sound of Gavin’s name sent shivers down Isabel’s spine; he was always there, at the back of her mind, taunting her. The very idea of having to face him made her skin crawl. “You and I, we can’t be at the other mansion, but what we can do is this: we’re going to go down there to the cellars and you’re going to try and get as much information out of Gavin as you possibly can.”

  “And what about you? What are you gonna do?” Isabel asked, tugging at the tips of her hair.

  “I’m going to come with you, but I’m not going to be in the picture,” Oz said. “Gavin’s more likely to trust you, to talk to you. I’m going to hide, and whenever you feel like he’s not giving you enough information, the information you need, that’s when I come in.”

  Isabel wondered what that meant. She knew she could bend Gavin, or at least she thought she could, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use some help. She and Oz made a great team; with him, she felt like she could do anything. But a part of her was still scared for Presten and Ava; what if they got caught? “I’m going to trust you on this one,” she said to Oz after a long pause. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I feel like we all need to get it together. I’m proud of us, I really am, but this is only just the beginning.”

  The other three nodded solemnly, and then Oz reached his hand out to Isabel, motioning for her to get up. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go down there… we don’t have much time.”

  Isabel took his hand and squeezed it. “Wait,” she breathed. “I’m, I’m scared.”

  “Don’t be,” Oz said, blinking at her. “I’m going to be right there with you… we’re going to do this together.” He pulled her hand just a little bit more until she couldn’t resist him. They exchanged brief glances before Oz pulled the trapdoor open and climbed down. He nodded towards Gavin’s cell, and as Isabel slowly started tiptoeing her way across the dungeon, he crouched down in the corner, trying not to draw any attention to himself. The cells were so silent that even Oz was afraid. It had occurred to him that a hostage’s silence was not an indication of desperation, but of confidence. The vampire council already had their eyes out; maybe these hostages were just waiting for the right time to be rescued. Oz held his breath while Isabel made her way for Gavin’s cell. Deep down, he prayed she could do this on her own.

  “Hello, Isabel,” Gavin said, lifting his head
off the floor. He had been lying, half-asleep, on his stomach, and had raised himself on his elbows when a pair of feet that he immediately recognized as Isabel’s, came into his line of vision. His gaze travelled up and down her body like a hungry wolf eyeing his prey. “What brought you here?” he asked, standing, then raising himself up on the balls of his feet before sinking to his knees again. He had a smile plastered to his face, that smile Isabel despised so much.

  She squatted down in front of him. “I’m here,” she started, “to ask you a few questions.”

  “And what might those be?” Gavin asked, his pearly teeth showing through his smile. Isabel opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. It’s happening, she thought to herself. “Come on, Isabel, cat got your tongue?” he asked. Isabel could feel the heat boiling up inside her.

  “What’s the council’s next move? When are they coming for us, for you?” she asked, leaning in close to him. Her face was only inches from his, and she could feel his hot breath against her skin; it made her sick.