The Blood King

by Abigail Owen

  Ladon vaguely heard Asher’s call, knew his Beta had entered his rooms, but didn’t lift his head. The scent of his mate lingered on the sheets, though it turned fainter with each passing day.

  “Ladon?” Asher tried again.

  “Yes?” He didn’t turn to face his Beta.

  “They have arrived.”

  About damn time. Brand had called in a favor, Ladon didn’t ask what, to send Gorgon here faster than dragons could fly. Ladon shoved shoes on his feet, then jumped off the bed to stride through his suite to where Asher stood by the door leading to the perch. “Let’s go.”

  He didn’t wait, shifting the second he hit the outcropping of rock, frustration grinding at him to wait even that long. He launched himself into the air, dropping rapidly through the mountain, other dragons clearing out of his way in a hurry.

  But their new arrivals couldn’t avoid him, though they might want to in a minute.

  He shot through the heart of the mountain, past the lower-level city with its bustling shops and places of business, into the training chamber. A group of men waited. One man in particular stood at the center.

  Ladon didn’t shift as he landed.

  He couldn’t. His dragon—all rage and fury—was fully in control now. Part of Ladon didn’t want to wrest control from the beast that he’d loosed. Wings tucked in, allowing him to walk on all fours, Ladon prowled across the room, his claws clacking against the stone flooring, his entire focus on the man who stood his ground.

  Tail whipping behind him, allowing no one near him from the back or the sides, Ladon stopped short of the black dragon shifter and roared, the sound smashing off the stone walls. Inches more, and he could bite the man’s head off with a single snap of his jaws.

  To Gorgon’s credit, he didn’t move or shift himself, instead holding up a hand to his guard, staying their own actions. “I lost Sky—”

  Ladon roared again, a warning this time. No way did this man get to say Skylar’s name. He had the satisfaction of seeing Gorgon visibly swallow.

  The black king tried again. “I lost your mate. Something I will regret to the grave. Whatever you wish to do to me, I will accept. So will my people.”

  Samael stepped closer. “My king—”

  “They will accept it,” Gorgon spoke firmly, though he didn’t take his gaze off Ladon.

  Samael considered his king a beat before stepping back, head bowed slightly in acknowledgment.

  Fuck. Not only did Gorgon’s words indicate regret, but he’d basically given Ladon permission to kill him with no retaliation from his clan.

  Ladon turned his head to the side, staring at the King of the Black Clan with a single eye. “I was hoping you would give me an excuse to take your life.”

  Gorgon’s shoulders dropped, though he didn’t dare smile. “Had our roles been reversed, and you lost my mate…” He shrugged.

  He didn’t need to say more.

  The hot rage subsided, oozing out of him, leaving behind only the panic. Which was way worse. His chest constricted, but Ladon covered by taking a moment to shift. By the time he finished, he had his emotions under control, easier to do when human. Dragons were intuitive creatures, driven by instinct, less able to control their reactions in their animal form.

  “What the hell happened?” he demanded. Brand and Kasia had already told him, but he wanted to hear it from Gorgon directly.

  “Shall we speak more privately?”

  Ladon grasped for patience, barely hanging on to it with the tips of his fingers as terror for his mate tried to drag it away. He needed to be out there, searching for Skylar. “Make it fast.”

  Only he couldn’t go to the main conference room. All he could see in that room was Skylar’s face—challenging him, blaming him, accusing him. Not that she would. She’d be doing all those things to herself about now.

  Instead, he led Gorgon to the comms room. Brand and Kasia should be in on this discussion.

  Gorgon raised his eyebrows when he discovered where Ladon had brought him but stood in calm acceptance while Asher hailed Brand and Kasia. Yet another sign that the King of the Black Clan had not lost Skylar on purpose. A suspicion Ladon hadn’t been able to shake since he’d heard.

  As soon as Brand’s face appeared on-screen, with Kasia beside him and Reid and Arden behind him, Ladon turned to Gorgon.

  He didn’t hesitate. “We were attacked by the Green Clan, coming at us from below. It took longer to realize the White Clan were coming at us from above as well.”

  Made sense, the white dragons attacking from the sky in daylight, blending in with the fucking clouds. The green attacking from below, hard to see against the treed land, though with snow covering the area in patches, perhaps a little easier. For now, Ladon gave the king the benefit of the doubt.

  “Two came at me at once from above. My thought was to protect Skylar by flipping over, getting her away from them, but they struck, and the force of the blow knocked her off my back.”

  Ladon crossed his arms, leaning against the desk. Either that or release his dragon in this small room and rend Gorgon’s flesh from his bones. “Did you see where she went?”

  If she was still a bloody stain on the ground in Norway, he’d kill every man there.

  “A white dragon caught her. He flew off with her. I didn’t see where. It took another hour to end it, and never once did they leave any of us alone long enough for one of us to pursue. We tried.”

  Gorgon ran a hand over his face, suddenly appearing drawn and haggard and as old as his years. “I tried,” he said in a low voice.

  Based on the carnage that Brand’s people reported, Ladon believed the older man. “And after?”

  He knew all this already. Brand had informed him, but he needed to see Gorgon’s face, his posture as he recounted what had happened.

  Gorgon dropped his hand, black eyes going flat and void. “We tried to track her, follow her scent.”

  That cloves, smoky scent that was fading from his sheets was unmistakable. “And?”

  “We followed to a ravine not too far from where we’d been fighting but hidden from our view by the formation of the mountains. Then…she disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?” Ladon glanced at the monitor to find Brand listening in grim silence.

  “The trail stopped.”

  “Do you think she teleported?” Only Skylar couldn’t send herself. Had she found someone who could take her with them? That seemed incredibly unlikely. Except… “Maul.”

  Brand jerked upright, turning to face Kasia, who paled. “We left him at Ben Nevis,” she whispered through white lips.

  “I haven’t seen him.” He’d assumed the hellhound was off doing whatever the fuck hellhounds did.

  “Did you smell him?” Ladon directed the question to Gorgon.

  Already the king was frowning, deep in thought. “When her scent went cold, a smell of rotting lingered. But…” He shook his head.

  “But what?” Ladon demanded.

  “Not like the dog. More like something had died there. The scent was faint, hardly a whiff.”

  “Maybe Maul saved her?” Kasia whispered through hands she’d raised to her mouth.

  “Let’s make sure he’s not still here, first.” Ladon nodded at Asher, who immediately rose and left the room to conduct a search.

  “And if he’s not?” Brand asked.

  Ladon clamped down on yet another surge of gut-clenching panic. “I’m going to search every corner of this planet and find her. Starting with the White Clan.”

  No more waiting.

  Gods how he fucking hated that word. Never, even when Thanatos was bleeding his clan dry, had he felt this impotent.

  “Blood,” Gorgon interrupted.

  “What?”

  The black king shook his head. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it. We
assumed Skylar had tried to fight off whoever took her, or maybe they were injured before they got to her. A small amount of blood was on the ground.”

  Kasia grabbed Brand’s arms. “I need to see it.”

  “No,” the Gold King protested.

  “I’m going.” She disappeared, taking Brand with her, leaving only Reid and Arden in the empty room.

  “Uh…” The captain glanced around the space, then looked to Ladon. “Anything else?”

  “Let us know when they return.”

  Reid nodded, cutting off the call.

  “I’ll be in my room,” Ladon told Gorgon in a low voice. “You and your men are in the same quarters as last time.”

  Gorgon was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, probably sensing how Ladon was windmilling on the edge of a dangerous precipice. Terror and violence warred inside him, fighting the part of him dedicated to his clan, the need to protect both them and Skylar ripping him apart.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Skylar lay on her uncomfortable stone slab and stared at the black sky. Watching the watery winter moon cross overhead had been a slow form of torture. She needed to get out of here now.

  “If you will not sleep, at least try to eat,” Airk murmured from his own cell.

  Last night, a tray of food had been brought in by a young woman who’d scurried back out like the hounds of hell were after her. Scraps, hardly enough to sustain life. Like she could eat.

  Skylar shook her head. Be damned if she did anything her captors wanted her to do. She thought of giving it to Airk. The man was skin and bones. “You want it?”

  “I am fine, and you will only hurt yourself,” Airk assured her. “If they want you alive, they will force nutrients into you in more unpleasant ways. Eat.”

  That pissed her off even more. She’d been tempted to throw the shit at the small, female-born red dragon who’d brought it here, but the poor woman, her hands shaking and her eyes wide with fear, probably wouldn’t even report it. Skylar knew a cowed, broken soul when she saw one.

  No one else had come in after, but what if Airk didn’t get them out before Pytheios or his witch came for her?

  She hadn’t heard Ladon again, though she’d tried. Maul made no appearances. With every passing minute, Skylar had to battle down fear and frustration and a shit ton of impatience. Ladon had to be out of his mind. He had to know by now…

  She honestly had no idea what his reaction might be. Anger most definitely. Worry for what someone might do with her, possibly against his people.

  Concern for her. Mostly because a threat to her life was a threat to his now that she bore his mark. He’d told her flat out he wanted her for more than a bed partner or what she could bring as a phoenix. He liked her, respected her. Wanted her. And she hadn’t said it back.

  Because I’m a damn coward.

  They hadn’t had enough time—

  “Time.” The whispered word escaped her lips almost without her realizing.

  “Did you speak?”

  Airk shifted in his cell, sitting up. No surprise that he wasn’t asleep. She’d come to wonder if he ever slept.

  “Talking to myself.” She threw an arm over her head, blocking out the now less-black color of the sky.

  According to Airk, the atmosphere at this elevation was so thin, it no longer masked the black of space during the day. Sure enough, when the sun was at its zenith, the sky still appeared almost black directly overhead, fading to navy. The edges, hugging the curvature of the earth, showed the sky-blue color most were familiar with. Morning had barely broken; she should rest more, but she couldn’t.

  Any time now, right? But she couldn’t ask him.

  The faint whoosh of the door opening didn’t even ping on her radar. Must be time for breakfast, although she would’ve guessed it was too early.

  “Hello, Nathair.”

  Airk’s greeting had Skylar dropping her head to get a look at who her fellow inmate was talking to.

  A youngish man stood outside her cell, peering in at her. Dark hair with a white streak over one eye, he avoided eye contact. A soft clicking sound had her dropping her gaze to his hands. He twisted a multicolored block game, one she recognized. Was that a…? It was. A Rubik’s Cube. What the heck?

  When the man didn’t talk, she glanced at Airk, eyebrows raised in question.

  He waved her off—though she took the signal more as an indication to follow his lead. “Nathair, I would like to introduce you to Skylar Amon.”

  Why was Airk being so polite, kind, even?

  “Skylar, you asked why my speech is not more formal than it is, given how long I have been here?” Airk asked.

  She frowned. “Uh-huh.”

  He canted his head toward the man still not looking her in the eye. “Nathair has kindly been my source of information. He comes to play chess with me, and we talk, which allows me to practice the changes in speech patterns in multiple languages gradually. He brings me books and, in the last century or so, magazines, when he can.”

  “That’s…nice of him.” Airk had befriended one of his captors? What was this? Stockholm syndrome?

  Nathair bobbed his head as if nodding in agreement.

  “I consider him to be my one true friend.”

  The man did lift his head at that, his hands pausing on his puzzle. He cocked his head in a twitchy move, almost like a bird. Without another word, Nathair pushed his hand through the bars, offering what she could now see was a solved puzzle to Airk, all the colors perfect on each side of the cube.

  “I’m done with this game.” He glanced over his shoulder. “And no one is watching.”

  Airk rose and accepted what appeared to be a gift to help pass the time. As soon as he took it, Nathair turned and left the room.

  “He seems…fun,” Skylar murmured.

  Airk didn’t seem to hear her, already bending his head over his new toy, rapidly rotating the pieces.

  What the hell? She was surrounded by people who weren’t quite balanced, it seemed. And she was putting her trust in this man to get her out? Maybe she needed to rethink her exit strategy.

  “Airk—”

  A soft snick that didn’t quite fit with the sounds of his working the cube reached her. With almost frantic hands, Airk tugged at it, and it snicked again, coming apart to reveal a small, hollow center with a piece of paper.

  “What is that?” she asked.

  “The codes to get out of our cells.” He handed her one slip of paper. “This is the code to mine, you can just see it from your angle, and I can see yours.” Thanks to the hexagonal shape to the cells around the edges of the room. He held up another slip of paper.

  “How—” But she cut herself off. Questions could come later. For now, they needed to move.

  Both hurried to their doors. Quickly, having to reach, pressing painfully against the immovable bars, Skylar punched the combination of letters, numbers, and Tibetan symbols into the modern keypad on Airk’s door. As soon as she hit the last button, the lock slid back with a thunk of metal on metal.

  Only when he swung open the door did she have the thought that he might leave her here. That tug of anxiety eased when he immediately went to work on the keypad on her cell. No sound had ever been sweeter than that lock freeing her.

  “We have minutes at most,” Airk said. “Let us go. Stay quiet.”

  Skylar actually smiled at that, though it quickly disappeared as purpose rose in her faster than a cresting wave. Stealth was her specialty. If she could hide inside Ben Nevis without being discovered, she could do this. First, they’d get to where she could feel her powers. She’d get Airk out of here, send him to Ladon with instructions. Then she’d get her own tail out of here.

  Nathair had left the vault door barely open, but enough that the lock on it had not clicked into place, allowing them to force it open and move
through. They found a spiral staircase, reminding Skylar again of those medieval castles, except the walls, like in their dungeon tower, were glass, allowing them to see outside.

  Following Airk, they ran down those stairs as quickly and silently as they could. For such a big man who’d been trapped in a small room all his life, he sure knew how to move stealthily.

  The constant spinning view, with no relief of a landing or need to stop for a hallway off the stairs, had Skylar dizzy and nauseous in short order. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth and kept going. She could throw up later.

  Finally, they came to the bottom, which emptied into a chamber with another set of stairs to the right…and an elevator.

  How tall was Everest again? And how far down did they have to go to get out of here? Shit, this could take weeks.

  “Please tell me we’re taking the elevator,” she whispered.

  Airk didn’t answer. Instead, he reopened the cube and pulled out another slip of paper, punching in a code to access the elevator.

  Guess that answers that.

  In seconds they were inside the car, which dropped in total silence. Fast, if she wasn’t mistaken. “Won’t they be monitoring this?”

  Airk nodded.

  “If you had that plan in place already, why not try to get out of here before?”

  “I’ve already tried on my own and failed. More times than I care to remember. I have been waiting.”

  “For what?”

  “Help.” He looked her up and down. “For the fates to bring me you.”

  He’d been waiting for help? Maybe the reason he hadn’t escaped was his plans weren’t all that great. Maybe they should’ve taken the damn stairs. “How far did you get before you got caught last time?” she wondered as she held her nose and blew, popping her ears.

  His lips hitched to one side. “Not far enough.”

  Right. Focus on this attempt. This time, at least, he had her to help him out. And she had him. They could do this. Skylar closed her eyes, reaching for her fire.

  Nothing.

  Anxiety continued to toast the edge of her emotions, threatening to paralyze her.