“Maybe you can’t,” he repeated in a definitive tone.
“Why don’t you sit and talk with me. It doesn’t have to be about anything. Just sit and talk, and get yourself another class of sherry.”
Dana rolled out the words as smoothly as possible hoping against a slim hope that he’d respond. To her surprise, he nodded and walked to the credenza and poured anther glass of sherry. He sat in the chair next to hers and stared at the flames curling around each other.
“Do you know how your kind started?”
“What kind, Robert?”
“Seneschals,” he hissed.
Dana felt a nudge of memory brush against her conscious mind, but no. She had no idea how seneschals started.
“Ed,” he snarled. “Mucking around with our genome. Adding dragon DNA back into humans. He did something else too, the bastard.”
“What was that?”
“Made you irresistible to dragon kind. What did he call it?”
“Like catnip?” Dana offered. It was piece of free-floating memory that rose to the surface. She didn’t know where it came from.”
“Yes. Like catnip. To calm us. Keep us from acting on our fiery natures. Bastard.”
Robert snorted into his sherry and Dana could swear smoke wafted from his nostrils. She swallowed hard. In this light, with the shadows of the fireplace flames playing on the angular features of his face, he looked dangerous.
“So he brings you.”
Dana said nothing.
“Well, it won’t work!” he snapped again.
“You know about Templeton Rawlins?” he said.
“I saw the news.”
“His seneschal was his mate. Rhea couldn’t make him forget her. And then there is that Ryan Kaur.”
“Ryan Kaur?”
“Yes. He’s a dragon too. And his seneschal is his mate. They have theirs, and I have—nothing. My mother killed her, and maybe she could make me forget most of her, but not all. She was my mate.”
“I’m sorry,” said Dana.
“Are you?” spit Abalon. “You can’t replace her.”
“I’m not trying to do that.”
“Hah,” said Abalon. “Why did he bring you then, eh?”
He hunched over in his seat.
“Catnip,” he sneered once more. “A distraction for when they come for me. Not bloody likely to work. Not at all.”
“Robert?” questioned Dana. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“We’re waiting for when they attack. And you, seneschal will be my shield.”
Dana’s heart thudded in her chest. This dragon was certifiably insane. And now she knew her life was in great danger.
A loud thud outside brought Abalon’s head up from his chest and his eyes blazed.
“I wonder who that would be?” he said.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Quinn
“Listen carefully,” said Porter. They stood in the large grassy courtyard of the dragon palace. “We shift into between dimensions for long range travel.”
“How do I do that?” said Quinn.
“I don’t have time to teach you. For now you’ll ride me, and once you see the process a couple times, we’ll go into how it’s done.”
Quinn wasn’t happy with Porter’s pronouncement. When Hibley brought him to Dragon home he didn’t know what was happening. But the instantly shifting from one location not the earth to the other was something he very much wanted to learn.
“Well, walk me through it so I get a hint of what you are doing when you do it.”
Porter huffed.
“You think about going into the inter-dimensional space, then you think about your destination.”
“That’s all you do?” said Quinn incredulously.
“It is more complicated than that. It’s more a matter of applying your will to reach your destination. Some locations are easier to reach than others. Dragon home, for instance, is a place permanently imprinted into our subconscious. Any dragon can reach that by thinking about it. A location that is shielded by dragon magic, however, is much more difficult to reach.”
“Where are we going then?”
“I want to check out Primus’ lair. He spends most of his time there. Step back.”
Quinn stepped back when the space around Calvin shimmered and Calvin’s body transformed into a great gray green dragon stood before him. The dragon trumpeted and extended his foreleg.
“Okay, okay, I get the message.” He climbed the offered limb as each scale shimmered in the sun and settled between the first two spiny protrusions from Porter’s back just behind his neck. Quinn observed Porter carefully as the dragon sunk onto his haunches. Quinn recognized this from his martial arts training as concentrating the natural kinetic energy of muscles. With a great spring, extending his neck, body and tail Porter launched his body into the air. Quinn felt the muscles of the dragon’s wings move with great force pulling them higher into the air. Quinn was impressed. It took a helluva effort to launch from the ground. Quinn initial efforts when he foraged in the countryside schooled him on the ease one could misjudge a launch and fall ass end on the ground.
It was a painful thought.
But Porter made flight look easy.
If it wasn’t for the thought of his mate in that cave alone, Quinn might have not continued to try. But he’d do anything for Dana.
The thought of his mate filled him with a desperate sense of danger. Quinn’s gut clenched as he realized the sensation did come Dana directly. She was afraid and that filled him with a cold dread that zinged through his spine. The need to get to her gripped him.
At that moment, Porter dived, and absolute cold engulfed Quinn. And in that second Quinn impulsively let go of Porter’s hide and tumbled head over foot into the airless nothingness of inter dimensional space. Free of Porter, he shifted and dove thinking only of Dana and his need to protect her.
Atmosphere rushed around him and though it was still dark at least a sliver of a moon shone above him. He peered at the ground and made out dark shapes, but it was the sense of Dana that pointed him to a particular spot below.
He dove again, reckless in his speed because of the driving need to get to his mate. He misjudged how fast the ground rushed up and he thudded hard into the ground.
In the background dogs barked and security lights blazed around him. He shifted and found he stood in field. Ahead rose a large mansion. He stared at it wondering who owned it. But one thing was for sure. Dana was inside.
The click of door latch caught his attention and he dropped to his chest. A man walked out of a door in the mansion. Backlit by light from the inside, the large frame of man loomed in the doorway.
“Who is there?” he boomed. “Don’t try to hide. I smell you so I know you are there.”
The rumble of the man’s voice, the feel of him, told Quinn that he was a dragon. One who held Quinn’s mate inside.
He stood.
“I’m here.”
“I see that, dragon,” the man said with menace. “Why are you here?”
“I came for my mate.”
“Mate?” Abalon said. “All I have is one seneschal.”
“That’s her. Bring her out.”
“Come and get her,” boomed the man.
Quinn took stock of the dragon standing in the door. Physically he was taller than Quinn. That didn’t bother Quinn but the dragon may think he could take Quinn in a fight and that may put Dana in jeopardy. Still, he didn’t come this far to just stand there.
Quinn thought no worthwhile soldier would brazenly walk up to an opponent without a plan and he was doing just that. With as calm demeanor he could manage he walked toward the dragon. In the harsh light of the floodlights Quinn thought the man looked familiar. And then it hit him. He’d seen the man on television—the Prime Minister of the UK Robert Abalon.
This was all sorts of messed up. Quinn was advancing on the head of the UK government? He couldn’t imagine a worse situation. Threatening
a world leader, dragon or not, carried severe penalties. He held up his hands in surrender just in case the man had security guards or worse waiting to spring on Quinn.
“What is this,” rumbled Abalon.
“All I want is Dana. That’s it.”
“I seriously doubt it,” said Abalon. “Who sent you? Rhea?”
“Robert?” said Dana. She came to the doorway.
“Dana!” said Quinn.
“Excuse me? Who are you?”
She didn’t know him? The shock of this almost knocked him to his knees. How can this happen? Dana stood just a few feet away from him but the distance could have been a mile for the lack of recognition she showed on her face.
“What did you do to her?” demanded Quinn. He stared at Abalon who gave him an infuriating smile.
“Me? Nothing.”
“Dana, come with me,” said Quinn as he held out his hand.
Dana looked at him, then at Abalon. Confusion washed over her lovely face as if she struggled with a decision. Quinn stood frozen in place, desperate to find out what was wrong and anxious to get her away. He did not trust Abalon at all.
Abalon stood stock still through he snorted a warning rumble.
“Get away from the seneschal,” he said.
With a coil of leg muscles Quinn pounced on the dragon and knocked him to the ground. Abalon grunted as he hit the ground but he wrapped his arms around Quinn and twisted him to the ground.
“Impertinent wyrmling,” he snarled. He grabbed Quinn by the hair and shook his head like a rag doll. “I should kill you now.”
“No!” shouted Dana and in a flash, she threw herself on top of Abalon and Quinn. Abalon bellowed a roar and thrashed his arms throwing off Dana, but in the melee Quinn was able to scramble to his feet. He grabbed Dana’s hand, and as his heart hammered in his chest he scooped her up in his arms. Whether it was the adrenaline or his dragon strength or both she lay as light as a feather in his arms. He took off down the stairs running as fast as he could through the garden and into the field. Abalon ran after them.
“Stop! I will kill you!” the dragon screamed.
“He’s crazy,” breathed Dana.
“I’m not,” huffed Quinn. He wanted to shift, to fly away from here and take Dana somewhere safe.
It’s a matter of applying your will.
He had to do this. As Abalon grew close enough for Quinn to scent him he pushed all his effort into releasing his dragon form. Fire tore through his body as it elongated and wing sprouted. He clutched Dana in his forepaws and took great steps and then sprung up into the night thinking only to get away. He didn’t have time to consider where they could go.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Dana
It must be the last public phone in the United States and Dana was afraid it wouldn’t work. But the lone beacon outside a greasy spoon in the butt end Virginia did have a dial tone and she frantically dialed the cell phone number of her advisor, Professor Ortiz. She was intensely aware that Quinn would back any second and she had to place this call before he returned.
“Professor,” she breathed as her heart hammered in her chest.
“Dana?”
“Yes?”
“Where are you? Are you all right?”
“I don’t have time. I need help.”
“Okay.”
“I’m at this place, a diner, at least for now.” She gave him the name of the town and diner.
“Are you in danger?”
She heard footsteps crunch in the gravel behind her.
“Hurry.”
Dana hung up the phone and turned to face the dragon approaching her. He managed to find some clothes, a plaid shirt and jeans, with a pair of work boots. His head hung down and his shoulders were bunched. He was clearly unhappy and far a reason she couldn’t fathom that tugged at her heart.
He looked up and gave her a wan smile.
“You hungry?” he said.
“Yes.”
“Let’s go inside and get something to eat.”
“Okay.” Anything she could do to keep them here until help arrived would be good. She wasn’t sure what Professor Ortiz would do, but he was a solid and reliable mentor to her in school. Dana trusted him to do the right thing.
They sat in the diner and the waitress took their order.
“Can I borrow your pen for a minute?” Quinn asked.
“Sure, Sugar,” the woman said with a wink. Strangely, this outright flirting with Quinn sparked anger in Dana.
What is wrong with me?
Quinn picked up the pen and rolled up his sleeve and wrote on his arm. Dana noted that there were other scribbles there.
“What are you doing?” asked Dana.
A blush crept up Quinn’s neck.
“The Marines teach us to improvise, adapt and overcome, but I admit I’m not adjusting very well to role of thief. I’m keeping a list so I can pay them all back sometime.”
Dana stared at Quinn. He wanted to pay back the people he stole from? It was an almost heartwarming thought.
“When I get a chance, I’ll write it all down on some paper, but right now my arm is all I have that I know I can keep with me.”
He reached across the table and took her hand.
“I’m sorry, about all of this,” he said sadly. “I didn’t know,” and here he looked over his shoulder furtively to scan the diner’s occupants, “I didn’t know what I was. And I’m sorry for whatever they did to you.”
“What do you mean?” she said. Yes. She had been kidnapped and taken on hell rides from one end of the planet to another but aside from being held against her will she was okay.
“That you don’t remember me.”
“Of course—”
“No. Afterward. You don’t remember afterward. You don’t remember—” He stopped speaking and swallowed hard. “Look. Where can I take you that is safe for you?”
Quinn’s eyes were unspeakably sad, as if his heart was breaking. And for reasons she did not understand, her heart broke too.
At that moment, the door opened and a state trooper walked into the diner. Dana stiffened not sure if this was the help that Professor Ortiz sent, but now, the man took off his hat. “Hello, Doris. The usual.”
“Sure, Sugar,” she said pulling up a cup from under the counter and then pouring a cup a coffee. “Tom’s usual,” the waitress sang over her shoulder. So, no. This man was not on the alert to help her. She glanced back a Quinn who gave her a hard stare. She smiled. Some psychiatrist she was. Now she managed to make him suspicious of her.
A bell rang at the slot where the cook put up the food. “
All this normal give and take of daily life only highlighted the impossible situation Dana found herself in. The dragon across the table peered at her with an evaluating and discomforting gaze. No help had yet arrived, and she was in the middle of nowhere with a dragon. She looked at the sheriff again but Quinn squeezed her hand drawing her attention back to him.
“I will get you to safety,” he said in a low, quiet voice. “I just need to work a few things out.”
Staring in to his eyes and with his hand covering hers Dana swore she could feel the steady thump of his heart. And his eyes were a sharp and true blue and she knew as surely as blood flowed through her veins that Quinn would not lie to her. The sadness in his eyes tugged at her too, as if he’d lost his best friend and she could feel it.
Dana closed her eyes, unable to take the intimacy of the moment.
“Okay,” she said. Dana did not know what else to say.
The door swung open and a man strode in dressed in a crisp button down and khaki pants. With a shock, Dana recognized him.
Ryan Kaur. What was he doing here?
Quinn followed her eyes and stiffened.
“Dana,” he whispered urgently. “Let’s go.”
She shook her head. “That’s my boss.”
“What did you do, Dana?” said Quinn. His voice cracked with anguish.
“Hey, you two,” said Ryan as if he was an old friend. “Sorry, I’m late.”
Quinn stiffened and scanned the diner again as if looking for a way out.
Ryan slid into the booth next to Quinn.
“Hey,” he said in low voice. “I’m here to help.”
“You, you,” said Quinn.
“Yes,” said Ryan smiling, “I’m like you. But, I’m not like those bastards that have been batting you around.”
“How do you know?” said Quinn.
“Experience,” said Ryan.
“Have you met Ed?” asked Dana.
“Ed?”
“Our grandfather, apparently,” said Quinn.
Ryan’s eyebrows shot upward. “Really? Interesting.”
“Not so much. He took Dana’s memory.”
“Dana?”
“I, I don’t know. I have been feeling strange since he brought me to his, his house.”
Ryan pulled out his wallet and put a fifty on the table.”
Adored by The Dragon: (The Dragon Lord - Book 3) (The Dragon Lords) Page 9
