by Lolita Lopez
“Yes, just like that. Many, many years before that incident, there was a young woman and a dragon who fell in love and made a baby together. Her family—”
“Killed her,” Ivy said quietly. A recurring dream flashed before her. “I’ve seen it. She was tied to a pyre, and her father slit her throat.” She shuddered with revulsion as the gory image of the woman’s last moments of life hit her. “It was night…and there were other dragons there. Two green ones, one of them lashed to a tree, and a golden-colored one. There might have been another one, maybe in the sky, but I wasn’t ever able to see him.”
“There was. He was called Reinhard the Barbarian then, but he uses Reynard now. The golden dragon was Niko. The two green dragons were brothers, Ignatius and Sixtus. Ignatius survived but bears the scars from that night. The death of Sixtus forced Ignatius to create the Brotherhood because our secret was out and there was no way the humans were going to leave us alone.” Beast gently grasped her chin and turned her head. His curious gaze locked with hers. “How long have you had these visions?”
“I’ve been dreaming about dragons and warriors—these Knights as you call them—since I was a little girl. I was probably six the first time I dreamed of dragons.”
“And me? Did you ever see me before we started to share dreams?”
“Not like this,” she said and gestured to his human body. “I have a feeling you may have been one of the dragons I’ve dreamed about though.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You feel familiar to me. I feel as if…as if I’ve known you my entire life.”
His expression pensive, Beast ran his thumb along her lower lip. “I don’t want there to be secrets between us. I’m not sure what this bond we share really is, but if it is what I suspect it might be, we absolutely must begin this journey with truth and only truth between us, Ivy.”
His ominous tone caused her stomach to clench nervously. “All right.”
“My name is Ian Madoc, but everyone calls me Mad.” His thumb moved along her upper lip, lingering in the little bow there, before continuing its trek. “I won’t go into my entire history tonight, but you should know that I’m much older than I look.”
Thinking of the clothing worn by the people in that dream that looked as if it belonged in the Ancient Roman era, she asked, “Were you there that night the woman was killed with her dragon lover?”
He shook his head. “That was many years before my time, Ivy. I was born in the Dark Ages, in what we now call Wales, but we’ll get into all that later. It doesn’t matter at the moment.”
“It probably doesn’t, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t fascinated by the very existence of you.”
He laughed, the sound so wonderfully rich and uplifting that she felt hope for the first time in weeks. “If you only knew how incredibly fascinating you are to all of us, but to me especially.”
“Me? Fascinating? Because of this thing I can do with dreams and seeing little glimpses of the future?” She poked his sculpted chest. “You’re a freaking dragon. That’s a hell of a lot more amazing than being able to get your mom to agree to let you go out on a sleepover or picking out the perfect prom date for your best friend or setting up your uncle with the perfect future wife.”
His eyes narrowed. “Is that your real gift? Matchmaking?”
Ivy glanced around nervously. There weren’t cameras in here, but that awful woman was always eavesdropping on her thoughts. “Yes. I’ve never been wrong. Not once.”
He exhaled roughly. “That’s why they want you. The Knights want to end the dragon race. They’ve been very successful at culling entire lines within our species. There’s a woman—a very unique and rare breed of dragon called a Naga—who is attempting to save her kind by mating with my cousin right this very moment.”
Mating? She schooled her features to hide her discomfort with the term. It sounded so cold and so very animalistic…but he was a dragon. Maybe it was different for his people. Perhaps mating was their version of marriage? Not brave enough to ask him about that just yet, she wondered about his cousin and this special dragon woman trying to save her kind. “Is it going to work?”
“I hope so,” he said sincerely. “Her line is too special to lose.” He coiled some of her hair around his thick, scarred finger. “If you can identify the mates for every dragon, and if some of those mates are defenseless humans, the Knights would only have to hunt them down and kill them to end us. It would be—”
“Genocide,” she said in a horrified whisper. Ivy rubbed her temple. “When they first brought me here, the Mind Miner—the Seer,” she said, remembering the word he had used, “was so interested in the dragon dreams, but I thought maybe she wanted to use me as a dream radar or something like that. You know, to locate more dragons.”
“That was probably why they snatched you in the first place. They had to have suspected you might have a connection they could exploit.”
“But I couldn’t do it. You’re the only one I’m connected to,” she explained. “It’s not as easy as the Seer seems to think it should be for me. It’s not like you guys are just running around flapping your wings!”
He chuckled. “We’ve been very good at hiding and blending into the human world. We’re only easy to track when we’re in heat.”
She blinked. “Wait. What do you mean by ‘in heat’?”
“We go through phases every three years. When we’re unmated, the urges are very strong during the heat phase, but once we have a mate of our own, it’s more manageable. When we’re in heat, we give off a scent that’s extremely noticeable.”
“Are you in heat now?”
“No. Why would you ask that?”
Her face grew hot. “Well, you smell really good to me. I thought maybe…”
He chuckled. “No, I’m not in heat right now. For what it’s worth, you smell very good to me, too. It’s probably because—”
“We’re mates?” She asked the question breathlessly, her heartbeat sprinting as the realization hit her. “That’s what this whole thing is about, isn’t it? You. Me. The dreams.”
He finally nodded. “Yes, but it may not be that simple for us.”
“Why not?” Her breath caught in her throat when he brushed his lips across her forehead. The intimate touch branded her skin. She wished his mouth would glide even lower and finally meet hers.
He avoided that question and asked a different one instead. “When you came to me in our last dream, you said you were like me. You had one human eye and one dragon eye. How long have you known that you were part dragon?”
“I figured it out after they grabbed me and brought me here. Even when I was little, I suspected I was different from other kids. I’ve always been more sensitive to things—sights, sounds, smells. Then the dreams started and then the ability to see these quick snapshots of the future, and I really began to wonder what the hell was wrong with me.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Madoc gave the hair coiled around his finger a little tug. “Did you ask your parents if they knew why you were different?”
“Are you kidding? Can you imagine what sort of misdiagnosis I might have gotten in this label-happy world of ours? No thanks! I had enough baggage from being adopted and wondering why my biological parents abandoned me—”
“They didn’t abandon you,” he stridently interjected. “They loved you so much. They fought for you until the very end, Ivy.”
Touching his chest, she forced him to look at her. “What happened to my biological parents?”
“Not tonight, sweetheart,” he whispered, his voice suddenly tired. “It’s a tangled mess of a history we share, and I’m not sure I have the strength to get through it. I need to rest so I can protect you until we’re rescued.”
Hating that he was in so much pain and in this awful situation because she had lured him here, Ivy rubbed the back of his neck and worked up the courage to kiss his cheek. “Sleep,” she urged. “They won’t bother us tonight.�
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“How can you be sure?”
“The Seer is sleeping now. Her presence is dormant and cold.” She let him pull her head down to his chest and found such incredible comfort in having his strong arms curled around her body.
“Do they come during the day?”
“Sometimes they bring me food and water or an extra bucket to bathe.” Glad for the darkness of the cell, she added, “There’s a metal toilet in the corner if you need it. There’s water in the faucet but I wouldn’t drink it.”
“Good to know.” He grunted as he shifted his position. She started to climb off his lap but the steely bands of his arms clamped down on her. “Don’t even think about it.”
“But you’re hurt,” she protested. “You don’t need my weight on top of you.”
“I know what I need.” He tucked her head into the curve of his neck. “Now close your eyes and get some rest. We’re both going to need it.”
Relishing the strength and heat of him, Ivy feared he was right.
Chapter Three
Three Days Later
Chocolate or vanilla ice cream?” Mad picked up one of the cement chunks they were using as a makeshift chess piece and made a move on the hand-drawn grid she had put on the floor. With so many hours to fill, they had been forced to get creative with their entertainment. There were only so many games of tic-tac-toe and hangman scratched out with rocks against the floor two people could take.
They had settled into a familiar routine during their short time in captivity together. A guard banged on the door early in the morning to rouse them from sleep and shove food into the cell. With few choices of entertainment, they talked a lot. Mad tried to keep fit by putting together a circuit of exercises that he repeated three times a day. She sat in the corner and watched him, sometimes asking him about the gym he owned with Griff. She seemed genuinely interested in his tales so he indulged her endless questions.
There were hourly checks by the Knights throughout the day and another meal at sundown. Mostly, they were left alone. He had wondered about that strange tactic at first, but now he had his suspicions. During her nearly four weeks of imprisonment, Ivy’s captors had worn her down, mentally and physically. He hadn’t managed to save her yet, but that didn’t stop her from looking at him as if he were a damned hero. That was exactly what the Knights and the Seer wanted. They needed Ivy to trust him and fall for him.
This was all a game to the Knights and their Seer. Just as they hoped to encourage Ivy’s gratitude toward him by allowing him to infiltrate the prison after weeks of shared dreams, they provoked his protective instincts by keeping her chained with that collar wrapped around her neck. He was forced to behave himself, but he remained on edge and alert. His dragon recognized Ivy as his mate, and it was getting harder and harder to keep the primal side of himself suppressed.
His gut churned at the idea of Ivy being manipulated into caring for him. There was no denying their growing connection or his tender feelings toward her, but he wasn’t sure how much of her interest in him was real and how much of it was forced by their dangerous situation. He wanted her to like him and return his affection, but on her own terms.
Hoping to show her that she really could trust him to care for and protect her, Mad had gone out of his way to do whatever nice thing he could for her. The guards had allowed her to keep the shirt, and she had thanked him again and again for it. When possible, he tried to sneak her bits of his food, but the guards had used the threat of that shock collar to dissuade him from trying that too many times. At night, he shared his warmth with her, holding her close and making sure she felt protected.
Their first morning together in the cell, they had agreed to only speak of things that would be useless to the Knights if overheard. Her childhood, his childhood, her college experiences and his, their favorite things, their best friends—these were all safe topics they easily discussed. He could feel the heat of her insatiable curiosity burning so brightly, but she didn’t dare ask the questions that would give her the answers she so desperately wanted.
“Neither.” Ivy studied his new position with a gleeful gleam in her dark eyes. “I’m a chocolate chip cookie dough girl.”
He made a face. “I’m a purist.”
“And a loser,” she said with a mischievous grin. Showing her skill at the game, she pushed one of her bishop rocks into place and boxed his king into a corner with her king and another bishop. “Checkmate.”
“What? Again?” He sat back and studied the board. How had he missed that? “Damn. You’ve whipped my ass every match today.”
“I’m starting to think you like getting spanked by a girl.”
He smiled at her teasing remark. Even here in their awful predicament, she found a way to be silly and make him laugh. “Sorry, sweetheart, that’s not really my thing. Now if the roles were reversed?”
“Well, I wouldn’t know anything about those sorts of games.” She avoided his heated gaze and gathered up her remaining game pieces. Switching the topic to one that had nothing to do with sex, she asked, “Aren’t you, like, a thousand years old or something? Shouldn’t you be better at chess?”
The way she seemed embarrassed to even say the word sex concerned him. Was she that inexperienced? Last night, they had stumbled onto a discussion of their love lives. She had been dating quite a bit and having fun while in college, but, reading between the lines, he had pieced together that she hadn’t ever had a real lover. He sensed she was waiting for the right someone. The beast inside him snarled and snapped at the very idea of being the right man for her, the first man for her.
Not wanting to push her, he decided to let her direct the conversation wherever she wanted. “I am better at chess than this. It’s hard to play well when someone is using their special gift to win.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh please! I don’t need to push your thoughts or try to read you to beat you at chess.”
“Whatever.” He wasn’t about to admit that he was so distracted by her arousing scent and that amazing smile of hers that he couldn’t even focus on a proper chess strategy. “Would you like to play again?”
She shook her head. “It will be dark soon. We’ll lose the light before we finish another match.”
He glanced at the window high above on the far wall. Three days in this cell with only that thin slot as a peek to the outside world, and he was already feeling claustrophobic. Only the knowledge that poor Ivy had been dealing with these cramped spaces for so much longer kept him from complaining. If she could bear it, so would he.
“Do you think your friends will come soon?” She meticulously arranged the rocks against one side of the wall. In the short time they had spent together, he had become accustomed to her quirks. She liked things neat and tidy. Considering their current predicament, organizing rocks and keeping their living space clean was the only control she was allowed to exert over her life.
“Yes.” He didn’t know what was taking his Brothers so long to find them. He had been very clear in the message he had left Ignatius, giving their leader the coordinates of the prison and a full rundown of the Knight situation. “They know we’re here, and they know our situation. There must be something else keeping them.”
His stomach knotted with dread as he considered what that something might be. Had the Knights gotten to Griff and Avani? Had they attempted to hurt Stig and Cora again? Or was it even worse than that? Had he been lured here with Ivy as a way to weaken the Brotherhood?
The faraway sound of boots thudding against stone interrupted his troubled thoughts. Shoving to his feet, Mad closed his eyes and listened. He was grateful for the way Ivy seemed to instinctively understand that she needed to be still and quiet so he could use his heightened senses. He counted the different footfalls. Seven Knights were headed right for their cell.
“Get up,” he urged. “Stay behind me.”
“Where else would I go?” She rattled her chains. Not for the first time, he considered just yanking them
out of the wall but that shock collar around her neck kept him from acting. He had seen the evidence of healing burns on her skin from the evil device and refused to be the one to cause her any more pain.
The door at the end of the hall burst open and the Knights flooded into the hallway outside their cell. Mad pushed Ivy behind him but kept a grip on the fabric of the shirt she wore. Seven against two—well, one really—weren’t very good odds but he’d gotten out of worse situations.
The head guard stepped forward and lobbed a key into the cell. “Remove the chains from her cuffs.”
Mad spotted the Knight holding the controller for the collar wrapped around Ivy’s neck. He chose to follow the order rather than risk harming her. He used the key to open the small padlock covering the spot where the chains hooked onto the thick metal cuffs. The chains dropped to the floor with a noisy clang. When she was free of her bonds, Ivy pressed against his side. The dragon within him rejoiced at the way she sought his protection and reassurance. He curled his arm around her shoulders and hauled her closer.
A new set of chains and cuffs were thrown into the cell. “Put those on him. Hook yourselves together.”
Ivy knelt down and picked up the cuffs and chains. She eyed them for a few seconds before moving toward him. Nervously, she glanced up at him. His stoic nod convinced her to wrap his wrists and ankles in the heavy cuffs. Only the wrist cuffs had chains, so she stepped in front of him and attached the chains to her bonds.
Bound together, Mad recognized how very limited his ability to protect her was now. He suspected that was the plan. He couldn’t shift without hurting her, and if he tried to fight, she would be caught in the crossfire. Whatever the Knights had planned for them tonight, they wanted to be sure he couldn’t lash out and attack them.
After opening their cell, the head guard unsheathed a long and menacing cattle prod. “One wrong move, dragon, and I’ll pop her hard enough to stop that fragile half-human heart. Understand?”
Mad gritted his teeth. His inner beast snarled and snapped to be set free. He shoved down the urge to shift and protect his mate. “Yes.”
