Lucien: Dragofin Mated: Book 2 (Dragonfin Clan Mated)

by Mychal Daniels

  “What do you mean by that?” Quinn asked, ignoring Lucien’s strong expressions to keep quiet. “Looks like you’re free as a bird. Us on the other hand, you’ve got us cooped up in this vehicle. It’s a little hard to believe you’re not free.”

  Julia took a step toward the car and then stopped before touching the salt. “Please, help me? If you notice, I’ve done nothing to harm any of you. Since I could remember, I’ve been looking for the vessels that were used to enslave me. Now, I’m so close and…” she looked at everyone in the car and then back at the other SUV. With a wave of her hand, the engine to the other vehicle roared to life. Her shoulders slumped, and she turned to walk away, looking defeated.

  “Hey! Wait a minute,” Quinn said, standing up to peek through the sunroof.

  Lucien wanted to snatch her back down into the car, but he knew that would only set his mate off to do something even more dangerous, so he waited and watched Julia. He made it up in his mind at that moment that no matter who saw what, if she did anything to harm his mate, Lucien would unleash his Dragon and incinerate the little witch where she stood.

  “Julia! Stop—seriously; I want to hear you out,” Quinn said. “At least try to explain what you mean, so if possible, we can help you.”

  The girl-woman stopped and turned back around. Lucien curled his fingers around the handle of the car door prepared to open it and shift if she breathed wrong. Julia took a few steps back toward the car and stopped again.

  “I’m trapped and have been for ages. I didn’t ask to be joined to this host. We were forced together and put on this planet to survive and do the evil Paragons bidding. We,” she said, pointing to herself, “Have lived in constant misery. Julia was driven to do the bidding of the Paragons while I fought for freedom from this imprisonment. We’ve warred with each other from the beginning. I have shame over that, but I cannot bear to witness and feel her pain and destructive behavior any longer.

  “When she was a baby, we were given to Oriana by the Paragons to raise. The Paragons held us captive through the ignorance of our keeper, Oriana. She never questioned their intentions where we were concerned. When she was old enough, I was able to give Julia information about the stones. She ran away from Oriana, determined to find them for me. Knowing that as long as the money was paid, Oriana would watch us like a hawk, the Paragons entrusted her with the stones that keep me anchored to this child and this planet. They were with Oriana all along.”

  Quinn gasped as she stood up higher in the sunroof to get a better look at Julia. “Who am I speaking with now? Are you Julia?”

  “Yes and no. I am a Memoria, but I am part of Julia as well. We have been grafted together from her creation. Long ago I refused to steal memories. To live, I found a kind Sibyl Sorceress who crafted the way for me to be bound to those life-supporting stones, crystals, and gems you have. I existed in peace for ages until the Paragons found and removed me from my resting place. Since they weren’t able to break the Sibyl’s power to bind me to the stones, they made sure they kept them as a way to keep me bound to this host. My lack of foresight of the perils of binding to the stones was that whoever possessed them, would have power over me. To the naked eye, they look like precious gems of great value, but they are my home and life-support. I never shared with Julia the memories I hold. As I said, we warred, and the information she was able to obtain from the memories was warped and perverted at best. I was too weak to stop her from her insane drive for power as she grew older. I lost the battle, and she subjugated me to the recesses of her mind, where I had been until the Siren’s Call released me to come forward.”

  “What about all those horrible things she did to those girls who were at that house with her.”

  “It was unfortunate. The pressure of hosting me, weird missions the Paragons implanted in her subconscious, coupled with living with Oriana, and her gifts as a sorceress were a bit much for her to handle. I’m sad to say; she’s broken in her mind. It’s my hope that you can get her the help she needs. Julia will return to her old ways if she lives without healing or my presence restraining her. And, I seek to be free of her. Please, help us both?”

  Julia turned and looked back at the other SUV. “I know you may not believe me, but the best thing that could have happened to us was when the Siren release Julia from the pain of our existence. I was able to come forward and help her to see life from a different light. Before that song, Julia did everything she could to escape, stealing what she could from my reservoirs of memories and knowledge to help her gain that elusive power she sought to gain freedom. Like how she believed the lie, that through a mating with Ajax she would be able to become a ruler and overpower her oppressors, the Paragons. It was horrible. She’d vacillate between seeking a mating with Ajax or courting death for her horrible deeds. My host needs help. She thought either of those would be powerful enough to separate us and the burden of her existence would be lifted.”

  “Ask her if she means us any harm,” Lucien said to Quinn.

  “Yeah, should have led with that, huh?” Quinn said to Lucien, sitting in the car below. “Julia’s Memoria, I’m truly sorry for your pain. I—we want to help you. To do that, we need you to help us help you.”

  “Yes, that would be so kind. My host and I are so tired. She is in need of nourishment as she has nothing and no way to get money for food. If you help me, will you also agree to help my host? I know she has caused you great pain, but she’s still a child in so many ways and needs so much help and healing.”

  Lucien looked up at Quinn to investigate a sniffle. His Quinn was crying.

  “Quinn, don’t be duped by her. We have to get some assurances she is telling the truth. Ask her and judge it by your Sibyl strength.” That’s all he could instruct her to do. Looking at Julia through the lens of the Memoria, she looked gaunt and tired, with defeat all over her.

  Quinn reached down to motion for him to hold her hand. When he reached up and grabbed her hand, his mate spoke to Julia again, “Julia’s Memoria, please answer my questions with the truth, or suffer the pain that the Siren can inflict on you.”

  Julia nodded, agreeing.

  “Do you mean us any harm?”

  “No, I do not. Since the Siren’s Call of judgment, I have been able to come forward to steer our path. As you can see, my host has no desire to be destructive to others or us. She has listened to me, seeing the truth now. She understands the cruelty that was visited upon both of us and only wants to find a way to peace. We came here because I was pulled to the stones like a magnet and for the hope of our freedom.”

  “Hmm. If that was true and Oriana had the stones all along, why would she refuse to give them to you?”

  “Oriana was duped like us. Her only crimes were greed and gullibility. She had no clue about what the stones were, except what the Paragons told her. She was under the impression that they were my birthright inheritance. The Paragons told her that I was to get access only if she was to die. I speak the truth when I say; I didn’t know any of this until recently.”

  “She said you were unaware of what she’d left you.” Quinn’s tone was hesitant as she sought to discern the Memoria’s words for truth.

  “After our encounter with the Siren, I led my host to go looking for them. With no success, no money and my host not able to take care of herself with no money, we returned to find Oriana. She was off the grid as if in a void. Finally, I was able to access Oriana’s memories as she was transported to the Council of Elders. The window was short, and I was only able to see she had them locked away somewhere. Until I was drawn to them here, I thought we were destined to die of starvation on the streets.”

  This time it was Greg who spoke. “Do you agree to submit to the Siren’s Song to verify what you speak and to not try to access any of our memories?” He’d rolled down his window and spoke to the girl.

  “I was going to suggest that I’d be willing to. Although I need to make a request of my own.”

  “Go on,” Quinn said.r />
  “It’s taking a lot of energy for me to continue diverting traffic from this area. My host is too weak to go on much longer. If you’d be willing to give her food and rest, I’ll make sure to answer everything you ask. We are even willing to be placed in the holding section you have access to like Oriana was.”

  Lucien was taken aback. “How do you know about our access to that dimension?”

  “Remember, I had to access Oriana’s memories for a few moments and learned that’s where she’d been.”

  “Correction, you chose to access her memories, but I won’t quibble about that,” he said. “Hold on while we discuss your request. Pulling Quinn back down into her seat, Lucien said, “Well? What do you think?”

  “Why don’t we have Hildy put her into one of her famous Siren sleeps after we feed the child. Then we can take her back to the Lair. Based on what’s she’s done, I still say take her to the holding cells, but bring the stones with us. That way, she can prove whether or not her story is true. If she tries anything like trying to escape, she dies.”

  “That could work, but there’s a better way to do this,” Greg said.

  “Oh yeah? What?” Quinn asked. “I hope you have a better way that doesn’t expose Julia to any more cruelty.”

  “Of course not. We honor people’s needs,” Greg said. “I propose we take her to the Diner and Miss Connie feeds her, sees to her injuries, mental state and we can ask if she’ll allow us to use her neutral area.”

  “Yes, why didn’t I remember that?” Lucien said. Seeing the confusion on Quinn’s face, he added, “Miss Connie has a place in the back of the Diner where she can take a person who might be suspected of being an alien but who is cloaked in some way. That area renders the use of magic that she prohibits useless. It’s her version of wards. So if we needed to be able to use magic still and she gave us permission, it would work. But, without her lifting her version of wards, everyone entering the neutral room would be—neutralized of their abilities.”

  Relief flooded Quinn’s expression. Seeing this side of Julia had softened her heart to the young woman. She was still a young woman and had been through so much. It was true; victims become villains without help. Julia needed help.

  “That sounds like a better plan. Would Miss Connie be able to see her now? It’s still business hours for the Diner.”

  Lucien had pulled out his phone and was already dialing. “I’m contacting her to set it up.”

  Once he finished up on the phone, Lucien said, “We need to give Miss Connie a few hours to get everything set up.”

  “How do we contain her in a humane way for two hours?” Blaise asked.

  Lucien knew Quinn liked Blaise and had developed a soft spot in her heart for him. That’s another reason he was here in the car with them. Lucien had chosen brothers who calmed Quinn to accompanying them on this trip to the bank. He had a kind and pure heart. She knew he didn’t talk too much due to his literal view of life. Compared to his brothers, he might appear to be all brute with no brains. Not so. Blaise still had the gift of wonderment and simplicity. Time and again she’d caught him observing things and people with wisdom that was beautiful in its whimsical, mystical way.

  “We have Hildy put her to sleep in the meantime,” Quinn said.

  “That’ll do and she’s said she’d submit to it as well.”

  Lucien was at peace with their decision. “Okay, then let’s do this. Let’s bring Julia in.”

  41

  Quinn…

  “Bless that baby’s heart,” Miss Connie said.

  Julia’s Memoria had proven that everything she said was true. Quinn’s heart ached at how much of a victim the girl had been all her life. The Memoria told them so many more things about Julia’s life, the abuse she’d suffered, crimes she’d committed and other tragedies. The session had been emotionally draining.

  Once the stones, crystals, and jewels were brought into the neutral room and Miss Connie calibrated it only to allow a low level joining, the Memoria was able to separate from Julia without causing her harm. Hildy and Ajax had worked together to put Julia in a deep Siren’s sleep as soon as the Memoria separated from her. Asleep, Julia looked like a fragile angel. Once they had her cleaned and dressed from some clothes that Wren had stopped and bought on her way there, they had been transported to the Council.

  Per the agreement Lucien made with the Memoria and the Council, both Julia and she would be transported to a facility that specialized in host separation trauma. It was to be at this facility that Julia also got the needed help for piecing her life together.

  Julia’s Memoria had also revealed the deal Julia had made with the Egolars for the ability to jump dimensions. As a down payment, she’d allowed an Egolar leader to drain her excess emotions. She’d promised them the emotions of other young human women who were slated for servitude through her mother’s business as future payment.

  It was a win for Julia due to how bad she was spiraling out of control. She had emotional upheaval in excess. Though it was a sick way to find relief, the Egolars’ draining her high levels of erratic emotions had been one of the reasons she hadn’t imploded by now.

  In return for her “payments,” the Egolars would cloak and transport her to dimensions they could access. She’d used Greg’s hair to create a tracking hex on him for the portal entrance. That was how she’d been able to have the Egolars there. It was their hope that they’d defeat the Dragofin Guardians and enter this dimension to intercept some of Oriana’s human trafficking shipments.

  Quinn, Hildy, and Wren had been there in the neutral room as witnesses and for their support for Julia. Quinn still ached from this plan hatched by a sixteen-year-old. Yeah, the Memoria had confirmed that Julia was only sixteen.

  As the Dragofin Clan and Miss Connie stood there at the end of that dark hallway watching Lucien navigating Julia and the Memoria to their final destination, a tear fell down Quinn’s face. Once Lucien stated that it was done and that Julia and the Memoria were there, everyone turned and he led them back out of the hallway and into the main area of the Lair.

  “When do we deal with the crap ton of mess Julia left with her deal with the Egolars?” Greg asked.

  “Once I get this report of all the things that little lady had cooking, we’ll move from there. In addition to the Egolars, we still have these Paragons to identify and find. I’m going to say it will be a while before we make any definite steps to eradicate either of them.” Lucien ran a weary hand over his face and sighed. “I’m still thinking about how the Paragons are getting humanoid babies through the portal. If there’s one Julia, there could be a hundred or a thousand.”

  “Damn it, Luc, don’t do that!” Ajax said.

  “Do what?”

  “Make me have a heart attack. A thousand Julias? That image is wrong and twisted.”

  “Calm down, I was there to save you baby, and I’ll do it again,” Hildy said, kissing him to lighten his mood.

  Quinn saw Wren’s expression. Her friend was saddened by the Julia situation.

  “Hey, Wren? This whole Julia situation has done something to me. Would you mind spending the night here? I’d like all us to catch up and have some fun. We need to lighten it up a bit. I need my best friend here for that. What do you say?”

  Matt was behind Wren and mouthed, “Thank you,” to Quinn with a thumbs up sign.

  “I don’t know. I’m worn out from the Julia episode. It was hard seeing her again, after what she did to me.”

  “I know honey. That’s another reason why I’m begging you to come and stay here with me, hell all us for a while. We can help each other heal. It’s been traumatic, and the best way through this tunnel is with others. Please stay?”

  Wren looked down at her feet. The room waited for her to answer. After a good minute, she said, “I’ll have to go and get a bag. And… only if Miss Connie is willing to make some of her Split Pea Soup and meatloaf for me. I need comfort food.”

  “Miss Connie?” Quinn a
sked.

  The little woman beamed with a smile. “Sure I will hun. Can I have that for you tomorrow, though? Tonight we have pot roast, smothered pork chops, and stuffed chicken breasts. This will be good. I’ve been meaning to talk with you about the Diner contracting you for our desserts anyway. My current Baker is retiring in the spring and I ain’t nobody’s Baker.”

  Wren’s eyes lit up. “Yes, of course. I have a friend I’ve been considering doing some projects with. She’s been to the Diner and loved the food. Her name is Zia and—”

  “Oh hell, here we go!” Quinn said, throwing up her hands. “I can’t even. Wren, for real? You’re killing me here.”

  Lucien pulled her back to stand next to him as Wren gave her an award-winning side eye. “Quinn for the last time, Pastry Cheffing ain’t easy, and I’d need help with a contract like Miss Connie’s. Are you willing to get up and help me at four o’clock in the morning, every day?”

  “I might,” was all Quinn was willing to say.

  “The fat lies you tell!” Then Wren turned her attention back to Miss Connie. “I love the idea. Let me talk with Zia about her availability to help me, and then we can get more details.”

  Miss Connie looked past her to Matt before she said, “I hope you can help me. This old girl ain’t willing to try out someone I don’t trust. And, I know you can cook. I do need to say it would be great if you considered moving here to the Lair to make it easier on both of us. This contract would be a full-time one. The Diner does huge bakery business.” Grabbing and squeezing Wren’s hands to drive the point home, Miss Connie said, “It would make me so happy to have you supplying the baked goods. And having you right here at the Lair with their professional kitchen would be such a blessing. Thank you so much for doing this!”

  A stunned and slightly confused Wren said, “What—wait! Miss Connie, I said I’d think about it.”

  Moving on to other things, Miss Connie smiled and waved a hand in the air as she said, “Whew! Lucien, didn’t I ask you all to get some air neutralizers in here? It still smells like sweaty balls. I can’t have my baby girls living in this!”