by Anya Nowlan
Instead, he turned around and ran towards the pit.
He’s telling the other guards…
“Step on it,” Flite growled, slamming his palm into the driver’s seat.
“I’m going as fast as I can,” Joshua snorted in response.
“It’s not fast enough. They know she’s gone.”
Flite had seen the same thing as Isobel had and must have gotten nervous because of it. Isobel frowned.
“You couldn’t possibly think you could just take me and no one would notice.”
It might have sounded a little bit haughty, but it was the truth, right? This whole nonsensical show of masculine bravado and strength revolved around her. There was no way these guys could hope to get too far without being detected!
“You say that as if you think anyone will care enough to come get you.”
Joshua’s words cut like a knife, but they only served to make Isobel angrier.
“If you think no one cares, it sure is funny that you can’t seem to stay away from me, no matter how hard you try,” Isobel stated, her tone as icy as were her feelings towards Joshua.
“Shut up,” he spat.
Isobel was pushed into the seat as Joshua accelerated abruptly, the vehicle roaring across the stretch of rocky nothingness and towards a patch of forest. The road would turn into a narrow path soon and then disappear into a maze of mountains and valleys. Isobel had seen it during her flight to the arena. It was the perfect place to hide, even from a pack of angry dragons.
“Joshua, why the hell are you doing this? Honestly. Tell me, I want to know. You worked so hard to get away from me, leaving me on the day of our wedding, and now you seem to be dedicating your life to making mine hell. I never thought you were such a small, petty man.”
Her voice was trembling with anger and her hands were balled into fists. There were no tears pricking at her eyes and she was certain there wouldn’t be any either. Not for this guy, anyway. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute and the only thing she really wanted to know was whether or not Aeon was alright.
The thought of him lying on the ground, bleeding out, sent shudders of horror coursing through her. She tried to reach out to him but got no response. It wasn’t too surprising – she didn’t exactly know how she got across to him last time.
Joshua answered her with a prolonged silence, driving the vehicle like a madman all the while. It would not have surprised Isobel one bit if they suddenly hit a rock and went tumbling over the roof, but Joshua didn’t particularly seem to care about that. Nor did Flite. Of course, being a dragon, he was the last one to really get injured if anything happened.
And the driver’s seat was the safest seat…
Isobel swallowed dryly.
“Shut up,” Flite said, annoyed.
“No, you shut up. You should be ashamed of yourself, going along with this cockamamie scheme. You’re a dragon. You should be better than this!”
Like a schoolmarm chiding a misbehaving child, Isobel turned to face Flite and rattled her monologue at him. His eyes narrowed in response, gold seeping into them. A week ago, that would have been enough to send Isobel scrambling away from him. Now? Now he could go screw himself, because Joshua and his band of magnificent assholes had already tried to take everything they could from her and she was done giving them any quarter.
“Don’t you glare at me. I’m not afraid of you. You obviously want me alive and you won’t hurt a goddamn hair on my head.”
“You think I care about your little bastard child?” Flite said suddenly.
That shut Isobel up for a moment and Joshua craned his neck around so fast that he almost drove into a tree as they finally breached the forest.
“Your what?! Her what? What the hell are you saying, man?”
“He’s talking nonsense,” Isobel said, but she could tell that her feeble argument didn’t sound anywhere close to believable.
“You think I don’t smell it on you? Who do you think you’re kidding with that perfume? You’re carrying a dragon baby in your womb.”
Flite snorted, averting his gaze for a moment. He slouched against the door with one elbow, as if considering the many wrong turns he had had to take to end up in this situation. For a second, Isobel almost felt sorry for him.
“You’re wrong.”
It was Joshua saying that, shaking his head violently as he turned his attention back on the stretch of dirt that doubled as a road. His grip was hard on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.
“If she’s pregnant by anyone, then it’s me. It’s mine, the kid. It has to be.”
Joshua nodded to himself wildly and though his face was ashen, Isobel could see the tips of his ears turn scarlet. It always happened when he got especially upset. Way back when, she’d thought it to be kind of a cute tell of his.
“Unless you’re a closeted dragon, it isn’t. Why do you think she’s bathed in perfume?” Flite grumbled.
He looked painfully uncomfortable, like he’d rather be anywhere else.
That makes two of us.
“Don’t do this…” Isobel said.
“You think I want to be here?” Flite snarled.
The temperature in the vehicle spiked palpably and Isobel pushed away from Flite in reaction, flattening her back against the door. Joshua was barreling through the forest and Isobel could see the straight face of a low mountain looming up ahead, casting a shadow over the forest. She was too busy keeping an eye on Flite to make much of it, though.
“I don’t know. Don’t you?” she asked, keeping her voice as steely as she could.
A sullen kind of annoyance flitted through Flite’s gaze and he looked away, slicking his tongue over his teeth. The muscles in his cheeks twitched and she felt almost bad for him. That was, until she remembered that he had kidnapped her, after which her burst of compassion dwindled notably.
Flite looked like he was about to say something when the Suburban lurched forward and then down, making Isobel grab for anything she could and hold on tight. She screeched, feeling like someone had suddenly thrown the large Suburban on a rollercoaster. Instead of swooping back up again, the SUV came to an abrupt stop a few second later, bathed in stark blackness. It was so dark outside that Isobel couldn’t see a thing other than what the headlights were showing.
A cave.
She groaned inwardly, carefully prying her fingers loose and relaxing her hands from holding onto the seats so hard.
“What the hell was that?” she asked, with no one willing to answer her.
Joshua was staring in front of himself, like he was frozen in space.
“Unlock the doors,” Flite said with a commanding tone.
Joshua didn’t budge.
“I said…”
“I heard what you said,” Joshua snapped.
He slammed his palm on the button that would unlock the doors and then threw his seatbelt off. Flite stepped out on the vehicle and before Isobel could undo her seatbelt, the door was torn open and Joshua did it for her. He was breathing heavy and when he gripped her arm, tugging her out she yelped. Her hand went out automatically, slapping him in the face.
It seemed to sober him and Joshua let go of her, letting Isobel stumble back a few steps in the pitch black cave.
“How could you?” he hissed.
In the dim light, she could see that his eyes were red, like he’d been crying or at least like he was about to break down in tears. Isobel frowned, opening her mouth to respond but nothing came out. How could she? How could she what? Move on after he left her at the altar? It was so preposterous she couldn’t even find an answer for it.
The cave flickered to life as Flite breathed a small burst of fire on a torch that Isobel hadn’t seen, the rest of the rows of them on the walls lighting up immediately after it. She would have enjoyed the sight far more if she wasn’t being stared down by her rather unhinged ex at the moment.
“You’re mine, Isobel, and you’re not allowed to… to do anything like that!
” Joshua roared, his face getting red all over.
That was the last straw.
Isobel took a step forward, hearing a curious humming in her ears, but she was too angry to let it sidetrack her.
“I’m not yours,” she said, shoving her finger into his chest. “I have never been yours nor will I ever be yours. I am no one’s but my own, do you hear that? And who I do or do not sleep with is also none of your business since you, and I can’t believe I have to say this again, left me at the goddamn altar. Not only that, but you have the gall to want to ‘punish’ me. For what!? The fact that I didn’t stand in the damn church and take all the humiliation you left there for me to deal with? Screw you, Joshua.”
She hadn’t realized how quickly her voice had risen until she finished and her words were still echoing back at her in the long, high tunnels of the spacious cave. Flite had walked to them, now inserting himself between them. He put one hand on Isobel’s shoulder almost gently and turned her towards one of the tunnels, nudging her forward.
“I’m not going to-“ she started, but quieted under Flite’s unwavering gaze.
Flite didn’t seem exactly amused by what was going on and Isobel was too shaken to take on this fight as well as the one with Joshua. She exhaled deeply, closing her eyes for a moment, before taking a step in the direction she was pointed in. The only way out looked like an almost straight cliff up and she couldn’t believe they’d just come down that with a vehicle of all things.
Clearly pissing off Flite was not something that would be in her favor at the moment.
“I wasn’t done with her,” Joshua said, his voice breaking.
“You were. You are.”
Flite’s answer made Isobel smile slightly, though that tiny sliver of bemusement disappeared as quickly as it had ignited. Putting her hands on her stomach she teetered forward in those dumb high heels of hers, trying to figure out what she was supposed to be freaking out about now.
There were too many options to choose from and adrenaline was pumping hard and fast in her veins from the confrontation with Joshua and everything else that had come before it. The nerve of him, thinking he had some sort of ownership over her! And the fact that it had been him that had organized her to be a part of the dragon tournament still stung so painfully that it could knock the breath from her lungs.
All of that, though, was secondary.
I hope Aeon’s alright… He has to be, right?
Aeon
If Aeon combined all the years he had spent on this earth, he still would not have found enough time put together that would have added up to how much annoyance, anger and nervousness he had experienced over the course of the tournament.
Now, as he was soaring across the skies, or more like doing the closest thing to limping one could do when flying, he wasn’t even surprised that he had to deal with that jumble of emotions again.
As soon as he’d caught his breath enough to think and see anything but black and red again, his brothers had come running to him, telling him that Isobel had been abducted. Immediately, the guards had taken flight, trying to locate the vehicle that Grale had spotted. It had been too late.
The last that had been seen of it was where Aeon was patrolling now, nearly an hour and a half later, scouring the area.
Where are you, Isobel…?
He was tired, exhausted even, and still bleeding from several cuts that were too stubborn to stop. There had to be ligaments torn in his left wing and along with the long tear in it, it was very close to useless at this point. As long as it kept him in the air though, Aeon didn’t care. He had to find her, no matter what. There simply was no other option.
Getting information from Shade would have been the easiest thing to do, but the Grayson dragon was barely alive, or at least he had been when Aeon left. Teetering between life and death, he was clearly not the right dragon to squeeze for intel. The thought had crossed Aeon’s mind and Phase had rushed to stand in his path before he could take a step towards Shade.
“Not the time, Aeon,” Phase had said.
But it didn’t take much for Aeon to understand who was behind this all. Joshua, that little gnat of a man, had to have his hands mixed up in this. And Flite too, clearly, as Grale had spotted the man dragging Isobel into the vehicle.
It was preposterous that something like this could happen – that the princess could be abducted by another dragon, or worse yet, another person. The organizers were of the opinion that it was simply Flite’s doing, lashing out in anger at having lost out so early, but Aeon knew better.
Flite wasn’t that kind of dragon, and he certainly wasn’t bitter enough or foolhardy enough to want the full fury of the Prevoir family upon him. He was young, brash and sometimes uncouth, but he was not dumb.
No one messed with the time dragons if they could avoid it. Whatever was causing Flite to do this, there had to have been a good reason. Aeon only wished he knew what it was.
Time after time, his senses kept bringing Aeon back to one of the mountains in the region. It wasn’t notable by any means, just a modest peak surrounded by lush but not particularly full forests. It wasn’t even snow-tipped and at best could have been considered an obstruction of a good view.
Yet there Aeon was, circling it for what felt like the tenth time. Frowning, he swooped lower this time – not that he was much for swooping at the moment. He could not spot other dragons in the region but the mountains hid them from sight. Hex and Phase would not be far, and the guards were also scouring the region along with volunteers. No one close enough to come help and confirm his suspicions, though.
Dragons didn’t deal well with humiliation and never before had a dragon tournament lost a princess before. There’d been a couple of unfortunate incidences in ancient times when a potential bride had gotten too close to the action and… well… burned, but that was then and this was now.
They were civilized creatures after all!
Not that Aeon gave a crap about what this meant for the reputation of the event or how anyone would feel about the outcome. All he wanted was Isobel back, in his arms, safe from harm. That was all he needed.
His vision swam slightly as he dipped too low too fast, his body reeling against the strain. He had to forcefully slow the time around him in a bubble to catch up with himself and it was at that slow, leisurely moment that he felt it.
Isobel.
Immediately, it was like he’d gotten a ping on a radar and he knew where he was going. She was inside there somewhere, in that mountain. He could feel it without a doubt.
Stilling himself, Aeon made a careful circle around the mountain, trying to find an entrance of some sort. It was clear that it had to be someone’s lair, but no dragon families lived in the area. This meant that it was either abandoned or an auxiliary lair, a secret one hidden in a nondescript mountain, acting as a vault or just a backup.
Nestled within a dark thatch of woods, Aeon finally spotted it. An entrance. It was nowhere near wide enough to allow for a dragon to pass through. He landed near it, tucking in his wings to find a large enough space to touch down on. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt his world spinning faster again.
His body was weak. In any other situation, he would not have shifted without other dragons present to aid with his recovery, but he was out of options. Going to find some help would have taken too much time and he didn’t have that to waste.
Shifting into his human form was the most painful thing he’d ever done. With the change taking over, all the cuts and tears and wounds that had been scattered over him were now spread over a much smaller body. His left wrist was obviously broken, taking the damage of his wing. He limped heavily and there were bright red, open wounds over his body, seeping through his clothing.
Fuck this, he thought, a violent kind of anger blooming within him.
Determined, he walked to the entrance to the mountain and hauled himself up to the edge of it. He could see tire tracks and somewhere below, he could see light sh
ining. He took a breath, flicking his gaze upwards for a moment as if begging to the spirits above to keep him at least somewhat intact on his way down, and took to the tunnel.
It went down at a sharp angle and staying on his feet was difficult with the darkness surrounding him. The only reason he could really stay moving and retain any kind of control was thanks to his powers, allowing him to sense his mistakes before he made them. He couldn’t avoid them all, not with his balance and coordination not being what they usually were, but he made it down.
It was a ten foot drop from the edge to the ground. He spotted the SUV slightly away from the drop and the axle was clearly bent on it. It had come flying down this very same drop.
Gingerly, Aeon lowered himself until he was holding on with only his good hand, and then fell to the floor. He managed to keep his composure, staying on his feet yet again. But he had no time to congratulate himself on that.
With every step forward, he’d sense Isobel’s presence stronger and clearer. She was close. Without a doubt in his mind, Aeon started running, following the path of lit lanterns deeper into the myriad of caves.
It looked like an old dragon lair. There had to be another entrance somewhere to allow a fully grown dragon to come in and exit, but it might have collapsed over time. For now, it was empty – Aeon couldn’t sense any gold. That was probably wise as well, because there was no way a dragon could have hidden a fully stocked lair if there were as many dragons as the tournaments gathered flying over it all the time. At least not unless the dragon in question was a concealment dragon.
Aeon was damn sure this had not belonged to a concealment dragon though. If he had to take a crack at it, he’d guess it to be a Grayson lair. Something hung in the air that simply reeked of the fog dragons.
He ran faster and faster with each step, feeling Isobel’s presence get stronger. Aeon’s heart was pounding heavily in his chest. He couldn’t believe he’d come to this.
