“Watch,” Conrad commanded. “Watch.”
Stacey’s eyes met with Zane in the middle of the garden. Surrounding ever wall there were all the human dragons from Firebound Island, in uniform and waiting. She watched as Zane looked in all directions, searching for a means of escape.
“You are finished,” came a voice from behind him. “This is your end.”
The Human Mage stepped out from the house to meet Zane in the courtyard.
“No!” Stacey screamed. “You can’t let him die!”
With his hands all over her ass and breasts, Conrad removed her from the window and then carried her back out into one of the other rooms. He threw her into the air so that she landed on the bed in a giant huff, slamming the back of it into the wall. He closed and locked the door behind him.
“As I was saying before, you called him ‘Master’ didn’t you?”
Stacey was so distraught she couldn’t answer.
Conrad moved to her on the bed and grabbed her chin with a violent pinch. “Didn’t you?”
“Yes!” Stacey squealed.
Conrad removed his hand. “Well, if you play your cards right, you might be honored with the privilege of calling me that.”
“No,” Stacey said. “I will never. I don’t belong to you.”
“You belong to the clan. And in case you haven’t heard, there’s a new King in town.”
Stacey scrambled across the bed to get away from him but he lunged at her and soon they both on the floor.
“Do you know who that King is?” Conrad asked her.
Stacey trembled beneath him.
“It’s me.”
She struggled again to free herself but Conrad was just far too strong.
“You can’t save him,” Conrad said. “All you can do is try and save yourself. But I promise you, even if you are so amazing you become my queen, you will do as I say. When I say. How I say it. There will be no compromise. You will submit yourself to me, Slave. Or you will die.”
PART THREE
CHAPTER ONE
“Take your clothes off. Give them to me.”
With her arms folded over her chest, and her legs crossed tightly, Stacey watched Conrad move from one side of the room to the place where her dress lay discarded. The same dress Zane had conjured for her with his powers.
Conrad scooped it up and held it in front of her with both hands outstretched. Stacey saw a flickering of light at his finger tips, and soon enough the dress had been eaten up with flames. Conrad dumped it on the floor again and moved back to the closet.
Within a few moments, the burning garment was nothing more than a pile of ash.
“Up,” Conrad ordered.
Stacey slid up the wall, still trying to conceal her privates. Conrad turned slightly and gave a snort. “Come here.”
Stacey reluctantly moved around the bed towards him. Conrad reached into the cupboard and pulled something out.
He offloaded a bunch of grey, dusty rags into her arms.
“You wear these now.”
He closed the cupboard.
He then moved towards the bedroom door. He opened it and stepped out.
“Follow me.”
Stacey obeyed his command.
The tears in her eyes were stinging. Her face was flushed with humiliation, and the longer her skin was exposed, the more fragile she became. Inside, a harrowing despair had taken hold. Not only was her protector in the hands of their enemies, but now he no longer loved her, believing he was betrayed. She remembered Zane’s face when he looked at her. She remembered the relentless hate that filled his eyes. Although she had not meant to hurt him, there didn’t seem to be any way to undo what had been done. For now at least, their love…
Was over.
A little further down the corridor Conrad was standing in the mouth of an open doorway. She followed him there and saw that it was a bathroom.
“You can have ten minutes,” he said. “Clean yourself up and put your new clothes on. I’ll be back to fetch them.”
Before she could respond, he put his hand to her back and nudged her inside. He then closed the door and locked it.
Stacey stepped away and moved towards the mirror, clutching the clothes.
She let them fall away and hit her feet below.
CHAPTER TWO
Before Zane had a chance to fight against the other dragons in Conrad’s courtyard, the Human Mage had cast a paralysis spell on him. Now Zane’s hands and knees were planted into the earth, and he was unable to move.
From behind him, Zane heard someone exit the house and move across the grass towards them. The Mage’s gaze followed him until he had moved around to the other side of Zane to face him.
“I’m sorry,” Conrad began. “But you left me no choice, little brother.”
“No … choice?” Zane rasped.
Conrad crouched so they were eye to eye. “You could have gone anywhere. You could have visited any part of the globe. They probably wouldn’t have found you. With your strength and powers, you could have survived for years on your own. With or without that skank.”
Zane gritted his teeth.
“But you had to implicate me. Because as soon as anyone here found out you were here – if someone had even just caught a glimpse of you in town, then I’d be finished. Because of you. Because you put your needs ahead of mine.”
Conrad stood back up. “That’s all I’m doing here.”
Zane tilted his head upward, the rage in his eyes saying more than any words could.
The Human Mage reached into his robe and produced a scroll. He showed it to the circle of dragons that surrounded them and then unrolled it.
“Zane Hunter, Commander of the Firebound Guards, you have been found guilty for the crime of regicide, against your clan and your king. Under the authority of the seven grandmasters, and the Kingdom of Aries, you shall be executed as you sit now before the court. Do you have any final words before it is carried out?”
Zane breathed heavily. He looked from the Mage to his brother.
“Make him do it. By the sword.”
The Mage rolled up his parchment and tucked it away. He nodded to Conrad.
Conrad grimaced. “Sword!”
A sword was flung out from the circle and Conrad caught it in one hand.
The Mage backed away from them.
Zane’s eyes drifted upward as Conrad moved to his side.
“This will be a great mistake for you,” he said. “Murdering your brother who comes to you in a time of need. Bought for blood. Bought for gold. Who will trust you now that you’re so cheaply for sale?”
“Shut up,” Conrad murmured.
He raised the sword above Zane’s neck.
“You think they’ll make you king? A coward like you, who was so afraid he wouldn’t offer his brother a final duel? That he murders him with the help of the lowlife, degenerate Human Mage?”
Conrad closed his eyes. The sword went higher still.
“And what happens when they find out I was right about Horatio? Because they will find out. And you will burn forever for your treachery today.”
Zane lowered his neck.
Stared at the ground.
There was a moment of silence, and then –
The sword landed on the ground.
“What are you doing?” the Human Mage demanded.
“We can’t kill him,” Conrad declared. “You can’t, I can’t. Not here we can’t.”
“What the hell are you talking about? We’ve been given order from the otherworld –”
“Who have given it upon your evidence. Your testimony. But if there’s a chance he’s telling the truth about…”
“About what?”
“Come here a moment.”
Conrad took the Mage under his wing as the pair peeled away to talk quietly together. Zane’s gaze moved around slightly, and he suddenly became aware of feeling in his right arm.
Then his left.
CHAPTER THREE
After she had finished using the bathroom’s facilities, Stacey stepped out of the shower and retrieved the towel from the hook. It was dry, and hadn’t been used much. It smelt nice too – much nicer than the clothes she was expected to wear. The rags consisted of a man’s unwashed shirt, and a pair of paper thin leggings. She didn’t understand why Conrad wished her to wear these as she was sure they would make her look undesirable.
She debated with herself about putting them on, finally admitting they were better than nothing. Once on, she stared at herself in the mirror and realized that she could actually see through both the shirt and the pants, as they were that thin. She didn’t want to wear these. She felt sick.
But the decision was not up to her.
Now that she was finished, she went to the door and called out in hope Conrad might hear her.
“Hello? I’m ready now!”
She waited through the silence.
Then she heard footsteps approaching the door.
“Hello?” a voice came on the other side.
Not Conrad. One of the servants.
“Hello?” Stacey shot back. “Can you please let me out? The door won’t open.”
She heard the sound of keys jingling. The door’s lock snapped open.
The servant held it back, and Stacey smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you.”
She approached the stairs.
“I wouldn’t go that way if I was you.”
Stacey stopped and turned.
“It’s dangerous out there,” the servant said.
Stacey paced back towards him. “Is there another way out of here?”
The servant nodded. “Follow me.”
The servant briskly moved from the bathroom’s doorway and around the corner of the hall.
At one of the rooms on the opposite of Conrad’s study, the servant used his keys to unlock the door and let them both through. This led out to a small landing with a set of spiraling stairs leading down, and a glass door leading out to a balcony.
“You’ll have to go out there,” the servant said, indicating to the balcony. “The stairs lead to the kitchen and the others will hold you there.”
“But how high is it?” Stacey asked, approaching. “Is there a ladder or something I can go down?”
“There’s a tree branch. It’s very wide and smooth, so if you’re careful you should be able to navigate yourself to ground.”
“Let me take a look.”
She went out to the balcony with the servant and leaned over the edge to see the tree.
“That’s… That’s quite a drop.”
“Do you think you can do it?”
Stacey looked back at him. “Do I have a choice?”
“You can wait for Conrad’s return.”
Stacey looked back to the tree again. The branch was too far down.
“He’s not nice, is he?” Stacey said.
“He doesn’t treat women that well,” the servant replied.
“Why are you helping me?” Stacey asked.
“Just because I work with these strange folk, doesn’t mean I’m one of them.”
“Alright,” Stacey sighed. “I’ll give it a shot.”
“Okay,” the servant said. “Stay there and I’ll meet you on the ground. Perhaps I can help you if you fall.”
“Great,” Stacey smiled. “Just don’t keep me too long.”
“I won’t.”
The servant bowed his head and exited the balcony.
Stacey turned back to the rail, and rested her arms against it. She now became aware of sounds traveling through the background. People were shouting at one another on the other side of the house. Metal, was hitting metal…
Smash.
Something shot through the door behind Stacey, shattering glass in its wake.
Stacey looked to the ground next to her and saw it was the servant’s severed head.
“EEEEK!”
Her jaw dropped, suddenly consumed with nausea.
“Well, well.”
Standing in the doorway, swinging a giant sword filled with blood, was Conrad.
Looking very mean.
CHAPTER FOUR
Stacey felt her knees buckling in fear, but then her mind grabbed a hold of her.
Be brave.
“It’s amazing what a harlot can do to some people,” Conrad said dragging his sword across the ground. “That man had worked for me for six years. But it means nothing when confronted with a pretty face.”
“You’re a monster,” Stacey whispered.
“And you’re a human,” Conrad whispered back.
He stopped. Then beckoned with the sword. “Come to me now, Slave.”
“No.”
“No? I’m promise I won’t hurt you. I swear.”
Stacey climbed up on top of the balcony’s rail.
“What are you doing?” Conrad asked.
“What does it look like?”
Stacey looked down to the branch. She was at the wrong angle.
Conrad edged closer. “Why don’t you come down? You don’t want to jump.”
“Step away.”
“Why? Come on, Slave –”
“Step away or I’ll jump right now.”
Conrad stopped. But didn’t step back.
“Go on then,” he said. “I dare you.”
Stacey blinked.
“Foolish girl. Even if you’re lucky enough to make it to the ground unhurt, I’ll have you in my arms a moment later. I’ll break your neck in two if that’s what you want.”
“Why won’t you just let me go?” Stacey demanded. “I’m nothing to you. I’m not important.”
“Oh, I beg to differ. I know one person you’re very important too.”
And he was moving towards her. Hands outstretched.
“That’s it,” he said under his breath. “Come here. Come down… Hey –”
Stacey closed her eyes.
One. Two.
Three.
CHAPTER FIVE
Conrad didn’t try to grab a hold of Stacey as she fell. Instead, his sword came slicing through the air, aimed at her abdomen. Thankfully, he was just a tad not fast enough, and Stacey collapsed into the air unscathed. Conrad’s hands hit the railing’s edge and he growled with tremendous anger as Stacey hit the branch.
Pain shot through the right side of her body and then she slipped off the branch immediately, hanging on with both hands. She struggled to lift herself back up but it was useless.
And it was still a very long way down from here.
She could see Conrad’s figure looming. He wasn’t wasting any time.
He leaped up to the railing and then pounced towards the branch.
As he landed on it, it shook and Stacey’s hands gave away into the air. She fell screaming, with the ground quickly catching up to her. But then, just as she was about to hit it, a magnificent force from the sky swept in and saved Stacey from her fall.
Zane.
Stacey could hardly believe it herself.
As she took hold of her dragon’s body as he soared back up towards the clouds, she suddenly became aware that they were not alone in the sky. Even as her head was so low it was almost buried in his scales, had it been one centimeter higher it would have been seared clean off. Several dragons were on their tail, and they were shooting streams of fire at them in attack.
“Shit,” Stacey squealed, shielding herself from the vicious flames. She heard Zane roar in response, and his entire body whirled around. Stacey’s hands were barely able to grasp him to keep herself from falling.
Facing the other dragons, Zane roared again and shot out his own fire ball – which resulted in an enormous red wave passing through the sky and smacking into the others. He then ripped up through the air again, and continued their flight.
After a minute or so without incident, Stacey felt safe enough to raise her head. She looked back and saw that while the hoard of dragons appeared to be gone, there was a different dragon, a b
lue dragon, that was gaining on them. Putting two and two together, Stacey realized this must be Conrad.
“Your brother is coming,” Stacey whispered to Zane.
His body shuddered with a purr, to let her know she’d been heard. Stacey looked back again.
“He’s getting closer and closer. You have to go faster or he’s going to catch up.”
Zane dipped his head down and they descended rapidly through the clouds. Stacey saw that they were on the outskirts of suburbia, and they would soon be entering a well populated area. As they moved closer to the ground Zane was suddenly hit with a blast from Conrad’s mouth. Although it didn’t hit Stacey, she felt its affect on Zane and knew it wasn’t an ordinary fire breathing attack. Out from Conrad’s dragon came not fire and flames – but rather ice and snow. She felt Zane writhe in pain and then eventually he just gave away and allowed himself to fall.
“Come on,” Stacey said in panic. “Wake up.”
Zane was showing no sign of response.
Conrad had completely caught up to them, and was flying directly over Stacey on Zane’s back. His face was monstrous, twisted and vile. He snapped his jaw at her and she screamed without defense.
Then Conrad’s talon’s reached out and pulled her away from Zane’s back.
CHAPTER SIX
She watched Zane drift away to the ground below, the joy in her heart fading as he went. Even after everything he’d seen, when she hadn’t the time to explain, he had still been there to break her fall. They’d almost gotten away too. A few more miles and perhaps they would have been able to land, and escape from Conrad on foot.
Conrad’s claws were so sharps he could tear her to pieces in an instant. She had been pulled up to rest in the back of his clutches, where the sharpness of the claws wasn’t pressuring her. So it was clear that he didn’t wish to kill her outright – at least not yet. Stacey was however not looking forward to whatever plans he had in mind…
Conrad swooped down in the direction Zane had fallen. The crash site was an ugly one, as it appeared that Zane had fallen into the middle of an open road, damaging a portion of traffic. By the time Conrad and Stacey landed, she could see that while there was no sign of Zane, several of the cars had been smashed apart and there was fire out on the road. People were running around in panic, screaming. Not only from their injuries and those of their loved ones, but also at Conrad’s frightful presence. He dropped Stacey into the grass as he descended, and shifted back into his human form upon impact. She saw him rush out to the road to where Zane had been.
Shared By The Dragon Clan: The Complete Set Page 9
