The Dragon Stirs: Energen, Book 1

by Lynda Aicher

  Louk choked on his tea. He coughed and set the cup down as he tried to clear his throat of the misguided liquid. Airiana understood how he felt.

  “Just like that?” Louk finally croaked out. “Wham bam thank you, ma’am, and it’s done? I doubt that’s going to happen.”

  “It almost happened on the cold, dirty floor of an old silo,” the man countered. “Why wouldn’t it happen again?”

  It was Airiana’s turn to choke. Louk had the decency to look away, and her cheeks flushed hot in embarrassment.

  “That was a mistake,” she insisted. “It was the heat of the moment and nothing more.”

  “Definitely,” Louk agreed.

  “Was it? Really?” The man leaned in intently. “A heat so strong, so right that it displaced the energy and woke the beast? A mistake that was felt by all for its power? For what it was? For what it is?” He stood so suddenly, his chair tipped and tumbled to land with a muted thud on the carpet. “Do not fool yourself. Your union was predestined from birth. Together you are strong. Together you will survive. Stay apart…and we all die.”

  The silence pounded through the room. Airiana was too shocked to respond. Could he be speaking the truth? She tugged on the cold metal still locked around her neck. The damn collar was blocking the energy, and she wanted to feel it. Needed to sink into it and sense if the man spoke the truth. If all the words that flowed were in harmony with what was around them.

  “Remove her collar,” the man snapped at Louk and pointed at her neck. “There is no need for it now.” As an energy collar can only be removed by the person who applied it, Louk would have to agree with the Ancient’s demands. Surprisingly, he consented without question. His warm fingers caressed her skin as he quickly flicked the lock and pulled the collar off. The energy immediately invaded her dulled senses and stroked over every never ending in a soft wave of welcome. She bit her lip to hold back the moan that threatened at the pure joy and rightness of the returning energy. Euphoria. Or as close to it as she could get. An endorphin high without the pain.

  Louk cupped his palm against her neck and the energy spiked, then burned. She gasped in stunned recognition and her gaze held his. The collar removed, the energy rushed between them in an open flow of emotional exchange.

  His palm tightened on her neck, his mouth parted slightly, a match to her own. It was there, a rejoicing at the return of something she hadn’t known she’d missed. A filling of the emptiness that had plagued her for her entire life. And it burned.

  All two hundred years of solitary existence—of being nothing but a number, a pawn, in an army of destruction—wiped away by his touch. Doubt removed and replaced by promise and acceptance.

  Louk.

  Hers.

  “You feel it,” the voice came from a distance, her mind hazy with the crush of the energy. “You can deny it, but you know that it’s there. The raven—the messenger of the void, the carrier of change and awakening. The light blue dragon—the courier of wisdom and enlightenment, the bringer of opportunity and balance. Together, The Two will see all. You must accept and defend. Prepare for what is to come.”

  Sweat trickled down her spine, a sleek river of desperation. Louk’s chest rose and fell in deep huffs of physical exertion. His eyes had darkened to the deep blue of a pending storm, but he never looked away from her gaze. Didn’t look to the man who had moved behind them. Didn’t pull away from what was happening between them. From the energy that was pulling them together with an unrelenting hold. Instead, he inched closer and raised his other hand so both hands circled her neck.

  She gasped and cried out at the wave of energy that slammed into her chest and raced through her body in a crashing surge of want. Louk’s head tipped forward, and he groaned deep and low in his chest.

  “Fight it no more,” the emphatic whisper brushed against her senses. “Trust in what the energy is telling you. Listen to its song and believe in the power. All that has come before must be forgotten. To reach the future, the past must evolve.”

  Airiana clenched her hands into tight fists to keep them from shaking where they rested on her thighs. Her dragon roared and arched in satisfaction. Fire shot from its mouth, the hot flames seeming to ignite the hairs on the back of her hand. The sensation stoked over her nerves and oddly calmed her rising distress.

  A hand settled on the top of her head, at the same time she saw a hand rest on Louk’s, the ancient fingers barely resting against their scalps. The new energy washed through her in slow drips of white, liquid knowledge. Thousands of years of truth and sight were encased in the energy that now circled within her.

  “Go and trust. Go and learn. Go and become who you were meant to be.”

  Airiana felt the tingling encompass her skin and prepared for whatever was next. Louk was with her, she felt him in her energy in the heat of his palms against her neck.

  And for the first time ever, she was not alone.

  Chapter Seven

  Dark corkscrews of frustration drilled deep into Louk’s gut, twisting, turning, grinding until they pierced his flesh in pointed arcs of pain. What in the hell was going on? Again with the autopilot porting. The loss of control angered him more than all of the events of the day.

  Airiana. It all came back to the lethal enchantress who abducted him with her fiery spirit and unbreakable will.

  Shit. He should have turned her in when he had the chance. Instead, he chose the risk and look where that had gotten him.

  In the sweltering pits of hell.

  “So where are we, Airi?” Louk turned his head and looked down at her grim face. They were both braced with their backs against the cutting, sharp rocks of the cave wall behind them. They had materialized in the dank space just seconds before and immediately, automatically, assumed the defensive position.

  “How would I know?” she snapped back, her ponytail flipping when her head jerked to look up at him.

  “Dark cave, rank taint of sulfur, hissing stokes of flames…” he drifted off and shot her a look of expectation.

  “And?”

  “Kind of seems like your territory, you being the evil little dragon and all.”

  Her eyes tightened in irritation. “Why don’t you just leave? There’s nothing stopping you now.”

  That was true. There was no circle trapping them here—wherever here was. “And leave you alone with all this fun?” he cocked a grin and gave her an insulted look. “Not a chance.”

  He straightened, and his grin dropped. His grip tightened around their clasped hands—something that had happened without thought when they landed. “Why don’t you go?”

  Her lids dropped slightly, her lips thinned before a slow smiled curved over them. “With your weak fighting skills, you wouldn’t stand a chance without me.” Her hand squeezed his, a silent confirmation, intentional or not.

  “All right.” He nodded, the simple gesture an inappropriate display for the overwhelming relief that assaulted him. “So what happened back there?”

  “With the Ancient?”

  “Who else?”

  “Beats the shit out of me.” She bit her lip and looked away. “But something strange is definitely going on.”

  “And you’re just figuring that out?”

  She sighed and closed her eyes, her voice losing its fight. “Can you be serious for once?”

  His lips compressed before he inclined his head. “Yes, I can.” Playing the jokester was just so much easier and few people took the time to dig beyond it. “Any ideas on what’s happening?”

  Her leg bounced in nervous agitation as she contemplated her answer. “Something way beyond us. Bigger than us, but we’re definitely involved.” She looked at him. “Did you get that big rush of energy from the Ancient right before we were shipped here?”

  “Yeah. Just like I get whenever I touch you.” He lifted their clasped hands. “Right?” The energy flowed between them on the connection of their skin. Smooth, open, honest.

  She inhaled before admitting t
he truth. “Right.”

  “Has this happened before with you?” He squeezed her hand.

  “No.” She shook her head. “Not even remotely. You?”

  “No. Never.” He let their hands fall, the admissions resting uncomfortably between them.

  “Now what?”

  He looked around the cave and tried to assess where they were. “We were obviously sent here for a reason. I’m guessing we’re supposed to find out why.”

  After a moment, she nodded sharply, straightened her spine and lifted her chin. “You’re right. We could port away and hide from it, or figure it out and be done with it.”

  Just like that, the little fighter was back. He smiled into the darkness. “Rule of engagement number…what number are we on now?”

  “Five.”

  “Five,” he repeated. “Find the enemy before they find you.”

  “Take the offensive before you’re stuck in the defensive,” she amended. Her gaze held his and she swallowed slowly. “For now, you’re not my enemy.”

  He breathed deeply and exhaled the last of his doubt. About her at least. “For now, I agree.”

  The energy snapped, then flashed up his arm and raked across his chest, icy tipped blades that left deep grooves across his heart.

  A hot gust of air wafted up from the recesses of the cavern and banked them in a smoldering plume of sulfuric stench. Louk wrinkled his nose and strained to see into the darkness from where it came.

  “So, you really have no idea where we are?” he questioned, the doubt carrying in his voice.

  “Why would I?” She tugged on her hand, apparently annoyed and wanting her freedom. Not a chance.

  “It was just a question, Airi. No need to get touchy.”

  “I’ll touch you,” she mumbled giving her hand another tug.

  “You tease.” He pulled her against his body, the surprise giving him the advantage. “It’s not nice to tease.” She gasped, and he attacked. His lips took hers in a hard, demanding assault of tongue and heat. She stiffened, resisted, then melted into his body.

  He groaned at her acquiescence, cupped the back of her head and tilted it slightly to give him better access to her hot depths. Her lips were soft, her actions strong. She didn’t shrink away, but met him stroke for stroke, claiming as much as she gave. And it fired him hotter, stoked his desire and made him forget where they were, what they needed to do.

  His mind failed completely when her tongue danced with his, circling, dipping, trusting until the tempo increased to a dizzying, racing pace. Their energy powered within him, meshing to form its own unique blend of intoxicating strength. The raven rejoiced in fluttering song that serenaded his senses and intensified the energy that threatened to pull him under with its current.

  It was more intense than last time and turned his mind to a pooling mush of need. His cock ached in his jeans, and he wanted nothing more than to throw her down and claim her. There. Now.

  The need built until he thought he’d burst from it. It rocked the foundation he was raised to believe. How could he feel this for her? So fast? So intense? So overwhelming that he forgot everything but her? Airiana.

  She groaned into his mouth, and her hand clenched on his chest. He tightened his own hold and tried to absorb her into his body. Pull her in until she couldn’t escape. Until she was his forever.

  His.

  The thought rang with clarity through his mind and shocked his system with its truth.

  A high-pitched creak rang through the air and raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He pulled his lips from Airiana’s and tensed. A deep, guttural roar fired up from the depths of the cave. It bounced off the walls and rang with the manic tint of possessed evil. The energy sucked in, flipped and smacked against them with a punishing blow that flattened them to the rocky wall and sucked the breath from their bodies.

  The ground beneath them quivered, rocked and undulated until only their joint effort kept them standing. Louk pressed his back into the rock and held Airiana tightly to his chest. He widened his stance and rolled with the movement until it slowly stilled.

  The energy chilled around them, the temperature dropping a quick twenty degrees in mere seconds. Airiana’s breath brushed against his ear in harsh, jagged gulps. His heart hammered against his ribs and sounded like thunder in his ears.

  “What the hell was that?” Airiana whispered, her breathing slowing as she turned, her breath brushing against his neck.

  “Whatever it is, it sure as hell isn’t normal.”

  “Well no shit. It’s a good thing you’re not the brains of the operation.” Her sarcasm succeeded in lightening the moment just enough for him to regain his equilibrium.

  He puffed out a breath through his nose, then planted a quick kiss on her forehead. “So brains, what do you suggest next?”

  “At least that’s a step up from sweet cheeks,” she muttered as she stepped away from his hold and turned to peer into the darkness.

  “Only temporary.” He reached out and gave her ass a squeeze. She shot him a look of pure death. He winked. She scowled. He laughed.

  “Grow up,” she said before she stomped off into the darkened cave.

  He laughed again and caught up to her. The strange ambient glow flowing up from the very depths of the cave provided them with enough light to see. “Where are you going?”

  “Down there.” She pointed ahead.

  “Got that.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt. “But let’s get a plan first.”

  She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. “We go. We look around. We see what we find. How’s that for a plan?”

  “Rather undetailed, if you ask me.”

  She looked away, and he swore she rolled her eyes as if she were talking to an imbecile. “And yours?”

  He took a breath and mentally counted to five before he spoke. “We use what was given to us before we stalk into the unknown.”

  She gave him a scathing look, but remained quiet.

  “Right.” He held out his hand and waited. Her lips pressed together, and her spine stiffened before she slapped her hand into his. He bit down on his cheek and resisted the urge to smirk. Now was not the time to push his luck.

  Together, they dissipated out and drifted down the corridor using the energy to feel what was ahead. The currents brushed against him, bringing with it every movement, every fluctuation, every source of energy that was within their range. What touched him was both frightening and abhorrent.

  What in the hell was up there?

  A deep laugh beat through the darkness and halted their stealthy approach. They solidified and slid quietly into the shadows.

  “And you thought no one was here,” he chided softly.

  She flipped him the visual FU and started to creep silently toward the low discussion that could now be heard ahead of them.

  He tried to pull her behind him, but she elbowed him in the gut and kept moving. Insufferable, stubborn woman. He gritted his teeth and stuck close to her back.

  The conversation slowly came into focus as they neared a curve in the tunnel. The energy pulsed stronger and clearly defined the other occupants as Shifters. Louk paused, doubt clamping down on him. What if it was a trap?

  Airiana stopped and looked back at him. She lifted an eyebrow in silent question, then held out her hand. He grasped it and breathed. The truth whispered over the flow of the energy.

  Trust her.

  Could he? Should he?

  Could he not?

  He could still teleport out of there and simply return to his life. To hell with what the Ancient said and whatever roll they were supposed to play in some fucked up prophesy. Return to his family and forget this blip in his life, the brief loss of sanity that had caused him to take her in the first place.

  He looked into her eyes and knew.

  It was too late to turn back. Too late to second guess.

  He squeezed her hand and took a step forward. Another step away from the past and to
ward the future. Toward Airiana.

  Mine.

  Chapter Eight

  Airiana added some much needed moisture over her dry lips with a slow swipe of her tongue and exhaled the breath she’d been holding deep in her chest. He was coming with her. He trusted her.

  Did she deserve it?

  “What does it mean?” a deep voice came from around the bend and forced them both to step back farther into the shadows.

  She tugged on his hand and motioned forward. He nodded, and they moved in unison over the remaining ground to the curve in the tunnel.

  “It’s almost time,” another voice answered, the excitement brimming on the edges.

  “Why now?”

  “Because we did our job.” Yet another voice, this one thick with a rolling accent. “Our time of groveling in anonymity is almost over. It’s time to celebrate, not question the why.”

  Airiana’s gut tightened into a hard little knot of dread. She knew those voices. Beads of perspiration formed on her brow as her body flushed with heat. She inhaled and pushed back the nerves.

  Louk tugged on her hand. She looked back at him to see his brow furrowed and head tilted in question much like an inquisitive dog.

  She shook her head and turned back to the voices.

  The sound of boots crunching over rock was followed by the high pitch of metal rattling. “Damn. It’s still immovable.”

  Curiosity forced her to inch forward. She got down on her belly and cautiously poked her head around the bend until she could see into the cavern. Louk was right beside her, laying half on top of her to look.

  What she saw sucked the breath out of her and stilled her heart.

  The legend was true.

  All the stories of her childhood came flooding back to her in undulating waves of horror. Louk inhaled, stiffened, then swore under his breath. He recognized the sight for what it was.

  Gog.

  Evil incarnate. The Oppressor. The Slanderer. The representative of all things negative.

  The one the Shifters served and the Energen feared.