Argan: Dragons of Preor

by Kyle, Celia

  His dragon roared and snarled, demanding he take action and destroy the one that dared harm their female. He stepped to the side of the ryaapir unit and gripped the edge, his hold so tight that the metal groaned beneath his assault.

  The healers stared at him, and he scented their unease, but he only had eyes for Penelope. “What do you mean it was an attack? How? I will destroy them and feast on their blood.”

  “Inadvisable.” Penelope drawled. “This was a remote hacking that targeted Lily’s implants and appears to have been successful. I have administered a sedative to ease her pain, but this is a temporary solution.” A hint of emotion entered Penelope’s placid stare once more. She ghosted her digital fingers over Lily’s forehead, the hologram disappearing and distorted by the attempt to touch her. “The damage to Liquid Knot’s implants is beyond repair.”

  “What?” Argan rasped, disbelief taking hold and strangling him. “That is impossible.”

  In truth, he did not know if it was possible, but to imagine Lily without the implants she relied on so heavily… The implants were like a third arm—indispensable and necessary to her very life as far as she was concerned. “She would not accept their destruction. They must be repaired.”

  “There is no debate.” Penelope‘s tone was matter of fact. “They are little more than shrapnel. Even if I were to leave her comatose indefinitely, her body would reject their presence as they serve no purpose and no longer interact with the surrounding tissue. She would suffer from a cranial infection and—”

  Impatience consumed him and his mind attempted to process Penelope’s words. He could not understand her statements due to his overwhelming worry for his mate—all else was lost to his jumbled thoughts.

  “Argan,” Penelope’s voice softened to a sweet tone, which reminded him of Lily, and he refocused on the hologram. “We must extract these implants, or she will die.”

  His gut wrenched and he swung his attention back to his mate. He reached for her, anxious to simply experience the sensation of her silken skin beneath his fingers. Yet it was not to be. Penelope extended her holographic hand and at the same moment, a force field from the ryaapir unit popped into place.

  “That is inadvisable at this time.”

  Argan clenched his hand into a tight fist and gritted his teeth. If he could not touch his mate, he ached to bury his fist in the wall. To beat and destroy to vent his rage.

  “She would sooner die than live without her implants,” Argan put voice to a truth he knew to his very core.

  “That would be irrational.” Penelope was not unkind, but his mate was not often rational.

  “That does not matter.” He closed his eyes for a moment. He might be a warrior—a genius on the battlefield—but he did not understand the technology of his people. He understood his mate. He had no doubt of his only choice, but… Would she hate him? Yes. He stared at his mate—still, almost serene. “She will not forgive this.”

  “That is not certain.” Another comment from Penelope.

  It was a certainty. Argan did not just treasure Lily. He loved her to his very depths. From the soaring skies to the darkest portions of the seas. With that love came a kind of knowing of his mate. Without her implants, Lily would be forced to endure relearning much. If he did not do this, it would mean her death.

  And he did not care that her death would mean his own as an unbound male guilty of a crime against the engineering master. His life did not matter—only Lily’s. Without her… he could not breathe with only that thought entering his mind.

  “It will be difficult for her to adjust,” he swallowed hard and forced the hard words past his lips. “But it is what must be done.”

  At the very least, she would be alive and at his side.

  “I agree with your judgement.” Penelope nodded. “We will begin immediately. Healing Master Whelon, I am transmitting a list to the necessary equipment. Make the room ready, we will begin as soon as possible.” Healers scattered the moment she ceased speaking, but he remained in place. “Argan,” he heard her, but he did not want to take his eyes from Lily lest she disappear, “you must clear medical.”

  He opened his mouth to protest, but Penelope shot him a meaningful look, one that held both confidence and a demand that he listen to her orders.

  “We will discover who did this to her,” he rasped, making the promise to himself and Penelope both.

  “And they will suffer.” A grim finality filled the ship’s voice.

  Argan nodded and gave one last, lingering look at his mate and then fled medical. He would discover who harmed his mate and they would suffer. He would see to it.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The dream seemed… different. Though she should be thankful she recognized it was a dream and she hadn’t, in fact, died. Or maybe she was dead and thought it was a dream, but an angel would soon appear?

  No. No, she was pretty sure she rocked a dream. She was also pretty sure she’d lost her mind. The whole situation was… odd.

  Normally the moment she recognized she was lost in dreamland, she’d be thrown to full wakefulness or she’d have full control of the imaginary world around her. Secretly, she liked to think that her implants allowed her to have those odd, lucid dreams.

  When that happened, she did whatever caught her fancy. It thrilled her, like a private playground where she set the rules and built her own magical world. It never lasted long—what seemed like a split-second—but it was enough to give her that sense of control.

  This time it all seemed… wrong.

  This time she was caught in a strange twilight between fully awake and lost in the dreamscape—paralyzed by the fact she hovered between the two. Literally paralyzed. She had the sense she laid on her stomach, back exposed to the world so she was vulnerable. Vulnerable because she was frozen in place.

  At first, she imagined she was simply exhausted and she didn’t have the energy to move because… she couldn’t remember why…

  Then her surroundings changed. She lay on the beach with Argan, pale, cool sands beneath her while her mate was nearby. She was on Kouvai Nihon, enjoying the private area she’d created with Penelope’s help. She remained utterly relaxed, floaty and calm, and a small smile teased her lips. She opened her eyes a little, the powdery sand dancing through the air, blown by the slight breeze. The wind caused a wave of goosebumps to overtake her skin, but she didn’t worry about covering up. The heat of the sun—and hopefully her mate’s touch—would warm her soon enough.

  Something twitched inside her, a spot deep within, and she figured it was another quirk of the Binds that tied them together. The closer they were, the stronger the reaction, and she figured he stood nearby. The thought of him close transformed her smile, and anticipation surged inside her. Warmth spread between her legs and thoughts of Argan overwhelmed all others and then swam to the dirtiest parts of her thoughts.

  Wait. Dirty thoughts. Dirty thoughts to go along with getting dirty with each other and she was reminded that they weren’t on the beach. They had been headed to their rooms. How could she have forgotten? Now that she remembered, she could almost feel Argan’s strong arms cradling her as he flew through the air, up the building to their floor. He landed on the balcony with a heavy thud and then carried her into the suite. The whole way he kissed and nuzzled her, her neck and curve of her breasts teased and tormented by his mouth. She didn’t remember when she’d lost her bathing suit but she was just happy it no longer kept him from touching her… everywhere.

  Argan laid her on the silken bedsheets and she relaxed into the cushioned mattress. Or tried to. She must have wrenched her back because when she tried to lay back, her neck twitched and jerked, a stabbing pain traveling up her spine to drive into her mind. Eh, that bit hurt but it wasn’t too bad. She’d get Argan to kiss it and make it better. She’d also get Penelope to do something about that comm station that’d shocked her to hell and back. Quick and easy answer to her problems.

  Wait. That didn’t seem… ri
ght. That was what she’d wanted to happen. Not the truth. Right?

  Argan shook her, his hands rough on her skin as he gripped her tightly and called out her name. The warm feelings that surrounded her slowly crumbled, bit by bit falling to the wayside while panic took its place. Her mate’s tone turned desperate, growls and snarls of his dragon joining his human-like voice. He begged her to get up, asked her why she slept when they were about to enjoy more pleasure than either of them had ever known.

  Lily struggled to open her mouth to explain, but Argan’s voice drew distant, lessening and lowering until she struggled to hear him over—

  Hear him over her rapid breathing. Her panic transformed into a panic attack—no longer simply afraid but hyperventilating.

  Now his voice grew accusatory—demanding she explain why she was so weak as to throw their future away as if it were nothing. As if it meant nothing.

  Nothing… she was nothing. Not when parts of herself simply… fell. She tried to move her arms and legs, but she couldn’t sense those parts of herself. Was her body even functional? Whole?

  All signs pointed to no.

  She struggled and fought with herself, aching to open her mouth and release the building scream, but her body betrayed her. The sensations changed, as if she was pulled through a straw and the ability to breathe drew fainter and fainter. Pressure formed behind her right ear, the heaviness growing stronger by the moment until her topsy-turvy word trembled, shook, and closed in around her, swallowing her whole.

  It pushed and pushed and then… snapped. A pop sounded and with it came a rushing wave of consciousness, body waking after the most restful sleep she’d gotten in years.

  But…

  Lily’s eyes snapped open and then pressed tightly closed just as quickly. Yeah, opening her eyes had been a mistake. She groaned and winced with the blinding light and she struggled to turn her head away from the glare.

  But she was restrained. She couldn’t move.

  Actually, it was more than just her head. Oh, she felt groggy and drugged, her limbs heavy, but that heaviness hadn’t kept her immobile. No, a strange weight kept her still.

  She licked her lips and opened her mouth, anxious to ask for help, but that wasn’t happening.

  “Uuuhhhnnnggghh,” escaped her lips, that grunt followed by the scrape of metal on metal before two faces hovered over her. Penelope’s preferred form appeared first immediately followed by Argan, whose expression contained a mixture of terror and relief at once.

  “Shaa kouva!” he breathed and those familiar scarred hands came into view. He reached for her, his head lowering, and she prepared for the soothing familiarity of his kiss. But Penelope held out a hand to stop him, the soft blue glow of a shield materializing to block Argan, physically barring him from touching her.

  What the hell?

  She licked her lips and tried speaking again. “Argan…?”

  “Don’t strain yourself, Lily.” Penelope’s voice was soft and soothing—the complete opposite of how she typically sounded when Lily chatted with her. “You experienced an attack and it nearly killed you. It got you when you jacked into the comm station in your room.”

  Comm station. Those two words opened the floodgates and revealed what her mind had kept hidden in the dreamscape. The memories surged and anxiety chased on its heels. She shuddered with the memory of losing control of her body piece by piece. Her attention bounced between the two, alarm increasing with every second.

  “Why can’t I move?” Lily’s throat remained dry and scratchy. “Is everything okay? I-I feel okay.”

  “Your sedatives are wearing off,” Penelope explained. “As soon as they’re gone you should be able to move freely again, but you should stay still if you can. You underwent major surgery so you need your rest.”

  Surgery?

  “Why do I feel different?” Frustration added an edge to her voice and she felt bad for the answering anxiety in Argan’s expression that made her even more nervous.

  “Lily,” Argan murmured and then his large hand engulfed one of hers. His serious expression—deadly serious—had her paling, all heat fleeing her face. “The attack destroyed your implants, shaa kouva. Penelope was forced to remove them. They would have destroyed you—killed you.”

  Everything he said after “destroyed you implants” turned into a strange blur.

  The trembles overtook her first. The trembles and a bone-deep coldness. Then came nausea that engulfed her middle and took up residence in her stomach. One monitor and then another beeped. Confirming the changes in her? Probably. The beds in medical monitored everything and then some. Penelope frowned at a nearby display and then froze for a moment before a sweet sense of calm drifted over her. Glorious morphine eased through her veins, banishing the strain of emotions that seemed determined to wrench control from her hands.

  The morphine stopped the panic attack, but it couldn’t stave off the sensations in her gut. Tears burned her eyes, moisture gathering and balancing on her lashes as she stared up at Argan. Words escaped her for a few moments, his statement whirling in her mind.

  “Gone?” she whispered. “Just gone? That can’t… that can’t be.”

  “Argan is correct, Lily.” Penelope spoke again. “I know this might be difficult to accept, but—”

  “Difficult?” Lily spat with all the anger the sedatives allowed her to feel. It was apparently enough to alarm Penelope, who refocused on her vitals once more. “You’ve got to be joking. Tell me you’re kidding.”

  Argan and Penelope exchanged a heartbroken stare—words traded but unspoken—and she’d never felt so… useless. Tears flowed down her cheeks and Argan squeezed her hand. To comfort her? Yeah, not so much.

  “Lily,” Argan’s voice held that low, rumbling tone, and he leaned forward to close the distance between them. “Calm. Be calm, shaa kouva.” He looked to Penelope once more. “I would like to speak with her alone.”

  She nearly snorted. There was no “alone” when talking about the ship. Anywhere Penelope could reach, really. Sure, the ship could stop listening but Lily had programmed Penelope to be too curious for her own good. At least she gave the appearance of privacy by turning off the hologram.

  “Gone,” she whispered, the single word spinning round and round inside her head. A warm finger wiped at her tears and she lifted her gaze to Argan, staring at her mate through blurred eyes. “I had forgotten what it feels like—to live without them. Now I’m just… broken.”

  Argan shushed her, easing closer and soon adjusting her position so he could join her on the ryaapir unit. It wasn’t made for two, but when he wrapped her in his strong arms, she was thankful he’d pushed and crawled in next to her. He was careful not to touch the bandages on the back of her neck and base of her skull. Bandages she didn’t want to acknowledge. Otherwise she’d crumble.

  “That is foolish. You are not broken, shaa kouva.”

  “Foolish.” She snorted and then glared at him. “It’s honest, not foolish. I…” God. Fuck. Dammit. “Everything I’ve ever done in my life has involved those implants. Everything. Helping the Preor, creating Penelope, protecting the women who want to mate Preors… It all required my implants. What if someone cut off your wings? Or your arms? What would you do?”

  “I would adapt.” He held Lily’s hand, callused fingers scratching her soft skin. “I would take strength in those around me.”

  Lily chuckled, the sound tinged with a taunting edge. “I’m useless to the people around me.” A sob threatened to escape past the lump in her throat. “I’m nothing.”

  “You are everything.” Argan leaned over her, his expression fierce and intent. “You are mine.” He hugged her to him and she grasped his arm as their chests touched. Her heart melted with his hold, his touch chasing away some of her insecurity, and she had to admit that the feel of his arms around her gave her a sense of safety. Safety, acceptance, and the feel of coming home.

  “It’s been so long since I lived without implants,” t
he words escaped with a rasp.

  “We will learn to live without them.” He sounded so confident, so sure. “I will be at your side, always.”

  “You deserve better than this.” Lily forced herself to meet his stare.

  Argan smiled, the curl of her lips nearly forcing an answering grin out of her. “I have thought you deserved better from the moment you claimed me, shaa kouva, but that did not stop you. Why should it stop me?”

  Her heart swelled and a tendril of happiness unwound in her chest, that sliver growing when Argan pressed a kiss to her lips that radiated warmth. But that wasn’t all she experienced. There was something more. Something odd.

  Something new.

  And she wasn’t sure if that was a bad thing.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Something had… changed.

  Argan stared down at his mate, gazing at the delicate, wounded face he loved more than anything the stars could ever offer and sought the source of the change. With their emotions so exposed and vulnerable, he sensed the same connections granted by the Binds. And yet it was deeper. Stronger. Fuller.

  They remained silent a few moments longer and he wondered if Lily felt him in this same new way. Something inside him said yes and it was as if a bell rang in his heart—a soft gong that confirmed his thoughts. Neither of them spoke, but Argan ached to talk, and he sensed Lily did as well.

  But they remained silent. As if by mutual agreement without having to exchange a word.

  Argan peered into her eyes and let these new emotions wash through him—absorbing the changes he had never experienced in the past. Where he used to get a general sense of her happiness or pain, he now sensed it all. Every nuance, the slightest alteration in her emotions.

  He sensed her thoughts. There was the inner turmoil in Lily’s heart as well as the sense of inadequacy she experienced. He had been deeply sympathetic, but for the first time, Argan felt true empathy. He was overwhelmed by a sense of impotence and loss of self that Lily herself felt, and he sensed it firsthand.