by Zoe Chant
“No,” she blurted, planting her feet before Benedict could lead her any further towards the shack. “No, I think I’d... I’d rather talk to you out here.”
Alanna was certain Benedict would be able to hear the strange, desperate edge to her voice. She could hear it herself – but then, she barely understood what was happening here.
Again, there was the briefest flash of anger in Benedict’s eyes. But then it was gone.
“Whatever suits you, Alanna,” he said, his voice all reasonable concern. “Just tell me what’s going on, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”
“Oh, give it up, Benedict. She knows something’s going on.”
Alanna whipped around at the sound of the voice from her left.
A voice she knew all too well.
Casper.
He emerged, smirking, from around the other side of the cabin, his eyes darkly amused and a knife – the knife he stabbed me with, Alanna realized in a rush – balanced on the back of his palm.
What – what is this?
Wild alarm flooded her stomach. She’d been right when she thought that something here wasn’t right. But she hadn’t suspected this.
“Benedict?” she asked, turning back to look at him. Her voice sounded plaintive, even to her own ears. She could feel her heart pounding, as her mind scrabbled for explanations: They’re not working together – Casper has somehow taken him prisoner. That has to be the truth. Benedict would never hurt me.
But one look at Benedict’s face, and the truth seared through her like a flame.
His face, the one she had so completely trusted, was screwed up into a mask of anger and fury, his familiar gray eyes almost unrecognizable. They were so filled with rage that it seemed impossible they belonged to the demanding but kind mentor she had known.
“I told you to stay where you were,” Benedict snarled. “I told you to let me deal with this!”
Alanna, frozen in a state of shock, didn’t realize at first that he was talking to Casper. She felt as if she had been dunked into frozen water, her limbs stiff, her brain refusing to function.
How could this be? Benedict was my mentor... my father’s best friend...
“If I’d done that we would have been here all day,” Casper said, shaking his head, his cruel smile becoming a scowl of anger. “You’re soft, Benedict. That’s your problem. If it’d been me—”
“Oh, shut up, Casper,” Benedict growled. “You couldn’t even do the job you were given. You said she was dead.”
Alanna gasped. Somehow, the sound of Benedict’s voice, however twisted and cruel it had become, saying that he had thought she was dead snapped her out of the terrible paralysis.
Even as her mind continued to insist this can’t be happening, she felt her body coming to life. Instinct flowed through her.
I have to get out of here.
Swinging her arm up, she broke Benedict’s hold on her shoulder. Without slowing down, she slammed her fist forward, catching him with a glancing blow to the jaw as he tried to dodge. She’d barely given him a moment’s warning, but he’d already anticipated what she’d been going to do.
But then, he had been the one who had taught her the move in the first place.
Everything she knew – how to fight, how to run, how to kill – he had taught her.
He knew all her tricks, all her moves.
And more than that, he had thirty years of training and experience over her.
With Casper, she was more or less evenly matched. But with Benedict...
He caught her wrist as he snapped his head to the side, avoiding the punch she’d aimed at his throat.
Alanna knew she was fighting sloppily – although she’d broken through her initial shock, she could still feel how slowly she was moving. Despite everything, a large part of her brain was still refusing to accept this as reality: that Benedict, her mentor, could possibly had betrayed her, that his fingers could now be wrapped painfully around her wrist, yanking her arm down, almost twisting it out of its socket.
When she cried out, it wasn’t only due to physical pain.
Gritting her teeth, Alanna ducked, sliding down and breaking his grip.
She couldn’t hope to best him in a fight of physical strength, but if she could only get her head together, she knew she was faster than him, more agile.
She could get away, if she could get enough distance from him...
But not before I know why.
Jumping back to avoid his fist, Alanna at last managed to get some distance between them. Breathing hard, her throat tight, she forced herself look him in the eye.
“Why are you doing this, Benedict?”
He said nothing – but then, she wasn’t sure what she’d expected from him. His only answer was to charge forward again, fists raised, his mouth set in a grim, determined line.
Alanna’s throat burned as she ducked, parrying his blow before managing to strike him on the back of the neck and hearing him grunt in pain.
He might have taught me everything he knows... but he was a good teacher, she thought grimly.
Nonetheless, she knew she couldn’t fight him forever. Aside from anything else, she was starkly aware of Casper’s presence by the cabin, the knife still in his hand.
She risked a glance at him to make sure he was still where she’d last seen him, and was startled to see he’d been joined by another man – a tall, terrifying man, with the broadest shoulders she’d ever seen, and forearms like ham hocks.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
Alanna sucked in a breath. She realized now how easily she’d walked into this.
But how could she have suspected a trap?
That Benedict could have betrayed not only her but her father in order to work together with Casper Hadley...
... It just didn’t seem possible.
“Benedict,” she tried again as she jumped backward, moving away from the cabin. “Please, don’t do this—”
“Dragon coming.”
Alanna didn’t recognize the deep voice that spoke next. In an instant, she realized it was the enormous man still standing next to Casper.
Dragon coming, she thought wildly. Magnus!
Gritting her teeth, Alanna eyed the three of them warily. Benedict had backed off, his eyes flitting between her and the dense woodland at her back.
“A dragon?” he asked, his voice low and rough. “What dragon?”
The huge man shrugged. “Can’t say. All I can tell you is, there’s a dragon coming. Big one.”
“The one you said had killed her?” Benedict spat over his shoulder at Casper, though his eyes didn’t leave Alanna’s face.
Alanna chanced a glance at Casper, who had very distinctly turned a light shade of gray.
“I – I saw him,” Casper stuttered after moment or two. “The rogue – I was certain – I even made sure he knew we were dragon hunters who’d come to kill him. Why wouldn’t he have killed her?”
“Well, it seems you were wrong,” Benedict muttered. His eyes were cold on hers. “You’re teaming up with dragons now? I thought I taught you better than that.”
Alanna wasn’t certain whether he was being sarcastic or not, but she couldn’t hold back her bitter laugh, even as her heart throbbed within her.
Why? Why is this happening?
“You’re one to talk,” she spat back at him, pain making her voice harsh. “Both of you. You tried to kill me! What about loyalty? What about your oath?”
Casper snickered. “I took an oath to hunt dragons, wherever they are,” he sneered. “Not to sign treaties with them. Not to treat them like they’re human. As long as there are dragons, people will always be in danger from them. That’s just the way it is. You think a piece of paper will stop a dragon from doing whatever the hell it wants?”
Alanna swallowed. She’d always known there were hunters who felt this way; hunters who didn’t believe that peace of any kind was possible between humans and dragons. It was something her father
had been working to change – but clearly, that change was going to be harder than anyone suspected.
At least as long as there’s people like Casper around, Alanna thought grimly. And then, with a terrible slice of pain in her heart, she added, And people like Benedict, too.
It made her sick to think she could have been just like them – that at one time, perhaps, she could have believed the same things as they did.
The thought that, if Casper’s betrayal and the mated bond hadn’t stopped her, she might have killed Magnus sent a cold wave of nausea straight through her.
Because even if we weren’t bonded, he would still be the same kind, gentle man that I know now, she thought. He was damaged, hurt. He was never a rogue.
But now, she was beginning to suspect that perhaps, someone had known that all along. Maybe not Casper. But someone. Just the same way that someone had lied about the fact that Magnus was living on Novak Clan land.
I’ll find each and every hunter responsible for this, Alanna swore to herself. No matter what.
“You’re a fine one to be lecturing people about breaking treaties and betraying people,” she said, not sure whether she was talking to Benedict or Casper or both. She could feel hot tears threatening to spill free, and she ruthlessly pushed them back. There would be time for tears later. “Magnus has more loyalty in his little finger than both of you put together in your whole bodies.”
“Oh, Magnus now, is it?” Casper snarled. “You’re on first name terms with the rogue?”
Alanna laughed – a harsh bitter sound. “More than you know.” She paused, her lips twisting. “I’m his mate.”
She took a moment to savor the shocked expressions that passed across both Casper and Benedict’s faces. The tall man with them seemed to show no reaction whatsoever.
After a moment, Benedict shook his head, his lip curling. “A human and a dragon, mates? Disgusting.”
To her surprise, Alanna found she wasn’t hurt by his words. She knew what she had with Magnus was the farthest thing from disgusting. It was precious and rare, and more wonderful than anything else she had ever known.
For a moment, despite everything, she almost felt sorry for Benedict. He would never know such a connection. He would never understand.
“He’s almost here.” The massive bear of a man standing with Benedict and Casper seemed to tense, slightly, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
Benedict glanced at him. “You can take care of him, can’t you, Gord?”
“Sure can.”
Alanna swallowed as the man – Gord, apparently – moved forward, the corded muscles in his forearms standing out starkly against his skin. He might even have been bigger than Magnus.
But can he fight a dragon? Unless...
Unease clenched in her stomach.
What is going on? Who – or what – is he?
“Perhaps this has worked out for the best,” Benedict said, looking her in the eye. “Perhaps I’ll get to see the dragon who ruined my brother beg for his life before he dies.”
Alanna’s mouth dropped open. “Your – your brother?”
Benedict had never mentioned a brother – she had never known he had one. And even if he did, how could Magnus have ruined him?
She didn’t understand anything – and right now, there was no time to think about it.
Because at that moment, Gord’s body began to change, his muscles rippling beneath his skin, thick fur sprouting from his body. Alanna watched in shock as he began to grow, his hands becoming massive paws with sharp, hooked claws, while enormous, spined wings emerged from his back, pushing aside the mighty trees of the forest as if they were nothing more than matchsticks. A cruel, spiked tail curved its way through the dense underbrush.
A manticore, Alanna thought dizzily as she stared at the humungous beast that Gord had become.
The body of a huge lion, the wings of a dragon, the tail of a scorpion.
It was said that manticores had the face of a man, but the face of the beast in front of her couldn’t have been called human. It was bestial and terrifying, with rows of sharp teeth visible inside its mouth.
Alanna could barely believe what she was seeing. Manticores were rare – the number of people who had seen them was very few. Dragon hunters tended to leave them alone, and there weren’t enough of them to be worried about anyway. Alanna had never really learned very much about them.
But one thing that Alanna did know was that manticores and dragons were implacable enemies.
And now, there was one here.
Alanna stared in horror as the manticore’s enormous claws dug into the dark earth of the forest floor, its jaws slavering. Behind it, its tail hovered dangerously, its tip dripping with venom. Alanna watched in horror – wherever the venom fell to the forest floor, the plants and leaves immediately shriveled and died.
Oh my God, Magnus...
She couldn’t let him fight this creature. She had to warn him.
Stay away! She cried out in her mind, hoping he could hear her. Please, Magnus, don’t come! I can’t let you do this!
For a moment, she was terrified he hadn’t heard her – but then, even worse, she realized that he had.
I won’t leave you here, Alanna. I’ll never leave you.
That’s what I’m afraid of, Alanna thought, as she readied herself for a fight.
Chapter Thirteen
Magnus
Alanna, I’m coming!
Racing through the forest, Magnus cursed himself. He never should have let Alanna go into this alone.
All his dragon instincts had been on high alert ever since she had stepped out of the car. He hadn’t been able to relax at all from the moment he’d lost sight of her, despite how confident she seemed that Benedict was a man she could trust.
He had waited, jaw clenched, shoulders tense, until finally he could stand it no longer and had gotten out of the car to pace restlessly. His dragon had been screaming at him to go after her now, to catch her up in the forest and protect her – but Magnus had pushed its voice aside.
She asked us to stay here. We have to respect her wishes.
His dragon had writhed angrily at that, but at the very least, it understood that doing what its mate had asked of it was the proper thing to do.
Magnus had just begun to relax slightly when it had hit him: Danger.
He had plunged into the forest only a second later, before he’d even had time to think.
The trees and undergrowth were dense, but he barely noticed. The only thought in his mind was to find Alanna and protect her from the danger he had sensed, no matter what it might be.
Alanna!
He didn’t know what was happening, but all his instincts were screaming at him that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
Magnus let his dragon guide him, his human mind receding as his dragon’s senses took over. The dragon snapped its jaws, furious that anyone would harm its mate.
They will pay! We will see their blood on our claws!
Dimly, Magnus felt his human self bristle in agreement. Whoever had dared to raise a finger to Alanna would regret it. He would make them regret it.
As he raced through the forest, however, Magnus became aware of... something more than the danger he had detected earlier.
It was almost like a looming darkness on the edges of his perception, a black cloud that hovered ominously on the horizon.
What is this?
His dragon snarled.
It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, we will kill it.
Magnus didn’t slow down, nor did he falter. But the dreadful rising darkness at the edges of his senses grew, drowning out all else...
Stay away! Please, Magnus, don’t come! I can’t let you do this!
Magnus gasped as Alanna’s voice sounded in her head, almost as if she had called aloud to him.
He answered her before he could even think: Never. I will never leave you to fight on your own.
And he never would. H
e did not know what was waiting for him in the depths of the forest, but there was not even the slightest chance he would leave Alanna to face it alone.
My mate. I will always be here. I will always protect you. No matter what.
The dragon was single minded. And in this, they were one.
He was almost here now – almost with his mate, almost at the place where this strange darkness was spreading from—
Dive!
Magnus’s dragon’s instinct screamed at him, and he obeyed without thought, throwing himself sideways as far as he could. He landed heavily in the dense undergrowth.
Only a moment later something huge and heavy swept through the space he had just been standing, smashing into a massive tree trunk and splintering it as it were nothing more than balsa wood.
What was that?
Magnus scrambled to his feet immediately, already on the move again. He glances over his shoulder, just in time to see a massive, armored tail with a huge stinger on the end withdrawing from the tree trunk.
Realization hit him.
A manticore.
He had never seen one – or, if he had, he had no memory of it. If he had ever encountered such a creature before, it was lost to him, along with all his other memories of his life.
But the tail – and then, the massive head and lion’s mane that emerged from the forest – were unmistakable.
The manticore growled low in its throat when it saw it had missed its mark, yellow eyes glinting in the low sunlight.
Magnus halted, crouching behind a tree trunk as the manticore turned its head this and that, searching for the prey it had hoped to take by surprise.
Alanna! He called out to her desperately.
I’m here, Magnus. I’m okay.
Her answer was immediate, flooding him with relief. She was still alive – and, as far as he could tell, not badly hurt.
Alanna, you need to get out of here. Manticores are dangerous, even to dragons. I can’t let you—
As soon as he said it, he felt Alanna’s resistance rising up.
No way. You said you’d never leave me, Magnus. So what makes you think that I could leave you? You’re my mate. That’s all there is to it. We'll fight this together.
