“This is ridiculous,” Nicolai roared in fury as he paced behind his family. “We don’t need her. Your vision is wrong.”
“My vision is not wrong. And you know it,” Seth told his brother. “Dima, what can we do to convince you we mean no harm?”
“Make the pissed off one apologize,” Essie whispered in my ear as I barked out a laugh.
Her idea was ludicrous, but brilliant at the same time. If their powerful leader got down on his knees before me, it would set the right tone. However, I was certain it wouldn’t happen in this lifetime. Male Dragons did not subjugate themselves to females—ever.
Time to see if hell would freeze over…
“I want Nicolai’s apology and his word that this will be a two leader mission. I won’t be treated as a subordinate if I decide to go with you.” I crossed my arms over my chest to calm my erratic breathing and waited for the explosion.
Nicolai did not disappoint.
“Absolutely not,” he roared as small fires lit the beach around him. “She is of the evil one’s blood and I will not bow down to royalty as long as I breathe. She’s worthless to us.”
“Stop it,” Elaina hissed at her son as she too lit up in flames of anger. “Get past your anger and your ego. This is not about you. It’s far bigger than old vendettas. Our people’s lives are at stake. Swallow your misplaced pride and do as she says. Now.”
I held my breath and waited to see what the vicious Dragon would do. I was ready to shift in a second and part of me wanted him to shift as well. I was itching for a fight and I knew he would be an outstanding adversary.
“I will live to regret this,” Nicolai muttered as he stalked toward me, giving his mother a glare of displeasure.
Damn, he was huge. Maybe this was a horrible idea. His ire rolled off of him and I still wasn’t sure if he would burn me to a crisp. I kept my Dragon on call and met him halfway. It was the least I could do if we were going to be an antagonistic team.
He recognized my gesture and eyed me cautiously.
“Does her Highness want me on my knees?” he asked suggestively, thoroughly enjoying the sexual double entendre. He looked me up and down with undisguised lust and I wanted to slap his smug face.
“Yes, she does,” I answered coldly as my insides danced dangerously with desire, imagining everything he could do to me in that position.
He was every kind of bad and all kinds of sexy. My hatred for him increased as he slowly and deliberately went to his knees in front of me.
“Next time I’m in this position I will not be begging for forgiveness. You will be begging for release,” he whispered for my ears only.
My first instinct was to knee him in the throat, but that would be rather counter-productive. It would feel great in the moment, but wouldn’t accomplish my goal of making him grovel.
I could feel his heat, desire and hatred all mixed together. It was heady to have him on his knees and it would be a cold day in hell before I let him go on his knees in front of me for any other reason than the one he’d chosen now.
“I can’t hear you,” I sang and gave him a smile that didn’t come close to reaching my eyes. I was playing with fire and we both knew it.
Elaina wrung her hands and I heard Essie’s gasp behind me. Nicolai’s eyes narrowed to slits, but I kept the smile on my face and didn’t back up even one centimeter. The Dragon had never met anyone like me—and never would again.
I’d been beaten down my whole life. I’d lived on the run for hundreds of years. I’d watched my family murdered in cold blood by my father. This man had a brother and a mother who clearly loved his insane ass. I had nothing but my son and I would move mountains to keep him safe. Nicolai was but a small rock on the mountain to me. He was nothing.
I just wished my rioting female insides would get on the same page as my vengeful brain. Lust was inconsequential. Sex was just an act to meet a need. He was beautiful—so what?
“My apologies, Princess,” Nicolai said in a voice that could be heard by all on the beach. “I have always trusted my brother’s visions and I shall trust this one as well. My regard for your despicable character is not of importance if we can accomplish our shared goal. I’ve worked with the enemy before and I can do it again. However, if you turn on us, I will kill you with my bare hands—and enjoy it.”
“That was a shitty apology,” Essie chimed in from behind me. “I’d make him do it again.”
“I’d have to agree with you,” Elaina said to Essie as she walked up behind her son and whacked him in the head. “You can do better than that. You certainly don’t tell someone you’re going to kill them while trying to convince them to come with us.”
“Dear God,” Nicolai bellowed. “What do you want me to do here? I’ve never apologized to anyone in my life. I’m doing the best I can.”
“It’s fine,” I said as I bit back a laugh that I was sure would send him into a rage. “My apology would have been similar. He’s an ass. I expected no less.”
“I’m not sure your approval is helping me,” Nicolai muttered as he stood and offered his hand. “I will work with you, not against you. I don’t like you and I’m sure the feeling is mutual. As long as our goal stays the same, we will fight together.”
“Well, you’re correct about me not liking you, but I will concede that I’ve not been successful alone. I accept your crappy apology and I’ll work with you until my father is dead and then I never want to lay eyes on you again.”
“Likewise,” he snapped.
I took his hand in mine and a zing of something unfamiliar shot up my arm. My eyes grew wide and I glanced up from our locked hands. His expression matched my own and he squeezed harder to see if it would happen again.
It did.
What the hell?
Feigning indifference, I pulled my hand back and met his gaze steadily. Whatever magic voodoo the son of a bitch had going on, I wanted no part of it. He wanted my father dead. I wanted my father dead. He would not get into my pants or my life. He was simply a tool for me to use to ensure my son’s safety. That was all he was and all he ever would be.
“A truce has been reached,” Hank called out to the Shifters as he approached Seth and they began to talk in earnest.
The Shifters on the beach slowly left and the horrible bloodbath everyone had been expecting was thankfully avoided. I’d made a deal with the devil, but at this point I saw no other way.
“Crazy rude dude is hot and he’s got it bad for you,” Essie whispered as she loaded me down with the solution and the burner phones. “I say do him.”
“Nope, not going to happen. Dragons like him are nothing but trouble,” I whispered back.
“But look at his ass,” she insisted as Nicolai approached his brother and Hank. “That is a fine ass.”
“It’s fine all right, but he’s an ass with a nice ass. I have no time for that.”
“Make time, dude,” Essie advised. “Tomorrow may never come. Live your life and own it. Make no apologies and have a least one massive big O before you bite it.”
“I’ll take it under consideration,” I told her so she’d lay off.
Essie didn’t understand my kind at all. If I had sex with the animal, all of my power would be negated. I needed to stay two steps ahead of the Dragons I was allying myself with. I still didn’t trust any of them, but they could have come here and burnt Hung to the ground. I was alive and so were my friends. All four Dragons had taken their human forms, which was the most non-confrontational thing they could have done. They knew it and I knew it.
So unless they had another nefarious plan up their collective sleeve that involved my demise, I was going to have to trust them to a point. However, I would never trust them fully, just as I was certain they would never really trust me either—normal protocol for Dragons.
I envied the Wolves with their tight knit community and the way they had each other’s backs. I’d never known that kind of life and I never would. I could only hope that after my f
ather was gone I could meld back into Hung, Georgia with Daniel. I only had a few more months on this earth and I’d love to live them in peace. I wanted Daniel to have what was never possible for me.
“Dima, it’s time to go,” Elaina said kindly as she put her hand on my shoulder.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I watched the sun begin to rise.
“We have compounds all over the world, but we’re going to the one in Upstate New York. It puts us close enough to the King yet far away enough to make our plans,” she explained as she extended her hand to Essie in greeting.
“It’s strangely nice to meet you,” Essie said as she took Elaina’s hand.
“You’re the Wolf who can slay a Dragon, aren’t you?” she asked Essie with fascinated interest.
“Yes, I am. I’d prefer not to do it again anytime soon, so please take good care of my friend Dima. You seem very nice, but I wouldn’t hesitate to remove your head if I had to.”
“Your loyalty is noted,” Elaina said with a warm smile. “Dima’s mother would be very happy indeed to know she has friends like you.”
Her mention of my mother again, made my gut clench in pain. I wondered how much she knew of my mother’s death. I kept my smile plastered on my face and hugged my friends good bye.
“I’ll keep you posted on our project,” Junior said cryptically as he lifted me into a bear hug and almost broke my ribs.
“We’ll let you know how Dwayne’s vacation is going as well,” Essie added with a wink as she kissed my cheek.
With a sharp glance to Seth, I wondered if he’d broken his promise and revealed Daniel’s existence to his family. I’d find out soon enough. At least I knew my baby was safe for the moment.
“You will call us or we will come after you,” Hank said loud enough for the Dragons to hear.
“She’s not our prisoner,” Nicolai said flippantly. “She’s free to do as she pleases. If it pleases her Highness to call her unlikely friends, she will not be stopped.”
“Thanks, jackass,” I said much to Nicolai’s displeasure.
If he was going to refer to me as a royal, I would refer to him with all sorts of names in combo with the word ass. Two could play his game…and I would win.
“Are we going to fly in the daylight?” I asked wondering if I’d be stuck in a car with Mr. Asshead for twenty hours.
“No,” Boring Coat Taker Guy said as he spoke for the first time since he’d arrived. “I can put a shield around us that will render us invisible.”
“What in the hell are you?” Junior asked wildly impressed.
Coat Guy shrugged and smiled. “A Dragon Warlock—everyone’s worst nightmare.”
I swallowed hard and really looked at him. I’d not paid much attention the first time we’d met. He was the stuff of myths. As a child I’d heard stories about the rare Dragon Warlocks, but I never believed them to be true. He was handsome in a very non-descript way. He would easily blend in with a crowd and not be noticed at all. However, a Dragon like him was a dangerous adversary. I wondered how they’d found him. I’d always heard my father kept one prisoner, but I’d pushed that fairy tale aside. Now I wondered…
“Do you have a name, Dragon Warlock?” I asked, still staring at the myth come to life.
“I go by Lenny,” he replied easily.
“That’s not what I asked,” I shot back equally as smooth.
“This is true,” he agreed. “But at the moment it’s all you will get. Possibly in the future you will receive more, but for now you haven’t earned it.”
“Whatever,” I said dismissively. “In the future I won’t even want it.”
“Don’t be hasty, child. No one knows what the future will bring and what we will want or need to know.”
Lenny turned his back on me and walked to the edge of the ocean. If I didn’t know he was real, I would have thought he’d turned into a statue.
Nicolai, Elaina and Seth watched the exchange with open-mouthed wonder.
“Dear God, I’ve never heard him string so many words together in my life,” Seth said as he stared at me strangely.
Elaina nodded and laughed. “He must like you.”
“He’s an idiot,” Nicolai muttered rudely.
“At least he’s not an assbucket,” I said sweetly.
“Enough,” Elaina said to us as if we were children, not centuries old killing machines. “We must leave at once.”
With one last smile at my friends, I shifted into my Dragon. The flow was seamless and my weak human form became my beautiful, powerful, sparkling golden Dragon. The gasps of everyone, including Nicolai filled my ears, but I ignored them.
I was free to be myself. With no clue how long my freedom would last I launched myself into the air and turned somersaults of happiness. The only thing that would make this moment perfect was if my child was flying with me. But everything I was about to do would make that precious moment possible.
Essie stood on the beach with Hank and Junior, laughing and waving. Elaina, Seth and Lenny shifted and joined me. Their Dragon forms were beautiful, but no one was as gorgeous and fierce as the man who hated me.
Nicolai’s Dragon was huge, sleek and jet-black with glittering silver markings. His wing- span was twice mine, but I knew my smaller form would make me faster and more agile in the air—or at least I hoped it would.
Lenny huffed and blew an enormous cloud of purple smoke that rendered us invisible to my friends on the beach below. I was amazed at his skill and wondered how he did it. I’m sure they were all curious how I’d transported out of Chicago, but no one had mentioned it yet. I was sure an interrogation was coming, but they would learn nothing. My gift was mine and I wouldn’t share its origin or its giver. Some secrets were meant to be kept.
With one last glance back, I joined my new comrades in flight. I’d never flown with my kind in a group and a small part of me was giddy with joy. I hid it well, but it felt so good.
I was off on a new adventure.
I just prayed it ended well.
It had to.
Chapter 8
“We have to break apart the inner circle,” Nicolai said in frustration as he ran his hands through his dark hair. He paced the floor of the Command Room with wide strides as his top advisors watched him intently. “Direct attack hasn’t worked and bribing the bastards to get on the inside has simply ended in the loss of millions of dollars. We’ve tried to take them in every conceivable way and always come up short.”
“There have to be weaknesses in the inner circle we haven’t found,” Cade, the fierce looking Dragon lieutenant said pouring over maps and other stats of the enemy.
“Your work has been outstanding and your ingenuity humbling. We’re getting closer. I can feel it,” Nicolai told Cade as he spared me a brief glance.
The loyalty of his people was impressive. Over the last week I’d observed Nicolai be fair and collaborative. This was not the way I’d ever known Dragons to interact. We were an untrusting and violent race—or at least my father’s regime was, and that was all I’d ever experienced of Dragon society. Furthermore, I’d lived among humans for several hundred years while hiding from my father. I was so out of practice with my own kind it was unnerving.
Of course Nicolai’s disdain for me was unwavering and I returned the sentiment out of self-preservation. Even though I was now living amongst several hundred Dragons, an empty loneliness filled my hours, but that was nothing new. I missed the Werewolves and Vampyres desperately. Daniel filled most of my waking thoughts. I knew he was safe, but I missed him.
Stupidly, I longed for the same approval from Nicolai that he gave his people. It was silly and I dismissed it quickly. I’d been on my own for so long my need for acceptance was skewed. I didn’t need his kindness or approval. I needed his army and his cooperation—nothing more.
Nicolai refused any title other than General but they treated him like a God. And from everything I had seen, the asshole deserved it.
“Sir, ou
r intel has been spotty over the last few years and our only infiltrator was…” Cade said haltingly.
I was impressed they’d gotten anyone in at all. My father was quite particular when it came to whom he surrounded himself with.
“Was what?” I asked.
“Beheaded,” Cade said quietly, staring at his hands. For a tough guy he seemed shaken by the loss of a comrade. They were bizarre to me. I was envious of this different kind of Dragon weyr.
“She was skinned alive then beheaded,” Nicolai ground out, correcting his lieutenant and shooting me a withering look.
I stared back unflinchingly even though I wanted to heave. Of course the only way into my father’s circle would have been through sex—hence a woman. I was sickened that they had even sent a woman.
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