by Mills, Julia
Shocked that she was so calm, and even more so, that she knew his name, he stopped a few feet from her and squatted so that they were closer to the same height. He had been around enough of the young vibrias at the lair to know that his size could be intimidating; not that Sydney seemed scared in the slightest. Examining her with all of his enhanced senses, he was relieved to see that no harm had come to her. It was small consolation, but at least Andrew had not slipped so far into insanity that he would harm a child. The traitor had obviously used the child to send some kind of twisted message, and Lance would figure it out, but he needed to make sure he wasn’t missing anything and that Sydney was really all right before deciphering the actions of a mad man. As he continued to check the child for injuries both physically and emotionally, he could see why Sam was so fond of the child. She was a mini version of the vibrant woman herself. The intelligence in her eyes shone bright, and she had a strength not often seen in someone so young. He found no fear at all after having been kidnapped and then left on the side of the road. “Yes, I am. Are you Sydney?”
Blonde curls bounced in every direction as she nodded. “Yes, sir.” She took another lick of her ice cream just before it dripped on her hand. “Do you know Dr. Sam?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you know Andrew?”
Her question concerning the traitor caused his muscles to tense. He worked hard to keep the tension from his face and voice. Sydney was definitely perceptive enough to pick up any change in his demeanor, and he needed her to tell him everything she knew. “Yes, I do. Do you?”
She thought for a second while she took another lick of her cone. When she answered, he could feel her confusion, but still no fear, “Well, not really. He said he was a friend of Dr. Sam and that she said it was okay for me to go with him to get a treat. Then he brought me out here, and we walked around for a few minutes.” She looked around and then frowned. “He’s kind of weird.” No sooner had the words left her mouth than her eyes grew big and round, she gasped, and smacked her hand over her mouth. The child let her head fall forward and then looked up at him through her thick dark lashes. “Sorry. It’s not nice to say bad things about people. Please don’t tell Miss Crutchfield.”
He bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from smiling, “Your secret’s safe with me.” He winked to secure their pact, and in the next breath, she once again held her head high and smiled a sweet smile that only came from one so young.
“Thanks! You’re pretty cool.”
“Thank you, Miss Sydney. You’re pretty cool yourself.” The child blushed, and for the first time in his very long life, he wondered what it would feel like to have a child of his own. Shaking his head in the hopes of restoring his sanity, he decided it was time to get the child back into the hospital and see what she could tell him about her abductor.
“It’s a little chilly to be standing out here in just a robe and slippers, Miss Sydney. Whatcha say I pick you up, and we head back over to the hospital and see if we can find Dr. Sam?”
“Okay, Lance.” She took the few steps that separated them, and without any hesitation, took her one free hand and wrapped it around his neck as he lifted her. Once again, he pictured himself with children of his own, little girls with big blue eyes and long, dark, curly hair creating as much trouble as possible.
He carried Sydney across the street as she slurped the last of the ice cream from her cone and frowned. “What’s the matter? Don’t like the cone?”
She scrunched up her button nose and shook her head, “Nope. I only like the ice cream.”
He chuckled and headed to the large trash can sitting next to a bench on one of the grassy sections in the parking lot. As he leaned over to let Sydney drop her empty squishy cone into the receptacle, the unmistakable scent of jasmine and honeysuckle wafted under his nose. He turned just in time to see Sam barreling towards them. Stray strands of her unruly mane had escaped from her braid and were blowing in every direction. Her dark brown eyes were wide and cheeks bright red with exertion. She jumped the few inches onto the grass and launched in their direction, grabbing both of them in a huge bear hug, careful of Sydney’s incision.
He put his arm around Sam in an attempt to keep her from hitting the ground then stepped backward until he felt the bench against his calves and collapsed with both ladies in his lap. Sam held onto both of them for all she was worth. He rubbed long, smooth strokes up and down her back, hoping to help calm her frazzled nerves. As her breathing returned to normal, he felt the fear, frustration, and tension bleed from her body, leaving her leaning heavily against his chest, still not speaking or moving. His heart swelled as Sydney’s little hand landed on Sam’s shoulder, and she began to rub little circles of comfort. The child looked up at him, shrugged, and whispered, “Is Dr. Sam okay, Lance?”
Before he could answer, Sam lifted her head and looked first at him and then at the little one still rubbing her shoulder. “Yes, Sydney, I’m okay. I was just very worried about you.” She reached up, gently taking the child’s hand from her shoulder, and holding it between hers. “Are you alright? Did he hurt you or scare you at all?”
Sydney smiled and shook her head, “Nope, not at all. He bought me an ice cream cone from the cafeteria, and then we walked around over there where the flowers are.” She pointed her little chubby fingers to the left of the hospital. “Then we went over there.” She pointed behind where they were seated. “Andrew said there were real pretty flowers over there, but we didn’t get to see them because he said Lance was coming to take me back to the hospital. He promised to show them to me another time.”
Sam looked up into his eyes, and he could see that she was looking to him to validate the child’s story and to somehow make her feel better about all that had happened. He only wished he could. She looked back to Sydney, and asked, “Why did you leave the hospital with a stranger?”
For the first time since meeting the little beauty, Lance felt her tense and saw confusion cross her face, “He wasn’t a stranger.” She paused and looked from Sam to him and back to his mate again, fear just beginning to leak into her gaze. “Andrew said he was your friend, Dr. Sam.”
Sam’s back went stiff. She immediately took a deep breath, and he watched as she fought hard to control her emotions. He felt her relax a little bit as she began to speak, “Andrew is not a friend of mine, Sweetheart. I don’t even know him.”
Tears filled the little ones eyes. Never one to deal well with tears, Lance hurriedly tried to diffuse the situation. “Andrew’s actually a friend of mine, Sydney. He probably just misspoke when he said he knew Dr. Sam.” Both women exhaled. “Did Andrew tell you anything else?” he asked.
She smiled a watery grin in his direction and giggled, “He said to tell you…” She paused, and he held his breath as she thought hard about the information the traitor had shared with her. Lance felt his anger rising. What the fuck was wrong with that fucking loser that he would use a child to get a message to him? Her eyes brightened, but what she said caused chills to run down his spine and Sam to sit up. “Now that he had your attention, he’d be seeing you soon. He’s a silly man, Lance, isn’t he?” She giggled again, completely unaware that she had landed smack in the middle of danger.
Not wanting to scare the child, he chuckled with her, “He sure is a silly man, Sydney. Did he say anything else?”
She shook her head, “Nope, he just showed me his eyes. Did you know he had one blue eye and one brown eye? No wait…that’s not right, he said the other one was amber…whatever that means.” She shrugged and smiled her sweet innocent smile that let him know she really was unharmed.
“I did know that.” Not wanting to discuss the man responsible for so much pain and suffering with the little cutie or his mate any longer, he quickly changed the subject. “Why don’t you give Dr. Sam a hug, I think she needs it. Then let’s get you back into the hospital. There are lots of people that want to see you.”
Sydney climbed across his lap and grabbed a
hold of Sam’s neck with such vigor she reminded him of a little bear cub. His mate’s arms immediately wrapped around the child and both sighed as if all was right in their world once again. Sam was amazing, absolutely stunning, and incredibly intelligent. She had a capacity for compassion that he’d been sure no longer existed in a world where people like ‘The Auctioneer’ and Andrew were allowed to exist. In a nutshell, she was perfect. For what seemed like the millionth time, he wondered how the hell he was ever going to keep from claiming her until he and his brethren could dispose of the traitor. If he had his way, he would grab her up and head to the farthest end of the earth, where he could keep her safe from everyone and everything. There he could spend endless days and nights kissing, touching, tasting, and simply adoring every inch of her luscious body. He had spent so very many hours imagining what it would be like to sink into her incredible body, to feel her warm, wet pussy grip his incredibly hard cock as he worked them both towards the ecstasy they so desired, that the visions were damn near real enough to touch.
He felt his cock rise and immediately shut down his thoughts. What the hell was wrong with him? There was no time for daydreams, especially ones involving sex with the most perfect woman in the world, and definitely not when there was a child present. He was becoming the same pussy-whipped wimp as Rayne and Aidan. Sam was his mate, the Universe made her especially for him, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were meant to be together in this life and the next, but there was no way he was going to give up his spine to have it all. Maybe that was the way his brethren wanted to play it, but not him. He still had his free will. He was a Dragon Guardsman with the most Elite Force in the world. He refused to walk around like a lovesick puppy, mooning over his magnificent mate, bitching like a whiney, little girl because he couldn’t claim her as quickly as he wanted.
Sure, he’d been watching her from the shadows for over seven months. Sure she monopolized damn near every thought he had both waking and sleeping. But he was stronger than the rest, better at controlling his emotions than the others. All he had to do was catch Andrew, make him give up the wizards he was working with, and use that information they already knew to eliminate ‘The Auctioneer’. All while keeping his distance from Sam, but still making sure she was safe and out of the line of fire. Piece of cake. He could almost hear Royce’s voice… ‘Yeah right, shove that oversized head of yours just a little farther up your ass.’ Fuck that! He could do it.
First order of business, get the ladies that occupied his lap back into the hospital and reconnect with the others of his Force for an update on the search for Andrew. Then he needed to come up with a plan of action to accomplish his goals in the least possible time. Decision made, he was just about to tell Sam and Sydney it was time to go when his mate lifted her head and speared him with her gorgeous dark brown eyes. Helpless to do anything but stare back at her as a myriad of emotions cross her beautiful face, he felt his recently fortified resolve beginning to crumble. Not willing to give up without a fight, he patted her on the back and put his plan into motion.
Grinning, he said, “Okay Ladies, enough of this goofin’ around. Let’s get you two inside.”
Sam smiled, pulled Sydney the rest of the way into her arms and slid her delectable ass across his thigh. The unintentional sensual contact caused his already semi-erect cock to stand at attention, further testing his resolve to resist the lure of his mate. Only the threats against her safety and the child she held in her arms kept him from kissing her until neither one could draw a breath without the other. He grabbed Sam’s waist and helped her stand while holding Sydney, to keep her from feeling his body’s reaction to her. It also removed the greatest temptation he’d ever dealt with from touching his traitorous body. While gaining her footing on the grassy surface, Sam stumbled, Lance reached out to steady her, and his hand made contact with the silky skin just above the waistband of her scrub pants. The resulting electric shock caused them both to gasp. In unison, their eyes met. Her pupils dilated, and her breathing sped up right along with his. She licked her lips and the want to follow her tongue with his made him see double. Breathing deeply, he realized that staying away from Dr. Samantha Malone was going to be the single hardest thing he’d ever done. Well, hell, he groaned to himself, realizing exactly how much shit he was going to have to put up with from his brothers. He really was turning into a cream puff, and he feared there wasn’t shit he could do about it.
CHAPTER FIVE
He watched as the Dragon Guard ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, looking for him with the hopes of taking him back to the Elders and the dreaded Tribunal. That shit was absolutely not happening if he had anything to say about it. Thankfully, John, a lackey of the wizard leader Andrew had been aligned with during the horrible debacle at the abandoned warehouse, had shown up at his door after going rogue. Together with the mid-level wizard and the other formidable magic practitioners that he had ‘collected’ along the way, they were able to perform several small rituals over the past few months that allowed him to partially rebuild his store of black magic. It was nowhere near where it had been before the fight with his brother. He had even had to drop his cover for a short time in the hospital while he and the child were making their way outdoors. Had he been able to find Kyra, the white witch that created the most powerful amulets he’d ever seen, he would’ve had no problem evading those he used to call brethren. But as fate would have it, the witch had disappeared into the mountains surrounding the Dark Lake.
It had taken almost three months, but he had finally tracked her using the training he had once thought lost forever. His rusty tracking skills, and once incredible sense of smell, would get him to within a mile of the little witch and that was at least one step closer to his goal. Unfortunately, she had disappeared just as he was closing in, evaporated into thin air, leaving no trace. His only consolation had been the realization that the mate of one of the Dragon Guard lived close by. He’d originally believed it was the witch herself. He still wondered if maybe she was, and had some way of hiding that information from him, too. But no matter, he would know her when he found her, and if he was lucky enough, he would know the Guardsman she was destined to be with also.
No one could hide their fate from him. He was a Special One, and that afforded him abilities no other possessed. Abilities that had been buried under all the black magic, but now that they had reemerged would never be put to sleep again. There was a time in the not so distant past that he was sure he had lost those abilities, but the longer he went with only minimal exposure to the deadly alchemy, the more that his dragon shifter traits reemerged; and they seemed more resilient. Of course, that also meant it was easier for the Dragon Guard and those damn werepanthers to track him. He had to be extremely careful while he continued his hunt for the witch. It would really suck to be caught and not be able to finish his plans for revenge. Kyra was the key to his plans. She had to be found. He would settle for nothing less.
Then there was ‘The Auctioneer’ that John assured him could get them what they needed to perform the Grand Ritual. The ancient magic would provide them with enough dark power to last years. However, it also presented a problem he had not foreseen. No matter how hard he tried, he could not justify the taking of innocent lives. What a time to grow a conscience. He was not stupid. He knew he had done some really shitty things in his quest for vengeance, but it had always been to people that deserved it. He’d started with the worthless wizards that had held him hostage and tortured him for his dragon magic and then moved on to some useless fucking hunters. Those that had died while he tried to ambush the Dragon Guard were simply fanatics that hated for the sake of hating and believed their lives were worth more than others. He had taken pleasure in proving them wrong.
There were the Dragon Guardsmen. The ones he had once called brethren, which ironically included his real brothers. They’d done nothing to help him in his greatest hour of need. Left for dead after his dragon had literally been forced
from the sky and his human form thrust upon him to be endlessly abused. Where had they been? Lazy fucking cowards that they were had been caring for the yellow-bellied loser with whom he shared blood. The one he had once held in the highest regard, caring more for the brother that ran off into the night and left him at the hands of those magic-hungry wizards more than for him.
He did feel bad that the Commander’s mate and his brother’s mate had been injured in his bid for revenge, but if they were half the men and Guardsmen they claimed to be, they should’ve been able to keep their women safe. He’d heard through his extensive network of spies that both women had recovered and that Rayne’s mate had given birth to their first child. Aidan and Grace had also been officially mated. Apparently, he hadn’t ruined their lives at all, but had added to it, and that meant they had more to lose when he sent them both to their forever deaths. He would watch as the realization came over them that they were about to lose it all just as the light left their eyes. There would be no regret, no second thoughts, just the complete joy of finally avenging all that he had endured because the Elite Dragon Guard were pussies and couldn’t save him.
Shaken from his thoughts by the sound of the little blonde-haired beauty’s sweet voice, he watched as the biggest idiot of them all acted the part of the hero. Lance was so sure he was saving her from certain death. As if! His heart may have been hardened by all he had been forced to suffer, but there was absolutely no way he would hurt a child, especially one as special as he knew little Sydney to be. After all, the Special One’s intuition was always correct. Had the fucking smartass taken a moment to pull his big head out of his ass and use the dragon senses he had been given by the Universe, he would’ve at least realized how incredibly unique the little girl was and would also know that, no matter how much life had hardened Andrew, there would never come a time when he would intentionally hurt a child. Kick the ass of one of those self-important, egotistical, full of themselves Dragon Guardsmen? Hell yeah, but never a child. She had been the only way he could be sure to get the idiot Guard’s attention and remind them that at any moment, he could take what he wanted, simply to make a point. He had obviously done that, and quite effectively, if he did say so himself.
