by Jaime Rush
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To my place. I have a soundproofed room there, too.”
“It’s not a castle, is it?”
“My castle, I suppose. The Dragon Prince had a castle?”
She picked up the book, which had slid to the floor when Cyntag manhandled her. “Yes, where he kept her prisoner.” Panic speared her as she recalled her fears when he’d caught her in his office. “I can leave your house whenever I want, right? I won’t be a prisoner.” Reading about Garnet’s imprisonment had always given her a claustrophobic feeling.
“You may leave. But only with me.”
Augh. He did sound like the Dragon Prince.
He took an exit and drove through one of the many not-so-nice areas. Bars on the windows of businesses, people loitering outside. The area was run-down and dirty. Soon, though, they were downtown, passing through the touristy area where the cruise ships docked.
As they continued, they passed a park and several marinas, definitely a nicer area. The cars were fancy and expensive, the kind she usually only saw at the resto Yard in a decimated state. Coral Gables maybe. She didn’t venture toward the coast much. A lot of the houses were Mediterranean or Spanish style, all large with yards filled with flowers and trees.
“Won’t this bad person who sent demons know where you live?” she asked.
“Not easily. It’s hidden, too, under layers of corporations. When you’re as old as I am and you hold power, others want it.”
“They…want it?” He paused, and she knew he was considering whether she could handle whatever it was. “Just tell me. It can’t be any worse than anything else you’ve told me…or that I’ve seen.” She hesitated. “Can it?”
“Dragons can take the power of another Dragon.”
She snorted. “Well hey, they can have my power.”
“You have to die first.”
“Okay, maybe not.”
“It’s called Breathing Dragon.”
“That’s what you and Jack were talking about. But that’s murder.”
“Long ago, the Concilium decreed that no Dragon should kill for the sole purpose of attaining another’s power. It works as well as the Mundanes’ laws about murder and theft does.”
“Oh, great. So there might be people after me just for my power.”
“The good thing is that you’ll have little, at least in the beginning. You’re a mere morsel.” His gaze drifted down her for a second.
She felt a shiver move across her body. “That is not comforting, not that you’re a comforting kind of guy.” But he’d brushed her hair from her face, said he was sorry. And she’d nearly let herself fall against him. Idiotic thing to do.
“I’m not here to comfort you, Ruby. I’m here to train you to defend yourself. To teach you to fight. And to keep you alive.”
She didn’t want to be a morsel. “But that’s not why I’m being targeted now, is it?”
“No, a Deuce cannot take your power. As soon as we get you up to speed, we’re going to find out what the hell is going on.”
He pulled up to a gated entrance. Thick, green hedges blocked the view of what lay beyond a bit more effectively than the detailed iron gates that slowly opened. She’d refinished a set of gates like these years ago for one of her regular customers. Cyntag’s were even more ornate, topped with spikes that discouraged someone from climbing over.
Her chest tightened as he drove up to a beautiful home, a mixture of contemporary design and wood. Everything was going to change. She was going to change.
Once they were done pulling her luggage through a spacious kitchen with dark wooden floors and matching cabinetry, he said, “I’ll make lunch, and then we’ll get started.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You’ll eat. After Awakening, you’re probably not going to feel like eating for a while.”
“Great, knowing that will help my appetite.”
She was too worked up to even appreciate two stories’ worth of ocean view beyond a wall of windows. A curving staircase, a bridge over a pond surrounded by plants, and water drifting beneath a piece of solid glass to the pool out on the patio.
He passed the stairs and opened the door into the short hallway just beyond. “You’ll stay here for as long as it’s safe. Take a minute or two to settle in, then meet me in the kitchen.”
“As long as it’s safe?” She paused in the doorway. “I thought this place was hidden.”
“The thing about the Hidden is, we’re never really safe. As strong as you are, there is someone stronger. As clever as you are, there is someone more clever. And as hidden as you think you are, someone will find you. They know about me, obviously. If someone has the right connections or the right magick, they’ll find where I live. Which is why we don’t have much time.”
She stared out the huge glass doors at the sparkle of sun on the choppy waves and felt as though she were slipping beneath them. His finger on her chin startled her.
“I can be easy on you, at least in the beginning. If you need that.”
She stepped away from the way his touch felt electric on her skin. The way his low, soft words washed over her. “No, don’t be easy on me. These people killed my uncle. And are trying to kill me. I don’t want easy.”
“Good girl. See you in a few minutes.”
Damn it, he’d manipulated her again.
Chapter 9
Can we turn the lights down?”
Ruby followed Cyntag into a windowless room the size of a tennis court.
He stripped off his shirt and tossed it to the floor. “I forget, you still have the modesty of a Mundane.” He strode to the control box near the door and dimmed the lights.
The halogen lights honed the planes of his cheeks and angles of his jaw, razor sharpening the cut of his muscles. The mirrors on two sides of the room created infinite versions of him. Cyntag, everywhere she looked. She scratched at her stomach again. Damn rash was worse than ever.
“You have an itch,” he said, and she swore he meant that kind of itch. Which she did not have, thank you very much.
She waved her hand dismissively. “Psoriasis, the doctors think, though they’ve never given me anything that relieved it.”
“Show me.”
“You’re used to ordering people around, aren’t you? Of course, you’re a sensei or whatever, with classes of rapt students following your every command.” And probably women falling at his feet.
“True. Your point?”
“Would it kill you to ask?”
He seemed to consider it. “No. Show me the rash. I’m not morbidly curious. I think I know what it is.”
With a roll of her eyes, she unbuttoned the lower part of her shirt and lifted it.
He knelt down to get a better look. The feel of his fingers brushing her skin startled her.
“Cyntag—”
“Call me Cyn.”
Cyn, which sounded like “sin.” Figured. Because with him kneeling in front of her, his dark hair catching the dim light, bare shoulders gleaming…whoa. Cut that shit out. “Well, Doctor Cyn, what is it?”
Though his hair was straight, a few locks had minds of their own, curling in various directions. She had the insane urge to run her fingers through what looked like silk.
He rose. “Dragon rash.”
“Huh?”
“Started when you were about thirteen?”
“Yeah.”
“Kicks up when you’re stressed. I bet it was driving you mad when I Catalyzed—turned Dragon—in the library.”
“Well, yeah.”
He stroked his own dragon tattoo. “It’s the part of you that’s Dragon. And it’s literally itching to come out.”
“It sounds like there’s a creature inside me. I’m having flashbacks of that Alien movie when the baby alien bursts out of that guy’s stomach.”
“It’s not like that. It has no physical form outside of you.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m going to
have a tattoo like that?”
“It’s not a tattoo, but it passes for one. It’s just below your skin’s surface.” He wrapped his hand around her waist where the rash was. “We hold the essence of our Dragon inside us. Though we are mostly human, the Dragon is all animal. Once Awakened, it will pull at you to release it. To act on its impulses.”
She lifted her face to his, feeling the heat from his body, from his words, envelop her. “Impulses,” she heard herself repeat.
His fingers tightened on her skin, and he lowered his mouth just a little closer to hers. “It responds to stimuli like food, conflict…lust. When it wants something, it will goad and seduce you. It speaks to you telepathically, simple words like mine and want.” He let those words sink in.
And they did, like warm honey soaking into her skin. “Mine,” she repeated, feeling it thrum through her. “Want.”
“Mmm-hmm. And hungry.”
“Hungry,” she said, spellbound.
“And not for food.” His voice grew soft and low, his eyes hooded. “You’ll feel it through your whole body, hear the siren song in your mind.”
Yes, she heard it, felt it. Her body began to sag toward him, wanting to feel him against her. The spell! Just like the spell the Dragon Prince wove around Garnet. Ruby stepped away, pulling down her shirt. “It sounds like being possessed.”
He ran his hand back through his hair and cleared his throat. “It can be if you let it get the best of you. The Dragon has no reasoning skills, fears no consequences. If we let it control us, we pay the consequences.”
“Oh, great.” She realized she was scratching again. “The rash has been a lot worse since…well, since I’ve been around you.”
“Your Dragon is responding to mine. It aches to be free. That’s why I have this room, so I can let the beast run. I created the Obsidian Room so others can release it safely.”
Yes, something inside her was responding to him. She studied his tattoo, remembering how it had blinked when he’d done that Veil-lifting thing at his office. “I saw your Dragon move.”
He walked to a cabinet built into the far wall. The pants he wore reminded her of karate uniforms she’d seen, only the material was soft and did amazing things for his ass. It didn’t hurt that he had a fine one, combined with the walk of a man comfortable in his skin. No matter what skin that was.
“They can move, but they won’t crawl off you or down your leg or anything. Mostly they keep an eye on things.”
If only she could go back to the time when she thought it was mystery eczema.
He set several thick, short candles on the floor against the back wall. She wondered if he’d Breathe on the wicks to light them, but no, he used a lighter. Could he Breathe fire? Could she?
He turned on a stereo system and cranked what sounded like old rock and roll. She had a fleeting thought to run, get the hell out while she was still normal and human and…
You’re not normal. Never were.
“Have any Red Hot Chili Peppers in there?” she asked instead, hearing a quiver in her voice.
“Nope. I tend to like the classic rock and metal music. Elvis was all right, but I started really enjoying music in the sixties and seventies.”
He was around when Elvis got his start. Wow. Just…wow.
“So my parents were Dragons?”
“Your mother was Dragon. Moncrief, your grandfather, and your father were Deuces. Descendents inherit only one aspect. Generally, the different types of Crescents don’t intermingle, but love doesn’t always make sense.” He let his gaze settle on her for a moment before his expression reverted to the business at hand. “Time to start. You need to submit to me. To my will.”
She anchored her hands on her hips. “Oh, this is the part where I would have been more malleable had you gotten your hands on me when I was thirteen.”
“I wasn’t ‘getting my hands’ on you.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.” He probably wanted a woman more experienced in the ways of Dragon. And likely other things. “But I’m not submitting to you.”
He put his hands on her shoulders. “Ruby, as your sworn protector, I will lay my life on the line for you.” His words shivered through her because she heard the devotion in them. “But you have to do your part. You have to grow into your strength and power and out of your tough façade.”
“What do you mean, façade?”
He drew his finger from her shoulder to her collarbone, where he made tiny circles. “Your real strength lies here, in your Dragon. I’m your way of reaching that.”
She so did not like needing him. “I am tough. I didn’t crumble in fear when that damned orb was chasing me or when I saw a friggin’ demon.”
Damn it, his smile reeked of patronization. “You are tougher than most would be in your position. Now you have to get tougher.”
“I get images of you forcing me to kiss your boot.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Or someplace even more degrading.”
His mouth twitched. “Interesting image. The more degrading place.”
She slapped his finger away. He laughed, irritating her even more because he never reacted the way she expected. Reminding her of the Dragon Prince on his wedding day.
“I don’t need to force you to do petty acts to assuage my need for dominance. Submitting is an act of strength, not weakness. In the beginning, with your Dragon Awakened, it’ll feel like riding a bucking bronco. Hold on tight. I’ll be Dragon, too, and if I need to, I’ll hold you down. Or knock you on your ass. I won’t let you hurt yourself, or me, if you’re out of control.”
All her life she’d done everything to be in control. Never drinking to excess, not doing drugs, being her own boss. Now she might lose it completely.
Her throat felt as though she’d swallowed sand. “How do I become human again?”
“You will it. You’re the master. I suggest you remove your clothes now and set them in a neat pile so you can get to them easily when you Catalyze back. I’ll cover my eyes.” He gave her such a condescending smile that she narrowed her eyes. He chuckled. “You have fire. Good. You’ll need it.”
Déjà vu smacked her in the chest. She’d heard those words before, before the Dragon Prince enabled the spell. More bits were coming back—because they were living them.
He removed his pants and set them with his shirt. Not a speck of modesty. She watched him walk away, the candlelight gilding his glutes, and when he started to turn, she glanced down. Did he have to be achingly beautiful?
He faced away and covered his eyes with one hand. Her gaze drifted down wide shoulders that tapered to a narrow waist, his exquisite ass, and then strong legs dusted with hair as dark as the hair on his head. And the Dragon climbing up his back. Her gaze drifted to the mirror’s reflection where she could see the front of him. His closed eyes and strong chin, the Dragon watching her…
“Ready?” he asked.
She started. “No.” The word snapped out of her mouth, only because she’d been gawking. She put her clothes in a pile far from his. After arranging her hair to fall over her breasts, she said, “All right.”
He turned around to face her. “I’ve been to a lot of ceremonies. Each teenager has a family member who triggers the Awakening. I will act in that role. When you Catalyze for the first time, it will be intense. Painful.” He must have seen her trepidation at those words. “I know you can handle it, Ruby, because you’re meant for this. And I’ve been told you’re quite tough.”
“Hah hah.” He still said her name in that sultry way, wrapping his voice around it like a coating of melted chocolate.
He placed his hands on either side of her face and brought his mouth toward hers. Her body wanted to fall toward him the moment his mouth settled over hers, but she remained on her feet.
Heat tore down her throat, lighting every vein on fire. Her body jolted with pain as fingers of flame reached into her extremities. Her rash felt as though it were tearing away from her body. She screamed, blindly reaching out and
digging her fingers into his shoulders. He pulled his mouth away but jerked her against him. She gasped, her body shivering.
“Breathe, Ruby. Breathe through it. Your Dragon is waking up. Bring it in.”
“Hurts. Hurts so bad,” she managed to say. She thought for sure she was on fire, but he was holding her close, enduring the flames, too. She saw it then, behind her closed eyelids. The Dragon was deep red with streaks of white, its scales glossy. It lifted its head, stretching its neck and releasing a stream of fire from its mouth.
Then she was moving, faintly aware of her skin rubbing against Cyn’s. The hunger inside, God, the hunger washed over her in great waves, and she no longer dug her nails in to fight against him. She pulled him closer, his chest against her cheek, the rub of his sprinkling of hair chafing her jaw. She ached to pull him inside her.
“Control, Ruby,” he whispered when he should have shouted it.
She shook her head, her mouth sliding against his skin. Her breath came in shallow pants, her hands moving over his back.
He lowered his head, his voice hoarse. “Ruby.”
She looked up at him, the embers wild in his eyes, and pulled his mouth down to hers. The need to taste him, to feel his mouth on hers again, overcame her. Her tongue sought his, dancing, sparring. His hands tightened on her, fingers tangling in her hair. She sucked on his tongue in an incredibly phallic way, then nibbled on his lower lip. Things she had never done before, never thought to do.
Hungry…
Yes, hungry for Cyn, for his touch. For the way his mouth devoured hers now. This overwhelming desire was something so new, so foreign, yet she embraced it. She flattened her body against his, wanting to feel all of him. His hands moving down her back, pulling her closer against him, his arousal a hard shaft pressing into her solar plexus, sent an inferno roaring through her. It stripped her humanity and left her…Dragon.
She opened her eyes and felt completely different, dense and brimming with power. Like Garnet, she saw the snout—her snout—growing out from her face. Standing in front of her was the black and indigo Dragon, nostrils flaring as it faced her.
