by Tully Belle
Mac walked away from the desk. “Too risky. I can’t have her knowing our location. It’s exactly what she and Tessa want.”
“We can’t leave her out there either. I say we bring her in, but I’ll make sure she can’t track where we are.”
Mac sighed and waved his hand in the air. “Go, but be careful.”
Lyson grinned. This was going to be fun.
9
Elle kicked the road, scuttling a rock into the tall grass on the side. The youngest brother, nerdy nobody, Lyson Dragonspark. She crinkled her nose wondering why they'd chosen him to make contact with her. She thought it'd be Ash - Caran would have ran to him first. Or Mac, who acted like he was in charge. He couldn't be if Lyson had called her. That meant Mac was as weak and hopeless as Tessa told her he was.
What did she know about him? Admittedly not much. Only statistics: age - twenty four, physical appearance - stocky, tall, clean shaven (or at least he had been in the few photographs she’d seen of him), hair - muddy brown and close cropped. He handled behind the scenes stuff mostly - tech and the like.
Oh, and now she knew also that he was a complete asshole from that brief phone call. But then, most men were assholes, weren’t they? At least that had been her experience so far so she had no reason to doubt it.
She reached the shed she'd been staying in and sat down on the makeshift straw bed she'd constructed. She wondered how long they'd be. That depended on how far away Dragonspark was. She stood up and looked out of the window. Nothing. No-one coming.
Half an hour had passed. What if the idiots couldn't find her? She rolled her eyes. Oh god, seriously? Did she have to make it easy for them? Elle secured everything in her pack and left the shack. She’d make the slow walk back into town, not hurrying. They had to know where she was, she’d given up her location by calling. She was out in the open. They better get it right.
She hummed to herself as she walked. How many would come? She figured a whole lot of them to catch little old her. It would be overkill of course, but wouldn't it be exciting. Oh, and what if they changed into dragons before they came? Prey for her to hunt and have fun with before letting them capture her. She should have thought about this game earlier rather than sitting up in that dusty roof for a week.
The adrenaline in her chest spiked her breathing and she formed the beginnings of a smile. She’d almost killed a real dragon before. Not one of those stupid weak human hybrid ones like the Dragonspark brothers were, but a real one. Okay, it might have been on the small side, and already injured from the poison tipped slash in the side of it’s throat, and she wasn’t the one to cast the final blow that took the light from it’s eyes, but she was part of it.
Tessa told her how impressed she was. All dragons must die was their mantra.
And now she was going to show Tessa that she was capable of taking one out herself.
She fingered the hilt of the long dagger strapped to her waist, the vial of poison tucked away in her backpack. Could she go through with it? It wasn't like they were true dragons though.
Ten more minutes walk and she reached the first building on the edge of the town. She figured they might be here already, but perhaps not. It was telling that they were taking so long. It meant their headquarters was a distance away. Unless they were stalling. Unless they weren’t coming tonight. Not coming? It hadn’t occurred to her, but it was possible.
She tensed her fingers and stopped walking. Maybe they weren't coming, knowing it would infuriate her. She expected that they would come, and they knew that. She laughed a single ‘ha’ out loud and then shook her head. They had her on the back foot again. God she hated that.
Now what was she to do, and where was she to go? She couldn’t go back to the shack, it would be the first place they looked and what fun was that? The grocery store was out, and besides, it would be all shut up by now.
No, she had to continue on, hope they weren't imbeciles. She forged ahead.
How easy she should make it? Pretty damn easy. They would find her in the middle of town, right smack next to the stupid sculpture at that round grassed area. There was a bench seat there she could wait and a big honking streetlight that would give them a clear view of her.
If they couldn't find her now, she didn't know what else she could do. She sat down, fidgeting with her fingers and tapping her foot. "Hurry up," she yelled into the night.
10
Lyson hung back in the shadows, John not far behind him. Elle was sitting cross legged on a bench seat and sharpening her nails with the tip of a small knife. She’d chosen the Remington Monument to wait at. He told John to keep watch as he walked the perimeter to make sure she was alone.
She looked younger than he expected her to be. She couldn’t be more than twenty, although perhaps she just looked young. It was hard to tell with the only light coming from the street lamps located at each corner of the small square grassed area.
She had a slender frame, but he could tell she was fit and strong. Her brown hair was flecked with gold, pulled back into a tight braid down her back. He cocked his head to the side and studied her. She wasn’t scared, but then he hadn’t expected her to be. If anything she looked . . . bored.
He grinned to himself. She was sick of nothing happening and wanted the excitement. Lyson liked that part of her very much. He had gone without excitement for far too long as well.
He held his finger up to his lips and nodded to John before he dialed her phone number.
She jumped, startled by the noise, on her feet with her knife held behind her back as she surveyed her surroundings. She glanced down at the phone but made no attempt to answer it. Okay, so if she didn't want to talk to him on the phone, he'd have to do it in person.
Lyson stepped out of the shadow of the building and walked toward her.
Her head whipped in his direction, making the braid of her hair flick out. She held her ground, poised to run or attack, but studying him just like he had been studying her.
“Hello, Elle,” he said, making sure the words came out slow and smooth. He didn't need to spook her.
“You look different than your photograph,” she said, placing her knife back into the sheath attached to he belt. It gave him a good chance to see her slim waist.
“Oh, and how so?”
She looked back at him, her arms casually falling to her side. He couldn’t tell what other weapons she had. Nothing else on her, her clothing too tight to hide anything, but there could be anything in that backpack. She shrugged and grabbed her pack, slinging it over her shoulder. “Are you going to take me to Dragonspark now? Lock me up. Throw away the key. I hear that’s your style.”
“You’d be surprised what my style is, but yes, that’s the plan.”
She threw her head back and blew a loud breath to the sky. “God, I hope you have a television or something in there. I don’t like the idea of being all chained up with nothing to do.”
Lyson kept still, watching her expression. She was too cool. He needed to unnerve her so she'd slip up. She was making it too easy and he didn't like it. “If I chain you up, you don’t need to worry about not having anything to do. There will be plenty of things I can think of to keep you occupied while in that position.”
Her head cocked to the side and she hesitated, taking in the innuendo that he meant to unravel her, not sure if this was part of his banter or whether he was being serious.
He grinned at that. “But, since I can’t have you knowing where we are, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
John stepped out of the shadow and shot the tranquillizer at her. It was mild, she’d only be out for an hour or so, but it would give them plenty of time to get her restrained.
“That.” He watched her falter then fall to her knees. She looked up glaring at him before finally collapsing to the ground. “Check her bag first,” said Lyson. “Then let’s get her back to the truck.”
“Yes, sir,” said John.
"I can carry her," sa
id Lyson. He lifted her up into her arms. She was light. The tranquilizer had made it look like she was sleeping peacefully. Her face dreaming of a better world. For a moment he had a twinge of regret for capturing her, but then again, it was what she wanted and what had to be done.
It was what happened next, that he wasn't sure about anymore.
11
Elle’s head pounded like someone was knocking it against a hard cement floor over and over. This was going to last a while too. She couldn’t open her eyes. Well, she could, but every time she tried, it made her head hurt ten times worse.
But, if she was to get things moving, then she’d have to suck it up and not be such a baby. She groaned and sat up, leaning her back against the wall. It was cold and smelled horrible. Hopefully the stench wasn’t coming from her. When she finally pried her eyes open, first the left then the right, she could see where she was.
The stupid cell was everything she expected it to be. Dirty, unkempt, uninhabitable. A vinyl mattress, torn and ripped for her to sleep on. Three walls made of rock, with no windows. In front of her was iron bars with a locked gate, letting her see out into a short hallway that led to another door, also, presumably, locked.
They wouldn’t ever have anything like this at Princess, it wasn’t a place you put people. It was archaic. She wondered if they could get in trouble for having this in their building. Surely there would be an inspector that would write this up in an instant and order it closed down.
She groaned again, rubbing her hands over her face, trying to wake herself up. She figured they might want to drug her before they bought her here. She was hoping for a simple blindfold instead, so she could count the turns and feel the change in altitude as they journeyed to whatever mountain they kept themselves in. No such luck.
But she was inside now. Inside and as soon as she got out of this antiquated dungeon of a cell, she would be successful. She would know their location, which meant her and Tessa could destroy them just like they'd planned.
She looked around the cell. There was no toilet or tap or anything to clean herself up with. Did they expect her to pee in the corner? That would get old real fast. Assholes. Although, it did mean that someone would have to come in and clean up whatever mess she made. She decided to wait to make sure that was the case before she trashed the place.
At least she wasn’t chained like Lyson hinted at. The fire and pleasure in his eyes when he mentioned her restrained was unnerving. She hadn’t expected that, in fact he was nothing like she expected him to be. She’d underestimated him. There was no way he was the weakest brother in the family — that was obvious now. There was nothing weak about him. The way he walked, talked, held himself. A small shiver rippled through her, although it wasn’t from fear, it was from . . . No, he wouldn’t have that effect on her. He was a goddamn dragon shifter! So what if he was attractive and charming and . . . All dragons must die, she repeated to herself.
They must have powers that she wasn’t anticipating. Powers of mind control. No wonder Caran fell for Ash so quickly, he’d manipulated her and used some Jedi mind trick on her to make her fall so hard. Jesus. That made them all the more dangerous. She would have to stay strong.
It didn’t matter. Soon they would all be gone. Mac, Ash and Lyson.
He was just a guy anyway, and Elle Wilde didn’t let guys manipulate or coerce her into doing anything against her will. She would ignore the warming of her skin and butterflies in her stomach when he told her he was going to chain her up and . . .
And what!?
Ha, probably nothing. Of course, he was all talk. He was just trying to rattle her and while it had worked the first time, it wasn’t going to work again. He could talk about chaining her all he liked, but it was only so he could scare her. When he saw that she wasn’t going to let a little threat throw her off guard again he’d quit his stupid innuendo.
Once she was out of here then she could chain him up. Then she could see how he liked it. She bet that if the shoe was on the other foot, he wouldn’t be acting all cocky like he was that was for sure.
And she would win. She always did.
12
It couldn't be morning already. Lyson dragged himself out of bed to his private bathroom, passing the door to the cavernous space he used when he transitioned into a dragon and glancing in its direction. He hadn’t shifted in weeks and his skin was pricking at feeling his skin stretch and transform into the powerful weapon he could become.
He was sure that out of the three of them, he enjoyed the transition the most, loved the control and power he felt when he was invincible. If they didn’t have the problem of keeping Elle down in the depths of the mountain, floors below his bedroom, he would have told his brothers that he wanted to shift and escape for a while.
Oh, he always pretended he hated doing it, so they wouldn’t feel as bad, but the way his blood pumped through every cell in his body was intoxicating. As a dragon he was free.
He turned on the shower, as hot as he could handle it, steaming up the room until he could barely see an arm’s length in front of him. Once under the stream of the water, he closed his eyes, thinking about the night she had in the cold stone cell.
It would have been uncomfortable, so when he went to see her this morning, she would be even more off her guard. He should delay seeing her too, until she was ravenously hungry or bursting to use the bathroom. How mad could he make her before he went to see her? How out of control would she become?
The idea jerked him awake more than coffee ever did. Down there all alone, hurting and angry and ready to fight. It was about time he had some excitement around here.
Lyson got out of the shower, dried himself and dressed before he went to see if his brothers were awake.
Ash was lying in bed when he entered their bedroom, propped up by two pillows behind his back. Caran was already awake, working at a table in the far corner. She had vials of test tubes and petri dishes surrounding her.
“I hope this isn’t some kinky sex thing,” he said. He walked over to the table.
“Don’t touch,” said Caran. “I’ve stabilized the control subjects and I can’t have them compromised.” She didn’t take her eyes off her work, swabbing a colorless liquid and swirling it into one of the dishes.
“Is that our DNA?” asked Lyson as he walked over to Ash. “You guys are definitely into kinky shit.”
“It’s important,” said Ash. “If we can predict the transition back to human again, it’ll make everything easier. The whole reason we don’t shift too often is because it takes so damn long to change back.”
Lyson had it easier than his two brothers, but he understood. Truthfully, there was no way they could manipulate the way the change worked. It just was. Testing out their DNA on a table in his brother’s room wasn't going to change anything, although he had to admire Caran for at least doing something with her skills and making attempts to help them. She was good for Ash. Not someone he would ever go for himself, but for Ash, Caran was right.
“How are you doing?” asked Lyson. He nodded toward Ash’s bandaged chest.
“Much better actually. The bruising has come down and it doesn’t hurt so much when I move now. By next week, we’ll be able to hold another greet and get our business back to making us money.”
“Not happening, cowboy,” said Caran. “You need another two weeks at least before I’ll give you the all clear. Doctor’s orders.”
“You’re killing me, I’m fine.”
“Stay in bed.” She glanced up, a sparkle in her eyes. Lyson hid his grin. Yeah, she was good for him.
Mac came into the room. From the look of the dark circles ringing his eyes, he wasn’t sleeping much. His demons were much deeper than Lyson could ever understand. Why he still tormented himself over Tessa was something neither Ash or he understood. Just get over her, or she should get over him. It was infuriating. And dangerous.
“How’s the research looking?” asked Mac.
“Promising. Soon
I’m going to want to test it though. I’m intrigued how mixture 284 is going to work on one of you. The cells are transitioning back almost immediately in the dish, but I suspect it’ll be quite a bit different when you have it in your system. Once this business with Elle is over, I’d like to test it on one of you.”
“How will it work?” asked Mac.
“I want to test two different scenarios. One where we inject the mixture before you change into a dragon, and then see how long it takes for you to get back, and then after that we’ll try injecting it once you’re a full dragon. I suspect that’ll be the better way to do it, even though . . .”
“Even though, injecting a dragon will be near on impossible,” said Lyson. He neglected to add that it wasn’t something that Caran would want to do anyway. She’d accidentally come into his cavern when he had shifted last month, precipitating a fear of him. Even when Ash was in dragon form she was wary. He didn’t blame her.
“What about a pill, something to swallow? Would that still work?”
“I thought about that, and yes, I think it would. We don’t have any capsules at the hospital big enough though. I’d need something large.”
“I’ll check with the vet,” said Mac. “They have horse tranquillizers, surely they would have access to a whole lot of large empty capsules.”
“We could try it in drinking water too. The substance will remain stabilized in water. Okay, look into it. I guess that means you’re volunteering?” she asked.
Mac looked over at him and Ash. “I don't know about that, but we do nothing until our prisoner problem is under control. Understood.”
“I agree and speaking of which,” said Lyson standing up. “It’s time to give her an early morning wake up call. I’ll head to kitchen first to see what we can spare to feed the sorry soul.”
13
