by Tully Belle
“No,” said Ash. “We won’t allow it. But I agree, Elle has to go. We can’t keep her down there for any longer and I’m not letting her into the rest of the place. We can’t risk her hurting someone else.”
Lyson leaned back on his chair, his hands resting on the table in front of him. “I promised her that we’d let her out and that I’d give her a room with a bed.” He winced as he waited for the inevitable response.
“You did what?” Mac stared, fire raging in his eyes. “What the hell, Lyson?”
“I have a plan,” he said.
“You have nothing,” said Mac. He jabbed his finger in the air in pointed succession. Then he groaned and covered his face with his hands.
Lyson flinched. He hated fighting with his brother, they were supposed to trust each other’s views.
“We know she’s going to run as soon as we let her out of the cell. I say we let her escape,” he continued.
“Ly, she knows where we are. She’ll have Tessa and her army of angry women here in a heartbeat.”
“Then we prepare for that. The confrontation is inevitable. It’s better that we are one step ahead of her now instead of waiting around for her to make her next move. Besides, Elle might need a hostage.”
Ash leaned forward slamming his palm on the table. “We are not risking anyone here.”
“I’m volunteering,” said Lyson. He swallowed as he looked at the incredulity on their faces.
“No,” said Mac. “No, Lyson. You’ve already put us in too much danger. Hell, this isn’t a game. You can’t outwit her or even reason with her. Her heart is set on destroying us and everything we stand for.”
Lyson paused as he thought about the consequences of what Elle would do if he was wrong about her. “She won’t hurt me.”
“Right.” Mac. He cocked a brow. “We’ve been over this before. You’re wrong about her.”
“I haven’t been wrong so far. I knew where she’d be and no-one has been hurt. She locked Juliana in the cell, but she didn't hurt her. Elle had the chance to do worse but she didn’t. She’s all talk, repeating the dogma set by Tessa. It’s Tessa who’s the danger, not Elle.”
“Both of them have threatened our lives.”
“If I can get inside Princess I can set up a whole network of surveillance. I don’t need to be there for long, just long enough to plant camera’s and recording equipment.”
“If you get to Princess you won’t make it out alive.”
“I disagree.”
“Lyson, what the hell? Are you mad? You’d be walking right into Tessa’s lair. She could gut you as soon as she see’s you and you won’t have the opportunity to escape. No.” Mac jabbed his finger at Lyson again to drive home his frustration. “There is no way I’m letting you do this.”
“It’s the only way.” Lyson kept his voice neutral, his expression soft. If he got angry, he’d achieve nothing. He knew this was the best chance they had to infiltrate Princess and win this feud.
“And if you get shot, hurt, what then?”
“Then I’ll transition into a dragon. It saved Ash.”
Ash whipped his head to Lyson. “I was lucky. I could get away and go somewhere safe. What if you’re locked up somewhere?”
Lyson scoffed. “They’re in the goddamn city. You think they have an underground cell like we do? You know they don’t. Caran told us the layout of Princess, there is no place they could put me that I couldn’t get out of in a hurry.”
“I don’t like this,” said Mac. He bared his teeth, “It's a trap.”
“Tessa sent one person here — Elle. They don’t have an army, at least not a capable one. She has nothing except her bitter fury for you leaving her. She won’t hurt me if she thinks keeping me alive will get her closer to you.”
“They’ve killed dragons. They’re assassins.”
“They haven't killed shifters.”
“That we know about.” Mac moved away from the table. His brow furrowed in worry. “We nearly lost Ash.” He turned to look at his brother, his eyes downcast, and his voice on the verge of trembling. “He nearly died.”
Lyson stood up and walked over to his brother, trying to stop his own rush of emotion. He stood for a moment, wondering what he could say that would convince Mac that he wasn’t going to get hurt. He just knew he wouldn’t. When the words wouldn’t come, he pulled Mac into a hug, patting him on the back. “I will stay safe. It’ll work if she thinks I’m her prisoner. Let me try.”
Mac pulled back his brows knitted tight. He sighed. “How are you going to get the equipment there?”
Lyson released a breath. “I’ve already rigged her backpack and lined it with all I need. Once I get inside I’ll rip open the lining and install what I can. As long as I can get to a power source and position these cameras you’ll be online. Plus I’ll have my own GPS tracker hidden on me so you can see where I am at all times. The computer in my room is set up right now with my location, although it won’t start until I’m out of here.”
“And you wiped her phone of any location trackers.”
“Better,” said Lyson. “I hacked the coordinates. The program now thinks that we are 134 miles north east of here. It’ll be down to Elle’s memory of the escape for her find us again. I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”
Mac's shoulders slumped as he shook his head. “If anything happens to you.”
“If anything happens I’ll fly back as fast as I can. But it won’t. I have a feeling Elle is all talk, that she’d never hurt me or any of you if crunch came to it. It’s Tessa we have to worry about, and we need to know what her plans are.”
“Fine." He waved his hand dismissively. "But promise me you'll stay safe."
“I will. I promise.”
21
Elle tapped her fingers against the wall as she thought about what to do next. She figured she had two options. Scope the place and make a run for it or let him lead her to this new room and try to escape from there. She’d prefer to get out of her as fast as possible, of course, but couldn’t see how that was going to work unless she got very lucky.
Maybe it wouldn’t be Lyson that came for her anyway. Perhaps he’d send someone else. Perhaps a whole group of security men that would prevent her from fighting her way out. If he did that then he’d see that she wasn’t afraid of a bunch of beefed up nobodies. She’d fight her way out if she saw an opportunity.
She had no qualms about doing whatever had to be done. Would that mean hurting him, or worse? She missed the combat, missed the chaos, but could she actually do real damage to Lyson or any of this brothers?
What he said about her justifications being all screwed up was circling in her head and eating away at her. She couldn’t let it go. Dragons were dangerous. Except . . . She sighed. He was right that while he was in human form she wouldn’t be able to do anything to hurt him. Not seriously anyway. She could knock him out though if she needed to. She could do it and he wouldn’t see it coming.
She stared at the locked iron door, keeping one leg propped up and her back against the stone. The lock clicked and she jolted up, readying herself in case she had to fight.
Lyson appeared and her heart began to hammer against her chest. He'd changed clothing in the last half hour. Now he was wearing a long sleeve tee that fit snug against his body showing off his tight muscled arms. Did he do that deliberately? The still wore the same jeans though, slung loose with a dark buckled belt. She calculated how long it would take her to unbuckle his belt and use it to wrap around someone’s throat. Too long, it wouldn’t work. He’d stop her before she could finish and make some cheap joke about wanting to undo it, or how he’d use it later to tie her hands and have his way.
Her cheeks warmed as he neared.
“Are you ready to leave?” He was holding her backpack out to her.
“Leave?” She grabbed the pack, unzipping it to check the contents. Everything was still there, even her phone. She took it, turning it on. It still worked.
<
br /> “I meant move to your new bedroom, as we agreed,” he said. “Oh, your phone, it won’t work in here, I’ve locked down electronic devices. If you want to make a call you’ll have to wait until you leave Dragonspark.”
Yeah, well that’s going to be sooner rather than later.
Lyson nodded toward her and turned around. There was no mention of the kiss or anything else they'd talked about. He acted like nothing just happened, which meant he was playing at something. She scanned the back of him, her eyes settling on the rear of his jeans because . . . the shape of a sheathed knife was tucked into his waistband under the denim. Oh, he was a fool to have that there.
“Yes, I’m ready,” she said. She followed him up the stairs, studying everything she saw along the way. The iron door closed behind them. There were more stairs leading up. How far down had she been? After two more flights the stairs ended, opening into a large foyer that looked more like a hotel lobby than wherever the hell they were.
The floor was smooth stone, polished, with painted designs bordering the edges. The walls were smooth and painted a light neutral that offset the dark wood of the stair railings and beams. Two grand staircases wound around the room on either side, leading up and up, over at least five more floors. At the top, lighted by spotlights was a mural. A dragon in full flight that looked like at any moment it would break through the ceiling to capture its prey below. Elle shuddered, the majesty of it a smack to the face of what she believed.
Even though corridors led away from this foyer there was no other person around. Where were they? As if anticipating her question, Lyson said, “We’ve told people to keep clear, just incase you decided to pull another stunt. We can’t have anyone getting hurt. Mac insisted.”
Then Mac was as much a fool as Lyson was because to her right were two open doors that led outside. Freedom. Before he could stop her, Elle lunged, grabbed the knife and unsheathed it. The blade was against his throat before he even knew what happened. Lyson’s gulped a cry, shocked at her unanticipated move. He was too trusting, she could never be involved with someone like him.
He lifted his hands in surrender. “Okay, put the knife down.” He moved slowly as she pulled him along. “There’s no need for this. Come on Elle, don’t betray our trust a second time.”
“You should have known I’d run.”
“We made a deal.”
“I’m changing the terms.” She advanced toward the exit, keeping the knife at Lyson’s throat. Two men rushed forward but they couldn’t stop this, not now. “Stop right there,” she yelled. “Or I’ll slash him open.”
“Just go back,” said Lyson, lifting his hands to them. “I’ll be okay.”
Ha! No you won’t, she thought. She reached the door, looking around behind her, ready for someone to attack or stop her. A few people watched on, their mouths all agape, as she dragged Lyson outside. Jesus, they didn't live in a building, this was a goddamn mountain! She knew it. She glanced up, taking in everything she could. Every crag, tree, peak. She needed to remember where this place was.
Behind her was a row with two cars.
“Let me go and you can take a car,” said Lyson.
“Where are the keys?” she demanded.
“Inside each car. Under the visor.”
“Go.” She pushed him toward the first car. A blue sedan, nondescript. It wouldn’t draw attention.
“Come on Elle, you can go now,” he said. “You’ve got what you wanted.”
“You don’t know the first thing about what I want.” When they reached the car she opened the drivers side door. “Get in,” she said. “You’re driving.”
22
Lyson got into the drivers seat. Elle got into the back, the knife still at his throat although no longer pushing against his skin. He saw the thin line of blood on his neck through the rearview mirror. He twisted the keys hoping she wouldn’t realize how convenient this whole escape had been for her. He’d play the victim for as long as he needed to.
“Where to?” he asked.
“Just drive,” she said. Her voice was panicky even though she had controlled her breathing to a slow steady rythym. He needed to be careful here, if she wasn’t thinking carefully, something unforeseen could happen.
Lyson pulled the car out of the lot and onto the long winding road down the mountain.
Elle was observing everything along the way, just as he expected she would. She would commit everything to memory so that she could return here and he couldn’t have that. He needed to distract her, but be careful about it.
“How long are you going to keep the knife at my throat?” he asked. He glanced at her in the mirror.
She frowned, unsure whether it was still necessarily. He could see her wrestle with the decision about what to do next. It was good that she didn't have a plan further than this.
“Look,” he continued. “It’s bumpy down this road and it has lots of turns. I’ll take it slow, I’m just saying that I don’t want you to accidentally slice my neck if we jump a ditch or something.” He drove well under the speed limit. “Unless that’s your plan?”
Elle moved the knife away from his throat. Lyson breathed out sharply. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she warned.
Lyson sped up, not recklessly, just enough to prove that he would keep his word. Now he had to make himself indispensable for the ride back to the city otherwise she’d more than likely push him out and take the car the rest of the way herself. Whilst there were trackers hidden in her bag, there would be no-one to install the cameras. He needed her to take him all the way.
Elle stayed in the back for the rest of the way down. Lyson tried to draw her into conversation, but she wasn’t having it. She was too busy memorizing the route.
“We won’t make it the whole way without filling up.” They reached the bottom of the mountain.
“Yeah? How do you know where we’re going?” She leaned forward, her elbows resting on the back of the front seat.
“You’ll head back to Princess. You got what you wanted.”
“And what’s that dragon boy?”
He took the less obvious road back into town. There was a quicker way, but this one had more turns. It wouldn’t be enough to confuse her, but if she was going to make her way back here, he might as well make it more difficult. “You wanted to know where we were located. Now you do.”
“I can see why you’re the smart one.”
He raised a brow. “The smart one? You’ve categorized us? What’s Mac and Ash? The good looking ones?” He pretended to be hurt, noticing that a flicker of a smile turned the corner of her mouth.
“Look, I’m sorry about the knife.” She kept looking forward, not willing to make eye-contact with him.
“I understand. You felt you needed to do it to escape.”
“Didn’t I?”
“No one would have stopped you leave, you didn’t need to take a hostage.”
She scoffed. “That’s not true and you know it. I don’t know where you were leading me when you let me out of the cell, but I can bet as hell it wasn’t going to be a nice room with a soft bed.”
They were nearing town. “I guess you’ll never know where I was taking you. I’ll pull into town and get gas and snacks for the road.”
“This isn’t a road trip.”
“Isn’t it? And here I was wondering what type of music you’re into. You can’t have a good road trip without quality music. I know, I bet you’re a boy-band kind of girl, or maybe you love a good power ballad.”
“Ha! You don’t know me at all.”
“Then what type of music do you like?”
“Not so smart now? I guess I’m going to have to recategorize you.”
He grinned. “You’re into new emerging bands, indie stuff. Rock with a darker edge, but it has to have real emotion and soul.” It wasn’t a guess, he’d seen the playlist on her phone, but he didn’t need to tell her that.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “And what type of music d
o you like?”
“Don’t laugh.”
“Oh, now you have to tell me.”
“I like early nineties stuff. Nirvana of course, but also Pearl Jam and Green Day. They’re my tunes of choice.”
She laughed. “I would never have picked you for a grunge boy.”
“You said you wouldn’t laugh.”
“I didn’t promise anything,” she said with a smirk. As they reached the town Lyson headed for the gas station. Elle placed her hand on his shoulder. “No, not here. I don’t want to fill up here, somewhere else, further out of town.”
She was getting nervous again.
“I can stay in the car if you like. You can handcuff me to something so I won’t run away.”
“And get you all turned on? Luckily, I know you didn’t bring them.”
“We can always pick up a pair from the gas station. I’m pretty sure they stock them, or rope, or something so you can restrain me.”
“You’re so full of yourself. I told you I’m not into that.”
“I just want you to feel safe. If that means circling my wrists in metal, then I’ll comply with anything you throw at me. Then you can do whatever you want with me. You’re the one in control.”
Elle shook her head, trying hard to stifle her grin. “Shut up. We’ll get gas out of town. Okay?”
“Whatever you say.”
They stopped two hours out of Greenslopes County at a gas station in a town that Lyson didn’t know. “You want me to stay in the car?”
“I want you where I can see you,” she said. She waited for him to switch the motor off and get out and followed close behind. As he filled up she leaned casually against the side of the sedan. She’d relaxed a lot in the past hour or so. She wasn’t fidgeting nervously anymore and had let go of the knife, even though it remained in her lap. He liked her a whole lot more when she wasn’t holding a blade to his throat.
“Snacks?” He finished filling the tank and turned toward the store. She nodded and joined him at his side. He was tempted to sling his arm through hers, mostly just for the fun of it and to see what she’d do. But he kept playing the role of letting her think she was in charge. For now.
