Oberon Dragon

by Sage Hunter

  “Of course. Thanks, Chief.” Gordon led Corinne out by the hand, guiding her to the car.

  “I know it was him, Corinne. He’s got you scared out of your wits. What did he do?”

  “Don’t be paranoid,” Corinne said, leaning back into the seat. “Let’s talk about happy things, okay? Tomorrow morning is our appointment with Dr. Fontaine.”

  Gordon sighed deeply, but placed his hand over hers. “That is exciting.”

  “Have you thought about names?” Corinne asked, already planning what she had to do about the situation in her head.

  “I like Emilia if it’s a girl,” Gordon said.

  “That’s pretty,” Corinne agreed, “But I have a feeling it’s a boy.”

  “Really?” Gordon sounded truly excited. “Well, something strong like… Charlie, maybe?”

  “Charlie,” Corinne repeated. “I like that.”

  She hated how much it was going to hurt him when she had to leave. But he couldn’t know and it was for his own good. She couldn’t live with herself if she selfishly stayed and he was hurt by Marcus. It wasn’t fair to Charlie to take him from his father, but he was in danger, too. Even if she went back to Marcus to calm him down now, who’s to say what would happen in the future?

  No. She had to leave. To disappear. And no one else could know. She’d start over somewhere else where Marcus couldn’t get to her or Charlie. And she’d do it as soon as Gordon went to work tomorrow. Right after the doctor appointment.

  Chapter 7

  The appointment the next morning was bittersweet. Gordon doted on her as always and the doctor surprised them with a private sonogram, saying that in the case of dragon shifters, the babies were so large and grew so rapidly, they should be able to see it already.

  Sure enough, with her belly bare and cold jelly on top, when he pressed the instrument down over her stomach, the image formed on the small black and white screen before them, revealing a tiny peanut-shaped baby with the smallest arms and curled-up legs she could imagine. He wiggled there, the umbilical cord safely tying him to her, and when he stretched a little, both she and Gordon teared up.

  Every time she saw Gordon’s face, so full of happiness and love, she had a harder time imagining going through with her plan. But she had to, she reminded herself, not just for him, but for that tiny innocent child inside of her.

  “Can you tell what it is?” Gordon asked the doctor.

  “Not yet,” he said with a smile.

  “It’s a boy,” Corinne insisted. “Charlie.”

  Gordon squeezed her hand as the doctor admitted that many times mothers seem to have a strong sixth sense about these things. “But just in case, don’t go painting the bedroom pink just yet,” he warned.

  When they got back in the car, Corrine’s stomach sank. It was almost time.

  “Let’s go look at baby furniture. We can grab lunch after and talk about redoing the duplex,” Gordon said.

  “Don’t you have to go in to work?” she asked, panicking slightly. It sounded like a dream day, but she couldn’t get sucked into the false illusion any further. Her possibility of a beautiful future with Gordon and Charlie disappeared the night she agreed to marry Marcus.

  Reflexively, she checked her phone again. Eileen refused to answer her texts, which made it all the worse.

  “They can manage without me,” Gordon said. “If there’s a big fire, they’ll call. I already cleared it with Chief.”

  “Oh. Wow.” Corinne didn’t know what to say. Could it really hurt to have fun for one more day? Sadly, the answer was yes. She knew it the minute they stepped in the baby furniture store with all the cribs and blankets and toys.

  “I’m buying this,” Gordon said, picking the tiniest little outfit off a rack. It was a onesie that looked like a little fireman’s outfit.

  Corinne sucked in a breath and tugged him along toward the back wall where a set of dark maple furniture was decorated with a castle theme. She touched the mobile above the crib and a tune played as a tiny knight, princess and dragon spun slowly around.

  “Sold,” Gordon said with a chuckle.

  He picked out a stuffed dragon with a long green tail and snout and bought that and the outfit before they left.

  They were in the middle of lunch, laughing as Gordon told her stories about his parents and sister, when he got the call from the station.

  “Fire in your old neck of the woods,” Gordon said, checking his cell. “Looks like some careless shit with a cigarette. I’m so sorry, baby.”

  “It’s okay,” Corinne said, checking her own cell. It was one in the afternoon. Plenty of time to go back, pack, and get on the four o’clock bus. “I’ll use a ride app and go back to the duplex.”

  “All right. I’ll be there soon. I promise.”

  Corinne grabbed hold of him when he reached down to give her a peck. She pulled him close, inhaling his spicy scent and melting into a passionate kiss, right in the middle of the restaurant.

  “Wow,” he said, when she finally let him up for air.

  “Go get that fire,” she said with a smile. She had to steal that goodbye kiss even if he didn’t know what it really was yet. It broke her heart to leave him. Damn Marcus.

  She watched him go after throwing some money on the table and she ordered a ride home. She’d take the fireman outfit and dragon with her. It would be something she could give to Charlie someday from his daddy.

  Tears flowed freely down her face as she rode home, sure the driver thought she was crazy. It didn’t matter though, who cared what he thought? When they got there, she leapt out of the car, typing in a tip on the app and rushed up the steps to the door, the small package on her arm.

  Next door, the stroller kept on the porch felt empty and sad and she hurried to open the door and get inside where she wasted no time throwing open her small suitcase and stuffing in the few clothes that still fit her. Then she threw in the rest of her meager belongings, except her mother’s candlesticks. Her heart ached with the idea of leaving them behind, but not only would she be tempted to sell them, she wanted to leave something important of her own behind as a gift to Gordon.

  “Daddy can’t know why we’re leaving,” she told her stomach. “Or he’ll do something dumb like the big macho man he is.” Talk about real alpha male…

  Corinne wiped at her tear-streaked face as her phone buzzed in her pocket. Hopeful that Eileen was finally answering her, she pulled it out. But when she saw it was from Marcus, her hand began to tremble.

  Packing up to come home?

  Corinne dropped the phone and spun around, half expecting him to be in the room. When she saw nothing out of the ordinary, she ran to the door and locked the deadbolt. Then she rushed to the window overlooking the street below and peered out, searching the sidewalk and street.

  Nothing. Not even any passersby. It was oddly deserted for the time of day – or maybe Corinne just never paid attention before. She couldn’t let herself get paranoid. That’s what Marcus wanted. To throw her off and get into her head.

  “Just keep with the plan,” she told herself.

  But when she approached the suitcase on the bed, once again the phone buzzed. This time it was an actual phone call.

  Corinne stared at the phone like it was a grenade ready to detonate.

  It didn’t say Marcus. And it wasn’t a blocked number.

  Corinne snatched it up and answered in a shaky voice. “Hello?”

  “Hang up and your boyfriend’s dead.”

  Marcus.

  “Don’t touch him,” Corinne said through the thickness in her throat. “This isn’t his fault. It’s between you and me, Marcus.”

  She sat heavily on the edge of the bed, feeling lightheaded. But she had to keep her wits about her.

  “Aren’t you the heroic little slut,” Marcus said with a laugh. “Just do as I say and no one gets hurt.”

  “What do you want?” Corinne grasped the blanket hard to try to stop the trembling.

  “You
’re packing, so that’s a good sign. But then why didn’t you answer your text?”

  “How… how do you know what I’m doing?”

  Silence.

  “Answer the question, Corinne. Are you coming back to me or not?”

  “What if I say no?” she countered, pressing her eyes shut and squeezing yet more tears from her lids that slid down her cheeks.

  “Then no one gets you. You are mine, and you’ve been very bad.”

  “You had no problem fucking other women before I found someone else!” Corinne screamed at the phone.

  “Baby, I’m an alpha male. We’ve been over this. I have needs that you just weren’t satisfying.”

  “Fuck you, Marcus. You’re no alpha male. You’re a runt of the litter. Your family probably threw you out for being a parasite.” Now Corinne trembled with rage instead of fear.

  Marcus hung up.

  “Ahhhhh!” Corinne screamed in frustration and threw the phone at the wall. After a few moments of heavy breathing, she gathered her wits and closed her suitcase. It was time to leave. If she left Gordon, then Marcus wouldn’t have any reason to bother hurting him.

  He had to be okay.

  “I figured you’d be stupid enough to choose this,” Marcus said.

  Corinne spun around to find him standing in the doorway.

  “How’d you get in here?” she asked, dropping her bag and backing toward the bedroom window. She was two stories up though, so she wasn’t sure what good it would do.

  “I took an impression of your key when I visited the firehouse. I’ve been watching you for a while, Corinne. I learned quite a bit about this neighborhood, for example. Like the fact that the duplex next to you is vacant.”

  “The neighborhood is going to buy it to make into a youth hangout,” Corinne said, knowing Marcus could probably care less.

  “That’s a shame.”

  “Why?”

  Marcus edged closer inside the room. “You ruined that for these people, Corinne. You’re such a heartless whore.”

  “What are you talking about, Marcus?” she demanded.

  Marcus inhaled deeply. “Don’t you smell it yet? Oh, wait. You’re human, you won’t be able to until it’s too late. Last chance, Corinne. I’m going to have you one last time either way.”

  Corinne’s mind was spinning, trying to work out what insane ramblings he was going on about. She glanced out the window behind her, hoping to see something that could inspire a way to escape. But instead her heart caught in her chest. Black smoke coiled from the edges of the window to the duplex next door.

  “What did you do?” she whispered, staring at the window as flames leapt against the glass from inside.

  “I started a fire,” Marcus whispered in her ear, sliding her hair off her neck and sending chills down her spine.

  Corinne whipped around to find him pressed against her, pinning her to the window and wall, one hand splayed on either side of her head and a lascivious grin on his face.

  “Why would you do that?” she asked, still in shock.

  “I already told you, if I can’t have you…” Marcus let his words trail off and licked his lips, pointed fangs protruding just enough to show off what he was.

  “You have to do something. I’m not the only person who could get hurt.”

  “You mean the bastard?” he asked, pressing his body into her, against her stomach.

  “I mean other residents. People in the shops around us. There are children who live in these buildings, Marcus!”

  “You should have thought of that before you rejected me,” he shouted in her face, making her flinch.

  “I’ll come with you, okay?” she begged. “You win. Just do something.”

  “Too late. I need a mate who obeys me, and you’re just too much trouble, Corinne.”

  “It can’t be too late,” Corinne cried. “Look. My suitcase is packed. I… I just didn’t know for sure until now.” Maybe if she fed into his delusion, she could find a way to get away later when no one was in danger.

  Marcus yanked the window open and a burst of smoky air swirled inside the room, making her cough.

  “I couldn’t stop it now if I wanted to, Corinne. No one could.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to stare outside, eyes watering from the ash-filled air. “It’s in the walls, Corinne. It’s in the roof and around all the exits. There is no getting out.”

  “But you’re in here, too,” she said when he tossed her on her knees to the ground.

  “I can make the jump from the window in wolf form,” he said easily. “After I’m done with you and I watch you struggle to take your last breath.”

  Corinne collapsed to the floor, crying.

  “Oh, babe, don’t worry. I promise I’ll rock your world one last time first.”

  Fluttering inside of her stomach wakened something inside. She had to fight to protect the life inside of her. She had to try.

  Corinne began crawling toward the door as fast as she could, but Marcus leapt on top of her, pressing her face down to the floor.

  “Come on, babe. Don’t end like this. Let’s both enjoy it.”

  Marcus stood and she rolled over, grabbing her phone where it had fallen after hitting the wall. But it was shattered and wouldn’t light up. Marcus stood by, laughing at her.

  “Come on,” he said, yanking her up by the arm and shoving her back on the bed. “Nice little sundress. Hides your fat stomach well.”

  Marcus yanked hard and the spaghetti straps holding the flowered dress together tore, letting it fall from her exposed chest. She turned and tried to crawl off the other side of the bed, but he grabbed her legs and yanked her back toward him, her dress nothing more than material gathered around her waist as he tugged on her panties until they ripped, leaving her exposed and vulnerable.

  “Gordon will be home any minute!” she lied, grasping for anything that could stop this from happening.

  “That’s why I started that fire on the other side of town first. He’s going to be busy for a while, babe.” Marcus licked his hand and rubbed it between her legs. “You’re so dry, babe. Here you go.”

  Corinne sobbed in response when she heard his zipper.

  “At least Eileen was a challenge even drunk,” he said, holding her down by the waist and positioning himself over her.

  Corinne braced herself best she could, but instead of Marcus’ intended violation came an enormous roar, louder than any wolf she’d ever heard. The very foundation of the building shook as Marcus was ripped away from her.

  Corinne scooted toward the headboard and grabbed a blanket to cover herself with. The room was thick with smoke and her eyes watered as she coughed, trying to gulp in air. But there was no mistaking the hulking form taking up the entire doorway. The dragon had shining red scales that glowed even through the smoke and an enormous snout with razor sharp white teeth protruding from inside. It seemed to smile as it’s bright green eyes honed in on Marcus’ cowering form.

  “Gordon!” Corinne’s heart leapt. He was okay.

  The dragon peered at her with kindness and said in Gordon’s deep, human voice, “Get low to the floor where the air is clearer.”

  Corinne nodded and scampered off the bed to lie on the floor where it really was a bit easier to breathe. She watched as Gordon crept forward on four heavily muscled legs, towering over Marcus, who was transforming into a wolf before them.

  “Don’t bother us again,” Gordon boomed over him. “Out.”

  Marcus bounded toward the open bedroom window, but at the last moment, Corinne realized he was aiming for her. She watched in what felt like slow motion as the wolf soared through the air toward her, fangs barred and ready to rip into her tender flesh.

  She wasn’t ready to die.

  Corinne rolled beneath the bed just in time as the wolf landed, face snapping at her inches away from the side of the bed. She yelped, searching the floor for a weapon of some sort, but then she saw the great jaws of the dragon come down over t
he body of the wolf, completely engulfing him. Blood sprayed the ground as he rose from her sight with a horrible whimper and cry then the sound of what might have been bones crunching.

  Corinne lost her lunch beneath the bed before crawling out the other side.

  “He… he… he’s dead?” she stammered between coughs, confronting the enormous dragon, who’d broken a large portion of the doorframe when he’d burst into the room in his entire form. His tail curled around the entire room and his head had to duck to avoid hitting the ceiling and making fiery chunks of plaster rain down.

  “Not very tasty,” Gordon said with a wink. “Can you climb on my back?”

  Corinne nodded through a longer coughing fit. She glanced toward the doorway and saw actual flames lapping at the ceiling and walls.

  “We’re trapped,” she said, using Gordon’s iridescent scales as handholds to climb onto his back.

  “No. We will be fine. I am immune to fire.”

  “I’m not,” Corinne said, taking firm hold of the base of his neck.

  “You are when you’re with me,” Gordon said and reared back so that she had to grab even tighter.

  Enormous bat-like wings sprung from his sides, smashing through the walls. Corinne screamed, but he opened his snout, releasing a storm of blue fire that burst through the other room, somehow canceling out the one that Marcus set ablaze.

  “Hold your breath,” Gordon instructed and she ducked low to his body, clamping her mouth and nose firmly shut.

  With a powerful whoosh, he beat his wings once, and the rest of the building came crashing down around them as he rose through the ceiling, shielding her by twisting around his massive head.

  Corinne’s heart pounded, making her whole body feel like it was throbbing as they burst up into the sky. She peered over Gordon’s side and saw the ruined building below and the flames still consuming everything around it.

  Gordon reared back again, drawing a deep breath and releasing a stream of flame that put out the rest of the fires, leaving the neighboring buildings unscathed, but a pile of smoldering ruins and shafts of white smoke where their little home and the vacant side had been.

  “You’re my hero,” she whispered in his large ear, which he twitched in response.