The Dragon Master

by Allyson James

  Seth felt his own body compressing, a sensation he already hated. The first time it had happened the pain had been horrific, and he'd fought like a mad thing. This time his flesh adapted more quickly, his dragon self sliding into the human pattern it now knew. His dragon essence seared into the tattoo across his lower back, then the pain was gone.

  He stepped through the door with Carol in his arms and found himself in a strange dark place that looked nothing like Lisa's apartment.

  * * *

  Chapter Six

  Carol slid to her feet. "Where are we? What happened?"

  Behind Seth, the way to Dragonspace snicked shut. They stood alone in a huge room that was bone-chilling cold. Rafters extended toward a high roof that was lost in darkness, and a faint reddish glow came from the right. Other than that, the place was empty.

  "Malcolm?" Carol whispered.

  Seth moved close to her. The weight of the black dragon's thoughts had vanished along with the heat of Dragonspace. "He's not here."

  "I know this place."

  Seth knew with icy certainty that he did, too. He recognized the red glow, the cold, the fear. "Do you?"

  "I don't mean I've ever been here before. When you were called away from me in Union Square, I saw this. Red and black, with something horrible in the middle of it. Like a man behind an opaque bubble, but it wasn't a man, at least I don't think so."

  "I saw it, too."

  Seth started forward cautiously, keeping Carol's hand in his. The floor was freezing to his bare feet, and his breath fogged in the air.

  "Is this a warehouse?" he asked. "The place Malcolm spoke of?"

  "This would be one. An empty one. The red light is from an emergency exit sign over there."

  She pointed. Seth noted the glow from the words and the red bulb that spilled down into the darkness. A very ordinary, mechanical, human thing, but it didn't seem quite right.

  "We should leave," he said.

  "I couldn't agree more. Though how I'm going to find a taxi in the warehouse district with a naked man, I don't know." She sighed. "Maybe someone left behind some work clothes or something."

  She released his hand and began walking into the deeper shadow.

  As though she'd sprung a trap, Seth felt the sudden weight of evil swirling out of the dark. "Carol, no."

  She turned back just as the shadows lit up with dancing red light. Five incubi, including the two that had gone into Carol's office, appeared out of nowhere, guarding a glasslike column in which a man floated.

  Seth couldn't see much of the man, who rippled and shimmered as though he were under deep, oily water. But he felt him. The being's aura was thick and black, threads crawling along the underside of the glass and trickling out to encircle each of the incubi.

  "That's what I saw," Carol whispered.

  A wave of darkness came from the glass, pushing past the incubi straight for Carol. At the same time Seth heard the music of his true name turn to a disharmonic snarl.

  Carol pulled back at Seth's name, and he suddenly felt himself being ripped in two.

  "Carol," he rasped.

  Carol tried to untangle herself from his name, fighting the threads, but she only succeeded in ripping him more.

  Seth's tattoo seared, sparking like the fire it represented. Drawing the last of his strength Seth grabbed Carol and wrapped his arms around her. "Hold on."

  "What are you�?"

  Carol's startled words cut off as Seth became flame, his human body meeting the fire that lifted from his back. He surrounded and bound Carol with it and shot off with her high into the warehouse, seeking the open window at the top.

  Seth sailed hard and fast across the sky that had become inexplicably dark during their absence, angling across the glittering city to the place Carol lived.

  The street was deserted, the house dark as he shot in through the open front door of the house on Russian Hill. He flew up the twisting stairwell to the top, then he unwound from Carol and flowed into his human self again.

  Carol leaned against the door frame, breathing hard. "That was�different. How did that work?"

  Seth didn't care how it worked, he only cared that it had worked. He braced his hand on the wall next to her and leaned down to kiss her.

  Carol went rigid, then her lips softened to his, and she wound her hands around his neck. He flattened himself against her, feeling every inch of her body with his.

  Something white-hot jumped from his mouth to hers. It flashed back through his body, and Carol jerked away.

  "What was that?" she asked, eyes wide. "That happened before."

  "I've never been human before. I'm learning this, too."

  She slid out from under him, and his body was suddenly cold without her against him. "We need to get inside before one of my neighbors comes out and sees me kissing a naked man." She patted her jacket in dismay. "Except my keys are at Lisa's. I left my coat and purse there."

  Seth softly touched the locks. He sent a tiny trickle of dragon fire through them, and they clicked open.

  Carol scuttled inside and pulled him in after her. "Nice trick. Can all dragons do that?"

  "I don't know. I haven't asked them."

  She shut the door and did up the locks, then tiredly flicked a switch that lit up the room.

  "So why is it night now when we only left Lisa's at ten in the morning?" she asked. "We weren't in your place that long�were we?"

  Seth closed the curtains over the window across the room. "Time moves differently in Dragonspace. It was a bright afternoon when I was dragged out of it, and I landed in the alley in the middle of the night."

  Carol folded her arms, which pushed her breasts into a curved shelf. "So it could be a different day?" She looked at blue numbers on a machine opposite her sofa. "No, same day. We need to tell Lisa what happened to us, why we didn't come through with Malcolm."

  At the moment Seth didn't care about Malcolm, or the silver dragon, or what they'd seen. Carol was beautiful watching him with her eyes the color of the coffee Malcolm had drunk that morning. Her skin was creamy with a tinge of olive, a fine contrast to the black hair that swept back from her forehead.

  He went to her and touched his fingertips to her lips, which parted, her eyes darkening. Seth brushed her skin bared by the top buttons of her blouse and found it incredibly smooth. He let his hand slide down and around to her backside, liking how the full curve fit into his palm.

  "Really should call Lisa," she rasped.

  Seth ran his hand up her torso and along her chin, releasing her with reluctance. "Call her, then."

  Carol made for the phone in the kitchen, rubbing her arms as she walked. As she punched numbers, Seth couldn't stop himself coming up behind her and sliding his hands to her hips.

  He heard Lisa's voice through the device. "Carol, are you all right?"

  Carol began speaking rapidly, explaining to Lisa what had happened.

  "Malcolm told us about the warehouse," Lisa said. "You stay put while he, Caleb, and I check it out." She hesitated. "I don't like that this being, whoever he is, could call you through a door of his own, canceling out mine. No one should be able to do that."

  Carol didn't answer, her eyes going remote as though she'd realized something. Seth kissed her cheek, but Carol didn't pay any attention.

  "Carol, are you still there?" Lisa asked.

  Carol jumped. "Yes, sorry. Be careful, Lisa. Those incubi or whatever they are looked dangerous."

  Lisa's laugh sounded like silver chimes. "They should be careful of me. And Malcolm and Caleb. Trust me, Carol, we've done this before. Don't go anywhere, and tell Seth to stay with you. I don't want you unprotected."

  Seth was busy biting Carol's earlobe. "I don't think he wants to go anywhere."

  "I didn't think he would." Lisa sounded amused. "I'll call you later and tell you about it. Stay put."

  "Fine by me," Carol said, and clicked the phone off.

  She went still again, staring off into space as
she held the phone absently in her fingers. Seth nipped the earlobe a little harder, and Carol started and looked around.

  Seth stroked her cheek. "Something troubles you."

  Carol's dark eyes held fear and confusion. "Lisa said she didn't like that whoever that was could pull us to the warehouse and override her door like that."

  "I heard her. I don't like it either."

  "Except�" She gnawed her lip, then looked up at him, the fear in her eyes deepening. "I don't think he overrode the door, Seth, I did."

  Seth's dark gaze was enigmatic as he studied her. Carol's body still flushed from his hands on her skin and his mouth on her earlobe. She'd never had a lover want her so thoroughly, a man who wanted to touch, lick, and nip every part of her.

  The fact that he wanted her was almost as unnerving as discovering she could bind dragons and open doors from an alien world to her own.

  And yet, it felt natural in an odd sort of way, as though she'd always known how to do these things. She felt like someone picking up a musical instrument for the first time and discovering she was a virtuoso. The talent had to be nurtured and developed, but it had always been there, biding its time.

  Carol thought of the evil she'd sensed inside the rippling column, the awful power that had snaked out to strike them. Seth had carried them swiftly to safety, but Lisa and her friends were walking right into it.

  "I can't let them face that alone," she said.

  Seth let go of her and straightened to his full height, his strong, tall body like a reassuring wall. "If she is truly a silver dragon, she is the most powerful dragon in the universe. So the legends go."

  "But this evil being that's been summoning you is a Dragon Master, isn't he? Isn't it logical that all dragons are in danger of him? If he can figure out your true name, can he do that to Caleb and Malcolm, too? Maybe Lisa as well?"

  "If he harnesses the warrior strength of a golden dragon, or the intellectual power of a black, he will be strong indeed."

  "Plus he could hurt them."

  Seth nodded, his black eyes intense. "The power of the true name is painful. The worst pain there is."

  "Do you think you can find that warehouse again?"

  "Yes."

  He came to her, his naked body solid with muscle, ready to wrap her in his arms and take off again. She put up her hands to stave him off. "I think we should drive this time."

  Seth cupped her face in his hands, and once more his lips brushed fire into her. He smiled slightly. "If you insist."

  They drove south of the city in Carol's dark BMW. Seth, dressed now in more of the clothes Axel had brought last night, sat uncomfortably in the soft leather seat beside her.

  The car was nothing short of luxurious. Carol had bought it for herself as a reward when she made her first million. She had much of that million still salted away in growing retirement funds for Ming Ue and Shaiming as well as a cushion for the restaurants.

  Seth, she realized, didn't give a damn about money or cushy cars. She understood better his impatience and anger at being tied down in this world now that she'd seen the wild beauty he'd left behind in Dragonspace. He could fly across that world in the blink of an eye�no doubt he thought her method of transportation slow and dull.

  Maybe when she figured out what was going on and things got back to normal, she would have Seth take her flying in Dragonspace again. Carol had been born and bred in San Francisco's Chinatown, but something about the wild beauty of Seth's home called to her. She longed to soar again over broad mountains and rocky deserts, breathing in the fresh, sharp wind of emptiness.

  Seth couldn't tell her exactly how to get to the warehouse, because he'd flown away fast. He could only point and say, "That way," and Carol had to navigate streets to orient them in the appropriate direction.

  After a long time of driving and backtracking, Seth finally indicated a huge building sitting in the middle of an unused portion of docks. Carol pulled up alongside a smaller car that belonged to Saba, but her friends were nowhere in sight.

  Seth wouldn't let her out of the car until he'd come around and opened her door for her. Carol shivered as she emerged and studied the deserted parking lot. Rusted cranes towered beyond the warehouse, used in their day to load containers onto waiting cargo ships. A container, likely empty, still hung from chains on one of them, drifting in the breeze like a hanged man.

  The huge metal doors to the truck bays were closed, a glass door that led to what had been an office broken long ago. Black graffiti covered the outside walls, blotting out most of the original color of the brick.

  Seth found another door tucked in a narrow passage between buildings. The metal door was ajar, the padlock rusted through.

  Before they could open it. Malcolm yanked it back from the inside and came striding out. His silver eyes gleamed eerily in the darkness, the breeze stirring his long hair.

  "They're gone," he said.

  Carol craned her head to look past him but saw nothing in the inky darkness. No shimmering column, no incubi, no red light. Carol couldn't even see the exit sign, which, come to think of it, couldn't have been lit, because no electricity flowed in this building. It was dark, silent, and deathly cold.

  "What happened?" Carol asked him.

  "Nothing happened. We arrived, but the Dragon Master had gone."

  "That was him then, inside that column thing?"

  Malcolm nodded. "They must have moved him."

  "Who? The incubi? Or the Order of the Black Lotus?"

  Malcolm looked from Seth to Carol. "What do you know of the Order of the Black Lotus?"

  Carol shrugged. "They don't like Dragon Masters."

  "It's also a fraternal order of some of the most prominent men in the city," Malcolm said in a grim voice.

  Carol looked at him in surprise. "I'd never heard of them before Zhen told me about them."

  "It's a deep, dark secret. Membership in the Order is inherited, and the only way to become a member is through the death of the previous male heir."

  She digested this with some disquiet. "If it's such a secret, how do you know?"

  "He's a black dragon," Seth said. "They pride themselves on being know-it-alls."

  Malcolm looked annoyed. Seth placed his hands on Carol's shoulders, his music in her head changing to wariness and caution.

  "Where are the others?" he asked Malcolm.

  "I sent them away. Saba didn't want to leave Adara too long, even with Ming Ue baby sitting her. I elected to stay and wait for you."

  Carol blinked. "But you didn't know we were coming."

  "I calculated the odds of you not being able to stay home at about ninety-seven-point-nine-to-one. You are a woman who likes to take charge of situations, even situations you don't understand."

  "Forgive me for worrying about my friends. I realized that dragons hunting down a Dragon Master wasn't a good idea."

  "And that is true." Malcolm's intense gaze raked over her, then Seth. "There are three ways to bind a dragon. A witch may learn his true name by trickery, which is what happened to Caleb and myself. Or a dragon's true name can be read from the Book of All Dragons, if the person knows how to get past the securities in the Dragon Archive. The third way is through a Dragon Master."

  He gave her a pointed look. As his meaning sunk in, Carol's mouth grew dry, but something deep inside her gave a satisfied chuckle. The great dragons fear you.

  "I'd never hurt you," she said hurriedly. "You're the same as family."

  Malcolm answered without changing inflection. "Dragon Masters can call the true names of any dragon, and a very strong master can enslave several dragons at once. We don't know what your powers are at this point, but we do know you can't control them. That means none of us are safe from you."

  Something inside Carol flared in sudden anger. She reached out with gray-black thought threads without realizing it and touched the silver threads of Malcolm's aura.

  Without effort she followed the threads down to the essence o
f Malcolm's being, where, at the bottom of the tangle, his true name lay. All she had to do was reach out and take it.

  She sang a note, and Malcolm looked at her in horror.

  No!

  The air shimmered with black dragon energy, Malcolm ready to change into his dragon form. The power within Carol moved to the next note, and the next.

  She closed her eyes, clenching her teeth. "Stop," she shouted. "Malcolm, if you become a dragon I'll snare you. I can't stop myself. Get out of here."

  Malcolm hesitated a fraction of a second, then the energy diminished. "Talk to Ming Ue," he said.

  "Just go."

  Carol heard Malcolm's boots on the echoing floor as he walked with measured stride out of the warehouse. After a moment, the car outside started, the sound loud in the silence. Carol opened her eyes.

  Seth was watching her, his gaze intense.

  "He's right, isn't he?" Carol asked, a coldness inside her. "I wanted to trap him, something wanted to prove I could."

  "Dragon Masters are powerful. They are very rare, but all dragons fear them."

  "And now dragons fear me. Including you."

  Seth only watched her, his thought threads still jangling.

  Carol had never been uncertain before. In her life she'd seen clear paths and made conscious decisions to follow them. Never had the way been murky or the path strewn with obstacles she didn't have the confidence to navigate around.

  For the first time in her life, she looked at another living being and said, "What am I going to do?"

  Seth didn't reply. She knew he wanted to get as far away from her as fast as he could, like Malcolm, except he couldn't. Even now, the Dragon Master in her clasped the chains that held him and tightened them a notch.

  Seth's body jerked in response, and he rumbled in his throat.

  Carol let go, but the thud-thud of his heart reached her through their bond.