Dragon Blood 4: Knight

by Avril Sabine

  “Are you sure you won’t reconsider mating with one of my sons? What about Rian? With his level headedness and your fierceness my grandchildren would be invincible.”

  “No.” Amber and Kade spoke at the same time.

  Ronan shrugged. “It was worth a try. Maybe one day you’ll say yes.”

  “Why are you here, Ronan?”

  “Your mother is having hysterics and after the way you fought for her I thought it was probably not a good idea to deal with her the same way I dealt with Cooper.”

  “Where is she?”

  “My place. Everyone’s there. Including Gary and Miles who were at his office.”

  Amber turned to Kade. “Take me there.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want a shower first?”

  She looked at her bloodstained hands. She could also feel blood on her face. “Ronan, tell her I’ll be there shortly.” Flinging open the bedroom door, she strode towards the bathroom.

  “I’m not a messenger boy,” Ronan called after her.

  She ignored him and guessed he left through the Void because she could no longer feel him in the house. When she returned to the bedroom after having a shower, she found dragon-leather trousers and a vest laid out on the bed for her. Mentally searching for Kade she found him in the lounge room. As soon as she was dressed, she headed there.

  Kade rose from an armchair. “Are you ready to go?”

  She nodded when all she really wanted to do was go somewhere else and try and forget this day had ever happened. An image of her tearing someone’s throat out came to mind and she quickly pushed it away. “Yeah.”

  They arrived at the water garden to find Anrai waiting for them. He showed them to the lounge room where everyone was. Amber heard them long before she reached the room. Charles and Ronan were fighting. She stopped in the doorway, not wanting to deal with more problems.

  She felt eyes on her and looked over to see Roy staring at her. “What’s wrong?” She began to think he wouldn’t answer her.

  “You killed six.”

  A shudder went through her. “I couldn’t have.” The battle hadn’t lasted that long. Surely there’d only been two, maybe three.

  “I saw you. You killed six.”

  Amber swallowed hard, her stomach somersaulting like it was about to empty its contents. She thought of all the blood on her mouth when she’d become human and wondered how much of it she’d swallowed. Her stomach flipped again and she took a deep, shuddering breath. It didn’t help. The scent of blood still on everyone else both repulsed and drew her, making the panther want to escape.

  She held Roy’s eyes. “They threatened my mum.”

  He nodded. “I’d do the same for my family.”

  “Are you going to stand there all day, kitten?”

  Amber looked towards Ronan. “No.”

  “What were you doing?”

  “Talking to Roy.”

  “Don’t worry, Roy, it’ll wear off in a couple of weeks. Four at the most,” Charles said.

  “What were you talking about?” Ronan asked.

  She couldn’t bring herself to say.

  “Her kill count,” Roy said.

  Amber tried not to wince.

  “It was six,” Ronan said.

  Roy met Amber’s eyes. “I told you.”

  Ronan laughed. “Guess that makes it eight now, kitten.” He smiled at her, a mixture of pride in his predatory smile.

  Amber felt uncomfortable, especially with her mother listening to the conversation. She came into the room. “What were you arguing about?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “He wants to keep Donna here,” Helen said.

  “We all know what his hospitality is like,” Charles said.

  Amber shook her head. “No. She’ll go to Temolae Keep.” A thought struck her. “Has anyone warned Jay and Crystal? And what about my dad? Do they know about him?”

  “I sent Golds to watch each of them,” Ronan said.

  Kade was right. They really needed to get more of their own Golds. They relied on Ronan far too much. She turned to her grandfather. “Today hasn’t changed our deal any.”

  “What deal?” Donna demanded.

  “To spend time with the Knights.”

  “Is that what they’ve been teaching you? How to fight? I saw you before Kade took me out of there. You killed that man. Stabbed him in the back like he didn’t matter.”

  Anger hit her. She’d saved her mother’s life and now she was in trouble? How wrong was that? “He was going to kill you. What was I supposed to do? Let him?”

  Donna shook her head. “No, but…” Her voice trailed off.

  Amber crossed the room, stopping in front of her mother who was seated in an armchair. “It was him or us. Would you have preferred he killed me?”

  “No!” Donna rose to her feet. Her hands reached for Amber’s shoulders. “No. I don’t want anyone to kill you and I don’t want you to have to kill anyone. You’re a child. This isn’t right.”

  Amber smiled at the irony. “I think the phrase is it’s not fair.”

  “When did you stop being my little girl?”

  The pain in her mother’s voice made her ache. She’d had longer to get used to it all than her mother had. “I didn’t, Mum.” She closed the distance between them, giving her mother a fierce hug before stepping away.

  “Something certainly changed.”

  “Yeah, it’s called growing up.” She faced Ronan. “Did any of the enemy survive?” She again pushed the image of blood from her mind.

  “Not a single one.” Ronan’s smile still had a touch of fatherly pride in it.

  Amber nodded. “Have your Golds take my family and the two mages to my castle. Then return the Knights to their headquarters.”

  “Are you giving me orders, kitten?”

  Amber smiled, slowly walking towards him. “Are you saying my suggestions don’t make sense?”

  “They sounded like orders to me.”

  “We’re not leaving until we know what’s going on,” Charles said.

  “I’m not leaving until I know you’re safe,” Donna said to Amber.

  “I’ll see you after school on Monday, Mum.” She turned to Charles and Helen. “I’ll be back at the headquarters within the hour. I need to make sure everything and everyone is secure.”

  “This is our business too,” Charles said.

  Amber shook her head. “No. It isn’t.”

  Helen gestured towards Donna. “She’s our daughter. Whatever you’re up to, put her in danger.”

  “I’m not up to anything other than being sick of always being the target.” Amber tried to take a deep calming breath, but it was going to take more than that to feel calm. Especially with the scent of blood in the room. “So you can stop blaming me for everything that goes wrong.”

  Anrai picked Cooper up off the floor, swinging him over his shoulder and disappeared into the Void. Chait grabbed Miles and Alsandair took hold of Gary. They all vanished.

  Amber looked at Ronan, a question in her expression. When he nodded, she nodded also.

  “Let me go.” Donna tried to pull away from Chait who had returned already. It didn’t help. She vanished into the Void.

  “Don’t think you’re going to take us out of here like that,” Charles said.

  Ronan grinned. “You’re welcome to stay if you want. Your room is still prepared.”

  Chait, Anrai and Alsandair reappeared, each standing next to a Knight. Amber held up a hand. “Wait.” When no one moved, she continued. “I won’t be long. Even if you stayed you wouldn’t be able to hear what was going on. So you might as well go.”

  Charles pointed a warning finger at her. “If you’re more than an hour you owe us an extra day.”

  She nodded, letting her hand fall to her side. The three dragons took that as a signal to take the Knights through the Void. Amber turned to Ronan. “What now?”

  “We wait.”

  “For what?”

 
Ronan shrugged. “Things.”

  “He’s still waiting for you to help him take out Tahmid and support him in claiming a Council seat,” Kade said.

  “So this hasn’t changed anything?” Amber demanded.

  “Of course it’s changed things. I need to get you a pair of daggers. That move of yours, coming up behind them like that, was inspiring. It’d work much better with a pair of daggers.”

  Amber felt like growling. “Be serious, Ronan.”

  He crossed the space between them. “I’m always serious when it comes to survival.”

  She felt Kade come closer, but kept her eyes on Ronan’s, catching a flash of gold in the depths. “They’re all going to find out soon, aren’t they? You’re going to stop hiding what you are.”

  Ronan nodded. “The time is coming. I will take their warrior sword and step up onto their dais and all will see I am Gold. No one will be able to argue the fact since it’s impossible for anyone but Gold to hold the sword. Then things will change.”

  Amber felt fear skitter through her. She didn’t want things to change. “What changes? You planning on trying to rule the world?”

  “No. Dealing with things that should have been dealt with back when I was a boy. This change would come with or without me. This way we’ll be prepared and we will win.”

  “What changes?”

  “In time, kitten. In time.” His gaze went over her shoulder to Kade. “You can go now.”

  Amber was tempted to argue, but she knew Ronan. He kept his plans to himself. Never sharing them until the last minute. She stepped backwards, feeling the warmth of Kade’s chest against her back. His arms went around her waist. “Take me to your place, Kade.” Ronan’s gaze remained on her until they vanished.

  When they arrived in Kade’s room, she remained in his arms, turning to face him, sliding her arms around his neck as she looked up at him. “I don’t want to go back.” Even with her eyes open she could still see the blood. She dreaded to think what the night would bring.

  “Charles will make you stay an extra day.”

  She remained silent for a moment. “Is everyone safe? All my family?”

  “Rian and Maira will make sure of it. We’ll get more Golds. Whatever it takes.”

  She looked into his eyes seeing determination in the golden brown. A fierceness rushed through her and she clasped her hands at the back of his neck. “You too. Make sure you’re safe too.”

  He lowered his head, his lips meeting hers. When he finally drew away, he smiled. “You too.”

  She nodded then hesitated. The hour must be getting close to over. “Take me back.”

  Kade took them through the Void coming out in the shadows of the fig tree out the front of the Knights’ headquarters. He kissed her one last time before he let her go.

  Amber took a step backwards, her eyes still on his. One more step. “I love you.” She smiled at his raised brow. She knew the question he asked. “You’re mine.” She spun striding towards the front door, his laughter following her.

  “You’re mine too, Amber.”

  Her smile vanished as she stepped inside to find Charles and Roy waiting for her.

  Charles checked his watch. “Barely.”

  She bit back the caustic reply that came to mind. “Did you want something?”

  “What did Ronan want?”

  Amber laughed. “Haven’t we already had this conversation?” Crossing the room, she spoke to Roy. “I’m starved. Take me to the dinning room. I need lunch.” Especially since it was well past lunchtime.

  “I haven’t finished talking to you.”

  Reaching the door, she opened it, looking back over her shoulder, laughter gone. “I told you not to bother with stupid questions.” She stepped through the doorway, walking beside Roy. After he’d glanced at her for probably the tenth time, she demanded, “What?”

  “Huh?”

  “You keep looking at me like I’m some strange creature from outer space or something.”

  “Is it all an act?”

  “You’re really going to have to be a little clearer.” She wasn’t in the mood for cryptic conversations.

  “In class you’re hopeless. A first year Knight could kill you. But I saw you today. You’re a warrior. Changing shape, killing, never there when their sword pierces the spot where you’d just been. I saw a bit of it when you fought my uncles, but today…” his voice trailed off and he shook his head. “Today you were invincible.”

  “They threatened my mum.”

  “I was beginning to think you weren’t a killer. That Isaac was a fluke. But you are. You tore through that house.”

  She wished people would stop calling her that. It wasn’t true. “I’m not a killer. They threatened my mum.”

  Roy stopped walking and faced her, a door at his back. “So what are you then?”

  She stared at him a moment then smiled, almost laughing when Roy took a step back, running into the door. “Protective.” When he continued to stand there, she spoke again. “Don’t threaten what’s mine and I won’t have to turn protective.”

  “You saved me.” He shook his head slowly, his eyes not leaving hers. “I can see you don’t even remember it. Two of them attacked me. I parried one, another sword was coming for me. I had no chance to block it. Then you were there, tearing his throat out. Why?”

  He was right. She didn’t recall it. All she remembered was the blood. An ocean of blood. He continued to wait for her to speak and she tried to think of something to say. “In that battle, we were allies.”

  “Are we now?”

  “I don’t know. You tell me.”

  “If we are, then Dominic might be right. I am a traitor.” He turned and opened the door, walking into the dining room.

  Amber followed him, glancing around the empty room, the word traitor ringing in her mind. She sat at the table Roy gestured towards while he went behind the counter and made them sandwiches. They ate silently and Roy cleaned up before he led Amber to their classroom. They found a note from Stanley.

  Ripping it off the door, Amber crumpled it up. “I’m getting sick of the training room.”

  Roy grabbed the paper from her when she started to throw it. “I would have thought you’d be happy to miss archery.” He headed along the corridor.

  Amber walked beside him. “I’d rather go home and forget about all of this.”

  When they reached the training room, she got on the exercise bike since Stanley hadn’t specified anything in particular. Pulling out her phone she sent a message to Rian, asking how her mother was.

  I have removed her phone from her because she kept threatening to call the police. She is demanding that I take her to you.

  She momentarily closed her eyes, not wanting to even think about any more problems.

  “Are you okay,” Roy asked.

  She looked over at him. He was doing chin-ups. “Yeah. Mum is being difficult.”

  Roy grinned. “I know what that’s like.”

  Amber reluctantly smiled. She guessed he did. Looking down at her phone, she tried to think of a reply. Tell her I’ll see her Monday afternoon and she has to stay there to keep us both safe. No more messages came from Rian and she hoped he had it all under control. If anyone could eventually calm her mother down, it was Rian.

  When dinnertime finally arrived, Roy led her to the dinning room where they had a table to themselves. Again she reminded him he didn’t need to sit with her and again he ignored her. She was glad when they’d finished eating and she could retreat to her room. It had been far too long a day and she was sick of the looks the other kids were sending her and the whispered conversations they thought she couldn’t hear. One day they’d be the killer they kept calling her, but they’d be seeking out what they killed. She’d only ever killed those who had tried to turn her into their prey. She had no idea how they’d heard about the fight. Maybe someone had overheard Charles or Helen talking about it. She doubted Roy would have said anything. Not with how concerned
he was that he might be a traitor.

  Lying in her bed, she tossed and turned, trying to sleep. And when it came, blood filled her dreams. She tried to save her family, tried to save her friends, but they were washed away in a sea of blood. She woke gasping, holding back a scream, fireballs in her hands, Roy backing away, his hand still outstretched.

  “It’s okay.”

  She extinguished one of the fireballs, keeping one to see by. “What are you doing here?”

  “Isaac told me to watch over you tonight. You sounded like you were having a bad dream.”

  “What did I say?”

  “Nothing. Your breathing changed and you were thrashing about. They wouldn’t have heard anything out of the ordinary.”

  She remembered telling Isaac she had more than enough blood soaked nightmares without him giving her more. “Why did he tell you that?”

  “I told him about today. I couldn’t sleep so I rang him. Before he hung up he said I should watch over you tonight.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Go back to sleep. I’ll stay here.”

  “I couldn’t sleep now.”

  “I haven’t been able to sleep either.”

  She stared at him in the glow of her fireball. Maybe physically exhausting herself might help. “Is there somewhere we can train?”

  Roy nodded.

  She remembered what Ronan has said. “Are there any daggers around here I can borrow?”

  “I’ve got a pair in my room.” He led the way.

  Amber waited at the door for him to get them from his wardrobe. Her gaze travelled the room, surprised at how unlived in it looked. Roy handed her the daggers, handle first, before leading her to their classroom, turning on the light. She blinked as her eyes grew accustomed to the brightness. Extinguishing the fireball, she put a dagger in each hand. When Roy removed a dagger from his boot, she grinned. How many daggers did one person need?

  Hours passed as they trained, exhaustion dragging at Amber. When she finally thought she might be able to sleep, she noticed the door was slightly open and Charles stood in the hallway watching them. She met his gaze as she retuned the daggers and followed Roy from the room. He didn’t speak to her and she didn’t speak to him. Halfway down the corridor she looked over her shoulder to find Charles continued to watch her. She had no idea what he was thinking and was too tired to care. Ronan would probably call her an idiot and tell her she always needed to know what the enemy was thinking, but she was tired. Sick of battle, tired of always looking over her shoulder and exhausted from lack of sleep. Maybe when she woke up she might care again. Although she doubted it.