Drakkar ~ Beyond the Lie (A Dark Order of the Dragon Novel Book 3)

by Sandra Bischoff

  He approached the crib. The child lying inside turned toward him and smiled. Her dark eyes took on a dim amber glow and she reached out for him happily. Drakkar was taken back by her trust. He was a stranger to her and yet she wanted him to hold her.

  Drake bent over and wrapped the blanket around her before lifting little Annabelle from the crib. He held her close. She touched his face with her tiny hand. A vision flashed behind his eyes of everyone who lived there in the family room. He walked in and his father rose from the overstuffed chair next to the fireplace welcoming him with a warm embrace.

  The vision broke off there. A tear rolled down Drakkar’s cheek. If only that vision were reality.

  “I’m so sorry I have to do this. But I have no choice,” he whispered, placing a kiss on Anna’s head.

  “What do you have to do, Jared,” the gentle female voice behind him asked.

  Drakkar stiffened. He never heard the door open. Never heard her approach. And now she blocked the only way for him to escape. Drake eyed the tall window next to the crib. When one door is blocked . . . .

  “I- I have to leave. I don’t want to, but I have to. I was just saying good-bye,” he stammered, glancing over his shoulder.

  Alex Bonatelli, his father’s wife, stood behind him, her arms crossed. “I thought you left a half hour ago. What are you really doing here?” She narrowed her glowing eyes on him. “You’re not my husband. Who are you?”

  “Ah . . . .” Drakkar backed up into the window. He waved his hand. It flew open, the breeze from outside blowing the filmy curtains into the room, obscuring her view of him.

  “I’m sorry. I have to do this or my mother dies.”

  “Wait!”

  Alex lunged for him as he jumped from the second story window. Landing, he looked up over his shoulder to see the wolf’s bride at the window with an arrow trained on him. That was all the motivation he needed to sprint across the lawn. She let the string go and the arrow landed in the grass to his right. Drakkar’s heart pounded in his chest as he ran for the cover of the woods. Annabelle laughed and clapped her hands.

  “Now’s not really the time, kid,” Drakkar scolded her through a smile, amazed that he pulled it off.

  He reached the edge of the clearing. Drake grabbed the duffel bag. A growl vibrated behind him a few yards away. Lance was in wolf form running across the lawn, bearing down on him fast. Drake slipped into the trees, running as fast as he could. He didn’t know how far he got when he made it to the other end of the long driveway. But instead of finding the car he’d hidden, there was a tan station wagon with tinted windows.

  From the other side of the car, five people emerged. As they rounded the car, Drakkar hugged Annabelle protectively. The leader stepped forward, illuminated by the moon light. Drake’s jaw fell when he saw Vince and his crew.

  “Give me your jacket.” Vince reached his hand out, holding his own coat in his hand. “Come on, you don’t have all night. He’ll be here in another minute.”

  Drakkar did as he was told and exchanged jackets with the shifter. “Why?”

  Vince smirked. “Be glad you have friends who will stand by you. My coat will cover your scent.” He tossed Drakkar’s jacket around to his friends who made sure to rub it against their own clothes. “We’ll have him on a wild goose chase.”

  “What about me? Where’s my car?”

  “You’re covered there, too.” Vince moved aside. “Get in.”

  “What?”

  Serenity rolled down the passenger window. “Are ya deaf? He said get in, Drakkar.”

  Drake almost collapsed when he saw her smile.

  “Come on! Come on,” Serenity yelled. “The fog I created won’t hold him back forever.”

  Vince opened the door and shoved Drakkar inside. As soon as the door closed, Serenity hit the gas and spun off down the driveway. Drake looked in the mirror as the window closed, Vince and his pack shifted and scattered in the woods, each one carrying a piece of Drakkar’s coat. One of the guys who stayed human started Drakkar’s getaway car and followed them, only to speed off in the other direction when they hit the main road.

  Neither one spoke a word as they travelled north. About fifteen minutes into their ride, Serenity pulled off the highway to set up the car seat for Annabelle. She strapped her in securely, then started driving again. The only communication she shared with him was a hand signal to keep quiet.

  Drakkar took out his cell phone and started flipping through various social media websites looking to see if what they did posted anywhere. Serenity saw what he was doing and veered into the shoulder, slamming on the brakes. His seat belt nearly choked him.

  She held out her hand. “Give me that, now.”

  “Give you what?”

  “Your phone. Give it to me now.” Her hand shot out and grabbed it from him.

  “What the hell?” He made a lunge for the phone as she got out of the car, but his seat belt kept him from following. Drake watched in horror when she shut the phone off, dropped it on the ground, and proceeded to stomp on it, shattering the phone into oblivion. Then calm as can be, Serenity got back in and resumed their trip.

  “What did you do that for? I was trying to see if anyone posted-”

  “I know what you were doing. But until we are a safe distance away and they don’t have a means to track us, cell phones, internet, or any kind of technology is off limits. Got it?” She gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Drakkar, but all of us aren’t sticking our necks out to help you just to get caught right away.”

  “I didn’t ask you to do this for me. I was perfectly capable of doing this on my own,” he mumbled.

  “Do you realize Jared’s first in command was right on your heels? If we didn’t step in, you would be in a jail cell right now.”

  Drakkar was about to argue the point, but shut his mouth. He stared out the window at the pitch black world passing them by, interrupted periodically by a street light or sign over the highway. One of the advantages they had was the need to travel at night. It made traffic almost nonexistent and they were putting serious millage behind them in a short amount of time.

  He looked over his shoulder at the baby. Her wide dark brown eyes looked right back at him. Drake swallowed. He felt awful for taking her from the only safe place she knew. But if it weren’t him, Absinthe would have found another way to abduct her. At least this way he would make sure nothing happened to her. He wasn’t about to let anyone hurt his family.

  “You okay back there?” He gave her a halfhearted smile.

  Little Annabelle blinked and gnawed on her fist. Stopped. Made a face. Then gnawed again.

  “That can’t taste that good.” The baby paused and stared at him. She pulled her fist from her mouth and whimpered.

  “Uh, what do I do?” Drakkar gave Serenity a terrified look. “Why is she making that noise? Why is she chewing her hand?”

  Nettie rolled her eyes. “I think she’s hungry. Did you at least get something for her to eat? Formula?”

  Drakkar reached over the back seat and rooted around, feeling for his duffel bag. When his hand touched it, he nearly shouted for joy. “I think I’ve got something in here.” He unzipped it and searched through the various baby things, handing his sister a toy -bumpy rings connected by a central flat one- to keep her busy while he put a bottle together. Once made, he handed it to her, but all it did was fall into her lap.

  “I don’t think she’s old enough to hold it herself. You’re going to have to feed her. Climb in the back and sit next to her,” Serenity advised.

  “How about you pull over, let me drive, and you feed her?” He grinned.

  Serenity shot him a look that said, not on your life buddy. “No.”

  “Why not? I can drive, too, you know.”

  “I don’t doubt that. But you don’t know where we’re headed, I do. Now stop your griping and feed your sister. We’ll be at the hand off spot soon.” She turned her attention back to the road.

  D
rake felt helpless. He’d never been around babies. He didn’t know the first thing about taking care of one. He thought Serenity would have taken over. Nice to see he was wrong.

  Lucky for him, the car she chose was big enough for him to climb into the back without having to pull over. The constant stopping hurt their getaway time.

  He picked up the bottle. “Okay, little one. You’re hungry and I want to feed you. I’m not sure how this works, so you’re going to have to help me a little bit.”

  Annabelle giggled and reached out a hand to him. Drake put out his hand and she latched onto his pointer finger, grabbing it in a death hold. He laughed, moving the bottle closer to her mouth, which was now opening and closing like a goldfish. When it was close enough, she bit down on it so he couldn’t pull it away. Her eyes drooped before finally closing all the while sucking away on the nipple.

  Drakkar sat quietly watching her. She was a perfect little being the likes of which he’d never seen before up close and personal. Sure he’d seen babies, human ones for the most part, in public and on television but never held one with his own hands, let alone fed one. And this wasn’t just anyone, this was his sister. Annabelle was special, not just to him and her family, but to the whole kingdom. She had no idea what her destiny included.

  He did though, and that was why he needed to make sure she never fell into Absinthe’s hands.

  “You’re really good with her.”

  Meeting Serenity’s gaze in the rearview mirror, Drake shrugged. “She likes me, I guess.”

  “No, I think it’s a little more than that. She knows who you are.” Nettie smiled. “Somehow she instinctively knows you’re her brother and you won’t let anyone hurt her. Otherwise I’m pretty sure she’d be screaming up a storm by now.”

  “You think so?” Drakkar returned his attention to the baby happily sucking on a bottle, almost asleep while holding onto him for dear life.

  “Absolutely.”

  Serenity signaled to exit the highway. They were so far north, Drakkar lost track of where they were. He would have checked on his GPS, but Nettie destroyed his phone hours ago. Not that he really cared about their location. He was just glad he was with Serenity.

  And no, he wasn’t going to admit to her he was relieved when she drove up in a getaway car. That would only prove to her he was desperate and didn’t know what he was doing. No matter how true that was, he’d take that admission to the grave with him.

  They made a left and followed the dimly lit street until the lights became scarcer. Then it was a few more miles after several turns. To tell the truth, he lost track of how many turns. All he knew was they were well off the beaten path.

  Sunrise was approaching fast when Serenity finally pulled onto a dirt road. They followed it to a small log cabin. From the outside it looked like something in a Thomas Kincaid painting. A fire burning in the fireplace creating a steady stream of smoke to rise from the chimney, warm lights welcoming visitors from the inside, and a pair of rocking chairs out on the front porch.

  Quaint and cozy, something Drakkar knew nothing about.

  He opened the door and got out, stretching. A slight tingle vibrated on the back of his neck, alerting him that sunrise was only minutes away. Not wasting another minute, he tossed the black duffel bag over his shoulder and slammed the door. Almost immediately, Annabelle cried. Drakkar ran to the other side of the car and opened the door, soothing her. She took one look at him and stopped crying, but kept her bottom lip jutted out in a huge pout, making him feel awful for waking her.

  “I’m sorry, little one. Please don’t cry anymore.” He lifted her from the car seat and wrapped a blanket around her.

  “Uh, Drakkar, we really have to get the two of you inside. I’ll grab everything else,” Serenity gently prodded, aiming him toward the front door.

  He was halfway there when another car was revealed in the driveway behind some bushes. “Hey, Serenity?”

  She was slinging two backpacks over her shoulder and picking up the car seat from the ground when she looked up at him. “Yeah?”

  “Who’s car is that? I thought we were heading somewhere away from people.” He pointed at the grey Impala.

  “You did. That’s our car.” Nick stood on the porch with Britt next to him. “We’ve been here setting up the cabin for you guys. Now don’t you think it’s time to come inside before the sun comes up and we have to explain why the little Princess was fried?”

  That snapped Drakkar back into motion as Nick sauntered past him to help Serenity while making faces at the baby in his arms. He climbed the steps andducked into the house. Britt followed behind him. She held out her arms to take Annabelle. Drake was reluctant to give her up right away.

  “I’m not going to hurt her. I’ve done my share of babysitting. I think I know how to take care of a baby.” She chuckled.

  Anabelle and he exchanged a look.

  “Drakkar, you’re exhausted. Let Britt hold her.” Serenity dropped her bag on the floor.

  Nick did the same with the bag he retrieved with things from Drake’s house and the car seat. He kicked the door shut. “I took the liberty of raiding what was left in your room and brought you a few things. Serenity and I checked it all to see if Absinthe marked or bugged it in anyway, which she didn’t. You’re lucky.”

  Drakkar handed Annabelle over to Britt, who crossed the room and sat in the rocking chair. “Thanks. I wouldn’t have thought of that.”

  “Seriously? You’re dealing with someone who has lost her grip on reality because she wants revenge so bad. Man, Drake, you really are slipping.” Nick plopped on the couch, watching Britt rock the baby. “Let me ask what would you have done if all of us didn’t show up?”

  Drake sat in a wing back chair next to the fireplace. “I stashed a car further down the mountain from where I met up with Vince and Serenity. All I needed to do was get to the car, then I was going to drive back to my house.”

  “Great plan. You do realize that Absinthe would have been waiting there. In fact, I escaped just before her goons pulled up in the Silence of the Lambs van. I don’t think they were there to welcome you home,” Nick declared. “I shudder to think what they would have done to both of you.”

  “If that wasn’t enough to show you how insane your plan was, the Prince’s guard is a wolf. It’s nothing for him to track you,” Serenity joined in, sitting on the arm of his chair.

  “Tell me about it.” Drake groaned. “When he thought I was Bonatelli, he scented me out. Do you know what he said I smelled like?”

  All three shook their heads.

  “He said I smelled like a teenager in a whore house.”

  Annabelle giggled. Everyone looked at her.

  “Did she laugh at that?” Drakkar choked. “I can’t believe she found that funny.”

  Britt shifted the baby to her shoulder and patted her back. “Nah, it was gas.”

  Nick hid his amusement behind his fist. “You know, I’m starting to like this guy.”

  “Hey! He was trying to get a bite out of me remember?” The tingling in Drakkar’s neck became more intense. He rubbed the spot, yawning. “Shouldn’t the shutters be coming down by now?”

  “Oh!” Serenity jumped up from her perch on his chair, sprinting for the windows. She pulled the blackout curtains into place just as the sun peeked over the hilltop and filtered through the trees. “I’m so sorry! I forgot to tell you, no shutters here. But Nick and Britt installed these on every window. You two will be fine.”

  “And that’s our cue, babe.” Nick rose from the couch, holding out his hand to Serenity. “Keys please, hotness.” Nettie smirked and dropped the keys to their car in Nick’s hand.

  Drakkar was too tired to give Nick a warning snarl and the human knew it. The most he could muster was curling his lip.

  “Nettie, be careful, and if you need us, call. There’s a landline here. Totally untraceable.” He pulled her into a hug. “Take care of your guy and this little girl.”

  “
I will. Get home safe.” She pulled back when Britt came over with Annabelle. She took the baby from her friend, giving her a one-armed hug.

  “We’ll be back in a day or two to check on you and bring more food.” Britt sniffled. “Don’t get yourself killed or anything. I can’t deal with having to find a new bestie right now.” She poked her thumb at Nick. “I have enough to deal with.”

  Serenity laughed. “You two get out of here. Let me get them to bed.”

  Nick and Britt waved a good-bye at Drakkar, who returned it as a lazy flip of his wrist. He yawned again as the front door closed. Serenity was right there, locking the dead bolt. She turned around to smile at him.

  “Come on, big guy. Time for you to go to bed.” She held out her hand.

  Drakkar took it in his and rose to his feet. He allowed her to lead him into the small bedroom where a crib and queen size bed were made and waiting for them. Shedding his coat, he placed it over the chair in the corner while Serenity put Anna in the crib. True to her vampire nature, the second she hit the mattress, she was out cold.

  He patted the bed next to him. Serenity came closer. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you. If you didn’t show up when you did, I-”

  “Shh.” She placed a finger over his lips. “We aren’t going to think about that.” Nettie frowned and placed a hand on his forehead. “You’re really pale. Are you feeling alright?”

  Drake placed his hand over hers and pulled it down from his face. “I’m tired. That’s all.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. You’ve got to be tired, too.”

  “I am. But there’s only one bed and I was going to stay up while you got your rest. I’ll sleep later.”

  He kicked off his sneakers and scooted back on the bed, pulling her with him. “Then just stay with me till I’m out, please?”

  “Maybe just a little while.” She lay down, placing her head on his chest. “Drakkar?”

  “Hmm?”

  “When was the last time you fed?”