“Got it.” Drakkar cracked his knuckles nervously.
“Hey, come here” Jared pulled him into a hug. “Don’t do anything stupid. We have a lot of time to catch up on.”
Drakkar hugged him back. “Too much time.”
They broke away from the hug. Drakkar shook himself out. “Okay, here goes everything.”
He nodded to his friends and family and dematerialized. Drake reformed on the walking path that ran up to the cliff above Lake Minnewaska. The area was completely silent. He started to doubt if Absinthe truly meant to meet him there or if she called it off.
“Drakkar, don’t you think it’s time you joined the party,” Absinthe called from just over the hill. “We’ve kept us waiting and that’s very rude. I thought I raised you better than that.”
Drake swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat. She was delusional if she remotely thought that would get him to come out of the woods. He rubbed his hands together, waiting for the sign from Jared and the others. Everything inside him wanted to run up there and throw Absinthe off the cliff. It wasn’t going to be that easy.
She was a cat with nine lives. A very evil cat.
“If you won’t listen to me, maybe your mother can convince you,” Absinthe yelled.
“Drakkar! Don’t do it! Run the other way!” Giovanna’s terrified shriek echoed all around him.
He took one step and stopped. He couldn’t go up there. Jared didn’t give him the signal.
“No? Not for Mommy? Then maybe I should slit the human’s throat and be done with it!”
Serenity screamed. Drakkar saw red. “You bitch! I’m going to kill you!”
Drakkar, no! We aren’t ready yet!
Drake ignored Jared’s voice in his head. He emerged from the tree line, arms spread wide. “You wanted me. I’m here. Let them go.”
Absinthe raised a brow, an evil smile on her lips. She shoved Serenity toward Giovanna, who caught her and wrapped her arms around the girl protectively.
“So you are. But I think you forgot something. Where is the child?” She sneered.
“She’s safe and far away from you. I’m never going to hand her over to you,” he replied, slowly walking further onto the cliff.
The water hundreds of feet below sloshed against the rock wall. He needed to get Serenity and Giovanna away from the ledge. One wrong move from Absinthe and they would fall to their deaths.
“I have a better proposition for you. Take me and let them go,” he offered.
“No! You can’t go back to her. You’ll never be free.” Serenity lunged toward Absinthe, only to be thrown back again by an unseen force. She landed at Giovanna’s feet. Nettie held up her hands to cast a spell, but the cuffs on her wrists prevented her from using magic. Nettie lifted her chin. “Damper my magic all you want, but I will die before I let you have Drakkar back to torture.”
Absinthe thought about what she said. “Brave words for such a little pathetic little cattle. Has no one ever put you in your place?” She made a fist with her left hand. Serenity gasped for breath, closing her hands around her neck.
“Leave her alone.” Drakkar advanced, only to stop dead in his tracks when Absinthe lifted her right hand in a fist. His airway closed tight. He clawed at the invisible hand choking him.
“Absinthe, please. Why must you continue this? They are only children,” Giovanna pleaded.
The Princess curled her lip at Drakkar’s mother. “I will continue this until what was taken from me is returned. This kingdom is all I have, all I will ever have. That child is the key to me taking my rightful place as Queen.”
“You don’t need to keep hurting people. They are innocent in all of this. They did not take anything away from you. Let them go.” Giovanna rose to her feet. “I am more useful than they will ever be.”
“You?” Absinthe laughed. “You are insignificant in all of this now. You haven’t been useful since you failed to kill my brother. I should have gotten rid of you then.” She opened her fists.
Drakkar and Serenity fell to their knees, coughing. He used this distraction to crawl over to Serenity. He cupped her face in his hands. It’s going to be okay, he mouthed. Before she could answer him, Absinthe flipped her wrist, separating them.
“So touching. But remember, boy, you failed me. Therefore,” -she pulled a dagger from thin air- “you will lose everything, like I did.”
Protect your human, a gravelly voice spoke in his mind.
Drake searched the darkness. The only ones on the cliff were the four of them. No one else was there.
Who are you, Drake asked.
I am here to protect the Siren as commanded by my master, the voice answered. Just do as you are told, Boy!
Absinthe threw the dagger at Giovanna. Drake wasn’t fast enough to stop it. The last thing he saw was it buried to the hilt in his mother’s chest as she plummeted over the cliff to the rocks below.
The Princess pulled another to throw at Serenity. “And now to end this tragedy. Say good-bye to Juliet, Romeo.”
Drakkar roared, throwing himself between Absinthe and Serenity. He let a ball of energy fly at Absinthe just as she released the other dagger. It hit her in the chest, knocking her into a large boulder. Drake wrapped around Serenity, protecting her from the blade. He gasped when it struck him. Drake sagged against her.
“Drakkar? Drakkar, answer me,” Nettie cried as she slid out from under him.
She rolled Drakkar onto his stomach. The dagger meant for her stuck out of his left shoulder. She touched his cheek. “Drakkar, please wake up.”
Lance stepped out of the brush with Zephyr. “Where is she?”
Serenity pointed toward the boulder.
They turned their heads in that direction. Lance scratched his head. “Are you sure that’s where she was? There’s nothing there now.”
Nettie’s gaze shot up. “She was there. I swear it.”
“Well, it seems she slithered away again like the serpent she is.” Lance snarled. “I swear. I’m never going to get my shot at her, am I?”
“Get in line, Pup,” Zephyr informed him.
Serenity wrapped her arms around Drakkar, holding him tight as shock set in. “This can’t be happening. Drakkar –Giovanna . . . . Oh God! Giovanna! The dagger -over the cliff.”
Zephyr jerked his chin toward the cliff as he looked at Lance. Taking the silent hint, the wolf went to inspect where Giovanna was last seen. The vampire knelt beside Serenity.
“Are you okay” he asked as he removed the cuffs from her wrists.
Serenity rubbed the bruises left by the cuffs. “I’m fine, but Drakkar needs help.” She put a shaking hand on Drake’s brow. “Can you get the dagger out?”
Zephyr inspected the wound. “No vitals were hit. We should be able to patch him up.” He took hold of the handle and yanked the blade free. Zephyr handed her a wad of fabric. “Put this on it and press down, hard.”
Serenity did as she was told.
Lance returned from the cliff. He shook his head at Zephyr. The two hung their heads.
“Is she,” she whispered.
“There’s nothing on the rocks below. The only way to know for sure will be to search the water in the daylight,” Lance said. “I’ll come back when the sun comes up.”
Serenity smothered a sob with her hand, releasing the pressure on the wound. Drakkar moaned, bringing her attention back to him.
Jared chose that moment to step out of the underbrush. “This kid listens like you do.” He pointed at Lance.
“Hold that thought. He needs medical attention.” Lance replied. “Either of you going to heal him or are we just poofing him back to the house? Decisions must be made, people.”
“What happened?” Jared joined Serenity on the ground. He took the bloody fabric from her hands.
“I’d let him bleed just a little longer.” Jake stepped up next to the group. Serenity shot to her feet and hugged him. “Hey there, kiddo. Did she hurt you?” He held her back to inspect he
r for injuries in the moonlight.
“Just some bruised wrists from the magic suppressor cuffs, but I’m fine.” She smiled sadly. “Drakkar took the dagger meant for me and then his mother . . . .”
Jake looked at the others. Their faces told him all he needed to know. “He’ll be alright, Nettie. He’s a tough one.”
Jared placed his hands over the wound. Drakkar hissed. The blood stopped flowing from the wound as the skin knit closed. When it was sealed completely, Drake opened his eyes slowly.
“Welcome back, son.” Jared grinned. Drakkar push up from the ground. Jared placed a hand on his shoulder. “Woah, take it easy. You need to rest. I only healed you enough to stop the bleeding.”
“Where’s Serenity and Giovanna?” He gasped as Jared helped him sit up.
“I’m right here.” Serenity stepped around Jake and sat next to Drakkar. “You scared me to death. Don’t you ever do that again.” Tears filled her eyes.
Drakkar cupped her cheek, smearing some blood on it. “I won’t do it again. How’s my mother?”
Everyone glanced nervously at each other.
“Okay enough of the shifty eyes. Tell me what happened,” he demanded.
Jared cleared his throat. “Giovanna went over the cliff when the dagger hit her. Lance tried to look, but she must have hit the water. There’s no sign of her. He’s going to come back in the morning and search the lake.”
“No.” Drakkar shook his head. His hand fell to his lap.
“I’m sorry, Drakkar. It’s true,” Serenity added, smoothing back the hair that fell over his eyes. “I saw it happen.”
“No. You don’t understand. He said he’d protect her. He said she’d be safe. He told me to just worry about you.”
She frowned. “Who said?”
“The voice.” He looked directly into her eyes. “The voice in my head. You didn’t hear it?”
When she shook her head, he whipped around to look at everyone else. All of them had the same sympathetic look on their faces, his heart flew into his throat.
“He said it was going to be alright! He said he would protect her, protect the Siren,” he screamed.
“Hey, look at me.” Serenity touched either side of his face, forcing his attention back on her. “Drake. There was no one else here. She’s gone, baby. Giovanna is gone.”
“No!” He got to his feet.
Between the shock from hearing the mother he never got a chance to know was dead and blood loss, Drakkar wobbled, light headed. He braced himself against the sapling behind him. His hand completely missed its mark and he tumbled forward. Jared caught him just before he hit the ground and blacked out.
The overwhelming sense of being watched filtered through Drakkar’s subconscious. He rolled onto his side and slowly opened his eyes. The clock on the side table read eleven forty-five, though he didn’t know if it was morning or night. His internal warning system was down.
Well, that sucks.
The last thing he remembered flashed through his mind. Seeing Giovanna go over the cliff with a dagger buried in her chest made his breath catch in his throat. Finding she was his mother and then losing her in such a violent way, it wasn’t fair.
Absinthe stole everything from him, his parents, his normal childhood, his whole existence. It was all a mess. How in the world could he ever gain the trust of Jared and the rest of them? All they would see when they looked at him was her and the evil he represented.
He rubbed his eyes. From the color of the wall behind the clock, he was once again in Bonatelli, correction, his father’s home. Well wasn’t that just peachy? Everyone must be so overjoyed to have him sleeping upstairs.
Drake pushed himself up and leaned against the head board. When he lifted his gaze to the foot of the bed, his breath left his lungs in one huge whoosh.
Standing there, arms across her chest and watching him intensely, was Jared’s wife, Alex. She didn’t say a word or move just watched.
“Uh, hi. Alex? Right?”
She nodded, remaining silent.
Drakkar shifted uncomfortably. No one ever made him feellike he was a specimen under a microscope. Alex waited for something. Damned if he knew what that something was.
“I, uh-”
“Why did you do it,” she asked.
Her voice cracked slightly. So, she wasn’t as in control as she put out. At least they were in the same boat.
“I didn’t have a choice.” He focused on the comforter over his legs.
“Look at me, not the bed.” His gaze shot up and met hers. “There is always a choice. The one you made was to put everyone in danger rather than ask for help. You should have come to us rather than break in here.”
Drakkar shook his head. “You don’t understand. I couldn’t ask for help. She would have destroyed everyone and everything.”
“Jared and I have stood against her before. Absinthe didn’t destroy us then, she wouldn’t have now,” she countered as she stepped around the bed to his side.
Drake pulled back the covers and stood. His legs buckled. Alex was right there, catching him before he fell to the floor. She set him back on the edge of the mattress.
“You have to stay in bed; at least until you feed. You lost a lot of blood from your injury.”
While he adjusted himself on the bed, she walked over to the dresser and returned with a tray of covered dishes. Alex placed it on the bed in front of him, then picked up the mug and handed it to him. Drake wrapped his hands around the warm ceramic and sighed. The coppery scent of its contents wafted up, relaxing him.
“Here, drink this. We don’t have anyone here for you to feed from right now, but we do keep a small blood bank in the house for emergencies. This should help you get some strength back.”
“Thanks.” Drakkar took a sip and closed his eyes. The last time he’d fed was from Serenity, and even then he made sure not to take that much. He only did it so she wouldn’t worry about him anymore. “How’s Annabelle?”
Alex sat next to him. “She’s fine, actually. I don’t think she’s been affected by it at all, amazingly enough. I’m more concerned about you.”
Drakkar choked. “About me? I’m the reason all of this took place. I deserve whatever happens to me.”
“What you deserve is a family who loves you and wants what’s best for you, Drakkar. Family doesn’t abuse or torture you for their amusement; well at least this family doesn’t, usually. Lance and Zephyr have their own rules regarding that. You’ll see.” She smiled.
Drake took another sip from the mug. “Yeah, I kinda got that feeling at the lake.”
“They’re harmless.” She laughed.
“If you say so.” He placed the mug on the tray and lifted the cover off the plate. There were an assortment of finger foods, small pizzas, chicken nuggets, fries, and slider hamburgers all arranged neatly. Drakkar’s stomach growled.
“I hope this is okay. I thought about what someone your age might like and made a little of everything. Heck, I survived on this and ramen my entire time in college.”
His eyes blurred. Drakkar wiped the unshed tears away. No one ever thought about what he’d like, just what they wanted. “It -it’s great. Thank you.”
“We want you to feel at home and safe here, sweetie.” She took his hand in hers. “We know it will probably be a long process, but we want to help you. Jared is as honest and wonderful as they come. The moment he found out you were his son, I saw a change in him, like a piece that was missing finally fell into place. Will you give us a chance?” Alex squeezed his hand.
“But, what I did -I took Anna from you.”
“Yes, you did.”
“How do you know I won’t break and help her again? How do you know I won’t bring Anna to Absinthe? What if all of this is part of her plan and she flips some switch in my head to control me all over again?”
“You won’t,” Alex answered.
“But how can you be so sure,” he asked.
“Because of what’s in
here.” She touched the area over his heart. “You could have turned her over, instead you protected not only her, but Giovanna and Serenity with your life. You’re not evil, Drakkar.”
“But-”
“No. I won’t listen to any more self-doubt. I forgive you. Jared forgives you. Now you have to find it in you to forgive yourself. Can you do that?”
“I don’t know.” He stared at the mug that was cooling.
“Well, until you can, we are here to love and guide you.”
She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into the most comforting embrace of his life. Drakkar lost the battle and tears flowed down his cheeks. He buried his face in her shoulder and let out heart-wrenching sobs. Alex held him, whispering soothing words until his crying subsided.
In many ways, he was still a child looking for love and acceptance. He couldn’t believe he finally found a family, his family, who would give him all of that and more.
He pulled back, gently breaking the fragile connection they created. “That’s all I ever wanted.”
“Now you have it.” She wiped her eyes. Apparently she wasn’t as stoic as she was when he first woke. “Okay, I’ll leave you to eat and rest. When you feel up to it, the bathroom is through there. You can shower and change into some clothes your friend Nick brought for you. Don’t worry, he left that cologne you were wearing at Absinthe’s. No more whore house scent for you.” She laughed.
Drakkar smirked at the memory of Lance’s words. “Don’t worry. I’m never using that one again.”
“Good. And when you’re ready, there’s someone else who’d like to have a word with you in Jared’s study.”
He shoved a nugget in his mouth. “Who?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.” With that, she stood and walked to the door, turning back when she got there, a bright smile on her lips and her chocolate eyes glowing. “Welcome to the family, Drakkar.” Then she left him.
Drakkar ~ Beyond the Lie (A Dark Order of the Dragon Novel Book 3) Page 22
