Tempt the Dragon

by A. C. Arthur

  “Are you okay, Aiken?” Startled out of his thoughts, he opened his eyes to see Ravyn standing in front of him.

  “No. He’s not. Let’s go into the den. He’ll be more comfortable there.” Shola hadn’t waited for his response, but instead had looped her arm in his and started walking him down the hallway, across the foyer and into the den, where she presumed he’d be more comfortable.

  He wasn’t so sure of her theory but he dropped down onto one of the black leather couches, letting his arms fall at his side. Shola sat right beside him while Ravyn settled in a chair across from them.

  “You’ve been through a lot in the past week haven’t you?” Shola had the ability to sound like a courageous leader one moment and a doting mother the next. He half expected her to take his hand momentarily as a way of reassuring him through this conversation she assumed he wanted to have.

  “I don’t really have time for this right now. I’ve gotta go plan a trip to the Congo. Is Bleu getting the jet ready?” They were a group of dragons, so using a private jet wasn’t normally their mode of transportation. But since they were carrying valuable cargo this time around, he figured the jet would be best. He also presumed Bleu would’ve thought of that already.

  “He’s making all the necessary preparations,” Ravyn said. “And let me just say that I know how it feels to be hit with a lot of changes at one time. Remember, I was the human who was attacked by killer mummies before I was introduced to your world of dragons and other freaky things.”

  He did recall how Ravyn came to be part of their clan. Steele had seen her in his dream and decided instead of leading her to the Reaper to kill, he wanted her for himself. That was before she’d stolen a cursed dagger, which had led to the revelation that she was a witch and Steele would have to die to save her life. Another example of how the Selection process had a bitchin’ sense of humor.

  “I’ve been a Drakon for two hundred and ninety years, I’m used to facing all sorts of things.” That’s all he had by way of rebuttal to her statement.

  “But you’ve never dealt with being in love.” It was a quiet and potent statement. He wasn’t ready to deal with how true it also was.

  Now, Shola did reach out to touch his hand. “If it makes you feel any better, she’s just as deeply in love with you as you are with her.”

  “How do you know that?” He knew Mel loved him. She’d said it many times in the past. But she hadn’t said it once since their reunion.

  Ravyn chuckled. “You’re kidding, right? You two don’t even try to hide the feelings you have for each other. The day I talked to Mel she never once denied loving you—not that I came right out and asked her. But her focus was just on her job as a hunter, not on accepting or denying what the two of you felt for each other.”

  He hadn’t known Ravyn had talked to Mel. The pool games between her and Reese had been the contact with the clan he’d been most concerned with. “Things between us have always been complicated.” But he’d thought they’d finally had their breakthrough.

  “Falling in love can be a jarring experience. I think only movies and books make it look easy, while in reality we’re left navigating the rocky waters on our own.” Shola sighed. “I remember fighting against the attraction Theo and I had for weeks.”

  “Well, Steele and I didn’t bother fighting the physical. That’s the one area we didn’t have to argue about. Wanting each other on that level was a given,” Ravyn added.

  Aiken closed his eyes and shook his head. He also pulled his hand from Shola’s grip because not only did he not want any visuals of his clan members being intimate with their mates in his mind, he definitely didn’t want to be touching one of those mates’ hand while those images threatened to surface. “Stop. Stop right there. Don’t need to know these types of specifics from you two.”

  Shola laughed first. “Oh come on, the way you guys talk about giving in to the dragon’s most primal needs. I know you’re not shy.”

  “Not shy, just totally grossed out by hearing you talk about Theo and Steele in a physical sense. So let’s just put that in a bag and toss the bag out the window.” He’d opened his eyes just in time to see Ravyn laugh at him.

  “All we’re saying is that getting to the point of accepting your love and the Selection process isn’t easy, but once you get there it’s pretty wonderful,” Ravyn told him.

  He leaned forward, dropping his elbows on his thighs. “I know that. I’ve never been afraid of the Selection process. The moment I realized Mel was the one selected for me, I fully accepted it.” To be honest, he’d grabbed hold of that realization like a lifeline because finally—since he’d left his family on the Far Realm—he was being accepted again.

  “Then what’s going on with you? Why were you so against her going to the Congo? You should be happy to have her back—and working with us no less, that’s gotta be a good thing.” Shola sounded almost as confused as Aiken felt.

  “It does sound good, doesn’t it. A little while ago I thought it was damn near perfect. But now—” He dragged a hand down his face. “How am I supposed to let her walk onto that burial ground knowing there’s a really good chance she might not make it out?”

  Ravyn shook her head. “The real question is why do you think you have the right to stop her?”

  “What do you mean?” He stared at her quizzically. “I’m her mate. Didn’t we just get finished talking about the two of us being selected for each other?”

  “You’re her mate. Her partner. A link that completes the person or Drakon that she is. You don’t control her.” Ravyn made what he was feeling sound foolishly wrong.

  “I don’t want to control her. I just want to protect her. How’s that wrong?”

  “If protecting her means stifling her magick or power until it only conforms to your guidelines, then that’s totally wrong.” Shola’s tone had changed yet again, to that of the chastising parent.

  Ravyn leaned forward now, as well. “Besides, she told me you were the one pushing for her to fully accept being a Drakon. If that’s true, then why would you think she can’t do this?”

  Sitting back in the chair, Aiken could only shake his head. “See, this is the confusing part. I did want her to accept her Drakon half. I’ve always wanted her to be everything she was meant to be.”

  “And now that you see that accepting her Drakon half consists of walking into this battle with the same urge to win as the rest of us, you want her to walk away,” Shola said.

  “I want her to fight beside me, to stay close so that if anything goes wrong—which we all know it can and probably will—I can protect her.”

  “Have you ever considered that she can protect herself?” Ravyn asked. “I know Steele thought he had to protect me from the Reaper. He didn’t want me to die and that was cool. I wasn’t ready to die either. But when it really came down to it, I had to stand up to the Reaper to save us both. Steele never considered that I’d been just as big a part of saving my life as he was.”

  “It’s that male Drakon logic. They’ve got to dominate, to be the one coming up with all the answers, fighting all the battles. It takes them a while to digest the fact that we’re not just their partners in bed, but that we’ve been specifically created to be their partners in times of war as well. It’s why we were selected to be with them in the first place,” Shola said.

  For the third or fourth time he felt like this wasn’t really a conversation he wanted to be part of.

  “Look, I’m just not feeling comfortable with how this has to play out. But she’s decided she’s going and no amount of me brooding or even arguing with her is going to change her mind. I learned that eighty years ago.” He stood, ready to leave them to continue talking about how chauvinistic and idiotic male Drakon could be.

  Ravyn stood too. “Then you can try showing her that you’re in agreement instead of wearing that wrinkle in your brow that give
s away your discontent with the situation.” She tapped him on the forehead to reiterate her words.

  * * *

  Hearing the door open and close, Mel used the back of her hands to wipe the tears that had been falling for the last few minutes. With a final press of her fists to her eyes she sucked in a deep breath and fought for control. She couldn’t show him anything less.

  “Hey there.” He sounded uncertain, like maybe he was fighting for control as well. “You ready to go over details to the plan. Bleu’s making all the reservations and we’ll be ready to leave early tomorrow morning.”

  “Uh-huh, yeah. Um, about that.” Come on, get your words together. She took a deep huff and turned around ready to tell him what, she wasn’t quite sure, but the moment she looked into his eyes, she faltered. “No. I can’t go.”

  “What?” Concern and confusion warred for space in his tone and the frown that immediately marred his face. He took a step closer and she wanted to take two back. If he touched her, she’d break.

  “Something’s come up and I won’t be able to go. We should probably meet with Theo again to come up with a Plan B. You’re the one who taught me to always have alternative plans, remember? And in this situation a Plan C and D might also be a good thing because there’s no way we can consider all the anomalies since nobody’s ever been to this region of the Congo, or on a burial site guarded by witches’ spells.” The second his hands fell on her shoulders she trembled. “Don’t.”

  “Tell me what happened. Who was that call from?” He would zero right in on the call. Well, it had been the last thing she’d said to him, when she was all excited about heading out to fight the vamps.

  She cleared her throat. “It was Mr. Beaumont. He’s Rosilda’s neighbor. He’s been checking on her daily since she became really sick. When she’s not being stubborn as a mule, as Mr. Beaumont puts it, she allows him to take her to her dialysis treatments. She has to go every day.” Or else she’d die.

  “Slow down, baby, and tell me what happened.” Damn she had a love/hate relationship with him calling her that. On the one hand it endeared him to her, made it seem as if she were the only woman in his world, his heart. On the other, it made her feel weak, like he called her that because he knew he had to treat her delicately, to protect her, to save her.

  Shaking her head, she tried desperately to get ahold of her wayward thoughts. She hadn’t been able to think straight since completing the call and her heart still raced with the fear that was now swirling throughout her body.

  “I just want to help, Mel. But I can’t if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

  He would want to help. Since the day she’d met him Aiken had always been trying to figure out a way to help her accept being a Drakon, to accept the Selection process, to accept they were meant to be together.

  “Rosilda’s been rushed to the hospital. The clock is ticking, and her organs are beginning to shut down. If they don’t find a match for her to receive the kidney and liver transplant, she’ll die. And when they find the match, I still need to have the money to pay for the surgery and subsequent rehabilitation. I can’t be in the Congo when I need to be here. Even a Drakon can’t be two places at once.”

  She probably shouldn’t have said that; being a Drakon wasn’t the problem in this situation.

  “Just tell me what you need me to do.” The sincerity in his voice pricked her heart and she wanted to do nothing but fall into his arms and let him hold her. That wouldn’t change the circumstances but the beast inside of her knew it would calm their anxiety.

  “I need to go to her. I need to be at the hospital and to make preparations. I have some money saved and I can apply for a loan.” Shaking her head again, she tried to hold on to the logical line of thought. “I’m sure she has some type of medical insurance, although throughout the years that coverage has gotten worse.”

  “How’ve you managed to keep anyone from finding out how old she really is? I mean, as Drakon we don’t deal with the human medical system, but as a half human I’m assuming Rosilda has to wade through all that red tape their government is so good at constructing.”

  She nodded. “It hasn’t been easy, but luckily I’m a chameleon. I’ve gotten in the vital records department more times than I can count, changing her birth certificate. Everything’s computerized now so I do the same at the insurance company, go in, take a cloak that’s close to one of the employees long enough to steal their login codes and then I wait. After hours I log in and change those records too. Currently they have her down as a seventy-eight-year-old, which oddly enough works well with the deterioration detected in her kidneys and subsequently her liver.”

  He looked as overwhelmed by that information as she sometimes felt having to go through these measures to protect the only family she had.

  “Let me take care of it,” he said. “I can arrange for her to be sent to the best hospital in Miami with the best specialists. It’s not me paying for the surgery.” He knew to add that when she was just about to open her mouth to speak. “Isla can get into the computer system the same way you did and make some simple changes to the coverage on her insurance policy. That way she’ll qualify for upgraded services.”

  “I still need to handle the surgery. As soon as the organs are available, she needs to be in the operating room.” Her fingers trembled and she hurriedly stuffed them into the pockets of the loose-fitting shorts she wore. “I’ll need to be there with her to make sure she understands everything that’s going on.”

  “What about Mr. Beaumont, won’t he be there?”

  “Yes, but he’s not...he’s just...” He brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek when she paused, the words lodged in her chest.

  “He’s not her daughter.”

  A tear escaped at his words and she hustled to get a hand free of her pocket so she could wipe it, but the material was too baggy or her wrecked emotional state was making her too clumsy because she fumbled to get free. But Aiken was fast, he moved a finger to catch that tear and then cupped her face. “I know you love her and you want the very best for her and I’m not going to try and stop you from going to her, if that’s what you really think is best.”

  She almost chuckled. “You didn’t want me to go to the Congo anyway.”

  He gave her that half smile that never failed to warm her. “I want you to be safe and happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, Mel. That’s why I let you go all those years ago. Your happiness was my priority, even when it tore me apart.” He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “And you’re right, I didn’t want you to go to the Congo, but only because I know it’s not safe and the idea of you going onto that land by yourself, without me or anyone else close by to back you up, terrifies me. But if you say you want to go, I’m on that jet sitting right beside you.”

  “And if I say I want to go back to Miami to be with Rosilda?”

  “I’m on the phone with you when that jet takes off, checking on her status and yours. And the moment the mission is done, I’m rerouting that jet to Miami so I can see that you’re okay for myself.” He touched his other hand to her opposite cheek and kissed her lightly on the forehead, then on the tip of her nose. It was the silliest thing, but she loved when he did that.

  When his lips brushed over hers, she closed her eyes reminding herself that she loved him.

  “Tell me what you want to do, and we’ll make it happen,” he whispered.

  “You won’t think I’m running from being a Drakon?”

  “You can’t run from what’s inside you, that’s the point I’ve been trying to make to you all along.”

  And if she couldn’t run from it, didn’t she have a responsibility to do what she was called to do to save lives? Rosilda may be in danger of losing her battle with illness right now, but millions of lives were in danger of being lost if Duncan raised that vampire army. Could she help save them all? And
if she could, isn’t that what Rosilda would want her to do?

  She eased out of his grasp, going to sit on the edge of the bed. “I’m not like you, Aiken. I don’t have it all figured out. It seems like every time I think I do another curveball comes flying my way.”

  “You have a choice, Mel. Isn’t that what you told me before that it took me eighty years to figure out? You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” Really? Was he telling her that now after all the things he’d said to her since she’d returned?

  “How can I choose in this situation? I love her and I don’t want anything to happen to her.”

  “But logically, there’s nothing you, yourself, can do right now to save her. There is, on the other hand, something you can do to save the realms.” He came over to kneel in front of her. “Let me arrange for Rosilda to be transferred to a premier facility. The specialists there will run tests and maybe give another, brighter, prognosis. If not, we’ll be back in a day or two, we can go directly to the hospital and wait for the organs to become available.”

  They’d have Duncan by then and she’d be able to collect her fee for capturing him. What he was saying was logical, as always. Did this guy ever get tired of being right?

  She nodded first, then after a deep sigh said, “Let’s go talk to Bleu and have him call Isla. Between the two of them, we’ll see what can be done. Then we’ll go over the plan for the dead vamps with more detail.”

  It wasn’t until later that night, when she lay in Aiken’s arms, that she allowed herself to breathe easily. She’d called and spoken to Rosilda herself, telling her about the new plans Bleu had put into motion and that she’d be there as soon as she finished this job.