WickedBeast

by Gail Faulkner

  Cord’s cheek rested on the top of Kelly’s head as he spoke, his arms wrapped around her. “I think I’d better get Minuet. She’s getting hungry,” he stated, and gave Kelly a gentle squeeze before releasing her.

  After he left the room, Kelly tried to hurry through another shower and dressing but she simply couldn’t. Languid satisfaction would not let her rush. Everything felt more vibrant, touch, scent, even her hearing. She supposed being exposed to dragon senses might rub off just a little. Finally getting herself out to the kitchen, she found Minuet and Barney making a very late lunch.

  Minuet was instructing Barney and the big purple dinosaur got everything wrong. Laughter lived in the room with them, and Kelly found she could see the color of joy as well as taste it in the air.

  The three of them spent a pleasant evening exploring the gardens after the meal. Minuet splashed in a fountain for a while, played on all the equipment in a lovely playground area they found and ran when she wasn’t doing something else.

  Bedtime came early for all of them as the crash after traveling caught up with Kelly and Minuet.

  That night, Cord stayed in her bed all night. They didn’t make love but he couldn’t stop holding her. Kelly had to smile as her big dragon struggled to understand his needs.

  The idyllic calm didn’t give them much time. The next morning as they drove to Loch Ness it was shattered with the coming conflict they could not escape.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Him coming,” Minuet said. “Him berry mad.”

  Cord pulled the car to the side of the road. “Which way do you feel him, honey?”

  Minuet pointed ahead.

  Cord got out of the car quickly. “Stay here,” he directed, and walked to the front of the vehicle. He stood still, reaching out with senses. Harrison came at them fast. Without Minuet’s warning he might not have noticed the change in atmosphere soon enough. Harrison was using a lot of energy to conceal his approach.

  To the two watching from the car, Cord appeared to shimmer and disappear in a short burst of bright light.

  Kelly gasped and searched with her senses. Then she felt him. He was the air and light, moving at rapid speed to the north. Minuet had been sitting between her and Cord, now she was clutching the dashboard as she leaned forward to gaze out the windshield. There was silence, suddenly a great gust of wind swept along the road causing dirt devils to spin out and die on the edges of the gale.

  “Can you hear anything?” Kelly asked Minuet.

  “They yelling,” Minuet said. “Dat other one argues Cord.”

  “Just argue? Not fighting?” Kelly asked worriedly.

  “Playing. Liked me and Coco with ball,” she explained.

  Kelly hated to rely on Minuet for the details of this fight. She wanted to distract her from something that could get very ugly, but since she had no way of following the action and Minuet seemed quite comfortable with it, she had no other option. The wind around them died down to a normal breeze.

  Abruptly Minuet jumped with a yelp of pain. In the next instant a structure appeared several yards away in the rocky field beside them. An instant later Cord materialized beside the unusual building.

  “Me talk mean dagon,” Minuet stated as she scrambled behind the wheel and out Cord’s side of the car.

  Kelly was up and running after Minuet but wasn’t fast enough to catch her as she came to a halt beside Cord.

  From inside the structure a loud roar was followed by a racket as someone pounded the walls. The building was an ornate castle, but only about nine feet tall and fifteen feet around. It had Barbie-pink rock walls, bright-purple tiled roof and golden bars on every window and door. It glittered in the morning sun. Every surface sparkling.

  Cord, Kelly and Minuet stood about ten yards away from it as the roaring, pounding and now cursing continued from within.

  Cord put an arm around Minuet’s shoulders. “It’s a very pretty castle. Why did you do that?”

  “Him hurt Cord,” Minuet stated. “Him want hurt Mommy.”

  “I know, sweetheart, but everything was all right. I didn’t need help.”

  “Mommy say fighting bad. It a rule.”

  The noise from the structure suddenly ceased. There was silence as the three of them waited for what would come next.

  “Cord! What the hell is this?” boomed out the little castle.

  “I believe you’re in Barbie’s dream castle,” Cord informed his questioner.

  “What the fuck is that? Get it the hell off me!”

  “Clean up your language, and I didn’t do it. Look out the front door window and you’ll see who wants to talk to you,” Cord instructed sharply.

  “Who the…”

  “Curse one more time and I’ll show you something you haven’t seen before,” Cord threatened softly, cutting off the voice from the castle. “If you can keep a civil tongue, perhaps the little lady holding you captive will reconsider. The problem is, if you take too long getting a grip she will forget how. Three-year-olds can’t write down the original spell.”

  A face appeared in the round window of the ornate front door. The man had rippling blond hair and startlingly blue eyes the color of a stormy ocean. Below the eyes dark smudges of exhaustion made him appear old. A straight nose and chiseled features would’ve been extremely handsome when he was young, and if the individual wasn’t scowling. Just looking at his face showed he was severely underfed.

  The face regarding them did not stop scowling as his eyes moved over the three people standing there.

  “The lass did this?” a slightly calmer tone questioned.

  “I do it,” Minuet stated firmly. “You not hurt Mommy or Cord. I makes sure.”

  “Cord, you better be explaining,” the male in the castle said softly, his eyes never leaving Minuet’s little form.

  “Harrison, meet Minuet,” Cord introduced them. “I suggest you start believing what you’re sensing. If you had listened to a word I said instead of sinking talons into me you’d have a clue what’s going on. As you can see, she likes things pretty and sparkly. Tick her off some more and you might find yourself turned into something pretty and sparkly.”

  “What is your little friend? I’ve never encountered her kind,” Harrison said cautiously, still addressing Cord as he kept eyes on Minuet.

  Minuet stepped from under Cord’s arm. Little hands landed on her hips as she faced the sparkling castle. “I Minuet,” she told him firmly. “You be nice. No more mean. It hurt you berry lots. Now you sick.”

  The voice from the castle was suddenly tired. “If by sick you mean I’m about to fall on my, ah, rump, you’re correct. Mind giving me a chair in here?”

  The front door of the castle disappeared. In its place bars blocked the entrance. Behind them a slender man was now sitting in a chair that looked exactly like one in Kelly’s living room back in America.

  “A crafty little witch you are, lassie.” He smiled. “It’s clear I can’t hurt anybody.” He shrugged casually. “So somebody start explaining what’s going on.”

  “Cord say you good.” Minuet crossed her arms as she took over the conversation. “I feels only frowns in you. The laughing all gone.” Minuet paused as she studied the man. “You needs the laughing,” she finished softly on a puzzled note.

  “You read well but that doesn’t explain what you are, my little prison keeper,” he responded to her.

  “She is a dragon caller,” Cord supplied. “Something new. Part of what has changed the mission. Feel her, feel the strength in me and where it comes from. You’re a stubborn sea donkey, Harrison, but even you have to admit this is not how they said it would be. Are you ready to listen?”

  “Dragon caller? Never heard of such a thing.” His head tilted as he regarded Minuet. “I may be weak but I’m fully aware that you have a Wind Witch feeding you power. You’re no longer balanced enough to follow the plan. I was simply trying to aid you.”

  Minuet took another step closer to the castle and the m
ale inside stopped speaking. His eyes on her little form, he leaned forward. “What is this? She is… She is power. Come closer, lass,” he invited softly.

  “No,” Cord said firmly as he pulled Minuet back to his side. “First you listen. Then we’ll see if she wishes to help you.”

  Minuet looked up at Cord. “Him much sick.”

  “I know, honey. But he is also a sneaky dragon who loves to play tricks.”

  “Him much sad. Need laughing or he gone and Shelley die,” Minuet stated.

  Cord raised a brow as he looked down at the child who read them all so clearly. “Who is Shelley?”

  A furrow appeared between Minuet’s eyebrows as she looked up at Cord. “Shelley is him heart.” Minuet pointed at Harrison. “She afraid. Him make her dying.”

  Cord dropped to haunches, his hands clutching Minuet’s hands. “Is Shelly in danger? Can you show me in my mind?”

  Minuet shook her head and tears formed in her eyes. “I can show him but no you. She afraid and I hurt her if you look her.”

  “Wait. What the hell are you talking about? Don’t hurt her,” Harrison snapped, coming out of his chair to grip the golden rails in front of him.

  Cord didn’t even glance at the man grasping his prison bars. “Minuet, this is very important. We have to save Shelley. Where is she?”

  A tear slid down Minuet’s cheek as she gripped Cord’s hands as tightly as she could. “I don’t know. I don’t know all the places yet. She hurt.”

  “It’s okay, baby,” Cord tried to soothe her and his own emotions as well.

  Kelly knelt beside Minuet and turned her, gathering the child into her arms. “It’s okay, honey. You’re doing your best.” Looking over Minuet’s head at Cord, Kelly continued. “Whatever you have to do to make him understand, do it. She’s too young for this, for this responsibility. If he can’t grasp what’s going on, I’ll take care of him myself for putting her through this.”

  Cord stood in a fluid motion and strode to the castle. Reaching through the bars he had a hand around Harrison’s neck. Moving so quickly it was difficult to follow the action was completed in less than a second.

  “Here it is, and I’m only going to tell you once. Our creators told us half the story. We were made to match the witch who shares our element. When Minuet called the woman named Shelly your heart, she meant Shelley is the Water Witch. She couldn’t have been more accurate. We’re connected to our witch both by instinct and DNA. Use what little strength you have left to feel what I am.”

  Cord glared into Harrison’s eyes as the water dragon consciously touched him with senses. Harrison’s whole body shook in reaction to what it touched in Cord. But that involuntary reaction was Harrison’s only indication of his understanding.

  Cord remained holding him by the neck a few moments longer. Harrison’s eyes went to Minuet and he ignored the large male holding him in such a vulnerable position. “Miss Minuet, I apologize for not understanding. Please forgive me,” he stated simply.

  Cord slowly released Harrison and stepped back. “It’s okay, honey. Harrison is sorry for being mean. He knows if he tries any tricks I will be very mad at him. Could you come talk to him over here?”

  Kelly stood, holding Minuet’s hand. Both of them approached the castle door.

  Harrison dropped to one knee. He didn’t say a word but held his hand out through the bars, palm up, silently inviting Minuet to touch him.

  Cord could read the water dragon but he doubted his judgment was as good as Minuet’s. Whatever Minuet was feeling from the person she called Shelly could be distracting her enough to give the dragon in front of her an opening. If the bastard even hinted at a wrong move, Cord would be ready to use deadly force. That was a last resort. They needed the water dragon and his lady. Needed them desperately if there was going to be any hope of a future.

  Minuet placed her palm in Harrison’s hand. Long fingers closed over her tiny hand. Harrison paled even further. His body was racked with involuntary shudders as Minuet touched him with power. Cord knew the excruciating pain of having Minuet’s power flooded a starved body. It force-fed nutrients into withered muscle and bone. Encountering Minuet before one had touched his witch was painfully difficult.

  Harrison’s teeth clenched, his lips drawing back in a grimace as tears dripped down his cheeks, but he held on.

  Minuet’s other hand reached through the bars to flatten on Harrison’s forehead. The dragon groaned but leaned into her touch. His eyes closed as he drew air swiftly through his teeth.

  Kelly frowned and glanced at Cord. “What’s happening?”

  “Minuet is forcing power into his system. He’s accepting it as fast as he can, but she wants to make it go faster. She is trying to show him what she knows of the Shelley woman. For him to be able to hear her at that level he needs to recover a bit more. I don’t know if she will ever have the power to make this less painful, but she doesn’t now. When it happened to me, I thought I was dying,” Cord explained softly.

  “Will he be able to hurt her?” Kelly wanted to know.

  “Only if he wishes to die,” Cord said in a low growl. “But when has anyone wanted to hurt Minuet after they’ve touched her?”

  Kelly shook her head and ran a hand through Minuet’s hair. “Does it hurt her?” she asked Cord. She wasn’t sure Minuet could hear her. Her eyes were locked with Harrison’s and she seemed somehow distant.

  “I don’t know. When it happened to me, she was so worried about you I guess neither of us focused on that. Now she is sharing the pain of the Water Witch and again I don’t think she can separate what is her pain and someone else’s.

  Harrison’s hand opened and Minuet pulled back.

  The water dragon was no longer gaunt. The hollows in his cheeks were gone as were the dark bruises under his eyes. Ash-blond hair flowed back from his forehead in a smooth fall. His shoulders were wider than the door he knelt behind. Power rippled around him as if someone had thrown a stone in a lake.

  He remained on his knee, looking at Minuet. “Thank you, Miss Minuet. You know what I must do.”

  The sparkling castle around Harrison disappeared but the large man remained where he was, looking into Minuet’s eyes. Then he stood slowly to face Cord. Cord was still larger but not by a whole lot.

  Harrison nodded then he was gone.

  Kelly looked around. “Where did he go?”

  “He go save his heart,” Minuet stated confidently.

  “That’s it? We came all this way for that?” Kelly wanted to know.

  “Yep, looks that way. Minuet, do you know where he’s going?” Cord asked casually as he took the hand of each of his ladies and turned them back toward the car.

  “I don’t know. I show picture and he go,” Minuet said proudly. “Him not sick anymore. But not laughing. Him need laughing.”

  “When he finds her, he will find his laughter,” Cord told her. “Did it hurt you to help Harrison?” he asked as they got back in the car.

  “No, me and sister like help. We still go big deep water?”

  Cord started the car and pull on the road heading in the same direction they had been going. “Sister?” he asked. “Don’t you mean Mommy?”

  “Mommy like help but sister just learn it.”

  “Are you calling your new friend Shelly a sister?” Cord asked, trying to understand.

  “No. Sisters and brothers come from mommies, right?” Minuet asked as she looked between them.

  Kelly smiled down at her. “Yes they do, but a mommy has to carry them in her tummy for a while. You know what being pregnant is. Remember Aunt Penny was pregnant? Her tummy was big and you could feel the baby moving sometimes.”

  “I member,” Minuet agreed confidently. “Look.” She pointed out the window excitedly as they topped a hill and a huge expanse of water came into view. “Big water!”

  Kelly looked over Minuet’s head at Cord. His eyes met hers for a brief second. Both of them were silent as Minuet chattered about what she sa
w outside.

  Cord calmly found a place to park overlooking the loch. It was a relatively warm summer day and there were several other groups of tourists scattered though the area though it was by no means crowded. Minuet ran ahead toward the water before Cord could make it around the car.

  Taking Kelly’s hand, they followed Minuet’s path. Still neither of them said a word except for Kelly calling after Minuet not to go in the water. Minuet grabbed a stick and was playing in the sand at the water’s edge. Cord and Kelly stopped walking a few feet away from her.

  “Um,” Kelly started to speak hesitantly.

  “It’s not possible,” Cord said quietly.

  “Why not?” Kelly wanted to know with studied calm. “We’ve never used protection.”

  “There is no need. My kind do not have that ability. We are not actually sentient beings. Mixing DNA in a dish does not result in something God would allow to breed.”

  “You are ascribing a whole lot of disapproving judgment to God. Didn’t you say you are very different from the original dragon type? Made to save humans? A job you willingly expected to do with no thanks, no acknowledgement until you died? Sounds a lot like a plan God would approve of, though I don’t think he’d make it as bleak as you do.”

  Cord stood rigidly beside her, his senses continually scanning the area and every person in it. Animal senses he could not turn off and didn’t want to. He was not the creature she so desperately wanted to believe. He’d known she needed the illusion of his being human, having human emotions, human needs. Now she was trying to convince herself that God could extend some of the regard He held humans in to an abomination.

  Kelly went on, her tone softly casual as they watched Minuet find smooth stones and start piling them up. “The people who made you firmly believed that eventually there would be unusual humans in the world again. Humans with abilities that make us almost alien to the original human model. They did not see these differences as the work of a devil, but as God-directed development in the species, natural evolution. Correct?”

  Cord held her hand gently, but that was the only part of him not rock hard with tension. He nodded curtly to her conclusion. She was building a lovely case for an outcome that simply would never be, no matter how one wrapped up the process.