by Leela Ash
“I really don’t like the way this fucking gown smells,” Amy said, shrugging it off her shoulder and tearing it away from her body. She was still wearing her jeans and shirt underneath it, and she knew that without the gown, the ceremony would be useless. At least, this way, she would be able to spare herself a few more minutes of whatever torture they were planning for her.
“You need to stop what you are doing, right this moment,” King Wayne demanded, his voice suddenly loud and sinister.
Amy’s eyes narrowed, and she let out a small whimper. “It smells bad and I don’t like it and it doesn’t fit. I don’t understand the point. I can’t wear something like this. It’s not going to do anybody any good.”
“All of this is being done for my good,” King Wayne said. “And if you don’t begin to cooperate, you’re going to find out just how little regard I have for your kind. Ugh, the Golden ones. You’re just as useless as the shifters from which you sprang. Now put that gown back on at once before I get really angry.”
Amy had no choice but to oblige, and quickly slipped her arms back through the arms of the gown. She glanced around, desperately searching for a way out. They had taken her to another room. This area was markedly different than the one where King Wayne sat in his throne. There was a large basin in the center and candles lined the walls. Several guards were standing along the walls beside the candles, keeping their eyes steadily on Amy and their boss. None of them made a move. They were all waiting for King Wayne to tell them what they were supposed to do.
Amy took note of this. Perhaps she would be able to use that knowledge to her advantage. If they were too slow to react, there was still some chance that she would be able to escape, wasn’t there? If she wasn’t going to be able to rely on anybody else to help her, then her only option would be to help herself. Where was the doorway? It was hidden behind tapestries. Once she knew where that was, maybe she would be able to get out of here and avoid whatever terrible fate the woman who had worn this gown before her had succumbed to.
“Okay, I’ll put on the stupid gown. But you should probably get this dry cleaned at some point,” Amy muttered, doing her best to remain as stone faced as possible. “I don’t think it’s very hygienic to have anybody wearing something like this. Especially if this is some kind of special ceremony. It’s pretty disrespectful to whatever powers you are trying to invoke to just recycle it like this.”
King Wayne didn’t reply, but he let out a sound that seemed a lot like an exasperated sigh. Amy slowly, slowly as possible, began to dress herself in the gown. She didn’t know what she was waiting for or expecting, but for some reason, she was still waiting for it and expecting it.
“All right, bring in the clamps.”
Amy’s blood turned ice when she heard the words. Clamps? What the hell were they going to do to her? This was insane. She watched in terror as two of the guards pushed back when the tapestries and a few more creepy looking men began rolling forward a strange contraption that was on wooden wheels. It looked like an archaic torture device, and Amy took a fearful step backward, hoping against hope that maybe she would be able to save herself from whatever torture they were about to inflict upon her.
But there was nowhere for her to go. Her back stopped suddenly against the large, chilling hand of King Wayne.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, and Amy went still. She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear the smile in his voice. And it was sickening. “We haven’t even got you hooked up yet.”
“No,” Amy gasped, her voice barely above a whisper. She struggled against the strength of the monster behind her as he pushed her forward toward the terrifying device. He wasn’t going to let her go. He was going to make her deal with this horrible situation whether she liked it or not. Whether it killed her or not. The vast injustice of it all struck her suddenly and hot tears began to spring out from Amy’s eyes.
“Oh yes, I’m afraid so. This is the only way that we can begin to prepare you for powering our world. You are going to return in your human form. No. Not really. But you will still be yourself. You will still have consciousness. After all, isn’t that what sets the golden ones apart from the rest of the world?”
King Wayne sneered and shoved Amy violently forward. She stumbled and fell against the machine, and suddenly, several pairs of hands were towing her forward to the contraption. She fought her hardest against it, shouting out loudly in protest. But there was no use. Nobody who heard her screams would register them and care about protecting her. She was alone here. And she was going to die. She was going to die in this horrible room in this disgusting gown surrounded by these monsters.
For some reason, Amy let out a loud shout that brought everybody’s eyes onto her. “Carter!”
19.
The wolves had descended upon him immediately. Carter had to think fast. He had been able to regenerate his breath weapon fast enough to take out about half of the wolves, but the other half were just vicious and furious. They wanted to take him out. And they were smart too. They were regular wolf shifters. They were powered by something entirely different. They were like hybrids themselves, but hybrids of something unholy that Carter had never even conceived possible.
One of them seemed to be leading the others, and there was an attack on Carter’s extremities that was difficult for him to shake off. There were so many of them. So many teeth and claws. So much pain. Carter was overwhelmed by the severity of the attacks. There were a lot of little wounds. But all at once. It was like he was being eaten alive. Even with half of the wolves out of commission, the other half were very easily sinking their teeth into him. It was a small room and he was a large target. He had to try harder. Fight harder. Fight for Amy.
Almost as if on cue, a sound echoed through the chambers that sent Carter’s heart into a frenzy. There was Amy. Her voice. Unmistakable. And calling for him.
Has she been able to sense his presence there? Or did she simply need him? She was in pain. She was afraid. And Carter couldn’t stand here and deal with these wolves any longer. He had to go to her. He had to go immediately. She was in trouble.
Carter let out a ferocious roar that made the wolves stand still in place and gaze at him as if he were some kind of a monster. It was clear they were afraid, and Carter doubled his efforts and fought to tear each of them away from his body. They bounced back like rubber balls, and quickly stepped back to his body with their ferocious teeth. The pain felt like nothing now. Nothing compared to his urgent desire to rescue Amy.
Carter unleashed a burst of energy, and his breath weapon fired once again, finally taking out the rest of the wolves. Well, all but one, but it was cowering in the corner, its fur nearly singed off entirely. Carter stared at it menacingly, daring it to come at him for another attack, but the wolf looked away and scampered off with his tail between his legs. Carter would have grinned if he wasn’t in a hurry. Good.
He began to try to make his way frantically throughout the tunnels in an effort to find wherever it was that Amy was being held. Every once in a while, one of the ugly guards would show up and try to fight Carter away, but they were no use against him in his dragon form. He blew them away easily, or snapped them with his teeth. They would never keep him from finding Amy. He was on a mission and there was no stopping him now.
A sudden cry of pain echoed through the corridors and Carter froze, his heart nearly shattered. Amy was hurting. And she was nearby. He searched the area with his eyes and sought out the doorway that was nearly concealed by a painting of one of the most notorious monsters in the universe. He called himself King Wayne. But really, he was a coward. A real coward. If Amy was dealing with him, then there was definitely no way that she was going to survive if Carter didn’t get there soon.
“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you,” King Wayne said when Carter burst through the doorway. Amy’s eyes settled upon him, at first wide with disbelief and confusion, and then Carter met her eyes and they softened into
understanding. She knew. She knew that it was him. She knew that he was there to protect her. And suddenly, all the anguish that he had been going through as he attempted to figure out how he was going to explain himself dissipated. She was one of the sacred descendants. She was going to be able to understand intuitively just as he understood that they belonged together. Even though he had been too stubborn to accept it.
“I was wondering when you might show up, dragon boy,” King Wayne continued, taking a long stride forward and reaching to his waist. Carter took the opportunity to look around the room and measure up the amount of danger he was in. The guards here were far more disciplined looking than the ones that had gone after him in the tunnels. They had been well trained, that much was certain. And they were all staring at King Wayne as if they were awaiting his orders. Of course, they were awaiting his orders. He was the master. They were weak minded. That would be their downfall.
“Help me,” Amy whispered, her voice hoarse. They had begun to connect the wires to her wrists. She was bound to this horrific machine. Carter knew exactly what they were about to do. They were going to try to drain her and utilize her power. They would do it through her blood, but they would leave her alive. Just enough to suffer in anguish for the rest of her life so that she would always know that she belonged to them and that her body was being used as a weapon to destroy all the light that might challenge the darkness of the universe.
Carter fixed his eyes upon King Wayne, suddenly wishing he had waited for reinforcements. At least having the other dragon shifters on his side would have guaranteed Amy’s safe return back to the world outside. Here, though, it was only Carter against this giant monster. He was a coward, yes, but he had a lot of power. Who knew what kind of tricks he might have up his sleeve? It was strange to realize that he was even here in person and not stowed away back home where he was safe and catered to by all his mooks and minions.
“I need you all to take care of this imposing threat. We need to get on with the ceremony. You know it is imperative that we get as many of the Golden ones back home as we possibly can. It’s crucial. How else are we going to keep your family’s life?”
Keep their families alive? Carter narrowed his eyes and glanced at the guards, who were now drawing their weapons at him. He shook his head in agitation. This rescue mission was turning out to be quite the pain in the ass. But he would do whatever he had to do in order to make sure that Amy was safe and sound. He didn’t know what those weapons were capable of, so he stood on his guard as King Wayne retreated away from the center of the room and hid behind one of his main bodyguards. Carter wasn’t going to let them get away with this.
Amy let out another cry as one of the men tightened another wire around her legs. Her pain fueled Carter’s rage and he let out his breath weapon on the guards. Several of them ran away screaming and soon dropped onto the ground, immediately killed by their wounds. However, there were some behind him that he hadn’t been able to foresee, and he cried out in pain as they dug their weapons through his scales and into this vulnerable flesh.
He was enraged by the sneak attack and whipped around, his tail making contact with the bodies of the men accumulating at his feet. Carter was far more powerful than any of these guards, no matter what type of weapons they might have. Apparently, they were prepared for a dragon attacks, and had been well trained in penetrating the thick armor of scales that protected Carter’s kind. But it wasn’t going to be enough to protect them. Especially not when they were hurting Amy right in front of him.
Carter let out a deep raging roar and ran after his attackers. Their eyes widened in confusion.
“No!” King Wayne exclaimed as he watched Carter take out all his guards one by one. Their cries echoed throughout the chambers and Amy was silent as she squeezed her eyes closed, unable to stomach the display.
“Now, it’s your turn,” Carter growled, surprised to find that he could speak to the monster even in his dragon form.
“Carter…” Amy’s voice was weak now, but she sounded relieved. “I knew you would come. I knew it was you.”
A surge of warmth spread through Carter’s chest, but it quickly turned to steal when he eyed King Wayne and his bodyguard. “You’re going to regret ever touching a hair on this woman’s body.”
And with that, Carter attacked.
20.
Amy could scarcely believe her eyes when she saw Carter burst into the room in his dragon form. She had never seen anything like it before in her life, and yet, somehow, realized immediately how deeply it suited him. He was a man who was more than a man. He was a man who was more than any man could ever be. He was more than she had been able to even conceive.
And he was there to keep her safe. Once again. Her heart was still stinging from his earlier rejection, but she couldn’t help but feel tremendous waves of gratitude and relief as she watched him size up King Wayne and prepare himself for an attack.
The whole event had been far too bloodied and gruesome for Amy, but she couldn’t help but watch as Carter stared down the man who was responsible for her abduction. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that there was no hope for him. Carter was furious. He was in full-on protective mode, and he wasn’t going to let up until King Wayne was dead.
She felt bad for wishing death upon anybody, but there was also some part of her that understood just how evil the monstrosity was. There was something going on far beyond her comprehension. Something sacred. A battle between good and evil. Light and dark. And this man was the embodiment of the darkness that was trying to consume her. Good riddance.
Carter seemed to have the same philosophy and let out a low growl as he lunged mercilessly at the enemy. King Wayne’s pitiful cries and shrieks filled the room as Carter’s razor-sharp teeth began to rip him apart, showing no inhibitions whatsoever about ridding himself of the king and his guard. The scene quickly grew too bloody to watch anymore of, and Amy hid her face as much as she could in her arm, hoping to protect herself from any further damage caused by the intensity of the situation.
“You’re going to be all right now.”
Carter’s voice was soft and gentle now, close to her ear. She could tell even without looking that he had shape shifted back into his human form, and his hands were warm and gentle as he freed her from her confines.
“Can you walk?” he asked, pulling her to a sitting position and gazing at her quietly.
Amy nodded. “I think so,” she murmured.
Her entire body was trembling, and Carter helped her to her feet. She nearly collapsed under her own weight and Carter offered her half a smile. “No. It’s all right. Let me help you.”
He hoisted her easily into the air, holding her close to his broad chest as he walked out of the room. It was only then that she realized that he was completely naked. Amy’s cheeks flushed a hot red and she gasped softly, holding him even tighter as he carried her easily out of the room and toward freedom.
Amy’s arms and wrists and legs hurt from the bindings that had been placed upon them when the guards had begun to tie her up. She was in tremendous pain and everything she did was agonizing. Thankfully, she didn’t have to move very much because Carter was taking care of her.
He smiled apologetically at her when he stopped in front of the hot dog truck, as if he knew that it was full of painful and frightening memories for her.
“I’m sorry, but we have no other option than to take this van out of here and get you back to town. Are you going to be all right? I need to get you home as soon as possible. We need to clean your wounds and take you away from this place.”
Amy nodded, her chest constricting painfully. She knew Carter cared about her. It was strange to find that anybody could understand her emotions so deeply without her having to explain them out loud.
“Let’s just go,” he said, her voice shaking.
Carter nodded and got behind the wheel of the van. She cringed when the car stalled, and it became obvious that he had never driven a stick
shift before. But he quickly figured out what he was doing wrong, and the van sputtered up toward its destination.
They rode in silence for a while before Carter finally turned to her, settling his gorgeous purple-hued eyes on her.
“You saw that, right? You know what it means?”
He was quiet for a moment as she thought back to the events of the night. She had seen Carter as a dragon. She had seen him change back to man and she had seen him flay her enemies alive and all the while, part of her knew implicitly and understood exactly what was going on. It was the same part of her that she had always kept locked up inside, that dark energy that provided her with strength at the most unlikely of times. She knew that they were the same, at least in a way, and that their meeting was no mere coincidence. They had been brought together by forces far greater than themselves.
But how could she explain all of that? Instead, she answered with a slight nod and leaned back into her seat.
“Yes, I understand,” she said, gazing tiredly Carter. She reached over and gripped his hand from the wheel and squeezed tightly. “This is how it had to happen. I understand.”
Carter let out a deep breath, and it became clear that he was very relieved and pleased by her answer. “So, you understand that you are my fated mate? And that all of this was meant to happen?”
Amy took the words in and mowed them over for a few moments. They didn’t scare her. In fact, they resonated the truth.
“Yes, but that makes it very difficult for me to understand why you had sex with me and then took off. I didn’t hear from you after that. It was really hurtful.”
Carter grimaced, his face the ultimate expression of pain. “I was worried that I had made a mistake. That you were not actually the one I was meant to be with. I didn’t realize that your illness was something that could be cured by embracing the full of your power.”
