by Lynn Daniels
He walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, “When I return, we shall decide who shall bear my heir, this blonde beauty or my dark-haired Felisha.”
K’ivan walked over and removed the covers from the cages in the corners. In a hushed voice he called out toward the unconscious woman, “He’s gone.”
Jasmine sat up and looked around.
“Oh, my baby boy! What did he do to you?” She crawled over to the smallest cage and pushed her hands through the bars to caress his face. “I’m going to get you out of there, I promise!”
“Get away from my son!” A dark-haired beauty called from the other cage.
Jasmine turned her attention to the far corner. Inside sat a woman with long black hair, and the beautiful blues that matched Ki’zander’s exactly. She sat huddled, naked inside the filthy cage. From the way it looked, and the state she was in, Jasmine judged that she had been in there for quite a long time. She was also swollen with child, and it appeared she didn’t have long to wait.
“He has your eyes, and your hair. Is your Mach as beautiful as his?”
The woman in the box ignored her and continued to stare at her son across the room. “You must fight it Ki’zander, if you shift—” her voice broke on a sob.
Jo’siah watched as the boy fought to stay in form. “How many others?”
She looked from Ki’zander to the Doshna, “Five.”
He cursed under his breath, “They were younger, weren’t they?”
“The youngest was four dexidacon old, the oldest, not quite an ionun.”
“How long has Ki’zander been on his own?”
Her gaze shot from her son to the Doshna, “He hasn’t been on his own, I had been going to care for him, every day, bringing him food, holding him, teaching him the things he needs to know.”
“You are in that cage, and I would imagine you’ve been in there for a while. I also know Ki’zander had given up hope of ever seeing you again.
“My guess is that when you could no longer hide that you were with child again, Ki’shien became enraged, and decided to be rid of the both of you at the same time.”
“What do you mean, rid of both of them at the same time?” Jasmine crossed to Jo’siah and was examining his shackles.
“Because in order to birth the child I will have to be in my alternate form, Mach. Should I shift it would kill me, should I remain in this form, the birthing will kill me. The moment my babe leaves my body, he too shall die.”
“But, why? How can being inside a cage, albeit small, kill a baby?” The words were nearly whispered. The anticipated answer sent a chill through her.
“He shall be born Mach, of course.” She looked at the human as if she were dense.
Jasmine turned to Jo’siah, as her hand went to caress her stomach, the shock on her face caused him to take a step back. “If I—” She looked at the others in the room with them. “If we, you know—” she blushed a deep red. “Are your kind born like—” Her hand shot out to indicate the woman who had just given her more information then she really wanted to have.
“Oh!” The woman called out, “Oh, no, no, no! Please not now, not when I am so close to freedom!”
Chapter 15
Felisha couldn’t believe she was right back where she had started, tied to the bed, looking at Ki’shien. Her legs, this time were bound to the posts at the bottom of the bed, leaving her more exposed than she would have liked, but she knew it could have been worse. He had threatened, before to bind them with her legs up in the air, talk about all her business out there for everybody to see, the idea gave her nightmares.
Ki’shien had taken her from J’amar, tossed her over the ledge of his balcony, then flew down to capture her in his claws. She had stopped fighting her captor when she realized that should she succeed in getting away from him, she would then, simply fall to her death.
So, here she was, again. She could feel J’amar’s rage through their bond. He had managed to get back to his chamber just as she was thrown over the balcony. She nearly died when she was tossed over the edge, nothing in her life scared her as much as watching the rocks below growing closer and closer.
This time, she had decided when she wasn’t actually trying to speak, she would keep her bottom lip firmly between her teeth, so she didn’t accidently speak her thoughts.
“Where’s your boyfriend?” As long as he was distracted, she believed she would be safe. An angry Ki’shien might take his wrath out on her, but she had hoped he wouldn’t rape her.
Ki’shien glared at her, “K’ivan is busy and won’t be joining us this time. I’ve decided that you shall bear my heir.”
“Oh, joy of joys. I can hardly wait…to be raped by you.” She felt an overwhelming fear that he would try to mate her, as he had threatened to do the last time. “I have a mate, already. J’amar has mated me.”
“I do not need to mate you to breed you. Luckily for you, once you are carrying my babe, I will no longer have need of your body. You’ll just join the others while we wait to see if your weaker human body can endure the birthing of a Mach.”
“What do you mean?” She suddenly felt more afraid for her life than the previous twenty years she had spent wandering around Southern California.
“You see, Mach come out in their natural form, not as human babes. At least that has always been the way it is.”
“So, what are you going to do if I birth a one-hundred percent full on human baby?” She could only pray such a thing into reality, because she was pretty sure she wouldn’t survive birthing a miniature of the monster that was staring at her with hunger in his eyes.
“Well, then I shall have no need of you. Enough talk, it is time to get on with it. First you shall take me into your mouth, as you did before. Only this time, let me warn you. Should the thought cross your pretty little mind to do as you did before, the results will be quite devastating, and permanent.
“You see, I have in the cells below this room, a few visitors. I don’t think your mate would like to think your rash decisions were the cause of his brother’s death. Also, I think you’re familiar with my baby brother?”
Just then, K’ivan ran into the room and called to him, “Ki’shien, the human!”
“What of her? Are you going to tell me that you can’t handle one small female?”
“As you recall she had fainted when I took flight, it seems I was misled. When I turned around from uncovering the other cages, she had fled the room.”
“You fool! Who knows what kind of mischief she will get into? If I have learned nothing from this one,” he turned an angry glare on Felisha, “it is to never accept any perceived weakness as truth.” He started for the door, then turned back to her with a smirk, “Wait here my pretty little human, I shall return to sample your mouth in a little while.”
“Oh, no problem, I’ll just hang out here —” her voice faded as he stormed out of the room, “—until you get back.”
“J’amar, I really could use you sweeping in to save the day again, right about now.”
Chapter 16
“I don’t know who J’amar is, but I might be able to help.”
Felisha looked over at the door, that only moments ago, Ki’shien had gone through. A petite blonde was standing there. From the Doshna she had met, she was pretty sure this woman wasn’t one. They were all tall and muscular. She had never met a female Mach, but so far, all the men she had met were dark. Black hair, dark skin, and eyes of shades that varied between the deepest brown to a stunning blue, that reminded her of the sunrise over the lake back home.
The new woman gave her a strange look, which could only mean one thing.
“Pay no attention, too many years on my own. Sometimes I think out loud.” Felisha bit her lip again, hoping it would stop any more unnecessary chatter.
“Ah, my favorite aunt did that, Aunt Jaz, my mother named me after her. I totally understand. So, to answer your question, with another question of my own. You’re human, too?” S
he stepped into the room, walked toward Felisha, her eyes looking anywhere but at her bound nude form.
“It might take me a while to get these off you, they’re pretty tight. I don’t suppose these Machs have any need of scissors, or maybe a knife around here?” She was holding the thick ropes that bound Felisha’s wrists above her head.
“Um, probably not. I don’t know if you’ve figured this out or not, but they’re pretty badass.”
“Yeah, I’ve had firsthand experience, and I can’t say I enjoyed it.”
Jasmine had to use her teeth to loosen the knot. Finally, she was able to remove the restraints on her arms. Felisha worked on one leg, while she did the other. Both kept their eyes on the door, for fear they would be caught any moment.
“I heard they had Jo’siah here, as well?” Felisha looked up as she worked the rope off her ankle.
“Yes, he said he had a feeling I would need your help to get him and the others free. But we have to hurry!”
“The others? He said he had Ki’zander, but who else?” Felisha slid off the high bed and wobbled on her feet until she felt steady. Then she started looking around for something to wear.
“I swear, these dragons have got to have some clothes around here somewhere.”
Jasmine started pulling open curtains, and boxes until she found a long shirt that would cover all the bits Felisha wanted to hide.
“Come on, you’ll see, it’s just down this short hall, but be careful, it’s very steep, and damp in places.”
The narrow hall wound down lower into the cave that was the home to Ki’shien. The way was dark, and at one point there was a drop off that seemed to go on forever.
“I thought bottomless pits weren’t really a thing, I guess I was wrong.” She had stopped and was staring down into what could only be described as the pits of hell. Every now and then she could see flames shooting up, and knew she was looking at a river of lava. Which brought back the memory of waking up here.
“How did you get here?” She stepped away from the ledge and looked over at the other woman.
“I was dumped by my boyfriend, literally. We were on a boat he had bought,” She mumbled under her breath, “with my money, when he threw me over. I had started swimming to shore, and a giant wave pulled me under. When I was finally able to make it to the surface, everything had changed. That was when I met Zander.”
“Zander?” Felisha’s foot slipped, and Jasmine reached over to steady her.
“Yeah, the baby.” She explained about the experience she had with her first Mach.
Felisha laughed, then told her about waking up in the middle of a lake of lava and fire, and how she was wounded trying to get out. “I don’t know what Ki’zander did, but when I woke up, my hands were completely healed.”
“Well, evidently they can heal burns with their saliva. You have no idea how scared I was when I believed he was going to eat Jo’siah.” She gave a nervous laugh, thinking about almost losing him before she ever really had him.
“What do you mean? What happened to Jo’siah?” She felt a moment of panic, even though they were no longer mated, she still felt a connection to him. She would never forget the night they had spent making love in the clearing after escaping Ki’shien.
She nearly fell when Jasmine stopped in the middle of the narrow path. She stood there a moment, her shoulders stiff, as she put one hand on the wall and turned around. The glare she shot back at Felisha was her first indication that she had, once again, been speaking out loud.
Chapter 17
Jo’siah felt a weight had been lifted when his brother’s mate came into the room. She walked right over to where Ki’zander’s cage was and started trying to figure a way to release him. She hadn’t even looked at him, let alone spoken. Then he looked over at his mate. She was standing in the door with her arms crossed over her chest. She was glaring at him, and only looked away to glare at Felisha. He groaned, knowing there was only one reason for that. “Felisha what did you do?”
Jasmine refused to speak to him, he had lied to her. Well, he hadn’t told her about his involvement with the woman he had sent her to release, anyway. Now she knew for certain that all men were scumbags, no matter where they were. First Marcus, and now Jo’siah. She felt her eyes burn with unshed tears. There was no way she was going to let this man see how he had hurt her.
He looked from Felisha to his mate, he could see the pain she was in, and knew he was the cause. “Jasmine—”
She turned an angry glare on him, her finger shot out as she approached him. She jabbed her finger into his chest as she spoke through gritted teeth. “No, you do not get to say anything! How could you? I trusted you! You knew what I went through with Marcus. That was an ass hole thing to do! You sent me to get a woman you just had sex with, and then took her for your mate! Just how many mates can you have, anyway? You two-timing bastard!”
“Oh, no we’re not mates. J’amar explained it all to me, after he drowned, the Goddess took pity on his ass and fixed it. He said the only way for her to sever the connection between him and us, was he had to —” Felisha’s mouth hung open, the only way to sever the connection was through death.
“When K’ivan burned me, I don’t remember much after the pain, but when I was able to think again, the first thing I noticed was that the connection was broken.” He pulled at his restraints, he really needed to get free and hold his mate. Then he would try to figure out how to make it all right again.
Jasmine looked between the two of them, Felisha looked ready to cry, and she had a feeling that wasn’t a normal reaction for her. “What am I missing?”
“The only way to remove a bond is through death.” Felisha explained about what J’amar had told her. Even though they were no longer mates, they had been, at least for a short time. In that time, she had seen just what a kind and caring person Jo’siah was. The world wouldn’t be the same without him in it.
Felisha hadn’t seen the other cage until she heard the woman’s voice. She walked over to the dark corner, and the smell coming from the cage nearly drove her back.
“Who are you? And how long have you been in that cage?” She stood back, her hand over her mouth, gagging from the smell coming from the corner.
“My name is Kat’arina, and I have been in this hell for more dexionuns than I could count. I just know that when he put me in here, I had just started to show, and now—” A scream came from the woman that had been curled into a small ball in the center of the cage. Suddenly, her legs were pushing against the bars, and the shimmering of midnight blue scales rippled before returning to her ebony skin.
“Oh, Dios mío! We need to get her out of there! She looks like she’s ready to pop!”
A cry came from Ki’zander’s cage, “Momma!”
“Are you kidding me? You’re his mother? Well, I guess that explains why you left him there.”
She ran back over to finish releasing Ki’zander. All at once the bars of the cage fell away, and a huge purple Mach nearly filled the room.
Chapter 18
Doshna’Asher
J’amar was beside himself with worry for his mate. He had felt her terror through their bond and rushed back to the castle from the training grounds. He had been preparing a legion to go after his brother. He made it into his room just in time to watch as Felisha was pushed over the balcony.
Fear had overwhelmed reason when he rushed to the railing, ready to throw himself over, when he saw the red Mach seize his mate and fly away.
Now he stood before a vast legion of huge beasts, ready to invade the Mach and return both the heir to the throne and his mate. In the short time she had been there, she had endeared herself to many in the kingdom.
All had laughed at her seeming inability to keep her thoughts to herself, but many had added that at least they knew where they stood in her regard. Whether it be her comments on their huge cocks, or their arrogant ways.
Her native tongue had also had a great influence on his people.
Now the greatest warriors could be found shouting the insults to each other while they fought. Each vying to outmatch the other.
“Attention, corazón! Are you ready to bring back the heir?”
“Amor!” The deafening roar rang out in the kingdom as each warrior shifted into their huge cats, then headed for the mountain that separated Mach from Doshna.
Through the hills they ran, leaping over huge boulders and fallen trees. By mid-day they were ready to stop for a short respite. A few Doshna ran into the woods to hunt for food, while the others waited. After the feast, they rested in the warm sun. The Doshna were powerful beasts, however, in order to maintain their speed, they needed to stop often to refuel and rest.
As the sun was setting, they took up the race again, by nightfall they would come to the boundary that separated the warring races.
Jos’eph called a halt just as they topped the mountain range. “I will take a few warriors and scout ahead; the rest must wait here until I send word. J’amar, show me where you and your brother traveled.”
They separated the warriors into groups, assigning higher ranking soldiers over each one. Once that was done, they set out on foot, sticking to the shadows until they were certain no Mach would be out patrolling. As cold-blooded beasts, they hunted and patrolled by day, and stayed mostly in their lair at night. Only a few of the hardiest Mach were left to patrol on the cool evenings.
“Here, Father. We stayed in this cave the first night we were here, and this path—” He indicated a narrow mountain trail, that wound its way to a distant cave. “This leads to a cavern that comes out in the heart of Mach territory, not far from Ki’shien’s lair.”
Jos’eph pointed to one of the soldiers, “You, go and tell the warriors to join us in sets of no more than six. With stealth, we shall succeed.”
