Drakon's Knight

by N. J. Walters

  His second-in-command nodded, setting his helmet on the seat of his bike. “Go.”

  “They still coming this way?” Jericho asked Enoch over the comm link.

  “Affirmative.”

  This was it. Within seconds, he would come face-to-face with Karina Azarov, the head of the Knights of the Dragon.

  Once she understood who and what he was, he’d kill her.

  Jericho strode out into the middle of the road, his senses jacked and his drakon stirring to life. He and his men were declaring war on the Knights of the Dragon.

  The car rolled around the bend. Jericho raised his hand and waved. That’s right. You see me. The driver didn’t slow down; the car sped up. Come and get me.

  Sadiq took a position on the other side of road, so the car couldn’t get around them. The only way forward was through them.

  “Ready?” Jericho asked.

  Sadiq’s smile was enough to make a smart human’s blood run cold. “I’m always ready.”

  When the driver tried to go between them, they simply dug their booted feet into the pavement and thrust their hands out in front of them. The armored car hit an immovable object—them. Using their drakon strength, they forced the vehicle to come to an abrupt halt. The hood went down, and the back flipped up. They ducked as the vehicle flew end over end and crashed to the road behind them. Metal screeched and crunched as it slammed into the ground and skidded quite a distance before coming to a stop.

  A female scream made Jericho’s stomach clench. Karina Azarov might be evil, but it was never easy to kill a woman. He strode toward the passenger door while motioning Sadiq to the driver’s side.

  Jericho yanked the dented, reinforced metal panel off and tossed it aside with no more effort than a human would use to toss aside a paper plate.

  The rumble of heavy engines reached his ears as Enoch and Khalil roll up to the scene. They’d keep a lookout for any unwanted visitors.

  Satisfied they had everything under control, Jericho ducked his head, looked inside the disabled vehicle, and got his first up-close view of his target.

  A woman with black hair and vivid green eyes stared back at him. She appeared dazed, and her skin was pale. Blood ran down her temple and dripped off her jaw.

  His first instinct was to comfort her, to assure himself she wasn’t seriously hurt. But that was wrong, wasn’t it? This was Karina Azarov. His job, his mission, was to kill her.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  Her voice reached deep inside him. Something primal stirred, and the dragon that lived inside him roared with fury.

  Well, hell.

  Chapter Two

  Karina had only a split second to realize something was terribly wrong before the world flipped upside down. She slammed against the roof of the car, tossed like a rag doll when it crashed back to the ground. Her head bounced off something hard, and blinding pain ricocheted through her skull.

  It all took place so fast it was over before she truly understood what was happening. Every inch of her body hurt. Before she could make sense of things, the door was ripped off the vehicle and someone appeared in the opening.

  She blinked to try to bring the person into focus. It took several tries before she could make it happen.

  He wasn’t someone she knew. There is no way she would have forgotten him. He had jet black hair that was pulled back from his face, high cheekbones, and a jaw that looked as though it had been hewn from granite. But it was his dark eyes that caught her attention. They were filled with a fury that was truly frightening.

  “Who are you?” She meant it to come out strong and authoritative, but her voice was weak and trembled. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and rest, but that would be a mistake.

  He continued to stare at her, so she stared back. Something dripped down her face. She swiped it away, and her fingers came back bloody. Her stomach roiled at the sticky redness coating her skin, and she feared she was going to be sick.

  The man ignored her, got down on his hands and knees, and crawled into the damaged car. It wasn’t easy, since he was so huge. He wore faded jeans that clung to his thick thighs, heavy leather boots, and a black T-shirt beneath his open leather jacket. Massive was the best word to describe him.

  “Is he dead?” she motioned to the unconscious man beside her. He seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place him. Why couldn’t she remember him? She should know him since they’d been traveling together. Shouldn’t she?

  The stranger placed two fingers against the man’s throat. “He’s still alive.”

  They needed to get help. Eyeing her purse, she started to pull herself toward it. She could get her phone and call 911.

  The stranger noticed what she was doing and grabbed her purse. At first, she thought he meant to pass it to her and smiled her thanks, or at least tried to. It was tremulous, at best.

  He opened the leather bag, pulled out her phone, and crushed it in his hand, completely destroying it.

  She blinked several times, her vision blurring. “Why did you do that?” Nothing made sense.

  Consciousness was beginning to slip away. She couldn’t allow that. It would leave her vulnerable. She might not be able to grasp much of what was happening, but she didn’t want to be defenseless.

  “What the hell is going on?” asked a male voice. But the stranger hadn’t spoken. Was someone with him? Had they stopped to help?

  The stranger continued to glare at her as though she’d done something wrong. But she hadn’t, had she? The ache in her head made it impossible to think straight.

  “Let’s get you out of here.” He was acting as though he were the one suffering, when she was the one who was hurt. Still, it wouldn’t help matters to antagonize him.

  “Yes. Okay.” She wasn’t sure she could make it on her own but wasn’t willing to ask for assistance. She knew instinctively it wasn’t something she would normally do.

  The pain in her skull shot to a whole new level when she moved. Her entire body quivered, and sweat beaded on her forehead. She gritted her teeth against the debilitating pain and dragged herself forward. The opening seemed miles away instead of a couple of feet. But she was nothing if not determined.

  Her left arm and shoulder screamed with pain, but she ignored it and pulled herself a few inches before she had to stop and rest. Her breathing was ragged, coming hard and fast. Her lungs burned.

  “Fuck,” the stranger said, before he slid his hands under her and eased her out. As careful as he was, the jolt to her body was too much. Excruciating agony shot through her, and blackness overtook her consciousness.

  …

  Jericho knew the second she passed out. He finished extricating her from the wreckage and stood with her in his arms. She was thinner than she’d been in the pictures he’d seen. Blood dripped from a head wound, and her pale skin was already beginning to darken with the promise of bruises.

  Without a seat belt restraining her, she’d been tossed around in the crash. She could have been killed.

  Why that was abhorrent to him when it had been the goal all along, he couldn’t say.

  “That her?” Sadiq asked.

  He turned so the other three could get a look. “It’s her,” he confirmed.

  “Well?” Sadiq inquired. “What are you waiting for?” Enoch and Khalil remained quiet but watchful.

  This was supposed to be a quick operation, but Jericho had taken one look at her face, heard her voice—and he couldn’t kill her.

  “We’re going to take her with us. Question her.” That sounded like a sensible plan. “She may have valuable information about other drakons.” Something he should have thought about before.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Sadiq motioned to the car. “The driver is dead, but the bodyguard isn’t. If we take her, the Knights will be all over our asses.”

  Jericho shook his head and held Karina a little closer. Above the sickly scent of blood and sweat, the rancid stench of fear, he could smell the remnants of wh
atever she’d used in the bath or shower. It was light and floral, reminding him of a summer’s day.

  “They have no idea who we are,” he pointed out. “Let the bodyguard live. It will be interesting to see who he talks to and what he does.” Jericho nodded at Enoch. “Bug his phone. I want to know everything.”

  Enoch glanced at Khalil and the two of them got to work, leaving Jericho alone with Sadiq.

  “You are out of your mind,” his friend pointed out needlessly. Jericho was aware he wasn’t thinking straight. He wanted time to figure things out.

  “Get her bag, and have Enoch check it to make sure it doesn’t have a tracker.” Enoch was their tech expert, surprising since he was an earth drakon. They tended to be more into outdoor activities, but Enoch was happiest when he was connected to all his electronic equipment.

  “You want her purse, too?”

  He glared at Sadiq, ignoring the sarcasm in his friend’s voice. “Burn it.” Drakon fire would incinerate all of it, leaving not a trace. It would be harder for her to escape if she had no money or identification. Plus, it was better not to leave anything for the authorities to find. It would be interesting to see how the Knights handled the situation. “Get her phone,” he added. “I crushed it, but maybe Enoch can get something off it.”

  Khalil, having heard their conversation, crawled out of the wreck and handed the purse to Sadiq, who took it to the side of the ride to dispose of it. “This was in there.” Khalil held up a bottle of medication.

  “Bring it,” Jericho told him. “We’ll figure out what it is later.”

  Enoch joined them. “It’s done. And I have the remains of her phone.” He pulled a scanner out and held it over the small bag of clothing that Sadiq had rescued from the back of the car. “Clean.”

  “Let’s go.” He started toward his bike. They’d been damn lucky no one had come along. He didn’t want to push that luck.

  “How are you going to carry her on your bike?” Sadiq asked as he strapped the luggage to his own. “And for fuck’s sake, stop the bleeding or she might not survive the trip.”

  Jericho spun around and growled at his friend, fury rising up within him. She would survive. She had to.

  His friends all took a step back.

  “We should kill her and be done with this,” Sadiq said. “You’re not acting like yourself. This could be a trap.”

  It likely was a trap, but not the kind they meant. It wasn’t a ploy by the Knights, but one of biology. Some deep instinct had roared to life the second he’d heard her speak. He feared life as he’d known it was over.

  “We can’t leave her. She is mine.”

  Sadiq swore. Enoch appeared shocked. Khalil simply shook his head and grabbed a clean T-shirt from his saddlebag, ripping the garments into strips before securing them around Karina’s head.

  “You can’t hold her and drive at the same time,” Khalil told him as he finished securing the makeshift bandage. “Too dangerous.”

  Jericho knew he was right but didn’t want to release Karina. It wasn’t only that he wanted to guard her, but he couldn’t be sure one of his friends wouldn’t kill her. Their first instinct would be to protect him.

  He carefully set her on the back of the Harley with her back against the metal rest.

  “Here.” Sadiq stepped forward holding a length of rope he’d retrieved from his saddlebag. “If you’re determined to take her, this should help.”

  Jericho nodded his thanks. It didn’t take long to lash Karina’s limp body to the bike. He slung his leg over the Harley, grateful the seat was oversized. Tied to the backrest, with his big body in front of her, she wasn’t going anywhere. They were so close every inch of her torso was pressed against him.

  Khalil stepped forward, pulled her arms around to Jericho’s front, and used extra strips from his shirt to bind her wrists together. He used the remaining ties to fasten her ankles around Jericho’s.

  “It’s not perfect, but it will do for a short run,” Khalil told him. “Just be careful. Keep things steady.”

  The others mounted up, and the revving of the heavy engines filled the air, but he knew they could hear him easily, even without the earpieces they still all wore. “I’m not sure I can live without her.”

  It both infuriated and amazed him at the same time. The human side of him was suspicious. The dragon side was roaring in pleasure, recognizing that this woman belonged to him in some indefinable way that defied all logic.

  None of them had anything to say. And really, there was nothing they could say to make him leave her behind. Sadiq pulled out and the other two waited until Jericho fell in behind him. They’d just rounded a corner when he heard a vehicle approaching from behind. They’d just missed getting caught, but it also meant that the authorities would soon be on their way.

  The Knights would soon discover what had happened.

  Karina moved against his back, and he sensed a new alertness to her. “Where—” she broke off before she finished asking her question.

  “You’re safe,” he reassured her, yelling to be heard over the powerful engine. “I’ll look after you.” It was a promise and a vow. He wanted to curse the gods. They’d given him what he’d asked for, what he’d prayed for—a woman of his own.

  The irony, the cosmic joke, was that she was his greatest enemy, his blood brothers’ greatest enemy, too. If they discovered he was protecting Karina Azarov, he’d never have any kind of relationship with them. Never get the acceptance he’d always craved.

  He’d planned to use his victory over the Knights as an excuse to finally meet and confront his actual blood brothers—all born of the same dragon sire but different human mothers.

  They’d found one another but had never bothered to search for him. He didn’t care that they hadn’t been aware of his existence. They should have, shouldn’t they? They were brothers.

  His heart hardened in his chest. His brothers weren’t a part of his life and never had been. He didn’t really know them.

  But Karina was here. And if there was even the tiniest chance things could work out, he’d take it.

  In all likelihood, she’d either want to capture or destroy him once she was healed. She was the head of the Knights of the Dragon, after all. Once she knew exactly what he was, she would betray him at the first opportunity.

  He’d probably have to kill her at some point. It was as inevitable as the sun rising every morning. She was who she was, and he was what he was—a drakon.

  There could be no hope for them.

  Something rolled down his face. He reached up and caught it before it fell to the ground. Without looking at it, he tucked the single precious drakon tear into his jacket pocket before grasping the handlebar once again.

  “Where…” Her voice faded.

  “I’m taking you somewhere safe.” The lie burned in his gut. There wasn’t anywhere safe for her. She was the head of the Knights of the Dragon.

  He felt her nod against his back and was conflicted, an unusual occurrence for him. It was his nature to be decisive and act accordingly. Only twice in his life had he been this unsure—with his blood brothers and now with her.

  While it was good she was awake, as it meant her injury wasn’t as severe as it could have been, it was also bad in that the questions would come as soon as she understood they weren’t rescuing but kidnapping her.

  They kept heading away from the city, putting distance between them and the Knights. Enoch was on his phone ordering the plane to head to a nearby private airfield. That was Enoch, always thinking, always planning.

  They had more than enough money to keep their jet on permanent standby. There was room on board for the four of them and their custom Harley Davidson motorcycles. They all preferred to ride, loved the open road and the freedom it offered. But sometimes, like now, it made more sense to take the jet.

  He let his friend take care of the details. Wherever they ended up, Jericho trusted they’d be safe, at least for now.

  … />
  Someone was speaking to Birch, but the voice seemed to be coming from far away. His body ached, especially his left arm. The smell of gasoline and blood was pungent.

  He pried his eyes open to find a stranger dressed in a paramedic’s uniform leaning over him. “Sir, don’t move. You were in a car wreck.”

  Ignoring the advice, Birch pushed himself upright. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but he managed. He peered around what remained of the interior of the vehicle, but there was no sign of Karina or her belongings. “I’m fine,” he told the paramedic. What the hell had happened?

  “You’ve got to take it easy, buddy,” the medic hovered, trying to calm him.

  “The driver?” he demanded.

  The man shook his head. “I’m sorry. You’re lucky to be alive.”

  When he made no mention of Karina, Birch knew she’d been taken. The question was, by whom? He dragged himself toward the opening.

  “Sir, you’ve got to let me help you.”

  “In a minute.” He yanked his phone out of his pocket and punched in a number he knew by heart.

  “Yes?” Her voice was crisp but tinged with impatience.

  “There’s been an accident. The authorities are here.” He had to keep things vague with the paramedic hovering beside him and several cops watching. “The driver is dead.”

  “Karina?”

  “Unknown.”

  “What do you mean? Is she there with you?”

  “No.” Birch shook his head. Big mistake.

  “I see. I’ll get on it. Get back to the city and work it from your end. Whatever you do, keep this quiet. And get rid of your phone. It might be compromised.”

  “I will.” He hung up and nodded to the paramedic. “My left arm.”

  The man shook his head. “It’s more than your arm, sir. You’ve got a head wound as well, most likely a concussion.” His partner had rolled over a stretcher. “Let’s get you loaded up so we can get you to the hospital.”

  Birch started to protest but then thought better of it. Less likelihood someone would find out about this situation if he went to a smaller local hospital.