“We dispatched four guards down the tunnels toward the palace to track the prince,” Cleve announced. The portal guard was new to his duties, and Finn often found him a little too eager to please. Such was the way with youth. The man was only forty years old. His predecessor had left through the portal taking several Draig men with him. “We will find him.”
The tunnels to the portal were dangerous, with damp, slick stones and narrow pathways. They led to a stairwell inside the dragon-shifter palace. The tunnels were rarely used if it could be avoided. Why would Ivar think to go that route instead of through the safer valley entrance?
“My prince, may I ask? Why were you coming through the tunnels?” Cleve inquired. “Has something happened at the palace? Why is the Var prince with you?”
Finn lifted his hand to quiet the guard. The human woman stood and turned in a slow circle. She might be examining her surroundings, but the movement gave Finn a decent view of her body as the breeze pushed against her clothing. She took two steps to the right before turning and moving five steps to the left, only to end up going back to her original place.
“Who is she?” Cleve asked.
Finn again lifted his hand for silence. “I don’t know.”
As if coming to a decision, she walked back to the cave.
Finn held his breath as his body tightened in anticipation. He enjoyed the moment, watching her as she moved toward him. The sound of rustling feet through the grasses gave music to her slow, almost purposeful progress. His arms and legs felt heavy. His heartbeat quickened. The undeniable attraction, the surge of excitement, the physical pull, the urge inside his stomach to lunge forward and sweep her into his arms, could this be what men described when they spoke of finding their mate?
When she’d made it within talking distance, she stopped. “Where am I?”
Her question was louder than necessary.
Such a pretty voice, Finn thought.
“Northern mountains,” Cleve answered for him, using the Earth language.
Finn frowned at the interruption to his growing fantasy and turned to look at the man. “See to Prince Ivar.”
The guard nodded, and it was then, seeing the disappointment at being sent away in the man’s expression, that Finn realized he wasn’t the only one captivated by this woman.
It would seem the fascination he felt wasn’t uniquely his. Cleve was enamored as well. Finn’s attraction was strong, so strong it had almost tricked him into believing the feeling was special. But why wouldn’t it be strong? She was beautiful. Her skin was soft, her lips attractive and…
“Why am I here?” She stiffened, as if ready to run again. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Finn wasn’t sure how to answer.
“Maybe I should find that other guy. He speaks my language.” She stepped to the side, making a wide arc around him toward the cave entrance.
“I speak your language,” Finn said. Hopefully this time the beautiful woman would hear him.
“Then tell me why I am here.” Panic filled her voice.
“Because you walked here,” he gestured behind her, “from there.”
“Where is here? And don’t say Northern Mountains. North of where? More importantly, how did I get here?” Her breathing quickened, and her tone became all the more frantic. “A minute ago, I was in Oxford walking down Faulkner Alley, looking for a hole-in-the-wall place that serves grilled cheese sandwiches so I could do a write up of it—those stories can sometimes go viral if done right, you know, and I could always use more web traffic—and anyway, now I’m…” She gestured wildly around her. “I’m in the mountains hallucinating. The grass is yellow. The sky is green. Your eyes are glowing. You and those other men are some kind of reptilian-dragon-alligator-whatever.”
“We are Draig, we’re dragon-shifters,” Finn corrected.
“Oh, so the hallucinations are auditory, too. That’s good to know.” She had given a humorless, nervous laugh before she fidgeted with her fingers.
“It feels like the mountains, I guess. The air is thinner. And I’m having a hard time catching my breath. And I am seeing double.” She pointed to the sky. “Am I wrong, or are there two suns?”
“Three,” he stated. “The blue one is hidden.”
“Of course, it is,” she mumbled to herself.
“If you are upset about being here, why did you follow me into the portal?” Finn asked.
“Portal? You mean that bright light? I was pushed against what I thought was a wall by that furry man who threw me into the light.” She eyed Finn, waiting for confirmation or any sign that he might be lying to her.
“So, it is the will of the gods, then.” Finn nodded. “That is why you are here. You were meant to come.” He thought about the guard he’d sent away, and remembered the way he’d looked at this woman. Jealousy filled him to think that she was meant for another. Yet who was he to get in the way if Cleve was her future?
Gudmund, another of the portal guards, appeared. “My prince, I have sent Gale and Cedar—”
The woman gasped at the sudden intrusion and stumbled backward. Gudmund frowned at the interruption. Finn imagined, after hearing Earthmen speak, that Gudmund’s voice would sound brusque to the human ear.
“Use the Earth language. She startles easily,” Finn ordered. His head throbbed where he’d bumped it, and he absently rubbed near the wound.
“Cleve found satchels in the cave, but Prince Ivar is not there. Are you sure the prince followed you into the tunnels?” Gudmund asked.
Finn turned toward the cave, willing Ivar to appear. “What do you mean Prince Ivar is not there? That’s not possible.”
“All we found are these items.” Gudmund motioned his hand toward the cave and Cleve came out carrying two bags. Finn recognized the satchel as his. It had all the Earth money. “Has a trip been scheduled for tonight?”
Cleve held up the larger black one. “This one is marked with the word, Saddle.” He lowered it, and it bumped against the rock face.
“It says my name, Sadie. And take it easy. It has my laptop inside. You can’t bang it around like that.” Sadie reached for her satchel. She appeared to get over her fear of them long enough to approach Cleve and snatch her property from him. She took it with her several feet away before digging inside. “Where’s my phone? I…” Her expression fell, and she stopped looking. “I was carrying it in the alleyway when that hairy man attacked me. I bet I dropped it. Dammit.”
“Hairy man?” Gudmund asked. “Does she mean Prince Ivar? Did you come from the portal? I was not told there was to be travel. The charts say last night’s location is not advisable. This valley entrance was locked. I opened it this morning as instructed to let air flow through the caves before the elders come for a tour. We have not neglected our duty.”
Finn didn’t answer as he hurried into the cave. He knew the gate to the valley had been locked because he’d locked it behind him after they sneaked in. “Check the portal! Is it still open? Prince Ivar is on the other side.”
Finn ran toward the portal. Someone had lit torches and placed them along the wall. He had known before he reached the doorway that it was too late. The purple light signifying the portal was open had long faded. Carvings of dragons and cats pointed at him to go back to the valley, a symbol of their exodus from Earth, a warning not to return.
That didn’t stop him from trying to jump between the statutes to the other side. He fell through the air, not going anywhere but to the back of the cave. The door to the Earth city had closed and couldn’t be reopened to that location for another year. Ivar was trapped. Finn’s eyes moved to the guard holding his bag full of Earth supplies. The cat-shifting prince had no means to support himself. He was stranded on Earth alone and without means.
“Prince Finn?” Gudmund inquired. “What happened to the Var prince?”
Finn shook his head, too shocked to consider his answer as he whispered, “I don’t know.”
“The Var King and Queen
will not accept this answer,” Gudmund warned. “You must return to the palace and pretend that you were never here. If they suspect something happened to their son on Draig watch…”
“I have nothing to hide,” Finn denied.
“You have blood trickling down your back from your head, and the cat-shifter prince is missing. It does not look good,” Gudmund insisted. Finn knew the man was worried about losing a prince while he was on guard duty. It was a valid concern. With the fate of the portal already in contention, people were already upset. It was one thing to stay behind willingly. Quite another to get locked out when no one knew you were going in the first place.
Finn’s eyes moved toward Sadie. She’d followed them inside and was watching their every move.
“The men will remain quiet about your presence here. I will make sure of it. She is the only witness. How should we deal with her?” the guard asked in their native Draig tongue so the woman couldn’t understand.
Finn considered his options. Shove her through the portal as soon as it reopened and hope that the Earth authorities wherever she landed thought she was crazy when she tried to tell them what had happened to her? Talk to her and make her understand the severity of the situation? He knew nothing about this woman except that she was attractive and had a lovely voice, and her eyes held him locked in a return gaze.
“Will someone please explain what’s happening?” the woman asked.
“Prince Finn?” the Draig guard insisted, still speaking the shifter language. “Do you want us to make her disappear? I have cousins who live in Mining Camp.”
“That place is nothing but tents and miners.” Finn frowned. It was no place for a woman to go.
“They will not care if she is a true mate. They will take her and—”
“Mine,” Finn stated before his plan was fully formed. Ivar was gone. Though not as Finn intended, the cat-shifter’s disappearance would keep the portal open for another year. That left it up to Finn to go through with the other plan. He would take a mate, any mate, and make the relationship work by any means necessary. “You will do nothing. She’s mine.”
6
She’s mine?
Did the handsome man just announce that she belonged to him?
Sadie stepped back to allow for space so she could fully assess the statement. For good measure, she looked around, checking that there wasn’t another “she”. Maybe it was the sheer audacity of the guy or the shock she was in from all that had happened, but only part of her wanted to correct him, while the idea resonated inside her more than she cared to admit.
Some of their accents were difficult to understand, but she was pretty sure one kept saying, “prince,” and they both looked extremely worried about something.
Their eyes narrowed as they studied her. Why were they looking at her like that?
“I won’t say anything,” Sadie whispered. “I don’t know anything to say.”
“Fetch the tent,” the one called Finn ordered. “And the king and queen.”
“What’s the tent?” Sadie tried to back out of the cave. She pressed tightly to the side as the guard hurried past her toward the valley. She should have kept running the first time instead of coming back. Surely there was a town or a road or an… astronaut to explain why she saw two suns.
“I am sure you have many questions, but here is what you need to know. You’re on the planet of Quirlixen. I am what your people call a dragon-shifter. You came through the portal from Earth. I know this will be challenging to understand, but this is your new reality. I apologize that you were not given a choice, but I will not question the will of the gods. You are meant to be here, and your sacrifice will not go unnoticed. You will be saving a great many people.”
Sacrifice? Am I to be sacrificed? What the hell kind of nightmare is this?
Sadie glanced to what looked to be a doorway. That had to be the way she’d come through. She remembered crawling out of a cave, but not this one, which meant she’d somehow been transported here. Her daddy didn’t raise a coward. It was now or never.
Sadie dashed forward, running toward the portal to escape. Her heart pounded, sending adrenaline through her veins to power her movement. Finn blinked in confusion, lifting his hands.
She leaped past him in the general direction of the portal. As she felt her body become airborne, she waited for the purple light that would take her home.
All that came was darkness.
Finn caught the woman as her body dropped to the floor. Out of all his travels to Earth, he’d never met a human as strange as this one. She seemed to enjoy screaming and running. Only this time she ran straight into a wall.
He lowered her gently to the cave floor and held her against his chest. Her soft breath caressed his chin. For a moment, the intimate sensation stunned him. Again, he held his breath. The torchlight flickered over her features, revealing the red mark on her cheek and forehead where she’d hit the stone. Worry filled him. He wasn’t sure what to do about the injury, so he kept her in his arms and willed her to open her eyes. “Sadie?”
Long hair spilled over his arm, creating lines that flowed over his flesh like contours on a map. His gaze followed the trails of hair toward her mouth. The sound of her breathing created a hypnotic rhythm that mesmerized him. This felt like something, but how could he be sure?
Dragons were supposed to know—one look, one second, and he would have known if she were his forever.
But he’d seen her in the alleyway, watched her run in the valley, saw the infatuated way Cleve stared at her. How could he know if the attraction he felt was the real thing or the lust of a lonely man?
Dragons were not supposed to doubt themselves when it came to a mate.
Everyone said the gods spoke to them in that perfect moment—a strong force that hit them and made them speechless—astonishing them under the sheer force of emotion for the rest of their lives.
The only thing that had hit Finn was Ivar’s fist, then the cave floor.
Even now the back of his skull throbbed with a dull pain.
“I may not be your true mate,” Finn whispered to the woman, knowing this would be the only time he’d admit the words out loud. It broke his heart a little because he so wanted her to be his in all ways. “But I promise I will make you a fine husband. I will be dedicated and faithful and kind. You will never go without. You will be a princess and given the love of my people. All I have to offer you will be yours. I must believe the gods put you in my path for a reason. We are meant to secure the future of shifters, both cat and dragon. I suppose they wish to know we are willing to sacrifice.”
She made a small noise but did not wake up.
“We must keep the portals open. My people will die out, Sadie. Please understand why we must do this. When we came to this planet, we were punished for reasons I don’t understand, and female shifters stopped being born. People tried to have more children to make up for the fact, but the majority of those babies have been male. Our scholars say we will die out completely within two generations if something is not done. I tell you this to explain why I must take you to the tent and why there is not more time to decide.”
“Dream… over,” she mumbled.
He didn’t know what she meant, but the words made sense to him. “Yes. The dream is over.”
“My prince,” Gudmund appeared. “I sent a request to the palace to do as you commanded. The marriage tent will take some time. It is in storage.”
“Any tent will do,” Finn said. “I need nothing fancy, just fast.”
“As you wish. I will have the men erect one immediately.” Gudmund began to leave, only to stop. “And perhaps a medic for your bride?”
Finn nodded, ashamed that he hadn’t thought of it. He had a hard time concentrating. “Yes. And a medic. She hit her head.”
Gudmund frowned. “And perhaps a medic for you as well, my prince.”
Finn touched the dried blood in his hair. “Yes. For me as well.”
7
Sadie gasped, flinging her arms as she came out of the strange dream. She jerked in disorientation before laughing softly at herself. The hotel room was dark. It was night. It was strange that no light came through the seam in the curtains. Normally streetlights intruded like a nightlight.
She blinked, straining her hearing. She detected rustling inside the darkness, and someone breathing.
The comfort of peacefulness quickly spiraled into a stark pitch darkness in which Sadie imagined ghoulish creatures. Lurking, waiting, ready to pounce at any movement that she made.
What should have been a soft mattress felt like a thin blanket carelessly tossed on the rocky ground. A tear escaped and slid over her cheek at the thought of how helpless she was. This nightmarish reality defied all logic. This couldn’t be happening.
This couldn’t be.
“This can’t be happening,” she whispered into the abyss, not filtering her panic.
But then something did happen, reversing the fear that had risen out of the darkness.
A hand moved over her stomach in an intimate caress as if to hold her. Sadie tried letting go of her anxiety. She needed her sanity if she was to get through whatever this was.
There was warmth and safety in the touch, but also familiarity. This was a new sensation for Sadie, and seemed foreign and out of place in her life. The hand rested, falling still. She held her breath and leaned to enable the caress as she exhaled. The hand moved with each intake of air, and turned the simple act of breathing into something complex, even sensual.
Part of her didn’t want to move, afraid that what was happening would end, or turn out to be something sinister by someone unsavory. But, then her mind moved past the sensory qualities of someone’s touch, evil or not—which her body obviously yearned for—to the rocks poking her in the back. Half-heartedly Sadie pulled the hand off her.
Mischievous Prince Page 4
