I wanted to groan about my loss, because I’d be a happy dragon if I could touch and kiss her curves forever. I’d been so close to giving us both complete satisfaction.
“This way,” I said, taking her arm, encouraging her to climb the long expanse of stone steps that ended at the main entrance, avoiding tumbled rocks and encroaching vegetation. A quick glance told me the wraiths had not appeared on the edge of the forest yet, but they would soon. We had to hide or get inside the outer walls immediately.
“A walled city,” PJ said in awe, pausing to gape at the tall doors. “Where did this place come from? I’ve heard nothing about this, and I’m well-read.”
“It has always been here. For thousands of years.”
With me urging her on, we rushed across the broken stones making up the broad, sweeping exterior courtyard. Huge planters had been knocked over and shattered, and statues lay in fragmented heaps. In days gone by, the Norans would mount and dismount from their horned-horses on this level surface. Servants would lead their mounts away to the stables, while the elves would enter their residences.
Approaching the main entrance, PJ stopped again and looked up. Vegetation had overgrown most of the exterior, as nature tried to reclaim this part of the world. Three lifetimes from now, after the vines and saplings had worked their way into the mortar, we’d be hard-pressed to find more than crumbling piles of rock.
But I knew from past ventures into this area that the stone buildings were sound. Not that I’d explored beyond the exterior walls of the city, as I’d never found a way inside and I’d needed to avoid the wraiths. Fortunately, the structures appeared unchanged from the last time I’d been here. We should be safe searching inside.
As far as I knew, no one had ventured into the city since the last Noran passed away from disease.
I stared at the main entrance door. Locked, like the last time I’d been here. Only the gods knew how we’d get the door open.
“Interesting.” PJ squinted at the locking mechanism and ran her fingertip along the series of knobs protruding above. I assumed a certain pattern would open the door, but while I’d tried in the past, I’d yet to discover the correct code.
The wraiths shrieked, moving nearer.
“What the hell is that?” she asked, staring toward the woods.
“Death wraiths.”
“Of course.” She rolled her eyes. “Sounds like something from a video game. But then, what else can I expect today, after meeting a dragon?”
“We’ve got to get inside right away,” I ground out. “Escape the wraiths.”
She flicked her hand. “Then open the door.”
“To unlock it, we need the code.” And we must discover it fast. Bracing my shoulder against the door, I shoved, but the frame didn’t budge.
“Hmm,” she said, frowning. She nudged me to the side. “Maybe I can figure it out.”
“No one has been able to discover the correct sequence thus far.”
“A challenge?” Her lips lifted, creating dimples in her cheeks. “I know it sounds smug, but those who’ve tried before are not me.” She tapped her temple. “I’ve always been good with puzzles.”
“I hope you’re fast with puzzles,” I said, unable to keep my urgency out of my voice. I didn’t want to scare her, but our situation was dire.
Rubbing her palms together, she bent forward and squinted at the lock. “Aren’t you a tricky looking thing, huh? But you won’t best me.”
“Quick, PJ.”
“I know. Death wraiths. Which we can escape if we get inside. What will we find once we’re in there? Dancing zombies?”
“I must seek the dragonstone heart.”
Her smile fell. “I was kidding.”
“I am not. The Norans stole and hid the heart inside the city.”
“Hold on.” She whirled on me, but blinked as her gaze was pulled to the woods. “That’s odd.”
We were running out of time. The wraiths had reached the edge of the forest and were drifting across the grass. While they’d yet to see us, they would soon. They’d smell our blood, if nothing else.
“Weird to see fog like that. It’s grayish, almost in shapes. And moving.” She shook her head, as if dismissing what she was seeing with her own eyes was easier than admitting she might be mistaken. “I thought you were…I don’t know. Making all this up? Because, there’s no such thing as death wraiths.”
“They’re coming,” I shouted, easing her forward, wishing I could scoop her up and get her out of here. But, if I shifted and left the city, I’d give up before I started searching. I couldn’t do that to my brothers and their mates.
PJ spun back, and her fingers trembled on the lock. “You’re…serious about this.”
“Would a dragon lie to you?” I asked.
She snorted. “Since you’re the first dragon I’ve met, you’re going to have to wait for my answer.”
“No time to wait. Get that door open and get us inside.”
“Who the hell are you, anyway?” Hands cocked on her hips, she tossed a scowl over her shoulder, before facing the door. “I realize we’re going backwards, since we’ve…well, almost you know, but now there are a bunch of weirdos screaming in the woods and there’s that strange fog, and you’re saying we need to find a heart, which sounds…morbid. Before we go any further, you need to explain.”
“I already told you. I’m Jarik.” I bowed fast and peered toward the grassy area between the city and the forest. The wraiths milled around, trying to acclimate to the lunarlight. “I’m Jarik Drekorian Smytherin Kalapos, to be exact. Third in line for the dragon throne. But can we discuss this later?”
“Yeah. Sure.” She tapped her lip. “I can play along. Third in line. Does that mean you’re a duke or something?”
“A prince. My older brothers were born before me.” I stared at the knobs, wondering which sequence would open the door. I could make something up, but the lock had a failproof stop. Guess wrong, and the device wouldn’t reset and allow another attempt for more than an hour.
We didn’t have an hour.
“This must be some sort of game,” PJ said, glancing toward the grassy area. “That’s strange. It’s almost as if…” She shook her head, making her blue hair slide along her back. “I sort of understand the dragon part. Okay, I don’t, actually, because, how could I? But I’m going with it for now. But the rest? Death wraiths? You a prince? Come on.”
I didn’t have time to explain. The ghostly spirits would be on us in seconds. Stooping down on my heels, I glared at the lock. This time, I’d get it right.
I’d have to, because it was our only salvation.
“I’m not going anywhere with you until you explain,” she said shortly. Pink stained her cheeks, and fire almost chugged from her ears. “Despite the fact that I kind of like you and you just gave me the best orgasm in my life.”
Only kinda liked me? I’d need to drag this woman to bed and turn kinda into an overwhelming yes. “That was your second best.”
“What?” she sputtered.
“Your best orgasm is yet to come.”
She smacked my shoulder. “Don’t get cocky. Tell me what’s really going on here.”
“I’m Jarik, a dragon prince,” I said quickly, praying the wraiths would continue to drift around in the field. If we remained motionless and stooped down, we might escape their clutches. “I live with my brothers and other dragon shifters in a valley some distance away from here.”
She nodded, encouraging me to continue.
“The first dragon to leave the surface settled in our valley. After he died, his body solidified into white crystal. His dragonheart changed into ruby-red gypsar, and the magic it emitted has protected us from outsiders for generations. The heart was stolen. I’ve been tasked to find it, and it’s somewhere inside this city.” I waved toward the crumbling ruins. “If I don’t return the heart within five—no, make that three—days, since it took me almost two to get here, Jenny and Tanya will not be al
lowed to remain with my brothers, as their mates for life.”
“Hold on. Back up a second. Jenny and Tanya are here somewhere? They’re safe?”
“Very safe.” My brothers would die rather than see them harmed.
“They weren’t hurt from the fall?”
“Not a bit.”
“Can you take me to them?”
“Once I find the dragonstone heart, I’ll gladly do so.”
A shriek rang out, telling me our time was up. The wraiths drifted across the field, arms outstretched to grab us.
PJ’s grin filled her face and brought a sparkle to her blue eyes. “Then what are we waiting for? I’ll help you find the heart.” She examined the lock and poked her fingertip into the tiny hole. “Looks like a simple tumbler system. We may not need the code, if you have the key.”
“Key? Wait,” I said, standing. “You believe me?”
She scrunched her face. “Are you lying?”
“No.”
“Then let me get this door open, and we can find that heart.”
A shriek from the bottom of the stairs kicked me into protection mode. While PJ fiddled with the lock, I grabbed a beam lying on the stones and swung it at the first wraith to reach me, severing its head. The rest of the body exploded, scattering gray dust into the air.
PJ straightened, studying the turrets and bastion, oblivious to the battle going on behind her. “I don’t suppose death wraiths are friendly?”
“Only if you enjoy having someone suck every speck of your energy from you,” I grunted out while slamming my beam into the next wraith to issue a challenge. It wailed and flew back a hundred feet, but it wouldn’t be knocked down for long. “Wraiths leave nothing behind but a dry husk.”
“Not my kind of party.” Gnawing on her fingernail, she straightened and scanned the exterior wall. She jumped and yanked on some vines, pulling them off the stone on either side of the door, then stared further. “Hmm.”
This was taking too long. Before the next flock of wraiths could come at me, I charged the door, my beam lifted, intending to bring it down on the lock. If nothing else, brawn should get us inside.
With a gasp, PJ stayed my forward motion with a hand on my arm. “What the hell? This entire place is a priceless artifact. What do you think you’re doing?”
“Getting us inside while we’re still human.”
She snorted. “Human, for you, is debatable.”
I growled. “I’m as human as you.”
Her slender eyebrows lifted. “Except when you’re a dragon.”
“We don’t have time for this,” I shouted. “We’ve got to get through these doors.”
“Okay, okay.” Her pink lips crimped and she spun back to stare at the lock. “Just give me a little more time before you go all he-man. Please?”
“We don’t have time.”
The wraiths shrieked.
“And keep it down, would you?” she said, distracted. “You’re making it hard to focus.”
“It’s not me!”
I could almost see her rolling her eyes. “Men. And people say women make a lot of fuss. If you can remain patient, I’ll figure it out.”
Two wraiths rushed me. I swung my beam, slicing them across their bellies. One puffed into soot, but the other kept coming, mouth open, arms outstretched.
“While the lock looks complicated, it’s probably a simple mechanism,” PJ said, stooped forward. “With supposed wraiths, and who-knows-what-else around, the people who lived here wouldn’t want to hang out on the doorstep playing with locks or wishing they’d remembered to bring their key. They’d create a simple code. If I study it enough, I’m sure I can figure it out.”
The surviving wraith latched onto my shoulders and leaned forward to give me its deadly kiss. My heart pounding, I grappled with it. And, when my feet connected with a broken planter, I tumbled down the stairs, taking the wraith with me.
“Have you seen a device like this before?” I groaned out, ignoring my aching shoulder that had collided with stone. Hauling my arm back, I slammed it into the wraiths’ face. Emitting an ear-piercing shriek, it disintegrated, coating me with dust.
I staggered to my feet and, weaving, made my way back to where I’d dropped my beam. Lifting it, I crouched and glared at the remaining wraiths. Too many. We needed to get inside. Now.
“I’m an archaeologist.” PJ tapped the knobs above the lock. “I study and explore the ancient past. Situations like this are all part of my job.”
I sincerely doubted fighting death wraiths was part of her job.
Four wraiths started up the stairs, but when I stomped toward them, they skittered toward the grass.
“Just try me,” I huffed out.
Stepping back, PJ studied the entrance. “Six turrets.” She leaned forward and pressed one of the knobs.
Something rumbled behind the wall.
“Open?” I yelled, swinging the beam at a few wraiths trying to inch past me to reach PJ. My flesh crawled with the overwhelming need to make sure she was safe.
“Not yet. Good things always come in threes, which tells me I need to figure out two more numbers. Maybe the portcullis holds the next clue.”
While I decapitated a wraith and then coughed from a deep inhalation of dust, PJ slid her finger across the bars spanning the opening, then leaned over to press another knob.
The door shuddered, but remained closed.
Fuck.
“And?” I asked feverishly. “Any ideas for the third number?”
“Don’t rush me.” Hands on her hips, she studied the four-story wall.
More wraiths flew toward me, all at once. I gouged one in the chest, knocking it backward, but the others had sensed a gap in my defense and tried to get past me. With one sweep, I cut them in two, coating my arms with blackness.
“Three,” PJ said, pressing a knob.
A click rang out, and the enormous door creaked open.
“See?” She turned and grinned. “Sometimes, it takes brains, not brute strength to solve a problem.” A frown filled her face as she glanced down my front. “What have you been doing while I’ve been working hard to get the door open? Rolling around in the dirt?”
With a growl, I chucked the beam aside, swept her off her feet, and raced inside the open doorway.
I tripped, and we crashed onto a mosaic tile floor.
Chapter Five
PJ
I landed astride a naked man for the second time in one day. Not bad for a woman who hadn’t dated in six months.
Because I’d had a minute—or maybe it was only two seconds—to contemplate my earlier uninhibited actions in the grass, I scrambled up and off him, my ears on fire. I shouldn’t be embarrassed for stripping and encouraging him to touch me. For screaming when I came.
But there it was.
It wasn’t quite regret, though…I felt vulnerable.
“Sorry I fell on you,” I said, brushing grit off my hands and knees.
Jarik rose, grinning. “You can fall on me any time you want.”
My heart kicking into high gear from his comment, I shut the door and turned the lock, leaving us in the dark. Something told me the dark was preferable to whatever waited for us outside.
Death wraiths. Sure.
Lord only knows why I believed any bit of Jarik’s far-fetched story.
Dragon kings. That alone was unbelievable. But dragon kings dying and turning into crystal? Uh-uh. Then add magical properties protecting a valley from discovery. A dragonstone heart that had been stolen by elves.
Elves. If I hadn’t seen Jarik shift with my own eyes…
Maybe I was starting to believe parts of this because I’d seen things in my life that couldn’t be explained.
And this sounded like something from an Indiana Jones movie. If you could believe someone was capable of finding a treasure, winning a girl, and taking down the bad guys, all within two hours, you could believe anything. Although, Jarik was much cuter than Indie, which was s
aying something, because I’d fantasized about Indie for years.
“So, I need more details if I’m going to help find the heart,” I said, leaning against the door.
Jarik brushed black stuff off his arms and chest. Really. Wasn’t that just like a man to horse around while the woman did all the work.
“We’re on a quest,” he said.
“Yes, a quest.” Best to focus on our mission, not on how awesome Jarik looked naked. And how his body still looked a tad eager for mating—his term, not mine, but I kind of liked it.
“We need to find the dragonstone heart and bring it back to my city— Muraque—in just under three days.”
“If we don’t, you said Jenny and Tanya can’t remain with your brothers.” We’d been celebrating a birthday what felt like an hour ago. How had they found men and mated with them so fast? “Are you sure they want to stay here? They’re not begging to be returned to our homes?”
“They’re in love and plan to wed. They’ve mated. Jenny with my oldest brother, our king, Drek, and Tanya with my next eldest brother, Kemir.”
“I assume Kemir is not also a king.” All this romance and dragons and quest talk was throwing me for a tailspin.
“Kemir is a billionaire businessman.”
I lifted my eyebrows, because, really? “A billionaire, living down here, in the center of the Earth.” Didn’t billionaires need tall buildings, the stock market, and a regular infusion of corporate warfare?
Jarik’s shoulders tightened. “You sound disbelieving. You’d think, after the wraiths, you’d—”
“It’s impossible.” I splayed my hands wide. “I was with Jenny and Tanya an hour ago.”
“Time works differently down here. I believe the Lifegiver held Tanya, then you, back, until it was time to release you.”
Ah, that sensation I’d had that I slid for days through the cave channel after jumping in to save my friends. Had some sort of mysterious, magical ‘Lifegiver’ arranged things so Jenny would find Drek, and Tanya, Kemir?
And me, Jarik?
CLAIMED BY A DRAGON: Fated Dragon Series (Book 3 of 3) (DRAGON MATED) Page 3
