Daughter of the Dragon

by Alicia Montgomery

  “And I don’t want it. I don’t want any part of this world you offer.”

  And damn him, he believed it. Saw it in her eyes. No trace of greed, or selfishness. In fact, for a moment, he saw only an intense emotion that was soon swallowed up by another more powerful one—hurt.

  At that moment, he would have given up everything, even his own soul, to be able to take everything he said back. But he could not—would not—ever let her go.

  “Desiree,” he said, his voice cracking. “Don’t—”

  The door to his bedroom burst open. “Your Highness!”

  “How dare you?” he bellowed, without even knowing who it was. He swung around and came face-to-face with his ward. “What are you doing here?” Remembering who he was talking to, he asked the question again in Zhobghadian.

  “Highness!” The boy’s voice was high-pitched and frantic. “We are under attack.”

  His muscles tensed. “Under attack? By whom?”

  “Highness, please!” Ramin grabbed his arm. “You must come!”

  Why wouldn’t the boy say anything? Why was he so terrified? “Where?”

  Ramin’s eyes slid upward to the ceiling. “From above. Highness …” He turned his eyes toward Deedee, vitriol evident. “The Gods must have been angry enough to send …”

  “Send what?” He stared Ramin down, but he wouldn’t talk. They were under attack, but by whom? Perhaps it was the same people who had caught him in the net the other night. Did his enemies tire of palace intrigue and decide to stage a coup? He should have been spending more time trying to find the traitors within his government, but he had been distracted.

  A cold shiver went through him. If they came in here and discovered Desiree … “Go to Captain Fariba now. Tell him I want as many of the Almoravid as he can spare guarding my suites. I want no one to get in,” his gaze flickered to Desiree who was still standing in the same spot, unmoving, “or out. Do you understand? This is the most important thing I will ever ask of you.”

  Ramin pounded his fist to his chest. “Yes, Highness.” He turned on his heel and marched to the door.

  When the boy was gone, he turned to Desiree, switching back to English. “Don’t leave this room. Do not even leave the suite. If you hear anyone trying to break down the door, hide.”

  “What? Karim, what’s going—”

  “I must go.” He ached to hold her, to kiss her. But there would be time enough for that when he defeated these attackers and came back to her.

  “Karim—”

  “Do not leave this place.” He ignored her protests as he walked out the door, locking it behind him for good measure.

  As he walked toward the balcony, he pushed all thoughts of the morning’s disastrous events behind him. For now, he was the Crown Prince Karim, bearer of The Great One, and his people needed him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  It took a while for the numbness to leave Deedee’s body. Her mind was still trying to process what happened. His words … well, hurt didn’t even begin to describe it.

  But she knew they wouldn’t have hurt this bad if she didn’t allow herself to care for him.

  And she thought Cross was bad. At least he had let her down quick and easy. Karim … he wanted to keep her by his side, like some pet. Never giving her more than his body.

  He was cruel and heartless, and she’d seen the extent of it today. Those cutting words … insinuating that she wanted his title, of all things. That she would even think of exchanging her body for his protection and money, like some … whore that he could—no, he would toss her away once he got tired of her. What about when he found a suitable woman to be queen? Was she just supposed to step aside and let him produce heirs? Or did he expect her to be available, waiting in the wings?

  Tears pricked at her eyes. Heavens, she had been tempted for just a moment, dazzled by his promise. But it wasn’t the wealth or even the chance to do her research in Zhobghadi that made her almost say yes. It was the thought of being with him all the time. Because her heart, her damned foolish heart, had fallen for him. And he didn’t feel the same way.

  Her wolf growled, as if contradicting her.

  “It’s true.” She wiped the tears at the corner of her eyes. “You think he cares for me? Why would he even say those awful things to me?” Her wolf didn’t seem to understand, so she kept on. “I don’t know what was worse, that he thought I would even consider being a mistress or that he thinks I wanted to be queen? Or that I wouldn’t be happy—”

  A realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. His mother. He was talking about his mother. She had killed herself when—

  “No, no, no!” She was not going to sympathize with him or excuse him. For one thing, she was not his mother. If he wanted to explain and apologize, then he could damn well say it himself when he came back.

  Her inner wolf whined and howled, reminding her of something. But what?

  “Oh no.” Before he stormed out, he said to stay inside and not let anyone in. And to hide if anyone broke down the door.

  Did she forget that someone tried to take him down the other night? That net. The fall that could have killed him.

  Fear gripped her heart. As she cleared the haze of heartbreak from her mind, she realized how worried and tense he had been when he left. And for Ramin to have just burst through the door without invitation or permission, there must be something going on. But what?

  She crossed the room and yanked on the door, but it didn’t budge. “He locked me in, that bastard!” She didn’t even realize the door could be secured from the other side. “Help!” She screamed as she jiggled the handle. “Let me out!”

  Well, then, she was going to have to break it down. She stepped back a few feet, prepared to hit the door with all her Lycan strength. She could injure herself, but she would heal. And if the door didn’t budge, she could shift and use her claws to shred the wood to pieces.

  She took a deep breath, crouched down and—

  A loud shriek made her freeze. It was followed by another. And another ear-piercing screech. Then two distinct roars sounded at the same time, making the earth shake.

  Oh no.

  One of the roars sounded very familiar.

  Dad?

  “No, no, no!” Her heart pounded in a crazy rhythm, banging against her ribs. It couldn’t be. But how did her father find her? She had to get out of there now before he and Karim killed each other.

  Turning her attention to the door, she braced herself. “Here we go.”

  She came at the door at a dead run and … sailed straight through, landing on her chest with a great big thump, the air squeezing out of her lungs. “What the—”

  A pair of hands slipped under her armpits and lifted her up effortlessly. As she shook her hair off her face, she looked up. Straight into a pair of ocean-colored eyes.

  For a fleeting moment, her heart fluttered at the thought that Cross had come to rescue her. But when her vision focused on the crow’s-feet around his eyes and the wrinkles on his forehead, she knew it wasn’t him.

  “U-Uncle Daric?” It was not Cross, but rather, his father.

  The warlock gave her a warm, calm smile. “Hello, Deedee.”

  “But how—” Another loud shriek and a ground-shaking roar cut her off. She disentangled herself from him and dashed out onto the balcony. “Please, no.”

  Just as she’d thought. It was her father’s roar she’d heard. High above in the sky, the humungous, frightening gold dragon spread its wings as it opened its mouth and spewed out fire. The silver dragon in its path quickly dodged away, then swung around to swipe a claw at its rival.

  “Stop!” But it wasn’t like they would hear her. But they had to stop fighting, stop hurting each other.

  Running back into the suite, she made a beeline for her rescuer. “Uncle Daric, please tell Dad to stop!” She clawed at his arms. “They didn’t hurt me or kidnap me! Please!”

  “I know,” Daric said solemnly. “I tried to tell him but
… you know how he is. When his men said you’d been lost—”

  “His men? What men?”

  “You didn’t know this, but your father had a security team on you the entire time you were away. Your university thought they were hiring freelance drivers and assistants, but really, they were your father’s men.” His lips pursed together. “Not that that did any good. They didn’t even realize you had been gone when the sand storm hit your camp.”

  “What?” No, she couldn’t believe it … but then again, this was Sebastian Creed they were talking about. “How could he do that?”

  “You know he only wanted—”

  A light cough made them both stop. “I hate to interrupt this reunion, but maybe we could continue and get this rescue moving along, oui?”

  Deedee turned her head toward the third person she didn’t realize had been in the room. Where in the world had he come from? “Who are you?”

  The handsome, dark-haired man’s smile lit up his face. “Marc Delacroix, at your service. Now, grab onto the warlock so he can use his magic powers and voila, we’ll be New York in no time, mon petite.”

  Petite? She was almost six feet tall. No one would mistake her for a petite anything. Ignoring him, she turned to Daric. “Wait, how did you get in here? I thought you needed to have been in a place or seen it on a map before you could transport?”

  Daric cocked his head at Delacroix. “That’s where our Cajun friend came in,” he began. “Mr. Delacroix has a special set of skills.”

  She whipped her head back to the other man. Lycan, definitely. Compact, built like a brick wall and with tattoos running down his arms, he certainly stood out, but he didn’t seem special to her.

  He gave her another brilliant smile. “Like what you see, mon petite?”

  “Mr. Delacroix can move anywhere undetected and break into any locked door,” Daric said. “Which was how I was able to come in here.”

  “And just in time, too,” Delacroix tugged at the collar of his shirt. “I could hear those guards at our heels.” He glanced around nervously. “So? Are we going or not, mon ami?”

  “I don’t understand.” Deedee rubbed her arms with her hands. “What the heck is going on?”

  “When he found out you were gone, Sebastian went into a rage,” Daric began. “And then your guards told him you had disappeared in the sandstorms by the border of Zhobghadi, well … he went insane. I don’t know how much he had told you about what happened to him, but it was here that he had been transformed into a beast.”

  “The accident happened here?”

  “It was no accident.” Daric’s eyes turned stormy. “But anyway, we exhausted our search around the area. Interviewed all your colleagues. No one would tell us where you were.”

  “Wait a minute, no one?” Hanford didn’t say anything? Just left her for dead? Or perhaps he was gone too?

  “Yes. However, I detected magic nearby. A tremendous amount. And then I saw the veil of magic surrounding the area where Zhobghadi should be.”

  “The Easifat.” She had felt it too, from the inside. “It’s the reason I couldn’t leave or send word out that I was okay. It blocks electronic signals.”

  “Magic as well. I prodded at it with my own magic, but I could not pierce it. So, I waited. And finally, when I felt the barriers weaken last night, I went inside. I saw you, on the balcony.”

  “You saw me …” Oh dear, what had he seen?

  “Only briefly,” Daric added. “Just long enough to confirm your presence as you were having dinner with the prince last night.”

  She surely hoped that was Daric’s way of saying he didn’t stick around for what happened after. “And then …”

  “Mon Dieu!” Delacroix scrubbed a hand down his face. “Can we not do this back in New York? Before we—”

  A loud crash from the outside drowned out the Cajun’s words. Deedee’s spine went rigid, then she dashed out onto the balcony. “Oh no.” A large, dragon-sized crater dented the middle of the enormous terrace, and right in the middle was a pillar of fire. The question was who was it?

  As the fire subsided, Deedee’s question was answered. Sebastian Creed dusted himself off and got to his feet. When he turned his dark gray eyes toward her, his expression changed.

  “Deedee.” He limped toward her, clutching the large, bloody gash at his side.

  “Dad,” she cried as she rushed to him. As her father’s strong arms wrapped around her, tears pricked at her eyes. She had never been so glad to see him or smell his wonderful paper and leather scent.

  “Baby, are you okay? Did they hurt you?” He let go of her and ran his fingers over her cheeks. “Goddammit, if they harmed even one hair on your head, they’re fucking dead. Daric, I told you to get her out of here the moment you get to her.”

  Turning her head, she realized that Daric and Marc had followed her. “She is unharmed,” Daric said. “And she didn’t tell me she wanted to leave.”

  “Didn’t tell you?” Sebastian growled. “Baby, you’ve been gone for days! When I heard where you were, I thought …” He gritted his teeth.

  “What’s going on, Dad?” she asked. “I know I’ve been gone for a while, but I can explain. I got lost and—”

  “Baby, it was here. This is where …” Sebastian’s eyes turned into shards of hard flint. “These Zhobghadi bastards … they captured me and turned me into … this.”

  Her stomach dropped. “W-w-what?”

  There it was, in his eyes. The thousand-yard stare. “They tortured me for a month. I thought I was going to die in this hellhole and then when my squad finally rescued me—”

  The roar that came from above was deafening, and when she looked up, she saw the silver dragon headed straight for them in a nosedive. She braced herself for the impact, but the massive creature angled its body upwards just in time for a foot-first landing. The ground shook as gigantic claws dug into the concrete, and a pillar of fire engulfed the creature as it grew smaller, and finally, Karim walked from the flames.

  “How dare you!” The prince strode toward them with a menacing gait. A cut on his temple made blood gush down a cheek, but he didn’t seem to care. His eyes burned with rage as he stared at Sebastian. “Abomination! Blasphemer! How dare you take the form of The Great One and challenge me? Did my enemies—” He stopped short when his gaze landed on her. “Desiree, I told you to stay inside!” He fixed an ominous stare on Sebastian. “If you harm her, I will tear you to pieces and spread whatever is left over the desert so no one will find you!”

  Sebastian’s jaw dropped. “Are you fucking kidding me? Who the fuck are you?” He put his body between Deedee and Karim. “Daric, take her away!”

  “You cannot leave here.” Karim’s tone held a hint of smugness. “The Almoravid are blocking your only means of escape.” He cocked his head toward the doorway leading back to the suite, “And I will take you down if you try to fly away with her.”

  “You think I need doors or wings to take my daughter away from this fucking hellhole?”

  Karim’s expression changed from anger to surprise to disbelief, before he turned back to Deedee. “Daughter? Daughter?”

  “Karim,” she began. “I can explain—”

  “No more talking, no more fucking explanations!” Sebastian shouted.

  A heavy hand landed on Deedee’s shoulder. When she turned her head, she looked up into stormy turquoise eyes.

  “Do you want to go, Deedee?” Daric asked in a soft voice.

  “Stop fucking around and take her away,” Sebastian yelled. “Now.”

  “It must be her choice.” The warlock ignored the string of expletives coming out from her father’s mouth. “Do you want to go?”

  She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak. “I—”

  Karim made a move toward her. “Let her go—”

  “Shut up, asshole!” Sebastian pointed a finger at him. “Or I’m going to put my foot so far up your ass that you’ll feel it when you’re fifty. If I
let you live that long.”

  “Deedee,” Daric gripped her shoulder tighter. “You must make the decision.”

  Karim’s voice was dead serious as he said, “You are not going anywhere, Desiree.”

  And in that moment, something snapped inside her. Karim’s hurtful words from earlier rang in her head. The way he’d been so cruel and believed the worst of her.

  Surely you don’t think you could be queen?

  Well, if Karim didn’t want her, then there was no reason to stay. She deserved better.

  “Yes,” Deedee said in a soft voice. “Take me home.”

  “No!” Karim roared at Sebastian. “I swear to all the gods above and below, if you take her now, I will make you pay!”

  “You and what army, fucker?”

  “There is no place on earth you can hide her.” Karim’s eyes were filled with hate and rage. “I will come for her, and even if you have an army of a thousand men, you will not stop me.”

  Sebastian grabbed onto Daric’s arm. “Go now!”

  Right before the coldness gripped her and Zhobghadi disappeared from her vision, the last thing Deedee saw was Karim hurtling toward her, his arms stretched wide, and those fiery dragon eyes ablaze with fury.

  A coldness wrapped around her entire body, then her feet landed on something solid. She opened her eyes, not even realizing that she had shut them. “Where—Oh!” She was standing in the living room of her parents’ loft in Tribeca, her childhood home.

  “Deedee!” came her mother’s familiar cry. “Oh God, Deedee!” Her arms wrapped around her in a comforting hug as Jade Creed sobbed. Wetness stung her own eyes.

  “Mom.” She went limp in her mother’s arms. “Oh, Mom.”

  “I thought we had lost you.” Her mother cradled her face with her hands. “My baby. I’m so glad to see you. When we heard you were lost—”

  Her spine went ramrod stiff. “When you heard I was lost.” Pulling away from her mother, she pivoted and turned to face her father. “When you heard it from those men you hired to watch me.”

  “Deedee, baby.” Sebastian cautiously walked toward her, palms up. “It was for your own good.” His dark blond brows snapped together. “And see? If I hadn’t had those guys on you—”