Abducted By The Dragons: The Complete Series

by Hollie Hutchins

  A stone formed in the pit of my stomach. He’s sending them away? “Where are you sending them? Can I see them again?”

  He continued to look sadly at me. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. At this very moment, our enemies are trying to track you down, and if you stray from me at all, they could kill you and everything will be for naught. It’s better for you – safer for you, and for your parents – that you don’t go to them. But I will send word to them, of course, if you have a message you’d like to give them.”

  I started to cry. Typical teenager me, I’d always taken my parents for granted. That morning, I’d hugged my mother goodbye but I hadn’t even seen my father. He always headed out early to his office job. The thought that I’d never see either of them again was crippling. I looked down at the purple-blue birthmark on my arm. “I never really gave this much thought before,” I said. “But now I hate it.” I began scratching at it, wishing that I could just scratch it off like a temporary tattoo that had begun to peel or otherwise displease. “If I could just get rid of this fucking thing, I could live a normal life, right?” The tears were coming hot and fast now, as I turned the skin around my birthmark red. The mark itself, frustratingly, remained completely unscathed.

  “It’s not that simple,” Garen said, still looking at me with sympathetic eyes that only served to make me more annoyed and angry at myself for having the birthmark. As if I could somehow take it back. “Even if you removed it, they know what you look like now. You think we’re the only faction that has been following your every move since finding you?” He shook his head. “You’ve become a target, Tatyana. And the strongest disguise wouldn’t save you, because dragons don’t just use sight to find a person.”

  I fell back against the pillows, defeated. There was nowhere for me to run, apparently. I was going to be stuck here, with this guy that I’d only just met. It felt like some kind of cruel trick. “How exactly am I even supposed to help you save the world?” I asked him then. “That’s something that has yet to be explained to me. And please, explain it as if I was the dumbest person on Earth. No more of this shady, I-matter-so-much-but-we-won’t-tell-you-more-than-that shit. If you want me to trust you and stay here without trying to make a break for it every chance I get, you need to be real with me.”

  Garen smiled a little and nodded, seemingly relieved that I was asking more questions instead of continuing to try and fight him. “I will answer whatever you wish,” he replied. “Provided that I know the answer, of course.” He then took a deep breath, gently placing a hand on my leg and then petting it softly, up and down. His touch was oddly soothing. “You’re going to help me save the world because when I make love with you, you give me strength and power that I could never possess otherwise. You’re the spark that ignites me.”

  I blinked at him, startled. So I did have power. And it was sexual in nature… “Fucking me gives you power?”

  He laughed softly and nodded again. “Sex and other things… Being with me instead of us being separated. It’s not a proximity thing, but it is an intimacy thing.”

  I examined his face. His glowing green eyes were still somewhat fierce, but I realized that he couldn’t help it if he was born to lead and born to conquer foes – especially world-ending foes. And I thought my life was suddenly stressful. This guy’s got the whole world resting on his back. He didn’t ask for it either. I noticed something else, too. His eyes had a gentle urgency in them, as if he was pleading for me to help save him. To trust him, even though it was confusing and out of the blue. “You’re basically asking me to run away and marry you,” I said.

  Garen smiled slightly. “It’s a little like that, sure. That’s what mating is.”

  After staying with me there on the bed for a few more minutes, he stood up and took my empty water glass from the bedside table. “I’m afraid I must go for now. I’ve got a lot of work to do, as you can now imagine. I’m going to speak with your parents and see that they’re safely sent away to a good, safe new environment away from this madness. Is there any message you’d like me to pass on?”

  I sighed a little, rubbing my eyes that were now dry but red from crying. “I guess just tell them that I love them and I’ll be in touch as soon as I can be,” I said resignedly.

  Garen nodded. He reached over and gently rubbed my cheek with the back of one of his large hands. “I’ll see you soon, my pet.”

  He left the room, closing the door behind him.

  He didn’t lock it.

  I slowly climbed off the bed, trying not to make a sound in case one of Garen’s goons heard me and decided to go ahead and lock the door. Is he trying to prove that he trusts me? If he really trusted me, he’d take me with him and let me see my freakin’ parents. I crept to the door and held my ear to it again, listening for any sound of Brock or Ash, or really, anything. It was so quiet in the condo now. Had it always been? I couldn’t remember because my brain had been screaming the entire time I was there until now.

  I wanted to prove to them that I could be trusted and treated like an adult, so I went back to the bed and laid down, wrapping the soft, fluffy sheets around me. It felt as if I was sleeping on a cloud. Except I wasn’t sleeping. I wondered if I’d ever be able to sleep again. My eyes stayed open and I just stared at the bedside table, wishing that I had another glass of water. This place was so clean it was almost infuriating. It didn’t feel like home. What was it that Garen said? He’s got a home somewhere else? I knew that this sparse condo had to just serve as a front. I didn’t know why they hadn’t just taken me directly to his house in Washington Park, but I supposed that I needed to be cleaned and basically vetted or whatever they wanted to call it. Screened to see if I was really the ‘Chosen One’ and not just some girl with a mark.

  I wished that I could take a shower again. I felt dirty after sex. And that’s when I realized that I hadn’t gone to the bathroom in ages either. Would they be mad if I just slipped down the hall to pee?

  Throwing the blankets off of me again, I went to the door without worrying about making noise this time. I pulled it open and peeked both directions to see if the other two guys were standing guard. They weren’t. Are they even here anymore?

  I walked down the hall in the direction of the bathroom, where I’d had my introductory bath and lecture. I found it and went in, closing the door behind me. The privacy in there was nice. It wasn’t the same as being in the bedroom, because the bedroom was where he’d been, and it still smelled like him. At least the bathroom wasn’t owned by anyone. I flushed and then washed my hands, looking at my reflection in the mirror because there wasn’t very much else to look at. My thick hair was still matted, but this time at least it was due to the bath water and not sweat. My large, dark brown eyes stared back at me. In spite of everything I’d been through and witnessed today, I didn’t look scared.

  I looked determined.

  I told myself that I had to get through this for the girl in the mirror, so she would never lose her strength.

  Before too much time passed with me not in the bedroom where I was supposed to be, I left the bathroom and made my way back down the hall. That’s when the front door opened. Brock came inside and he saw me there. “Hey!” he barked accusingly. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “I just had to pee. I’m going right back to bed. Relax. I could really use a nap anyway. Especially if the only alternative is seeing your face.”

  He smirked at me, shaking his head as well as he calmed down. “We’ll let you know when it’s time to leave,” he informed me in a more casual voice. “In the meantime, is there anything I can get you?”

  Oh yeah, that’s right. They’re basically my servants now… “Another glass of cold water would be amazing,” I said with a smile. I went into the bedroom and closed the door. I shouldn’t be afraid to ask for things, because Garen will make them give me whatever I want. Who’s the slave, now?

  Chapter 5: Safety

  I woke up na
turally as the brilliant sunlight came shining through the sheer white curtains. I realized with reawakened dread that it was morning. I’d spent the whole rest of the night asleep in the monsters’ lair. “Jesus Christ, I guess I do need all the protecting I can get. Apparently I can fall asleep anywhere,” I berated myself under my breath. I lay on my back, staring up at the white ceiling fan above me. No one ever came to wake me up and tell me what was going to happen next. I thought for sure that Garen would come floating back into my life and pronounce some new decree about where we needed to go or what I needed to do in order to bring salvation. But no. He’d stayed away. And in the back of my mind, a small part of me wondered what had become of him. Where exactly did he ‘work?’ What did he do for a living? I had an awkward feeling that he didn’t just run some computer company or anything like that. His business was likely purely dragon-related.

  By attempting to keep out of their way, I was pretty much left in the dark about what dragons do. The stories never told me; they only warned me not to mingle with them. Like they’re just some other mafia gang.

  It surprised me how irked I was that no one had woken me up. I threw the blankets off of myself and got out of bed. The white robe had been quite a warm thing to sleep in and it was sweltering in the room. I walked to the door and opened it, not pausing to peek around this time but instead marching right into the hall and towards the front of the condo. The kitchen. That’s a good start. My stomach growled as I padded barefoot over to the refrigerator. I laughed softly, shaking my head. “What do dragons keep in their fridges?”

  “Hmm?” a voice nearby mumbled. I looked over to the living room and realized that someone was lying on the white leather couch. Their long, dark jean-clad legs were hanging over one of the arms.

  “Brock?” I asked quietly, not exactly wishing to wake him up, but I wanted to confirm that it was him or Ash and not some new stranger to contend with.

  He stirred slightly and then sat bolt upright, staring back at me as I stood there and held the fridge open. “When did you wake up?”

  “A few minutes ago. It bugs me that you guys didn’t bother to wake me up. I have class to attend, you know.” Sure it was nearly the end of the school year and my attendance wasn’t required anymore, but still. I didn’t intend to miss out on the last chances at memories I could make there.

  “Didn’t Garen tell you? You can’t go to school anymore.” Brock stood up and collected his brown jacket from the floor where it had apparently fallen. He’d clearly passed out like I had. It’d been a stressful day for all involved.

  But I didn’t care about that right now. I fixed my eyes on him, narrowing them. “We never agreed to that. I can’t afford to fail when I’m so close to graduation.”

  He pulled out his cell phone and started furiously thumbing a message into it. I’d forgotten that dragons had cell phones. And that reminded me.

  “Also, what happened to my clothes? My shorts and shirt? And phone.”

  Brock held up a finger as he continued to tap into his phone, looking down at his screen as if he could only give his attention to one thing at a time. After a moment, he looked back at me and nodded curtly. “You can go to school, but only if I accompany you.”

  I rolled my eyes, but this answer was better than ‘no,’ so I wasn’t going to argue. Much. “Fine. But don’t embarrass me. And you’ve got to act more normal than—” I gestured. “This. Do you have any different clothes? Also, where are my clothes?”

  He held his hands up – one of them still holding his phone with a thumb – and I could see that I was overwhelming him. But really, how did he think I felt? “I can leave my jacket, if that helps,” he said. “I don’t really have much clothing because I don’t see the point.”

  Fair enough, I thought. If he spends the majority of his time in reptilian skin, I guess he doesn’t need a full wardrobe. But he still hadn’t answered my other question.

  I raised my eyebrows at him and tilted my head slightly to indicate that I was waiting.

  “Your clothes were incinerated yesterday,” he answered. “They were disgusting.”

  My jaw practically dropped to the floor. “They’re WHAT?! Oh man, my phone was in there.” I wasn’t especially attached to my shorts and shirt, but like basically every other teenage girl, I was attached to my cell phone.

  “Hmm,” Brock said thoughtfully, as if what I was telling him was only mildly interesting to him. It probably was, actually. He looked more tired and bored than engaged with this conversation. “I’ll see what we can do about that. But in the meantime, look in the dresser in the bedroom. There should be something in there for you. It isn’t much, though. Don’t get excited.”

  I reached down and grabbed a few purple grapes from the fridge before closing its door and going back into the bedroom, popping each grape into my mouth in turn as I went. “I hope you intend to stop by someplace on the way to school. I’m starving,” I complained back to Brock. I went into the bedroom and closed the door. Bright whiteness greeted me again.

  The dresser was short and unassuming. I hadn’t even noticed it there before, but it was likely because everything being the same color served as a sort of camouflage. Swallowing the last grape, I wiped my hands together and opened the drawers of the dresser.

  A pair of white cotton panties, some white socks, dark blue jeans, and a pink t-shirt greeted me. The shirt had a big, yellow star on it. It was hella dorky-looking, but I supposed that it would do. I turned back my head to double check that the door was closed, and then I took off my robe and slipped into the clothing that had been placed there in the dresser… for me?

  Everything fit so this outfit had to be for me. How the hell did they know my sizes? These dragons were really good at being stalkers and that scared me more than a little. I looked around for a pair of shoes and found some blue and white canvas ones in the bottom of the otherwise empty closet.

  “All right,” I said aloud but not expecting anyone to answer me. “I’m really starting to get creeped out by this place.”

  Suddenly, there was a knock on the door which caused me to jump a little. Case in point, I thought. “Are you ready to go?” Brock’s voice asked me through the door. “I don’t know when your school starts, but you probably don’t want to be late.”

  Crap. He’s right. Without my phone, I had no idea what time it was, and I hadn’t exactly been trying to check the time either. I was a bit preoccupied with everything else being so unusual that it was difficult for me to go back to acting like everything was fine. Now that I was dressed, though, there was no reason for me to just stand around in the room all day. That was likely what Garen would want me to do: stay in the condo so he didn’t have to worry about me. Well, I wasn't going to allow myself to be a prisoner. Especially if the supposed good guys were the ones imprisoning me. Screw that.

  I stepped into the shoes and tied them up quickly. Then I went to the door and left the room, walking past Brock as he stood there. “Let’s go,” I said to him, as if I’d been waiting to leave the whole time. For a brief moment, I imagined that we’d be going to my school in a car, but then I remembered that guys like Brock and Garen didn’t drive. I cast a glance Brock’s way as we both headed to the front door. “How are we going to get there?”

  “How do you think?” he asked.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Well, I think you’re going to fly me there on your back, but we both know that’d get me far too much attention.”

  He rolled his eyes and opened the front door, leading me out. “We’re going to walk.”

  Well that’s disappointing.

  The sun was still bright and high in the sky, which let me know that it shouldn’t be too late yet. Possibly I would be late to my first class, but it wasn’t going to matter that much. My strong desire for normalcy outweighed my concern about being tardy. I really missed my phone, though. I knew that I was so behind in my messages and my social media updates. Brock dutifully walked along the sidewalk with me, and it
was pretty much the reverse of what happened last time. He was no longer chasing me; he was protecting me from all those who would. And worse.

  “You know, dragon,” I said to him with a small smile, “it’s weird. I’ve never been so excited and relieved to be going to school.”

  Just then, another leather-clad guy turned a corner and was approaching me. He wore a dark gray jacket and black jeans, and sunglasses which hid his eyes. I knew that they had to be glowing based on the look on Brock’s face. His brown-red eyes glowed extra bright with intense rage. Brock grabbed hold of me, wrapping one entire muscled arm in front of me. “I knew this was a bad idea,” he growled through gritted teeth.

  Two more guys came around the corner then, flanking the first dragon shifter on both sides. None of them were brandishing a switchblade, but I could tell by their demeanor that they were not part of the so-called “Believing” faction of dragons. And that was bad news for my attendance record.

  The guy in the middle let out a vicious roar and his face partially shifted into that of a gold and orange dragon. The sunglasses fell off and revealed his glowing gold eyes. “Kill her!” he commanded his comrades.

  “Shit,” Brock said. “Time to leave.”

  Without hesitating, he took me into his arms and flung me onto his back as he took off running. At first I thought it was just a piggy-back ride for the ease of staying together, but instead he shifted as I rode on his back and he was suddenly a red dragon again, complete with an impressive wingspan and a whipping tail behind him.

  He flew up into the sky and I hung onto his long neck for dear life. “AHHHHH!!” I screamed, not expecting this turn of events and also not expecting the sudden lightheadedness that accompanied the experience. The Unbelieving dragons were more like Unbelieving ants now. I didn’t know why they didn’t follow us, but I supposed it might have something to do with the fact that we’d previously been on a narrow city street. A dragon didn’t shift out in the open like this unless he meant serious business.