by Romi Hart
As if he could see me, he took my hand, placing something that felt like a vial in it. “If you drink what is in this, you will not become pregnant for at least a year. And if there are little hatchlings wiggling within your womb, they will end their wiggling and disintegrate into nothing.” He slipped what felt like a small plastic card into my other hand. “And this is a bank card. If you can get your mate to leave this place with you and go anywhere else, I do not care about where you get him to go, as long as you get him to leave this place behind, then you can have all the riches that bank account holds.”
“I’m not going to do this for you. I don’t even know you.” I put both things he’d given me on the floor in front of me. “I am the mate of Tieris. That might not mean anything to you, but it means the world to me. I will never do a thing to hurt him.”
“Ah, but if you don’t do as I tell you to, then you will be hurting him immensely.” He leaned in so close that I could smell the putrid fire on his hot breath that flowed over my face. “I have their father in my possession. They don’t know that though. They haven’t spoken to him in eons.”
When dealing with terrorists, I’d heard that you had to make them think that nothing they had could be held over you. “I don’t even know their father. So, his wellbeing isn’t anything that I care about. As long as my man is okay is all that matters to me.”
One finger ran along my chin, pulling it up and as my head raised, I saw a set of red eyes floating right in front of me. “You will do as I say or this little slice of paradise that you’ve stumbled upon with a man who is completely out of your league will end.”
As if he had anything that could end my relationship with Tieris. I wasn’t about to argue with him over that. Once again, I had to make him think that he had nothing he could hold over my head. “If things between me and Tieris come to an end, then I will accept that.”
“Then get ready to accept that.” A flash of light came as he zipped up the stairs.
Lucky for me, his hasty retreat gave me enough light to find the stairs myself and up them, I went. Hurrying to the first door I could find, I opened it, looking for a window that I could try to get Tieris’ attention from.
Seeing a set of windows, I ran toward them, but what I found flying up in front of them to cover them was a jet-black dragon’s belly. It seemed that Codut was also a dragon-shifter and he’d come between me and my man.
Such a huge mistake.
And the room I had happened upon had major amounts of swords and armor in it. Chainmail suits lay in one pile, while the helmets of different metals lay in another pile. But the things that took my attention were the still shiny smaller knives in a far corner.
Still sharp.
Making sure to stay as light on my feet as possible, I ran to grab one of the knives. My hand wrapped around a bone-handled, six-inch blade, then I made my way to the window where one patch of pearly white flesh hovered near the middle of the glassless window.
I’d never stabbed anything other than a nice juicy steak in my life, but this was something that I had to do. This thing had threatened us all and it had to be stopped.
One hard thrust and an agonizing sound filled the air. The castle vibrated; the sound was so loud. Bits of dust fell over me as the structure shook. I left the knife right where I’d put it, in the belly of the beast. And then I turned and ran like the wind to find my way out of the castle.
Somehow, I found my way to the entrance, a diamond-shaped door had been left wide open. I ran through it, finding both Tieris and Mako flying back toward the castle as a groan from the fallen dragon made vibrations in the air that knocked me down.
All I could see was the blue sky with pink clouds floating around in it. Then Tieris stood over me, worry furrowing his brow. “Linda?”
Behind him, I saw the black dragon limping through the sky. Pointing at it, I could barely make my words come out as the breath had been knocked out of me. “Get him.”
He shook his head and I saw why he wasn’t trying to chase after Codut. The black dragon disappeared into thin air. Leaving the realm without the things he wanted would have to be our victory.
Swept up into strong arms, I buried my head in Tieris’ chest as I tried to breath slowly as it hurt like hell when I inhaled. Carrying me inside, he took me to a room done in red velvet. Placing me on a settee that looked like something out of a Victorian mansion, I finally took a breath that didn’t hurt. “Will he die from the wound I made?”
Shrugging, he didn’t look optimistic about it. “How are you? That’s all I’m really worried about. We can take care of everything else.”
Everything Codut said came flooding back to me and I sat up, wanting to tell Tieris everything. My eyes flew to Mako as he came into the room too. “Are you okay, Linda?”
“I am. But Codut said he has your father.” I looked into Tieris’ eyes and found them without an ounce of worry.
“He lied. Our father’s fire is strong enough to obliterate a small planet. Codut uses lies to try to get people to do what he wants them to.” His lips pressed against my forehead. “What did he want you to do?”
“Get you to leave here. And drink something that would end any lives that have begun inside of me and stop me from getting pregnant for a year.” I held his hand tightly. “I’m not sure why he said this, but he said something about being able to end things between us. And he said that you were completely out of my league too.”
“It’s you who is out of my league. I’m lucky to have found you. That fool can’t do a thing to get between us.” He looked at Mako over his shoulder. “We will have to deal with him. He’s the one behind all of this.”
“Should I be worried?” Things felt off to me. I hadn’t ever lived with so much danger going on around me.
The way Tieris and Mako looked at each other told me that there was something to be worried about. But the Mako said, “You stabbed him, Linda. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dragon’s weakest point? It’s almost impossible. And even once you do find it, actually puncturing the though flesh has only ever been done by knights of the greatest strength and training.”
Tieris looked at me with pride in his eyes. “You have the makings of a dragon killing knight.”
If that’s so, then why does neither of them seem to be afraid of me in the least?
21
Tieris
At the end of one of the most eventful days in our realm, I took Linda to my treasure room. She’d proven herself to be the best mate a dragon could ever have. That meant she deserved to have a piece of my treasure.
Covering her eyes, I took her into a room only I had ever been in. Even Mako didn’t get to come into the room that held the things I’d collected through the years. Nor did I go into his. “Are you ready to see something that only I’ve ever laid eyes on?”
“What could it be?” Linda’s body went tense as excitement filled it. “I can’t wait to see.”
Taking my hand away from her eyes, I watched her reaction to piles of riches that filled my treasure room. “So, what do you think?”
“I think that you have managed to procure a lot of expensive items over the years.” She reached down to a pile of gold necklaces, then stopped before touching it. “May I?”
“You certainly may.” Stepping back, I wanted her to feel free to check out all of my things. “Now, some of these things I did take without permission.” She should know the truth. “Okay, all of these things I took without permission. But the good thing is that everyone I took these things from has long been dead.”
Picking up a Ruby necklace, she winked at me. “So, if you decided to let me wear this, then no one would come at me to try to take it back, is what you’re saying?”
“Yes.” I wanted her to find something to wear that would remind her of me. “I know that wedding rings are the thing with humans. I want you to wear something of mine to make you feel as special to me as you truly are. But you don’t have to pick out a ring.
You can pick out anything you want. As long as when you look at it, you think of me.”
The room was packed with beautiful jewelry, so her task wasn’t an easy one. Walking around from one pile to another, she found something that interested her. Kneeling down, she took something from the bottom of a pile of bracelets. “Silver has always looked better on me than gold does.” She put the tight-fitting bracelet on her left wrist. “And the sapphire in the middle of it reminds me of the color of your eyes.” Holding her arm out, she looked at how the precious gem sparkled in the light. “Yes, this reminds me of you.”
“Then it is yours.” I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. “Now you wear my mark and my bracelet. All that’s left is to see your tummy filled with our first brood and all will be complete with us.”
Coming to me, she held out her left hand, the jewelry drew my attention in the best of ways. “Tieris, have you given the other females who you mated with jewels to remember you by too?”
“I have never thought enough about any of them to give them anything more than bellies full of dragons.” It was no lie. “I never understood what I’d done to them and left them to deal with on their own. I was young then and nature ruled me whenever I scented a female who was ripe and ready to be bred. I know that sounds like a Neanderthal way to be. But I was sort of like one back then. It was a different time and males did things in ways that don’t seem right in this time.”
“It’s good that you see that.” She wrapped her arms around my neck as she gazed up at me. “You have evolved. It’s nice to know that you have that ability. That Codut thing doesn’t seem like he’s evolved at all.” She bit her lower lip. “Is it terrible that I hope the wound I made to him does end him?”
I thought Linda must’ve been descended from knights and just didn’t know that about herself. “You remind me of some of the braver knights I have dealt with at times. Not all of them were out to kill us all. Some of them listened to reason and only took out the bad ones. You seem like some of them, Linda. You have great power and you understand that.”
“I have never felt like I had much power at all.” She smiled as she seemed to be remembering the heroic thing she’d done that morning. “But I knew that I had to do my best to disable that thing. Not for me, but for you and Mako – and I had thought for your father too. Are you positive that Codut doesn’t have him?”
If she’d ever met our father, she would’ve been positive about that too. “Father is a force of nature that no one messes with. I do believe that the word, wrath, comes from the things my father has dealt out when others have pushed him too far. He’s ended more civilizations, ecosystems, and lifeforms than any creature I’ve ever heard of.”
“He sounds terrifying.” She shuddered and snuggled into my chest. “And you have his genes, Tieris. What if some of our children take after their grandfather?”
I didn’t want to even think about that. “Let us hope that we never have to deal with the likes of my father. Along with his wrath, comes a stubborn streak that is beyond imagination. What he says goes. No matter how much you might disagree with it, you must go along with it.”
“Is that why he and your mother parted ways?”
“Of course.” Mother’s pretty face filled my mind for a moment as I thought about her. “Mother fell in love with Father when she was very young. She was in training as a sorceress in a small village when they met. Father was there to see about taking some of the jewels of her grandmother. It was my mother who caught him stealing. She stood up to him. And he had laughed at her.”
“Was he older than she was?” Linda looked a little worried about that.
“Yes. He was much older.” But Mother wasn’t one to care about such things. “My mother was an old soul. She had no problem standing up to the man she fell in love with right away. She’d put a spell on him when she found him stealing her grandmother’s things. And when Father woke up, she’d tied him up with a special rope that he was helpless to get free from. Or so he let her think anyway.”
Linda smiled as she ran her hand through my hair. “So she charmed him with her bravery.”
“And he charmed her with his quick wit. In the end, it was his wicked tongue – she’d termed it after spending many, many years with his quick wit.” I had found that upsetting that the thing one could love about someone could turn into the thing they loathed about them. “And her bravery began to get on Father’s nerves. Mother would do such reckless things that frightened him for her safety. In the end, neither could see what they’d fallen in love with any longer. Our mother left and our father grew grumpier than he’d already been.”
“And that’s when he made this place for you and Mako to live, huh?” She looked around the room as if she was trying to see where my father’s hands had laid the stones to build the castle.
“It took no time at all for him to want his realm to himself again. So, he made this for us, and we have all been happy since that time. Not that we have spoken much to either of them, but we all are much happier living apart.”
Taking my hand, she pulled me to leave the treasure room. “Come, my fire. I want to make you something to eat before we go to your bedchamber.”
Allowing her to pull me along with her, I wanted her to think of this place as her home. “You mean, our bedchamber, my sweet. This is your home now. What is mine, is now yours. And it can be that way forever if you want.”
“How is that?” She led me to the kitchen then pulled out a chair at the island bar. “Sit here and watch me cook for you.”
Taking the seat, I let her know she could be with me forever, “You can become like me if you want to.”
Pausing as she pulled some eggs out of the refrigerator, she didn’t look as if she fully understood me. “You could make me like you?”
“I could.” A bottle of wine sat nearby, and I picked it up, filling a couple of glasses. “It’s a bit of a process but it can be done.”
Moving to the cabinets, she opened one of them to get a bowl. “How many dragon-shifters have you made?”
“None.” I had never wanted to make one before. “If you wanted to be with me forever, then you would be the first one I’ve ever made. But I have seen it done before.”
“To a man or a woman?” she asked as she put a pan on the stovetop.
“A woman.” She’d been the female of a friend. Unfortunately, she and he were killed by knights when they came seeking her and found only the dragons there. But that wasn’t a thing I wanted to tell Linda about. “She lived through the process.”
“It’s that hard?” Shaking her head, she hissed, “I don’t know.”
“The process isn’t all that bad. In the first part of it, you have to take every bit of hair off of your entire body.” I didn’t think that would be too harsh.
But she shuddered. “No hair? But why?”
The why part was a bit on the painful side. “Burning hair not only smells terrible, but it can actually melt and cause other things around a person going through the process to catch on fire. So, no hair, no clothing, nothing at all but a naked body lying on a granite slate. The body has to be held down with metal chains. There can be no materials around the body that can burn in this process.”
Stirring the eggs she’d cracked and put in the bowl she did seem daunted by what I had said so far. “So you don’t bite someone to turn them into a dragon-shifter? You know what I’m talking about right? The way vampires and werewolves bite their victims to change them.”
“We don’t bite to change anyone. And they are never victims. They have to be willing participants. If they weren’t, then once they became a dragon, they would want to kill whoever made them. No dragon needs a mortal enemy like that.” It would be like committing suicide to make a dragon against their will. The latter part was just too harsh to let her in on as of yet. “That is smelling great. I can’t wait to eat it.”
Smirking at me, she held up the bowl of uncooked eggs. “Is that right? So, the smell o
f uncooked eggs makes you hungry?”
She’d caught me. “I had to change the topic. For now, all I want you to know is that if you ever find yourself wanting to spend eternity with me, there is a way that you can do that. But I will never coerce you into doing that. That is and always will be your own choice to make.”
Pouring the eggs into the hot pan, they sizzled and popped. “It is good to know that I can do that if I want to. And what about our offspring? Will they be immortal too?”
“Not as long as you have them while you are still mortal,” I let her know. “They will have normal human lifespans. But if you are an immortal, then all the offspring we have will also be immortal.”
“You said that your mother is a sorceress. And you insinuated that she is still alive. Is she immortal?”
“She is. But it wasn’t my father who made her that way.” One of the main reasons I hated vampires had to do with my mother’s immortality.
Linda seemed intrigued. “Oh, wow. So she became immortal after leaving your father?”
“Before she and my father consummated their relationship, a roguish vampire came along and bit her without her knowing what he’d done.” I hated creatures that did things like that to unsuspecting humans or any other animals. “He did it only because he could. He’d enchanted her briefly and his first and only kiss was to her neck.”
“That’s terrible.” Pulling the cooked eggs off the heat, she shook her head. “So, what happened when your father and mother figured out that she was a vampire?”
“They both refused to ever call her that. Hence, why we call her a sorceress, instead of a vampire. She ignored her thirst for blood, but she had to have it. So, my father did some research and found that she could dine on rare meat to satisfy her craving and keep herself fed. Only the meat has to be extremely fresh and body temperature.”