by B M Griffin
“Shit,” Andros said. When she looked back over at her friend, he was pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes squeezed shut.
Dread took up residence in Aurora’s gut. “Andros, tell me what’s going on.” Her tone was harsh, but she knew something terrible had happened and she needed to know what was going on… now.
Andros opened his eyes and met her stare. “We lost people,” he said. “A lot of people.” Aurora stiffened. They lost people on occasion. It came with the territory. When you were a warrior, you accepted the possibility that one day you might not make it home from a patrol, but they hadn’t lost groups of people since the humans tried to drive them into extinction all those years ago.
Aurora looked down at Annalise still wrapped around her. This explained her sister’s hysterics. She was undoubtedly experiencing the grief of every person affected by the deaths Andros referred to. Aurora did not envy her sister’s telepathic gifts for this very reason. Most didn’t realize how truly strong Annalise was, but Aurora had been there through the years and watched her sister learn to cope with the thoughts and emotions of all those around her. For Annalise to drop her guard and allow herself to be affected so immensely, someone close to them must have been one of the victims.
Looking up at Andros it hit her like a runaway train. “Where’s Camille?”
Andros blinked, and she saw a single tear roll down his cheek. “She’s with the doctor.”
Aurora’s blood was boiling. She didn’t want to hurt Annalise, so she slowly pulled her sister’s hands from around her neck and pushed her away as gently as she could. Annalise was still crying, and Aurora caught Gregor pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and offering it to Annalise who took it and thanked him.
“How bad?” Aurora asked Andros.
“The doctor thinks she will be fine, physically, but they took Luka. I don’t know that she will come back from that so easily. Not until we find him and she sees he’s okay.”
Aurora felt like her world was spinning. She’d just spent the night breaking her people’s most consequential law in ways that would have made her cringe a mere twenty-four hours earlier, when she should have been out fighting beside her people. Now, people she cared about were being held hostage or dead. She should have been with them, not hiding in her room kissing a human.
“Take me to Camille.” Aurora’s voice was thick with the anger flowing through her. She was going to destroy every last one of the Shaitan and whoever was the ringleader of this new movement against her people.
She followed Andros out of her room without so much as a glance in Gregor’s direction. She couldn’t look at him. Despite knowing that none of this was his fault, she couldn’t help but feel resentment toward him. If she hadn’t been so pre-occupied by him, she would have been there to fight beside her people; she could have protected them. Instead, she was on her way to heal Camille’s wounds, and beg her forgiveness for not being there to prevent Luka’s abduction.
Chapter Nine
Gregor
Gregor stood there holding Annalise, trying to console her, all the while his own heart was trying to rip apart his insides. He could sense a change in Aurora, see her shutting down the minute the big guy mentioned someone got hurt. Her reaction told him that whoever Camille might be, she was important to Aurora in that way. Friend or family maybe? Gregor felt like he was lost in the dark. In reality, he was in the dark about so much of what was happening. The only thing he was clear about at the moment, he was not going to allow Aurora to pull away; to shut him out. Not now, and not ever.
Aurora followed the big guy out of the room and Gregor moved to go with her, trying to gently move away from a grieving Annalise, but she wouldn’t release her hold on him. He looked down at her trying to be kind, but not wanting to waste any time and allow Aurora to get too far.
“I need to go with Aurora,” he said softly. “Do you want to come along? You could be my guide so I don’t get lost.” He offered Annalise a small smile, but she just shook her head.
Assuming she was telling him, she didn’t want to guide him anywhere, he turned to walk out the door again, but she grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could take a second step.
“No,” she said. She wiped the last tears away from her face with his handkerchief. “I didn’t mean I don’t want to go with you. I meant you can’t follow her.”
Gregor tried to pull his arm away, but the young beauty was much stronger than she appeared. His eyebrows drew together as he brought his eyes up to meet hers.
“I mean no disrespect, Annalise, but I intend to go wherever Aurora goes. I know she’s upset now, and I can feel her trying to pull away from me. I won’t allow it.”
Annalise laughed at that, or he thought it was a laugh. Something about it didn’t seem like she thought what he’d said was funny at all. It was more like that laugh you’d hear whenever people thought you’d said something crazy.
“Oh, you’re going to be so good for her,” Annalise said, “but she won’t make it easy. Something tells me you two were brought together for a reason, I just hope you can make her see that you are worth fighting for.”
That last part made Gregor pause, “She won’t have to fight for me, I’m already hers. I think you got that part backwards.”
Annalise brought her hand up and placed it on his shoulder. Her eyes were kind and he could tell she was sincere when she said she was rooting for him to be with Aurora.
“Her fight won’t be with you, Gregor. It will be with everyone else she cares about. They didn’t take kindly to her seeking you out in the first place. Even though her visions made it very clear she was meant to find you, she’s going to struggle accepting that something romantic has sparked between the two of you.” Her face fell and Gregor inwardly flinched. “Frankly, that’s going to go over like a pickle and relish sandwich. It’s a hard pill to swallow.”
Gregor couldn’t help but laugh lightly at her disgusting sandwich comment; they were definitely going to be friends. However, the moment of levity was short lived. Too much time had passed since Aurora left the room and he needed to go after her. He needed to show her he wasn’t going to be left behind. Whatever challenges she might face, be it those nasty creatures that attacked him in the parking lot or her own people’s anger over Gregor’s own presence in their realm, he was going to show her that she wouldn’t be fighting alone. He didn’t know much about the people she considered close to her, or who always had her back in the past, but he was damn sure going to be by her side from now on.
“Annalise, please, take me to wherever that big guy was talking about.”
Annalise smirked and shook her head. “The big guy has a name. It’s Andros in case you were wondering, and don’t worry, there is no need for you to be jealous. They’ve never been more than friends, and Andros loves… never mind. That’s not for me to share. Camille doesn’t even know.”
Gregor stared at her while she babbled. Maybe she was still too upset to put together coherent thoughts. “Annalise?”
“Sorry,” she said, “sometimes I get the thoughts and conversations mixed up. All you need to take from my rambling is the big guy is Andros, and him and Aurora are just friends.” Gregor watched her as she moved toward the door. What did she mean she mixed up thoughts and conversations? Annalise stopped and turned back looking at him. “So, are you coming?”
Gregor responded by closing the distance between them and following Annalise out into the hall. He briefly noticed that the walls were all made of stone, like the ones in Aurora’s room. He’d expected to see flaming torches lining the walls, like in movies set before the invention of electricity, but it seemed the castle had some modern-day amenities after all. There were beautiful, ornate chandeliers spaced out about five feet apart. The ceiling was high enough Gregor imagined nobody would have to worry about hitting their heads on low hanging lights.
He felt like they were going through a maze where they were never going to find their way out.
There was no exterior light coming in from anywhere Gregor could see, and he was sure they walked at least five miles before he spotted a doorway at the end of the hall. He could hear yelling coming from the room and knew immediately one of the voices belonged to Aurora. He also picked up on a male voice he was sure came from Andros. There was a third voice, but it was muffled and he didn’t recognize it; not that he knew many people in this place, nor could he tell if it was a male or female voice. Maybe it was Aurora’s friend, Camille he believed was the name Andros had used. He hoped that it was. It had been clear the news of her injury upset Aurora, and if she was well enough to argue back and forth with Aurora and Andros, her injuries couldn’t be too serious, surely.
“Shit!” Annalise mumbled.
Gregor put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. “What is it?”
Annalise looked at him with concern painted as clear as day over her face. “She’s really not happy right now. Might not be the best time for you to assert yourself. Getting her to accept her feelings for you is already an uphill battle, add in her current mood and you can almost guarantee failure.”
Gregor looked her straight in the eyes. “Annalise, I appreciate your help, but I’m not walking away. I’m going in that room with or without you. I know I look like the geeky kid from school who always hid from the fight, but that’s just not me. When I care about something I fight, and I’m fighting for Aurora even if it is her own stubbornness I have to concur to get to her.”
A wide smile replaced the concerned look on Annalise’s face and she ran her eyes up and down Gregor’s body. Normally that kind of obvious scrutiny would have made him nervous, but he was so focused on Aurora that no other woman could affect him in any way. Annalise was beautiful, but she wasn’t Aurora. He knew no one would ever be Aurora, and that was why he refused to walk away no matter what.
“You know, Gregor,” Annalise said, “you might actually be too good for my sister, but I’m glad she found you. I think that you’re supposed to be here.” She motioned for the doorway. “Let’s go tame the beast, shall we?”
Chapter Ten
Aurora
“Why in the hell would you let her leave?” Aurora yelled.
Aurora’s hand was wrapped around the healer’s throat and she had him off the ground, pinned against the wall. Edmund was clawing at her hands, his face turning bright red from the lack of oxygen making its way past Aurora’s firm grip. Andros grabbed her arm trying to make her loosen her grip on Edmund, but he was just succeeding at pissing her off even more. Using her free hand, Aurora pried his fingers from her arm, twisting his wrist back until Andros snatched his hand from her grasp.
“Dammit, Aurora!” He chastised her while rubbing at the joints in his wrist, trying to ease the pain she was sure she’d just caused him. “How’s he supposed to answer your questions if he can’t fucking breathe? You’re going to kill him!”
Aurora opened her mouth to argue, but movement at the doorway drew her attention away from Andros. She turned away from Edmund, releasing her hold on him and ignoring the sounds of him gasping for air as he began gulping in the oxygen she’d been depriving him of for the past few minutes. Andros turned when he noticed her attention had been diverted, and she heard a menacing growl rumble from his direction.
“What the hell is he doing here, Annalise?” Andros demanded.
Annalise crossed her arms and glared at him. “I don’t answer to you, Andros.”
Aurora glanced at Andros and saw him clenching and unclenching his fists. He was wound up tight, not that she blamed him because she was feeling the same way, but she couldn’t allow him to unleash that rage on Annalise, or Gregor for that matter. After all, even if she was pissed at herself for allowing herself to be distracted by him it wasn’t his fault. She’d been the one to seek him out and bring her here, to her home, violating her own peoples’ law in the worst possible fashion.
She moved in front of Andros, using herself as a barrier between him and Annalise and Gregor. “Why would you bring him here, Annalise? Take him back to my room and keep him there until I have time to take him back where he belongs.”
Gregor stepped around Annalise, moving face to face with Aurora. She was surprised to see that he looked like he was mad at the world. “I’d appreciate it if you’d stop talking about me like I’m not in the room. She brought me here because I didn’t give her a choice, and I’m not going back with her now.”
Aurora raised an eyebrow at him, fighting to keep the smirk that was threatening to break free off her face. “You do realize you can’t make her do anything, don’t you?” She paused, giving Gregor a chance to respond. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and stared her down the best he could. Those black rimmed glasses he was wearing made it difficult to feel much intimidation from that stare, well that, and the fact that he was a human and wouldn’t even have a chance against Edmund in a fight. Realizing he didn’t plan to respond, Aurora continued, “She’s a dragon too, Gregor. Even if she wasn’t, she can hear every thought you have, so she’d know what you were planning before you ever acted on it.”
Gregor dropped his arms, the bravado he’d been trying to put on falling away as he turned to look back at Annalise. Aurora expected him to be angry. She’d seen it when Annalise and her were younger, before it was common knowledge that Annalise could hear thoughts. People often got angry when they learned of her abilities; they felt like she’d invaded their privacy, completely ignoring the fact that it wasn’t a gift she could control—at least not at that time. Instead of anger, Gregor smiled at Annalise. “Now I get your comment from earlier. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. It’s his place to share that.” Gregor looked over at Andros after he said that, and Aurora was sure she saw him wink at the warrior. What the hell had Annalise said to him?
Aurora shook her head lightly because it didn’t matter. She needed to get Gregor out of here and she needed to figure out where Camille had gone. She hadn’t been in the infirmary when Aurora and Andros arrived, seemingly having disappeared. Ignoring Gregor, Aurora met her sister’s gaze. “Annalise, you need to get him back to my room and keep him there. We can’t risk him being seen, and I’ve got more urgent things to deal with right now.”
Annalise looked around the room, taking in the empty bed and the healer rubbing at his red, swollen throat. Aurora knew by the expression on Annalise’s face that she was searching through everyone’s thoughts, getting caught up on what had taken place here before her and Gregor walked in.
“No.” Annalise’s voice was so quiet that Aurora doubted that Gregor heard her even though he was closest to her. Annalise locked her eyes on Aurora’s, and Aurora could see the emotions swimming in her sister’s stare; sadness, worry, and determination. “We have to find her, Aurora. I think she went after Luka on her own.”
“She wouldn’t do that,” Andros said. “She knows Aurora wouldn’t allow her to go out on her own like that. She’s already ordered us to go out in larger groups.”
Annalise moved her gaze over to Andros. “I’m afraid she has,” Annalise said. “She hasn’t gotten far enough that I couldn’t find her mind.”
Andros shook his head in disbelief. “She’s not here. How could you know that without her being here?”
“My gift isn’t limited to being in the same room,” Annalise said. “How do you think Aurora’s dreams wake me?”
“Aurora.” Andros eyes were on Aurora. She knew what he wanted. He wanted to go after her, and she was right there with him.
Aurora nodded before looking at her sister. “Annalise, I need you to stay with Gregor again.” When Annalise opened her mouth, Aurora held her hand up before her sister could argue. “Please, I don’t have time to argue about this right now. We need to go.”
“Okay,” Annalise agreed. “Just, bring her back safe, okay?”
“That’s the plan.”
Aurora began walking to the door but Gregor stepped in front of her. “I’m coming with you.”
Aurora ignored the feeling and stepped past Gregor refusing to make eye contact. Of all the times for her hormones to decide to show up and like a boy they’d picked the wrong time. She wouldn’t allow herself to be distracted by Gregor again, no matter how strongly her soul pushed her toward him.
Chapter Eleven
Gregor
Aurora walked passed Gregor like he wasn’t there, refusing to look at him. Gregor clenched his jaw to keep the sting of her blowing him off from showing on his face. Mentally, he knew she wasn’t going to make things easy for him, but that didn’t stop the ripping sensation inside his chest when she dismissed him like that annoying kid in middle school who couldn’t take a hint and just get lost.
Annalise shoved his arm, damn she was strong, and looked at him impatiently. “Move your ass pretty boy. If you’re waiting for her to give you permission to tag along, you are going to turn old and gray standing here.”
Gregor pulled himself together and headed out to follow Aurora and the big gorilla…yeah, if Andros was going to be an ass so could he. He had to run to catch up to them, and Annalise was right on his heels.
“You’re going to have to come with me to catch up to them,” Annalise said. She pointed to her temple, “I can hear them. They caught up to Camille on the outskirts of Tanzahar.”
Gregor stopped looking at her. “What do you mean come with you?”
Annalise smiled and, in a flash, the sweet girl he’d quickly decided was his best friend in this world was replaced by a dragon. Was everyone a dragon here? Annalise wasn’t the visual image of fear that Andros had been, hell, even Aurora as a dragon was enough to scare most people out of their minds; however, despite her cold-shoulder tactics Gregor was sure Aurora would never hurt him. He couldn’t say the same for Andros. Unlike her sister and the gorilla man, Annalise seemed to exude kindness even as she stood before him as a seven-foot dragon with thick gray scales with hints of aqua around the edges of each scale. She smiled down at him, and her teeth were incredibly sharp and he had no doubt that they were deadly. Her black hair still hung in loose waves down her back, and her bright blue eyes glowed like they were meant to light her way through the darkest of nights.