Kal turned to face her as he spoke.
A shiver ran down her spine under his gaze.
“What?” she asked.
His hand rose, gently brushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
“Nothing. Only, sometimes everything. I just wanted to look at you, just to make sure this was all real.”
His words elicited a beautiful flutter within her. Rising on her tiptoes, she kissed him.
“It’s a dream, but one that you’re living. Let’s go, Kal. The sooner we get back, the sooner eternity starts.”
Taking the lead, he led her out of the ship. She was met with a hoard of dragons.
Well, four to be exact. What it must be like back on their planet.
Kal quickly shifted, something Maddie was growing rather used to. Waiting for him to settle, she came up to the beast and ran a hand down his snout.
The eyes were still Kal, but they were also this creature. Beautiful. The Dragon sniffed her hair and blew out a breath, nudging her with his muzzle.
“Alright. Sorry. I’m still not used to you like this. Let’s go, dragon boy.”
Maddie slid off his back the second Kal’s paws hit the ground. Her legs wobbled. Air legs, she supposed.
All she knew was what she needed, and that was to say goodbye. She was finally ready to move on. Accept her new life. Mostly.
“Mom?” she whispered as she headed for the house.
Maddie shivered, and not from the night air. Memories flooded back. It didn’t matter that she knew Kal would come for her or that she would somehow make it out alive, that lab terrified her. The memories might fade, but the smells of lab and sterile environments would never fade. One foot in front of the other was all she could do to get into the house.
Her hand shook as she reached for the knob, and Maddie paused. Casting a spell to seek out energy, she waited. All life had energy although right now she probably had more than three people with her anxiety.
“It’s safe. Deo already checked.”
She jumped as Kal came up next to her.
“Right. Okay.” Taking a hesitant step forward, she forced through the memories, the fear, the dread, and the anger.
“Mom?” she called into the space.
Nothing.
“Maybe she will find you, Maddie. Let’s grab what you need. I don’t like being exposed. I can’t guarantee they won’t be back.”
Swallowing a lump in her throat, she grabbed Kal’s hand and went in.
She could do this.
“Wait here? I won’t be long.”
Quickly, Maddie ran to the picture on the end table and grabbed it, gripping it to her chest. She needed something. Even if she never got to say a final goodbye, she’d always have a memory and echo of her past.
Clutching the picture to her chest, she walked back to the kitchen. “I just want to grab my clothes. Then we can go.”
The hall suddenly tilted.
“Maddie? You okay?”
Kal’s strong hands held her, keeping her from falling.
Rubbing her arm, she tried to erase the dull throb that grew with every passing beat of her heart. “I. yeah. I think so. Can we just get out of here?”
Kal nodded and pulled her to him. The room stopped spinning, and she got a few feet further. The door to her room wasn’t far, she could do this. Grab her bag and walk away from this. That was it. She didn’t need to wait around here.
Breathing through the unease, she tried to feel what Kal felt. Focus on figuring out a new skill. Only, it was useless against the dread rising within her. Something was wrong, but maybe it was just the memory.
A sting shot through her arm and she dropped the frame. Kal’s hand shot out to grab her as she buckled. Reaching in what seemed like slow motion, the picture frame continued to fall, but Kal caught the frame as Maddie crumpled.
“Maddie? What’s wrong?”
She blinked through a pain radiating through her. This was not the same thing her mother had done.
“I don’t know. My arm. It’s my arm.”
Kal gripped her sleeve and ripped at it.
“Maddie, the doctor. At the lab. He did something before you got away, a shot of something. What was it?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’d forgotten about it until now.”
She cried out in pain.
“Maddie? Hold on. I’m calling for help.”
She had no idea what the hell was going on. A sour taste entered her mouth. Great, this was getting worse.
Healing spells. She knew some, maybe? Could she think of one though? No. Because she sucked at that. She wasn’t that kind of witch. She tried to draw on strength from Kal, find the magic in the air around her.
“Maddie dear? I told you not to fight back.”
Looking up, Maddie saw her mother floating.
“Oh dear. Oh dear. Why did you do this? This was the one scenario that could have gone wrong with my plan.”
Another plan gone wrong. Maddie couldn’t even pretend shock.
“Mom. What did you do to me?”
Her mother fidgeted. “I didn’t do this. It was all going so well until you had to show that you had some of Kal’s power. Oh, Maddie. Why must you always fight me?”
Kal supported her, but she couldn’t sit up through the pain. Her stomach clenched, and she dry heaved.
“You tell him to get a hold of that woman, the witch that Eadric will mate. She can help. Oh, if you would have just listened. That doctor poisoned you. You need to slow the spread of it down. Contact Mrs. Rivers, she will help.”
Maddie blinked through watery eyes.
“My dear girl. I love you. I’m afraid this is my time to leave you. This is where I say goodbye. I can’t help you anymore. I can’t see your future beyond here and, finally it seems as if I’ve completed my remaining business.”
Maddie whimpered. “But, I still need you.”
Her mother's cold touch caressed her cheek.
“No. You are right where you should be. It’s my time to rest. Your fate is now far away from here.”
What a shitty goodbye this was. Maddie started to cry. Salty drops of anguish kissed the corner of her mouth, some tears fell on her hand, and in the end she felt a healing of her soul. She’d never cried for her mom. She’d never allowed herself to feel. Until now.
“Maddie? What happened?”
Hadn’t he been there? No? Maybe he’d stepped away? She couldn’t remember the last few seconds beyond her mother.
“Kal? Bring me my phone. It’s somewhere here.”
Standing, he looked around the room and left Maddie on the floor helpless again.
It was then she realized Kal had no idea what she was talking about.
“It’s my communication to everyone, Kal. White and rectangle, about the size of my hand. I know it’s here. I didn’t have it with me when those stupid Illuminati assholes grabbed me.
“Right. The small rectangle.” After a second he took several purposeful steps into the other room.
“Here? Is this it? It was behind the door.” He held it out for her. “How do you use it?”
Maddie held up her hand. “Push the buttons.” She winced in pain.
Jabbing at the screen, she waited for it to wake up. Less than two percent of her battery. Great.
“Who are you communicating with?”
Squinting, Maddie tried to see through the blur in her vision.
“My mother, did you hear her? She said to slow the poison, we needed to call someone. Wait, did you get through to Eadric or someone?”
Kal nodded. “Yes, I did. And no, I didn’t see your mother. Was she here?”
Shaking her head, maybe she was hallucinating.
“I. I don’t know. She did say that we need that witch. The one Eadric kidnapped. Maybe I’m hallucinating that I saw my mother. I don’t even know.”
Kal scooped her up.
“Fine. Just push the buttons to the woman you need. Eadric is trying to
control his witch. She doesn’t want to cooperate.” We’re to meet them back at the ship.”
She was too tired to argue.
“Fine. But wait until I reach my mother’s friend.”
Finally, she found the contact in her phone. A million years passed with each ring. Her arm threatened to collapse as the phone grew heavy.
Worst fucking trip home ever.
As her muscles gave, she reached over and hit speaker right as the incessant ringing stopped.
“Maddie, dear? Is that you?”
Not how she’d expected to be greeted. She hadn’t seen Mrs. Rivers since the funeral. Channeling strength from Kal, she finally got her voice working again.
“Yes. Mrs. Rivers. It’s me. You. My mother.” Well, hell. This wasn’t going well. “Can you help?”
There was a pause. “So it happened? Your mother had warned me you might have a run in with the local quacks. I’ll be right over.”
“These women in your town. They are strange,” said Kal, as he pulled her closer. She didn’t think that there was any more space between them, but she was wrong.
“Yeah. Welcome to my world. Couch. Can you put me on the couch?”
Thankfully, she didn’t need to ask twice.
“Also, can you go put a towel on or something?”
Naked Kal was something she enjoyed, and maybe something his shifter brothers seemed resigned to. Human women, probably not.
“She’s old, Kal.”
He looked down and shook his head. After he made sure Maddie wasn't going anywhere, that she seemed safe, he walked off muttering to himself.
“You can give her a heart attack -” Maddie worked to get more air. “After she saves my life.”
Crap, she was already out of breath. After today, Maddie would be better about not getting kidnapped. This was all her mother’s damn fault. But, really it wasn’t. It was fate’s fault. Maddie wanted to hate fate, but then she would never have met Kal. She’d never have let him in.
Maddie awoke to voices. Her eyes skittered around the room. Right. Okay. Her mom’s house. When had she fallen asleep?
“Oh wonderful, Maddie dear. I need you to drink this.” Mrs. Rivers’ short and squat frame toddled over. Maddie shielded her eyes as her lemon yellow hair came into view.
“I. Your hair?”
Mrs. Rivers smiled. “Yes dear. The purple had to go. Now drink this up. One big gulp. Don’t ask what’s in it. Just swallow.”
Maddie took a flask with the cap already removed. She then made the mistake of smelling it. If her stomach hadn’t been churning before it was now.
“Always fighting instruction, Madison. Well, just know it only tastes half as bad.”
Not really helping.
Maddie, do it. Please.
Kal knelt next to her. “The woman says it will slow your system down, suspend the poison.”
She turned to him, looking deep into the orange that had intrigued her from the very first moment she’d seen him.
The color was wrong though. Almost murky.
“Kal?”
He shook his head.
Don’t expel any more energy. Drink.
Without looking away, she felt the rippling of magic where his hand slid beneath her own. He lifted her hand, bringing the flask to her lips.
With a single nod of his head she did as told.
Oh, God! That tasted worse.
She started to gag. Nope, this wasn’t going down. Shit.
“Wait. Wait a moment. Just swallow, dear. Don’t fight the potion.”
Mrs. Rivers’ soft wrinkled hand settled on her brow and a calming void started to set in. She felt her hand begin to slip down; the flask falling.
“Sleep, dear one. Your warrior will fix this. Go, warrior. Time is your enemy now more than those scientists.”
Those were the last words she heard before she fell into a black emptiness. The only comfort around her was the swirl of Kal’s magic, his dragon coming in and out of the void of her mind.
He would save her.
Epilogue
“Maddie? Maddie? Wake up.”
Kal’s deep baritone filtered through the haze in her head.
“Is it working?”
Maddie didn’t know that voice.
“I don’t know. I can feel her though. Stirring. Something is happening. It has to work.”
A chair dragged against the floor. Someone coughed. Hushed voices came from all directions.
The fog started to clear. Maddie could see the end of a long tunnel, and on the other side was Kal. She’d follow him wherever he went.
“Is it working?”
Kal grunted, Maddie was sure of that voice.
“Eadric, ask one more time and I’m going to lose my shit.”
There was a pause.
“Dude. I’m just asking. You have no idea what it took to get that shit. I have bruises on top of bruises.”
Maddie laughed at the banter.
“Her chest moved. Did you see that?”
A hand rested on top of her sternum. That had better be Kal. God, why was it taking so long to get out of her own mind. Maddie remembered what had happened. Poison, Mrs. Rivers making her drink sewage, Kal’s dragon keeping her company. So this had to be a good sign. They must have tracked down the cure. Wonderful. So why the hell wasn’t she waking up.
“She’s been breathing, Eadric. We didn’t kill her, she was just in a deep sleep.”
More shuffling. Maddie’s mind kept running. Literally. Was there an end to this tunnel? For crap sake, if this would burn calories maybe she wouldn’t mind so much. Right now though, damn it. How does one escape their own mind?
“Can someone fetch that old witch? Maybe something’s wrong?” Kal asked.
Someone touched her arm.
“The blue lines are gone. The antidote worked. I don’t know why she isn’t waking up.”
Well this was a kicker. How in the hell did she get an antidote to work and yet still couldn’t wake up. One eyelid. That’s all she had to move. Come on. It’s a tiny muscle. Nothing.
“Did someone find the communication device, the phone? The woman is on there.”
A female voice she’d never heard answered Kal.
“Is it the last one she called? Do you know her passcode? Oh wait, it’s a thumb print. Hold up her finger.”
Maddie wanted to yank her damn hand away from some woman looking at her phone. What the heck. That woman better be far away from her Kal.
“It was the last person communicated with. Yes. Rivers,” Kal said.
The electric charge of Kal’s touch against her hand - the only thing keeping her sane right now. She would figure this out. She had to. She was smart.
“Got it. The phone’s ringing.”
The room got so quiet that Maddie couldn’t even hear breathing. Wow. Serious much? She was fine. She was just stuck. Mrs. Rivers probably did something dumb. She was a bit of a meddlesome witch, probably why her mother had gotten along with her so well.
“Hello?”
A pause.
“Yes. No.”
Another pause
“No, she won’t wake up.”
Kal’s hand left hers. The tension rolled off him. God, Maddie wanted to make him feel better. She just couldn’t figure out how.
“Kal? You won’t believe this,” said the female again.
Who was this woman? Maddie was not a fan of this mystery.
“The woman said it’s a Sleeping Beauty potion.”
Silence again. Seriously, this silence thing did her no good when she couldn’t escape her head.
“Are we supposed to know what that means?” said another male voice Maddie couldn’t place.
“You’re kidding. None of you know what or who Sleeping Beauty is?”
A lot of grumbles. Apparently all the brothers were there. Wonderful. She probably looked like death. Well, Kal loved her and that was all that mattered. Right?
“Oh for crap’s sake.
Kiss her.”
Another chair scratched the floor. If they ruined these wood floors, well, well she wouldn’t be here to care about it. But still.
“Kiss her?” asked Kal.
Maddie wanted to smile. When had Kal ever not taken the opportunity to kiss her. This should be easy.
“Yes. Kiss her. It’s like the fairy tale. Princess falls into a deep sleep and the only way to wake her up is by true love’s kiss. Being that you idiots seriously believe in fate and all that, this is right up your alley. So just kiss her.”
Maddie might actually like this woman, she thought. The couch suddenly shifted.
Here it comes. The final piece to the puzzle. She should have known Mrs. Rivers would use some kind of dumb spell like this.
It felt like the first kiss all over again. Maddie would have held her breath if she could control anything except the endless abyss of her thoughts.
The warmth of his breath tingled against her cold lips. He tasted of desire and a salty sweet she hungered for as he claimed her mouth.
The sensation of everything around her. The cold in her body, the warmth of his, the ache of her bruised arm. Everything flooded in.
She parted her lips, letting him in.
Okay then. Maybe we should return to the ship,” said someone.
Another cleared their throat. “Kal. Um. It, uh, seems to be working. So just report…”
Maddie giggled and pushed him back.
“Hey.”
Opening her eyes, the bright light of day hurt. The eclipse of Kal’s face was all she needed to focus on as she squinted. His orange-gold eyes the only thing she ever wanted to see for the rest of her life.
“Hey,” he replied.
“Thanks for saving me.”
He nodded. “I didn’t do much. Eadric has a story to tell once you’re better.”
She smiled. “The only story I want to know is, when do we leave?”
Coming Soon
Space Dragons Seek Mates
Book 1: Must Love Dragons
Coming 2020!
Book 2: Single Red Dragon
Eadric would do anything for the woman he loves, except sacrifice his bother’s happiness.
Must Love Dragonsl (Space Dragons Seek Mates Book 1) Page 14