by G. Bailey
Shit. I grab my coat, looking down at my leggings and green tunic top that stops at my knees. I don’t look too bad and she needs me, what I’m wearing isn’t going to matter. I quickly call a local taxi firm and then wait outside, deciding not to call the guys. I’m stronger than they are right now anyway, and I can freeze any one that touches Hallie. The taxi turns up ten minutes later as I keep calling Hallie’s phone, and it goes straight to voicemail every time. I give the taxi driver Michael’s address and sit back, still wondering if I should tell the guys. I quickly text Elias.
I’m going to Michael’s party to pick Hallie up. Won’t be long. X
I rest my head back, worrying more and more about Hallie. She takes self-defence like I do, and I remember her telling me her father taught her how to stop an attacker in seconds. She will be okay, she likely just needs a lift, and her phone is flat. Michael’s house finally comes into view, a massive house in the middle of the woods on the other side of town. It must be five floors, with white panels and massive windows. There’s loud music blasting from the house that I can hear from inside the car, even as we head up the driveway. There are students all over the lawn in front of the house, some making out, others smoking, and then I spot one student throwing up. Gross. I quickly pay the driver and get out, walking up the footpath and stepping over a passed out guy in the middle of it.
“Issy!” I hear Michael shout my name from in front of me before I even get in the door. Michael jumps up from his seat in the living room I’ve walked into, like he was waiting for me or something. I look away, searching the room and seeing half of it is a smoky dancefloor with loud music making it hard to hear anything, and sweaty teenagers dancing with each other all over it. The other half is full of sofas pushed together, teenagers all over them, doing things I quickly look away from when I don’t see Hallie. Shit, where is she?
“I’m so glad you came!” Michael says, grabbing me and holding me tight to his sweaty and alcohol stinking body.
“Have you seen Hallie?” I shout near his ear, smelling the beer and smoke on his clothes. He stinks so bad, and not in the good way.
“Upstairs, I will show you where she is. She is okay, don’t worry, just a little drunk,” he shouts back, taking my hand and pulling me through the people to another room with a large staircase. I don’t trust when he says she is fine, but I don’t have any choice but to let him lead me to where he said she is. He drags me up two floors, as we avoid drunk people on the stairs, and the sounds coming from the rooms.
“In this one, she was pretty drunk,” Michael says, pointing at a door in the middle of three. I pull my hand away, walking over and opening it up. I walk in, seeing an empty bed and nothing else in the room. I turn as something sharp slips into my neck, and an arm wraps around my waist. Ice spreads down my hands as I try to fight the person holding me.
“Don’t fight little dragon, you’re mine now,” Michael whispers, licking my ear as everything goes black.
Chapter 25
Korbin
Those look gross and seriously bad for you man,” I tell Dagan as he picks up his eighth packet of some tube sweet powder things and chucks them into the trolley. I think I’m the only one that likes healthy food. Not pure sugar.
“I like sweet things,” he winks at me, and I just groan, giving up on him. The whole trolley is full of crap, I know why Isola didn’t want to come shopping with us now. I bet it took a year to put everything away.
“Come on, two trolleys full is enough,” I say, staring as Dagan gets two more random sweet packets, and we walk to the next aisle where Elias is getting the last of the things on the list.
“Got everything?” I ask, seeing him searching his pockets.
“Yeah, I think,” he says, “I just left my phone at home.” He slips the note into his pocket and spins his trolley towards the other aisle. I’m half way down when I fall to my knees, screaming out from the pain and panic I feel. No, not that I feel, what Isola does. I can feel her, and she is in trouble. I go to open my eyes when a roar escapes my lips, and everything goes black as I hit the floor.
I blink my eyes open, seeing another version of myself on the floor. I’m much younger, about ten, covered in mud as a man shouts at me. I don’t know the man, yet I feel like I do. I can’t look at this child version of me anymore, something makes me want to run away from it. I look away, at the ice behind me, so much ice.
“Hello?” I ask, as a green little doll creatures floats through the ice.
“She needs you. Save her, fire dragon. Save ice, save the light,” the little doll says and suddenly a flash of memories hit me. Everything comes back. Isola. The throne. Dagan and Elias. My dragon.
“Save her,” Bee pleads with me as I start falling, and I can’t fight it.
Kor, wake the fuck up,” Elias’ voice comes through the haze, and I feel a hand slapping the side of my face. “For fucks sake.”
I jump up when water is thrown over my face, and I wipe it away, looking around at the shopping aisles, to Elias standing over me with a bottle of water.
“Help me wake Dagan up, we have to find Isola. Something is wrong,” Elias says, panic all over his face as he runs to his brother. I pull myself up, feeling for Isola, but not sensing anything. How is that possible?
“Get lost,” Dagan grumbles as Elias shakes him. Elias starts pouring water over him when he doesn’t wake up.
“Isola, wake up for Isola,” Elias demands, and Dagan sits up, rubbing his face. My dragon pounds in my mind, its relief at finally being back clear.
“Find princess, find mine,” it hisses, trying to push me to shift in the middle of a store.
“Are you guys alright?” a woman asks, running down to us as Dagan gets up. I reach into my jeans and pull out my wallet.
“Can you put all this away for me? I’m so sorry,” I say, as her eyes widen at the packed trolleys and then the wad of cash I get out, leaving it on top.
“Wait!” the woman shouts but we all ignore her as we walk out the store and into the parking lot.
“We have to do what we were tasked with, we must protect Isola and get her to Dragca,” Elias comments.
“The curse…” I let my sentence drift off, and start pulling my coat off.
“We will pay the price,” Elias says, but there’s no hate in his words. We all shift, shooting off into the skies as we hear some humans scream that see us.
“Protect mine, and the curse will fall,” my dragon says. He is prepared to lose himself for her. I know it.
“I will lose you,” I reply.
“But you will have her, and she will be safe,” my dragon whispers, and I know he is right. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to save her, and I’ve known that for quite some time.
Chapter 26
Isola
Everything is blurry as I open my eyes. I feel cold, and someone is ripping something. A shadow is lying on top of me, pulling at my clothes, kissing my neck, and pushing their hardness into my stomach. Fear swallows me as I try to fight the darkness,I feel so out of sorts. Everything is cold again in a blink, and when I open my eyes, my surroundings are still so blurry that I can only make out shapes. Yet I can hear them, feel the body moving off mine.
“Shit, she is waking up and freezing stuff. You said that stuff knocks dragons out for a whole night!” I hear Michael shout at someone.
“Just be quick, and then I want my go before she really wakes up. My dad will lose his shit when he finds out I stole that stuff from the labs,” the other guy says, in a whiny voice. Oh my god, I need to move, I can’t let them do this to me. Fear strangles me as I try to do anything, only to fail, only to feel like I don’t control my body.
“Shut up,” I hear as I feel Michael pulling at my leggings. I try to move, to fight him as he pulls my underwear down but I can’t move. I can’t do anything as I hear a belt being undone, every little sound making me utterly terrified. This is worse than dying, I would rather die than let him do this to me. I feel
a tear slide down my cheek, the tear being the only thing I can focus on as I try to forget where I am. Panic, fear, and revulsion fill me as Michael spreads my legs and puts a knee on the bed, making the bed dip a little. I scream in my mind for my dragon but I can’t hear her. I can’t do anything, and no one is coming to save me. The sound of a door slamming open fills the room, followed by the smell of smoke.
“You will die for this,” Thorne’s growly voice exclaims, but my mind refuses to believe it. He isn’t really here. He can’t be.
“It’s not–” I hear Michael beg, and then he screams and screams. The smell of burning flesh fills the room as more screams follow Michael’s. I try so hard to move, to know if what I’m hearing is even real, to see anything other than the blurriness in front of me. The warmth of the fire in the room eventually takes over the sound of Michael and the other’s scream, and then something is wrapped around me.
“I know you hate me, but not like this, not before I can even tell you how much of a fucking idiot I am,” Thorne whispers near me, and I feel hands on my face.
“I hate you,” I mumble, trying to make the words ring true. I don’t even know what I’m saying, I don’t even believe it’s really him.
“No, you don’t, and you hate that,” he says gently, and picks me up in his arms. I try to reply, but I can’t, only seeing a shadow carrying me out of a fire. When Thorne’s face comes into view, I can finally see the burning house just behind his head.
“You saved me, why?” I ask, feeling numb.
“Because in the end, I always will,” he tells me, kissing the top of my head. I rest myself against him as I let darkness take me away.
Chapter 27
Isola
I didn’t do a thing to her! I saved her, you fucking idiots!” I hear Thorne shout as I wake up. The memories of Michael and my resulting terror making me jump, and I fall off the sofa I’m on. I slam onto the wood floors, flinching at the coldness and how the room spins. I put a hand on my head, and I look around, somehow expecting to him to be there, trying to force himself on me. I feel down my body, knowing I’m not in pain so he couldn’t have... I can’t even say the word.
“Shit,” I hear Elias say, and then he is standing above me, leaning down to help me up. I grab the blanket, scooting away from him, and he holds his hands up.
“Hey, it’s me, princess,” he coaxes gently, not taking another step closer. I look around the lounge, trying to relax now that I’m home and not in danger.
“I told you what happened, don’t push her,” Thorne says, coming to stand next to him.
“I remember, princess, we all do,” he says gently.
“How?” I croak out, and clear my throat a few times. Dagan walks over, seeing me hiding in the corner of the sofa, and frowns. I look at the glass of water in his hand, but I don’t really want him close enough to me to take it.
“Here, it’s just water,” he offers me the glass of water he was holding, reaching out so he doesn’t get too close. I accept it, and he backs away, sitting on the edge of the sofa. They all watch me with fear in their eyes, all of them look as worried as the next one. Elias and Thorne sit on the floor where they were, and it shocks me that they aren’t arguing. Or not trying to kill each other.
“I got you some clothes,” Korbin says as he walks in the room. He places them on the back of the sofa I’m hiding next to and then backs away, knowing I just don’t want anyone near me right now. He sits by Dagan, all of them looking at me as I pull my blanket close around myself.
“How?” I repeat, needing to know what happened to make them remember, and they all look at each other.
“We were shopping, just about to check out another aisle, when it happened. We felt your fear, your pain, and it overwhelmed us into remembering. We shifted outside, and flew straight here just as Thorne carried you in, and explained,” Dagan explains. “I think we all passed out for a moment there.”
“That’s not possible, only mates or blood bound souls can feel each other’s emotions in times of need,” I point out, and they all look at each other.
“How do you know that?” Elias is the one to ask.
“Jace wanted to share blood with me before we mated, so he would know if I was in any danger. I decided I didn’t want to, because I wanted our blood to be swapped at our mating,” I explain, and there’s an eerie silence between us all. They are hiding something from me, and I’m not sure I even want to know what it is they did.
“Tell me what you did, what you all did,” I demand, knowing guilt when I see it in each of their eyes. I keep looking over at Thorne, not really believing that he is here.
“Wait, before you answer that, how are you here? How did you know?” I ask Thorne.
“I didn’t know, but Melody must have as she came to me. She demanded I leave right then. She said she would meet us when we come back to Dragca,” Thorne tells me, and I look down at the floor, taking a deep breathe. I have to thank Melody and Thorne at some point.
“Is Michael?” I stumble over his name, and I’m not sure Thorne even understood what I said until he answers.
“Dead.” He says the word firmly, unapologetically, and full of protective tones. I clear my throat before looking at Dagan, and nodding for him to tell me what they all did.
“When you were stabbed, you were also poisoned and dying. Your uncle told us that you needed to have the poisoned blood taken out and it had to be replaced,” he says, his sentence drifting off as my eyes widen.
“You gave me blood to save me?” I ask.
“We all did, you needed a lot, and there was so much poison it was turning your blood black,” he says, his haunted eyes make me think it was horrible for him to remember.
“We are blood bound, all of us?” I exclaim.
“Yes, we made the choice to die for you. We made the choice to give you our life then, because you are our queen. You are the one we fight for, and that hasn’t changed in all the weeks we have been here,” he says firmly.
“What has happened, the curse…” I say, and they look between each other.
“The curse doesn’t work on earth, if we never go back…we will lose them,” Korbin says and then drifts off.
“I have to return, you don’t,” I tell them, and I mean every word. I might be their queen in their eyes, but I won’t demand this of them.
“We do have to return home, and we made our choice a long time ago,” Dagan says as Elias and Korbin nod. I look back at Thorne and his next words crush my heart.
“My dragon is gone, it was the moment I made the choice to come here for you,” he tells me, pain laced all over his face.
“Thorne…” I mumble.
“Don’t, it’s done. Melody and Bee need you to get up, put your clothes on, and return home. They are waiting for you in Dragca,” he says, and his firm words make me want to move.
“Don’t let a stupid human win. You are Isola Dragice, and you don’t give up,” Thorne tells me. I close my eyes, calling my dragon.
“Will you fight with me? Are you ready for this?” I ask her.
“I am with you, always,” she replies
“It’s time to go home,” I whisper a reply and open my eyes, knowing they are silver as I stare at all my dragon guards.
Home to fight and win.
Chapter 28
Isola
Who are you calling?” Thorne asks me as we walk through the woods and to the nearest portal.
“My friend, Hallie. I can’t just vanish from her life,” I say as I ring her house phone, knowing Michael must have stolen Hallie’s, and he nods. I doubt Hallie was even at the party, and the more I think about it, I was stupid to fall for that trick.
“Maybe you can tell me about her one day,” he asks and every instinct in me wants to say no, while other parts just want to run to him. Let him hold me, and tell me everything's okay. I don’t know why I feel so safe with him, whether it’s because he saved me, or if it’s because we share a blood bond. I don
’t know, but it’s hard to resist the pull. It also makes sense how he was getting in my dreams now, even across worlds. If our connection is so strong already, I don’t even want to think about how powerful it could be if we mated. Not that I’m thinking about mating. Not at all.
“Maybe,” I say quietly as the phone rings and rings, finally going to voicemail. I wait for the beep before I start talking, and I see Elias look over to me as he speaks quietly to Korbin and Dagan to my left.
“Hallie, this isn’t going to make much, or really any sense. But here we go. I have to leave, for a long time and I have no idea when I can come back. Jules has a nursing home set up, and she knows where the cash is in the house, but can you please check on her?
Also, I never had a best friend, or anyone that close to me, but you are that to me and that will never change. I love you, Hallie, and stay safe for me.” I go to say more when it starts beeping, and I know I have to put the phone down. I wipe some stray tears away, and even though Thorne doesn’t look my way, he says quietly.
“I will make sure you see her and Jules again, this isn’t the end.” I don’t reply to him, I can’t tell him how much comfort I received from his words. We walk silently to the portal, seeing the shimmer in the trees in the dim morning light.
“You don’t have to come, in fact, I won't allow it. I can't let you give your dragons up for me,” I stop in front of the portal, turning to my dragon guards. If they walk through this portal, they won’t be dragons anymore, just guards. It won’t change how I feel for them, but it might change how they feel about me. I still shake a little when they move near me, even though I know they would never hurt me like Michael tried to. I have to close my eyes, and force myself to push what happened into a little box in the back of my head. I can’t cope with it right now. I just can’t, more serious things are going on. Thorne nods sadly, walking to the portal, whispering where we need to go, and giving us some alone time.