What could keep him from them? The human female wasn’t looking healthy either. The blackish streaks seemed to grow.
What had they done to her? What had they done to him? There was a sound at the door, and he shifted into his dragon before they came closer.
He backed into the corner, trying to shield the female. Her life mattered regardless of what these assholes thought. He faced the door, ready for a fight.
“I grow tired of waiting, dragon. I also assumed this would be a problem. Nothing you creatures do is easy.”
Deo’s dragon's head moved side to side, watching the doctor move. He sucked in some air and readied to use his fire.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you dragon. At best you can get me. Although I do appear to not be affected by your fire, or my daughter’s, for that matter. Curious, isn’t it? And perhaps you miss the female. But at worst you torch her, or me and never find out how to get out of here alive. And I assure you. You will not. Your time is running out, dragon. I will be departing. Should you fulfill my wish, I will fulfill my promise of release? Do not take her though. The demons here, they will attack.”
Deo growled and his dragon crouched low. They wanted to rip this male limb from limb.
“Yes. Well, goodbye, dragon. I await a report from my colleague. I have other work to deal with. If I were you, I would push aside these silly notions of true mates and save yourself. After all, I am not asking for you to claim her. Just simply do whatever it is you do to make offspring. You know, children. Like the ones you took from me.”
Smoke poured from his dragon's nostrils as he held in the anger.
The skeletal figure of the doctor walked out, leaving Deo to check the choices he had.
His dragon circled the room. Sniffing each corner, looking for a weakness. The nasty scent of decay, what he was realizing may very well be demon scent, had his dragon pawing at his nose. Why they didn’t enter the room he wasn’t sure, but he was certain it wouldn’t last.
Deo walked over to the next wall and stood on hind legs. He sniffed at the ceiling. He tried to reach out to his brothers again. And still nothing. If he had to guess, the demons were the issue. Good thing to note for their future expeditions and battles. Find ways to battle demons.
That wasn’t helping right now, though.
The dragon dropped to all fours again, swinging his tail around and hitting the wall. Some dust, a possible crack, but not the hoped-for hole. He turned to a gentle touch on his tail.
“My name’s Jenn. Could you turn back into a human?”
His dragon felt like at this point they had done what they could, for the moment anyway. A second later he was in human form.
“I am Deo,” he said.
She smiled, her dirt covered face showed streaks of more tears.
“I. Uh, well. I know I’m not what a guy like you would want. But I could maybe help? There’s no use in both of us dying here.”
Deo cocked his head. What was she talking about?
“You are an exquisite female. A male would be more than lucky to have you as a mate. I have a mate or, well-” he broke off. Closing his eyes, he breathed away the pain in his heart. He had a mate that didn’t want him, or at least not enough to trust him to give her what she needed. His entire life was a duty before your own needs until his mate. Suddenly his need for her came above all things, and then his new mission was to serve her. Make her happy and he’d failed. He hadn’t succeeded and it not only hurt to fail, but the brokenness inside of him might rip him apart.
“I can’t release you until I understand the demons,” he finally finished.
She shook her head. Deo watched her as she unbuttoned the now dirt brown shirt.
“I didn’t mean for me to get out of here. I told you my name so that someone would remember me. I already tried to get away once and I won’t try again. I don’t even understand what happened. Something was in my head. I couldn’t see straight. The walls came alive and attacked me. I can’t do that again,” she said.
Deo knew at once what was out there. Fear demons. Well, at least the doctor stuck with what worked. Only thing was, that still made no sense as to why he couldn’t communicate with his brothers.
Deo shook his head as something tried to break through.
His eyes grew wider and her fingers shook worse and worse as she got to the last button. She discarded her shirt. “I’m not afraid of you. You seem like a good person, dragon, whatever it is you are. If you do as he asks, you can go free.”
Understanding creeped in as she unbuttoned her pants.
“No. Stop!” he shouted.
He took two steps forward and grabbed her hands, holding them within his own.
“No. No woman should ever be used. No woman should ever have her choices taken from her.”
She smiled. “Yeah. Well. I am making this choice, though. I mean, I’ve never been in love. I really don’t have anyone to miss me and I love kids. Maybe this is okay?”
A shiver ran up his spine.
“Jenn, no. They will use you and discard you once they are done. This is not someplace you can simply just live.”
She looked up into his eyes.
“Whoever your, was it mate? Whoever she is, she’s lucky.”
Her eyes cast down and Jenn pulled her hands free of him.
Turning her back, her shoulders shook as sob after sob racked her body. The sound of anguish filling the prison like room.
Deo didn’t know what to do. Why was she crying?
“Jenn. I am sorry. Did I hurt you? Are you okay?” he asked as he hesitantly reached for her shoulder again.
“No. No, I’m not okay. I’m so ugly that you won’t even have me to save your own life. How is a woman supposed to take that? I can’t even die here thinking that maybe in another life I might have found someone to love me.”
He turned her around, slowly. She didn’t fight. He was certain the fight in her had been exhausted.
“It’s not that I don’t find you beautiful. I meant it. You are very pleasing to the eye. Understand though that once a dragon's heart is claimed, he is bound to his mate heart, mind, and soul. To break that bond would be a fate worse than death.”
And it was true. He knew that. So why, even with Aisha’s denial, was he still standing? Why was he able to get through the pain? Perhaps he was wrong. Did he dare think that?
She sniffled. “I’m sorry. But would it be worse to never see her again?”
Deo stopped to think about this. Was the anguish within him now based purely on his own false conclusions? Was it pain he felt or the sorrow perhaps from the effects of the demon magic here? He felt deep within himself, truly searched every corner of his soul and there within the magic he could still sense her.
Something wasn’t what it seemed. And at this moment he roiled in conflicted thought. Did he try to escape and know for certain he would seal this female’s death? He couldn’t be with her, though. Beautiful or not, it wasn’t an option.
“Would you say you trust me?” he asked.
She nodded. “You seem okay,” she said.
Well, did she really have a choice? She was between a demon and a dragon. Life wasn’t getting less complicated for this woman.
“What exactly did you see out there, when you tried to escape?”
Her skin paled.
“I, it was awful. It was like everything that I didn’t even know I was afraid of filled my head. Everything was out to get me. I was alone, but people were everywhere. Honestly, I’m not even sure if this place has a way out.”
Her arms wrapped around her midsection.
“Put your shirt back on, because we are getting out of here. I’m prepared to handle these demons.”
She shook. “I don’t think they are the only monsters here though. He mentioned that if I had gotten too far, there were others.”
Deo would need to risk it. He would do whatever he had to to find his mate. He would do whatever it took to save this innocent femal
e too. He would not leave her behind.
“We will have to risk it. I can’t reach my brothers within this cell and perhaps whatever guards us may not be everywhere. We will need to hope and pray to the goddess.”
She trembled but did as he asked. “Goddess?” Jenn asked as she slipped an arm through the shirt sleeve.
“The one who blessed us,” he said. Stepping back, he tried to smile reassuringly. “When I shift, climb on my back, stay down, close your eyes, and hold on.”
Jenn nodded. Habit had him sniffing the air, and he knew in one quick gulp of air, that she was terrified. Hopefully, it wasn’t of his dragon, because that would make this much more difficult.
With that last thought, he shifted. Turning, his dragon patiently waited for her. She approached with caution, and his dragon tried to hide his impatience. As she got closer, he put an arm out to allow her easier access.
His dragon rolled his eyes as if she was the only thing between him and his mate. Which wasn’t the case, but Deo couldn’t reason with the damn beast some days.
A quick wiggle check to not only see that she was seated, but for something else and Deo wanted to slap the damn creature. Deo knew his dragon was proving a point that she wasn’t meant to be there for long. Fucking dragons.
Heading to the door, he eyed it and blew a steady stream of fire against the metal. Jenn whimpered, but he hoped she was smart enough to do as he asked and keep her head down. He didn’t have time to worry. She either did as asked, or perhaps she would be nursing a few more injuries. At least she would be alive.
Stopping the steady attack on the metal, the door glowed red as he punched his clawed foot toward it. The thing gave way, warping and opening.
He wouldn’t fit through the door in this form, but he didn’t care. Pushing through hot metal wasn’t a concern as the wall tore to accommodate his massive shoulders.
He snuffed as the acrid scent of demons. It was everywhere. Good thing his dragon was ready. They used their other senses to find the exit. Sounds took on a unique design as he waited to understand what the air's motion did around these creatures. He waited for them to become something other than air and shadow, anything to help him see them versus the area around them.
Deo’s dragon moved in the direction of calmer air for now, assuming he would either end up with a better chance to reach his brothers or there was a way out.
Jenn squeezed tighter on his back. It took another moment before he could feel the effects of the demonic magic.
Pushing himself, they moved quickly, trying to push away the nightmares playing at the edge of his mind. He knew what the fear was from. He could reason through it, as long as he focused on his mate and the hope that nothing was as it seemed.
He took a deep breath as they moved between the fear demons and something new. Anger burned through him. He needed something to fight as the labyrinth of tricks was growing frustrating.
His senses told him they weren’t alone, but he also didn’t know what they were fighting. Looking up, it was clear they were in a basement without hope of a window. Wonderful.
Reaching out for his brothers, there was still nothing.
Jenn squeezed his sides harder, and he pressed on, knowing whatever was in this part of the basement was getting to her far sooner than it got to him.
He moved quickly, stopping as a voice called to him.
“Deo. Come to me, Deo.”
No. This was not real. Right?
He turned, following the voice. “Deo. Come to me, Deo.”
It was Aisha’s voice; he wanted to follow. Was she here? Had she come for him? As they moved closer, his dragon froze. The scent was wrong.
“Deo. Come to me, Deo.”
He snarled as something lashed out in a white fog.
He backed away as the sense of danger sunk in.
Jenn screamed somewhere off in the distance. No wait.
Shaking his head thoroughly, he realized it was Jenn on his back.
Looking around, Deo took in the corridor. Shit. They had gotten sucked in.
Something lashed out again, tentacle-like arms reached out of the fog. No.
Not today, demon.
His dragon reared up, turning them around. Jenn slipped, but as he slammed back down, he felt her sink her heels into his sides. They needed to get out of here.
He tried to get back to listening. Using senses other than his eyes. All around them was fog, but if he concentrated hard, the magic thinned to the right of him. He followed.
The building was a mix of demon decay and sour fear from Jenn. He tried to hurry. Finally, as they rounded another corner and through an area of old rusted pipes, he found stairs.
They paused in wait for the trap. It didn’t take long for one to manifest. The room moved and shivered around them. The stairwell moved even though they stood still. He could see the shimmer of the black magic as near invisible creatures circled round and round, waiting to strike. It was doubtful that Deo could get through the stairs as his beast, but what of Jenn. She’d fit, but could she do it? Could she get through this hoard of demons? He wasn’t sure and didn’t want to risk it.
A quick moment passed as he formed his plan. Reaching around in a quick jerk, he pulled her pants by his teeth. She let out a yelp of surprise. The whites of her eyes were red. The apparent suffering within her burdened him more than he wanted.
She stood still as he reached his tongue out and lapped at her. She didn’t scream; and he was grateful. He coated her in his saliva, praying this would work for his next plan. After she seemed fully covered and somewhat stunned, he nudged her with his muzzle to ensure she didn’t fall over. Petrified might have been a good way to describe her, and at this moment, perhaps helpful.
Seconds were lost as he shifted somewhere between human and dragon. He wasn’t getting his hide through the narrow space.
Crouching low, he pulled her near motionless body toward him, placed her belly to his back. Deo didn’t have time to wonder if she’d be able to hold on, but when he fastened her arms around his neck, she clasped her hands. She was following on some level, even if she appeared to be missing in action.
As he secured one leg with an arm, he stood and readied himself to sprint. Pulling in a lengthy breath, he let his fire cover the entire space. Next, he chased his fire and prayed to the goddess that Jenn would survive.
Sharp pain stung his sides as things lashed out, scratching him beyond the barrier of his frame. They needed out.
He reached out to his brothers once more as they hit the landing.
Brothers?
Nothing, but then a voice that brought him a sense of hope.
Aisha?
17
The vice around Aisha’s ribcage released at the sound of Deo’s reply.
Aisha is that you?
Relief washed over her. It was his voice in her head. All the shouting to the wind hadn’t been for nothing. Halfway here she’d wondered if she was a helium atom short of an electron, unstable, but finally it all paid off.
Yes, it’s me. I can hear you.
The sick feeling in her stomach persisted, and it had little to do with the dips the dragon she rode took.
“Aisha, he’s reaching out. They found him,” said Maddie.
“I know. I can hear him, he’s here.” She pointed to her head as she bit back tears. He was alive.
Maddie smiled. “Finally,” she said.
Kal took off suddenly as the dragons changed their positions. Aisha watched as they moved, flying two by two.
She burped and covered her mouth trying to keep her stomach where it was as she watched the ground grow closer
Aisha? I need to hear your voice.
Right okay. Whatever he wanted.
You’re okay? We’re coming. I think we’re close, she thought.
There was a silence for a moment and then her head swam. No. She wasn’t going to sleep this time. Wait. No. This wasn’t her, this was Deo.
Deo, fight it. Figh
t the feeling. We’re almost there.
The feeling cleared.
Yes, close. You are close. I feel you.
She looked around as they hovered over what looked to be an old factory, or rather a small abandoned group of industrial buildings.
Deo. Talk to me? Are you okay?
A soothing calm came over her for a moment. It faded as quickly as it came on her. Instead she shuddered as images, broken and disjointed of teeth surrounded and snapped at her. Razor sharp, monstrous.
Deo, what is that? Is that what you see?
Instead of an answer, she held in a scream as the images blurred. He was running, but running where? She couldn’t tell.
Deo, we’re almost there.
Nothing but more images of oil-slicked creatures screeching and writhing every way he looked. Oh, crap. What the hell was that?
Without warning, her body jerked forward, her hands biting into the dragon's scales.
As they landed, Aisha followed the lead of the other women. Sliding off and stepping away.
Maddie’s mouth moved furiously, and she didn’t understand why at first. But she grabbed Aisha’s hand and began to pull.
In front of them were five very large and very pissed off men, or rather something between human and dragon.
They stopped, though, and Maddie flashed a look to Kal. A pang of jealousy hitting Aisha as she watched the exchange. She wanted Deo to look at her that way. A look of sheer respect and understanding.
Aisha was being dragged along and almost tripped as her eyesight flickered between normal and something else.
“Careful. Also, don’t let go of my hand. I’ve tethered our powers together,” said Maddie.
Okay. What did that mean?
Blinking, Aisha suddenly saw her eyes flicker between how she normally saw things to something very different again.
Whispering to the side, she asked, “What exactly am I seeing?”
Lilly smiled.
“Maddie and I have figured out that both of us have ways to see demons through magic. I doubt either of our dad’s thought about that.”
Okay. Aisha would tell them they were crazy, but she was seeing this. Or seeing something. Also, this was the first time that anyone had made her feel like they saw her for what she was. A witch. A magical human, and they didn’t see her as useless.
Dragon Wanted: A Dragon Shifter Fated Mates Novel (Space Dragons Seek Mates Book 3) Page 12