Elesian Dragon Mates: Dragon Shifter Reverse Harem Complete Series

by Sammie Joyce

  Her head was pounding, and she was already exhausted just by walking around the cave for a few minutes. Rose knew it would take time to recover. She lay down on the cold stone. At least no one had removed the supplies she’d put in here earlier.

  Discovering them with her head wasn’t the best way to do it, but Rose was still grateful they were here, despite the new throbbing at the back of her skull.

  Rest was the best thing for her right now. When her dragons came, Rose needed to be ready to do everything she could to contribute to her own rescue. Magic was out with this collar, but she at least needed to have enough energy to run.

  Sleep didn’t come easily. The stone floor was far from comfortable, and as tired as she was, she was also worried. Why wasn’t Gavin in here with her? Hellith had gotten what she wanted from him. Surely, he should be here, secure with Rose, waiting for whatever Hellith had planned.

  Or maybe Hellith hadn’t wanted Gavin. Maybe she had all she needed from him, and she’d killed him.

  Rose flinched at the very thought. No, Gavin couldn’t be dead. Surely she’d know. She’d feel like a part of herself had died.

  But she already felt like that. She’d felt like that since the moment he’d betrayed her. Would she really feel his death, or was she just comforting herself with empty assertions?

  Rose rolled over, trying to find a more comfortable spot. If she couldn’t sleep, she could at least plan, giving her body as much rest as she could while she did so. She forced herself to lie still and stop seeking more comfortable positions. She deepened her breathing and closed her eyes.

  Feeling slightly calmer, Rose tried to think.

  They would no doubt find her with a life sensing spell. If tracking spells worked so close to Hellith’s power, rescue would have come already. Her dragons were probably flying around all the mountains near the mansion with witches on their backs. When they got close, the witches could cast life sensing spells.

  Those spells differentiated between animals and humans, so they would be able to tell once they’d found Rose and Gavin. Then they would come in for the rescue.

  If she was to have the best chance of escaping with them, Rose needed to work out how they would come. There was probably only one cave entrance, so that made the direction of their approach easy. The main cave was too small to have more than one or two dragons shifted at once with Hellith there, which made things more difficult.

  Rose ignored the ache in her back from lying against the cold stone as she thought about it. Asher and Jagger would probably shift and storm into the cave. Mace would wait outside, ready to fly her and Gavin out.

  Asher and Jagger would try to draw Hellith’s attention, while witches shielded them. They wouldn’t be here to fight Hellith, just keep her occupied long enough to rescue Rose and Gavin. Asher and Jagger would attack, probably backed up by offensive spells from some of the coven.

  Other coven members would be sent to search for Rose and Gavin. They’d need to disable Gavin, then get him and Rose outside to Mace, past Hellith.

  There were so many things that could go wrong, but Rose told herself it was stupid to worry about flaws in a plan that may not even be the one they decided to adopt. She’d just have to wait, as hard as it was.

  She wanted to pace, but she was too exhausted.

  Eventually, her eyelids started drooping. She let them. The more rest she had, the better. She tried to think of better times. Rose remembered shopping for dresses with Annabelle. It seemed a lifetime ago.

  She filled her head with pleasant thoughts of the Autumn Festival as she fell asleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  Rose was woken by the sound of screaming. For a moment, she was elated, sure rescue was here. Then she realized the horrible truth. There were no general sounds of chaos, which would surely accompany a rescue. There was just one scream.

  Gavin’s.

  She ran straight for the sliding door. Rose’s face smacked into the rock. She recoiled, clutching her nose. Though she couldn’t see, Rose was sure that the wetness on her hands was blood. She couldn’t tell if her nose was broken, but it was certainly painful enough to be.

  “Gavin! GAVIN!” The sound of his screams tore through her like a rusty knife. Rose threw herself against the wall again, but only succeeded in hurting her shoulder as well. She barely felt the pain. She had to get to Gavin.

  She was just about to make another attempt at the door when it slid open. Rose hurtled into the main room.

  Gavin was on his back, screaming and writhing, clearly in terrible pain. Hellith was holding him down with one claw. It didn’t look painful enough to cause Gavin’s screams, so Rose assumed Hellith was using some form of a pain spell on him.

  She didn’t know why Hellith was torturing him, but she wasn’t surprised either. Obviously, Hellith had no intentions of honoring any bargain she made with Gavin.

  If she was being smart, Rose would have assessed the options, their possibility of working, and the danger each one posed. She wasn’t being smart, though. She was frantic with terror for Gavin, with agony for his pain, and she thought only of getting him away from Hellith.

  Rose ran toward them, determined to snatch Gavin out from under Hellith’s claw. About twelve feet away from him, she ran smack into an invisible wall. Shrieking in frustration, Rose clawed at it, even as she realized that would never work. Magical barriers didn’t come down in the face of physical force. They needed magic to bring them down.

  Hellith turned to Rose and smiled at her. By the increase in the volume of Gavin’s screams, she was increasing his pain levels.

  Rose suddenly realized why the door had opened. It hadn’t been any doing of hers; it had been Hellith. The evil grin told her that Hellith enjoyed the torture more when she saw how it was torturing Rose as well.

  Rose lashed out with her magic, but of course, her magic didn’t come. She tore at the collar around her neck with her hands, but that only grazed her palms. Even if she had managed to get it off, her magic probably still hadn’t replenished from the attempt to keep Hellith away from the necklace.

  With nothing else she could do, Rose fell to begging.

  “Hellith, please, stop! Take me, you can torture me! Just leave him alone. Please, I’ll do anything.”

  “Don’t worry, girl, you will be next, once I’m done with him. Or maybe I will do you both at once, hm?”

  “Why are you doing this?” Rose struggled to speak past her sobs. If she was to have any chance of getting Gavin out of this, she needed to maintain her senses. She wondered if she was deluding herself. What possible chance of convincing Hellith to stop did she have? Why would Hellith listen to her?

  Gavin’s screams stopped abruptly.

  Rose felt her knees give out. No, he couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t.

  “I guess your time is up.” Hellith used her claw to toss Gavin’s body in Rose’s direction. She tried to catch him, which sent them both tumbling to the ground. She pressed a trembling hand to his neck. Had she not already been on the ground, she would have collapsed in relief when she felt a pulse.

  Clearly, torturing him while he was unconscious didn’t have any appeal for Hellith.

  Rose grabbed Gavin’s shoulders and started dragging him toward the smaller cave. He was heavy and it was slow going, but she managed it eventually. She scurried back into the main chamber and grabbed a lamp, her eyes on Hellith.

  Hellith was watching her smugly. Rose understood the look. Hellith could take her and torture her at any point, and there wasn’t anything Rose could do about it.

  The door to the cave closed behind her, but she knew it was no protection against Hellith.

  Rose rolled Gavin over, checking him for any kind of wound. She couldn’t find anything, though of course, without magic, she had no way of knowing if Hellith’s spell had done any internal damage.

  She tore a strip off her shirt and soaked it in water. Rose started wiping the sweat off Gavin’s face with the cool cloth. After
a few minutes of this, his eyes fluttered open.

  “Rose?”

  “I’m here.” She helped Gavin sit up. He winced as he did. “How are you feeling?”

  “I… I don’t understand. Why would Hellith hurt me?”

  “She’s Hellith, Gavin. She was never going to let us go.”

  Gavin shook his head slowly. “I… what have I done?”

  “Why don’t you start from the beginning? When did you first start working with Hellith?”

  “When I left, I wandered for days. I didn’t know what to do. Then Hellith came. She said she could help me, that you and I could be together forever. At first, I didn’t believe her, but somewhere along the line, what she said just started making sense. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  Sweet, glorious relief bloomed inside Rose. Hellith had enchanted Gavin from the start. He’d never betrayed her.

  “It’s not your fault. She had you under some kind of spell.”

  Gavin didn’t look convinced. “Maybe, but I don’t think it took effect immediately. I only started to believe her after a couple of hours; it must have taken that long for the spell to worm its way into me. If I’d fought her from the start, or at least run, none of this would have happened.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “I was so desperate to find a way to be with you… I was willing to listen even to Hellith. I should have fought while I still had enough sense not to believe her.”

  “If you fought her alone, you would have died. And I don’t think the chances of survival would have been very high if you tried to escape either. I imagine she’s faster than you, and even if she’s not, she could have used magic to bring you down.”

  Gavin nodded slowly. “I’m so sorry, Rose. This is all my fault.”

  Rose put her arms around him. “It’s okay, Gavin. Most of it wasn’t your fault at all. For the part that was, I forgive you.”

  He kissed her, slow and deep. Rose knew that they probably wouldn’t make it out of this alive, but she couldn’t help being happy right now. She had Gavin back, and for the moment, that was all that mattered.

  Gavin’s hands brushed the collar around her neck. He frowned at it. Rose was about to explain it to him, assuming his memory was a bit patchy after being under Hellith’s spell, but he put a finger to his lips.

  He put a hand on either side of the collar and pulled. It opened, and Gavin carefully laid it on the ground. Rose remembered that Gavin had told her only he would have the power to remove the bracelet. She guessed it was the same with the collar.

  Talk mentally only. Hellith has brilliant hearing, and she will hear even whispered words.

  You don’t know what it a relief it is to have that thing off. Won’t Hellith know, though? She knew when I got the bracelet off.

  No, she didn’t. She linked the collar and the bracelet to me. I knew when you got the bracelet off and told her. Shame suffused the link between them, and Rose squeezed Gavin’s hand.

  Why hasn’t she thought of this, though? Do you think she didn’t know that the spell she has on you broke when she tortured you?

  I’m sure she knows, but she probably doesn’t care. You’re still recovering your magic, and even when you do, your powers are nothing compared to hers without the necklace. It’s too small for me to shift in here, and she controls the door. She has us trapped.

  For how long, though? She has to know that rescue is coming. Why would she keep us here?

  I don’t know. It’s probably best for us to stay here, or else we could be moved to a place Asher and the others have already searched. I doubt she’s going to give us much of a choice, though.

  Rose knew he was right. It was frustrating, how little control they had over the situation. I can try welding us in, when Hellith next comes to get one of us.

  Good idea. I’m not sure it’ll hold, but it’s worth a shot.

  I just hope my magic is recovered enough by then.

  If it’s not, I’ll protect you. She won’t hurt you.

  Rose knew that it wasn’t under Gavin’s control, but she appreciated the sentiment all the same.

  Do you know where we are? I’ve only seen the inside of this cave, but you must have found your way here.

  I do. It’s far away from the coven—it’ll probably take them days or even weeks to find us.

  But you know where it is! Quick, tell Asher before Hellith finds some other way to block our mental communications.

  I can’t.

  Rose stared at him in disbelief. What do you mean, you can’t? You have to!

  I can’t face him, not after what I’ve done.

  Now wasn’t the time to worry about that, but Rose could feel Gavin mentally cringing away from the idea of facing his brothers. Now wasn’t the time to persuade him that they would forgive him once they knew the whole story.

  Show me, then. I’ll show Asher.

  Gavin smiled in relief. Of course.

  Rose paid careful attention to the mental images he showed her. She was sure Asher would be able to find them, but she worried about how long it would take.

  When Gavin was done, she opened the mental connection.

  Asher, I’m back.

  Rose, thank God! What happened?

  I was blocked off from communicating. It’s a long story. Look, I know where we are.

  She sent the images to Asher, who swore loudly.

  Fuck. We’re across the country from there. It’ll take us a couple of hours.

  Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere.

  He didn’t laugh. Are you okay?

  Rose decided not to mention her throbbing nose and shoulder for now. No need to make Asher worry over something that Maria could fix in about thirty seconds. I’m fine. Just hurry. Gavin is back to normal, so at least he can help us fight our way out.

  Hm. Asher’s disapproval was clear.

  Hellith had him under a spell, Asher. It wasn’t his fault.

  Oh. Asher’s grim mood seemed to lighten. I’m sure we can sort this all out when we’ve got you safely away. I need to go tell everyone else.

  Good luck! See you soon.

  Rose closed the connection regretfully. As much as she would have liked to chat with Asher, distracting him right now would not be a smart move.

  He knows, she told Gavin. They will be a couple of hours in arriving, though.

  I think you should seal the door now. Hellith can pull us out with magic at any moment. We won’t get any warning, and I’m not sure you’ll have time to do it once she decides she wants us.

  Do you think the door will hold for a few hours?

  I guess we’ll see. Once you’ve done it, stay behind me. If Hellith is going to grab one of us, I’ll make sure it’s me.

  That hardly did anything to make Rose feel better. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

  She focused her magic on the door, whispering the word to melt the stone together.

  Nothing happened.

  Crap. Rose was slightly less exhausted than she had been before. Clearly her magic needed more time to recover.

  Gavin, it’s not working, I need more—

  “Well, I see that you’ve recovered your energy.” The door opened, and one of Hellith’s red eyes peered through. “I guess it’s time to play.”

  Gavin shoved Rose roughly back. “Stay away from her!”

  “She’ll have her turn, once you pass out again. We’re all alone here, and there’s no one to hear you scream. We’ll see how defiant you are after weeks of this. You’ll be spilling your clan’s secrets before long.”

  Rose stared at Hellith. Did she not know that rescue was coming?

  She felt realization dawn in Gavin’s mind. I never told her that the witches and dragons are united. It never seemed relevant. She knew we fought together against her once, but maybe she assumed we’d go right back to hating each other.

  What does that have to do with anything? Panic was making it hard to think. At any moment, Hellith was going
to start torturing Gavin again.

  Think about it. The dragons are searching, but they have no chance without a locator spell—and only witches can do that. Hellith thinks they have no chance of finding us here.

  It should have been a relief to know that Hellith wasn’t moving them, but it was hard to be relieved while watching Hellith’s claw drag Gavin out of the cave. He didn’t resist. Rose wished he would, but she knew he was quite happy to be the one tortured instead of her.

  She grabbed his arm, trying fruitlessly to stop Hellith taking him. An electric shock came through his skin, going all the way up to her shoulder. Gavin and Rose both cried out. Rose crumpled to the ground, but Hellith kept dragging Gavin.

  Rose scrambled to get out the door before it closed. “Please, Hellith! I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, just don’t hurt him!”

  “You’re lying, little witch. But we’ll see how you feel when he’s hoarse from screaming.”

  In truth, Rose didn’t know whether she was lying or not. She knew she couldn’t tell Hellith what she wanted to know—it would spell death for everyone. But she would do anything to stop her torturing Gavin.

  Gavin screamed, and Rose screamed with him. While it was physical pain that tore through him, her love for him had her insides twisting in torment seeing him like this.

  Rose was vaguely aware of her knees hitting the ground, her hands in her hair, helpless to do anything to stop it.

  It seemed to go on forever. She kept praying that Gavin would pass out, but he never did. She guessed that Hellith was keeping the pain levels just below the point that would let him slip into the mercy of unconsciousness.

  Time warped. They could have been there minutes or days. Hellith ignored Rose’s pleas and threats.

  Gavin kept screaming.

  Chapter Thirteen

  We’re here.

  The words appeared in her mind only a split second before the dragons did.

  Asher and Jagger barreled into the cave, followed by the rest of their clan. The witches came afterward, their shield spells shimmering slightly in the dark.

  As soon as there was enough room, Asher shifted to his dragon form. He roared at Hellith, sending a stream of fire her way. Normal dragon fire wouldn’t hurt her, but it served as a distraction. She turned from Gavin to Asher. Gavin went limp with relief as the pain was lifted.