Releasing the Dragon

by Evangeline Anderson

  “But—” Annie began. She wanted to protest that she did too have training but then she realized that playing various espionage and spy video games, reading thriller novels, and seeing every single Bond movie twice probably didn’t count as “training.”

  “If it will make you feel better, I will use a Pairing Puppet as my x’aan-chow.” Dru patted her hand soothingly. “In this way I will not be unfaithful to you, teeska.”

  Annie snatched her hand away.

  “Why do you care about being unfaithful to me since you have no intention of Claiming me anyway?”

  Deep down she knew she was being unreasonable. She didn’t even want to be Claimed by the big Kindred—but it would be kind of nice if he had wanted to Claim her. The fact that he didn’t both irritated and saddened her somehow. Which made her snappish and angry.

  “Annie, please understand—I want to Claim you.” Dru looked into her eyes earnestly and his accent got thicker with emotion so that “want” came out as “vaant.” “But I cannot—it would not be safe.”

  “Why, because the Drake thing inside you doesn’t like me?” Annie demanded. She still wasn’t sure what that meant but she well remembered the sound of his voice when he’d rescued her from Christian—the strange powerful echo that had made her brain throb. Clearly there was something inside him though she didn’t exactly understand what it was. Was he some kind of an alien werewolf or something?

  “No,” Dru snapped. “Not because my Drake does not like you—I cannot Claim you because he likes you too much.” He leaned towards her and took her hands in his, looking intently into her eyes. “Understand this, teeska—my Drake wants you with a passion I have never felt before. He longs for you so hungrily I fear I cannot control his appetites. Therefore I must keep you far from me. It is the only way to be safe.”

  “Safe from what?” Annie asked but he only shook his head.

  “Forgive me but as I am leaving tomorrow, I must prepare for my mission.” He looked at Sylvan. “I must go to the Pairing House and choose a puppet to take with me as well. May I have your permission to take one away from the Mother Ship?”

  The blond Kindred frowned.

  “If you think a Pairing Puppet can effectively portray a live female. They have very simple responses, you know. Are you certain you won’t give yourself away by using a non-living consort?”

  “It should not be a problem,” Dru said stiffly. “The males who frequent the Shadow Palace see females as less than sentient. X’aan-chow literally translates as ‘Sex-pet.’ Let us just say that complex conversation will not be needed from the puppet I bring with me.”

  “What is a Pairing Puppet anyway?” Annie interrupted. “Is it some kind of a Kindred blow-up doll? And what exactly are you going to do with it once you get to this, uh, Shadow Palace? Are you going to have sex with it?”

  Dru’s cheeks went dull red but he lifted his chin.

  “I will do whatever is necessary to track my target and make certain he is not planning some nasty surprise for the Kindred.”

  “So you are going to have sex with it!” Annie knew it was ridiculous since she had technically only just met the big Kindred, but she felt betrayed and hurt and angry at the very thought. How dare the big jerk decide to take some semi-sentient sex toy on an exotic spy mission instead of her? And how dare he admit he would “do whatever was necessary” with it, right in front of her? That was like hearing your fiancée admit he was going to visit a hooker!

  Well…maybe not exactly like that since they weren’t engaged and the puppet thing wasn’t really alive but still, that was what it felt like to Annie.

  “I am sorry if I have hurt you but this is my job,” Dru’s voice was low but steady. “It is yet another reason I cannot Claim you, Annie. It would be unfair to bring you into the kind of life I lead.”

  “You mean the kind where you jet off to exotic locations and screw sex puppets in a palace?” Annie snapped.

  “Annie—” He reached for her but she pushed him away.

  “No.” She shook her head firmly. “Just go, please. I don’t…I can’t talk about this right now.”

  She hated herself for it, but suddenly tears were hovering on the horizon and she didn’t want to cry in front of him again. Not when he was the source of her pain.

  Dru rose from the side of the bed, a look of hurt and regret on his sharp features.

  “Forgive me,” he said again. “I will leave you now.”

  He nodded at Commander/Doctor Sylvan and Liv, the nice nurse who had remained silent in the corner the entire time they argued, and then he slipped out the door and was gone.

  Nine

  Dru’s heart felt bruised as he left the med center and walked down the long corridor that led toward the Unmated Males Area. He had seen how hurt Annie was by his refusal to Claim her or to take her with him but more than that, he had been able to smell it. Her lovely, feminine scent had become muted and sad with hints of anger and bitterness as well.

  Dru supposed he couldn’t blame her. What he had done was tantamount to telling her he would be cheating on her. True the Pairing Puppets weren’t sentient beings, being only simple androids in the shape of females which were kept for Unmated Males to slake their sexual needs until they found mates. But he would still be having sex with someone—or something if you wanted to get technical—besides Annie herself.

  Not that he wanted to. He had visited the Puppet House often enough when he had first come to the Mother Ship but the moment he started Dream-Sharing with Annie, his desire to slake his lust with the artificial females had died at once. Now the very thought of doing what must be done with a Pairing Puppet when he reached his destination made him feel vaguely ill. But there was no help for it—at the Shadow Palace, a male without a x’aan-chow had no status at all. Certainly not enough to enter the inner chambers where his target, Zar’ren, was sure to be.

  Zar’ren was a bad actor with a grudge against the Kindred—which was strange since it was rumored he had Kindred blood himself. Several times in the past he had plotted to sabotage the Mother Ship, so if Commander Sylvan had news that he was planning something new, someone had to keep an eye on him and stop whatever he was trying.

  I should just kill him, Dru told himself grimly as he made his way through the Unmated Males area and up to the little white house with pink trim where the Pairing Puppets were stored. But assassination was a last resort specifically because of Zar’ren’s Kindred heritage.

  The Kindred didn’t kill their own if they could help it.

  Inside the Puppet House, the “girls” were lined up neatly, sitting on chairs and couches placed around the room. They sat there, staring blankly at old fashioned Earth books with actual paper pages, but their eyes were motionless. They couldn’t read or think beyond obeying simple commands. To be honest, they couldn’t do anything but fuck.

  The thought made Dru sick, as it never had before he started Dream-Sharing with Annie. Gods, did he really have to do this? But he knew if he arrived at the Shadow Palace without a x’aan-chow, he wouldn’t even be allowed past the first gate. There was no help for it—he had to take one of the puppets with him.

  Looking around the room, he wondered which to choose. Probably one that looked as little like Annie as possible. He didn’t want to be reminded of his infidelity during the mission.

  But despite his determination not to pick a puppet like the female he cared for, his eyes happened to fall on a short, plump, plus-sized puppet with long red hair. The puppet didn’t have Goddess-kisses all over like Annie did—instead it had smooth white skin. And its hair was curly rather than straight. But it was still more like Annie than any of the other puppets.

  I shouldn’t, Dru thought but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Walking over to the puppet, he tapped her on the shoulder.

  “You,” he said roughly.

  “Yes, Warrior—how can I serve you?” she asked mechanically, looking up.

  “You’re coming with me,” Dr
u snapped. “But first we must get new outfits for you. What kind of clothes do you have?”

  “If you want me to change into something a little sexier for you, that can be arranged, Warrior,” the puppet said in what was clearly a pre-recorded response. “Come with me to my room.”

  “Yes, all right. But be quick—we need to leave soon,” Dru growled. He would pick through her outfits and find the ones most suited to a x’aan-chow at the Shadow Palace and then pack the puppet in his long-range shuttle so that he could leave first thing in the morning. The sooner he got this mission over and done with, the sooner he could come back to the Mother Ship…and to Annie.

  If she’ll ever agree to see me again, he thought dismally. Inside, his Drake roared in rage and sorrow.

  “Mine! Why did you not claim her? She is mine—ours!”

  Dru tried to silence it but it would not be still. His Drake was really not happy that he had chosen to leave Annie here and go on a mission without Claiming her first. Well, it couldn’t be helped. He couldn’t take her into danger and he couldn’t make her part of his life because of the job he did. He would have to somehow try to forget her.

  But at this idea the Drake rose so strongly it was all he could do to force it down again. Damn it, what was it about the little Earth girl that she affected him so strongly? All he wanted to do was go running back to her—to throw himself at her feet and beg her forgiveness and then sweep her into his arms and bring her to his suite to begin their Claiming period.

  How well he could imagine the time they would spend together—the Holding Week, the Touching Week, the Tasting Week when he would finally be allowed to lap her sweet little pussy…

  Roughly, he pushed the images that tried to force themselves into his mind’s eye away. It was not to be. He couldn’t possibly let himself Claim a female—especially not one who had such a drastic effect on his Drake. Better by far to go on this mission and keep his mind off Annie. He should concentrate on the tricky and dangerous business of tracking Zar’ren.

  But no matter how he lectured himself, his thoughts kept returning to Annie and how Goddess-damned much he wanted her…

  Ten

  “Morning, hon—how are you feeling?” Liv gave Annie a sympathetic smile as she came bustling in with a breakfast tray. She sat it down on a rolling table and helped Annie sit up before positioning it in place in front of her.

  “Thanks.” Annie looked down at the tray, noting that it looked a lot better than hospital food down on Earth. She’d had to have her appendix out when she was nine and she could still remember how disgusting the meals had been. In contrast, the tray in front of her contained fluffy blueberry pancakes, three crisp slices of bacon, and some exotic looking fruit with pink and blue flecks running through its pale, golden flesh.

  Must be some kind of Kindred fruit, she thought picking up the fork that had come with the meal and pushing listlessly at one of the fruit chunks. Normally she would have been excited to try something so completely new and different—she loved tasting exotic foods. It was one reason that, despite her improved diet and exercise routine, she was never going to be a skinny-minny like Michelle Prouty and her band of merry bitches.

  But today it seemed like she had no appetite at all. She went through the motions of pouring syrup over the pancakes and cutting herself a fluffy slice of the breakfast treat but then she couldn’t even bear to put it in her mouth. She let the fork sag back to the tray feeling vaguely sick. It felt like someone had deposited a cold lump of lead as big as her fist in the pit of her stomach—there was no way she could eat like that.

  “Hey, hon…” Liv sank down on the bed beside her and put a hand over Annie’s arm. “You’re really hurting, aren’t you?”

  Annie looked up at her dully.

  “I still want him—still want to be with him. I don’t know why when he’s being such a jerk. Running off to some alien planet with a blow-up bimbo doll instead of taking me…” She sighed in frustration. “That’s not normal, right? I mean, what’s wrong with me?”

  Liv shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

  “You’re in love with a Kindred. They get under a girl’s skin something fierce, I can tell you from personal experience.” She frowned. “But I’ve never seen one so reluctant to Claim his bride. Usually when a warrior starts Dream-Sharing with his chosen mate, he can’t wait to go get her.”

  “Maybe it’s me,” Annie stirred her fork through the puddle of syrup on her plate. “Maybe it’s because I’m fat and freckled and—”

  “Stop right there.” Liv gave her a stern look. “You can’t talk about my friend like that—I won’t let you!”

  Annie gave her a weak smile. “Thanks. I’m not usually into self-loathing. It’s just that I went to this crazy high school reunion and I happened to see the three girls who made my life a living hell for so long. It kind of…brought everything back.”

  “Ugh.” Liv shivered. “I would never go to one of those. Aside from my twin sister Sophie and our best friend Kat, I really didn’t get along with that many people in high school.”

  “Neither did I,” Annie admitted. “But I thought I could hook up with my old high school crush now that I look…well, better than I did back then, anyway.” She sighed. “But then he turned out to be a psycho—he’s the one Dru rescued me from. The one who drugged me.”

  “Wow—that’s awful!” Liv shook her head sympathetically. “What a night.”

  “And then Dru made it even worse by telling me he’s going on some exotic spy mission with a sex doll instead of me—just when I was really starting to care for him.” Annie shook her head in frustration. “It just makes me so mad.”

  “I don’t blame you, hon. For what it’s worth, I think he’s making a big mistake. He ought to have passed that mission off to someone else and the two of you should be staring your Claiming period right now.”

  Annie bit her lip. “Does it sound crazy to say…to say I want to see him one more time before he leaves? I know it makes me sound like I have no spine but…what if something happens and he doesn’t come back?”

  The very thought sent a cold chill down her back. Dru was going into danger—what if she never saw the big Drake Kindred again?

  “It doesn’t make you sound spineless at all,” Liv said firmly. “I’d feel the same way if my guy was going off without me. In fact, I’ll take you down to the Docking Bay myself to say goodbye.” She frowned. “Oh, but I don’t have anything for you to change into and I’m not sure where they put the clothes you came in wearing.”

  “That’s okay.” Annie looked down at the long, forest green hospital gown she had on. “This seems to cover everything all right. It’s not the most stylish fashion statement but I don’t really care as long as I get to see Dru one more time before he goes.” She gave Liv an anxious look. “You don’t think he’s already gone, do you?”

  “Hang on—I’ll ask my hubby, Baird. He’s in charge of the Fleet so he’ll know if anyone left this morning already.”

  Liv closed her eyes and seemed to be having some kind of mental conversation. Was that something Kindred and their wives could do? Apparently so because when she opened her eyes, she smiled at Annie.

  “Good news—he’s not gone yet. I asked Baird to hold him back if necessary but he sent one of his under-officers to check and it seems Drugair is still packing.”

  “Oh good!” Annie pushed the tray aside and jumped off the hospital bed. She felt much better today—completely over the effects of whatever drug Christian had slipped into her daiquiri. “Then let’s go!”

  Liv laughed at her enthusiasm.

  “Right away!”

  “All right.” Annie bit her lip as a sudden attack of nerves hit her. “I hope he won’t be upset to see me.”

  “Are you kidding? He’ll probably be thrilled you forgave him enough to come say goodbye,” Liv told her. “Here—put on these slippers so your feet don’t get cold. I’ll let the Charge Desk know we’re going on the way out.”


  “Okay. Thanks, Liv.”

  Feeling nervous, Annie slipped her feet into the small, soft rubber-soled black slippers which looked a little like ballet flats and followed her new friend out the door and through the med center.

  The Mother Ship was huge—a bustling city floating in space. But luckily, the Docking Bay wasn’t far from the med center and Liv knew a shortcut to get there. Before she knew it, Annie was entering a vast, echoing room bigger than a stadium where Kindred ships of all types and sizes were parked. The roof overhead showed the blackness of space but Liv explained there was an invisible atmosphere barrier in place which kept the oxygen levels in the Mother Ship stable. Ships could pass through the barrier at will but it would never let any of the artificial atmosphere out.

  “Wow, Kindred technology is really amazing,” Annie breathed, looking around at the rows and rows of shiny ships all parked in neat parallel lines. “I’ve always wished I could come up here and check it out for myself.”

  “Bet you didn’t think you’d come up the way you did,” Liv remarked, grinning at her.

  “You mean being brought up by a huge Kindred warrior after being drugged and nearly knifed by my psycho high school crush at a Halloween-themed reunion? No, not exactly,” Annie said dryly. “But hey, at least I got here—right?”

  Liv laughed. “I like you, Annie—you’ve got a sassy streak that reminds me of my best friend Kat. I have to introduce you two.”

  “Thanks.” Annie smiled at her. “I’d like that.” She looked around at all the ships. “Uh, how will we know which one of these is Dru’s?”

  “Baird gave a his general location. Let’s just see if he’s down here…”

  They found Dru’s ship at the end of a long line of similar-looking vehicles. The hatch at the back of the vehicle was open and he seemed to be storing something inside. But the moment he heard Annie call his name, he looked up quickly and came around to the front of the silver ship.