Love of A Dragon (Exalted Dragons Book 1)

by K. T. Stryker

  Distantly, I heard the familiar slap of an open palm against skin, and another, and a third. Becca was screaming at Mackenzie and slapping her again, and again; almost hysterical as she begged her friend to wake.

  “Becca, stop!” I shouted down the hall. I repeated myself, and the only sound I heard was her sobbing. “I’m sorry Becca. You tried.” There was a long silence, and I wondered if I’d lost my only friend in the darkness.

  “Caroline?” Becca’s hoarse voice sounded like she’d been crying for days.

  “I’m here, Becca.”

  “She isn’t awake, but she moved. Oh, my God, she moved!” I didn’t have the heart to tell her what I feared. Maybe the vampire that had put her under was awake, which meant it was night, or nearly so. My heart sank! We’d been here at least a full day by then with no hunters showing up to save us. Worse; if the vampires had been sleeping, it wouldn’t be long now before we had company. I’d considered why we were still alive and unmarked, but I hadn’t figured out what came next.

  I felt my way back to the side wall using the torch, felt around until I felt the clip that locked it in place and lifted it out of the holder. I sat in a crouch with my back against the far wall and my butt resting on my heels. This way I could spring up and launch the torch at the face of the first blood sucker through the door.

  I knew that I couldn’t fight, but maybe I could make them mad enough to kill me fast. I no longer remembered the details of my parents’ deaths; my mind hadn’t wanted to hold most of the images even when I was young. Time had been my sweetest friend and stolen the remaining images from me over the years. However, I would never lose the terror and soul-numbing hate that filled me at the thought of seeing another vampire. I tried to focus on the things Signora Borgia and Professor Eldritch had been teaching my Anthropology and Mythology of Vampires class. Their energy came from living blood, but only the very strongest could stay awake during daylight hours. Their psychic powers were varied; just like humans. There were some who had no mental powers to draw upon, just like some couldn’t fly, and others had every imaginable power.

  Obviously, we were dealing with one or maybe several that could get inside our heads and glamour us. Poor Mackenzie was weak-willed enough or had a master vampire strong enough to completely roll her. In the books, people like her were called Renfields, after Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. These were humans who could no longer think for themselves; sleeping when their master slept and doing their bidding without question.

  If we’d been brought here at the same time, then maybe I was strong enough to fight it off for at least a little while. I’d been awake for a long time ; it made sense that we’d been sitting down here all day. My stomach would attest to that; if nothing else. Becca had awaken on her own several hours after me. I was about to call out to her and check in on Mackenzie when I heard a scream from that end of the corridor.

  “Becca! Becca answer me!” I screamed into the darkness; pressing my face against the bars desperately wishing I could conjure a light in the darkness. Then, as though I’d created it with my mind, a tiny flare of light floated and bobbed in the far distance. As tiny as it was; it was blinding after the hours of darkness and my eyes burned behind my eyelids as I blinked and squeezed them tightly shut, trying to acclimate to the change.

  “Caroline!” Becca screamed, her voice breaking off into a choking sound. The light flickered in the place where I imagined her door would be.

  “Becca!” She didn’t answer. I gripped the ancient, iron torch tighter and fell back from the door to the side opposite the hinges. The silence was thick enough to touch as my palms grew wet and slick against the metal . I waited to befall the same fate as Becca and her friend.

  The seconds ticked on; my thighs and arms began to cramp from the position I was holding. I strained to stay still and not give away my position, as I realized the light outside my door was growing brighter. I rolled my shoulders and shifted my weight from the balls of one foot to the other; ready to spring. My scant training might be enough despite aching muscles and lack of food to draw blood when I swung.

  Chapter 6

  There was a scraping sound of metal against metal as a key turned in the door. Then it swung open. In the light was the shadowed face of a beautiful girl, not much older than myself. But, the age that I sensed in my mind was much, much older than she appeared.

  “Well, now!” she exclaimed in a sugary voice. “I bet Vittorio didn’t catch that little ability of yours when he grabbed you.” The lit torch moved directly in front of my face, blinding me, and I swung out blindly. “Now, now, little witch. No need for that,” the girl chided in her lilting voice, as she grabbed the iron out of my hand like it was nothing. I heard the clatter as it hit the far wall and clenched my jaw to keep from whimpering. “Now, let’s go get you cleaned up and fed; then you can tell me what other powers you’ve got little witch. I’m always interested in a pretty girl who can feel me inside her.” Despite the youthful sweetness of her voice, I trembled at the threat behind the sexual innuendo.

  “Kill me now. I won’t be made into vampire fodder,” I hissed, my voice shaking.

  “Oh, you’re a tiny hunter.” My eyes had gotten used to the soft torchlight and I could see her shake her head. “What kind of people are they; sending a tender little thing like you out all by herself? You poor thing. I’ll take care of you.”

  “You’ll protect me?” I asked my voice soaked in disbelief.

  “Of course. Don’t believe all you hear from one hateful, frightened group of racists, darling. I for one love sweet little morsels like you. I couldn’t bear to let anyone else touch you, except the master.” She held out her hand and I walked hand in hand with her up a long spiraling set of stairs. I then realized she’d glamoured me again! I wrenched my hand away and she laughed in delight, a clear lovely sound that froze me to my very core, paralyzing me with terror.

  Her hard, blue eyes held mine as I focused on my psychic shield; straining against her power pressing in on me until she pulled back, a look of genuine surprise on her face. She was silent after my small victory over her. My heart swelled with fierce pride and made me braver as I walked into the unknown behind her.

  She left the torch in a sconce on the wall at the top of the stairs and pushed open a wooden door, it was similar to the one that had shut me into my cell, but far larger and heavier. She motioned me through with a bow at the neck and followed close enough behind me that her skirt brushed my legs. Occasionally I caught images from her that chilled me and each time she got me to react she would laugh at me. She couldn’t really violate me; which made me glad, but seemed to frustrate her.

  “You’d be surprised how enjoyable my company can be, little witch,” she huffed, when I balked at a particularly explicit image she was projecting of the two of us.

  “You know you and I are almost the same size and height, don’t you?” I replied, refusing to acknowledge what I was starting to believe was her flirting.

  “But you have so much more to learn and so much growing to do in here,” she giggled, tugging my head back with one hand and tapping my temple. I fell silent again, hoping she would grow bored and leave me alone again. While we walked I concentrated on my shield until I wasn’t sure if I had finally got it right, or she really had gotten bored and given up. I let the shield drop, and staggered as a picture of her bathed in my blood slammed me against the wall, choking on my own scream.

  “Oh, Colette, leave her be! She isn’t for you! She is for the Master of the City.” She turned to me “Child, you may call me Rachel.” The voice was kinder and older, and hushed me as new power clamped down on my vocal cords. How could I hope to escape, or fight, when these beings had all the power they needed to make me submit to them against my will?

  Colette, the vampire who had brought me up from the dungeon, huffed and stormed off to the far end of the room. She started brushing her hair, all the while watching me in the mirror. The older vampire led me to a large copper
bath in the middle of the room. It was big enough to hold four of me and was deep and steaming from the hot water under the fragrant bubbles. She took my hand and helped me into the bath, the water and lavender fragrance instantly beginning to unknot my aching muscles.

  I watched Rachel as she took away my dirty dress and laid out fresh clothes, presumably for me. The care they were taking with my appearance was confusing. Surely the master vampire I was meant to feed didn’t require his food in the Victorian dress that was laid out in front of me? The grey-haired vampire saw me watching her and smiled gently.

  “You are quite safe in here, no matter what Colette said to frighten you,” she sighed. She picked up a thick sea sponge from a cart next to the bath and set it on the water in my lap. “Wash up, the master awakes, and he will have need of you.”

  “The Venatores will come for me,” I said it softly, but she stiffened and turned back to face me.

  “You are no hunter.” She glanced at Colette over my head and I heard her tinkling laughter like shards of glass in my head. “Colette. Mind yourself. If she’s broken when he gets her, he’ll take it out on you.” She looked into my eyes. “No. You are no hunter. Are you a ward of the society, then?” My face heated and she nodded. “They may very well come for you, but you are not the first ward of the hunters to disappear. They simply make more to replace those they lose, don’t they?”

  I ground my teeth together to stop anything worse from escaping my lips. Colette appeared within my view and scooped the sponge up from the water before I could protest. She watched my face while she gently washed me and I stayed frozen, knowing that if I let her see my fear she’d only make it worse. The sponge and her fingers slid wet over my bare back and then she slipped her hand under the water in my lap. I finally hissed and pushed back, hard enough to slide right out of the tub, landing in a crouch on the floor.

  “Colette!” The older female spat the word out and Colette backed away, smirking. I stayed in a crouch, dripping on the floor as I backed away from both of them, looking for anything I could turn into a weapon. “Please child, let’s just get you dressed,” Rachel cajoled. Colette advanced, and I sprang at her. My attack surprised her and I landed a palm strike to her chest and a second to her face. She shrieked and lunged for me, but Rachel held her by the laces of her gown.

  “I will kill you, witch,” she hissed.

  “No, you won’t. Calm down, both of you.” Rachel scolded us like we were in a schoolyard fight. She shoved Colette back. “Stop teasing Caroline, she’s frightened.” She held out her hand and I took it, not because she invaded me, but because I wanted her to keep protecting me from Colette.

  “I just wanted to give her a kiss,” the tiny vampire pouted. My hits had connected as she’d barely blinked. I shuddered; I had never been given the slightest attention from the males in my life. Now I was forced to protect my honor from a vampire, just so her master could murder me for food!!

  I shuddered at the thought, but I was willing to die a thousand times as food rather than have Colette do what she suggested. Colette stalked toward me as if even thinking her name was a summons.

  “I can be a very generous lover, pet,” she spat at me as Rachel laced up the back of my low-cut dress. Rachel made a sound in her throat behind me and Colette stopped advancing.

  “Perhaps your time is better served getting yourself ready for the master’s awakening, Colette.” Rachel led me over to a vanity and I sat on the bench seat in front of the mirror. She took my long, thick hair and wound it in an intricate style that piled on top of my head and left my neck and cleavage bare.

  In the mirror, a very different me stared back from my reflection. Instead of looking younger; the up-style of my hair and plunging neckline of my bodice made me look older, more worldly and mature. I flushed at how much of me was visible and the pink spread quickly over my face and down to the ruffle that seemed the only thing preventing my breasts from escaping their bindings. A bell tolled in the distance and Rachel took my hand.

  “It is time for the master to awake. You and the others will be good offerings.” Others? My heart leapt at the thought that Becca and Mackenzie might still be alive. I let Rachel escort me down another long hall and clung to her for a moment when she stepped aside to let Colette take me through the door. “Don’t worry, little one. She can’t harm you. None of us can. You have been chosen for a most noble sacrifice.” Another bell toll sounded in the distance and Colette took my hand and pressed me against her side, her lips against my ear.

  “The master wakes, little witch.” She held my face in her supernaturally strong hand and kissed my mouth, her lips tasting of mint and something metallic. I didn’t fight her as she deepened the kiss. I concentrated all my strength, focus and will into my shield, until she yelped and jerked back. The force of my shield had driven her from me. White-faced, she glanced toward the room on the other side of the ornate door, hesitating. But the bell tolled a third time and the doors slowly opened in front of us.

  The sexual sadist, Colette, gingerly placed my hand over her arm and walked me into a huge ballroom with the golden trappings and domed ceiling. I looked up at a mural above the crystal chandeliers, a horrific scene of blood and slaughter. Colette led me to the far end of the room where a coffin stood next to a throne. My heart raced as I stared at the ornate stone in front of me, mesmerized by my terrible fantasies of what lay inside.

  Chapter 7

  A sound caught my attention. I whipped my head around and saw two other girls being led into the room by other vampires. I recognized Becca; not by any physical features but from the blank, glassy stare of the girl trailing behind her who could barely hold up her own head. “Mackenzie”, I thought to myself. She was a Renfield in truth and my heart ached for the pretty, vacant blonde and her frightened friend.

  They were dressed as I was, in dresses that bared enough neck; cleavage and arm to provide multiple places for a vampire to bite. Becca was tall and athletic, but Mackenzie was even shorter and tinier than me . It seemed that our master vampire didn’t have a specific type that interested him as food, but the vampires that took us had their own preferences. I watched the vampire that was leading Becca shoot possessive and territorial looks around the room as he walked her to her place and backed away to join Colette.

  I didn’t recognize any vampire power present as the one who took me. I tried to take in as much of the room as possible in the little glances I dared before the casket pulled my eyes back to it. The air in the huge room shifted and the fifty or so vampires that surrounded us stood at attention.

  A vampire stepped out onto the dais from behind the throne and my blood curdled. I hadn’t seen his face in the darkness when he took me, but the power that pressed against me like a physical weight was all too familiar. He was dressed like the others, in a cross between high Victorian fashion and an Anne Rice novel.

  His boots came above his knees. Tight leather pants that laced up the front were tucked into them. His shirt was blood red and flowing and though it also laced up, it was undone in a deep “V” that showed the stark whiteness of his chest, a white made purer from lack of blood. His long black hair was slicked back and tied in a ponytail at the nape of his neck; making it appear from the front; as though it was cut close to the head. His eyes were a blue so pale they looked like small crystals of ice in an otherwise marble face. Looking at him was more terrifying than staring at the coffin, so that was where I focused. I only glanced at him from time to time as he began some sort of ritual.

  He raised his hands and the crowd around us began chanting in unison. I took Becca’s hand and focused on my shield, pulling all my reserves and shoving them into that feeling in my head that I was beginning to recognize as my power.

  “All praise to the Master of the City; my brother Nicholas; who is risen from his decades of slumber to lead us once more!” Vittorio, the pale vampire raised his voice and the vampires chanted louder with him. My blood froze in my veins at the sound, and I
focused on not fainting from fear.

  Becca moaned in anguish and I glanced up to see her friend being led by the hand to the dais. He stood her over the closed casket and from it tugged a needle into view. She stared unseeing ahead of her, as her slammed the needle into her arm at the soft spot inside her elbow. I cringed and looked away as the room spun around me. I felt my hand being yanked and my shoulder almost dislocated as the vampire behind Becca moved forward to force her up to the other side of the casket.

  I took a step toward her, but Colette grabbed my arm and pulled me back against her, so close that I could feel her heart race. She was afraid and her fear was enough to make me obey her without fighting. The vampire leading Becca stared into her eyes and her next scream died on her lips as her face went slack and the intelligence disappeared from her eyes.

  A second needle was produced and both girls were drained, right in front of me. I dug my fingernails into my palms in disgust and shame. I’d been unable to save myself let alone the others kidnapped with me. They stayed standing long after I thought they would; swaying on their feet as the ruby liquid flowed from them into the casket.