Hidden Dragon

by Harmony Raines

  “I’m not afraid of the dark.” She looked down into the hole and shivered. “Or whatever else might be down there.” The place had been sealed up for hundreds of years. For all they knew, there were other sleeping shifters down there. Or other sinister things. She’d watched enough horror movies to know nothing good ever came out of dark places.

  Except for our mate, her bear reminded her.

  Okay, you have a point. Fleur nodded. “I’m ready to go.”

  Chapter Fifteen – Doran

  His treasure sang to him like the sweetest music. It called to him, the call becoming stronger the closer he got, filling his head, pushing out all other thoughts.

  Until Fleur touched him on the shoulder. “I’m ready to go.”

  He turned to face her, his eyes unfocused at first, but when they cleared, her beautiful face, tinged with worry, smiled at him reassuringly. “I’ll go down first. Can you lower yourself down?”

  She nodded as she stared down into the hole once more. “Yes. I can get down. It’s getting back up that worries me.”

  “I can get us back out,” he assured her. Then he took a long draw of breath before hunkering down as he searched for a handhold that wouldn’t give way under his weight. “This looks like a solid piece of ground.”

  “Okay.” Fleur crouched down next to him. “Be careful. I’ve only just found you. I don’t want you to knock yourself out and sleep for another few hundred years.”

  He grinned up at her. “I could not sleep with you so near. You stir my blood.”

  And other things, his dragon added.

  True, she stirred parts of him that had been dormant longer than his dragon beneath the earth. He wanted her. Perhaps more than he wanted his treasure.

  His dragon did not argue. We should go, we’re losing what little light there is.

  His dragon did not trust the flashlight Doran held in his hand. There was plenty his dragon did not trust in this new world. But he did trust his mate and she was close behind as he jumped down into the cavernous room which held his treasure.

  Doran’s feet sank into a pile of gold coins, which softened his landing. He immediately thrust his hands into the gold and jewels, the touch of his treasure against his skin reassuringly familiar. His large hoard was the only thing left of his old world and he took a moment to revel in this before Fleur joined him and he stood up.

  “Hey, don’t shine the flashlight in people’s eyes.” She batted the beam of light away and it illuminated his treasure instead. “Wow!”

  “Impressive, isn’t it?” Doran swelled with pride as his eyes scanned the room.

  “Do you remember any of it?” Fleur asked as she stepped away from him, the gold spilling around her feet making sweet music as it tinkled like a thousand small bells.

  “Yes.” He nodded as he looked around for the one piece of jewelry he wanted to find. “There are many pieces here that I recall.”

  She plunged her hands into the treasure and picked up a golden box, intricately carved with elephants. “This?”

  He nodded. “I won that from an Egyptian trader.”

  “Won it? Are you a gambling man?” Fleur asked.

  “Not anymore.” He gave her a secretive grin. “Not since the same Egyptian trader won one of my favorite opals and gave it to his fifth wife.”

  “Ahh, so you stopped gambling because you lost one of your babies,” Fleur spoke in a silly voice and Doran laughed, intoxicated by the nearness of both his treasure and his mate.

  If we could live a thousand years right here with our mate, we would be happy, his dragon said. Our two most precious things by our side.

  But Fleur is not an object and she needs her family, Doran told his dragon. We might be happy, but she would not.

  “What about this?” Fleur had rummaged further and now held up a ruby and emerald necklace. The stones were large, and it was possibly the most valuable piece in the whole of his hoard.

  “That was given to me by a king who was grateful when a fire-breathing dragon saved his army from slaughter.” He waded through his treasure to join her. “And I did so without shedding any blood as the other army cowered at my awesomeness.”

  She laughed, her voice high and melodic mixing with the tinkling gold. “And this?”

  Doran’s expression darkened. “I have no memory of that.” He took a step closer, his eyes laser-focused on the wooden box in his mate’s hand. It didn’t belong here.

  It’s not ours. His dragon’s voice was etched with fear as he stared at the box.

  “Is this the only piece you don’t recognize?” Fleur asked, taking a closer look at the box. “It doesn’t look as valuable as the rest of your treasure, but it does have intricate markings carved into the wood.”

  “Fleur, you should put it down.” Doran’s breath caught in his throat as the flashlight illuminated the carvings. The box might not look familiar, but the runes carved into the dark wood did.

  “Maybe it’s what’s inside that’s valuable.” She slid her thumb under the clasp and lifted the lid.

  Doran sprang forward, his hands closing around hers as he shielded her with his body. “Close your eyes.”

  “Doran!” Fleur called out as he yanked the box away from her.

  As the room filled with an eerie light, Doran took the full force of the spell cast hundreds of years ago. The light hit him in the solar plexus, robbing him of his breath as it filled him, entwining with his inner organs, binding with his veins.

  Doran dropped to his knees, unable to breathe as the spell took hold.

  “Doran.” Fleur was by his side, on her knees as she scrambled through the cold and jewels. “Doran. What happened?” Her arms wrapped around him and she held him tight as if she never wanted to let him go.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but no words formed in his mouth as the shock hit him and he trembled like a startled fawn in the forest. He’d remembered the box. Remembered its contents.

  “Doran? What have I done?” Fleur sobbed as she placed her hand on his forehead, feeling for a fever. “Please don’t go back to sleep.”

  He lifted his hand and placed it on hers, pulling it down so he clasped it against his chest. “I’m not going to sleep.”

  Yet a part of him was asleep. The other part of him. The dragon who had awoken at the nearness of their mate and brought the ceiling down on them so he could reach her? He was gone.

  “What happened?” Fleur loosened her grip on him as he stirred, flexing his arms and legs as he tried to think clearly.

  “The box contained a spell. The spell we were supposed to use. It wasn’t supposed to be Ancient Slumber. We were supposed to bind my dragon until the threat of the dragon slayer had passed.” He rubbed his dirty hands over his face, leaving his skin smeared with grime.

  “What kind of spell?” Fleur asked warily.

  “A binding spell.” Doran sat up, but his balance was off. He inhaled deeply before letting it go. They had to get up and get out of here. He needed time to think. He needed to find someone who knew how to break the spell. “We were supposed to use the binding spell and then I would drink an antidote.” He yanked the box open wide, but it was empty, no vial containing the antidote. And even if there was, would it still work after so long?

  “A binding spell.” She gasped. “Your dragon?”

  “He is sleeping.” Doran wanted to tear his flesh from his bones and find where his dragon slept inside him. He wanted to rip the world to shreds until he found whoever cast this spell and make them reverse it. But more than anything he wanted to shift into his dragon and fly away with his mate on his back to a place where they would both be safe. Away from the threat of men who did not understand them.

  How could it be that after six centuries or more, the dragon slayer had won?

  “Sleeping. This isn’t the same spell as Ancient Slumber, is it? You are awake, but your dragon isn’t.” She put her hand under his arm and helped him to his feet. Once more he was the weak one and she was st
rong. So very strong, and he needed her strength to help him through this.

  “No, this is different.” He nodded as he scrambled to his feet and stumbled forward. The flashlight had dropped from his hand and he leaned down to pick it up, his legs not his own as he staggered forward. “My dragon is bound. I can no longer shift.”

  “How long does it last?” Fleur asked as she reached for the flashlight and curled her fingers around it.

  Eternity. He shook his head. His dragon was still there. Deep within the recesses of his mind, his dragon spoke to him. Doran reached out for him, but he was too far away. “Until I take an antidote. There was one prepared. But I don’t see it.”

  Fleur shone the flashlight around the room. “We need to get out of here. I’ll ask Fiona and her family to deal with your treasure and make sure it’s safe. Maybe they can sift through it and see if the antidote is here. If not, they might know someone who can break the spell.”

  “Another dragon touching my treasure.” Doran’s lip curled at the thought. His dragon might not be free, but the treasure was still a part of them.

  “Better than a thief coming down here and talking it.” She hauled him toward the hole in the ceiling.

  “I can walk.” He pulled away from her, his legs nearly buckling beneath him, but he summoned all of his strength and straightened his back. “I’m okay.”

  “We’ll get through this together.” Her face, white in the beam shining from the flashlight, showed her fear.

  Pushing aside his own terror, which threatened to spiral out of control, he forced himself to speak calmly. “I know we will.”

  An image of his brother came to him. A snippet of conversation. Edric had been there. He’d insisted on helping Doran cast the spell. So how had Ancient Slumber been cast instead?

  They were betrayed! Anger surged in Doran.

  “Doran. Look at me. We need to go. We should get you to a doctor.” Fleur tugged at his sleeve.

  He shook his head. “No doctor can help me.”

  “You don’t know that.” The hope in her eyes broke his heart.

  “I do. These spells are powerful.” He took a couple of steps forward, feeling better now. “But you are right, we should go. And I would be grateful if the other dragons would safeguard my treasure. And search for the antidote.”

  He turned around to take one last look at it. One last look at the place he had rested for so long. The place he’d lost his old life and now his dragon.

  As Fleur shone the flashlight over the gold and jewels, something caught his eye. He left Fleur and waded back into his hoard. There it was, the ring he and his dragon had picked out for their mate.

  As he retrieved it from the pile of gold and pushed it into the pocket of his jacket, he wondered if his mate would accept him as her mate now that he was bound and, in some ways, broken.

  He knew the answer; it was there when he locked eyes with her.

  But she deserved so much more. She deserved the world.

  “It’ll be all right, Doran.” She coaxed him forward and together they climbed out of the hole, once more leaving his treasure behind.

  But this time as they retraced their steps back to the car, he wasn’t sure things would ever be all right again.

  Chapter Sixteen – Fleur

  “He’s in shock.” Kit spoke quietly to Fleur and her mom in the kitchen. “He refuses to take a sedative. He doesn’t want to be poked with a needle.” A small smile spread across the doctor’s face. “He’s a strong man and that will see him through this.”

  “See him through this?” Fleur asked hotly before calming herself. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It’s completely understandable. You’ve both had a shock.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “I wish there was more I could do.”

  “But there isn’t?” Fleur asked. “What about a CT scan?”

  “Fleur, this isn’t a medical condition.” Kit pressed his lips together before looking over his shoulder toward the sitting room where Doran sat in front of a log fire with a glass of whiskey in his hand. “This is beyond modern medicine.”

  “It really was a spell? Like a magic spell.” Fleur was having trouble getting her head around magic. Which was ridiculous since she knew Doran had been put under an Ancient Slumber spell for hundreds of years.

  “I know it’s hard, Fleur,” Tansy said. “But we will find a way to get through this.”

  “What if we can’t?” Fleur asked. “What if there is no one left alive who can lift the spell?”

  “Hey, I’ve just heard.” Jax appeared in the doorway, his face pale as he glanced at the dejected figure of Doran staring into the fire. “I’ve asked Fiona and Harlan to find out what they can. They have connections who might be able to help.”

  “Really?” Fleur asked, shaking off her melancholy mood.

  “Yes. Although they can’t promise they’ll find anything of help.” Jax hugged Fleur. He smelled of engine oil and leather, a combination that she always found comforting. “Harlan is also arranging to move Doran’s treasure. He will store everything until Doran knows what his plans are.”

  “That’s so kind of them.” Fleur blew the air out of her cheeks as she fought back tears of frustration mingled with tears of gratitude.

  “They’re good people.” Kit moved toward the door. “I should get going. Call me if there is any change in Doran. But as far as I can tell he’s perfectly healthy.”

  “Thank you, Kit.” Fleur leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “It was good of you to come out and see Doran.”

  “Anything for a dragon shifter.” Kit winked at Fleur. “Take care of yourself, Fleur. And remember none of this is your fault.”

  “I opened the box.” She wished she could turn back time. Wished she’d never picked the wooden box out of the treasure pile.

  It’s done and you cannot go back, her bear told her.

  “I’ll make some fresh coffee.” Tansy hugged her daughter and then walked Kit to the front door before going to the kitchen.

  “It’s not your fault,” Jax told her firmly. “And we will find a way to break the binding spell.”

  “Will we?” Fleur raised her eyebrows in question. “There’s no way to break the bond between shifter mates. So why should this bond be any different?”

  “Because it’s not real. A bond between mates is not cast, it’s not made, it just is.” Jax pulled his sister into his arms. “Don’t ever give up. Not when it’s something so important.”

  He let her go and she sighed before heading into the sitting room to her broody dragon shifter. “Hey.”

  “Fleur.” His expression brightened and he reached for her hand.

  “How are you feeling?” Fleur held onto his hand as she slid onto the sofa next to him.

  “A little better.” He raised his empty glass. “This helped.”

  “I’m sorry.” She gnawed at her bottom lip as she fought back tears.

  “It’s not your fault. You shouldn’t blame yourself.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m still not sure why the box was there.”

  “Do you have more of your memories back?” she asked as she snuggled up close to him.

  “Yes, I think they are all back. I remember Edric. I remember the last conversation I had with him.” He looked down at the empty glass in his hand. “Can we talk about it tomorrow?”

  “Sure. My mom is making coffee, but I think caffeine is the last thing you need.” She stood up and pulled him to his feet. “We should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

  He stood up, his stance firm. Doran was getting used to not having his dragon as part of him. And that broke her heart. She didn’t want him to become used to it. She wanted to fight and scream and drag his dragon back to him and make them whole again.

  “I don’t know if I can sleep.” He tapped his head. “It’s too quiet in here.”

  “Can’t you hear him at all?” Fleur asked.

  “Only whispers, snatches of sentenc
es. Not enough to make any sense out of it.” His hand dropped to his side. “Maybe if I could hear him, I would know what he is trying to say. Perhaps he knows how to put us back together.”

  “Sleep might be the answer. When your mind is quiet, then you might be able to hear.” She tilted her head toward the door. “Come on.”

  They left the sitting room and went upstairs. “Goodnight,” Fleur called when they were halfway up.

  “Night,” Tansy and Jax chorused. Her dad was still at work and Fleur was grateful that Jax was here to keep their mom company. She’d taken the news about Doran and his bound dragon badly. In her usual protective momma bear way, she’d tried to come up with any way to help him, to make it better for her daughter and her mate.

  “I have been thinking.” Doran sat down heavily on the bed, his eyes slightly out of focus.

  “Have you? Well, any thoughts you have while under the influence of whiskey don’t necessarily count.” She put her hands on her hip as she watched him unbutton his shirt and shrug it off his shoulders.

  “I have been thinking that you are right. I should use some of my treasure to buy Woodacre.” He put his face in his hands for a moment before taking a deep, shuddering breath. “After all, what is the use of dragon treasure when I do not have a dragon?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I also think this is not the kind of decision you should make when you have no dragon to balance the argument.” She let her hands drop to her sides and went to sit on the bed next to Doran. Taking his hand, she turned it over, so the palm faced up and then she traced her finger around and around in a small circle. “We will get him back.”

  “How? All the people who knew about the spells are gone.” He stared at her finger as it traced an eternal circle around his palm.

  “There must be someone who knows what to do to break the spell. Traditions are passed down through the generations. This spell is too powerful to have simply been forgotten.” She stopped circling her finger. “We have to fight to make you whole.”

  “And if it proves impossible?” Doran stroked her cheek with his fingers and turned her to face him. “What then? What if this is who I am now?”