by Lily Graison
As much as he wanted to protect her, he couldn’t guarantee her safety this time so, he’d let the decision be hers.
Long spans of time ticked by as she stared toward the entrance. Toren brushed her hair from her face and watched her. When she finally looked at him, she exhaled and said something, then pointed to the hoard beneath her.
“You want to stay here?”
She nodded. The thought made his stomach cramp. If he didn’t make it back—
Sarra kissed him before the grim thoughts changed his mind about going. They’d been here for days upon days and even though they had been blissful, Dra’lera was always on his mind. That’s where they needed to be. He should have already taken her. His own selfish desire to keep her where nothing could harm her was the only reason they were still here.
Toren threaded his fingers through her hair, kissed her hard, then pulled from her with a hiss. With another quick kiss, he fixed his pants and slid to the floor, crossing the cavern to their supplies. Stringing the water skins together when they left the first cave they bedded down in had been a good idea. It would make them easier to carry now. He threaded the thin strips of material back through all the holes near the rim of the skins and stood once they were all fastened together.
The skies looked clear today. He’d not seen any wyvern or the small orbs that chased him last time he’d been out. Sarra touched his hand and was smiling up at him when he turned to look at her. She said something, her smile brightening before tugging him down for another kiss.
“I will be back soon,” he said.
She nodded and let go of his hand. When he ran for the entrance and jumped into the sky, he heard her sharp intake of breath before he fell, shifting in mid-air.
For a split second, she forgot what he was. Seeing him jump into thin air was something she didn’t think she’d ever get used to.
Nor would she be able to calm whatever fear had been plaguing him.
Toren had been watching her for days—when he wasn’t screwing her boneless—and she knew without asking that there was something bothering him. He was acting odd.
She watched him from the cave entrance swoop down over the trees. The first time she’d seen that big blue dragon, she’d been scared out of her mind and thought it was stalking her. Now, knowing it had been Toren the entire time? She grinned. She’d been scared for nothing. With a giant dragon bodyguard, nothing would hurt her now. Nothing had.
Spaceships, aliens and shape-shifting men who turned into dragons. Less than two months and her entire life had turned into a science fiction novel.
Turning away she headed back to the pile of material she’d been painstakingly trying to make suitable clothes out of. The lack of needle and thread made it hard but braided belts, wrap around skirts and bandeau tops were better than too-big shirts worn as shabby shift dresses. She might not be fashion chic but she at least she felt like a girl now. The fact Toren noticed didn’t hurt either. His hungry gaze was on her more often than not, roaming over her body as if there wasn’t anything else he’d rather look at than her. That carnal look she always saw in his eyes did wonders for her self-esteem. So did all that naughty bed-play he treated her to multiple times a day. He made her feel—exquisite. Desired. She’d had boyfriends in the past but not one of them had made her feel the way Toren did.
Sara finished braiding the belt she was making, then sorted through the remaining bits of clothing, folding her handmade clothes and putting them to the side. She tidied everything else, tried scooping out the ashes from the fire pit, and ignored the voice in the back of her head that whispered if Toren ran into trouble, she was going to die up here.
She braced her hands on her knees, staring at the grey ash pit. “Please, let everything be all right.” The sky outside more blue today than pink with very few clouds. Maybe he’ll blend in and they won’t see him.
Her stomach started to cramp, the worse-case scenarios she could think of filling her head until she was up and pacing the cavern. Starving to death and dying up here would suck but surely it would be a better death than falling hundreds of feet to the ground. The impact would probably kill her instantly—she hoped—but what if it didn’t? What if she lingered in excruciating pain and died slowly? That reason alone was why she’d chosen to stay but it didn’t make the thoughts of her death up here anymore comforting.
She counted her steps as she made laps to keep her mind occupied and when that grew monotonous, she resorted to standing at the cave entrance, staring out across the mountain while scanning the skies. Thin tendrils of smoke climbed into the air a short distance away. Seeing it made her think of Marcy. Those worst-case scenarios she’d had at being captured by one of the other aliens played inside her head again when she thought of her. More gruesome what-ifs flashed in her mind’s eye when she thought of Emma. To have been so forlorn and filled with doom and gloom, that girl hadn’t been panicking. She’d looked as if she accepted it which made Sara wonder if she still lived. She hoped so. The thought of any of those girls dying made her ill, even though she knew a lot of them probably had.
She stood staring out at the world outside the lair until her legs grew tired and she started to worry that Toren had been gone too long. She’d gnawed the last of her fingernails off when she saw movement on the horizon, a small speck of something in the sky. Her pulse was racing by the time it grew large enough for her to realize it was getting closer. When she was able to make out the distinct shape of a dragon, she bit her lip, trying to see if it was blue or the black-gray of the wyvern. It seemed to take forever for it to get close enough. The moment she saw blue scales, she sighed in relief.
A sound similar to hissing air caught her attention as something flashed in her peripheral. Scanning the sky, she saw another flash of light. A ship similar to the one the Big Heads had brought them here in hovered not far from the mountain. It was moving slow, heading toward the barren wastes and Sara knew they were bringing more girls. How many were about to lose their life here this time?
She was watching the spaceship so hard she didn’t see the orbs until they were right in front of the cave entrance. She gasped when one came close enough she heard the mechanical whirr of moving parts inside of it. Three hovered near her face, another darting inside the cavern. Seeing them meant the ones who ran the prison and made the rules, knew she was here. It meant they knew Toren was here. How else would she have gotten this far up the mountain? Their hiding place had been discovered.
Sara ran to the back of the cavern but realized hiding was useless. They’d already seen her. Scanning the cave, she spotted the few remaining pieces of wood next to the fire pit and grabbed one, lifting it like a bat. Stalking over to where the orb was flying, she swung. It broke apart in a spray of tinkling glass.
The other three orbs circled high above her head, the buzzing like a faint hum of bees. They turned and darted and the fact she knew they were watching her, that possibly aliens across the galaxy were watching her, pissed her off. She hadn’t signed up for this reality freak show. If they wanted something to see, she’d give it to them.
She started swinging. The first of the three to get close enough crashed against the wall and shattered much like the first one she hit did. The other two were a bit more evasive and managed to dart away before she could connect with them. It made her wonder what controlled them. Was it some sort of artificial intelligence or were they controlled by someone somewhere else, like a handheld drone controller? Not that it mattered. They were still in her cave and she wanted them gone. “Okay, motherfuckers, you want a show? I’m about to give you one. Bring it.” When they flew toward her head, she screamed and swung.
Chapter Fifteen
Toren was nearly to the lair when he saw the sun glinting off something a few feet above the entrance. He banked left so the angle of the sun would shift and growled deep in his throat when he saw it was another of those weird structures that broke into pieces.
Lifting his wings, he climbed into th
e air, soaring across the sky. He was halfway there when he saw the smaller pieces start breaking away from the larger one and descending the mountain toward the entrance of the lair. He didn’t see Sara. Was she deeper inside the cave or had something taken her?
The thought no longer entered his mind when he saw her step closer to the entrance, something in her hand. One of the small pieces lowered and hovered right in front of her, a few more joining it a moment later before she twisted, whatever it was in her hand connecting with one of the shiny orbs. It exploded in a spray of glass. Several more of them broke away from the larger one to join those in front of Sarra. They were attacking his mate.
Fire filled his chest, his throat scorching as it tried to crawl free. He swept high to where the larger prism-shaped orb hovered and what looked like hundreds of the smaller ones broke off and came toward him. The moment he was close enough, he roared, the fire bursting from his mouth to burn them from the sky. The pieces charred black and fell in quick succession, the largest one, the hive that held the smaller sections shot into the sky before darting across the mountain.
Toren headed for the entrance and shifted as he reached the rock shelf at the edge of the lair and landed with a hard thump, his knees going out from under him as he dropped the teshen and the water skins. He stood quickly, his breath panted out as he looked at Sarra. Her eyes seemed too large for her face, the stench of fear seeping from her pores as she said his name and dropped the piece of wood she held. He grabbed her, ran his hands over her arms, then up to her head. “Are you hurt?”
She opened her mouth and babbled off a long string of words and shook her head, no. She kept talking and their lack of communication was enough for the dragon to scream to be let out again. As Sarra continued to talk, her words grew softer as she stepped closer and leaned her head against his chest. She was shaking.
A look around the cavern and he knew why. Several of those orbs lay in pieces around the lair. How long had she battled these things? He clenched his jaw in frustration. It didn’t matter how long they’d been here. The ones who controlled this world knew they were here now. The lair was no longer safe. They couldn’t stay.
Kissing Sarra on the top of the head, he headed to the baskets and shoved everything into the largest one. Sarra was speaking again, the scent of her fear not as strong as it had been. “We cannot stay here.” Her shoulders dropped.
He looked out the entrance. He didn’t see any more of the orbs but he knew it was only a matter of time before they came back. Or the wyvern did. Thinking of them made his chest burn, his muscles tense. He looked to the crevice that led to the pool. They could go deeper. The floor around the pool was uncomfortable but they’d be safe there. He ran his hand through his hair. That would be foolish. Although there were trails all through the mountain, it would take time to climb down. They’d have little to no food and he’d not risk Sarra’s life like that.
A small buzzing noise caught his attention moments before he saw one of those smaller pieces not far from the entrance. More joined in a moment later, the reflective surfaces catching the sun and shooting a rainbow of color against the cave walls. A dozen now hovered outside and at Sarra’s sharp intake of breath, he joined her at the entrance. Hundreds of them filled the sky above the entrance, two of the larger pieces hovering above the mountain. How long before the wyvern arrived?
Grabbing Sarra he held her chin and turned her head so she’d look at him. “We cannot stay here.” She looked back out the entrance and nodded. The teshen and water, their basket of supplies—he couldn’t carry it all. Leaving it would mean starting over but if Sarra were not safe, those things would be of little use.
“Let’s go.” Tightening his grip, he lifted her off the ground, hurried to the entrance and tossed her out of the lair.
Had she known Toren was about to throw her out of the lair, she would have dug her heels in and tried to claw his eyes out. Instead, she was screaming, the sense of deja vu strong as she tumbled in the air, especially when she saw Toren jump from the ledge, that big blue dragon bursting from his skin and chasing after her. When he was close enough to touch, she reached for him, grabbing hold of his outstretched foot as he enfolded her behind his taloned toes. The moment she was secure, she clung to him and screamed, “Don’t you ever do that again!”
She made the mistake of looking down. The world below flew by in a blur of fast moving shapes and closing her eyes made her head spin a bit. She had no idea where they were going, nor did she miss the fact Toren left all their things behind. They had nothing now but the clothes they wore. Well, what she wore. Toren would be back to walking around naked. Normally not a problem but being alone with him naked and running from others with him naked were two very different things.
More of those strange prism-shaped orbs flew back into her line of sight. They hovered close and darted around Toren’s head, then lowered. He pulled her close to his chest, his head rearing back before he belched out a blast of dragon fire. The cameras sizzled and popped, charred black before dropping from the sky. Long minutes later she felt them descending. She stretched and tried to peek over his foot. The orbs were gone and the jungle she’d run into with Marcy came into view. Toren swooped low over the trees. All it would take would be an outstretched hand to brush the green leaves and vines crawling here.
She saw the crumbling remains of some sort of ruins in the distance. Her heart leaped. Was this where she and Marcy had been? Was he taking her back there? When the cliff she fell from came into view she screamed, “Marcy!” knowing full well her friend wouldn’t hear her. No one stood on the cliff and if Toren was taking her back to the ruins, she hoped Marcy had gone back, too.
Toren landed a few feet from the temple ruins and set her on the ground. The moment her feet touched, she was running toward the crumbling walls. Before she reached it, Toren shifted and grabbed her, one strong arm banned around her waist, and swung her around to face him. “Let me make sure nothing is here.”
Oh, right. Anything could be in there. She nodded her head and looked around the empty chamber beyond the crumbling wall. Toren cocked his head as if listening and stepped over a fallen section. After a few moments, he turned back to face her. “I hear nothing. It is safe.”
Sara began calling out Marcy’s name but she never answered. Her shoulders sagged, Toren’s hand running over the back of her head. “She’s not here.”
“Why do you look so sad, my Sarra? What is it you search for?”
How did she explain? Thinking for a few moments, she finally pointed to herself, then pointed to a spot beside her, stepped over, pointed back to herself, then the spot beside her before stepping back to where she’d originally been.
His brows lowered as if he was thinking. She did it again and held up two fingers and pointed to herself.
“There are two of you?”
She nodded. “Yes, me and another.” She pointed to her hair, the length of it falling just to her shoulders. Then to the spot beside her before tugging on her hair while making a gesture of it going down her back. She looked around her and after a few moments, picked up a bit of the dirt on the floor and held it next to her hair. “Brown.” She pointed to herself. Tossing the dirt, she picked up a piece of the wall, the red clay brick not exactly the same shade as Marcy’s hair but close. She pointed to the spot beside her, then to her hair and the broken shard of rock.
He studied her and the brick and when he looked at her and smiled, her breath caught.
“The other female?”
“Yes!” She laughed and flung her arms around his neck. “Marcy. Her name is Marcy. She was on the cliff when I fell.”
He looked around the ruins, then wrapped his arms around her. “I did not see her after you left the ruins and ran from the others. Once I saw you fall—“ He sighed. “I am sorry, Sarra. I do not know what became of her.”
She lowered her arms and stared out into the jungle. Marcy was gone and finding her would be next to impossible.
Toren crossed to the fountain that still trickled water but he bypassed it and headed to the entrance of the underground chamber she’d wanted to explore when she and Marcy were there. It was still dark and when Toren disappeared inside the doorway, she started after him, looking back toward the jungle beyond the crumbling walls as she crossed the space. She didn’t see any of those orbs flying which meant they were probably safe for now.
Sara stepped inside the cool, dark interior on the other side of the doorway. Toren’s voice startled her when he said, “Stay there. Do not move or you’ll fall from the ledge.” When she nodded at him, letting him know she understood, he turned, the sound of him shuffling down stone steps the only thing she heard. Long minutes later, something that sounded like rusty metal echoed, then faint light lit the chamber. She sucked in a breath.
This chamber was deep, much deeper than she would have imagined. Toren stood by a large disk, tilting it as the room flooded with sunlight that bounced off others she could see scattered around the room. Taking a step closer to the edge of the stairwell, Sara peered down into the silver-flecked light below. The chamber was enormous. Toren jogged back up the stairs and took her hand before leading her down.
“This is where I was when I first saw you.”
He was here. “I knew it!”
“You dropped a rock on my head.” He looked back at her and smiled. “It took me a few minutes to realize what woke me and as I was staring at that rock in front of my nose, I heard your heartbeat.” He stopped to look at her and grinned. “My first thought was to eat you.”
She laughed. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t.”
“I caught your scent a few moments later.” He leaned in, nuzzling the side of her neck. “It wasn’t as strong, but that musk between your legs was enough to make me raise my head.” He playfully bit her neck and continued down the steps. “I was able to see you out the doorway, walking back and forth and it took me a moment to realize what I was seeing.” They reached the bottom of the steps and Sara gaped. The floor was covered in coins and glittering rocks she assumed were more jewels. The space was certainly big enough for a dragon, the ceiling soaring high above. What had this place been used for? He’d called it a temple in an earlier conversation. The dragon statue they’d seen in the upper chamber made her wonder if they worshiped dragons. If they ever found Toren a translator, she’d ask.