This time, the two men said nothing. All they did was wear an expectant look upon their faces. Tris could read that expression easily enough. They were simply waiting for her to accept it or to flatly ignore it.
“And what… you’ve survived all this time by sleeping in a coffin and drinking blood, I bet?”
Jon shook his head disgustedly. “What? Ewww! No!”
“I hate it when people think that’s the only way to live forever,” Jake added.
“That’s the other thing I need to tell you about,” Jon said.
Tris felt her legs tremble. “There’s more?”
Jon blew out a sharp breath. “Well, you saw us… our other halves, I mean. We can explain that a little. What do you know about mythology? Specifically what do you know about monsters… beasts… half-breeds… that kind of thing?”
She didn’t say anything.
“Well,” Jon went on, “not everything that you might have heard is untrue. There are… things… in the world that are real. Luke is one of them… and now you know that we are too.”
Tris took a cautious step backwards. The notion of hurling herself over the balcony might yet be a viable option if she did it just before the madness took hold of her. But curiosity stemmed her desire for a quick death. She wanted to hear what the nearly naked men had to say. She wanted to know how far gone she was so that she might know what kind of insanity she was in for.
“Luke himself never really knew what he was called. If his people ever had a name then it never made it into the history books… or the mythology books, come to that. He just always called himself a Scale.”
“A Scale?” Tris asked incredulously. “Somehow I don’t think that has anything to do with measuring weight. Does it?”
“No… it’s hard to explain. He was born that way. But he was able to share the gift with us.”
“I wouldn’t call turning into a… Scale… a gift.”
Jacob shrugged. “A hundred years ago nobody thought being turned into a werewolf or a vampire would be a gift either. But today, thanks to popular culture, people would be lining up around the corners to get their shot at immortality because they think it’s cool.”
“And if you’ll let us,” Jon said, “we can show you that you’re not in any danger.”
Chapter 5
It took some small amount of coaxing, but the two finally managed to convince her to sit upon the bed. Her legs felt as if they were about to fail her so she had accepted. And faced by the two men, she waited for them to explain themselves on why she was being kept as she was and for benediction that she was not in any danger. She welcomed it. She didn’t feel the urge to vomit, fight, or scream. She simply felt… drained. If there was anything left inside of her of her old self, it was too weak to care what happened to her next.
Her eyes fell to a glint of metal in Jon’s hand. The small flask he had brought in was clutched in his fingers. “Drink this. It’ll help and it’ll make you feel better.”
She looked at the flask warily. “Will it help me forget?”
Jon shook his head. “No. But it will help you calm down.”
Without hesitation and a desire to blunt whatever it was that was happening to her mind she took the flask and put it to her lips. She turned it upright and took a mouthful of whatever it was that inside.
She almost gagged as the kick it provided was nothing that she was expecting. It wasn’t alcohol that she had swallowed, she was positive of that. It was something more putrid, like a cross between foul tasting cough syrup and motor oil. How it could help her she was unsure, but it was something else definitely other than a stiff drink.
But it did have an effect. And it took hold of her almost immediately.
Her mind flooded with images. Images that somehow she knew were memories… but not her own. It was like standing on a cloud during a tornado and being able to stare down into the funnel before the winds eventually sucked her in. Image after image beat her, swooshing by at speeds she could not comprehend.
She tried to hang on to them as they passed her by.
She saw men… ancient men, dressed in chainmail or full armor plates, almost as if she were watching them through one of the nausea-making face cams from a reality TV show. The image seemed to swirl and wobble uncontrollably as she tried to hold the armored figures in her eyes. In her heart, she felt a sense of uncontrollable fear… fear of those men. Many of the pursuing figures were on horseback while others were on foot, waving medieval weapons around menacingly as they gave chase.
The images seemed to shift. She saw more men, droves of them as they chased down creatures identical to the ones she’d seen standing in the courtyard through thickets and swamps, forests, and even in towns or villages. The animals were overturned and slaughtered by spears and swords.
The images changed. She saw the same creatures, living inside hollow spaces of rock and damp caves. Several of them were larger specimens while the others were considerably smaller. They were huddled together, like newly born kittens around a sleeping mother. Light suddenly poured into the cave, stirring each of the creatures. Their – her – eyes seemed to turn upward just as something thick and smelling of oil came pouring in, covering the creatures. And a torch came in after it, igniting the pitch and the animals within screaming in their own language for… mercy.
She felt a sudden heat in her heart that had nothing to do with fire set before her eyes. It was the kind of emotion she would expect to see at seeing something – anything – being slaughtered. It was outrage.
A new scene was set before her eyes. This one was of a woman, dressed in an elegant blue gown. She stood face to face with one the animals. It stood upright on its hind legs, its body scarred with wounds that looked inflicted from arrows or wire traps. The woman was clearly not frightened… in fact, she seemed almost… saddened at the sight of the poor creature. She took hold of the creature as if she were embracing a giant teddy bear, weeping into its soft belly.
“I’ll not let them slay you… I’ll not! I couldn’t bear the thought of your death!” She stepped back away from the creature and tears rolled freely down her cheeks. “You’re the last of your kind… I swear on the graves of those that came before me, I shall protect you!”
The woman began to weave her hands in circular motions and she began to mutter in some language that Tris could not understand. Her eyes could not leave the sight as small flickers of blue flame began to dance in the air, fluttering upon the air as gently as butterflies. The small wisps of fire began to circle the creature, which stood firmly upon its ground, not moving, unafraid of what was happening to the air around it.
Tris felt her eyes widen at the sight. The monster… the creature… the animal… it understood her words. It somehow knew what she was doing and accepted it. It trusted her to do what she was doing. That was not the mark of an animal… or a monster. It was intelligent… and more than that, she could somehow feel the creature’s fear of the alternative and knew that this path was the better one.
Slowly, the beasts’ stubby arms grew into humanlike arms and legs. Its tail retracted into its body, its head and torso became that of a man’s. Its beardlike appendages extended into a black and bushy beard, its head spikes extended into a long and thick mane of hair. The glassy look of its skin became pale and human, and with the last rays of the setting sun that she had not noticed, she saw fractal patterns on this new man’s skin. Patterns that Tris knew she had seen before… and recently.
The strange form of the creature was gone. In its place stood a man, naked and shivering, but a man. And from the look of him, she saw features that were familiar. The man looked almost like…
The image imploded.
Tris jolted and opened her eyes, her fingers still clutched around the tiny metal flask and Jacob and Jon were still standing just where they had been when first she’d taken the proffered container.
Tris found that she felt calm. Panic had gone from her mind as had fear of insanity.
Somehow, she understood what had happened here. She wasn’t sure how, but she did. She was able to comprehend… well, everything… that had had happened. It wasn’t just the story of Luke… it was the story of his ancestors. His words, and that of his son’s… hell everything that they’d said before, she understood it all now.
“My god,” she whispered, lowering the flask from her lips. “How long was I out?”
“You weren’t,” Jacob said, taking the flask back and capping it. “It happens instantaneously. The rapid progression of the memories makes it easier for you to understand.” He smirked, “We told you there was a way to help you understand. Though I must apologize, it was a little unpleasant to witness, wasn’t it?”
Tris rolled it all around in her mind, trying to make sense of it. “So… dragons then?” she asked, looking over to the two men in her room. Interestingly enough, she was no longer afraid of either of them. She knew that it wasn’t in their nature to hurt her… or anyone.
As if the question were benediction enough, both men smiled at her.
“Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to call us ‘Dragons’. Dragons by all accounts and from every culture in the world that had such stories, breathe fire or fly… we can’t do either of those. And neither could any of our ancestors. If I had to guess I would say we were a cousin to the dragons,” Jacob said.
“And… the woman?” she asked curiously, though she knew that the two brothers would know whom she was speaking of.
“Luke’s great-great-great-something grandmother,” Jon replied. “People of the world tend to think that magic is something from ancient stories. I used to think so too. Back then, in the ancient days, it was a rule and not simply a flight of fancy like we think of it today. It’s become something for children to believe in, something that people grow out of as they mature. We’re happy to keep it that way. It keeps us from having to endure the same fears and fates as those that you witnessed.”
She thought it out and rose up to stand before the semi-naked men. “So… those things that I saw? The chases… the fire in the cave…?”
“Memories,” Jon confirmed. “Or at least, I assume that’s what they are, as seen through the eyes of those who survived them. That last was a bit wasn’t a memory exactly. It was a part of the original magic and it has endured through the generations so that we would never forget where we came from or why it’s so important that we hide as we do.”
Tris was able to put the rest of the mystery together for herself. “So… Luke… since he was able to look human he amassed enough wealth to buy this island where he and all of you could hide from the rest of the world. That much I get… but… the cleaning staff… the guards?”
“They all know what we are. That’s why you don’t see any armed guards here after you screamed today. Some of them might someday want us to share our gift with them if they ask for it. Some of them stay human, however. Their ancestors also served our father. They’ve formed their own family of sorts. They’re our protectors… our guardians… much like the sorceress in the vision was. And here, on this island, we’re safe.”
It felt as if her hold on reality had been reaffirmed and anchored by unbreakable chains, though she had no measureable means of explaining how they’d gotten there. For a few heartbeats it felt as if she could have laughed at herself for thinking that there was no such thing as monsters. In a way, monsters had always been here. It was simply that no one else had had the ability to see it.
“So…” she asked, looking at the two men. “You can become one… and then what? You can live forever?”
“Well, not forever,” Jacob admitted. “From what we’ve learned the species is hardy… but even Luke won’t live forever. Luke and Simone simply age slowly, very slowly. Jon and I… well, we’ll age pretty slowly too, but our blood is kind of watered down since we were once human, so we won’t live as long. But Luke told us that his mother and father lived to be nearly eight hundred before they passed on.”
“But… the government?” Tris said, sensing a weak spot in this grand plan of seclusion. “Eventually they’ll see that you’re still alive and they’ll wonder how…?”
“To the government, all we are is names on a check that pays taxes every year,” Jon explained. “Money buys privacy. And as the years go on… well… maybe we’ll damage our sense of honesty a little and pretend to be my our owns sons… or grandsons… whatever it takes to ensure that we’re safe here. Nobody much cares to check in on us as long as we pay the taxes.”
She felt awed. There were no words to describe how her life had changed in the last twenty-four hours. Sea Snags… lost at sea… washed ashore on a rich man’s island… finding that he had two sons that were more than a little appealing to behold… and that they were some kind of dragon people living on an island that was reserved strictly for their own paradise.
More than simple understanding overcame Tris once she realized the power of the secrecy that she had now been entrusted with. It wasn’t cruelty that Luke had been intent on inflicting upon her, it was mercy and kindness. And his sons had come here to reinforce that point.
Then something else overcame her.
Disregarding the fact that these two men were brothers, in bond if not by blood, she took full measure of the fact that Jon and Jacob were standing in her room very near to being naked. And her bed was a mere two feet away.
She understood what it was that was coming over her, though she wasn’t sure why it had chosen now. Buts he knew it for what it was: lust.
Jon was the nearer of the two. She reached out and kissed him.
Chapter 6
When she pulled away she felt her eyes lightly flutter and she saw that there was a pleased look on his face. Her eyes turned towards Jacob, who stood close at hand as well, a smile on his face.
“Uh...” Tris said, feeling her embarrassment rise a little.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jacob said with a small chuckle. “It’s not your fault,” he added as he turned and closed the bedroom door, sealing the three of them in the room. He turned back to face them and untied the simple knot that held his towel at his waist. “It’s a side-effect of the drink. Part of its purpose is to help you understand survival. And every species survives through… well… reproduction. And in a human… it’s pretty potent.” He dropped his towel down to his ankles, along with the flask. Tris was delighted to see that his cock was already hard and ready. “That’s the third thing we came up here to help you with.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. We? She looked to Jon and a pleased smile washed over his face as well.
Tris could not remove her eyes from the figure of the man before her. She had imagined having a man so handsomely built several times before. But that she would get to have two such perfect specimens at the same time? Her wildest imaginings had never conjured such a possibility before.
Jon, his hands lightly drifting downward, undid his towel as well. It slipped from off his body, revealing that he too was hard and ready. Even from here she could taste his breath. She almost laughed, expecting that his lungs would be expelling foul-smelling reptilian breath… but there was nothing of the kind there. All that did exist was something sweet.
Something that she badly wanted to taste.
“It was my turn last time, brother,” Jacob said, coming closer to the pair of them. “Why don’t you take over on this one?”
“Gladly,” Jon said with a wink to her.
Tris could not take her eyes away from the sight of so much flesh on the gorgeous man. Any lingering fear that she might have had for the creatures contained in both men seemed to evaporate like ice on a hot plate, and all she felt in its stead was a pulsing excitement in her heart.
But her thoughts were lost when Jon leaned in and began to lightly peck at her neck with kisses. Her eyes fluttered again, like a lightbulb struggling to maintain power, as she watched Jacob step closer towards them, watching his brother work with delight.
Tris was no virgin
. There had been times in her life when she’d met men who had been more than willing to satisfy her sexually. Once or twice she had done things that she had considered to be wild and well out of character for her. Once before had been in the back of a lover’s pickup truck. Another time had been in an elevator. But something such as this had never even entered her list of wild dreams. She’d especially not done anything such as this under these circumstances or much less with people of this nature.
Jacob rounded her, his fingers lightly tracing across the back of her neck as he stepped behind her as Jon continued to kiss and gently lick at the underside of her neck. Tris felt her legs tremble as Jacob’s lips began to gently caress her shoulders where her dress did not cover her. Ten minutes ago she would have feared for her life, knowing that two unnatural creatures were easily within biting range of her jugular vein. Yet somehow, that fear was gone. Trust that she couldn’t explain was held in its place.
They were no threat to her, she knew. If anything, it was more the other way around. Tris carried a massive secret now, one that could destroy Luke and his wife Simone, and these two men here and possibly even all of the other souls on this island who were simply content to survive and be ignored by the rest of the world.
There was nothing wrong with that.
Nothing wrong with this either, she thought as she felt Jacob’s fingers close around the zipper at the back of her dress.
Slowly, gently, Jacob began to pull the zipper down. Tris’s body began to tingle with anticipation as air began to kiss at her skin where the dress was parted. Jon’s mouth traveled up her neck until his lips covered her own. She felt his tongue in her mouth, which felt fully human, as it probed the inside of her mouth. His breath tasted sweet, just as she’d thought. It was almost like brandy, and potently so. She felt in that moment she could happily become drunk on his kisses to the point of needing to attend a weekly AA meeting should it come to that.
REGENCY: Loved by the Duke (Historical Billionaire Military Romance) (19th Century Victorian Short Stories) Page 32