Dragon's Heart

by LaVerne Thompson

  Maya snorted and raised her chin up a notch. I don’t think so. I’m not going anywhere with you. Draakar is on his way as we speak.

  Yes, I know, but he will not reach you in time. Quickly, Maya. Come of your own free will or mine, but either way you will come with me.

  The betrayer opened up a limited mindpath, allowing her to see Ian. He lay on his back on the floor, apparently unconscious. She knew the image in her mind was real. Ian rested in what looked like a hospital room; he had to be nearby. She could see the wheels of maybe a hospital bed, but someone knelt over his still body. The person’s face stayed hidden from her, but that someone held a gun to Ian’s unmoving head. The gun she could see clearly before the image faded.

  Well, Maya, do you come with me of your own free will, and I spare his life? Or do I take you anyway and kill him?

  Bastard, she spat. I’ll come, but you have to let Ian go first.

  Maya winced as the betrayer established the link again, not bothering with being as gentle this time. A sharpness pinched her temples. She watched as the person withdrew the gun from Ian’s brow and left the room. She still couldn’t see a face, but from the back and the size it appeared to be a man. He stepped on the elevator, and the lights above the door indicated it descended, and then the vision stopped.

  He is safe now and will awaken in a few minutes. I’ve kept my word. Now do you keep yours?

  Hell no! If the bastard thought she gave in to him without a fight he’d soon see the error of that sort of thinking. She just needed a chance to strike out with her powers at the piece of slime without endangering Ian.

  Just as Draakar taught her, she raised her shield and built energy to send in the direction of the betrayer. She couldn’t see him, the light still blinded her, but she could sense the outline of a man beyond the light. Maya let her rage grow and took a step toward him. She could feel the familiar burn in her eyes and knew what they looked like—golden fire. A second from letting loose a bolt of energy, she heard a choking sound coming from the bed behind her. Distracted, Maya risked glancing over her shoulder and her heart stood still. Carrie’s eyes and mouth were open. Her mother’s chest rose and fell as she gasped for breath. Only the whites of her eyes could be seen.

  Ah, Maya, Maya, it’s not going to be so easy. Drop that shield now or she dies.

  Maya immediately dropped her shield and tried to reach for Draakar. She met a wall of silence, but he stood on the other side of that wall. She could feel him. It would only be a matter of time before he came for her; she had to believe that. Meanwhile, she would do what she could to help him. She stepped closer to her mother’s bedside and grabbed the bed rail as she looked down at her.

  “I’ll go with you. Just leave my mother alone.”

  Of your own free will?

  “Yes, damn you, of my own free will.”

  As soon as the words left Maya’s mouth, her mother’s breathing eased. Maya released the bed rail as darkness enveloped her. Losing consciousness, she crumbled to the floor.

  The bright light blinked out. A man stepped out of the doorway, bent down and picked Maya up from the ground. He cradled her lovingly to his chest and kissed her forehead before walking out of the room and placing her in the waiting wheelchair in the hall.

  Her mother on the bed opened sleep-glazed eyes in time to see a familiar figure cradling her daughter in his arms. Carrie smiled, then immediately frowned before her healing body claimed her in sleep once more.

  On his way back to the hospital, pain stabbed at Draakar’s temple, a disturbance in the currents. He raised his head and scented the air. A stench filled his nostrils. The magicks of a silver dragon. The betrayer was near. The image of Maya exploded in his mind. The hospital. He’s at the hospital…Ian.

  Yes, Draakar. What…

  Ian…

  Silence, cold silence greeted Draakar’s call and it chilled him to his soul. At least he got a thought through to Maya before the wall descended. He would not get there in time. Maya couldn’t face a silver dragon on her own, but to protect her mother she would.

  Hold on! He kept sending. I’m coming!

  For the last five minutes a wall of silence continued to meet him. He raged within himself even as he continued to try to breach the energy barrier keeping him mentally from Maya.

  If they were truly joined he would be able to reach her. Nothing short of death could separate them then. Even better would have been to have his powers at their peak. He could will himself to the hospital. He couldn’t even take his dragon form to fly there because he’d cause widespread panic in the streets, and he wasn’t strong enough yet to cloak his dragon appearance while he maintained the form. The Stones supported his powers as much as they could, but they could grant him no more. What he had would have to be enough until he mated to Maya. He would accept nothing else. Not this time.

  He could, however, get there faster than the car. Draakar had the driver pull over to the side of the road and before the car came to a complete stop, he’d opened the door and had both feet on the ground. By the time the car did stop and pulled back into traffic, he was a half-mile away. Draakar raced at a speed so fast the human eye merely registered him as a shadow. He sent James and Robert to continue on in the car to get Maya’s father, and Cass and Darryl raced behind him to the hospital.

  Moments instead of minutes later, he stood in the hospital lobby, but he’d arrived too late. Maya was gone, and he couldn’t get a sense of her. He went to her mother’s room first to check on her. He could already feel Ian coming back to consciousness in the room across the hall where he’d been taken.

  Maya’s mother remained asleep when Draakar entered the room. As Draakar stood beside her bed, Ian stumbled into the room, pressing a hand against his bleeding head.

  Lord, I’m sorry. I’ve failed you.

  No, Ian, you have not. Draakar waved his hand toward Ian, stopping as well as cleaning off the blood and healing the blow to the side of his head. It is my fault. I underestimated the betrayer. It will not happen again.

  Ian straightened up. I will hunt this bastard with you.

  No. I need you to stay here and watch over Maya’s mother. Cass and Darryl have just arrived and they will join you. I will take James and Robert with me when they get here with Maya’s father. They should all be here soon. Do not let either of Maya’s parents out of your sight. You all will have to remain in this room and at the door to keep vigilance. It isn’t safe to move Maya’s mother just yet, I need her close to human medicines just in case.

  Do you know where he’s taken her? Ian sent.

  Not yet, but I know the bastard’s scent. As soon as the others get here, we hunt.

  “Who…who’s there?” came a frail voice from the bed.

  Draakar took a deep breath and reined his fear for Maya in; he had to remain calm for Maya’s mother. She had been through enough. “Everything is all right, Carrie. May I call you Carrie? I feel as though I know you already. I’m Draakar Akgon, a friend of Maya’s.”

  “Yes, Maya. But I…don’t I know you?”

  Yes you do.

  Yes, yes I do know you. You’re the Dark Dragon Lord. Oh, no…oh, God! Maya!

  Maya’s mother tried to sit up and her body trembled in agitation. Draakar placed his hand on her shoulder, gently pressing her back on the bed and offering comfort. Carrie Trent placed her hand over his and eyes with a golden tint looked into his. Draakar could feel her trying to will him to do as she asked, already knowing he would. “Draakar, you have to save her, please,” Carrie cried hoarsely. “He took her, he took my baby—and I think he tried to kill me. What’s going on? Where…where’s Vincent?”

  “Your husband is on his way now. But Carrie, exactly who took her? Who took Maya?” Draakar asked in a calm voice, but at the same time he looked into her mind. The scene unfolding in her memory caused his eyes to smolder while his entire body shook with the force of his fury.

  The betrayer had fooled them, fooled him. He had stood n
o more than an arm’s length from this creature and did not see him or sense him for his true enemy. How could this be? No Earth magicks could have cloaked the betrayer while in Draakar’s presence. It should have been impossible, but it had happened. The betrayer had been right in front of him and he did not know it. Now the bastard had Maya. If the betrayer could hide his true self so well, tracking him would not be easy. He would have to ask Mother Earth for help. His borrowed magicks were slowly draining and his distance from Maya wasn’t helping.

  “Draakar…Justin,” Carrie choked out. “Justin took my baby. Justin, who has always been a part of this family, betrayed us. But, what is he? What am I?”

  Draakar paused a moment before answering her. He’d heard her husband’s footfalls in the corridor. “Vincent is right out side the door. Let’s wait for him and I’ll explain to you both what has happened. We don’t have much time.”

  Vincent pushed through the door and rushed to his wife’s side, taking her in his arms. “Carrie, are you all right? What happened? Something’s wrong.” He turned to look at Draakar and the men and woman crowding his wife’s hospital room.

  I will explain everything, but it’s best if I do it this way. It’s also faster.

  “What the…” That was as far as Vincent Trent got before his entire life irrevocably changed.

  “Oh my God!” Those words about summed up how both Vincent and Carrie felt when Draakar finished with his explanations about the brethren. An appropriate response, Draakar thought, to the information about what they and their daughter were.

  “This…this monster has our daughter!” Carrie Trent exclaimed.

  “Yes, the betrayer has her.”

  “I can’t believe Justin, Justin is the betrayer? How can this be?” Vincent asked. “How could we have known this man for all these years and not known he was capable of things like this?”

  “He hid it well. He allows you to see only what he wants you to see. Even I did not know him for what he is.”

  “I think my mother suspected something,” Carrie said. “She never liked Justin. Never trusted him from the first time she laid eyes on him.”

  “That’s true,” Vincent agreed. “Some people she took to, and others, no matter what, she never liked. We had all grown used to her quirks. Carrie and I only looked at the surface. Saw Justin as a successful, thoughtful person who adored Maya. No matter how much he showed those traits to Nana, she just never liked him. Never thought he was good enough for our Maya.” Vincent paused and looked Draakar up and down. “We should have paid more attention to her intuition. Something tells me she would approve of you. Now what are we going to do to get our Maya back? Can you find her?”

  “It will take time. The Stones, the source of my powers right now, are silent on her whereabouts so I will have to ask Mother Earth to help me search for her.”

  “Can we help?” Carrie asked.

  “You are still too weak, Carrie,” Draakar said. “I can not risk it. I can pull magicks from everyone else here to help me search.” Draakar closed his eyes and a soft glow surrounded him, changing colors as the other brethren in the room began to glow in the color of their dragon. Suddenly, the glow around each of them stopped and Draakar opened his eyes, illuminating the already lit room in a bright emerald green.

  “She is no longer in this realm,” he said in disbelief. His power slowly leveled off and the light in the room returned to a normal color.

  “Realm? What do you mean by that?” Vincent asked frowning. “Like another world other than Akgon?”

  “Yes, something like that.” Draakar raked his hand through his hair in obvious frustration.

  “Well, can you find this other realm?” Vincent asked.

  “The universe is composed of many worlds coexisting parallel to each other. The power the betrayer used to cloak himself from me was not of Earth origin, but I do not recognize the signature source of the realm.” He ran his hand over his hair again, frustration fueling his anger. “He must have found a way to tap into a power source from any of a hundred realms. It may take time to track the source down.” Time Draakar knew they were rapidly running out of.

  Father!

  Draakar’s entire body stilled. Talon!

  Yes, Father. Look, I’m sorry I hid from you but I know something is wrong. I felt Maya’s anger and fear. Is she all right? I can’t reach her.

  No Talon. The betrayer has taken her.

  Everyone else in the room stopped talking or moving when they realized Draakar communicated telepathically with someone. He knew the others couldn’t ‘hear’ the conversation, but they waited for him to finish and tell them with whom he communicated. His brethren Firsts knew it wasn’t Maya. Her parents, on the other hand, hoped he communicated with her.

  Even in his mind Draakar could hear Talon’s hiss, and with the reestablished link he could feel Maya’s distress through Talon.

  Do you know where he has taken her?

  Draakar hesitated before he replied. No. I cannot sense her. I will have to return to the Stones.

  I think I can find her, Father.

  No! Do not go after them on your own. Wait for me. I know where you are now, and you are near. I will come to you.

  I await you.

  Draakar looked at Maya’s parents.

  “What’s going on? You were talking to someone in your mind,” Carrie stated. “Is it Maya?”

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Vincent frowned, “but I did kinda feel a tickle at the back of my neck. Did you reach Maya?” he too asked anxiously.

  “Yes I was communicating with someone but not Maya. I spoke to my son.”

  “Your son!” Carrie exclaimed incredulously.

  “My wife is dead,” Draakar quickly added, knowing she thought he had a wife.

  Immediately contrite, Carrie began to apologize. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Please forgive my thoughts. I’m just worried about Maya.”

  “No apology necessary,” Draakar said, bowing his head slightly to her.

  “Can your son help us?” Vincent asked.

  “He may be able to. Vincent and Carrie, I must go now. I will bring Maya back with me.” Draakar made it a statement with the confidence of a Dragon Lord. As her mate, he would settle for nothing less. Gesturing to the trio who stood silently against the wall, he said, “I will leave Ian, Cass, and Darryl to protect you.” They bowed as he introduced them. “Please stay with at least one of them at all times, and do whatever they tell you. James, Robert, you will come with me,” he said to the two men who stood in front of the door.

  “Do you really think we’re in any danger?” Vincent asked.

  “I am not willing to take any chances.”

  Carrie nodded. “We’ll wait to hear from you then. Draakar, please hurry, and bring my baby back to me.”

  Draakar bowed his head to Maya’s parents and left the room, Robert and James flanking him.

  Where do we go Lord? Robert asked.

  It appears my son is a student and is not far from here. He’s at George Mason University. We’ll have to take the car this time. I fear I will need to conserve all of my energy, as will you both, but I will still get us there faster than humanly possible.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Maya lay flat on her back, feeling as though her body carried no substance. She might have been floating on air, and reluctant to return to consciousness, but something kept tugging at her, saying she needed to wake up.

  Slowly, she opened her eyes. A fluffy white substance filled her vision. Maya blinked but it remained. She could have sworn she looked up at a ceiling covered in clouds and lay cradled within the bosom of one. Maya turned her head from side to side. As far as she could see, nothing but swirling white vapor filled her vision. Not unlike being outside in the midst of a windblown snowstorm but without the accompanying bitter wind and cold. Instead a comfortable temperature surrounded her.

  Her hands rested on her stomach. Maya lowered them to where she expected the ground to be. I
nstead her hands passed through vapor, neither cool nor warm, until they touched something hard and grainy. She looked down at what she laid upon. It was some sort of raised platform but she had a hard time seeing what she touched. The area appeared covered in a diaphanous vapor, which constantly swirled around her hands and body like nothing she’d ever seen before. Pushing against the hard surface, she sat up.

  Maya tried to use her dragon senses, but they were—blocked. A psychic wall of energy prevented her from connecting to her brethren senses, and even her human senses had a hard time digesting what she saw and felt. Glancing around, she noticed something else strange about the place. The only discernable sounds came from the air exiting through her lungs, and what sounded like wind blowing against itself. Other than those, no other sounds reached her ears. No scent permeated the air, not even the freshness of moisture. Glancing around, she realized she could be in some sort of construct but no real way for her to tell yet. The place had a dampening effect on most of her senses.

  She stood and turned in a complete circle. Draakar, where are you? Where am I? Nothing. She unclipped her cell phone, always with her, from her jeans loop. A dark screen greeted her, yet it had been fully charged earlier. Pressing the power button changed nothing. Whatever blocked her from reaching her powers also interfered with her phone.

  “Hello,” she called out, “is anyone there?” Interesting, no echo of her voice.

  No one responded and except for the vapor, nothing moved. She at least expected to hear the sound of the betrayer’s taunts in her head.

  Justin.

  She still couldn’t believe it. Justin. The betrayer. Murderer. All this time and she hadn’t known what lay beyond the façade of the man. Never even suspected. What did he want with her?

  She knew.

  Deep down inside, she knew.

  He had been her friend and then wanted to be her husband and lover, not necessarily in that order. Time and time again she refused to let their relationship go beyond close friendship. She never could understand why. She had been attracted to him, had truly liked him. Most women would have jumped at the chance to enter into a commitment with the man Justin appeared to be: handsome, intelligent, charming and witty, and usually fun to be around. At least until she decided to take her trip to Ireland without him.