But I want to protect you. You know that. I can’t help it, Neko.
She froze. It was happening again. He was speaking to her—without speaking. Just as he’d done in his Dragon form. Talking to her mind via his own.
“Is that…?” she began. “Did you just say what I think you did?”
Yes, I did.
He was smiling and nodding. Surreal.
Change Number One.
She stumbled towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her. When she was on the other side, she tried again.
Can you hear me now?
Yes, Neko. And I feel that I should tell you—we’re not in a cell phone advert.
How do Dragons even know about cell phones? It seems that you don’t need them.
His deep chuckle echoed through her mind. True—generally we don’t, not with one another, anyhow. But sometimes this sort of chatting isn’t possible. Now finish whatever you’re doing and come back to me.
She smiled as she turned to the sink, splashing a little water on her face. What she felt in that moment was a mix of pleasure and frustration. If he could hear the words she projected his way, did that mean he could delve into her every thought? After all, privacy was a valuable asset. Much as she was learning to enjoy their closeness, the thought of anyone being able to invade her mind was a little horrifying.
When she’d finished in the bathroom she returned to him, a towel wrapped around her nude body. Modesty, it seemed, had reclaimed its rightful place in her psyche.
“Is this going to be weird?” she asked.
“If what you’re asking is if I can read everything you’re thinking, ask yourself this: Can you tell what I’m thinking right now?”
She focused her energy on him, trying to pierce the invisible shell around his mind. But nothing came to her. No thoughts, no communiqués.
“No—but that’s just because I’m not practiced at this. Isn’t it?”
“It isn’t, I promise. When you and I speak through our minds—as I do with my fellow Dragons—it’s utterly deliberate. Nothing to do with prying or invading. A conversation, as though one of us had dialled the other on the phone.”
“Well, that’s not so bad, then. I want to be able to curse you in my head without repercussions.”
“Oh, you will. But hopefully there’ll be some nice thoughts in there, as well.”
She winked at him. Oh, there will.
Turning to look around for her clothing, she recalled that she’d left it in the bathroom the previous night. As her eyes moved in that direction, she noticed a small crack in the grout between the stone tiles of the floor. It couldn’t have been wider than a human hair, and yet must have been ten feet away.
And yet the room was still quite dark. How could she see so clearly?
“My eyes,” she said.
“Yes? Tell me about them.”
“I can see…everything. I mean, I’ve always had good eyesight. But this is ridiculous. I’d almost forgotten that it’s not quite light in here.”
Lumen smiled. “Damn,” he said. “Now you’ll be able to spot all my flaws.”
“You don’t have any. And you weren’t kidding when you said I’d be improved. I didn’t know humans could see like this. I feel like a bloody eagle, stalking its prey.”
“You will, no doubt, develop all the hunting skills of a Dragon, without the body.”
“I’m a little sorry not to have the body,” she said.
“You have my body anytime you want it. But other than that, do you feel all right?”
“I feel very good,” she said. “Though a little over-stimulated. This will take some getting used to. Wait—what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You said you’d get something of my skills,” she said. “Do you feel a change?”
“No. Well, that is to say—I feel a little moody. And I have a sudden urge to shave my legs.”
Neko stepped over and swatted him in the chest. “Bloody men,” she said. “But really, what’s changed in you?”
“Nothing,” he said, a glint in his eye as he grinned at her. “I’m sorry,” he added, letting out a soft laugh.
“For what? I mean, other than your ridiculously stereotypical oversimplification of women.”
“For what I’ve done to you. For how you’re likely feeling right now. The truth is that whatever might change in me, it will never hit me so hard as you’ve been hit.”
“It’s nothing,” she said. “Just a bit of drunkenness. Apparently you have the capacity to inebriate women by making love to them.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“Ha. Well, good job. How long does this last?”
“Given that you’re the first woman I’ve inebriated, I couldn’t exactly tell you.”
“I’m the first? You’re actually claiming that you were a virgin until a few hours ago?”
Lumen’s face looked sheepish. “More or less. Let’s just say that I’ve never fully given myself over as I did with you. And that’s all I’ll say on that matter. Probably.”
“Probably for the best.” No need to delve into topics that might arouse jealousy. No doubt he’d had some experience with females. No man could look like him and not. And besides…
A thought struck her. “How old are you, Lumen?”
“An interesting question. Why do you ask?”
“Because you look young, but seem…experienced. Not only in the bedroom. I mean in life. Ever since I met you, I’ve thought you seemed different—other than the ability to turn into a Dragon, I mean.”
“I’m quite old. To be honest, I’ve lost count of the years. Besides which, they don’t matter much anymore.”
“Give me an estimate. Fifty? Seventy-five?”
“One hundred and fifty, give or take.”
“Hmm. Does this mean I get to refer to you as a dirty old man?”
“Yes. But you have to admit that I’m a virile one, as well.”
“You are that. So how long do Dragons live, then?”
“It depends on whether anyone kills them. But a long time, if left to their own devices…hundreds of years, usually. There are some about who are over a thousand. And you will find your own life extended, among the many perks of sleeping with a Dragon shifter.”
“Really?” Neko pondered the thought. “Will my ageing process be slowed? Meaning will I look young for a while yet?”
“Probably, yes.”
“So your kind is the ultimate skin care product. ‘Want to delay your wrinkles? Just fuck a Dragon.’”
Lumen chuckled. “Glad to be of service,” he said, stretching his arms over his head. “Now, I suppose we should get on with our day. Glad to see that our upstairs visitors haven’t returned.”
Neko’s eyes moved to the ceiling. For a little while, she’d quite forgotten the previous night’s threat. “Me too. So, off to St. Pancras Station, are we?”
“After a little breakfast, yes. If you’d like to hop in the shower, I’ll make us some grub.”
Neko leaned against the wall, smiling. “You really are a dreamy fellow, aren’t you?”
“I try to be.” Lumen rose to his feet in all his naked splendour, and once again the Hunter’s eyes were drawn to everything but his face.
To think that was inside me, she thought, eyeing his generous cock for a moment. Amazing.
Thank you. As are you.
She laughed. “I’ll have to learn to control what thoughts I convey to you.”
“You’ll learn quickly, my clever vixen.”
She headed to the bathroom once again and entered, steadying herself with a hand to the wall. These bouts of dizziness would no doubt end, but for now they were a pretty massive pain in the arse.
“By the way,” Lumen called, out loud this time, “There’s a robe hanging by the bathtub for you.”
“Thank you.”
She closed the door and turned towards the mirror. Her eyes seemed brighter, somehow, though their col
our remained unchanged. A touch of Dragon inside her.
As her gaze moved over her body, her new sense of vision disconcerted her. Every flaw was indeed enhanced, as though she’d just acquired a new prescription for her contact lenses after walking about in a blur for years.
She turned away, telling herself not to be too critical. The world was brighter, more acutely defined.
And perhaps she was, too.
* * *
After her shower and a breakfast of eggs, ham and toast with the requisite mug of coffee, Neko returned to the bathroom to seek out her clothing. But it was nowhere to be found.
“Lumen,” she said, returning to the kitchen. “Have you seen my things?”
“Yes. I had them sent out—well, some of them.”
“You what?”
“To be washed. Don’t worry—your knives are safely stowed away. And so is your leather jacket.”
“All right. I have no idea how or when you did that—but here’s the important question: am I to spend today naked?”
A lascivious smile crossed his lips. “If I’m to have anything to say about it, yes. I think wandering around London with a naked you would be splendid.”
“Okay.” She dropped the robe to the ground, stepping away from it to tread back to the bedroom.
“In the hallway, sexy thing,” Lumen called after her. “First door on your left.”
Wandering out as he’d directed, she pulled open a set of white double doors. Overhead a series of lights flickered on—this room, unlike so many of the others, had a plastered ceiling, so no light came in from the outside world.
In rows around her hung an entire wardrobe of women’s clothing. What was more, it seemed to be composed entirely of Neko-style garments, specifically: multiple pairs of dark jeans, socks, cotton t-shirts, tank tops. Even a wide assortment of bras and panties, in an open drawer, greeting her. On the floor were several pairs of shoes and boots. Happily, no taffeta gowns. No girly frocks.
On a couple of hooks to her right hung her bandolier, filled with its blades, and her Khopesh. Her jacket was carefully suspended from a wooden hanger next to them.
So, someone had entered their underground lair and brought all of these things with them—but how they knew her size, style, or any of it was far beyond Neko’s grasp. And yet it didn’t seem like magic. This was simply the work of a stealthy butler of some sort, or perhaps one of Lumen’s Dragon friends.
“If one of a Dragon’s powers is to conjure new clothes and walk-in closet, then holy shit. He really is a pretty damn near perfect creature,” she muttered.
Grabbing a pair of black jeans and an off-white t-shirt and undergarments, she pulled them on one by one. Each garment fit perfectly. It seemed that this place really had become her home, at least for the time being. Lumen had made it so.
“Find everything you need?” the Dragon shifter asked as he stepped into the hallway behind her.
“Yes,” she replied, turning his way as she tied her hair back in a ponytail. “But I have no idea how you managed any of this. Most men don’t know a woman’s size, let alone where to find the sorts of clothes she likes. Oh, and most men don’t live beneath lakes in secret underground hovels.”
“Someday you’ll understand all my tricks, and I’ll become dull to you,” he said, heaving an audible—and artificial—sigh.
“Never,” she said, approaching and standing on her toes to press her lips to his. A kiss of gratitude, and of something far deeper. “Now, let’s get out of here and find what you’re—we’re—looking for. I’m craving a hunt, even if it’s not for a living creature.”
“Very well. Bring your knives, though. Something tells me we might not be safe from watchful eyes today. Though I hope to be proven wrong.”
St. Pancras Station
When they were set to head out, Lumen led Neko towards the round room at the hallway’s end. Once again she stared at the assortment of doors embedded in its walls; it was like a set of mysteries. None of the doors was marked. But somehow, Lumen knew just which to choose to take him through the city to any given destination.
“We’ve gone through this one,” he said, pointing to the leftmost door. “But this…” he said, opening the one two to its right, “is the route we want today.”
“Oh? Where does it lead?” Neko asked as she stepped through.
“Lancaster Gate Station, just outside the Park. This isn’t a long tunnel.”
“I must say, it’s awfully convenient that you can exit your own abode into an Underground station,” she replied. “Most people would pay a fortune for such conveniences.”
“The luxuries of the secret double life of a Dragon,” laughed Lumen. “And it’s your abode as well, you know. You should think of it as such.”
The words warmed Neko from the inside. Her new home was everything she could want: bright, large, and most importantly, it housed the man she was learning to adore. What a gift to be offered such a life.
Now she had only to hope that nothing would come along and ruin it.
“What are you thinking?” he asked as they went.
“Just that it’s odd how life goes. One moment you’re stabbing a Lapsed in the neck, the next you’re happy.”
“Another luxury of a Dragon’s life. And, apparently, the life of a Hunter.” Lumen put an arm around her waist for a moment, pulling her to him, and they stopped walking.
She turned to face him, staring up into those eyes that now seemed brighter than ever.
“Tell me we’ll somehow survive all this,” she said. So that I can try a life with you.
“We’ll somehow survive all this,” he replied. And our life will be wonderful, if not dangerous.
He pressed his lips to hers, a surge of energy forcing her heart to beat hard in her chest. Neko’s arms went around his neck, pulling him close as their tongues met.
Would this ever stop being so good? The sweet intimacy of a kiss?
No. Probably not. Because every kiss with Lumen would feel like it might be their last. Every day she would wonder which of them might be attacked.
At least, until they’d found the Relic.
“We’ll be all right, my lovely Neko,” he said when they’d gotten their fill. “Now, let’s get on with this so we can move on with our lives, shall we?”
She nodded, offering him the smile of someone who, for the time being anyhow, was content.
Before two minutes had passed, they arrived at their destination. There were no stairs to climb this time to escape their tunnel. Instead, Lumen guided Neko through a door that came out at one end of the train platform.
Londoners milled about, ignoring their presence as always, even as the two companions stepped towards them through a doorway that didn’t seem to exist.
Curious, Neko turned to look back at where they’d come from. “I’ve been meaning to ask—how do you find the doors again?” she said. “I mean, how do you see them?”
Lumen laid a hand on her back. “Look at the wall where we emerged,” he said. “Do you see anything?”
Neko examined the tiles. “No,” she said immediately. “I don’t…wait.”
The faintest outline of glowing light began to show itself against the backdrop. “Am I imagining that? It’s quite hard to see…”
“Not at all. You simply need to know how to look. And now you do, Neko.”
She turned to him, her hands pulling at the front of his jacket. “Now that you’ve given me superpowers,” she said softly before easing up on her toes to kiss him again. “Thank you, by the way.”
His lips, so soft, sent butterflies through her, and once again her body purred with a combination of bliss and want.
“There are other doorways, too,” he said. “You should keep an eye out for them. They may one day manage to save your skin, should you be in need of escape.”
“I’ll try to practice looking,” she said. “Meanwhile, I’m revelling in the glory of free Tube rides. I’ve always had to pay to get
into these stations, after all. This is going to save me thousands.”
Lumen let out a quiet chuckle. “Glad, as always, to be of service.”
Just then, the train screeched towards them down the rails.
“Shall we?” asked Lumen, gesturing her forward as the doors opened and passengers began to step on.
“Let’s.”
* * *
A few minutes and several stops later, the daunting enormity of Saint Pancras Station loomed before them as they stood outside, studying its multitude of Gothic windows and spiking spires.
The red brick building reminded Neko of the sort of private school where girls would be taught to carry books on their heads and slapped with rulers if they failed at the task. The sorts of places where headmistresses had names like “Miss Killsalot” or “Sister Nastybitch,” and thrived on sapping young people of the will to live.
And yet on the building’s inside, when they’d climbed out of the Underground, it had been bright, bustling and airy. Appearances really were deceiving at times.
“It’s…huge,” she said as they stared up at the façade. “I haven’t been here in a dog’s age. I’d forgotten how enormous it is.”
“Yes, it is,” Lumen said. “I’ve flown over it more than once.”
“Never have I imagined that this place might hold one of a Dragon Guild’s secrets,” said Neko.
“But it can’t, not really. As we discussed, it was only built in the eighteen hundreds. The Relic is far older than that. I only wish we had a better lead.”
“Me too. But let’s take a walk around, just in case anything turns up. Remember, the verse said something about the east-facing sentinel. Maybe that’s the key to this little quest of ours.”
They walked until they came to the building’s southeast corner, which housed a tall clock tower, looking over the spot where Euston and Pancras Roads met. Neko looked up, assessing the structure from her position.
“Could a clock count as a sentinel?” she asked. “It has faces on all sides…”
Lumen scratched his chin for a moment. “It’s possible, I suppose,” he said. “But unlikely. ‘Feared and dreaded,’ remember? Most people aren’t terrified of clocks. Except for the chronically late.”
Dragon Hunter Box Set: A Dragon Shifter Serial Page 16