by Lucy Lyons
Several days had passed and Tori and Aldain were going home. Aldain’s wounds were completely healed, you couldn’t even see a scar on his side. Tori just enjoyed being with him as he convalesced. As much as she enjoyed their time together, she really wanted to get back to the castle. Her parents and Cassie were going to leave soon and she wanted to spend their final days with them.
Malcolm made sure everyone was tucked inside the castle when they flew into the glen. He had left clothes for them in a backpack inside a small grove of trees. They dressed quickly and walked to the castle hand in hand. It felt good to be heading home. The good memories they had of their cave overshadowed the bad, but they both felt the need to be around people. Humans and dragons were both social creatures. They both missed friends and family. Aldain was surprised that he missed as many people as he did. Being married to Tori was starting to change him in so many ways and it was all good as far as he was concerned.
They walked through the door and everyone converged on them at once. Tori’s mother started to cry and hugged her like she was a little girl; it was extremely comforting to her. After her mother finally let go of her, her father gathered her into his arms. He said in a choked-up voice. “My baby, My baby. I am so glad you are safe.” Tori’s eyes welled up with tears. She could never before remember seeing her father being so emotional. Tori made the rounds hugging and being hugged by everyone.
Aldain was being hugged almost as much. His mother was the first person to grab him. Her body shook with emotion, knowing her son came close to being killed. She tried not to cry but fought a losing battle as tears streamed down her face hugging him to her tightly. Aldain ran his hand down her hair, “Shhh ma I am fine. Please don’t cry. You know I hate it when you do.”
Heather couldn’t help herself, his remark made her chuckle. When her husband died and she thought she was alone and her tears were falling, Aldain would catch her and hug her close. He would do anything to make her stop crying because it tore his heart out to see her sad.
Andrew and Cade gave him quick hugs also. It was their way of showing him how much they cared about his well-being. They were men so weren’t going to bear hug him, but it warranted more than the normal handshake.
Everyone wanted to hear about the fight but Malcolm refused to give any kind of elaboration. He didn’t feel it was his place to go into detail. The most he said was that Alec was dead by Aldain’s hands. If they wanted to know more they would have to hear it from Aldain.
Aldain skirted over some of the details; he told them enough to placate them. He felt uncomfortable as all the women looked at him with hero worship in their eyes. He did what any dragon would do for his mate; there was nothing more to it. He got a look on his face that had his friend Malcolm smiling a huge smile at him. It wasn’t often he saw Aldain looking like he wanted to run. He was enjoying his discomfort though he would never admit it to anyone.
They all sat down to the exquisite meal Becca and Amanda had fixed for them. Aldain would never say this in front of his mother, but he thought Becca’s meals tasted better than hers. He would go to the grave with that thought.
After the meal, Andrew took Aldain out to see the vegetable garden that he had made for Tori, Aldain was impressed. Andrew had picked a prime growing spot that he knew Tori was going to love. He thanked Andrew and again Andrew looked at Aldain,” I was going crazy with the two of you somewhere we couldn’t go. It is the least I could do. Besides this is one of those times actions speak louder than words.” Aldain knew this was Andrew’s way of telling him how much he cared for them. It gave Aldain a warm feeling as he cleared his throat when they were heading back to the castle.
A few days later, Tori’s parents were getting ready to go to the airport. It was time for them to go home. Tori was going to miss them, but she knew she could see them anytime she wanted. They promised her they would come see her whenever her father could get time off work. She sighed. The surprising moment came when Cassie told her that she wasn’t leaving just yet.
Malcolm had invited her to the island because he wanted to show her around. Cassie was gone so long she was sure she didn’t have a job to go back to and oddly enough she really didn’t care. She felt something for Malcolm and wanted to get to know him better. He told her he had plenty of money so he would take care of all her needs. At first, she wasn’t sure she liked that idea but Heather told her it was the Scottish way and if she didn’t let him take care of her it would be an insult to him. Cassie didn’t want to insult him so she agreed.
Tori squealed with delight when she heard this. She told Cassie when she was done spending time with Malcolm she could stay with her at the castle as it had plenty of bedrooms; she could choose one as her own.
She looked at Aldain after she invited her. He smiled, “Absolutely you can stay here.” He had said to Cassie that he had a feeling he would be seeing much more of Malcolm now that she was here.
His family was growing and it made him feel wholesome and happy. He basked in the feeling of it. Only time would tell how much more it was going to grow; Aldain smiled in anticipation. ‘The more, the merrier’ he thought
End of Book 1
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Captured by The Dragon
K.T Stryker
© 2017
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© Copyright 2017 by Persia Publishing - All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER ONE
Astrid
The matron, Mrs. Park, stared at Astrid an
d Jane sternly. “We have very strict rules here in regards to our prisoners.”
Astrid nodded. She had learned all of this during training, but Mrs. Parks acted like the newest addition to the Hawthorn Facility didn’t know a thing. This was maybe due to the fact that Jane, the other new addition to the prison facility, seemed so nervous and unsure of herself.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Astrid. Mrs. Parks looked at her over the tops her glasses as if Astrid was a naughty child speaking out of turn.
“These prisoners are very dangerous. While their iron shackles bind their magic, they still retain the evil seductiveness of their voice and their gaze. And don’t”— and here she struck the top of her desk with a bamboo back scratcher, causing both Astrid and Jane to jump— “Don’t look directly into their eyes! This is why you’ll wear these whenever you tend to the dragons.”
She handed them what appeared to be pairs of glasses, which had special lenses that obscured dragons’ direct gazes. Astrid had handled pairs of glasses like these during her training. They had a blind spot in the middle that forced your eyes to look around its edges to see. Mrs. Parks handed them sets of earbuds, which blocked off sound, but also allowed communication with their partners and the technician in the security booth.
“Remember, look into the monitors above the cells. They’ll display what the dragons are saying to you. Do not take the ear buds off for any reason. They view humans as playthings, and will do anything to trick you. Since you are new, they will try all their games. But keep the upper hand! Remember your training. Now put on your glasses and earbuds. For this evening I will go with you, but after this you both will guard the dragons during the third shift. You should be grateful for this duty, as they are more active and restless during the day. Come along, now, it’s dinner time. Jane, if you will push that cart there. It has their food.”
“How many are here?” asked Jane with trepidation.
“Currently, three,” said Ms. Parks. “We had four. But we executed one this morning. Our new Prime Minister has no patience with these unrepentant abominations.”
Jane sighed with relief, which, in Astrid’s eyes, marked the young woman as a coward. One did not sign up to work with dragons if you did not have the backbone to face them. But it was the cool pride in Mrs. Parks’ voice at the Prime Minister’s actions that shocked Astrid. Sure, housing and feeding for their extraordinary long lives was a hot political issue. But Parliament had decreed that no dragon would face death at the hands of humans, that is, until the newly elected Prime Minister pushed for the “just punishment” of the crimes of dragons, many of whom were convicted of murder.
“Which one was executed?” asked Astrid breathlessly.
Mrs. Parks eyed her with suspicion. “You aren’t one of those dragon lovers are you?” she asked coldly.
“No, no,” denied Astrid. “It’s just in school I studied all the cases.”
“All the cases?” said Mrs. Parks with an arched eyebrow.
“I majored in exopsychology, with a minor in draconology.”
“Oh?” said Mrs. Parks with obvious disapproval, as if Astrid’s particular choice of university degree was an affliction.
“Well, when I started there was that big kerfuffle about possible alien contact, remember? And there was a big push to train exoscientists and that got me a full scholarship. Only that whole thing turned out to be a big fat dud, so I minored in the one non-human sentient species we have on the planet. Otherwise, I would have lost my funding.”
“Oh, right then,” said Mrs. Parks grudgingly.
“And as you know, there aren’t many jobs for someone with my qualifications.” Astrid said this last a bit of hauteur in her voice, but Mrs. Parks was seriously annoying her. If the government thought her studies were worthy enough to fund the four years she took to get her degree, then a prison matron had no business questioning it.
Mrs. Parks snorted. “Well, I’m so glad you deigned to join our ranks, Ms. Davis,” she said scornfully. “We don’t always get someone with your, er… qualifications. I do hope you don’t find it beneath your education to work with dragons.”
Actually, Astrid was thrilled. Since she was a little girl and her grandmother had told her stories about dragons, she was fascinated with them. And her love for the tales grew beyond what her grandmother told her. Astrid loved any story, real or myth, about them. It was sad that they were so often painted as demons or murderers. To Astrid these last stories seemed concocted, the product of human fear, despite there being few instances of dragon criminals.
“No, of course not,” said Astrid. “I’m happy to take any work that fulfills my obligation to the government for funding my education.”
“Uh, huh,” said Mrs. Parks with a doubtful tone. “Well, the executed shifter was the one who used the name Austin Drake.”
“Oh,” said Astrid. Sick disappointment filled her. Austin, before he was arrested, had a distinguished military career. He did, that was, until a records match found another Austin Drake who served in the First World War. That was soon after the Reveal, when a prominent London newspaper reported the news that dragons lived among humans. Any piece of evidence that pointed suspicion that a person was a dragon resulted in witch hunt. Austin’s crime was treason, which carried a death sentence until Parliament stayed all of them. But now that had changed. And a beautiful golden dragon was no more.
Astrid felt her eyes mist and she reached under her goggles to quickly wipe away the evidence of her treasonous heart. It was not politically correct to have an appreciation for the only other sentient species that shared the Earth with humans.
“Something wrong, Ms. Davis?” asked Mrs. Parks.
“Dry eye. Forgot my drops this morning.”
“Unfortunate. Take care that you don’t forget critical job duties. That could cost all of us.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Astrid dutifully.
“But the one you should especially watch out for is Templeton Rawlins.”
“Oh, he’s the one that murdered Prime Minister Pearce,” piped up Jane. “I read about that in history class.”
“Yes, that’s right,” said Mrs. Park. “He’s been here for twenty-four years, and a nasty bit he is. He’s caused at least three guards to quit in fright. One had a heart attack shortly after he quit his employ.” The matron leaned in and spoke with a conspiratorial tone. “We suspect Rawlins used magic on him for that, but since we didn’t find any breaks in his ironwork, he must have had a confederate do it for him. In any case, the Prime Minister decided he is too dangerous to keep, and the execution order will be coming any day.”
Astrid bit her lip to keep her protests from spilling on her lips. Rawlings lived quietly prior to his arrest, managing his family estate and in general keeping out of the public eye. Aside from the one instance of criminality, he’d never harmed a single soul. Though there was a rogue element in every society, she had a difficult time fitting the crime to the dragon, even if the evidence was incontrovertible.
Mrs. Parks used her key card to unlock the outer and then the inner doors to the inmates’ quarters. There was a row of heavy duty tempered glass doors lining the hallway on either side of granite walls. Hawthorne was a medieval castle converted for use as this facility and a considerable sum had been spent in upgrades to make it suitable to house the strongest and most devious dragons.
“You’ll notice their ironwork,” Mrs. Parks said coolly. “The locks to the shackles on their wrists, neck and ankles are electronic, controlled by codes in the security booth. Our technicians rotate the codes on a daily basis and they, along with the shift supervisors, are the only ones that have them. Special permission is needed to key the codes in the locks, which must come from my day mode counterpart, Mr. Roache, or me. The chains retract into the wall to pull the inmate against it when we need to enter their compartments. It’s best to try to secure their co-operation for this, as they can seriously hurt their human bodies by fouling the operations of their chains
with their bodies.”
“They would do that?” said Jane.
“Oh yes. It’s happened. They don’t like being restrained that way and will do anything to avoid it.”
Astrid puckered her lips. She thought she’d hate being restrained by shackles on all extremities; the neck would be hateful enough. It was one thing to read about it in the schoolbooks and another completely to see it in the flesh.
“This one is Evan Waters.”
“He’s the American dragon, isn’t he?” said Jane.
Mrs. Parks nodded. “Yes, as you know, he was arrested when a DNA scan at the airport picked up his dragon heritage.”
Astrid worked hard to keep the daggers from her eyes. Evan was only fifty percent dragon, a hybrid, and by all accounts couldn’t even shift. But he was detained anyway on immigration charges since he lied about his heritage on his visa to gain entrance to the country. As far as she knew, he hadn’t even been to court.
“Hello, Waters,” said Mrs. Parks nastily. “These ladies are your new guards, Ms. Davis and Ms. Hellstrom. They’ve brought your dinner.”
“Go fuck yourself,” appeared on the electronic screen above the door. Astrid remembered Mrs. Parks explaining this. However, Hawthorne’s newest matron was shocked that the speech-to-text software so literally displayed the dragon’s crude words.
“Eloquent, as always,” said Mrs. Parks. She shoved the covered dinner plate in a special glass box in the door that only opened inside the cell when the slot on the outside closed.