Lucan

by Susan Kearney

  The moment Cael opened Jaylon’s door, Sonelle gasped in recognition. Behind the attending nurse’s back, Cael raised a finger to her lips and Sonelle nodded.

  Her sister’s hair had grayed since Cael had last seen her. She’d lost weight, and her pretty blue eyes were bloodshot and shadowed. In her sorrow, her sister wasn’t eating properly. Or sleeping. A good mother, she lived at Jaylon’s beside, but she was neglecting her own health.

  The nurse gave Lucan and Cael a professional nod. “Don’t stay too long and tire our patient.”

  Cael noted the little guy’s color. Too pale. Jaylon’s eyes looked huge in his sunken face. Tubes went into his stomach. An oxygen tube was strapped beneath his nose. She automatically checked his monitors and suppressed her dismay at the readings.

  Cael sat beside him on the bed. “How’re you feeling, Jaylon?”

  Jaylon looked up, finally recognizing her through the disguise. “Did you find the Grail?”

  At his weak whisper, a lump clogged her throat, and she shook her head. The dark circles around his eyes and his paper-thin skin told her Jaylon’s cancer was no longer in remission.

  Jaylon’s stoic gaze moved on to Lucan. “Are you a friend of Lady Cael?”

  “I am.”

  “Good.” Jaylon sighed. “She’ll need a friend when I’m gone.”

  Sonelle sobbed. “I told you not to talk like that.”

  “Lying doesn’t change the truth.” Jaylon licked his lip, and Cael held a water glass with a drinking straw to his mouth and wished she held the Grail. This brave child had rarely complained. Not when he couldn’t play with the other children. Not when his stomach rejected all food.

  He sipped, swallowed, and peered at her. Illness seemed to have made him much wiser than his years. “Tell me about the Grail.”

  When Cael didn’t respond, not trusting her voice to remain even, Lucan spoke up. “We believe the Grail’s inside Avalon. We’re making progress. The first shield’s down.”

  “There are more?”

  Lucan nodded. “Those will come down, too, when we decipher the code.”

  Bless Lucan for giving the child hope.

  “When you find the Grail, you’ll bring it to me and cure my cancer?” Jaylon asked, his soulful eyes staring straight into Lucan’s.

  “That’s the plan.” Lucan took Jaylon’s hand, and it looked so fragile in his large one. “So you hold on. You fight, okay?”

  Seeing him so honest and tender with the little boy tore at Cael. The child’s own father refused to visit anymore. He found it too painful. He’d abandoned Sonelle, too. Lucan would never be that weak. If he committed, he would be there for his wife, his son. Funny how Cael was so certain of that.

  Jaylon closed his eyes, and Sonelle gestured for them to come to her by the window. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “We’re losing him.”

  Cael reached out to hug her sister, but Sonelle jerked away. “Don’t touch me. I don’t need more trouble.”

  Cael ducked her head and bit her lower lip. After spending time with Lucan, she’d let down her guard. A mistake she couldn’t repeat. “No one recognizes me dressed like this.”

  “You know I can’t take that chance.” Sonelle raised her head and squared her shoulders. “Jaylon needs me. I can’t risk…”

  “I understand,” Cael said. When Lucan slipped his hand into hers, she clutched him so hard his knuckle cracked, but he didn’t pull away, and she relaxed just a little. “Have you heard from Nisco?” Cael didn’t mention the attack at the residence or her fear that Nisco might be a prisoner or dead. Sonelle didn’t need any more on her shoulders.

  “By the Goddess. I forgot.” Sonelle reached into her pocket and pulled out a sealed note. “She sent this by messenger. It’s addressed to you.”

  “Thanks.” Cael took the envelope.

  Sonelle eyed her disguise. “Are you in danger?”

  “No,” Cael lied, then remembered their lack of funds. “Just in a hurry to return to find the Grail. Could you lend me some credits? I’ll pay you back.”

  Sonelle dug into her pocket and handed her sister a card. “Take all you need, especially if it will help Jaylon.”

  “Thanks.” Cael said good-bye to her sister and Jaylon, exited the medical center with Lucan, and steadied her nerves before she opened the envelope Nisco had sent her.

  Cael unfolded a piece of computer paper and quickly scanned the printed words. “Nisco says after the attack at the residence it was too dangerous to meet at the medical center as she’d planned. She claims she’s hiding nearby. In the Feridon nest.”

  “So she got away from the man who was chasing her?” Lucan asked.

  “She didn’t mention him. Goddess knows if this note’s genuine and really from Nisco.” Worry weakened her knees, and she trembled at the idea of another of the general’s men grabbing her sister. “She’s also enclosed a copy of the formula the private investigator found in General Brennon’s briefcase.”

  Cael headed to a bench, sat down, and broke the seal of the inner envelope. She pulled out another sheet of paper and shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand what this is.”

  She handed the paper filled with scientific equations to Lucan. He held it up, then let out a low whistle. “These are specs to build a device that tracks communicator calls.”

  “I don’t…”

  “That’s how the military knew where we were. They’ve been tracking your calls.”

  “But…” She stared at the paper. “I oversee all military funding. I should have heard about…”

  “Obviously, they have secrets. And if Nisco knows them, it explains why she isn’t answering your calls.”

  “Goddess. These specs are why the swordsman wanted Nisco as well as you. They need to keep this device a secret. Because once the technology is revealed, no one who’s hiding from them will make any calls. I need to fly to the Feridon cave so Nisco can give me the original document to take to the government. With proof that Brennon’s been developing an illegal device, the government should lock him up.”

  “It could be a trap.” Lucan placed an arm over her shoulders, giving comfort but also making her feel as if they were a team.

  “I have to go. If not for me, Nisco wouldn’t be in this mess.” She shuddered. “I can’t let General Brennon get to her.”

  “And I’m not letting you go up against them alone.” He shot her a warm glance, protective heat flaring from his eyes. “Are there other cannons in other shrines that we can use?”

  She shook her head. “There’s only one sacred cannon. We were lucky the ancient technology worked—”

  “There’s a limit on how often you can use it?”

  “No, but—”

  His eyes sparkled with interest. “That device was amazing. I saw the ring stones charging up. And we seemed to travel instantaneously from the ground into space. Do the Elders know how it works?”

  She shook her head and sighed. “The cannon is as old as Avalon. Our ancestors were more technologically advanced than we are. We have yet to figure out all their mysteries.”

  “Are there ancient stories about the cannon and the ring stones?”

  “Why are you so curious?” she asked. Her scales itched, and she was picking up that mental-emotional barrier he erected so often.

  “I saw ancient symbols on the stones in your shrine. Ones like those at Avalon. Seems to me that the people who built your residence may have been the same ones who built Avalon.”

  “You’re probably right. We’ve never understood how Avalon’s shield or the High Priestess’s cannon works. But enough about the past. Right now I’m too weak to fly. We need to buy platinum without casting suspicion on ourselves, then fly to the nest.” She stood from the bench and strolled toward the city center.

  Lucan followed. “Platinum’s available in the city?”

  “It’s used to make jewelry, but expensive.”

  “And if you eat enough hydrogen and platinum, you’ll b
e able to change shape at will?”

  “What’s with all the questions?” she asked.

  “I need to understand my biology.” His tone was even, but she could sense the intensity beyond his words.

  “I’m not an expert in male—”

  “I need to know the advantages and limitations of my dragonshaping.”

  Frustration simmered within her. “Is that why you came back? You think I have the answers you seek?”

  His mouth twisted wryly. “Of course not. I was worried about you.”

  He did care for her. Just not enough to give her what she wanted. And that was why the damned man had her so on edge. One moment he was sincere and caring, the next passionate. And yet… he was holding back. She wanted to know why.

  They strode past stores and restaurants. Traffic passed, and the sidewalks were filled with strolling shoppers, workers on lunch breaks, and teens holding hands. When a skimmer pulled out of traffic, screeching to a stop at the curb, Cael’s instincts kicked in. She tugged Lucan into a knitting store.

  Pulse skittish, she glanced over her shoulder through the store’s front window to see two men in military uniforms spring out of the skimmer, hands nervously fingering their holstered weapons.

  “Out the back.” Lucan hurried her past skeins of yarn and knitting needles. They ended up in an alley. Weary to the bone, so fatigued she could barely move, she stumbled, trying to keep up.

  “Run,” Lucan urged.

  “I can’t.” She waved him off. “It’s you they want. Leave me.”

  She expected him to argue. Instead, he gave her a quick kiss and ran down the alley.

  He’d left her.

  Shocked, she slid against the wall to her butt. Numb, aching, and wondering where Lucan had gone to, she waited for the soldiers. No way had Lucan abandoned her for good. Deep in her hearts she knew he hadn’t saved her from torture to abandon her to this new threat.

  She might not know his plan, but she believed he was doing his best to help her. She’d seen the horror in his eyes when he’d found her chained and bloody. He’d stayed with her to search for Nisco—even when he’d wanted to return to Avalon. She might not have been experienced with relationships, but she knew him. He cared about her. If he had a choice, such an honorable man would never leave her in danger.

  Her nerves ragged, she didn’t wait long. The soldiers raced out of the store like fire was nipping at their heels. For a moment they debated whether to go right or left, their gazes passing right by her.

  If she was lucky, they’d run the other way. Not even notice her.

  Cael wasn’t lucky.

  “There she is!” A soldier shouted, his voice fearful. He yanked his blaster from his holster. “Don’t move.”

  If she could have moved, she might have laughed, but she didn’t have the energy. If they wanted her, they were going to have to carry her. But no one touched a dragonshaper.

  They’d probably shoot her.

  She was going to die. And as much as that thought upset her, she wished she knew Lucan was safe. She wished he could know that she went to her death without blaming him. Whatever he was, he would do his best to help her. She feared he’d been cornered, too.

  Cael closed her eyes and prayed for the blaster to take her out in one clean shot.

  She heard a loud thud, a grunt, and two shots fired. But she felt no pain. At first she thought she was dead. According to the Elders, the Goddess promised there would be no pain in the afterlife.

  With her last ounce of energy, she opened her eyes. She wasn’t dead, but the soldiers were, or, at the least, they were unconscious.

  Lucan stood over them, trussing their hands behind them with their belts. He’d leaped off the roof onto her assailants. He’d saved her. Again.

  Lucan insisted that Cael eat all the platinum they’d bought in the city. With her strength renewed, she flew him to the cave outside Feridon and humanshaped. Lucan removed her clothes from where he’d stored them inside his tunic and handed them to her. Cael dressed, hoping that the computer message Sonelle had given her from Nisco was genuine. But if Nisco was here, why hadn’t she greeted them? Her sister knew the way well and would not have gotten lost, yet Merlin was the only living creature in sight.

  When Cael and Lucan entered the dark cavern, Nisco wasn’t inside.

  “Where do you think she is?” Lucan peered over Cael’s shoulder into the empty space, his breath warm on her neck.

  “She could be taking a longer route to make sure she isn’t followed.” Cael prayed that she was right.

  “Then all we can do for now is wait.” Lucan gestured to the sacks of supplies stored on open shelves. “You said there’s food here?”

  She was still hungry, but he must be starving. She gestured to the stalactites and stalagmites. “Help yourself. This cave is rich in platinum.”

  “I can eat this in human form?” He broke off an icicle-shaped piece.

  “Your teeth are stronger, and your digestive system has adapted.”

  He sniffed, raised an eyebrow, and began to gnaw. She did the same, replenishing the nutrients she needed so badly.

  “What about him?” Lucan’s gaze went to Merlin. “Aren’t you going to feed him?”

  “Most of the time he hunts for himself.”

  “Merlin helped save your life back at the residence. If he hadn’t attacked…”

  “He’s a good friend.”

  Merlin perched over the entrance as if standing watch. Every once in a while he turned his head and blinked.

  “How did he find us here?” Lucan asked.

  She shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “When those men captured you at the residence, Merlin led me straight to your location.” Lucan glanced from the owl to her, his gaze bright, blue intensity simmering beneath the surface. “Did he follow you to Avalon, too?”

  Cael remembered thinking she’d seen him in the cooling conduit. “I’m not sure. Why?”

  “Just curious. How long has he been a pet?”

  “Merlin’s not a pet. He’s wild and free.”

  “But he happens to show up when…”

  “When he feels like it.” She floated a blanket over the floor, then sat and scooted over to give Lucan room. “The very first time I dragonshaped, Merlin was there. He often escorts me. I’m glad for his company.”

  She poured them juice from the supplies and shared a few honey cakes from one of the airtight canisters. Lucan’s questions seemed odd, almost as if he was skirting around other issues—like the feelings that were obviously growing between them.

  She trailed her fingers over his palm. She toyed with his sleeve and his wrist where his sensitive scales fluttered.

  He jerked. Not away. But in surprise. His eyes widened, and he unbuttoned the tunic’s cuff, turned his palm up, and stared. The scales had elevated and were vibrating.

  He sucked in a breath. “What else will happen?”

  “You’ll grow stronger. Your human flesh will become denser, tougher. When injured, you’ll recover quickly. You’ll age more slowly.”

  “How slowly?”

  She leaned over and kissed his scales, and they undulated in response. “Dragonshapers can live for several centuries. But since you weren’t born of the blood—”

  “Several centuries?” He whistled. “And there’s no reversing the process?”

  “Why would you want to?” She shot him a seductive grin and watched his scales ripple, his lust build. His irises darkened and grew, until the whites of his eyes vanished.

  He was a beautiful man. When she’d first seen him, he’d been larger than most Dragonian men. Stronger and more fit, too. But with his dragonblood, he was honed, his cheekbones sharper, his muscles more defined. He’d put on mass, all of it muscle.

  No longer just a man—he was a force unto himself. A very male, very attractive force.

  He lay back on the blanket, and she snuggled against his side, her cheek pressed to his chest. And heard his hea
rtbeats—both of them. Goddess. His human physiology was evolving, making him her perfect mate in every way save one.

  She could see that he could no more deny the pull of their attraction than she could. She could hear the increase in his pulse, his ragged breathing.

  “I want you,” she murmured. Cael was way past denying she wanted him. Way past holding back. She was going to fight for herself and what she wanted.

  And she wanted him. She desperately wanted to show him how she felt. After that, the decision was out of her hands.

  She’d live with the consequences. Because Lucan Roarke was worth fighting for, and if she fought and lost—that was way more honorable than retreating from a losing battle.

  Desire flared in his eyes. “Thank the universe. I wasn’t sure if I could hold back much longer.” He dropped the shield that had blocked her from feeling his emotions. The blast of lust might have knocked her over if she’d been on her feet.

  Merlin fluttered his wings and flew out of the cave.

  Lucan tugged her shirt over her head. She slid his off, taking the opportunity to curl her fingertips over his massive shoulders. His flesh was so warm, so firm. And his scent set her on fire.

  She tugged at his pants, but he brushed aside her trembling fingers. She opened her mouth to protest, and he placed one finger over her lips.

  “Shh. Let me.”

  Forget that. She was done waiting. Teasing his finger with her tongue, she sucked it into her mouth and then bit him. And when he slipped away, she leaned forward and licked her way over his chest to his nipple.

  His body quivered in anticipation. She continued teasing him with her tongue as she let her hands wander over his flat stomach, to his hips, to his straining sex. He sucked in a breath, and she grinned with satisfaction, ever so slowly sliding her lips over the path her fingers had just taken.

  When she took his pulsing sex into her mouth, she explored, she nibbled and nipped and teased. He radiated pleasure, bathing her in it, until she was trembling with his desire. She took him to the brink. His muscles tensed. His thighs quivered.