"Did you think Bryon had her?"
"I hoped."
"I don't understand. Who is she?"
"She is the sixth dragon Queen."
Bianca shook her head. "That's impossible."
"Three years ago, she stood before me as you do now. So close to shifting, but still unable because of the curse."
"What curse?"
"The same one that has stopped you from shifting into a dragon at puberty."
"That was a long time ago," Bianca gave a self conscious laugh.
"Even longer, a group who calls themselves The Cult of Humanity captured a baby Queen and sacrificed her to fuel their spell that blocked Queens from hatching or shifting. The Order has been very protective of Queens since then."
"So I am Mary reincarnated." Bianca marveled. She was Byron's mate.
"Mary who?" Joachim asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Never mind. It's complicated. Are you sure I'm a Queen?"
"I am. Have you noticed anything odd happening to you recently? For example Mei Hua manifested claws in time of stress."
"Odd? Yeah I'd say that. It's like I'm dragon catnip. Studs follow me around sniffing and Byron and I…connected."
Joachim nodded. "I'm glad we were able to find you so quickly. It's very rare we find a Queen in time to save her."
Bianca took a sip of water. This was bizarre. "Well, now that you know Byron wasn't holding me or Mei Hua against our wills, are you going to let him go?"
"After you've made your decision and we've seen this through, I will release him unharmed— providing he doesn't kill any more of my men."
"What exactly are we seeing through?" Bianca asked.
“Do you want to be a dragon Queen?”
“I’ve never thought of it. But it doesn’t matter. You just said I was one.”
“The dragon race is cursed. As I said, they pissed off a very powerful cult that inflicted a holding pattern into the yin weave of dragon magic. As the female dragons died, no new ones replaced them. That is why there are only five left. But in the past decade, the Order has seen women with auras like yours. We search the globe for them."
"Well, you found me," Bianca said. "Now what?"
"I'm going to give you a choice. I can slice away your aura. That blue haze that I can see and Niall can sense. You will no longer be a dragon."
"I'm not a dragon." Bianca looked down at herself. "I'm human."
"You would have shifted to be a Queen at puberty. Now you are stuck."
"Does the slicing thing hurt?"
"Yes," Joachim said.
Bianca searched his face. "Are we talking stubbing your toe type of hurt?"
"Root canal without anesthesia."
She shuddered. "And the other choice would be?"
"I do a ritual with my fellow members of the Order and suppress the curse long enough for you to shift."
"And then what happens?"
"You become a Queen."
"Teeth, tails and wings?"
He nodded. "Maybe not wings. It depends on what type of dragon you are."
"What type of dragon am I?"
"I do not have that knowledge."
"Does it hurt?"
"Yes," Joachim said.
"On the toenail/root canal scale, where would that pain lie?"
"Again, the root canal."
"Great." Bianca finished the water in one gulp and set the glass down. She should have held out for the rum. "What if I choose to do nothing?"
"Your manifestations will grow worse and drive you insane. You'll either suicide or go catatonic."
"That's just happy news all around. Would a manifestation be something as weird as being dragon-struck?"
Joachim nodded. "It would be more serious than dragon-struck. You would be compelled to . . ." he shifted uncomfortably, "be friendly to dragon studs."
"Oh dear," she said. "I'm manifesting."
"That's why we had to find you. Niall had mentioned your case, but refused to provide details. Luckily, I have a spy on campus."
"Byron offered another alternative."
"I bet he did."
Bianca reached into her pocket and pulled out the diary. "Can you read Latin?"
Joachim took it from her. "Where did you get this?"
"I was told there could be a cure for my … ailment in there."
"This was stolen from our archives centuries ago." He pointed to a mark on the cover. "This brand is from our library in Vatican City."
"I didn't steal it. Can you read what it says?"
"I can't. But I know someone who can. I'll be right back." Joachim left the room.
Bianca wasn't sure if she was making a mistake trusting him. But she didn't have a lot of choices. Walking around the room, she noticed the artwork on the walls leaned towards the slaying of dragons rather than the saving of them. If she was a dragon, would they kill her?
"Tell me about Mei Hua," she said when Joachim came back.
"I ordered dinner for us. I'm hoping you like pollo guisado?"
"You got my grandmother in the kitchen?" Estella quirked an eyebrow.
"My mother," he said.
"I’m in. Let's talk Queens." She sat back down on the couch and got comfortable.
"Mei Hua chose the ritual. We found her in an orphanage in China. Unshifted Queens with auras like you have are very rare. Our primary purpose is to find them."
"Then why are you called Dragon Slayers instead of Queen Finders?"
"We already paid for the logo and the stationary? Joachim gave a rueful grin. “No, we don't kill many dragons. They don't give us reason to since the Treaty of 1099. But they should never forget we are watching."
"How can you kill a dragon? I've seen one take a hit from a tank shell. It was badly wounded, but still alive."
Joachim pointed to the weapons on the wall. There was a trident, a pike, and several sabers. "The weapons are magical."
"So if the dragons steal those weapons, you are powerless."
"I will need to keep some secrets from you, Bianca." He laid a hand on his heart.
“So Mei Hua was like me, and she chose to be a dragon.”
“She wanted to be powerful. She wanted to fly." Joachim's face was pained, his eyes haunted.
"What happened?"
"Our security was compromised," he said. "They took her." His jaw tightened.
"Who took her?"
"A team of rogue studs."
"Rogue studs?" Bianca's mind went to Percy.
"We've been unable to track them down. I don't know who they worked for or how they breached our defenses."
"Did they kill her?"
Joachim shook his head slowly. The sadness in his eyes made her own heart hurt. “A Queen is too valuable to kill. She is the only means of keeping the dragon race alive. They took her and are holding her somewhere out of our reach. They are impregnating her and no doubt forcing her to be a brood mother for them.”
“That’s awful,” she said, her stomach no longer wanting the chicken stew.
“We can protect you, but you wouldn’t be able to leave this compound or our protection until you had a defensible castle and a court of studs to protect you.”
“That’s not me,” Bianca said. “I’m a corporate girl. I want to be one of the movers and shakers. I’ve got a job lined up at Smythe for next year.”
“As a Queen the world would move and shake for you.” Joachim scratched the stubble of his beard on his chin. “Smythe would need to beef up his security, but if you named him protector he’d have adequate funds to support you. Personally, I don’t like him. But I seldom like the younger studs.”
“But I wouldn't be a dragon liaison. What would I do?"
"You'd be his Queen."
"What does that mean?"
"It means in return for having his children he will protect you from any stud you didn't wish to have children with."
"Whoa! I don't even know Smythe. I didn't even interview with him."
&nbs
p; "Then you can't leave here without protection otherwise we risk losing you like we did Mei Hua."
"That seriously sucks. What about Byron?"
Joachim shook his head. "He has no defenses. We would have lost more men storming any other dragon's lair. And in the end, he gave you up to protect his books."
"He did." Bianca was ridiculously hurt by that. She looked down at her nails and wondered what it would be like to sprout claws. Turning her head to stare out the window, she tried to picture flying off into the clouds. Then being kidnapped and forced to be not only a sex slave, but a brood mother. Jumping to her feet, she paced around the room.
"So if I choose door number two and you cut the aura off me, I can go back to my human life? No problems?” Would she still remember Mary and her court?
“It will be painful. I’m essentially going to cut your soul into two and rip it the dragon half from your body."
Bianca winced. Joachim didn't sugar coat things, that's for sure.
"You’ll have nightmares, but eventually you should be able to have a normal life. With the exception that you won't be able to stand to be in a dragon's presence. It would make you violently ill."
Four years of college and another eight years of post graduate work down the shitter.
There had to be another way.
"Who did you give the book to?" Bianca asked. Because if that turned up a dead end, she would consider Byron. She'd still be the person she always was with the exception she'd have a dragon lover. It sure beat root canal without pain killers and life changing decisions.
"One of our monks."
"How long is it going to take?"
"I'll have an answer for you by morning."
"Can I trust you, Joachim?"
"I will guard your secret. You have my word of honor." He placed his hand over his heart.
"Can I go home?"
"I would rather you enjoy our hospitality and my mother’s cooking and spend the night here. I don't trust what the dragons might do. I have a Queen's suite set up with all the modern conveniences. Anything you could possibly want will be delivered to you."
"Do you have an X-Station?" Bianca asked, naming the new game console on the market. It was sold out and there were going to be a lot of disappointed kids for Christmas this year.
"With Dragon World 4." Joachim grinned unabashedly.
"You make sure my brother gets that under the tree and I'll stay until the journal is translated."
"Spoken like a true Queen."
Chapter Four: For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast
Joachim's mother cooked a mean chicken, but Bianca's abuela was still number one in the kitchen. Still, she had two helpings and half a bottle of wine. If the Order of Dragon Slayers were trying to poison her, she would die happy.
The Queen's Suite was opulent and easily bigger than every apartment she ever lived in. But there were no windows. And two burly guards were placed outside her door. Bird in a gilded cage came to mind. She was allowed to use the phone and checked in with her parents just to say hello. Joachim said he'd send someone over to her place to feed the cat, so at least Fluffy wouldn't be lonely. There was nothing on cable and none of the movies on the On Demand menu interested her. She played a few rounds of Dragon World 4, but her heart wasn't in it. It wasn't any fun without her brother. Bianca was considering asking if either of the guards played, when there were two ominous thumps and the door knob rattled.
She looked around for a weapon, settled on the lamp and positioned herself behind the door, so when it opened she could spring an attack. If a rogue stud was looking to get lucky, she'd bean him before his hormones could overtake his senses. Sure enough, the door unlocked and she was hit with the delicious aroma of male dragon. Winding up to swing, she halted when she heard, "Bianca? Are you hurt?"
"Byron?" She moved around, surprised to see him standing there. He was unharmed.
"Thank Nidhogg, you're all right. Let's get you out of here."
"I'm a liability," she said. "We'll get half way out and I'll be naked and trying to hump your leg."
He dragged the two guards in and relocked the door. "Solution two."
"Did you kill them?" she asked, horror briefly overshadowing the lust.
"They are unconscious."
Bianca was in his arms, kissing him. She had missed the feel of his arms around her. He had put on a T-shirt that she was stripping off him.
"Mi Reina," he crooned to her in Spanish.
"You said," she panted between kisses. "That I was too old to be a Queen."
"I don't care. I could think of nothing else but making you my mate while we were parted. Come with me and be my love."
"That was Marlowe not Byron."
"Marlowe," he said, tilting her head so he could lavish, hard sucking kisses on her neck. "Was a hack."
Her hands were on his belt again. "How do I know these feelings are real?"
"You want me," he said.
"Oh yes," she said.
"I want you."
"Yes," she breathed.
"It's real." He backed her towards the bed. "I want you out of this dress."
"Wait." She managed to hold on to her hormones to get out the question. "I want to know what that book says before you make me your mate."
"I'm not making you my mate right now."
"You're not?" Again, she felt that odd hurt. What the hell was wrong with her?
"There's not enough time to do it properly." He took the hem of her dress and lifted it over her head. She had barely enough time to lift her arms. Her bra was snatched off next.
"Oh, sweet, sweet Bianca." Bryon clasped her breasts in his hands, thumbing her nipples until her eyes glazed over. "You are perfect."
She went willingly, eagerly when he pressed her back to the bed. Spreading her legs, Bianca wiggled trying to trap the hot, heavy length of him.
"Tease," he growled and ground his mouth down on hers. She went wild, clasping him to her. Their tongues battled, until he broke away cursing in draconic. "We don't have time to do this right, but you will be back in your right mind shortly.”
She clung to him as he kissed down her body, stopping to suckle hard at each throbbing tip of her breasts.
"Byron," she cried, writing at tongues of ecstasy flamed up her body until all she could picture was him driving hard and fast inside her. "Fuck me."
His hands gripped the sheets by her hips in tight white knuckled fists. "I'll give you no cause to regret this." Nipping down her sides to her belly button, he flicked his tongue around the indent.
"Please," she whispered. "I want you so."
Then his face was at the juncture of her thighs and white light blinded her at the sheer pleasure of his mouth moving against her intimately. He laved the pulsing bud at the core of her desire, circling the swollen and needy bit until she didn't recognize the sounds coming out of her mouth.
His groans resembled a dragon's growl—primal, guttural, and possessive. "It's time, my sweet Bianca, before I lose all control and take you like a stud with his first woman."
"Do it," she screamed.
His fingers instead of that hard, thick shaft she could sense penetrated her and her shoulders hit the bed, as her hips flung up to meet him. His tongue went back to her bud and lapped her until she forgot English, forgot Spanish and just lived in the sweet, hot moment of his rhythm.
Mine.
She wasn't sure if that was him or her. Uncoiling from deep within her womb, Bianca sensed herself awakening. She got an image of a scaled head, white as mashed potatoes if they glittered with the brightness of a thousand suns. It yawned, showing large teeth. It grunted in approval and for a moment Bianca was poised on greatness. But a giant hand slapped it away and she screamed as orgasm hit her, but the dragon faded with a confused air.
Flinching and shuddering, Bianca cried out again at loss and pleasure shook through her. She entangled herself around Byron. He soothed her with kisses and caresses, but his
hardness poked against her belly and the desire rose again.
"What happened, Bianca?" he asked, tipping her head up to look at him.
"It didn't work," she said.
"What do you mean?"
"I still want you." She arched and rubbed against him.
He kissed the tip of her nose and disengaged. She got up on all fours and watched him walk. He was gloriously naked. She didn't remember him losing his clothes, but she liked the lean hard muscles, and of course, the thick member pressing against his stomach. Gathering up his clothes, he tossed the dress at her.
"I still want you too. But we need to get out of here before Joachim and his dolts realize their trap for me, was a greater one for them."
Bianca sat back on the bed. The lust was still there. It brimmed in her core, but it waited, like the white dragon she pictured before that orgasm tore through her like a hurricane. Sliding the dress over her head, though, she realized she was in control of her emotions.
"I need my bra."
"No, you don't."
"Ever since I was fourteen. Now, give it to me."
He picked it up. "This?"
She held out her hand.
He tore it in two.
"That was my favorite bra."
"I'll buy you another one." He slid on his slacks and the T-shirt, looking around for his shoes. "I'm going to rip that damn dress off you the first chance I get."
She stood up and tossed them at him, sitting back on the bed to put her flats on. "Where are we going?"
"To my lair, where you will not need tedious things like clothes."
"That's the first place they'll look. You saw how easy it was to break into the bookstore."
"The bookstore isn't my lair. Now, let's go." Byron held out his hand to her.
He held out his hand to her. "You must come with me. You are in danger."
Mary turned from the window. "Now, you believe me?"
"This isn't some random spectre of your imaginations. Your creature -- this is that horrid stud Dante you've welcomed into your bed."
"This isn't about Dante," she said. "This is about your jealousy. You cannot have me every night. I have a duty to our race."
"He will hurt you."
"He has no need to hurt me. I give him access to immortality." Mary twisted her lips and flicked up her skirt.
The Queen's Mystery Page 4