by Brynn Paulin
“You’re essentially their new queen, Velree.”
“Everyone is so…young.”
Janos chuckled. “Not so young. Dragons don’t show their age. How old do you think I am?”
She paused and looked at him. “Um, well… I thought you were thirty, maybe…thirty-two?”
He nodded and started walking again, pulling on her hand to have her join him. She dug in her heels and yanked him back. “C’mon… You can’t say ‘Dragons don’t show their age’ then just walk again. How old are you?”
“A lot older than you think.”
“How much more?” she laughed, a spout of nerves fluttering through her. His age wouldn’t change the affection for him that grew in her, but a sudden fear that she’d be dreadfully outclassed spiked her nerves. How did one keep a Dragon with a hundred years of knowledge interested? And she was pretty sure he was about to tell her he was a century old.
Janos sighed. “Nine hundred sixty more.”
“You’re almost a thousand years old?” she exclaimed.
Nearby one of the men gave a snort she suspected covered a laugh. Janos looked beyond her with a glare that told his subject the topic wasn’t amusing. “It’s no big deal,” he said. “Different languages, different technology, different clothes… People never really change. The same problems are rehashed every century.”
Before she could reply, a door down the passageway slammed open.
“That’s Jonah’s dwelling,” Janos said just as a black-haired man came tumbling out as if someone had thrown him. He landed on his ass but quickly scrambled to his feet. “And that’s my brother, Niko,” Janos supplied.
“I didn’t know,” Niko yelled at whoever had thrown him.
“How dare you touch her!” Jonah bellowed.
Niko spread his arms wide. “She’s a blood letter. And I can promise, she enjoyed my bite.” His grin faded when Jonah’s reply came in the form of an attack. He launched at Niko like a torpedo. His shoulder connected with Niko’s belly.
Scarlett screamed as the two men careened into the white marble railing circling the balcony passageway. The force of Jonah’s assault shattered the stone and the two men catapulted into open air. Scales instantly shuttered over their bodies, wings holding them aloft as the two went at each other with fists and fire. Thunder echoed through the compound as they slammed each other into walls.
Janos let out a disgusted breath as rock fragments rained to the floor with each impact. “Apparently, they won’t stop this nonsense on their own. I need to deal with them—and arrange for repairs.” He shook his head. “Perhaps you can see to your cousin. She looks a bit…shell-shocked.”
Scarlett turned away from the Dragons who appeared to be trying to kill each other and saw Athena in the doorway of Jonah’s dwelling. Her eyes were wide as she held her ripped shirt over herself. Droplets of blood spilled at the base of her neck, one breaking loose to roll over her collarbone. She didn’t appear terrorized, just stunned by what she witnessed. And who wouldn’t be? Scarlett had at least had a little time to acclimate herself to what was happening, and Jonah had brought her up to speed on things fairly quickly while Janos had been in his council meeting. She suspected he hadn’t bestowed that kindness on her cousin. In her limited experience with Janos, she surmised male Dragons at the height of the mating weren’t the most forthright. Most of what she’d learned of the species and the situation had come from Janos’ much calmer wingscion.
Jonah seemed anything but calm now as he let loose another blast of fire that enveloped Niko’s head. Niko roared. His feet thrust up into Jonah’s middle, sending him tumbling into another wall. Glass shattered as an urn of coffee and a rack of cups from a buffet that had been set up crashed to the floor along with a good share of the food.
“And there goes dinner,” Janos growled. “Guess Jonah’s springing for pizza tonight whether he likes it or not. I need to stop them.” Stepping away from her, he gave her an apologetic look, and his scales slid over his body. As always the sight of his shift, the reforming of his body, stole her breath. Where once it had shocked and frightened her, now she found intrigue filling her. She grinned at him as he gave a nod. She suspected he was grinning back.
“Janos,” she said when he turned away to join the fray. He pivoted back. Warmth filled her at the tenderness in his reptilian eyes. He tilted his head in question.
Suddenly, she recognized the emotion that had tentatively stuttered through her since the first time they’d had sex. Maybe since he’d rescued her. It was more than connection and mating.
“I love you.”
“Velree… oh love—” His words were cut off by more shattering glass.
“Go,” Scarlett said, placing her hand on the side of his face. He turned his mouth into her palm then stepped away. With a roar that shook the compound, he dove over the railing to stop his brother and Jonah. She smiled as he landed and grabbed them both. Niko and Jonah’s bodies slammed together as Janos got their attention.
She turned to Athena. “Crazy, huh?” she commented as she walked toward her cousin. The dress skimmed around Scarlett like a caress of a lover’s hands. It heightened her need to embrace Janos again, to kiss him, but for once, she didn’t feel the driving need to sleep with him. Her building desire was to adore him and shower him with her affection. She smiled, feeling giddy with love.
“Crazy,” Athena scoffed. “This is insane, Scarlett. How can you be so calm? Why the hell aren’t you freaking out? We’re in the lair of monsters!”
“They’re not monsters, Theenie.”
“Did you see what happened at the church?” Athena exclaimed. “The scales, the fire, and one of them bit me!”
“Sometimes the biting is nice,” Scarlett replied dreamily.
Athena scoffed in disbelief, her disgust with everything evident. Leaving Scarlett on Jonah’s doorstep, she stormed back into the dwelling. Scarlett followed her more slowly. Jonah’s home was similar to Janos’ though not as large. Despite her sedate pace, she easily found her cousin as she rifled through a closet in an opulent suite just off the side of the living room. The blood letter’s quarters, Scarlett decided. Filled with cushions and silk draperies, it spoke of posh keeping. The letters were obviously well-treated. Of course, since they were Dragons’ mates, it stood to reason that they’d be taken care of and even coddled.
Her cousin yanked off the damaged shirt then pulled on a sapphire-blue blouse. “The biting is biting,” she retorted. “What freaking Kool-Aid have you been drinking? They’ve brainwashed you.”
“I’m not brainwashed. I love Janos. I’m his mate.”
“Yuh-huh. Right. Dragon, Scarlett. He’s a dragon. That’s not human.”
“We both have Dragon blood in us,” she answered. “You and I. That’s how they found us.” She lifted her wrist to show the design encircling it. “That’s why this happened.”
Athena nodded slowly. “Let’s take a walk… Explore,” she said, her voice placating Scarlett like she would a crazy person.
“Fine,” Scarlett replied.
The three men had disappeared from the main floor when the two women re-entered the passageway. They discovered that each door had the name of the Dragon resident on it, and there were several general seating areas on each level. Groups of people moved around the floors Scarlett and Athena visited, each going about their business until they saw Scarlett. Then they’d stop and bow their heads at her. She smiled uncomfortably at them and nodded her head to acknowledge the reverence.
“I need to talk to Janos about stopping this,” she told Athena after the last group was out of earshot.
“Why? It’s the only cool thing about this, and you should be used to it. You were a rock star for Pete’s sake. People gushed over you all the time.”
“That doesn’t mean I loved being gushed over.”
“What? You didn’t enjoy prime seating, special privileges, the world thinking you could do absolutely no wrong? You didn’t enjoy being the
coolest of the cool? Teenagers dressed like you, Scar. That is cool.”
“It was…before I spent seven years thinking the attack was because of my fame. Even when I can return to the public eye, I’ll never let it be like that again.”
Athena stopped and caught Scarlett by the shoulders, making Scarlett face her. Athena’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not still blaming yourself, are you?”
Scarlett shrugged. “Only sometimes. Because I lived and they didn’t. I shouldn’t have… Jonah says it’s because of my blood. It’s the reason I never get sick—”
“God!” Athena exclaimed. “Don’t mention that jerk’s name. He’s awful. Pushy and over-bearing! Jerk!” She shuddered. “Leaving him out of it, honey, you just gotta let go the guilt. It’s not healthy.”
“I know. Old habits and all that. I’ve been doing a lot better for the last year. I can go days without it hitting.” She smiled. “Meeting Janos, learning about all this—the Dragons, their history, the war with the Djinn and Elvish—it’s opened my eyes to a whole new side of things.”
“Well there’s that,” Athena conceded.
On the other side of the main floor, a door opened and slammed shut. The two women turned and saw Niko storming across the mosaic tiles with a helmet in his hand. He gave Scarlett a half-hearted and decidedly pissed off nod as he passed, his fury rolling off him. He didn’t spare Athena a single glance.
“Come on,” Athena said as soon as he’d marched down a corridor to their left. “I want to see where tall, dark and sharp-toothy is going.”
Warning sirens went off in Scarlett’s head. “No,” she said. “Not a good idea. Jonah will go ballistic if he sees you within ten feet of Niko.”
“That’s an even better reason.”
“No.”
“Oh, come on…” Athena was already pulling Scarlett after her quarry.
They found Niko again as he tore out of a cavernous garage on a motorcycle.
“Hot,” Athena sighed.
Scarlett had to agree. They both shared a love of men on bikes, and she wondered if Janos had one. She’d be willing to bet he did.
“We should go back in,” she said though she wanted to explore the garage and its many vehicles that ranged from old trucks to top of the line sports cars.
A high pitched beep drew her full attention back to Athena.
“Learned this on TV,” her cousin said. Suddenly, the trunk on a Mercedes near the door popped. “Oops. My bad,” she chirped and pulled Scarlett toward the car.
Scarlett shook her head and yanked back, though Athena didn’t loosen her grip. “I’m not an idiot. You can’t trick me. I’m not going with you, and you’re not going anywhere either. It’s not safe. The Dragons’ enemies are out to kill you, too.”
Athena snorted. “Right. The baddies are just desperate to get me. I really did pop the trunk by accident. I need to close it or the battery will die.”
“Fine. Give me the keys.”
With an exaggerated sigh, Athena handed them over. “Go hang them up while I do this. You can go back in if you’re so worried about being out here. It’s not like I know how to hot wire a car or anything. Hell, I live in New York. I can barely drive.”
Shaking her head, Scarlett headed back to the pegboard where Athena had gotten the key ring. She only made it two steps before a hand grabbed her neck.
“Sorry, Scar,” Athena murmured, as Scarlett sank into darkness. “I have to…”
Chapter Seven
“We’ll have the ceremony tonight,” Janos told Jonah. Janos leaned back in his desk chair while his scion sat in a wingchair across from him. Jonah and Niko were still on screaming terms, but at least they’d stopped breaking things and trying to kill each other. Niko had stormed off, ticked that he’d have to pay for part of the compound’s repairs when he felt the fault lay on Jonah. Jonah on the other hand felt all the fault lay on Niko who’d trespassed on another’s territory. Jonah had acquiesced more easily, wanting to get things cleared up and get back upstairs to his mate.
Janos needed the same. The frenzied encountered when they’d arrived had left her pregnant and he wanted to return to her and ensure she had every comfort. There were still a few details to see to first before both men could rejoin their women. He envisioned drawing his mate down on the bed and holding her while he shared the news she had no way of knowing. His Dragon perception had sensed the moment his seed had planted, the fragrance the union washing over him like a balm. Already, his two sons had started their development.
He’d planned to give Scarlett the tour of the compound, feed her then take her into the crystal garden deep in the mountain. As soon as he finished here, he’d go get her and complete the tour. Then, surrounded by the beautiful, multicolored rocks, he’d tell Scarlett that they’d be able to unite for eternity tonight.
His heart flipped at the thought of having her with him forever, his beautiful, funny and stubborn Velree. His scales had almost slid away when she’d told him she loved him. And he’d nearly left the two feuding Dragons to destroy the home around him. Spiriting Scarlett to privacy had pulled at him even as he’d surrendered to duty.
“Congratulations,” Jonah offered. “Go take care of Scarlett. I’ll take see to details. Flowers, food, the clan. They’ll all be here. No doubt, they’ve already perceived the quickening of her womb. Everyone’s giddy over your Velree being found. This will bring on a full-scale celebration.”
“It’s good indeed. I thought it—”
His words were interrupted by a frantic pounding on his office door. It opened before he could round his desk. His youngest brother, Lucan, rushed in while a crowd of others stood outside.
“What is it?” Janos demanded.
“Your Velree is gone,” Lucan said. “She and the other woman took my Mercedes.”
Janos swore in the ancient Dragon language. Terror sliced through him. His mate and his progeny were in mortal danger. His enemies would be on them before night fell. “Jonah and I will go after them. Lucan, can you and your scion search, as well?” He looked to the others. “When we return, there will be a joining.”
Or a funeral. First for Scarlett then for him. Even now, he was so connected to her, he knew he couldn’t survive if she died.
“Why would she do this?” Jonah asked, once they’d dashed through the compound and out the front doors. “I understand Athena, but Scarlett…”
“I don’t know.” And that hurt more than he could believe. Had she lied to him? His heart jerked. Had she said she loved him to mask her escape plan? Did she hate him that much? Would he be stuck with a duplicitous mate for a lifetime? He had no choice but to change her. If he didn’t, their children would kill her before they could be born, and her death was something he couldn’t abide.
* * * *
Scarlett woke to the sound of a speeding car, light burning into her eyelids and grinding pain twisting her middle. She couldn’t remember when she’d last eaten but this wasn’t hunger pain. It felt as if someone was eating her insides.
“What the hell was that?” she asked weakly. “Some sort of Vulcan death grip?”
“A little something I learned from an old boyfriend. He was into martial arts. A little too much into them—and his sparring partner—but he taught me that neat little trick.”
“You need to take me back,” Scarlett moaned. The farther Athena drove, the more Scarlett’s pain intensified. Was this something to do with the mating? Janos hadn’t mentioned the inability to separate.
“No way. What’s wrong with you anyway? You’ve been moaning since we got a mile from that place.” Athena pressed a hand to Scarlett’s forehead, but Scarlett tilted her head away and slumped against the door. She closed her eyes and tried to focus away from the pain slashing through her belly. She knew Janos could talk telepathically to Jonah and he could sense mates. Desperately, she hoped he could read her if she tried hard enough to send him a message. He’d once said he couldn’t but…
With everyt
hing in her, she conveyed that she hadn’t willingly left him, that she needed him, that she loved him. Her hand rubbed over the design on her arm, needing to touch the sign of her connection with him. Janos…please find me. I love you.
Another agonizing pang tore through her, and she bowed from the seat with a scream.
“Oh my God,” Athena gasped.
“Take me back,” Scarlett begged, her voice a rasp.
“I can’t. Scar, they’re monsters.”
“They’re not. They’re my people. Please. Jonah’s their doctor. He can help me.”
“That jerk’s a doctor?”
“Yes.” Scarlett closed her eyes and gathered all her strength. She gritted her teeth, willing herself not to moan when her insides seemed to twist again. “How far are we from the compound?”
Athena shrugged. “An hour.”
An hour. And Scarlett had no idea how to get back. Or how to reach Janos. Her stomach twisted again, but this time it was with pure fear. Whatever was happening to her, she wasn’t just going to endure and make it out the other end. She had no doubt her cousin had signed her death warrant. Impotent anger flared through her, adding to her fleeting strength.
“If you don’t stop this car and let me out, I’m going throw up on you, then I’m going to beat the crap out of you,” Scarlett growled.
Her cousin swerved to the edge of the road and got out of the car. Scarlett pulled the keys from the ignition. Quickly, she disconnected the ignition key. When Athena opened her door and helped her out, Scarlett pulled back her arm and hurled the key ring as far as she could into the trees beside the road.
“What the hell?”
“I’m not going an inch further with you,” Scarlett grated. Her words sounded feral as pain smothered all reason.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere!”
Scarlett shrugged and leaned against the frame of the car. She swallowed, but her mouth was so dry that her throat scratched as if she’d swallowed sand.
With a glare and a few swear words, Athena headed toward the woods to find the keys. As soon as she was far enough away, Scarlett scuttled around the car as fast as she could, got in and locked the door. Athena yelled when she heard the car start, but she was too far away to do anything but watch as Scarlett u-turned and sped back they way they’d come.