Dragon Captain

by Kendal Davis

  Kat’s eyes widened. She knew no dragon could take such insults without rising to them.

  But I also knew that she had a plan. She was the bravest, most honorable person I’d ever met, willing to make herself the bait within this trap.

  I raised a hand in appeasement. “Listen, I’m not here to argue with you. Kat is her own person.” A tiny smile blossomed at the corner of her mouth. That was all she needed to hear me say.

  How could I have bungled it so badly before?

  All I knew was that I was not going to ruin her plan. I was going to encourage them to marry. I would be present at the ceremony, at the registrar’s office. Then I would step in and I would kill him before he could take this charade any further.

  Rosso was still watching me. Much as I hated to admit it, he was older than I, and more experienced in the art of plotting. Understanding flickered across his face.

  “Do you think I cannot see your plans written across your face? Boy, you will not stop me. You would never dare to attack me.” He was utterly confident. “It is forbidden for one dragon to kill another. We are immortal beings, save for the one kill that can be had with a dragon’s true name. Without the magic of naming me, you could not hope to stop me. And even with that magic, I do not think you could do it.”

  Kat had been watching us, her irritation growing. Finally, she broke in. “Listen up. That’s enough, seriously. Do I have to stand here while you two get into some kind of dragon peeing contest?” She ran her hand through her hair. With decisiveness, she turned her face up to Rosso’s. In a manner that almost succeeded in being more charming than scared, she made her move.

  “Shall we settle this right now, gentlemen?” She placed her hand on Rosso’s arm. “I am willing to marry you, Count. I may be many things, but an evader of my responsibilities is not one of them.”

  I meant to encourage her when I said, “Kat, remember, Rosso will have to walk with you wherever you’re going. He is frozen in his two-legged form. He has been unable to shift ever since he came through the portal into this world.”

  It was a foolhardy, taunting thing to say.

  I told myself that I was trying to help her. I wanted to let her know that I could still best him when the moment came. I had her back.

  But in the end, my inability to resist a parting shot was our undoing.

  I saw Rosso’s face darken with anger. As they turned to leave, I sent Kat a message with my mind. All I wanted to do was to connect with her. I would follow her and all would be well.

  It had to be.

  I love you, Kat.

  At the very moment that my mind touched hers in the telepathic connection that had linked us since we’d come to her world from mine, a third mind inserted itself. Rosso was there. It was as if cold claws were grabbing onto our private moment and scraping away at me.

  I felt the pure evil of his touch as if he were rifling through the desk drawers of my mind. He had no business in this contact. Even as I knew that, I knew I could not stop him, not when he had torn his way into my thoughts like this.

  I saw him smile as he did it. He growled at me with vengeful glee. “This was all I wanted from you. It took a long time for you to make the mistake I needed, but I knew you would.”

  He used his presence in my mind to strip me of all the magic that I possessed. As I collapsed onto the tiles of the rooftop garden, I knew that I could not shift into my dragon form. I would not be able to follow them.

  He now had the ability to become a dragon again. He could transform and he could fly.

  He could take her anywhere.

  I was powerless to stop him.

  Chapter 19: Kat

  My blood ran cold as I saw what Rosso had done. I had felt his touch on the mental bond between me and Cobalt, but I had not known what he could do with it. Once he ripped the shifter magic away from Cobalt and used it to wrap himself in power, I began to understand that perhaps I was in over my head here.

  No, I couldn’t think that. If I could stay calm, I would find a way to see this through. Cobalt had let me know he believed in me. He had finally seen me, really seen me, and he had known that all I wanted in the world was the chance to fix this on my own.

  He had given me his blessing to try.

  Now every fiber of my being was crying out in panic and outrage at the sight of Cobalt lying there on the stone pathway. He was still alive. I could see the soft lifting of his side as he breathed normally. There was no sign that he was in physical distress.

  Rosso watched me with unveiled curiosity. “Does it worry you to see him like that?” His tone revealed no compassion or empathy for either my dragon bodyguard or me. He only asked because he wanted to determine my next move before I made it. “If you want, you may go to his side. It will only prolong the settlement of our bargain, but I do not mind. If you cry and snivel, I will merely take you to the altar of our wedding like that.”

  I felt my lips close tightly in disgust at the type of man he was revealing himself to be. He did not care about my feelings. He was ruthless. I did not need Cobalt’s gentle voice in my head to remind me that Rosso was not a man at all. He was a dragon.

  Cobalt had warned me that it was foolhardy to try to outwit a dragon, but I had not wanted to listen. Now I had no choice. He could not protect me now. I was going to have to take care of this myself.

  I leaned closer to Rosso, hoping that I could relax my body against him convincingly enough that he might believe I wanted to feel his touch. I carefully did not even look at Cobalt again.

  “I must admit, Count Rosso, that I am impressed with you.” I smiled in a parody of seduction. “You are the sort of dragon that I have been looking for. I simply did not know it.”

  “Is that so?” He narrowed his eyes at me, perhaps trying to determine if I was dissembling. I filled my mind with images of how much I desired him.

  “Yes, my Count. As you have pointed out, you outrank Cobalt in every way. He is merely a Captain, but you are the ruler of your own House. You are wiser and more seasoned in every aspect of your life.”

  He nodded, considering my words. With the weakness that comes with the thirst for flattery, he was losing his ability to judge my veracity. If I could keep this up, with enough charm, he might believe that I had chosen him above Cobalt.

  I pressed on. “Count Rosso, I am so honored by the fact that you’ve chosen me. It is my wish that we marry. If we are joined together in marriage, we might then travel back to your world. Would I rule with you as your Countess?” I would happily allow him to think that ambition was a factor in my attraction to him. It was the emotion that ruled his life above all others.

  He chuckled, patting my hand in an abstracted way. “My dear, you are a greedy little one, are you not? I will let you know whether I decide to allow you to rule with me. First, though, I intend to claim what is mine. I will have your hand in marriage.” His red eyes raked over my body as if he were running his hands along my bare skin. “And I will have much more than that.”

  It took all the self-discipline I had not to shudder at the idea of his naked body touching mine. I held my ground. In my heart, though, I could not help but compare the two dragons. Cobalt was still naked from having shifted into his two-legged form. I snuck the tiniest, last look. His body, even as he lay unconscious from what Rosso had done to him, was perfection. The lines of his muscles were like fine art. Everything about him suggested power, even if it were sleeping at the moment.

  Rosso was something else. His form was perfect in many ways as well, but he was missing the spark of kindness that made it all come together into anything at all desirable. He might have the body of a young man, unchanged from its peak physical appearance, despite his immortality, but he was cruel. His stance, his glare, and his cold grip were all testimony to who he really was. Surely nobody could fail to see the difference between these two men.

  Nevertheless, I was going to see this through. This was going to be the moment in my life that defined whet
her I could stand on my own. I simpered at him and followed him back into the building.

  “If you agree, Count Rosso, I would like to stop into my apartment, so I might change my clothes. Then we can go to the courthouse to complete the paperwork to make our marriage official.”

  Rosso sent me a condescending look. “Small human, we will marry now. Here, in your rooms.”

  “But that’s not the plan I had in mind,” I protested. “I mean, I would like to be married in public. I think there is supposed to be a waiting period as well, for the license to be ready.” That sounded suspicious, so I amended it. “I’d like my brother to be there.”

  “No. I shall have you now. What did you think I came here for?” Rosso pressed his strong body against mine, pinning me to the wall. “We will be married here and now.” He licked his lips. His smell was hot and dark, like a snake in the sun.

  My heart was racing with the realization that I was cornered and alone. I wished as hard as I could that Cobalt was coming to help me. To tell the truth, though, I had no idea when he would wake up. I would not wait for him.

  “May I change into a dress, though?” I wriggled out of his arms. “I want to be beautiful for you.”

  “Yes, but you needn’t think that anybody is coming to help you. There is nobody who can.” As he spoke, he glowed with the magic that he had taken from Cobalt.

  He was right.

  In my bedroom, I stepped out of the unkempt clothes I had been wearing, and pulled a white sundress over my head. This was starting to seem like a very, very bad idea. I was probably so screwed now that it did not matter what I wore. Nevertheless, I put on the golden bracelet as well. If it really was a charm against Rosso’s violence, then perhaps it would help.

  What was I supposed to do to activate it? I couldn’t remember. Had Cobalt been right when he said there was nothing I needed to do? Was I supposed to show it to Rosso, or keep it hidden. Touch him with it? Anything? My mind was jumbled.

  I had to find a way to delay this. All I needed was to get him over to the office at the courthouse where I had planned for us to do this. It was still possible that I could marry him and then annul it right away. It had to be possible.

  When I stepped out of my bedroom, I saw Rosso waiting in a chair. He was relaxed and urbane as he sipped a glass of wine that he had served himself from my kitchen. When he saw my eyes on it, he frowned. “I should not have to serve myself. That is not acceptable. When you are my mate, you will wait upon me.”

  Um...no.

  Ok, this was absurd. I was about to sign on as the eternal mate of the most loathsome man I’d ever met, and the thing that was bothering me was whether he wanted me to bring him drinks for the rest of my life? That was the least of my problems.

  As I stood there, frozen, unable to think of an answer that would not set him off, I heard a knock at the door. I turned to Rosso to see if he was expecting it.

  He was.

  He smiled at me, his pointed teeth showing. “That will be my associate, of course. You see, we need not leave these rooms to make it official. If you want to fulfill your contract, and I know you do, then we will be married right here and now. You may remember another red dragon that you met several times while you were staying at House Caeruleus. Brick has the legal power in your world to perform this ceremony. His connections in the government here will allow us to marry without waiting for a license. Did you think I was unprepared? We are dragons; this is nothing to us.”

  Just as I realized that I was caught completely in his web, the sound of a key turning in the lock surprised both of us.

  The door opened, revealing not Brick, but Andres. My brother called out, breaking the silence that had fallen. “Kat! I’m back. Sorry, I thought I’d forgotten my key. I wouldn’t have knocked otherwise. Didn’t mean to make you get up from the couch, lazybones.” His words were unkind, but his tone was not. He must have come back from campus early to try to cheer me up.

  When Andres saw Count Rosso, however, he closed the door and flushed in embarrassment. He’d always been so shy that meeting new people was torture for him.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled, ducking his head. “Didn’t know you had company.” His eyes darted to my face, though, surely seeing that something was wrong in the room. “Are you ok?”

  I was about to answer, but Rosso cut me off. He waved his hand dismissively at my younger brother. “She is fine. You may leave now.”

  Andres, for the first time ever, stood his ground. He might have wanted to slink away, following the red dragon shifter’s instructions without questioning him, but he did not.

  My little brother was finally coming into his own.

  Before he could speak again, though, another knock came at the door. Andres, still standing next to it, turned and opened it.

  In the hallway, as confident and unpleasant as ever, stood a man with red eyes and dark hair. He was the second of the red dragon shifters that had stranded themselves in their two-legged forms. I should have known that they would both find their way to my door.

  Brick, the red-eyed intruder, smirked at Andres. “You. I remember you from when you visited my world. So pathetic to see your family this way. Your sister at least will be lucky enough to be the mate of a Count. You are no man at all, but that need not bother you. Your debts will be paid even if your sister does it by opening her legs to every dragon she meets.”

  Andres did not look at me. He did not need to.

  Instead, he reacted with more passion than I had ever seen him show in all his years. Without saying anything, without seeming to pause to think, he drew back his arm and punched Brick squarely in the jaw.

  When his fist connected with the face of the red dragon shifter, it knocked the smirk right off Brick’s countenance.

  And, although Brick was the larger man, the blow felled him completely.

  He had no magic, no way of shifting into his dragon form. He’d lost that when he crippled himself in the collapsing portal, just as Rosso had.

  Without his powers, Brick was as much out of commission as Cobalt. I bit my lip, thinking of my blue dragon up there on the rooftop. What was I going to do without him?

  As it turned out, I was not without him.

  Through the open door of my apartment, Cobalt stepped over the form of Brick and faced us. He had eyes only for me.

  Chapter 20: Cobalt

  Everything hurt. I woke up on the rooftop garden with my head aching and my heart pounding. I had to get to Kat. She thought she would be able to handle Rosso, but I knew she was wrong.

  It had been a calculated risk, telling her to go forward with her plan. I needed her to know that I believed in her. But I had never meant for it all to go down without my being there as her backup.

  I had to get to her right now.

  As I stood, rubbing my forehead, I felt the lack of my own dragon magic acutely. Damn Rosso. He had taken that which was not his, breaking every law of our land. He had no right to steal my shifter abilities for himself.

  I had no time to hesitate, though. Even if I could not shift into my dragon form, I still needed to be at Kat’s side. I would protect her, no matter how I had to do it.

  There was still the golden bracelet charm. At least she had that with her. If only it was enough.

  I had my hand on the doorknob when I heard the beating of dragon wings. Great. If it was another red dragon, come to help Rosso with his nefarious attack on the woman I loved, I would kill him too. The words echoed in my head. It was against our code to try to destroy each other. An immortal dragon could be killed only if one had knowledge of his secret, true name. I did not have that information.

  But even if I did, I could not countenance doing such a thing. It was barbaric. It would take us back to the days of chaos, when violence ruled all dragons.

  My mind whirled at the thought. Would I do anything, anything at all, if it would save Kat?

  Probably.

  The dragon who landed behind me, though, turning to t
he form of a man as he set foot on the stones of the garden, was no threat to me.

  He was my friend.

  Safyr, my Caerulean ally and business partner, strode toward me with a wry smile. “Looks like you need a hand here.”

  “I do. Thanks.”

  That was all we needed to say to each other.

  Safyr held out his hand and I took it. In a moment, he had shared enough magic with me so that I would be able to face Rosso. I would shift into my dragon form and make him regret ever setting eyes on Kat.

  And on me.

  Safyr stepped back as I opened the door. “I came as soon as I heard from the red dragons at the club what was happening here. It was a mistake to let those two rogues in when they could no longer shift.”

  “I’d be happy never to let a member of House Rubellus into our club ever again.” I growled.

  Safyr made a motion that suggested compromise. “We need to find a way to settle this feud. It is bad for all dragons.”

  “That’s the green dragon in you speaking.” I knew he disliked being reminded of his mixed heritage, but it was true. One reason I valued his friendship so highly was that he had the honor of a blue dragon and the sense of balance of a green dragon.

  “It is harder than you know to have a foot in each world. That is why I reside here, amongst humans. If I belong nowhere, I might as well do it with style.” Safyr shook his head at both of us. Himself for his momentary melancholy, and me for my slowness. “Now get down there and protect your mate.”

  It took only a moment for me to reach Kat’s door. Nothing in the world could have kept me from her. I knew from the angle of the setting sun that I had been out of commission for only a short while. But even that was too long for her to have to spend in Rosso’s company. She was safe, though, I could feel it. I did not attempt to touch her mind. But I knew she was there, and as resourceful as ever.