Dragon's Choice

by Juniper Hart

  She kept looking at Kai on the ground. She wanted desperately to have a magic button that she could push to take her back in time, so she’d find Kai before she got wrapped up with Earl and Josh and their boss. She wouldn’t need to rob him. She’d have a chance to get to know him better.

  Kai let out a low groan and Coral cursed. If they’d met a few months earlier, then he wouldn’t be passed out on the floor. A few months earlier, and they’d be making love instead of the situation they were currently in. A few months earlier, and she wouldn’t be getting intimidating calls all through the night and day.

  Coral took the watch from Kai’s wrist, a few trinkets that she could sell, and some cash he had sitting out on the counter. She didn’t bother looking for his safe to break into; she managed to collect enough valuables to pay her rent, and pay Josh and Earl.

  Her eyes caught a glimpse of the handsome man on the floor. His arm was bent under him in an uncomfortable way. She set down her bags and gently pulled it out.

  “I’m so sorry,” Coral said. It was too late to bail now. “Sleep well.”

  She took one final glance at the man, his sculpted jawline, dark blonde hair, and his perfect nose. Finally, she summoned up the strength to leave. As she walked, she passed the paintings. They all seemed to be greatly disappointed in her. A few minutes later, she was outside at his gate. Now, just to remember his gate code and call a taxi.

  She hoped the taxi drivers didn’t call the cops on her. How would a taxi driver even know what she was up to? She relaxed a little.

  Coral entered the code. 5062. She wondered if the numbers had any significance to Kai as she stepped outside of his gate.

  And then she was immediately grabbed and shoved into a van.

  She didn’t see it coming. One moment, she felt bad about robbing a guy who seemed nice. The next moment, strong hands grabbed her bare arms while someone else ripped the bags out of her hands. How could she be so careless not to see them coming? Her mind was distracted.

  The van drove off, but the person who shoved her into the van still held onto her tightly. She pulled away from the hands and started to kick the man before she recognized him—Earl. Josh was beside him, holding a bat.

  Uh-oh.

  “You sure took a long time,” Earl said with a spit.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Coral hissed. “I told you tomorrow morning!”

  Earl tilted his watch. It was almost an hour after midnight. “It is tomorrow morning. We’ve been gentle. Pay up.”

  Coral brushed off her dress and scooted against the side of the van, trying to put as much distance between her and her captors as possible. “Fine. Take everything there.”

  Josh spun the bat. The wood had a red stain on it. He gave Coral a nasty smile. His teeth were jagged and it looked like a few were missing. Josh’s appearance made her cringe. Coral pulled away from his gaze and watched Earl root through the bags.

  “Not enough,” Earl finally said.

  What?

  “Everything in those bags is worth way more than what you said I owe you,” Coral said.

  Earl chuckled. “She thinks that she just owes what was stolen.”

  Josh’s smile grew wider and scarier. “When you steal from us, you pay for our time. You don’t come away even with us, but it’s cute that you thought we were fine breaking even.”

  “We’ll take you back there. Get more,” Josh said. “We’ll be waiting. And if you try to call the cops, we’ll get you, so don’t even think about it.”

  Terror overtook her body as she felt her body temperature rise. She didn’t want to continue stealing from Kai after she’d already taken so much from him, but on the other hand, she didn’t want to die.

  Coral groaned. “Okay.”

  They pulled back up to Kai’s gate. The van doors opened, and Josh shoved Coral to the ground. She fell to her hands and knees, and small rocks dug into her skin, leaving painful abrasions. She stood up and brushed herself off. Josh and Earl wouldn’t see her cry, even though tears hung on for dear life on the brim of her lashes.

  Coral walked back up to the gate and pushed the numbers, 5092. The lock beeped red. She could feel Earl’s eyes burning into her back. They didn’t care about the money. They cared about getting their message across and establishing their dominance.

  “Nice house,” Josh mumbled from behind her. “So, what’d you do to the guy?”

  “Drugged him,” she murmured.

  Wait, was it 5062?

  Nervously, she punched the code into the gate box. The light beeped green and the door started to slide open.

  Josh laughed. “Vicious, ain’t ya?”

  “I didn’t hurt him. He will probably just wake up with a slight headache.”

  “How long will he be out?” asked Earl.

  “I don’t know. Maybe a few hours.”

  Earl’s eyes widened, like a child on Christmas morning. “If nobody’s awake, I guess we will join you.”

  “I can handle it on my own,” Coral said firmly. Even though she had robbed him, and even though she was going back to rob him again, she felt protective over Kai, and she didn’t want Josh or Earl anywhere near him.

  “See, but we don’t trust you. We’re going with you,” said Earl.

  They both gave her a cruel look, like two beasts looking at a pinned rabbit, with vicious glares and the knowledge that their prey was helpless.

  Coral nodded. It wasn’t like she could argue. She was unarmed, in the dark, and in an area she didn’t know. If Kai woke up, she would have to face him. What if he called the cops? In this situation, she just couldn’t win. Maybe it would be better if she just gave up.

  No, I must go on!

  She led them to the front door and gently opened it.

  “All right,” Josh rumbled from beside her. “Where’s the guy?”

  “By the piano,” Coral answered. “Don’t hurt him.”

  Earl’s big hand clapped her on her curved ass, taking one handful of her body through her green dress. Instinctively she turned and slapped him right across the face with enough speed to make her palm sting from the contact. “Fuck off!”

  Earl looked startled for a moment before he grinned. “A little fight in you. I like that.”

  “Touch me again, and I’ll cut your balls off,” she snapped.

  Josh laughed and shoved Earl. “Knock that shit off! Let’s get this done quickly and get out of here.”

  Something sprayed against the window. A moment later, it happened again. Soon, a solid rainstorm came down in full force, just as it had earlier.

  “Great. Just great,” said Earl. “The storm is going to make it harder to get out of here fast.”

  Something was amiss. The rain had started after Coral had drugged Kai, and now the rain came down in sheets from outside the house. Although it could definitely just be a coincidence, Coral didn’t entirely think it was. She rushed off to find Kai, hoping that he was okay. She hurried past the paintings and glanced at the grand piano.

  Coral’s heart jumped directly into her throat.

  His body was missing.

  Kai was gone.

  Lightning struck down a few feet outside the window with a booming echo. Coral swallowed. The electric static of the air grew tremendously, enough to where her hair stood up on end.

  “Where the fuck is he?” grumbled Josh. “I thought you said he was here.”

  Coral couldn’t pull her eyes away from the spot. “He was…”

  Kai had fought it when he first felt it, and apparently, he’d won. That, or someone had taken his body. Coral didn’t know which option scared her more.

  The assailants continued searching the house, while Coral searched for Kai. Her heart wanted to see him again, but her head let her know it wasn’t a good idea. If they met face-to-face, who knows how Kai would react.

  Earl and Josh didn’t seem to quite grasp the gravity of the situation. Kai was nowhere to be seen. To make it even more stressful, the t
hunderstorm outside continued to grow stronger. The wind had picked up, making the windows rattle. A low hum came from inside the house.

  As the intensity of the storm grew, Coral noticed Josh and Earl lose their cool. They jumped at shadows and kept looking over their shoulders. Coral couldn’t shake the indescribable feeling that they were being hunted by a large, ferocious predator, despite the fact that she hadn’t seen anyone enter the house other than them.

  Coral leaned up against the wall, terrified at the frightened feelings that coursed through her body. As soon as her body touched the wall, a shudder shot through her and the wall seemed to be whispering to her, like there were a thousand people inside trying to tell her something. Coral jumped away from it. No part of this was okay. Why had Earl and Josh forced her to go back inside the house? She wanted to run and get as far away as possible.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Josh grumbled.

  The big man eyeballed some of the objects around the house like they might jump out and grab him. They hustled out of the door, with Coral following close behind. When Josh opened the door, a wave of wind smashed into them with enough force to pull Coral’s purse off and make their clothes flap dramatically.

  The van was just outside the gate, about twenty yards away. Blocking their path was a shirtless man, with fury emanating from his eyes.

  Kai.

  The moon from above illuminated the powerful curves of his sculpted, god-like body. Rain dripped down his chest, soaking him and showing every defined muscle perfectly. The water collected on his pants, making them stick tight against his legs. Another lighting strike, this one close enough to make the ground rumble, lit him up from behind. His eyes flickered with an unearthly, impossible blue light. The car Kai stood next to seemed to shake from the energy reverberating from him.

  For one moment, Coral and the assailants watched in stunned silence. The sight of Kai was terrifying, but strangely beautiful.

  Kai walked up the driveway and came close to the front door. He was unarmed, unlike Josh and Earl.

  With a booming voice, Kai demanded, “Let her go.”

  Coral felt a sinking feeling in her chest. Did he want them to let her go so that he could save her, or so he could kill her himself?

  “What are you gonna do if we don’t?” Earl grunted. Rooted to his spot just inside the door, his hand slid inside his jacket and removed a handgun warningly.

  “I wouldn’t as that if I were you,” replied Kai in a deep, warning tone.

  “But I am asking,” said Earl as he released the safety on the gun.

  Kai scowled and reached for the car door. He pulled on the handle, but it was locked. He jabbed his fingers into the steel, burrowing deep into the frame. With one swift jerk he ripped the door straight off the vehicle. The car swayed with the impact. He put the door in front of him like a shield and slowly started walking forward towards them. Heavy drops of rain slithered down the smooth metal, dripping onto the ground and splattering.

  Josh brandished his bat and stepped backwards. “What the fuck?”

  Earl didn’t question the physics behind taking a door off a car with your bare hands. Instead, he resorted to trying to kill the man advancing on them. He jerked up his gun and fired. The gun popped back, the bullet zipped forward… and hit the door. Kai didn’t stumble.

  Josh dropped his bag of loot and charged forward with the bat. Kai was, by this time, close enough that Coral saw the flickering of lightning in his eyes and how every muscle on his body was tense.

  Kai saw Josh coming and promptly swung the door without any difficulty, as though it didn’t take any effort whatsoever. The door smashed Josh in the face and flipped him over like a ragdoll. He tumbled to the ground, still with his bat in his hand.

  The absence of the shield meant that Kai was completely unprotected. Earl used this opportunity to shoot off a couple more rounds into the soaked man. Coral saw her chance, and she charged forward. She grabbed the first solid object she could get her hands on—a solid gold vase—and knocked the gun out of Earl’s hand with it. The vase weighed more than expected, and although she did hit his hand, Earl didn’t release the gun. Quickly, he turned and pointed the gun at Coral.

  His eyes were wild as he pulled the trigger. It was the strangest thing. She was intimately aware of the flash from the muzzle of the gun. Everything felt on high alert. She felt the smooth surface of the vase in her hand, the uncomfortable way her shoes were binding up her toes. Everything became perfectly clear for one precious moment, but she couldn’t make a decision on how to react.

  Should she try to jump left and hope he shot right? Jump right and hope he shot left? Stay still and hope he was a bad shot? He was shooting on instinct, a panicked shot. It was very likely that he might miss, or that he’d catch her in the face. She had no way of knowing.

  Abruptly, time unfroze and sped up. Not only did everything seem suddenly much faster, but in half a moment, everything came to an end. The bullet shot directly into her forearm. Not the worst place to get shot, and amazingly, the pain wasn’t as intense as Coral imagined it would be. She jumped back. Earl pointed the gun at her again.

  How many bullets had he used? Coral tried to remember, but couldn’t focus. Had he reloaded? Maybe.

  Abruptly, Kai was between them, blocking her from Earl. She heard a gunshot go off and saw Kai twist so the bullet didn’t hit him directly in the chest.

  Boom!

  Another lightning strike, right as the bullet hit.

  Coral scrambled away in stunned silence as Kai grabbed the gun and squeezed it, as if it were made from tinfoil. Kai threw the crumpled piece of metal to the ground.

  Abruptly, Josh was back in the scene, having apparently recovered from his tumble in the grass. He reared back the bat and swung with full force at Kai’s brawny back.

  “Look out!” Coral yelled.

  The bat landed with a resounding thump, loud enough for everyone to hear it. The strike seemed to barely affect the shirtless man. He backhanded Josh and sent him back down to the soaked grass.

  Kai’s hands found the collar of Earl’s shirt and lifted him up like he was made of feathers, rather than flesh and blood.

  “Let me make this very clear,” Kai growled at him. Coral could see his canine fangs sticking down out of his lips. “Show up again at my house, and I will kill you.”

  Earl ran outside, attempting to get as far away from Kai as he could.

  Josh screamed, “This isn’t over, you freak!”

  They ran down the driveway and through the open gate to their van. They hopped in the car, and Earl stepped on the gas. The wheels screamed and shot off as they raced down the street.

  Kai turned to Coral. She wasn’t sure whether to jump forward and kiss him or run like hell. He stepped forward, his chest rippling with exertion as he breathed deeply. His magnificent blue eyes were locked onto her.

  He took another step in her direction.

  5

  Corral stepped back. Did Kai want to save her or hurt her? She’d watched him rip off a car door and get shot, and neither had seemed to faze him.

  Speaking of getting shot.

  It hadn’t hurt in the beginning, but now the pain started to kick in. It wasn’t a light tap. It was like getting hit with a sledgehammer.

  Coral clenched her teeth and grabbed her forearm with her other hand, as if that would help alleviate her pain somehow. She kept moving away from Kai, terrified of what he might do to her.

  Kai’s own flesh was marred with bullet holes. She looked down for half a second. By the time she looked back up, the holes were much smaller. He was healing. That, of course, or she was going insane. Either option was completely viable to her. Everything that had just transpired seemed impossible.

  “Easy.” Kai’s voice was soft as he raised his hands, almost as if she were the one who posed a threat to him. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Coral stopped retreating from him, and soon enough, he was standing right in front of her. He gentl
y laid his hand on the one she was using to cover the wound in her forearm. “Let me see.”

  She wasn’t willing to do that quite yet. It hurt like crazy. Allowing someone to touch it sounded about as pleasant as sticking her hand directly into a fire.

  “I know what I’m doing,” Kai told her. “Let me see it.”

  She hesitated before finally sliding her hand away. Her palm was covered in blood. She was bleeding intensely. The holes in Kai’s chest were somehow gone. His chest was completely unmarred, like he had not been shot at all. He didn’t touch where she had been shot, but instead looked at it and ran his fingers nearby. He seemed pleased with what he saw.

  “It’s not bad,” he said reassuringly.

  “It stings.”

  He grinned. “Trust me, I know.”

  The storm outside had slowed down and was now only a light drizzle.

  Kai glanced back at the street. “They’re gone for now, but they’ll be back. Their kind always comes back with backup.”

  Their kind? What did Kai mean by that?

  “Let’s not worry about them right now, though. Let’s go inside and tend to your arm.”

  He motioned for Coral to follow him. She did, reluctantly. Coral had no brilliant plan to get herself out of the mess she was in. It was great that Kai seemed to be helping her, but what would happen when she went back home? Josh and Earl would eventually come for her and seek their revenge.

  “Are you okay?” She asked. “Weren’t you shot?”

  “Just a flesh wound,” he told her with an impish grin. But Coral had seen the bullet holes on his chest and she had seen them shrink as if by magic. Had she been hallucinating? Had the adrenaline and the stress and her guilt and her fear been too much for her brain to handle?

  Kai held the door to an office open for her like a gentleman. He had to be faking all of this kindness. She had drugged him and stolen from him. Why was he helping her? Maybe in a minute, she’d wake up and find that she’d had entirely too much to drink back at the bar and that none of this was real.