The Unseen

by Thea Harrison

  The constant, often subtle presence of their mating bond had vanished.

  “Oh no no no no NO NO NO….” Horror and wrongness yanked at her. Ignoring her body’s flashes of pain, she sprang to her feet, cast her own witchlight and tossed it to the ground, and ran for the dragon’s head. Her beautiful, strong, irascible mate couldn’t be dead. Not just like that.

  Stumbling over a rock, she fell onto the dragon’s snout. Warmth curled from his nostril. He was breathing. She sobbed in relief, stroking his bronze hide. “Wake up!” she hissed at him. “You wake up.”

  Another breath of wind blew around her, carrying with it a hint of wings. Something did this to him. Something made him convulse. Leaping to her feet, she grabbed her bow, pulled an arrow, pointed it into the darkness. Her pulse thudded in her wrists and temples.

  Dragos, she said telepathically. I need you to wake up. You’re the size of a six-seater Cessna. I can’t move you on my own, and there’s something down here in the dark with us. We’ll figure out the mate thing later, just, wake up now, please. You have so much acreage I can’t protect you if something attacks you on the other side. Please, please, baby. I need you to GET THE FUCK UP.

  The world flexed. The dragon shimmered and disappeared, and Dragos’s human form lay sprawled on the ground. She backed over to him, knelt, and put her fingers to the carotid artery at his neck. That incredibly stubborn, ancient heart of his was still beating strong.

  She still couldn’t move him. As a human, he had to weigh close to three hundred pounds. Now what?

  Just as she was about to scream as loud as she could for help from the surface, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

  In the witchlight, his irises were amber.

  Not gold.

  He smiled. “Hello, darling. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

  Inside, she went cold and dark and numb.

  Somehow, she made herself whisper, “You fell. Are you okay?”

  “I believe so.” He sat up and looked around. “We need to get out of here. I can’t wait to be out in the open air again.”

  She made herself nod. “Let’s go.”

  He rose to his feet and looked at the bow and arrow she still held in one hand. “There’s no need for those weapons. All is well now. Put those away.”

  There was an incalculable amount of Power in his voice, held in check with a sure, steady control, like a hand on the reins of a dangerous stallion.

  “All right.” Her hands shook as she obeyed.

  They walked back to the hole. The silence that fell around them was complete. No wings, no whispers, no dark wind. When they stepped into sight, Tiago had joined Graydon at the rim, and a rope dangled, waiting for them.

  “After you, my beauty.” He helped to adjust the loop of the rope underneath her foot, fingers lingering to caress her ankle. Her skin crawled. Somehow, she managed to keep from yanking away from him.

  Graydon hauled her up easily, while Tiago and several others dropped another rope into the hole. She did a lot of thinking on that road to sunlight and fresh air, some of the fastest and most terrified thinking in her life. As soon as her feet connected to solid ground, she lunged at Graydon and grabbed his hands.

  “What is it, cupcake?” he asked kindly. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  She very much feared that she had.

  Gray, she said telepathically. Don’t speak out loud. Don’t show any reaction.

  His gray gaze turned sharp. Pia, what’s wrong?

  The creature they’re pulling out of the hole isn’t Dragos.

  He went still. What do you mean?

  I didn’t stutter. She dug her nails into his skin. I went down into that hellhole with my mate, but he isn’t coming back out with me. Do what I tell you to do and do it fast and quietly. Get Eva to take Niall away. I don’t care where. Send Giselle with him, along with all the other children.

  Absolutely.

  Who’s the fastest winged Wyr here—you or Tiago?

  Tiago, he said without hesitation.

  Send him back to Earth. Tell him…. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man who looked like Dragos emerge from the hole. He grinned and clapped one of the rescuers on the shoulder, took a deep breath and squinted at the setting sun. Squinted. At the sun. A deep vibration started inside, like her bones were screaming. Tell him to bring back every sentinel he can as quickly as possible. Tell him to get Liam. And tell him to say to Aryal that she once swore she would destroy the shackles that Niniane’s uncle Urien made to imprison Dragos. Tiago will remember those all too well—that Dark Fae woman, whatever her name was, nearly destroyed him with those shackles. And Aryal promised to drop them in a volcano. Do you remember?

  Hell, of course I do. We all do.

  Aryal never does anything she’s supposed to. Pia’s lips felt numb. I hope to all the gods she didn’t do what she was supposed to do then, either. We need those shackles, Gray—as quick as a Djinn can get them here. I will pay a Djinn any favor they like. You tell Tiago that.

  Graydon’s rough-hewn features turned deadly. I’m on it.

  Another thrill of terror froze her muscles. Wipe that look off your face, damn it. Dragos is one of the oldest and most Powerful of the Elder Races—and that thing inhabiting his body took him down. So you smile like your life depends on it.

  Even as she spoke, his expression eased into good-natured friendliness. Squeezing her fingers, he turned back to where Dragos appeared to be talking to the others. Graydon said, “Hell of a mess we’ve got here.”

  The imposter turned to him and smiled. “Indeed, it is. I look forward to reshaping our future. But for the moment, I decree that everyone stay well away from these holes. The collapsed soil is too dangerous, and there is nothing below we need concern ourselves with for now.” He told the foreman, “Set a barrier here with guards.”

  Beside him, Tiago frowned, and his eyes grew sharp, but no one else appeared to notice anything amiss. She wanted to scream at them. Dragos doesn’t talk that way!

  Instead, she smiled at the imposter. “It’s been a difficult day. I suggest we throw off these setbacks and convene on the beach for a feast, and people can bring whatever they have to share.”

  The imposter gestured and raised his voice. “My lady has an excellent idea! What say you to a feast?”

  Several cheers went up. Smiling, the imposter strolled to Pia and gazed into her eyes. Fingering the ends of her hair, he murmured, “We will have wine and sweetmeats, and celebrate life, and later on I would celebrate alone with my wife in our bed.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Graydon stiffen, and—God love him, he was no actor—he turned homicidal. Sharply, she said in his head, Do your job. I’ve got this.

  Gray growled to Tiago, “I need a word with you. Now.”

  Meanwhile, Pia drew her fingers across the imposter’s lips. “It will be my pleasure to celebrate in any way my lord sees fit.”

  Chapter Nine

  Nearly twenty thousand people gathered along the shore of the lake to party. Musicians brought their instruments, and bonfires were built. There was dancing, and all manner of food was hastily assembled. The Demonkind brought barrels of liquor. And if there were no children present, and if one or two people looked at the imposter with troubled, cold expressions, nobody remarked upon it.

  Pia excused herself to put on makeup and dress in a skirt and halter top. She pinned up her hair and let loose tendrils fall down on her neck, and she painted her lips with her favorite lipstick. Skeeter was restless while she prepared, whining and growling at turns while he paced. Afraid that the imposter might harm him, she made Jocasta and Ramone take him away.

  And she flirted with that bastard with everything she had. She fed him bites of pastries, and grilled meats, and kissed him in between drinks of wine, and let him fondle her breast. She had never fought a war like this before, but she threw everything she had into it.

  He laughed often, that thief of everything.
Amber eyes flashing, he spoke with many, and his restless gaze roamed over the females in the crowd with speculative intent, but his gaze always came back to Pia.

  How long would it take for Tiago to fly to the nearest crossover passageway? She knew the approximate answer to that one: it took Dragos a couple of hours to fly here. But Dragos had been moving at a leisurely pace. Tiago would be flying with all the strength and speed he could muster.

  Then it would take him a few minutes to confer with Malan, and another five to ten minutes to cross the passageway back to Earth. He could call New York from the Earth-side guard station. And she knew from experience the sentinels always kept go-bags packed and could mobilize in an instant.

  But she didn’t know how long it would take Aryal to retrieve the shackles from wherever she might have hidden them—if she had in fact hidden them and not destroyed them, as she had promised. And Pia had no idea how long it might take them to negotiate for a quick passage back with a Djinn.

  Each beat of her heart felt as long as a year, and the burden of continuing without the support of feeling the mating bond weighed heavily. That was the thing about fighting a war—you never knew if you would live or die.

  It helped that she wasn’t alone. Beluviel had not left with the children. Instead, the Elven woman watched the imposter with an assessing gaze from the other side of a bonfire, and every one of her attendants was armed.

  Graydon interrupted the imposter often to pull him aside and ask him this or that, and at one point, Linwe sauntered over to invite the imposter to dance. He went with a flare of illicit interest. Pia turned away, pretending not to notice.

  She was also attended by a tall, slender-winged creature on either side. No one else except perhaps the Elves saw them, but as the interminable evening wore on, they gradually became more visible to her. They looked at her with what appeared to be compassion in their radiant eyes, but when they turned to the imposter their inhuman faces grew sharp as swords.

  When Pia finally saw Rune and Carling walk arm-and-arm through the crowd, just like two more partygoers, she nearly lost it. Liam strolled past, his powerful body moving with the same liquid, dangerous grace as his father. He glanced at her once, blue gaze and handsome features inscrutable.

  Then there was Bayne, and Aryal and Quentin, Grym, Tiago and Graydon, each one moving as if by random and disconnected from the others. All the sentinels had arrived except for Alexander, who must be the sentinel left in charge in New York. She even saw the Djinn Khalil and Grace, the Oracle, who stared at the unseen in wonder.

  Pia walked away midsentence from the Vampyre she’d been talking with. She approached the imposter who was deep in conversation with a laughing sylphlike Wyr woman who was clueless about what was really going on and thought she was flirting with Pia’s husband and mate.

  Pia tucked her arm into the imposter’s and said to the woman, “I’ll remember you, you little shit.”

  That wiped away the other woman’s smile. Gulping, she slipped away. The imposter turned to Pia with a twinkle. Apparently, he enjoyed acrimony. “That was rather unsporting of you, my darling.”

  “I’m tired of fucking around,” she told him. “Are you going to dance with me or not?”

  He gave her a mocking bow. “I am yours to command, lady wife.”

  She led him to one side and pulled his hands onto her hips. Dragos’s hands. They felt so familiar she wanted to scream in rage and pain.

  As he smilingly drew her closer, Rune walked up behind him and wound the chain from one of the shackles around his neck. Astonished fury exploded across his face. When he erupted into violence, Liam slammed into him, pinning his arms to his side. The other sentinels, both former and present, leaped into the fray. Graydon lunged past Pia, shoving her back from the fight so hard she fell and rolled away.

  Shouts and screams, and a general scramble ensued. Bel and her attendants raced to surround Pia. Grace, Niniane, and Khalil herded people back from the fight. Pia ignored it all as she brushed off sand and stood. Her entire attention was focused on the writhing pile of warriors.

  All the sentinels were deadly, but Dragos was the fastest and deadliest of all. The only one who was truly his match in strength and speed was Liam. And she prayed with everything she had that the imposter could not fully access all of Dragos’s abilities, and he did not fully understand the true nature of the body he had stolen.

  Vicious though it was, the battle was over in short order. Confined by the magic in the shackles, the imposter was overwhelmed by the sheer strength in the numbers allied against him. One by one they lifted away, until he lay on the sand, bound by magicked metal, his face distorted with towering rage.

  Carling had joined Pia to watch the battle, her beautiful features intent. The ancient Vampyre was one of the most experienced and deadly magic users Pia had ever met. If anyone might know how to exorcise the creature who had taken over Dragos’s body, it was her.

  Pia whispered, “How do we expel it?”

  Carling’s large, almond shaped eyes were compassionate. “I don’t know, Pia. I had hoped the null spell shackles would force it out, but it appears that it hasn’t.”

  “There has to be something we can do. Anything.” As Grace, the young woman who was the Oracle, limped up to them, Pia whirled to her. “Grace? Did you see something useful?”

  Grace shook her head, mouth downturned. “There were too many people milling about, and now that he’s bound, the shackles are preventing me from seeing anything. I’m so sorry. I wish I had something useful to offer.”

  Panic started shrieking in her head. Ruthlessly, she squashed it. Panic wasn’t going to get Dragos back. She walked over to the sprawled figure and knelt beside him. “Give me back my husband.”

  “Your husband is dead,” the imposter spat. His nose had been bloodied and droplets sprayed her face.

  She didn’t flinch. Instead she leaned closer and stared into his eyes. “If my husband is dead,” she said, “then I have nothing to lose, do I?”

  He started to laugh then convulsed. Briefly—oh so briefly—hot gold flashed in his eyes. Dragos snarled telepathically, Do what you need to do.

  The next minute, Dragos was gone again, and the creature who glared back at her had eyes of amber. It hurt so bad to see him so briefly, yet at the same time triumph swelled. Somehow, somewhere, her mate was still in there.

  And she would do whatever she needed to get him back.

  “This is going to suck really badly for you,” she told the imposter. “Because my husband’s body is incredibly strong, and he can survive a lot of abuse.” Standing, she avoided looking at Liam. She said to the sentinels who ringed them, “Question him. Do whatever it takes.”

  Then she walked away. They moved to close the gap behind her, and Dragos disappeared from view.

  To be continued in The Adversary

  Thank you!

  Dear Readers,

  Thank you for reading The Unseen! I hope you enjoyed returning to Dragos and Pia as much as I enjoyed writing them. They have been two of my favorite characters of all time, and they’ll always occupy a special place in my heart.

  The Unseen is the first of four linked stories with all new Dragos and Pia adventures. They want to be told in a different way than I have written previous stories in the Elder Races, so please be warned: there will be cliffhangers until the end. But the good news is, all four stories are going to come out quickly so you won’t have long to wait!

  Would you like to stay in touch and hear about new releases? You can:

  • Sign up for my monthly email at www.theaharrison.com

  • Follow me on Twitter at @TheaHarrison

  • Like my Facebook page at facebook.com/TheaHarrison

  Reviews help other readers find the books they like to read. I appreciate each and every review, whether positive or negative.

  Happy reading! – And keep going scrolling or a sneak peek at the cover art for The Adversary!

  ~Thea

>   Coming Soon

  THE ADVERSARY

  Book 2 in The Chronicles of Rhyacia

  Look for these titles from Thea Harrison

  THE ELDER RACES SERIES – FULL LENGTH NOVELS

  Published by Berkley

  Dragon Bound

  Storm’s Heart

  Serpent’s Kiss

  Oracle’s Moon

  Lord’s Fall

  Kinked

  Night’s Honor

  Midnight’s Kiss

  Shadow’s End

  MOONSHADOW TRILOGY

  Moonshadow

  Spellbinder

  Lionheart

  AMERICAN WITCH TRILOGY

  American Witch

  Rogue Charms

  THE CHRONICLES OF RHYACIA

  The Unseen

  The Adversary

  ELDER RACES NOVELLAS

  True Colors

  Natural Evil

  Devil’s Gate

  Hunter’s Season

  The Wicked

  Dragos Takes a Holiday

  Pia Saves the Day

  Peanut Goes to School

  Dragos Goes to Washington

  Pia Does Hollywood

  Liam Takes Manhattan

  The Chosen

  Planet Dragos

  ELDER RACES SERIES COLLECTIONS

  Divine Tarot

  Destiny’s Tarot

  The Elder Races Tarot Collection: All 4 Stories

  A Dragon’s Family Album

  A Dragon’s Family Album II

  A Dragon’s Family Album: Final Collection

  The Elder Races: Complete Novella Bundle 2013-2018

  GAME OF SHADOWS SERIES

  Published by Berkley

  Rising Darkness

  Falling Light

  ROMANCES UNDER THE NAME

  AMANDA CARPENTER

  E-published by Samhain Publishing

  (original publication by Harlequin Mills & Boon)