Drakon's Knight

by N. J. Walters

  They sat quietly, watching as the afternoon sun sank in the sky. “It’s like something inside me clicked into place when I heard her voice. And when I touch her, I can barely remember my own name. My first and only instinct is to protect her, to guard her with my life.”

  He remembered their earlier encounter. “And the sex is different from anything I’ve ever experienced. Deeper. Richer. More fulfilling.”

  Khalil whistled under his breath. Enoch swore softly.

  “But she’s our enemy.” Leave it to Sadiq to remind him of the obvious.

  “She’s a victim, too,” he reminded them. “If we’re right, she’s been indoctrinated and manipulated her entire life, especially if that tattoo is what Enoch seems to think it is.”

  “Doesn’t change what she did,” his friend pointed out. “Those events have formed her, made her who she is. Can she truly change? And does she want to?”

  Sadiq wasn’t asking him anything he hadn’t already considered. It was time to put the safety of his family first. “I want you all to leave.”

  “What the fuck.” Enoch popped to his feet, hands on his hips. “I hope the hell you’re kidding.”

  “No, I’m not. I can’t leave Karina.” He might as well dig his claws into his chest and rip out his own heart. “But you’re right about her. I have no idea what she’ll do. I can’t risk your safety.”

  “You expect us to slink away, tails between our legs, and hide?” Sadiq slowly stood, anger vibrating in his voice, his eyes burning with barely restrained fury.

  He didn’t want to fight, but he was determined to protect everyone he cared about. Getting to his feet, he faced the best friend he’d ever had.

  “Yes. That’s exactly what I expect.” They were practically nose-to-nose now. Their voices were getting lower, a sign of just how angry they were. When they were only annoyed with each other, they tended to shout. When they were seriously angry, they got quieter.

  “Maybe we should all take a break,” Khalil began. An earth drakon like his brother, Khalil was grounded. He was also the peacemaker of the group.

  But it was already too late. Sadiq drove his fist into Jericho’s face. The powerful blow would have killed a human. As it was, it knocked him back a step. He touched his tongue to the corner of his mouth. The slight cut had healed almost as soon as it was made, but it had left behind a drop of blood.

  “I don’t want to fight,” he began.

  “Too damn bad. I don’t want to run and hide, but you don’t fucking care, do you?” He swung again. This time Jericho was ready and blocked Sadiq’s fist with his forearm before it could make contact. Neither Khalil nor Enoch would interfere. This wasn’t the first time the two of them had come to blows over something, but it was the most serious.

  Sadiq was more than just angry. That, he could easily counter. His friend was hurt. And that was the last thing he’d ever wanted to do. “I want you safe,” he began. Inside him, his dragon side rumbled but wasn’t concerned. If things escalated, his dragon would want out. But for now, this was best left to their human sides to deal with.

  “What about you?” Sadiq faked to the right and managed to land a jarring left. A bone in Jericho’s face cracked under the force but quickly mended. He wiggled his jaw, ignoring the pain. Drakons might heal quickly, but that sure as hell didn’t mean they didn’t feel it when a bone was broken. If anything, the sensations were deeper and a lot more excruciating.

  He’d tried to be patient, but his own anger was fast moving to the fore. “What about me? This is my choice, not yours. Why should you be put in the line of fire?”

  Sadiq dropped his guard just slightly, shocked by Jericho’s words. And why wouldn’t he be? They’d always done everything together. Made all their decisions as a group. Taking advantage of the lapse in attention, Jericho drove his fist into his friend’s pretty face. Sadiq stumbled back several steps.

  “I want to protect everyone.” He should press his advantage, but dropped his hands down by his sides. “And I don’t know how. Jesus, Sadiq. I don’t bloody well know how.”

  The anger left him like a balloon deflating, leaving him flat and empty. “All I know is I can’t lose you.” He turned to face Khalil and Enoch. “Any of you.”

  “Then stop trying to drive us away.” Sadiq’s quiet pronouncement was a harder hit than his fists had been.

  “I’m sorry.” He dragged his fingers through his hair and huffed out a breath. He shouldn’t have gone about this the way he had. “We’ll talk things through. Make a decision.” It was what they did. They lived and died as a group.

  Sadiq slapped him on the back and then gave him a quick one-armed hug. “I get that you’re messed up. That’s obvious.”

  He gave a snort of laughter. “Don’t hold back. Tell me what you really feel.”

  With the tension lifted somewhat, Enoch headed inside. “I need a snack. Watching you two fight has given me an appetite.”

  “That wasn’t a fight,” he protested. “More like a love tap.” He rubbed his jaw.

  Sadiq snorted. “I broke the damn thing. Love tap, my ass. But I could eat.” He followed Enoch inside.

  Khalil held back. “How is she?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.” And that was the problem. “Physically, she’ll be fine. Mentally and emotionally, I just don’t know.”

  “We’re here for you.” The quiet promise was as heavy-hitting as Sadiq’s fist.

  “I know. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”

  Khalil gave him a slight smile. “We’ll cut you some slack, all things considered.”

  He stayed outside for another minute, catching his breath and trying to center himself. He kept glancing at the second story of the house. Karina was up there sleeping. For now, they were all safe. But how long would that last?

  Not knowing the answer, he headed inside. He was hungry, and they needed to talk, to figure out their options.

  An hour later, they’d filled the emptiness in their stomachs with pizza, nachos, and mounds of fried chicken. He was grateful there were good organic options for all of these things. As a drakon, his taste buds were more developed. He could taste every chemical and dye injected into food. Not pleasant.

  “How do you want to handle things?” Sadiq asked as he shoved aside his empty plate. “Besides us abandoning you. ’Cause that’s not an option.”

  Jericho paused and cocked his head to one side. He knew they could all hear it, too. Footsteps on the stairs. Karina hadn’t slept as long as he’d hoped.

  How would she look at him now that they’d made love? Would she be as open? Would she turn from him? Would she try to manipulate him?

  He clenched his fists on his thighs and waited. Then she was there, looking rested and as beautiful as ever. There was no sign of her former injuries. Her black hair hung down her back, and her face was no longer quite as pale. Her lips were a delicate pink, the color natural rather than cosmetic.

  Her green eyes widened as she looked from one to the other. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

  …

  You could cut the tension with a knife was her first thought. Her second one was that she was hungry. She could see and smell the remains of pizza and chicken. She wondered if there was any left.

  That was a lie, of course. Her first thought was about Jericho. Always Jericho. He looked so bloody big even sitting at the table. His broad shoulders were once again covered in a T-shirt that stretched at the seams.

  It was odd to be nervous. She’d never been anxious over a man before. But none of those men had mattered, as the relationships hadn’t been real. They’d been nothing more than two people using each another. What she’d shared with Jericho was uncomfortably real.

  She was unsure of what to do or how to act. It was odd, considering she’d built a life and reputation on being decisive at all times.

  Sadiq glared at her. Enoch watched Jericho. And Khalil offered her a small smile.

  Did they all know what she and
Jericho had done? Had he told them? She was appalled at the idea. Then her nimble brain kicked in, reminding her he wouldn’t have had to tell them anything. They were drakons, with enhanced hearing. They would have heard…everything.

  Her cheeks grew warm. It struck her that she was blushing. She couldn’t remember actually doing that before in her life.

  Jericho jumped up from the table and came toward her. “How are you feeling?” He stopped in front of her, blocking her view of the rest. No, he was giving her a moment to gain her composure.

  “I’m fine.” She wanted to touch him, kiss him, but wasn’t sure how smart that was for either of them.

  He was staring at her intently, searching her face for something. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it.

  “Are you hungry?” Khalil asked.

  “A little.”

  Jericho put his arm around her shoulders and urged her over to the table. She sat, figuring it would be best if she did. She needed to conserve her strength in case she needed to run or fight.

  Something had happened while she’d been sleeping. That was more than obvious by the rigid way Sadiq held himself and the agitated energy in the room. All of them were more watchful and restrained than usual.

  Khalil returned and put a plate with two slices of pizza and a chicken thigh in front of her. “I managed to save this from the horde.” He went back to the counter long enough to collect a bottle of water and a napkin for her.

  “Thank you.” At least one of them didn’t seem to want to kill her—for the moment, anyway. Two, if you counted Jericho.

  Enoch seemed on the fence. Sadiq was downright hostile.

  “Don’t let me interrupt your conversation.” She picked up a slice of the pizza and took a big bite. She really was hungry. Not surprising, really. For the first time in memory, she felt good. No headache. Not even a twinge.

  They stayed quiet while she ate. While not unexpected, it was slightly unnerving. After downing one slice, she stopped. “Okay, we may as well get to business.”

  “What exactly do you have in mind?” Jericho asked. He was seated beside her, his arm resting on the back of her chair. She knew it was deliberate, a reminder to her that he was there, and possibly a reminder to Sadiq not to jump across the table and strangle her. Either way, she appreciated his solid presence.

  She hadn’t slept for very long after he’d left. Instead, she’d lain in bed and considered all her options. It was something she was good at, weighing every choice, every possibility. Now she had a plan. All she had to do was find some way to implement it.

  “I want to hire you.”

  They all appeared completely flabbergasted. She tried not to feel smug for catching them off guard but couldn’t help herself. She was only human, after all.

  “You want to what?” Jericho demanded. He grabbed her chair and turned it around so it faced him. The wooden legs scraped over the floor.

  “You heard me.” She glanced at the others. What were they thinking?

  He caught her chin in his hand and brought her back around. “Look at me.”

  She sighed and gave him her full attention. “What?”

  “What is going through that intricate mind of yours?”

  She shrugged and eased back until he released her. It was difficult to think with him touching her. “It’s simple. My entire life was planned by someone else, but those days are finished. I’ve developed many skills over the years, all of which I plan to put to use.”

  “You want a drakon of your own.” It wasn’t a question, not really, but she answered Sadiq anyway.

  “In a manner of speaking.” She quickly continued. “I don’t want to control or own anyone. But you do have talents and expertise I don’t have. I want to hire you.”

  “For what?” Jericho demanded. Fury rolled off of him in waves of heat that she could physically feel. Maybe she should have waited and talked with him alone, but it was too late to go back and start again.

  Besides, this was her second chance at life. No, it was her first. She’d never really had one before. There could be only honesty now. No lies, no duplicity.

  “Why, to destroy the Knights of the Dragon.”

  …

  If she’d stuck a tranquilizer dart in his throat, he wouldn’t have been more stunned. He would have expected the dart. But this, this he hadn’t seen coming. Maybe he should have. She’d mentioned doing this as soon as she’d regained her memory, but he hadn’t really taken her seriously.

  He didn’t trust her commitment or her motivation. It seemed too easy, too big a turnaround from the person she’d been her entire life. “Why?”

  The look she gave him said she thought his question was idiotic. “Why?”

  “Yes. It’s a valid inquiry. You’ve spent your life leading this group, guarding their secrets, and now you want to destroy them.”

  “From the time I was a child, I was told what to think, what to do, and when to do it. My entire life was scheduled to the last second.” She was practically vibrating with anger. It was like an electrical charge arcing in the air. “I’ve been taking medication of one kind or another as far back as I can remember. I’m not blaming everything on that.”

  “Good,” Sadiq muttered. Arms crossed, he kicked back in his chair and glared at her, unwilling to trust anything that came out of her mouth.

  “Why does your family hate us?” Jericho asked. It was a question that had nagged him. “Your lineage traces back hundreds of years, if not longer. And they’ve always hunted dragons.”

  “Did you know my ancestor was one of the originals?”

  “Original what?” he asked.

  “Mother of one of your kind. She blamed his birth for ruining her life. Said the dragon seduced her, lied to her, and manipulated her. She was tossed from her village and forced to make her way as best she could.”

  He winced. Not a lot of options back in those days, and none of them pleasant.

  “She became an indentured servant and eventually had another child, a girl, and raised the child to hate dragons. The legacy, the stories came down through the millennia. When the time was right, one of my ancestors started the Knights. The rest is history.”

  “Holy shit,” Enoch muttered.

  “There was a time when I questioned things. I’d read stories in a picture book about dragons and thought they were majestic creatures. I’d planned to rebel when I was older. But it got harder and harder to hold onto that as the years went by.”

  Jericho’s heart ached for the little girl she’d been. The others seem as spellbound as he. “What happened?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Life.” Her laugh was sad. “My parents ignored me, allowed my grandmother to control every aspect of my life. I had to stay away from my sister.”

  “To protect her,” he muttered, wishing her grandmother was still alive so he could kill her.

  “Yes. But all children want love. My grandmother didn’t love me, but occasionally she did dole out praise.” She gave them all a sad smile. “It was better than nothing.”

  “Boo fucking hoo.” Sadiq shoved out of his seat and planted his hands on the table. Leaning forward, he sent Karina a hard glare. “My heart breaks for you. We all know what it’s like to be abandoned by our parents.”

  “And what did you do?” came her soft reply.

  The truth stunned him. They’d become assassins, bad people according to many, heroes to others. No different from her.

  She toyed with her almost empty water bottle, spinning it on the table. “Look, I don’t know what you plan to do with me, but I do know your original intention in kidnapping me was to destroy the Knights or at least cripple them. I’m offering to give them to you on a silver platter.”

  He glanced at the others. There was mistrust in Sadiq’s eyes and interest in Enoch’s. Khalil seemed concerned, but he had no idea about what.

  A part of him wanted to send Karina away, to protect her and safeguard his family. But that wasn’t pos
sible. If they were to have any hope of moving forward, of finding a future together, he’d have to learn to give her some measure of trust.

  Sadiq would remain suspicious of her every action, which gave him a built-in safeguard against total stupidity. He had no objectivity when it came to Karina because he so badly wanted to believe her.

  “We could just kill you.”

  He growled at Sadiq’s suggestion. He would not, could not let that happen. The only thing keeping him from attacking his friend was the realization that he was testing Karina.

  She grew paler and nodded. “You could, but I’m offering you more.”

  “You want to live,” Sadiq pointed out. “Everything you’ve told us could be nothing more than a pretty lie to save yourself.”

  “I do want to live, but I want to destroy the people who set me on this path. I can’t go back and alter any of the horrible things I’ve done. But I can control the future. What happens now is on me. For the first time in my life, I’m seeing things clearly. I don’t like who I’ve been, but I have a chance to change that.”

  “Well?” Jericho asked them. Karina looked to him for confirmation or for reassurance. He could give her none of those things. Not yet. “No one will hurt you,” he told her. That much he could say to ease her mind. As for the rest, it would have to be a group decision.

  “How do you propose we bring down the Knights?” Enoch asked.

  Jericho decided to stay out of the conversation, for now. He wanted to hear what the others had to say. Mostly, he wanted to watch Karina’s every expression. If there was even the tiniest chance she might be trying to trick them, he had to find out.

  He still wouldn’t harm her. That time had long passed. It was time to make a decision. Either he had faith in her and moved forward with their relationship on all levels, or he let her go and watched over her from a distance for as long as she lived.

  The others wouldn’t leave him, and he couldn’t risk them. If he couldn’t trust her, he couldn’t be with her. It was as simple as that.