“Who is it?” she asked from behind the door. She curled her fingers around the handle of the knife ensuring her grip was true and waited.
“You don’t know me,” the man said calmly. “But I know you.”
“I doubt that. Now go away.”
“Look, I know you have no right to trust me, but please, I can explain everything.”
“There is nothing to explain. I don’t know you, and you have no clue who I am. Now leave, before I call the cops.”
“You aren’t going to do that.”
“Oh yeah, try me.”
“Okay, and what are you going to say? That there is a monster chasing you, who happens to be a dragon?”
Abby gasped. She shook her head, listening to the same train of thought she had had before getting on the bus.
“I can help you, but you have to let me.”
Abby pulled back the curtain of the window and stole a glimpse at the man on her porch. His golden hair drifted in the wind like grain in an open field. He stood away from the door with his hands up surrendering. She sucked in a deep breath to steady her nerves as she contemplated opening the door.
“I know my brother can be a dick, but I swear I am nothing like him.”
Abby threw open the door and wielded the knife in the stranger’s face.
“Your brother?”
The man nodded, “Ty. He is my brother.”
“Why are you here? What do you want? Are you here to torture me too? Beat me down?”
“No. I swear. I would never do that.” Something in the tone of his voice rang true. Abby’s hands dropped as she stared at him.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Lucas, or Luc. I have come to help you.”
“You can’t help me. No one can.”
“Abby, I am like you.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she brought the knife up again. Her lips tightened into a line as Luc lifted up his shirt. There on his chest was a long white jagged scar that cut across his body.
“How did you get that?” Abby asked.
“You know how, or at least you used to know.” Luc said dropping his hands. He took a small step forward. “That is why I am here. To help you remember.”
Abby dropped the knife as his eyes locked on hers. In the darkest of the shadows the golden flakes in his eyes shimmered like the sun.
“Let me in, and I will tell you everything.”
Chapter 7
Abby’s foot rapped, impatiently as Luc sat across from her. His eyes drifted to the knickknacks around the kitchen that Abby’s grandmother collected and he smiled.
“So, what am I exactly?” Abby blurted out, too stressed to be polite. Luc nodded as if he understood and reached for the glass of water she had set before him. He stared at the tiny ripples swaying in the cup.
“You are a half-breed. A mix between what I am and a human.”
“So, what are you then?”
“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try me,” Abby’s eyes narrowed, trying to get him to glance at her, at least. Luc lifted his eyes over the waterline and sighed.
“I am a dragon.”
Abby shook her head and leaned back in her seat. She folded her arms across her chest and a laugh slipped through her lips. “Yeah right, and I’m the Queen of Scots.”
“It’s true and you and I have known each other a very long time.”
“How long?”
Luc finally lifted the glass to his lips to quench his dry throat. Abby remained in her seat glaring at him. She studied the way he moved ever so carefully and how he sat the glass gently down on the kitchen table. He leaned back and folded his hands in front of him, before clearing his throat.
“A long time ago,” he started, lifting his eyes to the ceiling, towards the spinning fan blades. “There was a girl. Her name was Abigail. She lived with her family in a wealthy province. But there was a terror in the land. A mighty dragon decided to take up residency in the forest near her home.”
“In order to barter peace with the creature, a meeting was arranged. The girl went to the meeting with her father. Only, they were attacked in the forest, on the way. She was gravely injured and I, the ambassador for the dragon went to find her and help her.”
“Once I saw her and how beautiful she was, I did something no dragon has done before. I gave her half of my heart so that she would live.”
“Did she?” Abby leaned forward keeping her eyes locked on Luc as he told his tale. Luc dropped his eyes and shook his head.
“When she came to, she wanted to know where her father had gone. I didn’t have the nerves to tell her he was dead. So she ran off in search of him only to find him in the woods slain by the creature. In an act of pure bravery, she leaned down and drew out her slain father’s sword challenging the creature, as it hovered above his body.”
“It laughed and torched her with its fiery breath. I held her in my arms pleading for the creature to stop. But all he did was laugh. Then, I picked up Abigail in my arms and carried her away before the dragon knew what I had done.”
“It took days for her to heal completely. Each day, I grew fonder of her and she of me. You see,” Luc stopped and turned to Abby with a faint smile on his lips.
“With my heart in hers, her life was tied to mine.”
“So she could never die?” Abby asked cocking her head and staring at Luc. Her eyes filled with wonder and more questions than she could ever ask.
“No, she died. The creature discovered what I had done. What I had given her and he vowed to destroy us both. One night, the beast transformed into its human self and walked boldly into her room. He plunged a small silver dagger into her heart. Only, he did not hit the dragon half, only what remained of her human heart.”
“So she cried out for me, but I had gone hunting that night and could not make it back in time to stop him. He left me in peace, after that, knowing that I would never be complete again.”
“Time moved on and every twenty years or so, I would find her again. And she would die again.”
“Do you think I am this reincarnated girl?” Abby shook her head in disbelief. Her mouth dropped as Luc nodded.
“I know you are. You look just like her,” Luc slipped one hand under the table and reached into his pocket. Abby craned her neck trying to see what he pulled out. Only when the sheet of paper was resting, face-up on the table, did she believe.
There in the faded black and white image was her. A gown flowed off her hips like a waterfall and her eyes were just as stunning. Abby rose from the table with a start and paced the kitchen floor.
“No way, this isn’t real. You can’t be real. Dragons don’t exist.”
“They do, and you have half a dragon running through your veins.”
“How do you know that? This could be just a misunderstanding. A cosmic joke.”
“Tell me,” Luc glanced at the image and then pulled it back to the edge of the table, before raising it up to show Abby. “Have you done anything recently that you can’t explain? Started a fire, burned down a building? Anything?”
Abby stopped dead in her tracks and glanced down at her hands. Just yesterday they were charred black from something she had done. The field of yellow and purple flowers popped back into her mind.
“I thought so,” Luc said before Abby could answer him. “When you let out your other self, I saw it in the sky. A green flash crashed against the horizon and led me to you. When I saw my brother waiting for you, I knew I had found you again.”
“Wait? The creature from your story was your brother?” Abby stumbled back against the counter top. Her mind strove to find some sliver of sanity in everything. Luc rose from his seat and moved closer to her.
With his left hand raised, he stared at Abby. “All you have to do is touch me to know that everything I have told you is the truth.”
Abby’s eyes flashed to Luc’s open palm and back to his eyes. She scooted to the side dodging him and turned h
er back. “I can’t.”
“But you can. I know you can. We are meant to be together. I swear – I can’t do this again. I can’t lose you the way I have lost you before. Please.”
Abby turned her head and peeked over her shoulder. The pitiful pleading in his voice captivated her. Everything from his trembling fingers to the quiver in his “please” was too much for her to bear. Abby sucked in a deep breath and twisted on her heels to face him.
“I promise, you’ll see for yourself that I am exactly who I say I am.”
Timidly, Abby lifted her hand and touched his palm to hers. In the blink of an eye she was no longer in her grandparents’ house. Time shifted in a blur and she found herself standing on the edge of a large cliff. The roaring sea was at her feet and a shawl was draped around her shoulders.
“My dream,” Abby whispered as she lifted her hand up to her brow to shield her eyes from the blinding light of the sun.
“It was no dream,” Luc said. She turned her head to find him standing beside her staring at the horizon and the dark shape flying closer towards them.
“This was the first night you were killed by him. He came on the night I had gone. It’s not surprising it would be etched so clearly in your mind.”
“But, in my dream I flew,” Abby’s eyes widened. She didn’t hesitate. She placed one foot in front of the other and stepped off the side of the cliff. She kept her lips tight refusing to scream. She knew her voice couldn’t compete with the whistling wind flying past her.
She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. But suddenly, she wasn’t falling. She was flying. She opened her eyes and smiled to find Luc was no longer on the cliff waiting for her. He had shifted into a mighty, winged beast with razor-sharp teeth. Abby stared up at him and smiled.
“This is all so unreal,” she said throwing her arms out to embrace the freedom.
She closed her eyes, letting the cool breeze play with the strands of her hair. As she sucked in a deep breath and opened her eyes, she was no longer in the sky with Luc, but back in the old kitchen with Luc’s fingers entangled into hers.
“Do you see now? I’ll never leave you and I will never let you go. I have spent far too many lifetimes without you already. This time will be different.”
“How can you be so sure?” Abby asked trying to keep herself from crying. She had never, in all her life, felt as if she belonged anywhere and, now, here she was – complete in ways she never expected to be, and with a stranger she just met.
“You are different this time. I promise I won’t let my brother get to you.”
Abby glanced at Luc’s hand in hers and pulled him to her. As their lips crashed into one another’s Abby’s heart swelled and fluttered. With every kiss they, the past came rushing back into her mind – every intimate moment they had shared over the eons that they had been linked pulled her under the current.
She pushed Luc away, gasping for air. He smiled at her as he cupped his hand around her head and drew her to him again.
“You don’t know how long I have waited for you,” Abby whispered between Luc’s tender lips.
“I have an idea,” he said dropping his hand from the back of her head and dragging his fingertips down her spine. Chills raced under her skin as she molded her body to his.
“If your brother is hell-bent on destroying me, maybe we should make the most of our time together.”
Luc’s lips curled up at the corners, “I couldn’t agree with you more.”
His hands dropped to her waistline and slipped under the thick fabric of her pants until he reached the button holding them up. With a quick flick of his fingers, the button released and Abby’s pants dropped to the floor. She tugged on his shirt raising it up over his head, before tossing it carelessly to the side.
Passion smoldered in her and all she wanted to do was melt into him. As soon as her fingers were free, Abby traced the white line down Luc’s chest that mirrored the one across her body.
“How much time do you think we have?” Abby mumbled, knowing in her gut she didn’t really want to know the answer. Luc nibbled on her neck tickling her.
“I don’t know, but we have tonight.”
“Then we should probably make the most of it.”
Chapter 8
Abby snuggled into Luc’s chest trying to keep the light from shining in her eyes. The birds in the trees chirped to greet the sun. Abby’s smile pressed into Luc’s torso as she squeezed him gently before rolling over.
Every muscle in her body was strained. She could barely move her legs as she tried to stand up on the living room floor. Her smile grew as she glanced around her grandparent’s place, and at the damage they had done the night before.
The small coffee table was overturned, the lamp shade flung to the ground. Balls of yarn from her grandmother’s knitting supply were scattered the floor. Abby blushed at the sight and shifted her head to stare at the man on her floor.
Although she had only met him last night, her soul cried out to him. She knew everything there was to know about him and he understood and loved her more than ever. She shook her head and tucked back her hair behind her ear. Her once-broken heart swelled and overflowed with love. Never before had the feelings burning inside her been so intense. She couldn’t imagine her life without him.
The smile on her face remained plastered on as she navigated the disaster zone that was the living room. She moved with ease around the shifted items and picked up the things that had been knocked down. The last thing she wanted was for Luc to wake up to such a disheveled house.
Abby made her way through the living room and into the kitchen. The bright orange rays of the dawn stretched over the wooden floor. She paused to stare at the dust particles dancing and drifting in the light. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a large red object shifting across the canopy of the trees outside the window. She froze and turned her head slowly.
“Luc!”
Before he could rise to defend her, a ball of flame and heat poured through the open window and engulfed the kitchen. Abby dropped to the ground, covering her head with her arms as the heat intensified.
“Luc!” She choked trying to see him through the thick black clouds that filled the rest of the house.
“Abby stay down. Don’t move, I’m coming to get you,” Luc cried over the intense wind that whipped through the rooms and pushed more smoke into the tiny house.
“This is it,” Abby thought trying to hold on to the hope that they could get out of the inferno. But as she reached out her hand towards Luc, she realized she didn’t have to fear the shroud of death.
“Abby?” Luc called her name as the pillar of smoke flowed through the house squeezing the air from her lungs.
“Get to the front door,” Abby cried. “Get out of here.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You must. Please Luc!”
In a shift of wind, Abby spotted Luc walking through the house with his arm raised to his head. He appeared disoriented and confused, but sure-footed. With no place for her to go, she rose into the thick cloud above her head.
“Get to the door,” Abby screamed again. “Turn around and get out!”
The creaking of the wooden roof moaned as the beams over her head gave way. With no time left, Abby realized she wasn’t going to leave Luc in the house to die. She would save him. She rushed through the darkness and tackled Luc, throwing him to the ground. As her arms circled around his body, she rolled over and tried crawling with him in her arms.
“You have to get out of here! The roof is coming down,” Abby choked on her words as more smoke filled her lungs. She knew any minute she would lose consciousness from inhaling too much smoke. But Luc’s life was on the line and she was going to do everything she could to get him out.
“Abby, I’ll be fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”
“Come on we have to move.” Abby pulled Luc to his feet and fumbled through the living room until her hand touched the knob of
the front door. She yanked open the door just as the roof crashed down around them.
Fire and charred wood blocked their way out trapping them inside the house. Abby’s eyes burned from the smoke as she fell back.
“I guess he found us sooner than we thought he would,” Abby said trying to make light of the situation.
“Don’t you say your goodbyes to me now. There is still time.”
“Luc, don’t you see? We don’t have any time. No matter what we do, no matter where we go, he is going to find us. You need to release me and live your life.”
“No. Not in a million years.” Luc cupped his hand around Abby’s face and kissed her passionately as the inferno consumed the house around them. The heat of the fire burned and melted the pictures on the walls. All the knickknacks on the shelves were destroyed and the only thing left untouched was the brick fireplace.
“Abby? How are you feeling?” Luc asked trying to force her to look at him.
“Hot.”
“And your lungs?”
Abby coughed, but it wasn’t filled with the mucus she had expected from watching movies. She shook her head and shrugged.
“Luc what are you getting at? There isn’t that much oxygen left in the house to burn.”
“That’s my point, the oxygen is gone and yet you are still conscious.”
Abby glanced at Luc with her mouth agape. Suddenly it dawned on her. The fire, the smoke, all of it had no effect on her. This wasn’t Ty’s way of killing her off.
“This is a distraction,” Abby gasped. Her eyes darted around the smoldering embers and long pillars of flames licking the walls.
“What is he after, if not you?” Luc wondered as he held Abby tighter in his arms.
“I don’t know, but we have to get out of here if we are ever going to find out. Come on, help me with these beams.”
Abby broke away from Luc and walked towards the large beam, shrouded in flames that blocked the front door. She glanced at her hands and sucked in a deep timid breath.
“Here goes nothing,” she said and set her hands on the beam to push it away. The flames licked her flesh but did not burn her. The palms of her hands were hot and irritated from the splinters in the wood, but she didn’t feel any pain.
The Fate of the Dragons Series Box Set Page 5