Dragon's Heart (24 page)

Both Robert and James heard him and answered, “Yes.”

“We’ll stay close to their pace,” Draakar replied with a small grin, “but
I won’t be able to cloak us all, so we’ll hike at a normal human pace until
we’re out of sight. Then you all will just have to keep up as best you can.”

They had already changed clothing in the car to appear as though they
were hikers, and quickly walked away from the road. Once the foliage engulfed
them they ran. Talon took the lead, Draakar right on his heels, and Robert and
James several yards behind. They ran, creating their own path, constantly
moving upward to the top of the mountain. Talon came to an abrupt halt. Draakar
stopped immediately beside him. Shoulder to shoulder, they waited for the
others to catch up.

This is the place I last felt Maya.
She disappeared around here. I don’t see anything and can only sense that she
had been here recently.

Draakar walked around.
There maybe an opening, a cave somewhere. Look around.
James and
Robert hadn’t reached them yet, but Draakar guided them and told them where to
look. He gestured to his left to Talon.
Move
the bushes aside, see if you find some type of opening anywhere.

They moved off and tackled different areas but Draakar found the cave.
Here. I found it and I can smell him. At
last! He was here, but I don’t believe he still is. The scent isn’t recent. Let
me go first. Talon, go back to the car and wait for us.

Father, please…

No. I need you out of here.
Draakar
glanced up at the sky. An early evening blue sky with a star or two showing
themselves lay over their heads.

 
If we’re not back by dawn, go back to the city and find Ian
at the hospital. Gather all of the Firsts together, as well as Maya’s parents,
and go back to the Stones. Ask Mother Earth for help. Together with her help
you all are strong enough to open a gate to Akgon. Return to Akgon, tell Valour
what happened.

No, Father. I will not leave you.

I am your Dragon Lord and I command
it!

Draakar watched the play of emotions travel across his son’s features:
anger, hurt, and finally reluctant acceptance.

Yes, Sire, by your command. But may
I just accompany you to the entrance to the portal so that I may see it for
myself?

Draakar softened a little.
I need
you safe Talon. If I fail, you are Akgon’s and Earth’s only hope. When the time
is right, return and claim your truemate. Together you will be able to defeat
the betrayer. We know who he is now.
Draakar sent Talon the image of Justin
as well as a pulse of what his aura looked like so he would know it.

N
o longer needing subterfuge, Arwan removed the
glamour from around his eyes, revealing their true color. People who saw the
handsome man get out of the car gave him a wide berth on the sidewalk, quickly
looking away. Even if they didn’t happen to catch a glimpse of his eerily
glittering gray eyes, self-preservation automatically kicked in, warning they
did not want to draw attention to themselves. Isaiah, waiting for him on the sidewalk,
thought Arwan’s eyes reflected the chill within his soul. A chill drawing him
to the man.

 
“Well, what do you have to
tell me?” Arwan asked Isaiah.

Isaiah, who could look any man in the eye and have him look away first,
couldn’t quite meet Arwan’s. “I bin keepin watch on the room just like you
asked and staying out of sight. I holed up in the room down the hall from ‘em
near the elevator. Far’s I could tell, they ain’t left the hospital room, and
Maya’s father showed up here with two more bodyguards while ago.”

Isaiah saw no need to inform Arwan he had gotten bored and had fallen
asleep for a bit. Man had to rest sometime. Besides, he probably didn’t miss
anything important. He had above normal hearing and the sound of any footsteps
in the hall woke him. And he made damn sure to clamp down on those thoughts.

“Excellent! I’ll only need two of those bodyguards. How many of them are
at the door?”

“Two, a man and a woman. The two who come with her father stayed outside.
The other man who was guardin’ before is inside the room with Draakar and
Maya’s parents.”

“I’ll take the two at the door and drain their energy, leaving Draakar
fewer powers to call upon, but this time I’ll leave a trail that even an
uninitiated could follow.”

“What about the others in the room?”

“We won’t need to worry about them. Draakar can’t sense me, and they
won’t know what’s happened until it’s too late. By the time they find us, I’ll
have everything arranged for them.” The smile on Arwan’s face reached his eyes
and they sparkled like a thousand pieces of silver. “This time I win. I will
finally rule all humans and brethren kind here on Earth, and you my friend,”
Arwan said, glancing at Isaiah, “have served me well. You will stand at my
right hand as my First.”

     
Isaiah had
learned years ago the man, who called himself Justin or Arwan, was not a normal
man, not completely. He had psychic abilities, the kind Isaiah’d always sensed
his sister and more recently his niece had. The kind of strength Isaiah craved
and wanted desperately for himself, but only existed in him to a lesser degree.
If Arwan wanted to use his powers to control the world, Isaiah had every
intention of helping him achieve that end and be aptly rewarded for it.

     
Together the
two men entered the building. When they stepped off the elevator, Arwan stopped
at the nurses’ station and spoke softly to them in a language Isaiah had heard
him speak many times, yet could never understand. He knew Arwan made sure the
nurses would not pay attention to anything they did by placing a mental
suggestion in their minds. As far as they were concerned, the hallway stayed
empty and all remained as it should be.

Arwan continued walking down the corridor with Isaiah by his side until
they were abreast of the man and woman standing on either side of a door. He
recognized them from the mountain, awakened human brethren. Because he had to
use energy to cloak his presence, as well as Isaiah’s, he couldn’t tell who
remained in the room, but it didn’t matter. Draakar would come after him soon
enough. Arwan turned his head and in the time it took for him to make eye
contact with them, they were both slumping toward the floor. He grabbed the
woman while Isaiah got the man, and quickly carried them to the empty room
Isaiah had hidden in earlier.
 

Time was of the essence.

Placing them on the floor side-by-side, Arwan knelt between them and laid
his palms on their foreheads.

Isaiah kept watch as Arwan’s hands glowed brighter, then quickly stopped.
He wasn’t trying to kill them. Their deaths would have drawn Draakar
immediately to him.
 
He just took
some of their life energy, enough to make sure they would be of no use to
Draakar for a while. Arwan would need all the power he could summon to face the
Dark Lord. The less power Draakar could access the better.

When Arwan stood, Isaiah opened the door a crack and checked the hallway
to make sure no one lingered. Both men walked to the elevator and quickly left
the building. They got back in the car with Isaiah behind the wheel. Using the
temporary powers from the stolen life energies and the powers siphoned from the
white realm, Arwan cloaked the car as it sped through the city and highway
toward the mountains, but left a clear trail for Draakar to follow.
Unfortunately, in spite of the cloak allowing them to travel faster than normal
speed, they had to slow down then come to a stop because of a traffic jam
caused by an accident ahead of them. Fire trucks blocked all the lanes up
ahead.

The four men entered the cave opening. They all had to bend down to get
through the entrance but once inside, the cave expanded and they were able to
stand. There didn’t seem to be any visual sign anyone or anything had been
there recently. The dirt covered floor held no footprints, and as caves went,
there was not much to this one. It didn’t appear to have a large interior.
Although the inside remained dark they could see all of it from where they
stood with their brethren eyesight. The cave went no further into the
mountainside than thirty feet, ending at a rock wall.

Draakar inhaled deeply. “The betrayer was here and I can sense Maya now.”
He walked to the farthest wall and placed his palm upon it.

This is it.
He sent to the
others.
There is a portal here that leads
to another realm.

Can you open it?
Talon asked
behind him.

Yes, I can. Once we’re through,
Talon, go back to the car and wait for us.
Draakar turned to stare at his
son.
Remember, till dawn.

Draakar returned his attention to the wall and called on Mother Earth. He
would save his powers, if he could, and let Mother Earth use her powers to open
the way. The gate sat on part of Earth, at least on this side; Mother Earth
should be able to open it. She answered his request by infusing him with the
power to open the gate.
 

Raising both hands, he placed them where she directed. At his touch,
without a sound, the stonewall split apart. Directly in front of him appeared a
perfectly straight line, as tall as he. On alert for any sudden appearance of
the silver dragon, the others raised their shields and anxiously watched the
stones begin to shrink and the split in the rock widen enough for a person to
get through. They could see nothing on the other side but thick white mist.
Draakar placed one booted foot through the opening and pausing briefly sent,
James, Robert, stay behind me.

Draakar continued his forward momentum, but as soon as his other foot
cleared the opening the portal sealed shut. He felt the tear close but didn’t
bother to turn around. He barely heard his son’s mental cry of anguish behind
him. The wall closed, separating him from his brethren.

However, he held no concern. The woman who sat right in front of him
captured all of his attention. Too late, he heard her mental warning but it
made no difference.

It’s a trap.

Are you all right?
he sent as
he silently assessed her.

Yes. I’m fine. Oh, Draakar, I’m
sorry. As soon as I felt your presence I tried to warn you. This is a trap the
betrayer set. Draakar, Justin is the betrayer. He calls himself Arwan. Our
magic doesn’t seem to work here but his does.

I
f his can work here, then so can mine.
He walked over to her and
she stood. Before she could straighten to her full height, he had her in his
arms and pulled her up against him.

Are you sure you are all right?
Like a
soft caress, Maya heard his whisper in her mind and felt his anxiety for her in
his heart.

Despite their circumstances, Maya rejoiced. He’d come after her. He had
not disappointed her, not this time.
Yes.
I am now. But what are we going to do? How will…

Those were all the questions she managed to get out before he assaulted
her senses. His lips covered hers and he inhaled her.

The world tilted and she no longer held a separate existence. She’d
become a part of him. Neither existed without the other. His breaths held her
life. She took no breath he did not provide.

His arms surrounded her, cocooning her, while she slipped her hands under
his cascading hair, wrapped her arms around his neck and held him to her.
Without releasing her mouth, she felt and heard his need in her mind and it
echoed through her soul. Time held no meaning for them. They were always meant
to be. Their story carved long ago into the Stones. This one creature had been
crafted for her.

As other truemates had done before them, she read his thoughts.

Draakar took a leap of faith.
Feed
me your flame,
Draakar requested.
I
need it for my fire.
He opened his mouth wider to receive her.
 

Instinct drove her actions. Needing to release what had been building up
inside of her from the moment of her existence, Maya opened her mouth, pressed
her lips to his even harder, and did as he needed. She was created just for
him. This time she sucked the air right out of his lungs, and releasing the
flame born inside her—a flame that would only flare for this one man—gave
him the breath of her life energy encased in living flame.

They exchanged the true bonding ritual between truemates, the breath of
flame. The spoken words, as binding as they were, were a mere shadow of this
bond. Only a truemate could be gifted with the exchange of flame because only a
truemate could call it forth and live through it. For him, the breath of life.
For any other, the kiss of death.
 

This powerful man trembled in her arms as her magicks met and blended
with his.
 
Mouths locked in an
embrace nothing could break, their hearts thudding in unison, they both dropped
to their knees. All the power he’d been born to as a dark dragon finally and
truly awakened in his soul and roared to life, demanding to be fed.

More. I need more.
He growled
the command in her head.

I give you all that I am.

My mate. Yes, you will. As I will
give to you all that I am.

Maya poured herself into him, never more alive than at that moment. She
was born for him as he for her. All her doubts seemed ridiculous in light of
those indisputable facts. Excitement coursed through her veins to complete the
bonding ritual between truemates. She had waited so long for him to claim her.
She would wait no more.

Soon, beloved. Soon.

Draakar suddenly broke contact and raised his head as though he were
listening to something.

“What? What is it?” Maya asked, looking around too. “Is it the betrayer?”
She couldn’t see anything but the swirling white vapor. Then she felt it. A
light cool brush against her skin, whereas before she only felt the heat
generated by Draakar. She dropped her hands from around his neck and rested her
palms against his chest, where his heart beat steadily. She couldn’t hear
anything but when Draakar’s body stiffened against hers, it became obvious he
communicated with someone or something.

What’s going on?
It took a few
moments for his body to relax and for him to respond to her.

It’s okay.
Draakar eased his
hold on her but didn’t release her completely from his embrace. “The entity
that dwells here just made contact with me. It is also the power controlling
this realm,” he replied verbally. “It’s the mist. The mist is a sentient being,
an elemental possessing powerful magicks. It noticed the power we just
generated and got curious. It connected with me through this. It means us no
harm, but it is a powerful being. It has been feeding power to the betrayer and
providing him with a safe haven. I believe the betrayer is in for a surprise
the next time he enters this realm.”

“Why? What happened?”

“I shared some of my memories of the betrayer with the mist, and it is
very distressed it aided such a creature. It doesn’t know violence but
understands the concept and will not be a part of it. The mist has promised it
will not help the betrayer any longer.”

Maya looked around, intrigued by the vapor curling around them. “The
entire time I was here I tried to use my powers, but never once thought to try
to communicate with the vapor around me. What can it do?”

“At first, the power of the mist dampens our Earth born senses, our
powers, because it’s trying to communicate with us. That’s why your powers
don’t appear to work. Think of a positive trying to fit into a negative. They
cancel each other out, but it has found a way to make contact. It’s using its
powers to augment our own instead of butting against it, so there can be
two-way communication. Since it’s had experience with the betrayer and I am
familiar with the way other realms may work, it’s easier for it to communicate
with me.”

“What about the powers it’s given to the betrayer?”

“It can’t take away any of the powers it’s already given to him, but it
will no longer help him when he returns. And he will return for you, I have no
doubt about that, but you won’t be here.”

“How will we get out?” she asked. “Will the mist release us? I think his
plan was to trap you here.”

“Yes, but that’s not going to happen. We are no longer trapped here. I
can open the gate now at will.”

“Even if we get out of here,” she squeezed his arm, “when the betrayer
returns he’ll just come after us.”

“No he won’t.”

“Why? What’s to stop him?”

I will. It must end here.

Maya jumped to her feet. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she shook
her head. She had just come to terms with her feelings for Draakar. She didn’t
like hearing the betrayer’s powers had been enhanced. She couldn’t lose her
Dark Lord now. Reaching for him, she grasped his hands and replied
mind-to-mind, needing the intimacy with him. It conveyed her feelings much
stronger than vocalizing.

No. No. Either we fight him
together or you come with me now. Like you said, the mist will no longer help
him, so he’ll be trapped here. There’s no need for you to face him.

Draakar sat back on his hunches.
There
is every need.

The need for revenge?

Have you forgotten what he has done
to your mother? That was no accident, nor do I think your grandmother’s death
an accident. I am also the protector of all brethren.
 
Sentence was passed on the betrayer long ago. I cannot take
the chance he will escape this place. So I will make sure he cannot.

Maya released his hands to raise both of hers in the air, as a sign of
surrender.
So what? You will bring
violence, death to the mist.
She knew she sounded unreasonable.
 
Earlier she wanted to take off the
betrayer’s head. Now faced with the reality of a betrayer who might be more
powerful than Draakar, she did not want to risk him.
 

I did not choose the place, he did.
The mist understands this must be done.

Does it really? How can it
understand, when it doesn’t know violence?

It does.

What about your power?
Maya
grasped at anything here. On one level she recognized her fears where
unfounded, but she had finally found him and didn’t want him facing danger.

I do understand your fears, Maya.
But you have awakened all of my powers with your flame. You know this. Trust
me. Trust us.

Maya’s body stiffened, then relaxed, she nodded her head. The mist had
been able to establish communication with her.

Draakar stood to face her, calmly waiting. Only a few moments seemed to
go by before she could speak. “The mist says it doesn’t know violence, but it
also doesn’t know love. It has felt the strong emotions we have for each other.
It has never experienced anything like it and would like to know love.”

He smiled and held out his hand to her. “I think we can manage that.”

A skeptical Maya raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I want an
audience.”

“It’s not. Not as you understand audiences.” Draakar opened the link
between them, which helped her to understand the mist didn’t really feel or see
as their senses worked, but responded to power or magicks. It wanted the power
love could generate to help mute the power of the violence it would soon
experience if Draakar confronted the betrayer. Whatever energies released in
this realm it would absorb, and it needed something to counter the effect of
the violence. It needed a balance.

“Ah, I understand.” Maya took a step, bringing her close enough to place
her hand in his. He tugged her nearer and lowered his head to hers.

My turn. Open for me, my
queen.
 

“Whoa, what’s this, my queen, stuff?” Maya asked holding her palms flat
against his chest and this time feeling a rapid heart beat. A heart beating in
anticipation to match her own.

That is what you are, Maya. You
know this.

I know I am your mate, Draakar.
I’ve accepted that. How could I not? But, I will not be queen.

You are my queen. You always have
been and always will be.
Draakar stopped. Maya read all of this in his
thoughts. He planned to bond them completely first, then convince her later of
her status as queen of the brethren.

“Was your first wife, Sierran, your queen, too?”

“No. I did not name her queen. I had the power to do so but could not,
because I knew she was not mine. When we were bonded, Valour, my advisor named
her consort.
 
Brethren queens are
usually born as Dams, the strongest females of our kind. We rarely accept
females merely designated as queen solely because they are mated to the Dragon
Lord. Titles are granted by right of might. And most importantly, Sierran was
not my queen. You are.”

Draakar covered Maya’s hand, lying on his chest, at the same time he
covered her mouth with his.
I need you to
feel the fire you created in me. As my fire burns for you, I need yours to burn
for me. Open for me. Let me feed you my flame.

Without hesitation, Maya opened wider and thought she would ignite where
she stood. Every cell in her body flared to renewed life while she burned from
the inside.
 
Just like in her
dream, but so much more. Strength she’d never known infused her muscles, yet at
the same time the bones in her legs felt like they had been sucked out of her
body. If it weren’t for his arms around her, holding her up, she would have
fallen at his feet.

The flame died, but while Draakar may have stopped the flame, the feeling
of being consumed by fire from the inside out did not cease. The heat remaining
behind would never entirely go away. This had been her dream, this burning from
within. Yet she’d lived through it and her powers had come to life. Nothing to
fear, but something to embrace.

Everything intensified tenfold. On a higher level, she could feel the
hardness of Draakar’s body flush against her own. She could feel the silkiness
of his hair as it brushed against her cheek and the roughness of his tongue as
it invaded her mouth, which she gladly greeted with her own as a different type
of heat built again within her core.

He lowered her body to a horizontal position. A good thing he took
control, because she could no longer sense any part of her body other than her
mouth sealed against his, her tongue wrapped around his, and her arms locked
around his neck.
 

Most of all she felt the heat from Draakar and an unending need for more.
She wanted to burst into flames.

Maya sank further into the comfort of the soft ground beneath her.
Draakar, now as naked as she, covered her front completely with his larger
frame. His hair hung around them like a dark velvet curtain, enclosing them in
a world of two and blocking all else out. For the moment, they were in a world
of their own creation.
 

He placed his hands at the side of her head, keeping most of his weight
off her.
 
Her senses, human and
dragon, kicked in full throttle and she absorbed all of him at a level beyond
mere skin. Every movement of rippling muscle, every vibration from the rise and
fall of his hard chest, the brush of his faint hair running from his navel to
between his legs rubbing against her stomach. Even he trembled as blood rushed
to his pleasure centers. Draakar’s earthy scent surrounded her. Most of all,
the sensation of his hands moving on her bare skin had her blood rushing to her
core. Thank God, he’d willed their clothing away so she didn’t have to stop or
slow down to take anything off.

I know, beloved, that this is our
first time—your first time—and I will try to go slow for you. But I
ask forgiveness in advance if I am unable. I have waited so long.

Too long, Dark Lord, I command you
not to take your time. To do what needs be done, for both of our sakes. We have
waited enough time. I do not wish to wait any longer.

Draakar moved his lips across her face, placing firefly kisses on her
closed eyelids. He moved to her nose then briefly back to her mouth before
continuing downward to her collarbone, where he paused and sucked for a moment.
Ah, but I find I need to wait for just a
little bit longer while I get to know every inch of you. I promise I will make
it up to you.