I Like Big Dragons and I Cannot Lie (The I Like Big Dragons Series) (22 page)

Vassago Motors had been my father’s. He’d started the company when we were little more than small children, needing a monetary outlet that wouldn’t draw the attention of the Feds.

He’d done well with it, and it now was a huge conglomerate that supported us instead of just being an outlet for us to run our money through to make sure it came out clean and untraceable.

“That’s cool. Can’t believe it’s never come up before, though,” he whispered tiredly.

No, I couldn’t either.

Jean Luc and the rest of The Dragon’s Warriors were a huge part of my life, and I made it a point to let them into it. They knew quite a bit about me, as I did about them.

That was how you made a successful brotherhood.

You made sure that the people that would always have your back had a reason to have it. That they knew the person that they’d give their lives for, was worthy.

“Heard anything from your woman?” Jean Luc asked after a long moment.

I glanced over at him, and moved my eyes back to the road. “Not yet. But we’ll be there in less than twenty minutes. I guess I’ll know more then.”

I’d been hoping for better news over the past two hours, but none had come.

In fact, any news had been scarce from Darcy Manor.

Everyone there was busy making sure that the wounded that were taken there were taken care of.

One of those being my mate.

Exactly twenty minutes later, I was walking into the infirmary, flabbergasted by what I saw.

Each and every bed was being utilized.

Conscious. Unconscious.

Minor injuries. Grave injuries.

They varied from person-to-person and bed-to-bed.

“Holy shit,” Nikolai breathed. “This is a nightmare.”

I agreed wholeheartedly.

Now what were we going to do about it?

“Where’s my mate?” I asked the first nurse I saw.

The nurse, I think her name was Alba, smiled and pointed to the room beyond the one we were in. “The less serious injuries are in there through that door. She’s in the very back corner behind a blue curtain.”

I was walking away before she’d even finished.

I realized it was rude, but I couldn’t help it.

The last memories I had of her were of Farrow taking her home and seeing her limp, unconscious body draped in his arms.

Then came his alarming update about her having a seizure, and I just couldn’t quite work out polite conversation at that moment in time.

I passed my sister on the way, patting her shoulder as I went.

She gave me a fleeting smile and went back to the stitches she was sewing into Ian’s arm.

Ian nodded at me, and I did the same back to him as I continued past.

I finally arrived at the curtained off area and opened it partially to pass through.

And my breath left my chest in a soft
whoosh
.

Not because she was hurt…or because there was anything gruesome showing…but because she looked so serene. So beautiful.

Blythe’s hair was spread out on the sheet below her like a hair commercial. All soft, flowing, and bouncy.

There was no sight of blood or anything on her, which meant someone had cleaned her up…most likely my sister.

She was dressed as well, wearing one of my t-shirts, a Vassago Motors one in navy blue.

My sister was probably responsible for that as well, because that was only possible if someone had gone to my quarters to get it.

She had a white hospital blanket covering her lower half, and the soft swell of her abdomen was evident, even now, making my heart turn.

Monitors beeped silently behind her, one for her heart, one for the baby’s heartbeat and another for the IV line that was going into a vein at her wrist.

And there was a light on just above her head, giving her an ethereal look that almost made me think of jewelry display cases. The kind that shone just right to display the diamonds in the case to entice the customers to stop and study them.

I definitely stopped.

And she took my breath away.

“She’s okay, as far as I can tell. I’m guessing she’s in a very deep sleep, nothing more. The baby is fine, as well. We’ve done a complete blood work up on them both. Healthy and happy,” my sister replied softly. “You need to just give her time. Not even a bump or scratch on her. The one Farrow said she sustained, the one that had all the blood caked around it, was healed as we got her here. I gave her a sponge bath and cleaned her up as best as I could. Now it’s all up to her.”

I nodded, walking to the bed and picking up Blythe’s hand.

It was warm and so soft.

I kissed each finger individually before placing it gently back on the bed.

Leaning over, I brushed my lips over hers. “Rest, my beauty.”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” Derek growled. “You shouldn’t have been there. The King of our people should be protected. The moment you realized that it was going to be bad, you should’ve turned around and gotten to safety.”

I leaned back in my office chair, the one that used to belong to my father, and narrowed my eyes.

I hadn’t even been in here for more than a minute when he started in on what a King should and shouldn’t do.

And everything I’d done today was on the ‘shouldn’t do’ list apparently.

Nikolai sat back in his own chair across the room, as did the rest of the men from my inner circle. My blood brothers.

Ian, though, was the one I was interested in.

His eyes were downcast, and he was looking at his hands as he tried his best to disappear.

Ian was weird on the best of days, but usually he didn’t want to disappear.

Usually he was looking for a fight.

This wasn’t like him.

“Ian,” I called.

Ian, I could tell, was practically screaming ‘FUCK’ in his head.

Hell, I could practically read his mind.

“What’s up, Ian,” I repeated.

He sighed and looked up.

I could see the indecision in his eyes.

“You want my brutally honest opinion?” He asked bluntly.

I nodded. “I wouldn’t have asked your opinion if I expected anything but brutal honesty.”

Because Ian told it like it was. He didn’t pull any punches.

The man was a relief at times, even when it hurt to hear what he had to say.

Ian took a deep breath.

“On one hand, I want you to stay protected. That’s the way of a King…but not you, in particular. Sure, you’re ‘King,’” he made air quotes, “But you’re not that kind of one. You’re a badass motherfucker on the easy days. We want you, not some fuckin’ imposter that is you, but the real you.”

I raised my eyebrows at him.

Strangely, I understood that.

He wanted me.

He didn’t want the me that had to act differently to appease the masses.

“I also think that if you do that, you’d be making different decisions, because you won’t be as informed. Sure, none of us would tell you anything but the Gods honest truth. But it’s kind of like those generals who fight from the sidelines. You’re not a sideline fighter. You’re a right there in the thick of it kind of fighter. The one that shields us with your might. The one that gives us the courage to keep fighting even when we can’t fucking feel our legs. Like today. We were all blind and confused, but you were right there even after your woman got hurt. And that,” he said, giving me the full force of his gaze for the first time, “is what we need.”

I felt his words like a punch to the gut.

“That’s what I want to give you. That’s what I’ll always give you. Because that’s who I am.”

It was a simple statement.

But one that was felt by us all.

“Motherfucker,” Derek breathed. “You’re not going to give in on this are you?”

I shook my head.

No.

I’d gotten the same advice from not just my mate, but Ian.

The one man, among them all, that was least likely to give a fuck about it all.

And I was going to take their advice.

Because that’s what I wanted to do.

“Alright, boys. Anything else we need to talk about so I can go back to my woman?”
I asked tiredly.

“The house…with the friend,” Nikolai said.

I closed my eyes.

“We’ll do that after a few more nights of reconnaissance. I’m not sure what they have left there after their vehicles self-destructed, but I want to be sure before I send any more of our people in. We’ve already lost enough.”

Nikolai nodded.

“Anything else?”

They all shook their heads.

Except Derek.

“We need to have your crowning ceremony.”

I could tell he hadn’t wanted to say it.

But it had to be said.

It didn’t mean I had to listen to him.

“No.”

“Keifer…”

“I said no. Not without Blythe. When she wakes, we’ll do it. End of story.”

He sighed.

And with that, they all got up and left at the finality of my words.

And I was left a tired, wanting mess.

“Wake up soon, Blythe,” I ordered softly to the still air of my office.

It’s been a long week.

-Keifer in the middle of Monday

Keifer

Seven days later

“She had something in her stomach.”

I watched in horror as a USB drive was held out to me.

Taking it like it was a poisonous snake about to attack, I plugged it into the computer and winced when a file popped up.

“Fuck,” I hissed, clicking on it.

It was a sound file.

Short. Sweet. And to the point.

“I know you, Vassago. I know you better than you know me. I knew you’d come for her. You can’t resist helping the innocent,” he hissed. “Which was why I put a GPS tracker in her. You doomed yourself with your big old heart.”

Fear clogged my throat as I looked at the woman on the exam table.

The beaten and broken woman that would never have a normal life again.

“Find the GPS,” I ordered. “I’m going to be with my wife.”

I wasn’t as worried as I could have been.

Joseph was dead. I’d seen him die myself.

There was no coming back from a death like that.

But when you cut one head off a Hydra, another two spouted in its place…and that was what I was afraid of.

I just had to hope that maybe…just maybe…Joseph didn’t share this information with anyone.

That it ended with him.

And then I laughed humorlessly…because Joseph was all about help…and he had help from damn near everyone. Including my own mother, at one point.

Not that she’d realized it at the time.

Mom had thought Joseph was her friend.

Joseph was using Mom to get in with the dragon riders.

Joseph had bided his time, getting to know my mom. Spending time at my father’s business, shooting the shit.

That’d gone on for years.

And my mom being my father’s secretary, while he’d built his business, she’d been there every day. Spent time with Joseph. Told Joseph some things she shouldn’t have.

And that’d been what had gotten my father killed.

I thought back to the night my father was killed, and a cold chill washed over me.

My parents used to take night rides.

When life got to be too much for them, they’d chase the setting sun on Angus’ back.

Something my mother had inadvertently divulged to Joseph during one of his visits to my father’s garage.

That night my father had died was burned in my memory.

It’d been the night I came into my powers.

His death had set up a chain of events that led to me killing five men, and watching my father take his last breath.

So for the next fifteen years, although I couldn’t prove it, I watched Joseph like a hawk.

What he did, who he did it with.
Why he did it.

So it was easy to see all the ‘friends’ he had.

Congressmen. City officials. Police officers. Hell, even US Military.

So when he died, I felt no relief.

Someone wouldn’t let it go.

And with a woman that we’d taken from Joseph’s own home sitting in our infirmary, I had a good reason to be nervous.

Considerably so.

Because I had things on the horizon that I had no clue about…whether it’d be something minor or something huge.

Should I start packing up everyone now? Moving to a different sanctuary?

Darcy Manor had been the home of the King for seven generations…which made me reluctant to leave when I had a future son on the way myself.

“Stop thinking so much, you’re making my head hurt,” a groaning female voice came from in front of me.

I came up short when I saw my mate sitting up in bed.

We’d moved her to my private rooms when she’d shown no outward signs of illness.

We’d needed the room for all the other wounded. There were quite a few of them.

Over forty dragon riders had responded to my call a week ago once I’d spotted that first cage truck, and twenty of them had fallen with serious injuries.

Another thing we needed to discuss soon…strategy.

“There you go thinking again,” Blythe muttered tiredly, then yawned.

“Sorry,” I apologized, walking to the bed and sitting down on the side gingerly.

The position put her within inches of my face, and I studied her eyes.

“What happened, Drakina?” I asked softly, placing my hand on the side of her face.

Blythe picked up her own hand and placed it on mine.

“Apparently, your son did not like when you got hurt…and he made me fix you.”

I blinked.

“What?” I asked incredulously.

She nodded. “Yeah. It was bad. I felt it. Felt every single thing that happened to you. Before I’d been hurt, but I could still communicate through mindspeak. But then you got hurt and your child went a little nuts. I felt this huge energy start in my belly, and then all of a sudden I was taking away every single bit of your pain into myself…and let me tell you something…that sucked.”

My stomach clenched when I realized all that she’d done.

“How?” I was confused.

Things like this just weren’t done.

Then again, I’d been the first ‘true’ mating since my parents, so what did I know what normal was?