“Lil!” Lucy opened the door and stepped out. This was all her fault. She shifted from right to left foot, trying to override her desire to get back under the stairs and hide.
Gino laughed. Suddenly, he changed into one of the theater beasts. A brown dragon with red lining its eyes, tail ridge, and wing tips. Spiraled horns grew from its head and fangs protruded from its mouth. Lil jumped to her feet and swung her sword at the creature.
A dragon? In here? Lucy’s body trembled, her breathing grew ragged, and her eyes couldn’t accept what see was seeing. Had Gino somehow joined the Cirque du Soleil show? Her mind skipped over the unbelievable data.
The brown dragon flew a figure-eight pattern near the rafters and roared so loudly, the glass of the jewel cases rattled. Lucy’s heart jumped a beat and her palms left sweat marks on the front of her pants. This was crazy.
Lil jumped on a glass case and swung her sword into the belly of the dragon. Ice seemed to come out of the end of her sword. She was good, like Bruce Lee with a blond braid.
The dragon roared. Blood gurgled off its chest, and it screeched and landed on the ground. It stretched its talons toward Lil, trying to grab her. When Lil swung upward with her sword, the dragon knocked her down. Her head hit the corner of a jewel case, and she crumpled to the floor, not moving.
Above them, the cloth draping on the ceiling burst into flames and fell to the floor.
Heat gusted over her face, tightening the skin. It was a real fire.
Holy Mary, Joseph, and Peter.
The dragon picked up Lil in his claws and shook her like a rag doll. Still Lil did not move. This was too much. Smoke hit Lucy in the face and she coughed.
“Hey, stop this!”
The dragon pivoted his head. It dropped Lil to the ground and trudged toward Lucy. Its spiked tail swung behind it like some crazy dinosaur animation. Jewelry cases shattered into piles of glass and steel.
“That’s enough!” Lucy yelled. Flaming curtains and brocade paper crashed to the ground. Ceiling sprinklers turned on and water poured from the ceiling like a torrential storm.
The dragon stopped a few feet from her. Its lips pulled back to show yellow fangs and black gums dripping with saliva. It inhaled deeply and then blew out, coating her in a foul liquid that smelled like rotten eggs and stale smoke.
The steel door beeped and swished open. Alec and a small army of black-clothed guards rushed inside.
“Lucy!” Alec called.
Lucy wiped water from her eyes and stared at the brown dragon, disbelief paralyzing her.
The dragon opened his mouth and lunged at her. His teeth sunk into her shoulder and he lifted her off the ground. Pain exploded through her body. She saw Alec’s furious face before the floor slammed into her body.
A bigger black dragon came out of nowhere, pinned the brown dragon to the floor, and shook him by the neck. Lucy was so close, she could see the half-circle shaped scales of the black dragon flexing. The brown dragon shrieked, but the black dragon held on, squeezing the other dragon’s throat until it stopped moving.
The brown dragon’s head thudded to the floor next to her. Its pupils dilated to the edges of pink irises and took on the unmistakable mask of death.
This was too
Lucy pushed herself up on her arms and looked around the destroyed room. Her shoulder throbbed. She was hurt. Really hurt. Smoke trailed upward from charred fabric and material, gone soggy with the sprinkler water. Priceless jewels scattered on the floor.
Lil was unconscious.
Could they be real dragons?
She stared at the black dragon. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. The dragon walked forward on all fours, watching her. In a shimmer, he changed into a man.
Alec.
One minute it was a dragon, the next minute it was Alec. Beside her, the brown dragon shrank and turned into a bloodied man.
Gino. Dead.
She scooted to the edge of the stairs.
Alec stepped toward her as if he approached an injured animal, uncertain if she would bolt. His hand reached for her, palm up. She remembered him touching her in a caress. It was the same hand, the same man.
“You’re a dragon?” she whispered the words.
“Yes, I told you so.”
Alec’s face wavered in front of her. In her mind, she heard a rushing sound. A black tide crashed over her, tugging her out to sea. She closed her eyes, welcoming the unknown over the evidence of dragons.
…
Alec picked up Lucy and cradled her to his chest. “See to Lil first,” he told Leo. “Then transfer all the jewels to my private vault.” Alec opened the steel door.
“What about Ambrogino?” Leo asked.
“Burn him so that he can’t regenerate.”
In the hall, gamblers watched Alec carrying Lucy with wide eyes. Lucy was pale, and her breathing was choppy. The three puncture wounds on her right shoulder had to hurt like hell.
Alec could hardly concentrate over the roaring in his head. Lucy had been in danger, almost killed. It was unacceptable, it couldn’t happen again. His father had prepared him to assume the role of King, but he would not, could not sacrifice his mate for anyone.
“Send the doctor to my suite,” he said out loud, knowing Darius would see and hear him in the surveillance room.
He pushed his hand on the security panel that activated the elevator to the dragon floors. Up, up they whisked. The blue cloudless day would have be perfect for flying—flying away with his mate—leaving the dragons and their problems behind.
At the dragon’s quarters, he stepped through the communal gathering area. The festive chatter of newly arrived dragons from every corner of the world stopped. A low hissing, akin to human booing, sounded at the back of the room.
Alec stopped, turning in a wide arc. “Who dares insult my mate?” He pulled Lucy’s face protectively to his chest.
Lin, one of the commanders of the Chinese fold, stepped forward with his eyes downcast. “They meant no disrespect, Jer’ol. They’re young and excited by the ceremony.”
Alec understood Lin’s reasoning, but there was no room for weakness with dragons. He had already put down one blood challenge today—he did not need another. Better to handle the naysayer where all could see and learn not to challenge his authority.
“I ask again.” He set the still unconscious Lucy carefully in a chair and opened his arms wide to the room. “Who dares come into my home, enjoy my hospitality, and hiss at my mate?”
There was a rumble of chatter through the crowd. A young, brash Chinese man stepped forward. “It was me,” the young man said with a heavy Asian accent. “You brought a human among our kind. It is forbidden.”
“The human is my destined mate.”
The man glanced over his shoulder for support from his comrades. “You’re mistaken. There has never been a human mate,” the young man continued in a righteous tone.
“I say she is.” Alec stepped closer, crowding the naysayer.
Again there was hissing from the back of the room. The disrespect was worse than he realized. Alec bumped the young man with his chest, forcing him backward.
“Jer’ol,” Lin said. “I beg your forgiveness of my son.”
“Your father knows the only history that matters here is mine.” Alec smiled wide with feral intensity. “I’ll kill you.”
“I would like to see you try.” The young man fisted his hands at his side and swung for Alec.
