Alexa's Dragon (Dragon mates Book 1) (23 page)

It had been worth it. Dying here now would be worth the minutes, hours and days she had gotten to spend with him. She simply wished they had more time together.

“Are you done yet?” Her power asked in a lazy voice.

“Oh there you are when I looked for you I couldn’t find you.”

“I needed to find us a way out of here.”

“Well?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“I think you and I are going to have a long talk when we get free, but right now we’re headed to our death. What have you got for me?”

“You have to do a total merge with Syn which makes you vulnerable in all the ways you thought, but it’s our only chance. If we combine our powers, like they were meant to be, we can fry whatever is on us.”

“He’s dead if we don’t. Worse than dead because whatever this is will drag him straight to Mutufa.”

“I know. Relax.”

Easier said than done. Alexa took a deep breath then stopped fighting against the blood trying to cover her body. She felt it climb her faster but all she could do was concentrate on opening her mind up to her mate bonded. The desire to touch him, even if it was the last time, was a demand she could no longer hide from.

The feeling of being stuck in her own head frustrated her. Syn wasn’t picking up, or maybe he couldn’t, so she built a bridge with thoughts of him. The first time she met him at her parents’ house. A slow smile built. His feeding her meat. She grimaced a little even though she now devoured the stuff like her life depended on it because it did.

The first time he met Nadia. Last, but definitely not least, was what he did to her body, stringing out her pleasure, making her scream then beg and yeah scream again. Her mate bonded. She loved him.

“Alexa.” His voice reached her with such love her knees almost buckled.

“Syn, we have to merge.”

“I know, love, but it will be dangerous.”

“Because right now were having a picnic.”

“My mate bonded with the bad sense of humor. Love, I have to bond with you, this will allow your power to be in control.”

She could hear the question in his voice. They had bonded before but always in his mind with his thought and memories at the forefront never hers. This would be the very last barrier that stood between them.

“You are welcome in my mind, Syn.” She felt his smile then he moved over mentally until he was in her mind.

Warmth caressed her body, for a minute she felt like she could breathe if the bands holding her still weren’t as tight. For a minute. Then they tightened again but to have Syn filling her mind was a miracle worth dying for.

“I would rather we live for this one.” His words caressed her like his hands would on her body later.

“What do we do?”

“We let your power have reign over both of us now.”

“She is going to be insufferable to live with later.”

“At least we’ll be alive, I hope.”

Her power formed its original shape and slipped deep into Syn’s mind looking for something. It found some song in his mind and began to hum off key as it worked.

“We don’t have all day,” Alexa prodded gently.

“We do if we want this to work correctly.”

It went back to work treating Syn’s mind like it was a mine and it was trying to discover gold. When her power finally uncovered a shiny substance, she wasn’t at all surprised to see it looked like gold coins.

“What’s that?”

“That’s the seat of Syn’s abilities. It is what makes him a dragon shifter, something Mutufa could have never realized would happen. Her power stood there looking at it as if it was communicating with it before becoming a glowing red ball and merging with it.

Power coursed through her body. She could be or do anything, she was that strong. The chanting she heard earlier was back with seductive words that she could now understand.

“Join me, together we could rule the universe.” That seductive voice wrapped around her promising her every dream she ever had both innocent and vindictive.

She could right the wrong of her business, get back at those who made her life miserable. There was so much she could do. If only she could ignore the soft caress of the male who loved her completely.

Dragging herself away from vengeance, she told her power to set her free. A fire started deep in her bones, burning her up on the inside yet leaving her whole and strong. It spread outwards until it came in touch with the bands around her. There were screams of pain, none of them hers as the blood that was trying to kill her began to recoil.

It clung desperately in different spots as other spots loosened its grip unable to take the heat. It began to bubble as it burned. She locked her knees as it tried to take her down. Finally, it gave a last cry of pain and slithered off her.

She almost fell in it her relief was so great. Her mind was clear as Syn went back to his own head. Opening her eyes, she could see that he was free too. Looking down at their feet the river of blood was no longer there and nothing stood between them and that final door.

If only that final door was standing wide open in invitation.

“So, what’s the chance that we can close it from the outside?”

“Slim to none. But I like your spirit,” Syn answered allowing his eyes to take her in.

“That’s what I thought.” She moved towards the door catching a shadow. Her eyes couldn’t track but she knew she saw it.

“Syn, did you see that?”

He shook his head.

“Never mind maybe my eyes playing tricks on me.”

She scanned the area, but she didn’t see it again. Yet she was sure they weren’t alone. Could it be the mysterious figure helping Mutufa, the one they debated existed? Was this the proof that she needed?

It no longer mattered. They were standing in front of the door now all they had to do was enter.

They walked into nothingness. The entire plane was flat as if they were standing in a void. The figure that stepped out of the void took Alexa by surprise making her flinch before she got her reflexes under control.

“Welcome, mate bonded to the dragon. I have been expecting you.” Mutufa gave her a bow.

She cast her eyes to look at Syn who was measuring Mutufa with his.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Syn answered.

“Syn, I am glad to see you. Sorry about this welcome as well as your welcome a few weeks ago.”

“I understand. Good help is hard to find.”

“So true. I have everything in working order, Syn. All you have to do is bind your lovely mate, sacrifice her, and we can rule the world together. I was really hoping this would go the other way,” he shrugged, “but I will take what I can get.”

With a flick of his hands, the voice disappeared and he was indeed set up for a sacrifice. An altar appeared in front of him and bindings to use on Alexa. Did Mutufa really believe that he would sacrifice her?

“There are a couple of things I need to understand first.”

He gave Syn an indulgent look as the chanting started again. This time it was more frantic with an edge to it.

Alexa looked around. This had to be his final play. If he could convince her mate bonded to turn on her, he would have all the power he ever dreamed of.

Looking at Syn, she saw no sign of what he was thinking and she knew better than to try and merge with him. Mutufa was everywhere looking for weakness, if she gave him a way into Syn’s mind he would take it. She would have to trust her mate bonded.

“The cost for me to rule it all, at your side naturally, is my mate bondeds life? If I sacrificed her, wouldn’t I end up like my oldest brother?”

“There is an old saying ‘it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved.’ In your case that is true. Since you have mate bonded, when she dies you will still be whole and will avoid your brother’s fate.”

Why hadn’t anyone told her about that before she became one with Syn. Maybe he didn’t know about it either. Of course, maybe he knew and everything he told her was a lie. It was all one sided, she loved while he plotted.

“Look at her, Syn. She is beginning to realize that you and I have plotted this for centuries. You want so much more and once she is dead, you can have any female from any race you desire. You will be a king, after me of course.”

“Of course,” Syn’s voice came out wooden and his eyes were glassy. With uncoordinated movements, he began to walk towards Alexa.

“It has to be this way, Alexa. I’m sorry you were chosen to be my mate bonded and now you have to sacrifice your life for the good of the world. Actually, just for my good. I would have loved to get to know you after I ruled it all. But it wasn’t so bad was it? The days you spent tied to my bed with me drilling my power deeply into you, chanting over and over how you were mine.”

Has he lost his ever-loving dragon mind? She was never tied to his bed but now that she imagined it, she realized it could be fun. She shrugged, she’d read a few books that made her want to try it. Drilling his power in her while chanting, well that was one way to put it. Ohhh…really sometimes she was slow.

When he reached for her, her power tied them together. They lifted a hand in perfect union and drilled a bolt of power deep into Mutufa.

“Backwards,” Syn shouted.

Together they began to use Mutufa’s chant against him, saying it backwards. Slowly at first until the words became familiar and then faster.

Mutufa gave a scream of outrage; his body had been shadow, but now it was changing. It became thick and tall, two horns were curled against his skull.

“You could have had it all,” his voice came out like fire blasting over them. “Now you both will die.”

Maybe they would die but she wasn’t giving up hope yet. They moved backwards staying out of his reach as he belched fire worthy of a dragon. Syn moved away from her and his shape changed. In a blink of an eye, there stood his dragon. He went down on his forearms as she ran towards him and climbed his back.

He took off gliding through the sky as if he understood the rules of this plane.

Mutufa changed too. He became a black dragon flying after them. Alexa placed a shield around her that should allow her to stay on Syn’s back even as she continued to chant Mutufa’s words backwards. They had to defeat him.

They traded fire doing little damage as their hides absorbed it. Mutufa came in and turned over gliding on his back under Syn reaching for his belly. Syn banked to the right and caught Mutufa’s forearm with his deadly claws.

Alexa wanted to cheer but it was too early in the fight. Instead, she reached out and petted his shoulders as she looked for a good place to aim. Syn brought the fight to Mutufa by attacking him. He used his teeth to catch ahold of his neck. They were in a spiral as the two dragons fought and Alexa clung to Syn for her life.

Mutufa pulled away with a deep gash in his back and two additional ones in his side. Syn had a long bloody cut in his side and one on his wing causing him to list a little.

“Alexa, you may have to close this door by yourself.” The sound of his pain-filled voice in her head alarmed her.

“Syn, we’ll close it together.”

“Maybe, either way it must be closed. Remember I love you.” He flew close to the ground and dropped her.

Her shield saved her from most of the impact. Rising to her feet, she saw him climbing again going after Mutufa, this time nothing stopped him. He was a warrior willing to give everything including his life to stop the enemy from advancing.

Deadly claws ripped at Mutufa’s underbelly while trying to turn his body to save it from the same fate. The dragon fire became hotter and scales and feathers began to singe and burn. They rolled around each other both scoring hits but neither scoring a deathblow until a white bolt of lightning came at Syn from behind hitting him in his shoulder blades and sending him in a spiral towards the ground.

Alexa screamed and would have run to him but Mutufa was headed toward her. Having no other options, she backed up, moving out the way and falling to the ground as he tried to pick her up in his claws. A sound of frustration came from his lips as he missed and beat his wings hard to keep from crashing.

Standing up, she ran to Syn. His body was still even as she tried to shake him. He was lying on his back looking broken. No! She buried her face in his chest as hot tears streamed from her face. How could she have lost him when she just found him?

Hatred—the kind she never felt before—bloomed deep in her chest. Mutufa took her mate bonded from her. He took her parents; in fact, he took or was trying to take everything that meant anything to her. This ended here.

“You want me?” she cried out.

Her white hair was standing straight up on her head. The red outfit she was wearing was tattered and everything in her hurt. Nothing mattered, not even getting out alive. All that mattered was shutting the damn door so the rest of the world could go on for another day.

“Here I am you maniac, come get me!”

She caught a shadow in the corner. This time she didn’t second guess, she sent a bolt at it before it could move. Her lips raised in a smile of satisfaction as a scream of pain reached her ears. Someone was helping Mutufa, probably whoever sent that white bolt at her mate. Lifting her hands to blast it again, she saw the shadow disappear through the door she needed to shut.

Turning, she caught Mutufa trying to sneak up on her in dragon form.

“So you want to be a dragon?” She shot bolt after bolt of lightning at him until he began his own spiral in the sky. A death spiral she prayed.

He stood up, his form changing again until he became the shadow she first saw him as.

“That is the difference between me and your mate bonded. He thought he could not die. I know I cannot die. The world must have balance. Ultimate good and ultimate evil and I am the ultimate evil.”