Dracian Legacy (37 page)

Before any of the Goarders moved, Axel threw three stars that caught in various parts of their bodies. He leapt into the air and I stood stunned at the scene unfolding in front of me. He looked like an avenging archangel, ready to destroy anything that came in his way. He was soon surrounded by eight Goarders. The one that slipped by him froze before he reached me.

“Ren!”

He screamed in my head, bringing me back from my shock. I trained to defend myself, but I never once fought them directly. I tried to retrieve my training, but my mind was completely blocked with fear, clouding my judgment.

“Ren. Run. Run!”
He pleaded inside my mind.

I heard another sharp growl in my head. This time I replied.

“No. I’m not leaving you.”
I could feel Axel’s worry wrapping around my body. He wasn’t afraid for his safety, but for my life.

“Stay alive for me. I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. I should’ve protected you better.”

“Don’t you dare, Alexander. We’ll get out of this. I love you.”

“I love you.”

I stabbed the frozen Goarder. Comet stood his ground in front of me, protecting me. I felt a wealth of gratitude toward the mutt I just met.

In the midst of my idiotic self-absorption, I didn’t notice two Goarders behind me.

I heard Axel’s cry of warning just as I felt a mind-blowing painful kick to my spine. I fell face forward, the wind rushing out of me. I heard laughter all around, making me heave with anger. My breathing quickened as my lungs struggled to accommodate the adrenaline pumping through my body. My mind worked faster to counteract the impending threat.

I recovered quick enough to avoid another kick. I rolled onto my back and jumped to my feet right before the Goarder’s dagger made contact with my chest. I shoved him with my shoulder, gathering enough strength, and went into attack mode with a combination of cross jab, uppercut, and butterfly kick.

The other Goarder bared its teeth, moving swiftly. He grabbed my hands and twisted them behind my shoulder blades. Out of instinct, I sprang to head-butt his jaw and ended up with a painful blow to my head. His razor-sharp teeth grazed the skin right above my neck and I yelped in pain as my hand reached for the flesh wound. I pushed forward, stomping on his feet, and jabbed at his ribs with my elbow. He let go and stumbled back a few feet.

We mimicked each other’s movements as we circled one another. He growled like an animal. Comet attacked, defending me. He was kicked in the head and went flying with a yelp.

“Bastards.” I snarled. I could never imagine why anyone would hurt such a loving animal. But then again, they weren’t human. I spun around, connecting the heel of my foot with the Goarder’s sternum with more force than I expected. The blow threw him off his feet and sent him flying a couple yards into the trees. I took in several heavy breaths.

“Enough,” Lyla yelled, losing patience.

Three more Goarders appeared behind me, and one grabbed me in a shoulder lock. I winced in pain as I lost my grip on the dagger. I felt little tingles rise above my skin like little zappers. Then it got stronger and the hair on my arms rose and I felt it. My magic, my essence came alive within me, trying to protect me from the impending danger.

The Goarders let go with a cry. Lyla’s eyes darted to mine and she sneered.

If I knew I was going to get that kind of reaction, I’d have spent more time learning how to use my magic.

With a gesture of her hand I was suspended in the air, and I screamed profanities a sailor would be proud of.

Axel’s gaze connected with mine and his face twisted in unmistakable fear. His irises widened, turning into stormy blue swirls, and his brows fused together like he was about to be thrown under a freight train. He successfully dusted five of the eight Goarders that initially attacked him.

But the three remaining held him down in his moment of his weakness, his face planted in the sand. His eyes helplessly attempted to seek mine, vibrating with anger and the need to protect me.

“You know what we want. If you want your little wench alive, bring
the Echo
.”

Axel turned into a raging wild animal and he thrust and screamed and fought harder against his captors, trying to reach me. But when five more Goarders materialized and attacked him at the same time, he fell to the sand. He was kicked and stabbed several more times, enough to weaken him, but not kill him. A trickle of blood pooled and seeped into the sand where he lay, almost motionless.

“No!” I cried. “Wake up, Axel.”

His clothes were ripped and his skin oozed with open wounds. His face sported a ridiculous amount of cuts and bruises that dripped dark-red blood. Axel’s blood. My heart beat feverishly. How did our romantic night turn into a nightmare so quickly?

“No. Please don’t hurt him.” I begged. “I-I’ll go.”

Lyla laughed dismissively.

She turned to face Axel. “Tick-tock. Time is of the essence, young prince.”

“Please Axel, don’t fight back. Please go; save yourself.”

“NO!”
he cried with agony, trying to push himself off the ground. His body fought back, his face tortured. Another kick to his ribs sent him back down with a painful scream.

“If you don’t let me go, neither of us has a fighting chance. Please. Give us a chance to live,”
I begged him.

“I can’t leave you.”

“You must. Please. You can find me.”
I looked down to my pendant. It was missing.
Crap.
“
Dean… should be able to find me.”
I reminded him.

Before I could say anything else, something yanked at my neck and my belly button. The last I heard was Axel’s agonizing scream. Everything went pitch black as my head whirled out of control. I was unable to tell top from bottom.

I hit the ground with a painful impact to my knees and hands. The bile easily and violently spewed out of my stomach and onto the black-and-white marble floor beneath my hands. I barely had time to register my surroundings when another round of contents left my nauseated stomach.

I twitched at the sharp pinch in my neck.

“Take her to the pit.” Lyla’s voice cut through my heaving.

I struggled to keep from vomiting again. My breathing came in short heaves and my heart beat erratically. I was pulled to my feet aggressively, two hands placed under my armpits. My feet and mind protested. If I were going to be forced, I wouldn’t make it easy by any means.

I was dragged and occasionally fell to my knees. My painful cries echoed along the walls with every inflicted wound. Something inside me numbed. I could feel it hiding within. Cowering.

Son of a… They drugged me
, was my last thought before I was thrown into a bright white room.

I was trapped and drugged… and now paralyzed.

My eyes opened to a glimmer of light aimed directly into them. I tried to block it out with my hands but couldn’t.
What in the hell?

My arms were strung above my head. My wrists bound with metal cuffs hanging from hooks in the ceiling left me dangling above the ground. I whimpered when I squirmed against the bindings. Pain jolted through my hands, above the arms and through my shoulders.

I struggled to free them from the constraints. Warmth dripped down my wrists as the steel cut into my raw, burning skin. I cried in pain while the iron rubbed against my open wound, the blood oozing faster.

“Look who’s up.” A cold voice delayed my immediate need to escape.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked.

My eyes zeroed in on the stranger before me. His shark-like teeth made a show to intimidate me, I was sure.

My captor’s hands went to his lips as he studied me slowly, like he was enjoying the view of the Seven Wonders of the World. He glared lecherously. What was he smiling at? I looked down at myself, wondering, and gasped to find what was left of my torn bridesmaid dress.

“Son of a…”

“Now, now… We don’t want to be too rash.” He moved closer until he was standing about three feet in front of me. “Especially when you’re so conveniently tied up.”

He wet his lips and walked toward me. His arm grabbed my waist, and he sank his nails deep into my skin. I flinched as my skin bled, and I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back a yelp. My heart raced and the room spun, making me lose my place. I raised my legs high and kicked his chest with full force, trying to get free of his disgusting hands. He laughed with amusement, not moving an inch.

So much for full-freaking-force.

What a joke, Ren!

His grip tightened and a sultry smile lifted the curve of his black lips. He dipped his head and licked the width of my lower stomach where red liquid oozed from the open wound he inflicted. My stomach churned, threatening to erupt at dangerous speeds. I growled in disgust before thrusting to get away from him. The shackles cut deeper into my skin, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to keep him off me.

Off. Off. Off.

“Get your hands off me.” I wriggled in my binds helplessly. “I’ll kill you… I swear to God; I’ll c—”

“That’s enough.”

Lyla walked into the room, outfitted in a blood-red sequined dress that fit her like a second skin and showed off a generous amount of her chest. I didn’t know if I should envy her or be scared out of my mind for what was to come.

“Summon Rod, Lavirus.” When he didn’t move, she yelled. “Now!”

Lyla opened her mouth to continue but decided against it. She smiled angelically, pulling a Victorian-style chair from the corner of the room with a flick of her finger.

She sat back in the chair, crossing her long, lean legs delicately, appraising me slowly. She drummed her fingers against the armrest like she contemplated her next move.

“Why am I here, Lyla?”

Her fingers froze and her lips curved up to one side. “Preparing you to meet your prince, luv,” she said carefully, watching my reaction.

I almost felt relieved but didn’t dare show it. Or at least I hoped I didn’t. I was going to see Alexander soon, finally wrapped in his arms and away from this hell. I pushed aside my insecurities and put on a brave front.

“What do you want from her
, the Echo
?” I asked.

She lifted her eyebrows.

“We both know I’m as good as dead, so throw me a bone here.”

“I’m surprised the prince informed you of his mission. You must have your claws deeper than I originally thought.”

Why does she keep calling him prince?

I pushed that thought aside quickly. That was a question for later. There were more important things to figure out.
Like how the hell I’m going to get out of there!

“Very well.”

She stood up and walked toward me. I flinched in pain as her sharp nail cut deep across the length of my waist, drawing blood. She slipped that finger into her mouth.

“Hmm… the taste of your blood. It’s so different. Why is that, Dracian?”

“I want to know why I’m dying for her,” I repeated, ignoring her question.

“She’s the key to empowering Telalians.” Her eyes gleamed with greed, like she already won the lottery. “When she mates with Lord Telal, her magic will bind with his magic, making him immortal, invincible. With that, his children will be blessed with unimaginable magic.”

This was an abomination.

“He… that’s genocide!”

“No, my love, that’s survival of the fittest.”

This really couldn’t be happening. Didn’t she understand what was at risk? The balance. Suddenly the words Axel said came back.

The balance is being disturbed. Power is a curse.

“Go. To. Hell.” I spat in her face.

She looked at me with distaste and hatred. Her eyes turned into black globes and her hand tightened around my neck, cutting the oxygen supply
to my brain. I gasped as I tried to breathe.

“Mistress.” A thick, hoarse voice interrupted us.

The new guy easily towered over Lyla, even when he was on his knees. His head was bowed and eyes trained on the floor. He wore black leather pants and heavy boots with strapped buckles. Every inch of his exposed skin was covered in piercings and tattoos of skulls, snakes, and other scary images. He had thorn-like red chains that formed an X across his exposed chest and arms. He was downright scarier than a murderous clown.

And. Clowns. Were. Scary.

“She needs to be prepped. See to it…” I imagined horns forming above her head and a tail appearing from her backside as she said, “And Rod, darling, see that she is
very
comfortable
.”

Rod nodded with a malevolent grin when his black orb eyes locked with mine, teasing and mocking me. The door shut with a loud thud behind him, informing me of Lyla’s exit. I gulped as the words sank in, and my arms suddenly felt heavier. I whipped my feet and squeezed my thumbs tighter, hoping to be free of the constraints.

“Looks like it’s just you and me, Dracian.”

He withdrew a red rod, two or three inches in circumference, wrapped in sparkling tiny spikes. Little beads of sweat formed across my forehead, palms, and every imaginable place. My heart raced, slamming against my ribcage.