Dragon Betrayed (Immortal Dragons Book 0) (20 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

Nikhil

“F
ly,
‘Iilahatan
,” Nikhil whispered. He brushed his lips across his unconscious lover’s, breathing her in while he recovered from another soul-wrenching orgasm shared with the woman he loved. The only woman he would ever love.

He was light-headed from the thrill he always got giving her the very thing that heated his own blood. Her pain gave them both so much pleasure, but while he could take pleasure in seeing the light and life fade from an enemy, the only pleasure he took from giving his lover that gift was in the act of fulfilling her deepest wish.

This was his gift to her on their wedding night. When she awoke, he would hold her to her promise to grant his wish. Nikhil refused to believe that her magic could be so powerful that he would lose his free will if Belah marked him. It was a risk he was more than willing to take if it meant spending eternity with her. Not that he feared death—not for himself; he feared it for her—but she had told him over and over again that death was not a friend to her. She only wished to experience that level of release, and he understood. As sexual a creature as she was, she fearlessly explored every avenue of pleasure to the extreme. He loved her for her sense of adventure.

At the moment he was conflicted, however, and forced himself to be comforted by the fact that he had succeeded in giving her the perfect gift—a temporary respite from the burden of her eternal life.

He reluctantly pulled his cock out of her and lowered the platform Belah was still bound to. Inside his belly burned an odd fire that surged when he laid eyes on her beautiful, serene face, as perfect as though she were a statue. Today had been a glorious day that had left him filled with a myriad of new sensations. All the gods had been present and had gifted him with their blessings—blessings that were meant to extend his life to give him more time with his bride. To him they were meant for something different—to ensure he was indeed worthy to be the consort of a goddess, regardless of the fact that she was more than willing to submit to him as his little beast. Now she was even branded as such, with the marks he’d cut into the pristine, fair skin of her abdomen.

Belah’s debasing of herself honored him more than he could express, but it was still painfully apparent to him how much greater a creature she was than himself.

He swiftly wrapped a sarong around his hips before untying her. He carried her back into the still-warm bath and gently washed the blood from her limp body in the fragrant water, leaving it tinged pink. The first time she’d given up her breath to him to the point of total unconsciousness it had taken a couple days before she returned to him. He guessed that this kind of release would take her longer to recover from, but he would stay by her side until she awoke.

During that last, tortuous span of time when he believed her dead, she had never quite
seemed
completely gone. Her body never grew cold as a normal body would in death, yet her heart did not beat and her lungs did not breathe.

Even now, her skin carried a slight glow, which he’d only recently been able to see. She told him it was the magic of the Blessing he’d been given in his mother’s womb that allowed him to see her aura—that it gave him the unique ability to recognize the magic of the gods once he became attuned to one of them.

Once clean, he carried her out of the bath, carefully dried her skin and hair, and dressed her in her favorite nightgown. He laid her in the center of her bed and moved around the room, first dismantling the elaborate bench he’d ordered built during the hours they were at their celebration, then moving the basins that held her blood onto a shelf beside the bed, believing deep in his bones that her essence was sacred and should not be wasted. He slowly lit more candles until the room was as bright as daylight. He didn’t intend to sleep until she awoke.

A cold chill prickled the back of his neck as he lit the last candle. His body tensed, a sudden sense of dread encompassing him.

The room went dark. Nikhil blinked, a sense of vertigo overtaking him from the sudden, complete, loss of light—so dark he couldn’t see the flame of the match he held, though the heat of it singed his fingertips.

“
What have you done!”
The angry voice boomed loud and deep, both inside his mind and so loud it left his ears ringing. The sound surrounded him so completely he couldn’t even place a direction of origin for it, as though it erupted from the darkness itself. Nikhil spun unsteadily, hands outstretched.

Something hit him hard from the side, sending him flailing through the air. He hit a wall, his shoulder taking the brunt of the impact. His breath tore from him and he struggled to remain on his feet.

“Who’s there!” he yelled into the pitch black. His own rage surged to match the palpable sense of animosity that surrounded him, permeating the shadows.

Belah
. Her prone, defenseless body was his only thought and he ran in the direction he knew the bed to be. If he had to give his life to ensure her safety, whatever was in the room with them now would not harm her.

His thigh and shoulder hit the bedpost first, with a painful, cracking thud, and he rounded it to stand facing what his instincts told him was the direction of the dark threat.

“Who dares invade the goddess’s chamber? Show yourself!” he bellowed. The more the rage in him grew, the hotter the strange burn in his belly became. He needed to
see
if he was going to properly protect her.

He couldn’t tell anymore whether the heat that filled him was from anger over this unexpected attack—on their
wedding night
—or from the odd sensation that had been building inside him since he’d begun the ritual-like act of granting Belah’s wish. His entire body flamed with it, inside and out, and he became acutely aware of another presence just opposite him on the far side of the room at the opening to the balcony.

A rage as potent as his own reached him from the darkness he faced, and along with it a mirror to his very need to love and protect the woman who lay on the bed. Nikhil’s vision seemed to clear, though it appeared more like the darkness retreated from the force of his will to see his assailant.

“You have taken what was not yours to take. For that, you will pay.” Belah’s brother’s figure loomed large on the balcony. He came forward, aiming toward the bed.

Nikhil stepped into his path.

Ked’s expression hardened with disdain, his stride quickening like he was about to ram right into Nikhil.

Nikhil felt power bubble forth from inside him when the other man drew close. It began with that burn in his belly and rose with his rage, more potent even than the rush he felt on the center of a battlefield.

“Get away from her!” he yelled. His fist shot out at the moment Ked came into range. It connected with his jaw. Nikhil heard the clack of teeth and Ked sailed across the room to land in a heap against the far wall. The room instantly brightened.

Ked struggled to rise, blinking and shaking his head. He stared in astonishment at Nikhil.

Nikhil glared at him.

“How do you have the power to lay me down?” Ked asked. His amazement didn’t last long. Before Nikhil could blink, his dark opponent shimmered and his body shifted its shape. The man became a scaled beast that resembled the beast his lover had shown to him, but much larger and with black scales instead of blue.

Sharp teeth snapped at him and he drew back.

“I will take her home.” Ked said. “You are tainted now. Unworthy of her love.”

“She’s my
wife
. You will let me care for her.”

“You destroyed her. You will die for this.”

Before Nikhil could respond, black flames erupted from Ked’s mouth and surrounded him. Pure agony bloomed across his entire body, his world growing blinding white from the heat a moment before darkness overtook him once again.

Chapter Twenty-Two

B
elah dreamed of flying endlessly without tiring. The winds carried her, rendering her weightless and free. She flew among the whitest clouds and the bluest skies, the burdens of her world long gone.

She could breathe easily for the first time in thousands of years. Something itched in the back of her mind, but it was only the tiniest discomfort compared to the freedom of soaring aloft without end. Flying she could do for an eternity—being up this high left time irrelevant, left the world an inconsequential pinprick far beneath her. All that she needed existed among the clouds and the winds that kept her aloft.

Except for that tingle of awareness that she
did
need more, but not yet. Now she only needed to fly; whatever that other thing was could wait until she’d had her fill.

***

Belah, sister, wake up.

The voice was familiar, the deep, urgent voice of someone she loved. Around her the boundless blue sky filled with white mist that tingled when her wings flowed through it. Was it time to return? She circled around once, testing that tiny itch in the back of her mind, but it was too faint to worry about, so she flew on.

***

Belah, your baby is beautiful and healthy. She needs her mother. Please wake up, sister.

She had the clearest vision of a beautiful, fair-skinned woman with deep, compassionate green eyes. Yet she had no recollection of a baby. She hadn’t had a baby in centuries. Someday maybe she would again, but for now she only wished to fly.

***

Belah, we tried to avenge you again, but he is more powerful than before. Not even the three of us together could overtake him. We dare not let our sisters near him—his Blessing is too much of a lure, even for males of our race. He has begun killing. He has corrupted two other Blessed humans and coerced them into hunting and killing for him, too. They are as strong as an army. The younger dragons are no match for them. You must wake up and help us convince him to stop—it is you he asks for. Only you can convince him to stop.

The smooth, deep voice sank into her mind like honey, reminding her of the warm, red gaze of someone she cared deeply for, once upon a time. All she cared about now was the push of the wind propelling her as she beat her wings, and the caress of the air sliding over her scales like silk. The North Wind was her only friend now, and his caress the only touch she needed.

***

Belah, we need you. Mother says you must make the decision for his punishment. Please, he is killing them. So many of them are suffering, forced into hiding. We must do something, but you are the only one who can calm him.

Another feminine voice this time, evoking an image of a bronze-skinned beauty with shimmering golden eyes and flaxen hair. The itch grew enough to make her slow and consider the words she heard. There was no suffering among the clouds and the sweet flow of the breeze, however; here, suffering was not her concern. She flew on.

***

Belah, we’ve been fools, but we know now it was your blood you needed to awaken. We convinced him to give it back to us, at least enough of it to revive you. He refused to relinquish it all—the only way to get all of it back is for you to agree to see him. You need to wake up and help us, sister. You must make him stop these horrible things he does to us—to all the higher races. He is too powerful for any dragon to slay now. Nikhil has become a monster. Please, sister. He has found our children and hidden them away from us.

Nikhil
. The name echoed in the clear air around her. The itch became a buzz. Then a high-pitched scream. Pain erupted from her wrists and ankles, from her breasts and belly. The clouds around her began to swirl in a tornado of color, whipping violently until she had no control over her direction. The wind became a twisting vortex of red, green, and white. Instead of the slow, lethargic pull she’d felt when her blood flowed out of her body, she felt the piercing, burning surge of it being forced back in through the wounds it had left from.

Belah’s spirit slammed back into her body with a sound as deafening as a thunderclap. Along with it came the memory and weight of all the things her siblings had told her while she lay unconscious, lost in her own world and oblivious to the time that had passed.

She lurched up with a scream that vibrated the air around her, found herself flailing and splashing in water with five pairs of hands struggling to hold her steady. A large pair of arms slipped around her from behind and pulled her back against a broad, strong chest.

“Sister, calm down, I have you,” Ked said.

Belah stared wildly, kicking out at the other four who now stood back out of her reach, regarding her with worried looks. Nothing was right about this view. The last thing she remembered seeing was Nikhil’s look of adoration as he made love to her, timing her climax so it hit her at just the right moment to send her flying into that glorious, vast nothingness.

“Nikhil,” she said, though the word came as barely a whisper now, her voice suddenly used up with the scream of pain from her life’s blood being forced back into her body. The torrent of emotion and sensation overwhelmed her now, all of it rushing back in a flood. Every stinging cut Nikhil had given her blazed fresh, as did the tingling afterglow of her orgasm.

But her surroundings didn’t match her memory. She stilled in Ked’s grasp, but remained rigid, uncertain. Slowly, the familiarity of this place sank in. The sights and sounds and scents were known to her because this was the place she’d been born. They were in their mother’s Glade, the most sacred place for all dragons. This was their version of the Ursa’s Sanctuary or the Turul’s Enclaves, or the Nymphaea’s Haven. They never came here unless they were in grave danger.

That understanding caused her to struggle against her brother’s strong grip. Panic flared inside her as all the missives she’d heard from her siblings came rushing back.

“No, no, no. What did you do? Where is Nikhil?”

She clawed at Ked’s arms, her talons manifesting from the tips of her fingers and raking down his flesh leaving angry red stripes.

“Belah, he has turned on us. He is our enemy now.” Ked’s voice was low and firm in her ear.

She shook her head, ignoring the hot rush of tears that flooded her eyes.

“No! He would never betray me.
Never!
Where is he? Why did you take me away from him?”

With one hand she reached back and swiped at her brother’s face, caught the side of his cheek, and heard a harsh grunt of pain. She may not be able to draw blood, but she could make him hurt. At the same time, she released a lungful of her breath, filling the air around them and pushing the magic into his face where he would have no choice but to breathe it in, or else suffocate.

With a harsh curse, Ked released her. Belah shifted and launched herself into the air. She had to go to Nikhil now, to explain what happened, to beg his forgiveness. How long had it been since their wedding day? She had no way of knowing. She only hoped it hadn’t been too long.

Above her, the idyllic blue sky split open as though sensing her need to depart, displaying a dark, cloudless, starlit night through a swirling portal. She flew through, ignoring the angry, desperate call of her brother and her other siblings. With a crack as loud as the thunderclap that returned her essence to her, the portal closed behind her.

She circled, disoriented for a moment until she caught her bearings by the light of a crescent moon. Beneath her was a mountain peak jutting up from the dense cloud layer. On the summit of the mountain was a stone structure built in the shape of a hexagon with an elaborate, glowing mosaic in the center.

Belah remembered the place from her childhood, but hadn’t been back in thousands of years. She knew that beneath the cloud layer lay a monastery populated by a celestial race of humans who had served her kind since she and her siblings were born. Somewhere beneath her the monks kept records of her race’s history, and the most valuable treasures that the dragons had created. The Monastery was the safest refuge for the younger generations of dragons, who were rarely allowed inside the Glade.

The Monastery wasn’t where she must go, but it helped her choose the right direction. She flew west as fast as her wings could carry her, hoping it would be fast enough to outrun her brother, who she knew was already chasing her. She had nothing to say to him – not until she found Nikhil and let him know she was safe. That he might believe she had died after all her promises to the contrary left her with dark, twisting despair in her soul.

While she flew, her mind replayed the messages her siblings had given her while she lay unconscious. Each one had been more urgent than the last, and had made less and less sense. She had no daughter that still lived. All but one of the children she had borne in her life were now long dead after living their own long lives and carrying on her line. The one remaining son had been hidden away eons ago and likely lay in hibernation in some secret place even she and her siblings had no knowledge of, in spite of her brother’s searching.

She had not even had the chance to mark Nikhil so they could breed. If she found him and he were well, she vowed she would grant his wish now. There was no need for him to be punished, as her sister Aurum had suggested, and she couldn’t imagine him harming anyone without her orders.

The cloud cover burned away with the heat of midday and she dipped lower, recognizing the shape of the shoreline that drifted past beneath her. Close to dusk, her heart swelled with the familiar sight of the Nile Delta and its teeming life. It was just as she remembered, beautiful and green, with the monolithic pyramids standing guard in the distance. She picked up her pace, veering in the direction of the coast and the peninsula where her palace lay.

The closer she came to the city itself, the more pronounced the
wrongness
of the place seemed. She used to revel in the contentment of her people as she flew over, proud of how she ruled with love and generosity, how she protected them from the outsiders who wished to conquer and plunder.

Now, the difference was striking enough to cause her to falter. Strife and hunger were prevalent at the outskirts, only growing more concentrated in the densest center before fading to general dissatisfaction closer to the palace district. The city was visually different as well, though the differences were subtle. The buildings looked rundown, the walls crumbling in places. Some new ones had been built but without the care of the original structures.

With apprehension, Belah circled wide around the palace, remaining high in the growing dusk to avoid being seen.

The first skull she encountered mounted atop the palace walls shocked her and she slowed. Then there was another, unmistakable in its shape and size. They were the skulls of massive, horned creatures, with long, sharp teeth.

Sickness welled up in her gut. Disbelief urged her forward. Dozens upon dozens of dragon skulls adorned the rooftop of her former home, including two huge ones mounted on the wall outside her own chambers. The horror of the sight dimmed when she looked through the doorway into the palace.

She hovered in the air, staring into the well-lit interior of her rooms. What she witnessed made her heart lodge in her throat, so similar it was to her recollection of the last time she’d been inside that room.

The woman strapped onto the contraption that rested inside the opening of the balcony might have been Belah, based on her appearance. From her vantage she could tell it was a bronze-skinned woman with jet-black hair. The woman was both fearful and aroused, and just as blindfolded as Belah had been on her wedding night. But this was a human woman—Belah could tell by the clear, bright aura that surrounded her—and a virgin, no less.

Confused by the sight, she reached out farther with her mind, seeking out Nikhil.

Suddenly a dark cloud surrounded her, accompanied by a gust of wind.

“You must not alert him to your presence, sister. You’ll endanger us all. Come away from here. This place is no longer safe for our kind.”

Belah shrank from the presence, irritated at how well Ked held her encompassed in the dark cloud.

“Leave me be! He needs to know what became of me. I don’t care who he’s brought to our bed since you took me away from him. He deserves the truth.”

Ked’s power tugged at her mind, seeking to suppress the blaze of longing that burst from her soul when Nikhil’s shape came into view. He was every bit as powerful a figure as she remembered, fully naked with a small, glinting dagger held loosely in one hand.

“He knows the truth already, sister.”
Ked’s power tugged harder at her mind and a pair of strong talons clutched at her shoulders, pulling her back.

Belah resisted, her heart splintering when she watched Nikhil approach the female he had bound, murmuring soothing words and exuding a love that was too similar to what she’d felt from him herself. Was she so easily replaced?

She resisted Ked’s talons, shrugging away so she could see what the man she loved would do to the woman who looked like her.