Dragon in the Rough (Elders Enterprises Book 1) (14 page)

              Sam was the next to speak, “Or let’s try the fact that no matter what Paul did, he never got in trouble, because he was destined to be great.” Sam landed a kick to her shoulder.

              “Then let’s see,” the red head hissed. “I have worked for years to make sure there were not any other female dragons, then you come along and ruin everything. They were supposed to fight over me! Not you weak ass sluts!” Katie tensed, ready for another blow. She relaxed a little when none came.

              “Oh and let us not forget the fact that my mate was killed a few months ago,” Sam spat out. “No one could stand the thought of me having a mate, but they all accept you and Paul right off the bat!” As Sam made his way back around Katie, she saw the shimmer of a knife tucked into his boot. Hope flared deep inside her. If she could just get her hands on it.

              “You know,” the red head said. “I have a secret. For the last fifty years, every female dragon I have helped delivered, I have taken and dropped off with the humans. Including you! Then I go back to the parents and tell them that their baby died.” She smiled down at Katie. “You should have seen their reactions. It was priceless.”

              Sam stopped mid-stride and turned toward the red head. “You have done what, Julie?” It was that moment that everything clicked in Katie’s head. She was irritated that it had taken her so long to realize what was going on. Even with the head injury, she should have known.

              Julie threw her head back and laughed. Katie thought that was the worst thing she could do in this moment. The look on Sam’s face was death incarnate. “What is wrong, Sam? Do you not like the truth of what you got into?”

              “Is that what really happened to Lilith? You just threw her to the humans like trash?” For half a second, Katie was scared for Julie but quickly got over it. The woman deserved everything that Sam would dish out to her. Sam stepped over Katie, coming nose to nose with Julie.

              Julie leaned in and whispered in Sam’s ear. “Yep, your mother’s reaction was the best of all time. The way it broke her heart hearing that her daughter was dead. The way she clung to the cold, dead body of someone else’s child. It was priceless. A memory that I hold very near and dear to my heart.”

              “She killed herself!” Sam screamed. “I would kill you right now but death would be too good for you.”

              Katie could not have planned it any better. Sam took a step back, stopping right in front of Katie. Without thinking, she reached up and pulled the knife out of his boot. Rolling away from the two, she managed to stand up before they realized what was happening.

              They both turned around and faced Katie. “What do you think you are doing?” Sam hissed as he took a step toward Katie, holding out his hand. “Give me the knife and you will live.”

              “You really think I am stupid enough to fall for that line?” Katie asked as pain rocketed through her body. She forced herself to stand tall and not show how much pain she was in.

              “Actually, I was kind of hoping that you were smart enough to realize that two against one will not work out in you favor.” Sam went to take another step forward but his effort was lost. As he looked down, shock ran across his face. Katie followed his gaze to see the tip of a knife sticking out of his chest.

              Sam’s eyes went wide as reality hit. He fell to his knees, grasping at his chest with his hands. Then slowly he tipped to the side, falling to the ground. “Never turn your back on someone you just threatened,” Julie said as she laughed.

              Katie did not wait another second. She lunged at Julie, ignoring the fact that her knee protested, knocking Julie to the ground. Julie was fast and kicked out, causing Katie to fall. Gripping the knife tightly, Katie slashed out, cutting Julie across the face.

              “You will pay for that, you stupid bitch!” Julie yelled as she jumped to her feet. Katie did not move. She laid there waiting for Julie to make her next move.

              Katie did not have to wait long. Julie walked over and raised her foot, bringing it down over Katie’s chest. Katie’s hands instinctively flew up, grabbing Julie’s foot and twisting as hard as she could, only releasing when she heard a pop followed closely by a scream.

              Katie pulled herself up so that she was now standing over Julie. “I am not going to kill you. I plan on something much worse. I will make sure that you stand in front of every family that you have hurt by your actions.” Katie then raised her arm, bawling up her fist. She let it fly with all the strength she had, landing on the side of Julie’s head. Katie smiled when Julie’s eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out.

              Katie sunk down on the floor in pain. She just wanted to curl up and sleep but she had to figure out a way to contact Paul. She did not want to try to connect with him through their minds, it hurt too much.

              So Katie did the next best thing. She drug herself over to Sam’s body and started going through his pockets. She just about cried when her hand touched a cell phone. She pulled it out and pressed the button to power it on. While she waited, she smiled, thanking the fates that these two had not been very smart. If they had, things could have been a lot worse.

              The phone vibrated in her hand, notifying her that it was on. She scrolled through all the missed calls and messages. It seemed that the Elders were desperately trying to reach him. Katie hoped that was because they knew he helped in the abduction. If they did not know then a lot of people were in for a big surprise.

              Before Katie called anyone, she flipped through all the apps trying to find the maps. Once she found it, she clicked it opened. After a few minutes of it searching, it found her location. She quickly took a screen cap of it before flipping over to the contacts. Scrolling down the line, she found Paul’s number.

              Katie was too exhausted to talk so she sent a text message instead. She attached the screen cap and typed out a quick message before hitting send, letting the phone slip to the floor. She felt so weak and beaten. She knew she had to stay alert just in case Julie woke back up so she pulled herself over to the corner and leaned against the wall while she waited for Paul to show up.

Chapter 17

              Paul was not paying any attention to what was going on around him as he wore a hole in the floor from his pace marks. He could only think about Katie. He wanted to help her but came up short. He felt so helpless. Paul had just found his mate and might end up losing her. He just could not figure out why his brother would do this to him. Why would he want to take Katie away? She had not done anything to deserve this. Yeah, Paul was not the best brother, but he tried and was always there for Sam when he needed him. Yet Sam had not only abducted Paul’s mate, but had shot Paul as well. It all just did not make any sense.

              Paul knew he was missing a piece to the puzzle, but what was it? He wanted to scream. He walked over to the closest wall and punched it again, leaving another gaping hole in his path. Everyone stopped what they were doing and eyed him. Paul got the feeling that if he was not careful, his father was bound to knock him out and keep him that way until Katie was found. He could not risk that happening. He needed to be the one to save his mate.

              Paul turned and padded softly back over to his chair to sit down. Maybe that would help contain his anger. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and pictured Katie in his arms. Her head on his chest. Her hair fanned out around her. What he would give to be able to hold her like that again, to run his fingers through her short, soft hair.

              His thoughts were cut short when his phone went off in his pocket. He thought about ignoring it, as everyone that would need to get ahold of him was already in the room. Everyone, that was, except Katie. Could it be her? No. Her phone laid on the table in front of him, plus he had never given her his number. He kicked himself for that.

              Reluctantly, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Pressing the button to turn on his screen, he froze. He had a message from Sam. The fucker probably wanted to taunt Paul. He would know that Paul had a dash cam. Hell, everyone that worked with the Elders had them, so he would know that they were looking for him.

              Paul slid the phone across the table to Mark. He was not going to let Sam get to him. He needed to stay calm and that would just push him over the edge, then he would not be awake to rescue Katie. Paul watched as Mark picked up the phone and froze. He glanced up at Paul, asking silently if Paul wanted him to read the message. Paul tilted his head a little bit, telling his brother to go ahead. Mark swiped his finger across the screen. After a few moments, he started laughing.

              All at once, everyone in the room turned and looked at Mark. Paul stood and made his way over to his brother to see what was so funny. “Dude, this message was meant for your eyes only,” Mark said in between gasps for air and laughter.

              Paul grabbed the phone out of his brother’s hand and looked at the screen. First in shock, then horror that his brother had seen the message, and finally a smile touched his lips. He had to reread the message.

              “To my very capable Prince Charming, I would like you to know that I have already done all the heavy lifting. Please come and get me so we can continue practicing to make babies.”

              Paul did not waste any more time. He quickly scrolled down and clicked on the picture. She had sent him an address of where she was. God, he loved this woman. But before they could do anything else, Paul needed to make sure she was okay. He also wanted answers. He rattled off the address to everyone around him, then took off running for the roof.

              As Paul bounded up the stairs, he heard his father bark out orders before following Paul. He walked through the door at the top of the stairs to see that someone had already started to replace the damn thing. Once on the roof, Paul let loose all the speed he had, running toward the edge. When he was a few feet away he jumped, calling on his dragon half. Paul had never transformed this quickly before but did not take the time to admire his skill. Once his wings stretched out, he aimed his head toward the sky and darted up.

              Once Paul was above the clouds, he evened himself out and angled to head out of the city. He did a quick look over his shoulders to see who followed him. There were two dragons to each side. Paul knew that two of the four were his father and brother, but he did not recognize the other two. Shaking the thought away, he roared into the sky. Paul smiled when the others answered with their own roars. The battle cry of the dragon race would be heard for miles around. May the fates have mercy on their targets because Paul was not going to show any.

***

              It was a fight for Katie to stay awake. She was not sure how long she had been sitting there but hoped that Paul would hurry up. Her eye’s kept getting heavier the longer she sat there. She thought about Paul to help keep her awake. How he was going to react to everything that she learned. What they were going to do to Julie. How was she going to tell them everything? It broke Katie’s heart just thinking about it.

              Katie’s eyes started to flutter shut. She was losing the battle to keep them open. A muffled moan came from across the room and Katie’s eyes flew open. Okay, that will do it. She looked over to see Julie twitching. She stood slowly, a rush of dizziness hitting as she stood straight up. Katie leaned against the wall until it passed. After a few moments, she pushed away from the wall and made her way over to Julie slowly.

              Katie raised her foot in preparation to bring it down on Julie’s head but at the last second, Julie rolled out of the way, coming up with another knife in her hand. Katie cursed herself for not checking to see if she had any more weapons earlier. Before Katie had time to process what was going on, Julie slashed out, cutting Katie across the neck.

              Katie fell to the ground, hands clutching her neck as she tried to put pressure on the wound. This was it. Katie was going to die after everything she had been through. A tear forced its way down her cheek. The thought that Paul would find her here dead, that he would lose her now, it all just broke her heart.

              Katie watched as Julie started walking toward her with a big smile on her face. Katie knew she was coming in for the final blow to cut Katie’s life short. When she was a few steps away, she stopped. Turning her head toward the door, she dropped the knife, then quickly turned on her heel and ran out the door. Katie was surprised. What had scared her away?