Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition (64 page)

“
W
hen I get
my hands on you, knight, I’m going to tear out your liver and eat it for breakfast!”

Olena struggled on the bed, straining her hands against her bonds.

“I’m going to gouge out your eyes and feed them to a
givre
!”

The bonds wouldn’t give.

“Come face me like a man, knight. I’ll catapult you off the plank into the deep black. See how you like swimming with stars. I hope you can hold your breath, supernova!”

She was pretty sure that was one of her best threats yet. Too bad no one was around to hear any of them.

“Face me, you—”

Hearing a noise in the living room, she tensed and instantly shut her mouth.

Yusef?

Olena refused to move as she listened. When did he come home? Even with her screaming tirade she was sure she’d have heard the front door open.

Keeping quiet, she tugged at her ties, willing them to let her hands slip past. The back of her neck tingled in warning. She detected a soft rumble and what sounded like light footsteps. Whatever was making that noise, it wasn’t Yusef, unless he was playing some sort of a sick game with her to teach her a lesson. Even as she thought it, she somehow knew he would never do that to her.

Olena’s eyes darted around the dim room, looking for a weapon. She pulled at her wrists as hard as she could, rubbing them raw in an effort to yank free. It did no good. She was completely helpless.

Seeing the door slowly creak open, she tensed, burying herself into the bed. The rumbling grew louder, a low animalistic noise unlike anything she’d heard her shifter husband make. The door opened wider. Olena held her breath. Her heart raced as she readied for the fight. It wasn’t a man who entered, but a wild animal. Her mind tried to grasp the planetary facts scattered in her brain from the Galaxy Brides’ upload. Mirascat? Yorkin? Words came to her but she couldn’t recall their images.

At Galaxy Brides your safety is our top priority.

Blasted commercial! Come on, brain, give me something I can use.

She felt someone—
something
—come in the room with her. From what she could tell, the animal sounded like a sort of overgrown alien cat.

Wonderful. I’m on the dinner menu.

Her toes worked to silently get the blanket off her body. Her chest was bared as she drew the blanket down lower. She didn’t have time to care. Her legs were her only defense against the wild creature stalking her.

The door swung completely open, but Olena didn’t see anything standing in the doorway. Her skin prickled. Every nerve was on edge. A flash of fur appeared over the edge of the bed. The footfall continued.

Suddenly, a roar sounded and the cat pounced onto the bed. This was like no ordinary cat she’d ever seen. He was as big as a man. It had long arms and legs like a human, though fur covered its body. Eyeing the tunic shirt, she realized this creature was another shifter. Olena gasped, kicking desperately to finish pulling her legs free. By the way the creature’s deadly green eyes studied her body, she could tell he wasn’t a friend of the family.

The man-cat roared. His head tilted to the side as his face and body shifted to human form. Long blond hair covered his head, pulled back from his face. His nose hooked at the end, seeming to point at her. He had an ugly face that stared at her, as a cruel smile curved onto his mouth. Soon three other men, similar in build, came into the room and stood above her.

“Ah,” the one at the door said. His voice was low as he laughed. His eyes appeared blue beneath his thick brows, but it was too dim to be sure. “Look what the Draig has left us. A yummy little morsel all tied up and ready for roasting.”

Another man answered, but her implanted universal translator did not understand the language and it sounded like gibberish. At least the first one spoke in the Old Star language.

The others laughed. Olena’s jaw rose in defiance. If this is how she was to go, she wasn’t dying without leaving a mark.

“Take a bite. I hope you choke on your meal,” Olena said. Her heart pounded so hard she thought she might throw up.

“Feisty,” the man on her left said.

“I like my women to fight me,” the one on her right answered.

“Where’s your little prince, love?” the one with the hooked nose asked by her feet. He began crawling toward her. The jerking of his movements caused her breasts to bounce, and he watched them in excitement.

“He’ll be back any minute.” Her eyes shot fire.

“I like this one,” one said. “Let’s keep her, Brouse. I want to play with her.”

“Oh, I intend to play,” the hook-nosed Brouse answered. He narrowed in on Olena. The others stayed at his back as he came for her. He reached out his hand, growing deadly sharp claws that could slice her throat with one sweep. “But, Attor wants this one brought to him whole.”

Y
usef forced
a smile as he kept time with the musicians. He nodded his head at passing couples to acknowledge them. Someone sang along nearby, just out of his line of sight. Others danced merrily across an open section of the floor, joined by Zoran and Pia.

Yusef watched the Var out of the corner of his eye. King Attor stood, drawing his full attention. The man spoke in low tones to his men and they all followed him as he went to the royal table to speak to the Draig king. Yusef couldn’t hear what was said, but by the look on his father’s face, he knew the kings were merely laying voice to a formality.

The Var turned to leave, trailing silently out a side door. King Attor glanced at him. Yusef kept playing his song, never missing a beat as he returned the heated stare. The man had the audacity to smile and nod, but the dark, knowing look made Yusef nervous. The man was up to something.

When the men reached the door, Yusef looked up at Olek, receiving a nod of silent agreement. He ended his part of the song early and passed his instrument back to its owner who took up immediately where the prince had left off. No one noticed the change as the dancing continued. Yusef followed the Var warriors out of the common hall.

Seeing Agro in the passageway waiting for him, he motioned the warrior to move ahead. The Var silently made their way out of the mountain fortress. Though the man-cats never turned, Yusef knew they were well aware of being followed.

They made it through the castle without incident. Yusef motioned for Agro to follow the Var as they left Draig land. He stopped by the castle door, scanning over the valley from the advantage of the cliff’s height. His eyes shifted with gold, taking in the detail of the trees to make sure no attack was planned on the village while the House of Draig celebrated within.

He squinted, trying to see to the Outpost where his wife was tied to the bed. His senses pricked in warning, silently urging him to go to her, telling him that she was in trouble and needed him.

Sensing movement behind him, he did not readily move his gaze from where Agro still followed King Attor and his men. Whoever it was behind him, he smelled the unmistakable scent of the Draig. He turned, expecting to see one of their soldiers coming to assist him.

Suddenly, a sharp fire pieced into his unsuspecting back and he howled. Yusef arched violently as he was stabbed several times in quick succession. His hands started to shift in defense, flailing, but the attack was too fast and his reactions too late. He fell to his knees, never getting a look at the assailant. His body writhed in pain. His attacker kicked him hard, pushing him violently from the blade as he took off running down the hall inside the Draig keep.

Yusef moaned in agony, sure he was dying. The vision of Olena, beautiful and defiant, worked its way into his head. The sick feeling that he would never see her again overwhelmed him.

“Olena,” he whispered, wishing to tell someone that he’d left her tied to the bed. They needed to free her. Surely, his brothers would go to her and free her.

He fought the darkness that threatened. Agro’s feet were suddenly before him and the man was calling for help from passing guards. The guards shifted to Draig, jumping down from their high post above the castle gate. They landed unharmed.

“What are you saying?” Agro demanded loudly. “Who did this? Yusef? Who did this?”

Yusef felt like he was talking, but the sounds he made were not registering on Agro’s expression.

At Agro’s command, the Draig warriors helped to haul the fallen prince to his feet. Yusef howled in pain, automatically fighting the soldiers’ hands as they dragged him toward the medical ward. Agro ran ahead to warn a doctor, who in turn jumped to instant attention, sending his wife to fetch him more help. Agro took off down the hall to inform the king about what had happened, leaving Yusef in the doctor’s care.

Yusef struggled, becoming mindless as he fought the hands that would subdue him. He vaguely heard the doctor’s voice as the man tried to seal the knife wounds with a laser. Agro came back followed by his brothers. Yusef fought them all, desperate to get up, desperate to get his wife to safety. Why weren’t they listening to him?

“What is he saying?” Olek demanded. He helped Ualan hold Yusef down.

Yusef’s eyes opened wide, and his body lost some of its fight.

Ualan murmured something to him, but he couldn’t hear.

Using the last of his strength, Yusef called desperately, “My wife.”

Ualan and Olek nodded in instant understanding of the plea. Yusef barely saw the gesture as his world went completely black.

A
diffused soft
green haze settled over the dense forest, which blended eerily with the fog coming off the nearby marshes. Moss hung from treetops, unmoving in their windless isolation. The air was damp and oppressive in this part of the woods, unlike the outside by Yusef’s home. There was a strange smell that never lifted, and even the insects had deserted the area.

Olena glanced around through the slit of her lowered eyelids. Her captors, who she was silently referring to as ‘the fur-ball gang’, were camped around a nearby fire. The soft orange glow reflected light off her hanging body to showcase any movement she might make toward escape, but unfortunately provided little heat. The fur-balls thought it amusing to leave her topless, and the chill was getting to her tender flesh.

As they’d gathered around her on Yusef’s bed, she knew they weren’t going to kill her right away. The way they constantly dropped Yusef’s name, King Attor made her suspect it was supposed to mean something to her. It didn’t. He was more than likely the local ruffian who controlled these hairy annoyances.

Before cutting her loose with their sharp claws, they’d said Attor wanted her for himself. So until this King of the Fur- Balls received shipment of her, she assumed she had nothing to worry about. She’d been right so far. Aside from a few awkward pawings meant to intimidate her, they hadn’t tried anything.

Attor, whoever he was, was a foolish, foolish man if he thought four hairy minions were going to subdue her for long. Olena knew she only had to play the meek, trembling female for a little while before these men would lower their guard and make a mistake. So far they hadn’t given her an opening, but she stayed confident they would slip up.

She couldn’t be sure of how long she’d been with the furry foursome, only that they had traveled through most of what looked like night. However, as the hours stretched on, she guessed the shadowy marshes always made it look like it was nighttime.

Her hands were bound above her head, tied to a tree branch. She decided the position was rather uninventive of them. Her feet stayed firmly planted on the ground, giving her knees little room to bend. She refused to let fear overcome her. Jack had taught her fear was never an option. Those who felt it were instantly defeated. Those who were brave and had a plan met with victory.

Olena always had a plan. She just wasn’t done formulating it yet.

Y
usef wrenched open his eyes
, fighting the never-ending nightmares that plagued him. Frowning in confusion, he tried to move. His body ached with a liquid fire. The light was dim, or was it his eyes? Blinking, he felt a poke on his arm, a slight sting, and then heat moving up to his shoulder. A familiar brown-haired woman sat beside him. Her lips moved but he couldn’t hear what she was saying.

He looked at his arm and then the syringe she held. Whatever she gave him was working. The intense pain in his back eased and he felt better. He closed his eyes and instantly thought of Olena. Hopelessness and despair surrounded her beautiful face. He knew she was hurt, and no matter how he willed his legs to move, he couldn’t get up to save her.

Y
usef
!

Olena jerked awake. She shook violently, her back throbbing with sharp jabs of pain like someone was stabbing her. As she took a deep breath and then another, the pain slowly subsided. Her hands were numb from her position and she straightened her legs to take the pressure off her wrists. She looked around, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the crisp marsh air.

Yusef.

She didn’t know how, but she had the overwhelming feeling that he needed her. Before she was fully awake and pain free, a new, faster plan formed in her brain. “Hey, fur-ball!”

Brouse awoke with a start. He instantly shifted into full cougar form, falling down on all fours. He crouched, sniffing the air. Olena smiled prettily at the hairy creature, pouting her lips and batting her eyelashes.

“Hey, you, come here,” she purred softly. The man-cat’s blue eyes blinked in question. Olena shyly bit her lip. “Please. I want to talk to you.”

Brouse shifted back into human form. A lazy smile curled on his lips.

“I won’t bite.” She beckoned him with a come-hither fire to her eyes that could scorch any man. “Please, I just want to talk. I’m ready to be a good girl—a
very
good girl.”

Z
oran lifted
his hand and motioned Ualan, Olek, and the king to stop their progress. It had been hard, but they’d found Yusef’s wife and her Var kidnappers. The cat-shifters hid in the shadowed marshes. He sniffed the air. The rotting smell of molding plant life and animal carcasses masked even the barest traces of scent from most of their kind—from all but the trackers, an elite bunch of Draig who were chosen for their highly developed sense of smell.

Zoran’s vision penetrated the darkness to study the Var campsite. Pointing two fingers, he motioned for his father to follow him and for his brothers to go around the far side of the Var camp. The men nodded in understanding, readying their swords. They all shifted to dragon form, their skin hardening for battle.

Seeing a woman with flaming red hair tied to a tree, Zoran suddenly stopped. Her back was to them, her upper torso completely naked. King Llyr made a movement as if to say,
that’s her
. To his surprise, she spoke.

“I won’t bite.” Her tone was husky with a thick promise any male would pick up.

The king’s jaw tensed. Zoran put a hand on his father’s arm. He wouldn’t give the order to move until he could ensure his brothers were ready.

“Please, I just want to talk,” Yusef’s wife said. Her leg lifted in the air, falling open to the side. Zoran’s hand on his father tightened in shock. “I’m ready to be a good girl—a
very
good girl.”