Dragon's Lair (19 page)

Aunt Danielle grumbled something under her breath that Braeden couldn't quite hear, but it sounded as if she called one of them an idiot.

He didn't have time for this, so he asked outright, “What are you doing?”

Danielle tapped her chin with one long, red fingernail. “Trying to decide how many babies she's carrying.”

Braeden thumped down onto the chair behind his desk. This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not yet. What had they been thinking? He shuddered inwardly. They hadn't been
thinking
at all.

Alexia jerked to attention. “I beg your pardon?” The
flush that had covered her cheeks disappeared, leaving behind a ghostly-pale mask of shock. “What are you talking about?”

“You'd think I was talking about a couple of kids who didn't know any better than to have unprotected sex, wouldn't you?”

“Danielle…” The warning tone in Braeden's voice was enough to make his aunt mutter an apology.

Then she stepped forward, shrugging. “Obviously this marriage is back on, regardless of the harm it may cause.”

“We're working on it,” Alexia answered. Braeden's eyes widened at the defensiveness in her voice and stance. She looked as if she was ready to do battle.

“You may have
worked
a little too hard and fast,” Danielle said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Don't you think it might have been wiser to wait until Nathan was gone before bringing more Drakes into the world?”

Alexia frantically reached behind her. Braeden waved a finger toward the chair, moving it until it nudged her hand. She spun it around, then sank onto it, digging her fingernails into the leather covering the arm.

Instead of answering his aunt, she turned to him and shot him a look filled with so much fear and worry that he broke his oath and reached inside her mind.
“Be easy. Tell me what you fear, Alexia.”

“What if Nathan finds out?”

“I don't plan on calling him with the news, do you?”

“No, but eventually he'll figure it out.”

“Then we need to defeat him quickly, don't we?”

“But—”

Braeden shook his head.
“No. We will defeat him. Trust me.”

When she nodded and relaxed her grip on the chair, he
turned his attention back to Danielle. “Let's table this discussion. Alexia and I will talk later. Right now there are other things that need your attention.”

Danielle took him at his word and let loose with a barrage of questions that he had no answers to just yet. So he raised a hand and waited until she got the hint to stop.

“We don't know how Alexia got the powers. They were given to her.” He hated to resort to guessing, but in this instance had no other answer. “Probably through the manual somehow. My best guess is that Aelthed wove his spells into the pages in such a manner that whoever translated it would absorb the magic.”

“Are you certain it's not because she's carrying your offspring?”

Alexia had turned the water to tea before they'd made love the first time. “No, her powers started before that possibility arose.”

In a near whisper, Danielle asked, “What about
your
powers?”

She worried about the old prophecy. He really hated to point out an error in her interpretation but…“My powers are all still intact. So either the prophecy was wrong or…” He let the insinuation hang.

Quick to pick up on his unspoken thought, his aunt said, “Or I was wrong.”

Alexia jumped to her feet. “Braeden, Nathan is at Mirabilus. We need to—”

“
We
need to do nothing.” He pointed at the chair. “You need to sit down.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “The two of you aren't going to like this much, but I need you to get along with each other.”

“Why?” His aunt crossed her arms.

“Because Alexia is my wife. And because someone needs to teach her how to use these powers. I can't do it. We'd only end up harming each other.”

“I would never—”

He frowned at Alexia, bringing her declaration to a fast halt. “No. I mean physically harm each other. You have no control over your abilities, Alexia. Our emotions around each other run a little high, don't you agree?”

She nodded. He continued, “The higher the emotion, the more uncontrollable the power.”

“Oh.”

“So you want
me
to train her?” Danielle sounded incredulous, as if he'd just suggested she set off a nuclear explosion.

“Who better? You trained three boys without too much grief. And you won't much care if she gets upset. So there won't be double the emotional energy.”

Who knew what would happen if
he
tried training her? His wife was as headstrong in her own way as he was in his. He couldn't even imagine the firestorm that might occur the first time they had a disagreement about methods or application.

Finally Danielle sighed in what Braeden knew was resignation. That taken care of, he turned back to Alexia. “Now, tell us about the workshop.”

She told him about the hints Aelthed had put in the manual and how she and the caretaker had found the round room.

Braeden whistled. “It was there all this time.”

“You should see the items in there.” She looked at Dani. “You would be impressed. There are jars of stuff all over the place. And it looks like he made charms at the table. There were gems and bits of metal—and this.”

Alexia opened her hand. She glanced up at Braeden as he rose and came around the desk. “It's like the one in the book. Watch.” She stroked a finger gently down its back.

Braeden quickly stepped closer in case she couldn't put it back to pendant form. There was more to protect now than just his wife—there was a baby to safeguard. To his amazement, the thought fed his ego. He resisted the sudden urge to puff out his chest and strut. He turned his attention back to the pendant.

The emerald glittered, then shimmered to life. The wings spread and fluttered as if stretching from a long sleep.

Dani's eyebrows rose. “Do you have any idea what you're doing?”

“No.”

“Then quit playing with the thing. It isn't a toy.”

To his surprise, Alexia did as she was told. She held her other hand above the dragon, settling it back down into a shimmering inanimate emerald on her palm before slipping it into the pocket of her jeans. Maybe she'd take her training from Dani without too much trouble.

Alexia asked, “What about Nathan?”

Braeden looked out the office window. The presence of evil was strong. “He's already followed you back here.” He looked at Alexia. “You would have been safer staying at Mirabilus. He couldn't hurt you there.”

“But he was in our room.”

“Was he?”

She frowned. “I saw a swirling mist.”

“And that's all you would have seen. He can't materialize there. A spell exists in the mortar and stones of Mirabilus that he can't break.”

“I didn't know that.” She rose. “Should I go back?”

In unison, Braeden and Danielle shouted, “No!”

Braeden put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her down on the chair. “You have no clue where you'll end up. You were damn lucky to get here.”

“I wanted to be at your side.”

“Yeah, and instead you ended up in a conference room full of nonbelievers.”

Her eyes widened. “What will you tell them?”

“Nothing. Cam will wipe the event from their memory and make some sort of excuse for me not being at the meeting.”

“Speaking of a meeting…” Dani rose. “I do need to be there. If we're done here…?”

He nodded.

Danielle paused at the door and stared at Alexia. “You and I need to have a talk real soon. Until then, try not to do anything with your gift. Just sit there. Don't think. Don't play.”

“I'll try.”

“And one more thing.” Danielle pointed at Alexia's stomach. “It's twins.”

Once they were alone, Alexia glanced up at him. “Are you still angry about earlier?”

“Angry?” She was intentionally avoiding what they needed to discuss—her pregnancy. “It was a bit…disconcerting to feel your hands and lips on my body in the middle of a meeting.”

He walked behind his desk and sat down. Alexia fidgeted. First she smoothed out imaginary wrinkles on her sleeve. Then she pushed unseen strands of hair behind her ear.

Her furtive movements were so erratic and ungraceful that a stranger would recognize her nervousness. For him the motions were no longer necessary. He was as attuned
to her body as he was to his own. He could hear the unevenness of her breathing and feel the rapid tempo of her pulse.

Unwilling to let her off the hook so easily, he reminded her, “And now you're here, instead of safe at Mirabilus where I left you. I should be angry.”

“It's not like I zapped myself here on purpose.”

While he'd found the unwanted lovemaking unsettling, his wife's powers more than simply bothered him. If the speed at which her powers increased were any indication, she'd soon be as strong as he.

And then why would she need him any longer?

Whether she needed him or not was a moot point. She was carrying the next generation of Drakes. The option of her leaving once the manual was translated and Nathan was vanquished no longer existed.

He wasn't about to let her run off and have his children by herself. What if something happened? They'd already lost one child. He wasn't going to chance that happening again. She was staying. Period. He needed to make her aware of that now.

She would probably argue. But he wasn't changing his mind.

Braeden rested his arms on the desk, leaned forward and captured her darting glance with a steady glare. “You were wrong, Alexia. We aren't
working
on keeping our marriage together. We are staying married.”

S
peechless, Alexia stared at him.

“Did you hear me?”

They were going to stay married simply because she was pregnant? A wave of anger and defiance rushed through her. “I heard you just fine.”

“Good. As long as we understand each other.”

“Understand each other?” She bolted from her chair. “There's nothing to understand. We'll make this decision together. Later, after everything settles down.”

His jaw tensed. “The decision has been made.”

Where had this sudden high-handedness come from? But she knew the answer. It had always been there, just waiting for the right time to make its appearance. “Who do you think you are?”

His gaze lowered to her belly. “The father of my children.”

Not the father of
our
children, and most definitely not the man who loves you, Alexia thought. She placed her shaking hands on the desk and leaned closer to him. “Ever hear the term ‘single mom'? I don't need you, Mr. Drake. I don't need your money or your name and I most certainly don't need your attitude.”

She kept her voice low and even, desperately trying to hide the lies behind her words. “I can raise
my
children without your help.”

Quicker than a blink he reached out and grasped her wrist. “That's where you're wrong,
Mrs. Drake.
” The name rasped like a hard curse against her ears. “These children will be raised by
both
their parents. Under the same roof.”

Alexia watched the play of fierce emotions rushing across Braeden's face. Something stronger than anger drove him.

She tried to tug her arm from his grip. “You're hurting me.”

“No, I'm not.” He released her.

Actually he
was
hurting her. Not physically, but…“What is wrong with you, Braeden?”

“I tell you that we're staying married and you act like I'm condemning you to hell. What could possibly be wrong?”

“So you decide to sacrifice yourself and do the honorable thing, and I'm supposed to what? Fall on my knees with gratitude?”

“You aren't leaving.”

“Don't tell me what to do.” She turned and headed toward the door.

“It wasn't a request.”

Alexia fisted her hands at her sides before turning back to face him. “I'm well aware it was a demand. Too bad for you that it's not the twelfth century and I don't have to obey.”

“Don't push me.”

His darkly issued threat only fired her anger more. She made a flourish with one arm and bowed. “No, milord, I would never think to do so.”

She straightened, then reached for the door.

“Where are you going?”

Alexia looked over her shoulder at him and answered, “Out.”

He narrowed his eyes and moved a hand.

“Don't you dare…” Before the warning fully left her lips, Alexia found herself standing in the middle of the bedroom of his suite.

She screamed a curse while marching toward the open bedroom door. Before she reached it, the door swung closed with a slam. The sound of the lock clicking into place echoed in the room.

He'd gone too far this time. Alexia's shoulders rose with the breath she pulled into her lungs. She trembled with the outrage coursing through her, then used that unleashed anger to whisk herself right back to his office.

To her amazement and relief, she actually ended up next to his desk. “Nice try.”

Braeden stood at the window and turned to stare at her. His hard, angry expression didn't so much as flicker at her reappearance. “I'm not going to argue with you about this.”

She crossed her arms defiantly. “Since I'm not going to take orders from you, you don't have much of a choice, do you?”

“My power alone couldn't protect you and Matthew. You've just begun to taste your own power. What makes you think I'm going to let you waltz out of here by yourself now?”

His eyes blazed, but she wondered if he was as angry as he tried to sound. Was he perhaps as concerned about her pregnancy as she was? The idea of putting a baby…two babies…their babies in peril made her ill.

What would she do if Nathan found out? Braeden said he could protect them. Maybe he could now that he was aware of Nathan's presence, but could he also protect himself at the same time?

“Braeden?”

He turned away to look out the window, and Alexia's heart stuttered in a vaguely familiar way. They'd been through this before. He was going to shut her out—again.

Uncertainty made her hesitate. What was she going to do? She couldn't go through this again. Why couldn't he just talk to her? Why did he feel it necessary to order her around?

Alexia needed time to think. She didn't want to stand here wondering and worrying. If he decided to talk to her, to hash this out, he would.

Until then…She crossed the office, stopping with her hand on the door. “Braeden.”

Without turning around, he asked, “Leaving?”

She knew what he meant. He expected her to try to leave Dragon's Lair, to run away. While a part of her wanted to do just that very thing, she had no intention of doing so.

She had more to think about than herself. They were going to be parents. It was pretty obvious he was correct. She resigned herself to the fact that the decision about their marriage had been made for them. She truly wasn't about to try raising two Drake children alone.

If this magic passed through their DNA, they would need their father's guidance more than they would require their mother's love. The thought stung. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She'd never had these worries over Matthew.

Alexia glanced back at Braeden, wishing the decision had been based on his feelings for her, instead of honor. She frowned. Is that why he was so angry? Did he feel as if he'd been forced into this against his will?

Instead of giving voice to the thought, and with unfounded accusations dying to spew from her mouth, she said, “Only this room, Braeden.”

Alexia didn't wait for his response. She needed to get out of the Lair as quickly as possible. Somewhere away from the threatening memories of yesterday and the crumbling hopes she'd had for tomorrow.

In the short time she'd been at Dragon's Lair, she'd somehow managed to fall back in love with her husband. That wasn't the plan. She was supposed to keep this impersonal. So much for good intentions.

And now she was carrying their children. She placed a hand over her stomach. Babies. Her babies. Would they be like their father? Would they be born with magic in their blood, or would they grow into it later?

Magic. To top off everything, she'd been given magic. Alexia pushed through the entrance door into the coolness of the night. As far as she was concerned these powers weren't a gift—they were a curse.

And regardless of what Braeden had declared earlier, he obviously thought the same thing. Or at least, he acted as if it was a curse for
her
to have powers.

Her anger beginning to find renewed life, she stomped around to the side of the Lair and ran into Sean. Literally.

“Alexia, careful.” He grabbed her by the shoulders before she stumbled into the bushes.

“Sorry.” She shook off his hold and noticed he wasn't alone.

“Alexia, this is Sam Wilson, the new Chief of Security. Sam, this is Braeden's wife, Alexia.”

She shook Sam's proffered hand and frowned at the prickly sensation running the length of her arm. Staring up at the man, she asked, “Have we met before?”

“No, ma'am.”

“I'm just showing him around the grounds.” Sean leaned closer. “Are you all right? You don't look well.”

Alexia took a step back, wiping her palm across her jeans. “I'm fine. See you later.” She resumed her walk, stopping just before she reached the corner of the building to stare back at Sean and Sam Wilson.

She knew him.
From where?

At that moment the man looked over his shoulder and caught her stare. He held it and smiled before turning his attention back to Sean.

Alexia's chest contracted. She gasped for breath. Oh, she knew him all right. He was the man who'd accosted her in the museum parking lot. He may have worn a full mask, but she'd recognize those eyes and that evil smile anywhere.

She leaned on the wall. Closing her eyes, she fought growing panic. She needed to warn Braeden.

Concentrating on his office, she sent him a message and hoped he'd hear it.
Braeden, we're in danger.

 

Nathan laughed to himself. It couldn't get any better than this. Alexia Drake was outside, away from her husband's protection, and his own henchman was nearby.

Granted, the man was with the youngest Drake brother. But that posed little problem.

With nothing more than a wave of his hand, he knocked Sean Drake to the ground, unconscious. The new security guard jumped back and looked around until he saw Nathan.

“I see you got the job.” Nathan ran his gaze up and down Sam's uniform.

The guard pushed out his chest and answered, “Yes, yes, sir, I did.”

“Good. Then it's time for you to go to work.”

“So soon?”

Nathan notched an eyebrow before reaching out to squeeze the man's neck. “You were recognized, fool.”

The guard's eyes bulged from lack of oxygen, but he managed to nod slightly.

Nathan released him, then patted his shoulder. “Good, man. Now, you hike into those woods and wait for Mrs. Drake.”

“She's going for a walk in the woods? At night?”

Nathan sighed, but when he again reached his hand toward the man's neck, the guard stepped back. “I'll go wait in the woods. Then what?”

“If she won't give me what I want, I'm going to chase her into the woods. You'll be hot on her trail. Once you capture her—” Nathan pierced the guard with a glare “—and you
will
capture her, you'll hold her until I get there.” He waited a moment for his orders to sink in, then asked, “Have you got all that?”

The guard nodded. “After you chase her into the woods, I'll catch and hold her for you.”

“See how easy that was?” For added measure, Nathan warned, “If you screw this up, I'll kill you, instead.”

Certain the man completely understood, Nathan left to do his part.

 

The bricks against her back were cold, but Alexia was too afraid to move away from the building. A soft laughter was building in her mind. It got louder and louder until,
unable to stand it anymore, she slapped her hands over her ears.

The laugh was soon replaced by an icy-cold touch against her cheek.
“You thought you were rid of me? Oh, Alexia, my dear, you won't be free of me until I have the translation.”

She erected a mental shield around her mind, hoping it would block Nathan, and took a deep breath before stepping away from the building to head back into the Lair.

But her next step brought her up against an invisible, solid wall. Alexia sidestepped to get around it, but no matter where she stepped, the wall stopped her.

“Let me by!” She beat her fists against the solid air.

“So, you've learned how to block me from your mind.” The vile laughter resumed as Nathan took form next to her. “But you won't be able to block me now.” He grabbed her hair, tugging her closer. “The translation, Alexia, then this will all stop.”

Even if she
had
any information to give him, she didn't believe for a second that he'd go away.

“How many times do I have to tell you, there is nothing in that book of any value. It's just a diary. Aelthed played a joke on you.”

“I don't believe you.” Nathan pulled harder on her hair. She gritted her teeth against the pain of her burning scalp.

Why had she left Braeden's office? She wished she could be back there now. This time her wishing did no good.

Nathan shook her. “Give me what I want.”

Alexia swung her fist and kicked him, shouting, “Let go of me.”

Nathan jerked away as if someone had grabbed him and tossed him aside. She screamed as more than a few strands of her hair went with him. Looking around, she saw no
one, but didn't pause to figure it out. Instead, she took off for the woods.

Since she'd been unable to wish herself back to Braeden's side or contact him mentally, she wondered if she could touch him. Right now, anything was worth a try.

Her ability to concentrate hampered by trees and bushes, Alexia did her best to envision her husband. He'd probably still be in his office, so she pictured him there, seated behind his desk.