Kissed by Ice (2 page)

"Okay, good point," I admitted with a sigh.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep?" Finn suggested.

It was my turn to give him a sideways look. Was he serious? My mind was a whirlwind of worry and fear over both Inigo and Eddie, and Finn expected me to
sleep
? What did he know that I didn't? My stomach started churning again. Gods, I could use an antacid. Scratch that. An entire bottle of them.

The drive was an exercise in both self-control and mental torture. Self-control in that I didn't puke all over everything—hurray for motion sickness—and mental torture in that I couldn't stop thinking of all the possible things that could be so very wrong that Drago would need me to drop everything and rush to Scotland. But finally, as the car rounded a final bend, the castle that was the dragon kin stronghold came into view. The car slid beneath the ancient portcullis and came to a stop in a cobbled courtyard. The stone keep soared above us in a display of looming intimidation, the dark stone gloomy against the overcast sky. A few pots of what looked like they'd once been pansies lined the sweeping staircase that led to the front door. Unfortunately, it looked like someone had taken a blow torch to them. I supposed that was the danger to any plant life in a fortress full of dragons.

"You go ahead," Finn said. "I'll make sure your bag gets to your room."

With a nod of thanks, I swung open the car door and stepped out into the cool Highland air.

# # #

"Morgan." Drago stood at the top of the front steps of the castle, bracketed on either side by a pair of massive carved stone dragons. He was in human form, but his eyes glittered an eerie gold as they caught sunlight. His dragon was close to the surface. But then, it always was. That was why he was king.

"Drago, what the hell is going on?" I demanded as I jogged up the steps to join him. Despite barely coming to his shoulder, I propped my hands on my hips and glared at him.

His smile was a little tight. "I think you should see for yourself." He turned and strode into the castle keep, clearly expecting me to follow.

I assumed he would take me to the caves where the dragons kept their healing eggs. I remembered very clearly the last time I'd been there. Inigo had been inside one of those eggs for the last few months, healing from having his heart practically ripped out of his chest. Instead Drago lead me down a long hall deeper inside the castle. Other than the occasional electric sconces, the hall was nearly dark. On either side of the hall hung portraits of what I could only assume were previous dragon kings or council elders. They were exquisitely painted in bright colors, each housed in a rich, gilt frame. I stopped to peer at one and realized it wasn't gilt at all, but pure gold. Maybe the legends about dragons and their hordes weren't that far off.

Overhead the ceiling soared in a series of high arches that would have done a gothic cathedral proud. Hanging from each beam was an elegant chandelier dripping with crystals. I wondered vaguely if they were real crystals or if they were actually diamonds. I wouldn't put it past the drags. The floor was of simple stone but covered over in thick, lush Persian carpets. From what I could tell in the dim light, they were old and handmade. Probably worth a fortune, like the gold frames and the chandeliers.

It felt like we walked for ages before Drago took an abrupt right onto a wide flight of stairs leading upward. The stone steps had been left bare, and I saw slight depressions in the center where generations of feet had tread the same path over and over, wearing down the stone. The electric sconces continued up the stairs, but these had been turned off. Instead, tiny rays of sunlight trickled through extremely narrow windows high in the stone walls. I remembered those windows from other castles I'd visited on my historically inspired rambles back when I had time for such things. They were arrow slits.

At the top of the stairs was another wide hall. The walls were lined with elegantly carved wooden doors. The floor was stone, covered with thick rugs like below, but the stone walls had been plastered over and painted with brightly colored murals. Here there was a thicket of trees, a dragon's tail sticking out from between the trunks; there a patch of bright blue sky with half a dozen dragons in flight, each of them a different color, scales shining in the light of the painted sun. The artwork was beyond breathtaking to the point of being magical. The dragons felt almost alive. My fingers itched to reach out and touch their shimmering scales.

I wondered what the hell was going on. Why had Drago brought me here? Where was Inigo?

Halfway down the hall, Drago stopped and rapped gently on one of the doors. It swung open to reveal a woman dressed in purple scrubs, her gray-streaked hair scooped up in a bun. On a black cord around her neck hung a gold medallion with a symbol in blue enamel: the Eye of Horus. A symbol used by healers and mystics since the days of ancient Eygpt.

"My lord." She gave Drago a slight bow.

"How is my brother?"

"Quiet. More at ease than since he first woke."

"Inigo's awake?" I moved forward, trying to push past Drago and the woman, but he held me back.

"Morgan, this is Dalinda. She is one of our healers."

Dalinda shot Drago a look before reaching out to shake my hand. "Among normal people I'd be called a doctor, but you know how dragons love their traditions."

"Doctor?" I asked. "Why does Inigo need a doctor? What is going on? Is he okay?"

Drago and Dalinda exchanged another look. "Like I said, you should see for yourself." Drago waved toward the open door.

With a glance at the two of them, I stepped inside. The room was even darker than the hall. Heavy drapes had been pulled over the large window opposite the door, and the room was nearly overcrowded by an enormous four-poster bed. I moved closer to the bed, straining, despite my superior night vision, to make out the figure huddled under the blankets.

"Drago?" A pale face turned toward me.

"Oh my gods, Inigo." He was so much thinner than I remembered. Almost fragile-looking. But he was alive. Oh, dear gods, he was alive.

With a squeal of joy, I jumped on the bed and wrapped my arms around him, peppering his face with kisses. It took me a while to realize he wasn't kissing me back. In fact, his whole body was rigid.

"Inigo?" I backed away but kept my hands on his shoulders, reluctant to let him go entirely. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine." But his voice was stiff.

I withdrew my hands from his shoulders, feeling suddenly awkward. "You're acting like I'm a stranger. Don't you know who I am?"

"Of course. Morgan." But the words were cool and indifferent. "Thank you for coming, but I'm tired. I'd like to sleep now." And with that he rolled over and turned his back to me, leaving me staring at him in the dark.

Chapter Two

My cell phone rang as I stepped out into the hallway. I didn't want to take it, but my screen told me it was Kabita. With a quick glance in my direction, Dalinda bustled back into Inigo's room. Maybe she was worried I was going to have a mental breakdown or something. Drago touched my arm lightly before joining her, shutting the door to give me some privacy.

"Hi, Kabita."

"What's wrong?"

Crap. I might have known she'd hear it in my voice. There wasn't much I could get past her. "Nothing. I'm just tired, that's all. Been a long day."

"How's Inigo?"

"He's awake."

"Oh, thank goddess."

I smiled a little. "I know, right?"

"Why are you talking to me, then? Why aren't you with him?"

"He's sleeping," I lied. "I guess that egg thing takes a lot out of you. But he's fine, and that's what matters." It was all that mattered. For now. The rest would come later. I had to believe that. "Are you in Miami?"

"Just landed. Plane leaves for Nassau in a little over an hour. From there I should be able to find out where the ship is and take a helicopter out. I'll call as soon as I find Eddie and figure out what the hell is going on."

"Okay, good. I'm, uh, I should go. Just in case he wakes up."

"Tell him 'hi' from me."

"Will do." Once I figured out what the bloody hell was going on.

Kabita hung up, and I shoved my phone back in my jeans pocket. I dithered in the hallway a minute, not sure what to do. Clearly Inigo didn't want me in his room, but I wanted to know what was going on. I was his girlfriend, after all. I loved him, and he loved me. Or he had before everything had gone to hell in a hand basket, and he'd ended up mostly dead, bleeding out on the high desert.

I was going in, dammit. I started toward the door, but it swung open before I could get to it. Drago stepped out, closing the door behind him. He gave me a long look.

"Come, Morgan. We need to talk."

# # #

"What the hell is going on, Drago?"

We were ensconced in what could only be described as Drago's man cave. Except, of course, it was far more extravagant than any man cave I'd ever seen. Tall arched windows rose gracefully toward the high ceiling, filling the space with light. Between the half dozen windows, every square inch of wall space was covered in bookshelves crammed with leather-bound volumes, some of them quite old. The only wall that wasn't covered was a large rectangle above the massive stone fireplace where he'd hung an enormous flat screen television. The thing looked completely out of place for the old castle and yet totally in keeping with a man cave.

Around the fireplace was gathered a collection of plush leather couches and chairs interspersed with small tables for holding beverages and snacks. There was even one of those cool globes that was really a bar. Drago struck me as a whisky man. The other side of the room was taken over by a massive desk of some kind of dark wood, richly stained and intricately carved with depictions of—what else?—dragons. It looked like it belonged in a museum.

I lounged in one of the overstuffed chairs by the unlit fire. Drago shoved a glass of something alcoholic in my hand before taking the seat opposite. I gave it a sniff. Port. One of my favorites. Not that I felt much like drinking. Still, I took a small sip to fortify myself.

"Come on, tell me. What is going on?" I repeated.

Drago sighed and took a long swallow of his drink. I'd been right about the whisky. Finally he said, "Inigo woke yesterday a few hours before I called you. He was extremely disoriented at first. Weak. Feverish. I called in Dalinda immediately. At first we weren't sure he'd make it."

My heart gave a painful lurch. I should have been there. "Is this, ah, normal?"

"Not exactly. But like I told you when we put him in the egg, he's only half dragon. His human side made the healing unpredictable. We had no way of knowing how he would respond. In fact, if you will recall, I wasn't sure he'd wake up at all."

I nodded. He had told me, but I'd hoped for the best. It was all I had. "Obviously he made it. Physically anyway."

He gave me a long look. "Yes. Physically he is fine. Weak, perhaps, but he will regain his strength in time and with the proper therapy."

"Mentally he's not fine, is he?" I didn't really need him to answer. I'd seen for myself. But I wanted him to confirm it.

"No. He isn't."

I swallowed another bracing mouthful of port. "What's wrong with him?"

"We're not certain," Drago admitted. "Other than he seems detached from, well, just about everything and everyone. Dalinda is worried that if he does not shake loose from whatever this is, he will begin to physically decline."

"What can we do?"

He shook his head. "I do not know. And neither does Dalinda."

"Surely there is someone who does. Someone who can help. Some magic or something. What about Tanith?" Tanith was my friend Cordelia Nightwing's sister and had once gone by the name Sandra. That was how I'd first met her before she'd joined the dragons full-time as a dragon child. I'd seen her only once since then, but she'd seemed content in her role as mediator between the dragons and Britain's answer to the SRA (Supernatural Regulatory Agency), the human-run MI8. She knew things no normal human could possibly know.

"She has been unable to discern any way of helping him, unfortunately." Drago took another long swallow of his whisky, brooding eyes on the empty fireplace. "And believe me, she has tried until she has exhausted herself. I had to order her to bed and leave my mate to guard her lest she try again."

I'd never met Drago's wife, the dragon queen, but I'd heard stories. If they were even half right, she was one scary-ass woman. Dragon. Whatever.

"Someone has to know what to do." I repeated it like a mantra, wanting it to be true.

Drago glanced at me. "Not that I'm aware of. We've never had a situation like this. Not with a Halfling."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. "If he was full dragon you'd know what to do. Blah blah."

He winced a little. "It is, most unfortunately, true."

I stared at Drago. "What can I do?"

"Nothing."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Drago held up his hand.

"Time, Morgan. Give him time. Surely there is work you should be doing? At least until Inigo is ready."

He was right. Of course he was. I was a Hunter, and my job didn't go away because my boyfriend was recovering from having his heart ripped out by the Fairy Queen. "I spoke to Eddie right before you called me."

"And?"

"And right now Eddie is on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and something has gone extremely wrong. He may be in serious danger. Kabita's on the way, but I have no idea what kind of situation she's walking into. She shouldn't go alone."

Drago stood up. "Then we'd better get going, don't you think?"

# # #

"You have got to be kidding me." I eyed Drago's massive form with something surprisingly close to horror. Killing vampires was one thing. Riding dragons was another. Granted, I'd ridden Inigo in dragon form clear across the United States and the Atlantic Ocean, no less. And yes, I'd even suggested riding Finn from the airport, but Drago's dragon form made Inigo's seem downright puny. I squinted against the late afternoon sun bouncing off the dragon king's gold scales. He was the size of a small mountain. "How the hell am I supposed to get on his back? I need a freaking ladder truck."