Sacrificed to the Dragon (20 page)

The dragon nodded, turned, and jumped into the air. Watching what had to be at least twenty-five thousand pounds of muscle and wings ascend into the sky was a beautiful sight to behold. All too quickly, Tristan was gone.

Rather than worry about what the dragon hunters might do to him, Melanie decided to put her faith in Tristan. Besides, there wasn’t anything she could do to help him. Well, she could get her ass to Samira’s place and eat something. The little dragon-shifter baby inside of her uterus was making her hungry.

Melanie took out Tristan’s cell phone and dialed Samira’s number. Her friend answered on the second ring. After arranging for Samira to come get her, Melanie hung up the phone, put on her jeans, socks, and shoes, and sat down on a nearby boulder.

Now, all she could do was wait.

Chapter Two

Forty-five minutes later, Tristan and two of his clan members were on their way to where Miles had last been seen, according to the boy’s friends.

Two of Stonefire’s Protectors, Kai and Zain, flew on either side of him. The clan’s highly skilled Protectors were tasked with getting Miles out alive, but it was Tristan’s job to make sure the boy’s inner dragon could be contained and brought under control.

Or, if worse came to worse, to try to coax Miles’ inner dragon enough to ensure the boy didn’t try to commit suicide. That was always a possibility when a young dragon-shifter was pushed to emotional and physical boundaries. Not that the dragon hunters would care.

Normally, Ella, a fellow teacher, would be the one to go and wrestle or soothe the teenager’s inner beast since she had been his teacher for far longer than Tristan had. But the female dragon-shifter was two months pregnant and she’d decided to avoid angering her mate by sitting this one out.

Not that he could blame her. A male dragon-shifter with a pregnant mate was not something you messed with. He was fast learning that himself.

Tristan’s wings missed a beat at that thought. Since when had he started to think of Melanie as his mate? Her being unafraid and accepting his dragon-form was doing strange things to his mind.

If there had ever been a way for her to convince him that she wasn’t like other humans, it would be for her to caress his hide while in dragon-form. If that hadn’t been enough, she’d then gone and kissed him on the snout.

His dragon-half still hummed at the feeling of her lips against their hide. His inner beast was content to let his human-form take care of their female sexually, but his dragon liked the odd caress or two. Especially since she wasn’t afraid of them. Next time, his dragon wanted to lie down and have her lean against him, or maybe have her stroke the ridge of his wing.
Yes, that would feel good. Maybe she would even scratch behind my ears. Dragonhide could be itchy.

Tristan pushed his dragon back before he started thinking of every way he wanted their female to pet him. His beast was clearly smitten.

Thankfully, the rock formation designating their target destination came into view, and Tristan put all thoughts of Melanie aside. If he didn’t concentrate one-hundred percent on this rescue, the teenage dragon-shifter might die.

No.
He wasn’t about to let that happen.

Per their agreed upon plan, Tristan fell back to allow the two Protectors to the front of their formation as they landed in the clearing near their craggy landmark. Kai nodded to Zain and then shifted from his gold dragon form back into a tall blond-haired, blue-eyed human.

Then Kai jogged to the far side of the clearing and disappeared behind a series of tall rock formations where the two teenagers should be waiting for them.

Both Tristan and Zain remained alert, but Tristan neither scented any threats nor heard anything unusual. Glancing at the red dragon sharing the clearing with him, Zain was standing on all four legs with his wings slightly extended, but he was relaxed and not tensed to pounce. The other dragon didn’t sense a threat either.

A few minutes later, Kai reappeared with two rather scared looking teenage males.

The Protector ushered the two boys toward where Tristan and Zain were waiting in their dragon forms. Once they were about a half-dozen feet away, Kai said, “Okay, lads, tell them what you told me.”

One of the teenagers, the one with dark skin and a closely shaved head, darted a glance to Kai and then said, “W−we didn’t mean for this to happen. It was just a dare, you see. But Miles wanted to prove he was just as fierce as one of the Protectors. So we set him a challenge—to bring back something with the Carlisle dragon hunters’ logo on it.”

The Carlisle dragon hunters?

Bloody fantastic.
The dragon hunters divided themselves into groups that were the equivalent of a cross between a gang and a motorcycle club, and the Carlisle branch were some of the nastiest and most brutal dragon hunters in the United Kingdom. Maybe even in all of Western Europe.

Provided the boy was still alive, getting him out was going to take some finesse. Luckily, Kai and Zain were the top tier of security for Stonefire and knew a thing or two about getting in and out of dangerous places undetected. Like most other dragon-shifter Protectors, they had spent some time helping out the human military in their early twenties. In exchange, the British military helped to keep the dragon hunters at bay.

Well, at least most of the time.

Eyeing the two teenage boys, Tristan decided to let out a soft growl for good measure, and they cringed a little. Good. Maybe they wouldn’t pull this stupid shit again.

Kai said to the boys, “You two are going to stay here while we fetch Miles. If you don’t hear from us in the next two hours, you call someone else. Don’t try to run off on your own. Understood?”

The two boys nodded and Kai looked up at Zain and Tristan. “The boys hadn’t mentioned it was the Carlisle group when they phoned earlier. Our previous plan won’t work.” Kai’s light blue gaze moved to him. “Time is of the essence when dealing with the Carlisle hunters and we can’t afford to wait for back-up. Instead of hanging back until we bring the boy to you, you’re going to have to fly in with us to rescue him. Are you up for it?”

Tristan lacked the special ops-like training of any of the Stonefire Protectors, but even so, neither his human-half nor his dragon-half would abandon a young to the Carlisle dragon hunters.

He nodded and Kai said, “Good. Here’s what we’re going to do...”

He listened and hoped he could pull this off. The alternative was him dying and abandoning Melanie and their child for good.

And he sure as hell wasn’t about to let that happen.

~~~

Melanie was sitting inside Samira and Liam’s cottage, reading a book to Samira’s son, Rhys, when a loud sound that could only be called an ear-splitting moan rent the air. Rhys jumped at the cry before cuddling against her chest. The boy was shaking.

As she made soothing sounds and stroked the boy’s back, his actions told her that the moan wasn’t an everyday sound around Stonefire. She hated not knowing what it meant.

Samira rushed into the room and Mel pounced on the chance to ask her, “What the hell was that?”

Her friend looked worried. “A dragon’s been hurt.”

Her heart skipped a beat as dread pooled in the pit of her stomach. If it was Tristan that had been hurt…

Stop it.
She had no idea if it had been Tristan’s cry she’d heard or another dragon’s. There was no reason to get upset for nothing.

Forcing her voice to remain steady, she asked the all-important question, “Do you know who made that sound?”

Shaking her head, Samira came over to lift Rhys off Melanie’s lap. “No, and I can’t leave Rhys or risk taking him with me if there is indeed a wounded dragon. I hate not knowing who it is. Can you go check it out?”

The fact Samira had asked her to go check meant the world to Melanie because sitting around and fidgeting while her man was out doing something dangerous was not her style.

Of course, she still didn’t know everything about Stonefire yet and she wasn’t about to go out blind. She asked, “How do you know that was a wounded dragon?”

Samira cuddled her son close and her expression went grim. “Believe me, once you hear that sound, you never forget it. A dragon only cries that way when they’re close to dying.”

The eerie moan sounded off in the distance again and Melanie agreed. The pain and anguish in that cry was something she hoped never to hear again.

What if it was Tristan’s cry?
No. She wouldn’t allow herself to worry. She’d managed to hope for the best with her brother and she could certainly do the same for her dragonman.

Mel stood up. “Where should I go to see what’s happening? And is there anything in particular I should know about approaching a wounded dragon?”

Samira studied her a second and then said, “If it’s an unknown dragon-shifter, then keep your distance. Often when dragons are wounded, their dragon-halves come to the forefront and are unpredictable, just like a wild animal would act if it was hurt.”

“Check. Stay away from the sharp teeth and claws.” Mel was just about to turn and get her things when she decided to stop being a coward and ask what was on her mind. She couldn’t rule out Tristan completely, and no matter what she found out, it was best to be prepared. If the heart-wrenching cry was indeed her dragon-shifter’s, she would need to act fast on arrival.

No matter what it took, if Tristan was hurt, she would find a way to save him. He was too stubborn to die.

She clenched and released her fists to help ease her pent-up worry. Then she took one last fortifying breath and spit out, “And if it’s Tristan? What can I do then?”

“For your sake, I hope it’s not Tristan. If it is, you more than anyone have a chance at calming him down enough to let the healers do their work.”

“Because of our child?”

“No. Because his dragon is attached to you. Talk to him and try to find a way to let him sniff your skin, and the dragon should calm down. Hurting you would destroy both halves of Tristan.”

While she didn’t want to admit it, this wasn’t the time to rule out all possibilities. She whispered, “And what if I can’t find a way to calm him down?”

Sadness flashed in Samira’s eyes. “Then Tristan might die. For all that dragon-shifters are powerful creatures, when they’re injured and their human-halves lose control, it’s hard to heal them. That’s the single biggest cause of dragon deaths apart from old age.”

“Talk about pressure.”

Samira gave a weak smile. “It may not be him, so don’t stress yourself out beforehand. It’s not good for the baby.”

For a second, Melanie had forgotten about her baby. But no matter what, if it was Tristan, she would find a way to help him, pregnant or not. She didn’t want to live without him.

Wait a second, where had that come from? She barely knew the man.

Stop lying to yourself.
Between the instant he’d allowed her to see him shift to when she’d kissed his long dragon snout, she’d realized that she could never be with anyone else. Tristan was hers, and she would fight for him if she had to.

“I’ll be as careful as I can, but I won’t abandon him, Samira. I can’t do it.”

Her friend shifted her son to her other arm. “I hope Tristan realizes what he has in you.”

I hope so too.
But she didn’t want to have that discussion right now. She needed to find out which dragon was injured, and stat. “Where will they take the hurt dragon?”

“There’s an emergency surgery next to the main landing area. The dragon would be there.”

Another moan pierced the air, shooting straight to her heart. She couldn’t afford to waste any more time, so Mel nodded. “Right. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

She then turned to grab her cell phone and exited the door just as another cry pierced the air. If one sound could ever encompass the epitome of pain, the anguished dragon’s cry was it.

~~~

Twenty minutes later, Mel approached the main landing area and couldn’t believe how many people were standing near but not too close to it. She hoped it was for support rather than as a spectacle. Dragons were too big to have any sort of privacy when hurt, and she might not be a doctor, but surely the stress of so many nearby couldn’t be good for a dragon moaning in pain.

Still, as she looked around the crowd, maybe one of them knew who was hurt. Otherwise it was going to take some creative ideas to get through the throng of tall, strong-ass dragon-shifters.

She’d had about a fifty-fifty success rate when it came to meeting friendly dragon-shifters during her time here. However, she wasn’t about to let that deter her. Tristan might need her.

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath for confidence. What’s the worst they could do? Call her a whore again?

She went to the nearest female and asked, “Who’s been hurt?”

The dragonwoman turned and stared down at her with her piercing brown eyes, her expression unreadable. The woman may tower over her, but Mel wasn’t going to be intimidated. Especially not when Tristan’s life could be at stake.