2. Bree

2

Bree

Victor was taking no chances with me.

Between the collar and the coverings on my body and hands, I was effectively powerless to object to anything he did. But at the moment, I was more worried about Riggs.

His rage and pain battered at me. Caliel's worry at the emergence of his Dragon was terrifying, and I breathed a sigh of relief when the Watcher appeared on the scene to help.

Keep your eyes cast down, Caliel said. The matebond is one of your strengths right now, and we do not want to let them know about it.

I wrenched my gaze away from the men I used to call my friends. Aurora was at the head of our grim little party as they escorted me from the gateway. I didn't know where we were. This place was so wet that, where they weren't flooded completely, even the cobblestones were covered in moss. Everything dripped moisture, and I couldn't see the stars or the moons through the low cloud that drizzled down.

Tez walked ahead. He carried the sword slung over one shoulder, and strode just behind Victor and the hulking guy who must be a shifter, but I didn't know what kind. I examined the muscled, broad-shouldered frame and silvery-blond hair with dark streaks. His ruggedly handsome features with well-defined cheekbones reminded me of a Sabre's, yet I didn't think that was what he was.

He also seemed oddly familiar. I couldn't place exactly why—I was quite certain I'd never met him before. And—attractive?—how could I find any member of this group anything but repulsive?

He might be a hybrid. They do exist. But why do you think he is attractive? This can't be a cycle issue anymore. Caliel sounded a bit exasperated.

I didn't blame him. Why was I attracted to this shifter? He was, undoubtedly, a thug. And then there was Tez…

Something deep inside me twisted. Tez. Working with Victor.

He is the reason we are here. Caliel's mindvoice was disturbingly weak, and it was the biggest worry I had about this plan. Without the sword, our energy reserves would soon be running on empty…

I will survive, the Gryphon stated . We have to focus on acquiring the proof, and then getting out of here.

I swallowed. My plan had seemed so reasonable in the moment I'd made it. But the logistics were destined to be difficult, at best.

Which was my blasted point. Rigg's mindvoice was hoarse with worry, and his pain echoed through the link.

How are you? I asked.

Everyone keeps asking me that, he complained.

I'm not everyone.

His sigh carried along the link, My head hurts, but I'm fit as a flea otherwise.

What's a flea?

Tiny bloodsucking insect from the human realm.

He rattled it off like he wasn't paying attention to what he said. But he must be okay if he was referring to obscure realmian zoology.

He continued, I'm more worried about you. Can you maintain control over that thing inside you without the sword?

My gaze moved, reluctantly, to the leanly muscled form walking just behind Victor. Tez still moved with the smooth control that I'd seen at the academy, but now he carried such arrogance in the set of his head and shoulders—my heart twisted.

You are there because of him. Riggs's rage blasted through me.

You don't know that, I protested.

It is the most obvious scenario, Caliel agreed. It had to be why he was at the academy.

He didn't show Victor the sword, I pointed out. I didn't know why I felt the need to defend Tez—but I did.

Victor gets one look at the runes on Caledfwich, and he'll claim it, Riggs snarled through my mind . I think Tez just wants to keep it for himself.

I agree, Caliel said.

When I next see Tez, I will rip him to shreds, Riggs promised.

That Tez had joined the academy to provide intel on where and when we'd be, made the most sense. And the logical side of me fell in with them. But my other side refused to believe he would do such a thing. That irrational part of me insisted that Tez had good reasons for what he'd done.

Or maybe I was just groping for reasons that I could understand. Why did it matter so much?

I found I couldn't look at him as we passed into a walled stronghold and entered the building beyond. While being out of the drizzle was a relief, what was likely to come next filled me with dread.

Victor had hinted that Isobel had deliberately inserted the Ice Drake into me. I had little doubt that I was about to discover what she had planned.

She was as evil as they come, Caliel agreed. And Aurora is carrying on her bloodmagic legacy.

Victor led us through the main foyer to a stairwell. He waved off the extra Dragon shifter pinions that were with us—other than the two that stood on each side of me—but when the big unknown shifter and Tez turned to leave, he said, "Slade, Tez, with me."

They fell in behind him as we went down. No fancy upper-level chambers at this place, and the damp only got worse as we descended, until the very walls dripped.

Water. I now knew what I could do with it—and it was in plentiful supply here. But any thought of using it was pointless, unless we'd got what we'd come for.

Proof.

Has to be more than our word against theirs, Riggs growled through my mind . Or they'd believe Tyrez, and he wouldn't be facing execution.

Just how I was going to do that was, at best, elusive. But before I could think about it further, Victor took us through a heavy metal door, and into Aurora's chambers.

That they were hers was made clear by the sheer number of bloodmagic-infused crystals held in wide-mouthed clay pithoi along the walls. There was an enormous cage built in a sunken area of the floor in the center. It was as covered with moss as the rest of the place, and I wondered who had built it, and why. The sand floor was clumped and stained.

I ripped my gaze away to see who awaited us in the chambers. Standing in the center of the room were three pre-adolescents.

I stared at them in horror. Their features, now, left little doubt as to their heritage. White hair with red crystals woven into it extended well past the shoulders on their lean, almost skeletal forms.

"She is wounded," one piped in a voice that was starting to deepen slightly.

"Aurora could heal her," creaked a voice from the shadowy corners of the room, "if she could still heal."

I squinted, and made out Finn, wrapped in his usual dark cloak. One arm extended through a slit. It was ridged with horrible, distorted scars, and three of his fingers were only half there.

Are those from burns? I asked.

Yes, Caliel whispered. He has been burned. Horribly. Judging by his voice, it was not just his arm that was affected. It must be in his lungs, too. Maybe all over his body.

Aurora stiffened when healing was mentioned. "I'm not touching her," she snapped. "She'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way."

It is not likely that she can still heal you anyway, Caliel said with a snarl in his voice. The bloodmagic takes that from them. It is designed to destroy, not heal. But if they have any untainted crystals…

"If I had crystals, my Gryphon could heal me," I said.

Her eyes narrowed, but Victor stalked to the cupboards along the wall and pulled one open. "Where are the unsaturated ones?"

As Aurora glared at him, one of the Trinity said, "Corner cabinet."

Victor moved over to the next one and emerged with three green crystals on cords. He approached me, and pulled the cloak hood down, before hanging them over my head. As they nestled against my throat, their warm energy sank into my skin—and Caliel grabbed eagerly for it.

Victor's fingers lowered to stroke my collar. "Our mating ceremony would have been a glamorous affair. You would have lived like a queen if you hadn't proved you cannot be trusted. Now, you are merely a means to an end."

I glared at him. "I never agreed to mate you, Victor. And your arrogance is only one of the reasons I left."

He shrugged. "What you wish is no longer a concern. You will fulfill your role. Aurora has prepared something that will ensure it."

The Sorceress was over at the counter that ran along one wall, and her back was to us. When she turned around, my stomach clenched.

She held a syringe. The crystal needle gleamed in the overhead lights, and the glass cylinder was filled with a red-tinged liquid.

"What is that?" I asked. My voice was far higher pitched than usual.

Victor's eyes gleamed bronze. "It is a solution that will make your Ice Drake cycle."

My mouth went dry, but Caliel provided me with a welcome surge of anger, and I fed it into an appropriately snarky response. "I'm a real bitch when I'm in heat."

Victor's brows lowered. "As compared to what? I doubt I'll see the difference."

My response was interrupted by one of the Trinity. "All we care about is finishing what our ancestors began."

The second male added to it. "We will create a Drake that has power over all the elements."

"It will be a fitting weapon for our new order," piped the female.

My mind spun. I was hardly a biology buff, but I needed to know what they were up to… "You're delusional. There is no way you have the brains to produce that."

Victor grinned at me, and I'd never seen a more evil expression, but it was Finn who rose to it from his spot along the wall. "I am wounded by your doubt, my delicious little morsel, but delusional I am not. You see, Drakes can delay conception. It allows them to mate more than one male. The Ice Drake within you will have given you the ability to have multiple offspring from different males." He shot me a grin horribly distorted by his burned lips. "Feel free to express your gratitude."

It seemed that I didn't have to insult Finn to get him talking, but it gave me an outlet for Caliel's rage. "You don't have what it takes to produce a blended creature."

Aurora answered. "But you do. Once the serum brings you into your cycle, we will mate you with the Fire, Earth, and, Storm Drakes. And then Finn and I will use bloodmagic to blend the embryos into one."

Mate me with—I glanced from them to Victor. "You'll only have fire, and water, idiot."

Victor sneered. "Isobel kept something of the Storm Drake she inserted into your Centaur pal. She has given it to Jaimie. He will mate with your Ice Drake, and it will give your blended child power over fire, water, and air."

I heard a touch of anger in his tone, but I was sure it was just the thought of someone other than him breeding me like a prized mare. My eyes shot to the ex-Centaur in question. Jaimie extended his tongue and licked his lips. His eyes went inky dark and then flashed silver.

Hellfire, said Caliel .

"All we will be missing, is Earth," the first Trinity male said.

The female shrugged. "We have the essence. We just have to insert it."

Riggs was incoherent with rage. I caught a glimpse through his eyes of Mandy, struggling, no doubt, to stop him from shifting.

Caliel's horror carried through my mind. Imagine someone able to control all four of those elements.

I couldn't. Mostly because I was keeping my gaze averted from Victor, while I strove to calm Riggs.

An injection isn't going to hurt me, Riggs. Calm down. And it will take a while for it to work on my Ice Drake.

She is right, Caliel stated, and I sensed his effort to bury his own reaction. I will do my best to ensure that whatever they shoot into her does not work well. At the very least, I should be able to slow it down.

Fingers clamped on my jaw, and I had to shove Riggs away as Victor forced my eyes to his own.

"You'll be begging me to fill you with my seed when the time comes. Aurora has promised me that."

I glared at him. "The only thing you will ever fill me with, is disgust."

His Fire Drake ignited in his eyes, and the fingers grew orange talons that burned my skin. Caliel called up just enough ice to stop it.

Victor snorted a laugh. "This is going to be fun."

He was a sick bastard. This couldn't be simply Brock surfacing in him. Had part of him always been a monster? Maybe I'd just been too blind to notice.

The pinions on each side of me took my arms. Wrapped up as I was, I was powerless to stop them. I lifted my chin and glared at Aurora as she approached.

From a corner of the room, an intense gaze watched me. Tez stood beside the shifter Victor had called Slade, and his eyes were flaring turquoise. He wore the sword slung over his back, and his little bird flitted around his head in an agitated manner.

I ripped my gaze back to the Sorceress. The woman who was supposed to be a healer, and someone who preserved life. "You dishonor your heritage," I snarled at her.

Her eyes glowed crimson. "I am so much more than what I was born to be," she said. "And I will change the realms forever."

A pinion grabbed my hair and wrenched my head to the side, exposing my neck above the collar. I couldn't help but flinch as the crystal needle punched into me.

The liquid within burned like acid as it tracked into my blood. Caliel hurried to alleviate the pain.

Meanwhile, the pinions dragged me to a door. The room beyond was set up as an elaborate bedchamber. It featured a huge four-poster bed and a washroom off to one side.

Victor appeared before me. His eyes flickered chaotically as he held out his hand.

Slade brought him a length of chain. When it clinked, I looked up to where it was fastened in the center of the ceiling.

Victor took it from him and clipped it to my collar as though I were an elaborate pet. Then Aurora sent a pulse of crimson energy into it, welding it to the collar.

The man I'd once thought I loved then drew a knife and slipped it into the heavy cloak fabric. He sliced it away.

He cut the hoodie off me, too, and the tee shirt. I froze as his gaze drifted over the rents the Dragon's talons had left in my skin. Did he see the teeth marks beneath them?

I shook with relief when his eyes dropped to my hands, and he removed the binding. When he moved to cut away my bra, my fingers shot out to wrap around his wrist.

Caliel was seething with rage, and it was fed by the Dragon at the other end of our link. I sent a pulse of ice into Victor, but wasn't surprised when he repelled it without effort.

Dammit.

But when he tried to move the knife, I fought him. Froze his fingers so that they wouldn't obey him.

We were at an impasse.

Finally, he removed the knife, but his eyes gleamed bronze with his Dragon. "Once that serum takes effect, you will beg me to strip you naked and sink both my teeth and cock into you."

"I'd rather screw a turtle," I hissed at him.

He seized me by the jaw, and the tiny talons on his fingertips drew blood. "You look good in chains," he said. "I can hardly wait until you're spreading those luscious legs for me."

My eyes narrowed, but my entire body shook. "Don't count on it," I snarled.

He grinned at me and let me go. "See you soon," he said over his shoulder as he exited the room.

Tez stood by the door. His face was frozen in an expression I couldn't read, but again, I saw the quick flash of turquoise in his gaze. His pet hovered for just an instant in front of my face before she darted back to his shoulder.

He followed the other pinions through the door, and it closed behind them.

I sat on the bed and rubbed my neck.

Well, we're in, I said.

I'm going to rip them all to shreds, Riggs promised. I sensed him pacing, but he was moving too fast for me to determine just where he was.

Get a hold of your temper, Caliel advised him. Because while we have penetrated the enemy's stronghold, we are a long way from being useful while chained in a secure room. We need you, and those with you, to help us with a plan.

Having a plan would have been a good idea before you decided to go with Victor, Riggs pointed out.

In a perfect world, yes, I stated. But you may have noticed that perfection is an elusive thing. So let's put all those superior minds around you to work.

Dragonic grumbling along the link. And then, We are mated. What happens to you, happens to me. I sensed him stop and lean against a tree, before he said, You didn't warn me that you were going to be so much trouble.

I sighed. Me and trouble seem to go hand in hand.