Breathing Fire (Heretic Daughters) (37 page)

He was at my side, out of my gun’s range now, using my body to block him from the others.
 
I was frozen in place, unable to move.
 
That was my answer.
 
He was trying, and succeeding, at enthralling me.
 

“You are the only two draak Princesses left, Jillian.
 
Our bloodline is dwindling, from too much inbreeding.
 
We’ve decided to branch out, and you are our only options.
 
You and your sister will be our mates.”
 

I gave him my best, ‘You’re out of your fucking mind’ look.
 
He was unfazed.
 
“How romantic,” I said, trying to get my limbs to move rather frantically.

He pressed his body against my still frozen body.
 
“You won’t need romance, Jillian.
 
I will give you so much more.
 
You will be a slave to my passions, enthralled for my whims, and you will bear my sons.
 
But not until after I have punished you adequately for your depraved sins with the druid King.”
 
He kissed me then, as though he’d said something romantic.
 

He tasted…intoxicating.
 
And in spite of myself, my mouth softened for him.
 
I wanted to kiss him back.
 
I felt compelled to.
 
Even as I had the thought, I could move again, and my mouth opened for his onslaught.
 
He didn’t hold back, kissing me as though he would consume me.
 
It took me long, drugging moments to realize that the compulsion had lessened, and I could move.
 
I bit down hard on his tongue.
 
I was satisfied when I tasted blood.

He pulled back, looking smug.
 
“I like spirit.
 
I’ll enjoy taming you.
 
You may call me Tianlong.
 
Remember the name, Jillian.
 
I am far from done with you.”

I spit in his face.
 
It was red with his blood.
 
He still only smiled.

“I can tell you where they’ve taken her.”

“Lynn?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Tell me.”

“I will tell you.
 
First you must agree to an arrangement.”

“Fuck you.”
 

His smile widened, growing more heated.
 
“Yes.
 
But a formal meeting first, I think.
 
If you want me to help you, you will agree to meet with me formally to discuss terms.”

“What terms?” I asked suspiciously.
 
I was old enough not to make a deal with the devil without knowing the details.

He stroked my hair.
 
It was a mess, half up in braids, half down and trailing messily.
 
I tried to pull away.
 
“We will discuss them at the meeting.
 
A meeting, that is all I ask.
 
Is a meeting not worth your sister’s life?”

My jaw clenched.
 
“Fine, I agree to a meeting.
 
Tell me where they’ve taken her.”

“Swear it.”

I glared.
 
“I swear I will meet with you.”

“As soon as you are able.”

“I will meet with you as soon as I am able.
 
Fucking tell me.”

 
“You need to do a few things first, if you are to have any hope of helping her.”

I glared at him.
 
“I don’t have time for any games.”

He pulled a card out of his pocket, flicking it at me.
 
I caught it without taking my eyes off his face.
 
A single phone number was written in small letters on the card.
 
“First, you need to get your friend Christian.
 
You must have a slayer with you to face Villi.”

“Christian is in lockdown right now.
 
And he’s in no shape to face anyone.”

“Yes, I know.
 
That’s why you need to feed him your blood.
 
Not only will it restore him, it will make him stronger than ever.
 
Slayer blood is poisonous to us, but drinking our blood does great things for them.”
 
His lips quirked up in a smile.
 
“Not exactly fair, but there it is.
 
Oh, and you need to hurry.
 
You aren’t the only ones who want your slayer right now, especially in his weakened state.
 
As soon as you have him, call that number.”
 
He gestured at the card.

“Why should I believe anything you say?
 
Why on earth would I trust you?”

He shrugged nonchalantly.
 
“I only want to help you and Lynn.
 
That’s all I can tell you. ”
 

“The druids will have Christian under heavy guard.
 
How do yo propose we get him out?”

He gestured at Sloan.
 
“You have one of the druid leaders with you.
 
The 2
nd
in command, yes?
 
And if that doesn’t work, spring him.”
 
And with that, he disappeared in front of our eyes.

“Ok, where did he go?
 
What kind of dragon trick was that?” Sloan asked behind me.

“Hell if I know.
 
This could be a trap.
 
They could just be trying to distract us.
 
And perhaps get their hands on Christian.”

“I say we do what he says.
 
Personally, I hope it’s a trap,” Caleb spoke as he approached.
 
He smiled, his cold, chilling smile.
 
It seemed to fit too well on my face.
 
“A trap means they’ll stop running, and we can finally start fighting.
 
Let’s go.”

I couldn’t really argue with that logic.
 
I strode back to the stage.
 
I began to untie Luke, completely ignoring Johnny, who pleaded for the same treatment from beside him.
 
I ignored him.
 
He had turned on Lynn, and put her in danger.
 
Why else would this whole mess, and her abduction, have gone down at his club?
 
I just knew he was knee deep in it all.
 
I wanted to kill him, but there wasn’t time, so I wouldn’t touch him, either.
 

“Caleb, why was Luke bound?” I asked him, but thought I had already grasped the situation.

“Johnny had him like this, before I got here.
 
Luke tried to help Lynn.”

“And you couldn’t have untied him?”
 

Caleb just shrugged, making his/my heavy breasts kind of gyrate.
 
It was obscene.
 
“He didn’t mind being bound, so it wasn’t really a priority.”
 

I finished untying him, straightening.
 
The thought that he had tried to help Lynn, even though there was no way that he could have stopped the ones that were after her, warmed me towards him considerably.
 
His doe eyes met mine, and I gave him an affectionate smile.
 
I couldn’t seem to help it.
 
“Thank you for trying to help my sister, Luke,” I said.

All of my fondness died a short death as he suddenly bent and started kissing my boot.
 
I sighed.
 
“Get up, Luke.
 
I have an important job for you.”

He obeyed instantly.
 
He would make a good soldier, I realized.
 
His submission was so complete that he wouldn’t question orders, wouldn’t hesitate.
 
I filed that information away.
 

“There is a child in here.
 
A little blond asian girl, maybe ten years old.
 
I want you to find her, and get her out of here.
 
Take her to the druids.
 
She isn’t human, and she doesn’t know where her parents are, so they’ll take care of her.”

He nodded, processing the order.
 
“How do I find the druids?”
 

Sloan sighed beside me.
 
A card just suddenly appeared in her hand.
 
“Call this number.
 
And the Grove is where they’ll direct you, so take her there.
 
Tell them Sloan told you to call them, and explain about the kid.
 
They’ll give you the exact drop-off location.”

Luke nodded, then took off at a run to search for the girl, a man on a mission.
 
“He’s starting to grow on me,” I said, breaking into a sprint myself.
 

I felt and heard Caleb and Sloan match my pace behind me.
 
We were headed for the druids’ lockdown.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

See You Next Tuesday

Day 5

The sun was rising gloriously over the mountains to our left.
 
The bright morning light was almost blinding.
 
The night had gone by, seemingly in a flash, without a moments sleep.
 
Caleb was driving, pulling rather crazily out of the parking lot.

“We need to make a second stop, after we get Christian,” I told Caleb.
 
He shot me a look from the drivers seat.
 
The look told me clearly that he thought I was crazy.
 
That Caleb look coming out of my face made me glare back with feeling.
 

“You’re crazy,” he said, just to be clear, as if the look hadn’t told me his thoughts on the matter.

 
I ignored him, turning to look at Sloan in the backseat of the small car.
 
“I know I’m the last person that you want to help, but please, for my sister’s sake, I need to know where they’re keeping Christian.”

She sighed.
 
“I’ll help you get the dragonslayer.
 
But you’re gonna do something for me first.”
 
I was all ears.
 
“I want the truth about what happened with Declan.
 
I vouched for you when it all went down.
 
I even had myself and Dom half convinced those pictures were a fraud-”
 
her eyes widened, an idea occurring to her mid-sentence.
 
“Ah, fuck, was that you, Caleb?”

I couldn’t keep a bubble of laughter from escaping my throat.
 
Sloan glared at me.
 
Caleb glared at Sloan.
 

“No.
 
Unfortunately, it was really me in those pictures.
 
And it was really Declan,” I added, guessing her next question.

Her glare held a real malice this time.
 
“Tell me why?
 
Why would you do that to him.
 
If you’re lying, I will know it, and I won’t help you.”

I made a snap decision, for better, or worse.
 
“Are you going to tell Dom any of this?”

She shrugged.
 
“That’s for me to decide, and it’s not negotiable.
 
He is my Arch.
 
My King.
 
I would die for him.
 
Start talking.”

I shot a look at Caleb, wondering how he’d feel about our deception being revealed.
 
“It was a setup,” I admitted.
 
Caleb shot me a hard look.
 
I shrugged at him.
 
“Declan is dead, along with his Lieutenants
 
No one that’s left alive is gonna care that you took some pictures, Cal.”

Her eyes widened.
 
Something I’d said was a genuine shock to her.
 
“What do you mean by a setup?
 
And don’t even think about being vague with me.
 
You’re wasting precious time here.”

“Declan needed to die, Sloan.
 
And I couldn’t kill him myself.
 
It had to be another druid, and a legal kill.
 
He had been stalking me for months, threatening me and my sister.
 
He knew way too much about us, and was trying to blackmail me into bed.
 
That was bad enough.
 
But then he tried to extort me to help with an assassination attempt against Dom.
 
That’s when I knew he needed to die.
 
So we set him up.
 
I told him to meet me in that hotel room.
 
Caleb took pictures through the window from a ledge outside.
 
I let it get exactly as far as what you see in those photos, then I knocked him out cold.
 
I knew Dom would finally kill him for what was on that film.
 
So Caleb delivered the pictures anonymously and I got the hell outta dodge.
 
Call me crazy, but I just didn’t trust the druids after all of the things that had happened.”

She cursed fluently.
 
“What a mess.”
 
After a short rant, she gave Caleb directions to the location where they were holding Christian.
 

“Just let me do the talking,” Sloan surprised me by saying as we pulled up to the small fenced building.
 
I’d been surprised she’d even been willing to direct us here, let alone help us get in.

The armed druid in the booth gave her a respectful nod before opening the gate for us without a word.
 
She was second in rank only to Dom, after all.

“This might be easier than I was thinking,” I muttered.

“Don’t count on it.
 
My people don’t make anything easy.”
 

Sloan started cursing again as we pulled into the small parking lot.