Chosen By The Dragon (5 page)

Jacob sat in negotiations, aware of what was happening, focused on the business proceedings, but with a small smile on his face. A smile that hadn’t gone away since yesterday. Timothy noticed, and, after guessing it was because Tristan was gone and finding out he was wrong, he gave his friend a knowing grin.

“Patched things up, huh?” he asked.

“Don’t worry,” Jacob said, “we’re not seeing one another anymore until after negotiations are over.”

“Good,” Timothy said, and pointed a finger at him. “I’d hate to see anyone else get pummeled to hell.”

“No you wouldn’t. You’d love to see that.”

“I would
love
to see that again. That was just sexy.”

The memory of that conversation made Jacob laugh softly to himself just before claiming a bid on the current share being discussed. Now that the Drathmir were no longer represented, seven of the clans had little opportunity to grab influence. Whatever the Drathmir had been planning had been shot all to hell. It was a satisfying feeling, knowing that he’d been the one to do it.

With all of that out of the way, things proceeded quickly. They would be finished tomorrow at this rate.

When Jacob’s phone buzzed, he furrowed his brows, confused. The only person who had that number was Wendy, and she knew they weren’t going to talk anymore until business was done. When he pulled his phone out and looked at it, he realized he actually had missed a text and two other calls. The text simply read “911!”

Concerned about what could be going on, and unable to help himself, Jacob got up from his chair and hurried to the back of the room.

“Jacob,” Darren said, breaking the flow of the meeting.

“Sorry,” he said, but answered the call anyway. “Wendy, what’s wrong? I can’t really talk. At all.”

“Hello sunshine.” Tristan’s voice, broken, shaking with emotion, told Jacob everything he needed to know.

“Tristan,” he said loud enough for the rest of the conference room to hear, “what are you doing?”

“I told you that you were going to pay for what you’ve done.”

“Tristan, stop. You won’t gain anything by doing this. You can’t do anything about what happened, so don’t make it worse for yourself. You’ve been excommunicated from the negotiations, but don’t do something that’ll make you clanless.”

“I am clanless! Do you think they would’ve kept me after being kicked out of The Negotiations? They had plans, Jacob. Now they’ll have to wait another twenty-five years before they can do anything. Because of me! If I survive the week, I’ll be surprised. But you know what? You know what Jacob? I’m not going alone. No, I’ve brought company. We’ll leave this world together.”

Jacob’s body began to shake as the cold fingers of terror slipped over him. His mind had raced with what he could possibly do, but when he heard that last sentence, everything stopped.

“Let her go.”

There was the sound of wind buffeting against the phone as Tristan moved. Suddenly Jacob could hear Wendy’s muffled whimpering. “You really picked a good one,” Tristan said. “Special. She makes for wonderful company. I should thank you, really. Without you, she and I never would’ve met.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Jacob said. “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you slowly.”

“Come find us,” Tristan said, his voice cold, dark.

With a beep, the call ended. Jacob looked back to the other representatives. “He’s lost it.”

“Are lives in danger?” Darren asked.

“Yes.”

Darren closed the book and set down the gavel. “These proceedings are closed for the day. Jacob, handle it.”

“Thank you,” Jacob said quickly and ran for the door. There would be blood by the gallons before the sun set that night.

He’d make sure of it.

The wind howled along the cliff face. IT was freezing this high up the mountain. Wendy was bound, her hands behind her back. In her mouth was an old rag with a strip of duct tape over her lips to keep her mouth shut. The man was there, Tristan.

He paced a furious path in front of her, ranting about how Jacob had done him wrong. His face looked like it had been shoved through a meat grinder and then pieced back together by a drunken five-year-old. His words slurred around his swollen lips. Wendy was no doctor, but she suspected he had a broken jaw, or at least a severely wounded one.

As he yelled, he held onto his side as though trying to keep everything inside his body from spilling out. Jacob had really worked him over!

“You’re dead,” Wendy tried to say to him, her words lost in the rag.

“Hmm?” he said, turning an ear toward her, a small stream of dried blood crusted down the canal to his jaw. “I didn’t quite catch that. I’m sure you think your prince will come for you, huh?”

Wendy nodded in large, obvious motions.

“Cute,” he said. “Very cute. And very true. There’s a lot you don’t know about your dear love. No matter where you go, he’ll find you. He’ll always find you. And do you know why that is?”

“Because I can smell her,” Jacob said.

Wendy couldn’t believe it. When Tristan spun around, they both saw Jacob standing there, looking pissed.

“You did this,” Tristan shouted. “You brought this on yourself. You brought it on her. You did this!”

“No, you little weasel. I played by the rules. Even when I destroyed your face, I did it within the confines of our law.”

“This will heal,” Tristan said, pointing his hand at his face, “but when I throw your sweet love off this cliff, that won’t.”

“I came here to kill you,” Jacob said, “but now that I’m looking at you, I’m filled with pity. You’re pathetic.”

“I’ll show you pathetic!”

“I’m offering this once: leave. Go now. Never return. Live in banishment without anything living and beautiful, but live.”

“I hear your proposal,” Tristan said, “and I reject it. Allow me to counter-offer.”

Then, right before Wendy’s eyes, Tristan began changing. He lurched forward, falling to his hands. His neck jutted out, and as it did, his face stretched and grew.

“In front of a human? You’re despicable!” Jacob shouted, looking disgusted. Wendy tried to ask what was going on but the rag muffled her words. “I’m sorry,” Jacob said to her.

Before she could say anything, he pulled his arms back and shouted to the sky. Jacob’s chest swelled near to bursting, his arms and legs growing. Scales covered both Tristan’s flesh and Jacob’s. In moments, they became full dragons. Dragons!

Wendy was ready to pass out from the shock of it, but the two beasts crashed into one another. Tristan was a blood color, Jacob a deep blue. Claws slashed at one another, gripping at arms, tails, whatever they could reach.

The combat was furious and brutal, but when Tristan made the mistake of clamping his jaws on Jacob’s arm, it was over. In one smooth motion, Jacob flipped Tristan onto his back and crashed the back of his skull against the stone mountainside. Twice, three times and Tristan’s body went limp. Roaring his fury, Jacob lifted the limp dragon into the air, and then threw him off the side of the cliff.

The dragon stood, watching as his enemy disappeared. Jacob slowly turned back into a human, his face filled with worry as he turned to look at Wendy. She couldn’t believe it. Even now, her mind reeled with possible explanations as to what had just happened. Jacob came and knelt in front of her. Grabbing the corner of the duct tape, he looked her in the eye.

“One, two, three…”

The tape stung as he tore it free, but it was still minor in the face of everything she’d just experienced. Jacob reached two fingers into her mouth and removed the rag. She coughed; part of the corner had worked its way down her windpipe and it scratched as he pulled it out.

“What the hell?” she asked.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I said it was over, and then this happens. I’m sorry.” He went behind her and began trying to free her hands.

“Jacob, you’re not responsible for what he did, but what the
hell
was that? Did that really just happen?”

“That was technically against our laws, so if anyone asks, you didn’t see anything. But… yes. What you saw did actually happen.” After ripping the tape from her hands, he helped her to her feet. “I’m here meeting with other dragons from the major areas of the world. Our clans run things. We manage the world. I should never have dragged you into this, but my feelings for you… I couldn’t ignore how I felt. I’m sorry.”

Wendy looked past him to the cliff face where Tristan had disappeared, then back to Jacob. He was a dragon. Strangely, alarmingly, Wendy found she was okay with it. “No matter what you are, you came for me. You stood up for me, rescued me, and were there for me when I needed it. I don’t care what you are, because you are the kindest, most amazing man I’ve ever come across in my life.”

Jacob took her hands in his and held them to his chest. “Stay with me. Be with me. I’ll take care of you and your sweet mother, and I promise I’ll never let anyone harm you again.”

In lieu of an answer, she put her arms over his shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss. He held her close to him in the sweetest embrace, and, for the first time, Wendy felt like she was in the safest arms that could ever be.

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