Sapphamire (13 page)

Natasha closed her eyes, willing her head to stop pounding like a drum and her stomach to calm back down. At least she felt like she could understand everything that was going on around her.

“Blain,” she stated in a whisper, “Unlock the door. Everyone needs to know you are okay. They’re not going to shut up until they do.”

“They can wait, I am worried about you,” Blain growled at her.

Natasha sighed deeply as she attempted to sit up. Her neck hurt, and she wondered if she wrenched it during fighting. And Blain was trying to show her his love, and while she appreciated the gesture, he was still in charge of this castle, and as such, needed to take his responsibilities as owner of the castle to heart.

She leaned on him heavily for a moment until she adjusted to the upright position. Turning to him with a slight smile on her face, she addressed the non-stop knocking on the office door.

“I am fine, Blain, see? Let your staff in, so they can rest assured that you are okay. They also need your guidance.”

“I need to know if
you’re
all right first.”

She grabbed his wrists before they could reach her injury. “I am fine. But everyone else needs to know that their leader is unharmed.” He stared at her for a long moment, searching her eyes, hoping that she would take back what she said and let him tend to her in peace. “Open the door. It’s not like I’m going anywhere. Besides, head wounds always look ten times worse than what they really are.”

With a grumble, he finally stood and walked to the door. He flung it open and almost busted a few of the guards’ noses. He was not pleased with being disturbed while taking care of his girl, as far as he was concerned, all his men could just wait until he had taken care of his woman properly. He ignored them as they all fell into the room, overcrowding it quickly, and started badgering him with questions.

“Silence!” he roared a moment later. The room went deathly silent.

“Is everyone accounted for, and do we have anyone left alive that attacked us?”

Donatello stepped forward. “There are five that are alive. I have locked them down in the basement.”

“Very good,” Blain acknowledged with a slight nod.

Jade had rushed over to Natasha’s side the moment the door was open. Holding Natasha’s hand, she glanced over to Blain. “I feel a strong female dragon presence in this room. Did you two mate?” The last question she had turned her head back to Natasha to ask.

Natasha nodded her head in confirmation and then winced immediately.

“Have you heard any voices, like in your head but they seem so real, recently?” Jade continued.

Natasha blushed a little. “Yes, right before we went into battle. I was beginning to think I was sleepwalking.”

Jade was nodding her head the entire time. “I think you may have been the recipient of the gift of the dragon. It is rare, but sometimes when two Others mate, the weaker can be gifted with some of the same benefits as the stronger one has. In your case, I think Blain’s dragon has bestowed the dragon to you.”

'
You wouldn’t know anything about this, would you
?' Blain growled inwardly at his dragon.

'What? You don’t approve? She is going to be a beautiful dragon. It is not fair to make her fight like you do with no superpowers to fall back on. I just helped her out a bit. Wait until her dragon introduces her to other powers!'
Blain’s dragon was jumping up and down in excitement.

'
And just what kind of powers are we talking about here
?' he questioned Sapphamire.

His dragon ignored him. Looked like they were going to need to wait and see what powers Natasha ended up with. It was a great gift for his dragon to bestow the dragon on their mate. And it was a rare gift indeed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard of this happening.

“Hmm, well, Sapphamire did seem to take a real liking to me the other day when we met,” Natasha remembered, as she considered the implications.

Blain was quickly getting everyone back out of his office. He walked over to Natasha and Jade. “You don’t have any questions about this?” he asked as he gazed down at her. The split in her head was indeed knitting itself back together.

Natasha winced slightly as Jade brought the cloth up dabbing at her wound. “I have too many to ask.”

“Maybe you should just start with the first one,” he encouraged.

“Am I going to shift into a dragon?” she asked.

“Yes, evidently Sapphamire has gifted you with a female dragon. Knowing him, he did it so he could make her his own mate.” As he noticed the frown on her face, he continued, “You will still be both of our mates, just like we will both be mates to your female dragon as well as you. It is how the dragon works when both mates are the same.”

Blain sighed heavily as he heard a commotion downstairs. “Dammit, what now?” He looked over to Natasha. “Something is going on downstairs and I need to go find out what. Do you want to stay here, or are you feeling well enough to...” he let the sentence hang in mid-air.

“I’ll go with you. If more of Boragello’s men have showed up, you might need the help.” She stood and walked over to his side. Glancing backwards, she stated to Jade, “Don’t go anywhere, I have a list of questions I want to ask you after things get settled down.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jade replied with conviction.

By the time the couple had reached the bottom of the stairs, they knew exactly what was going on. When Blain had sounded the alarm earlier, it notified the Council that help was needed. Now, because of that alarm going off, he was dealing with an egotistical vampire, a rather bitchy witch, and a shape shifter. Out of the three, Nicolas, a mountain lion shape shifter, was the only one who was even a little tolerable.

And when the witch caught Natasha by the arm ten minutes later stating the entire incident was all her fault, and that trouble followed her everywhere, and that she should be put out of existence just because of all the trouble she caused, Blain lost it. Before he knew what had happened, he had changed over into his dragon form and was singeing the old witch’s hair. She quickly let go of Natasha when she felt fire being breathed on her.

“Blain Barrymire, what in the hell do you think you are doing?”

Still in dragon form, Sapphamire answered her, none to happily. “Natasha is our mate. You will never touch her or condemn her ever again, or you will live to regret it!”

For some reason, this had the vampire laughing. “I heard about the prince dragon twins finding their mate. I wondered how much truth there was to the rumors that had gotten back to me that you are a possessive lot.” Then, glancing over to Hazellette the witch, he stated, “You’d do best not to even look at her until that dragon has calmed down, because I seriously don’t think the three of us would stand a chance against an irate dragon who is protecting his mate.”

Hazellette narrowed her eyes at the vampire. “Laugh now, but when she is the cause of untold ruin and devastation, don’t come begging me to help.”

“Duly noted, Hazellette, now let’s get the dead bodies taken care of and then go downstairs for a bit of interrogation.” The vampire locked his fingers together and then turned them backwards, popping joints as he went. “God, I love my job,” he stated with a grin.

It took the next five and half hours for the three Council members to get everything cleaned up, move the bodies and stage the scene of another crime, and interrogate the prisoners. Blain was happy to see them finally take the prisoners and go back to headquarters. By this time, it was mid-morning, but all he wanted to do is find Natasha and go crawl back into bed for the day.

Shortly before lunch, his private cell phone rang. “Hello,” he stated, knowing it had to be someone from Dragonose, and wondering why they would be calling.

“Hey, cuz, Thoran here. I am afraid I need you to come home for a while. Aiden and Adrian are on an extended honeymoon with their mate, and we are running short of fighters. Our Intel folks are telling us we could be on the receiving end of a Raptorian strike very soon. We need you and Sapphamire to come home.”

His king may have made it sound like he was asking, but Blain wasn’t fooled for a minute. “I have found my mate. Do I have permission to bring her?” If the answer were no, Blain would have to think long and hard about leaving Natasha there while he returned to Dragonose. He wanted her by his side.

“Congratulations! Of course, you can bring her! I look forward to meeting the woman who will no doubt have you wrapped around her thumb in little time.”

The king hung up the phone chuckling at his own statement. He hadn’t asked Blain when he would be arriving. It was an unspoken order for him to return home as soon as possible
. So much for catching a nap with Natasha,
Blain thought grumpily. Meanwhile, his dragon was jumping up and down, excited to be going home where he could run free, fly freely, without worry of someone spotting them.

'
We’re going home, yes, and Tashe is coming with us!'
Sapphamire sang as he jumped around for joy.

As Blain remembered that Sapphamire had gifted Natasha with the gift of a dragon of her own, going home did sound like a good plan. At least Sapphamire could teach her new dragon the ropes. Yes, after thinking things through for a moment, it was a very good idea to go home.

Blain climbed the stairs to go find his mate. Then to pack and leave for home.

Chapter Eight

Natasha hurried through her phone call as she rushed around, throwing some clothes near the suitcase.

“I don’t know exactly how long I will be gone. Yes, do you want me to leave word with the guards that if you show up they are to protect you? All I would need to do is tell Blain. He would order everyone here to guard you until we return. Okay, don’t get upset, I won’t breathe a word, yet. But you know you can’t stay there much longer. Yes, I know you are scared. How about if I come get you after we get back? I’ll bring Blain with me. Nothing is going to get through the two of us. You would be safe, I promise. Okay, stay safe until I return. Bye.”

Blain listened to his mate talking on the phone while she went through the bedroom like a tornado, grabbing clothes and other items willy-nilly. Everything was being thrown on the bed, and by the growing heap, he wondered just how much luggage she thought he could take. He had forgotten to tell her he would have to go through the portal in his dragon form. He was still standing in the doorway when she hung up the phone.

“Hey, anything important?” he inquired as he nodded to her phone, which had also been thrown on the bed.

Natasha looked at him and bit her bottom lip. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she had made a promise also. “Can I tell you later, Blain? Honestly, I promised her not to say anything just yet, so I really don’t want to break that promise. And even if I could, it would take more time than we have available.”

He walked over to her beside the bed and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her up tightly against him. “Just don’t wait until it is too late, baby. From what I heard, you have a friend in trouble. You know I will help, all you have to do is tell me.”

“I know, and thank you, Blain, for not pushing. I promise, just as soon as we return from our trip, I’ll tell you everything.”

“Why are we leaving so suddenly?” Natasha asked Blain as they prepared to enter the portal.

“The king needs more fighters to defend Dragonose against an attack he thinks is imminent,” Blain explained.

“Attack? Who is attacking? Why?”

“Dragonose and Raptor have been bitter enemies for a long, long time. The Raptorians are also shape shifters. In their shifted form, they resemble a T-Rex, but are shorter, have longer snouts, and vicious, razor-sharp teeth. Most stand approximately nine to twelve feet tall in their shifted form, and hold the belief they should rule the world.
All
the worlds.

“We have had many skirmishes with them, and are aware that many more will come. So far, the Raptorians have not discovered the portals to Earth held in tight secret on Dragonose. We Dragons protect the portals on both ends from being discovered and exploited,” said Blain. “The last thing we want is for the Raptorians to discover a portal that will allow them to reach Earth. Today’s human race would not have a ghost of a chance against an army of Raptorians. We don’t even let the rest of the Others know about the portals. It’s a secret tightly held to keep Earth safe from invasion.”

The trip through the portal was unlike anything Natasha had ever experienced before. She thought she had seen most there was to see in her young life already, but the portal trip had been fascinating. Blain changed over to his dragon form, allowing Sapphamire to get them safely home. Once one stepped into the magic passageway, the wind would pick you up and carry you away. Natasha had hung on for dear life to Sapphamire’s neck, scared the wind would rip her body away from him.

After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only about twenty seconds, they landed with a thud. She slid down Sapphamire’s body and collapsed on the ground, her jelly legs unable to hold her up. Sapphamire bent his large head down to check on her, and the next second Blain was kneeling in front of her, a concerned look on his face.