Web Of Bones: Book II of the Dragon Mage Series (6 page)

The beating began almost the instant they reached the
mages room. Opulent and dark, it was cavernous and plush, decorated in red and black. A fireplace wide enough for Melly’s whole family to stand inside, and taller than her by a foot or more. He slung her into the room with one word. “Strip.”

She turned and raised her chin, trying to retain her dignity.
“No.”

He stilled utterly, like a snake before it strikes.
“What did you say?”

She licked dry lips
, aware as she did so that the blood still oozed from her bite and she was light-headed from the loss. “I said no. Whatever you want from me, I will not help you.”

“
Be careful pet. You forget your place. Do not forget I own you now. I can give, or I can take, but you are mine.”

“
You have nothing I need, or could ever want.” She took a deep steadying breath. “And I will never be yours.”

The first hit came so fast she was on the floor before she felt the pain across her cheek.
Before she could even attempt to get up, he kicked her, breaking at least one rib, if the pain was any indication. He yanked her head back by her hair. “Do you think I won’t kill you, pet?”

She sucked in a hard breath.
“Kill me then, and be done with it.”

“
No, no pet.” He pulled her head back harder. “It will not be that easy.” He let her go to grab the dangling chain and yanked her by her neck to the bed. He untied her hands and removed the neck cuff with angry jerks that burned, then he ripped the shift from her body and flung her to the floor. Her head hit the stone with a solid thwack; she must have blacked out momentarily because when she came to, she was in the tub of hot water and he was trying to drown her.

Melly struggled ineffectually
, desperately trying to get the hand off her head so she could lift her head from the water. She hurt everywhere, and when he finally released her she breathed great gasps of air through lungs that felt like they had been perforated.

Lotare had removed the cloak and stood beside the tub in a wet tunic and trousers.
“Do you know I find myself intrigued by you? You should be flattered.” He trailed his hand from her neck down to cup a firm breast. She struggled anew at the oily feeling of him touching her so intimately. “Such power encased in a body so very fragile.” He squeezed until she cried out in pain, then dug his finger into the bite on her neck, making it bleed anew. She screamed sharply, even as he let go and placed the bloody finger in his mouth. “So much power.” He shuddered at her taste, his eyes igniting in red power. He smacked his lips and looked her over.

Melisande
hunched into a ball and tried to hide from that avaricious gleam. “Yes.” He said slowly looking her over until she felt marked by the heat in his eyes. “I think you will do nicely.” Then he turned and stood talking conversationally. “You know, I have been waiting for you for some time. A soft woman I could train up, with powers beyond that of the pathetic blood sacrifices.” He opened a box on the vanity, the same lacquered black as the rest of his furniture. He pulled out a stoppered vial of some red liquid that shimmered when the light hit it.

Despite the heated water, Melly shivered, holding herself as small as possible while she watched him, like the mouse he named her, waiting for the next strike.
He turned and smiled her way. “I want sons, you see—powerful sons, and you are going to give them to me.”

“
No.” If she had been scared before she was terrified now. She could barely speak through the shaking. “Raping me will not get you what you want. A mage is not fertile unless she accepts the man’s seed willingly—everyone knows that.”

“
Who said anything about rape?” Then he removed the stopper and drank deep.

“
What is that?” She whispered it in words that shook.

“
Let’s just say, I borrowed a little something from the dragons.” His eyes fired with power. Even as she watched, he was suddenly beside her. He used a sharp nail and slit a line across one wrist, grabbing her already bruised chin with the other hand.

Melly cried out when he pushed her head back and forced open her mouth.
He forced his bleeding wrist against her mouth while she screamed and tried to twist away; when she tasted blood she tried to spit it out but he held her, filling her mouth and then clamping both hands on her mouth and nose until she was forced to swallow in order to breathe. Then just as fast, he backed up and released her. She gasped in breath after breath and then ducked her head to try to clean out the taste of him in her mouth. But she could feel a fire trailing down her throat and screamed at the feel of it spreading like a cancer through her body.

He laughed again.
“Take your bath, pet. I will have one of the female slaves in here to help you prepare. If you refuse, I will return and bathe you myself. I will give the mark a little time to settle. When I return I expect you will understand who owns you, body and soul. And you will give me everything I want.” Then he walked out, and left her with the feel of fire roaring through her blood.

Melisande wrapped her arms around her knees and, as soon as he was gone, let the terror and heartbreak spew from her chest in great racking sobs.

***

This time Melly woke up crying inconsolable tears, lying on the soft fragrant earth in the heart of a
dragon conservatory. She was marked. She remembered everything. The blood mage. Finishing the bath and being dressed and primped like a doll, while her blood fried her from the inside. He never returned to finish what he started; the dragons had come with Morgan to rescue her. They had gotten her out, along with the children, before he could finish his claiming, but they could not save her from this. She was tainted. Infected, by a slow moving poison that darkened her soul. Until that moment, she had no idea she hoped to one day find a love like her sister had. To be mated and loved so completely was a thing of beauty. She had not realized she fostered the hope of one day finding that for herself, until that hope was gone. How could she ever belong to a good man, or even a dragon if she was so lucky, when she was already claimed by a blood mage?

Melly curled into a ball and cried.

Solan felt as if every molecule of blood in his body was on fire.
He had to find her. He said nothing to the others as he slipped out. They were looking worried but gave Melly the time the departed healer had suggested. Solan could not give her any more time. He would find her and then sneak away again, but he had to know she was safe.

He heard her crying through the foliage of the conservatory before he saw the pathetic little ball
in which she was curled. The thought of leaving her to deal with her pain did not even cross his mind. He picked her up and sat down with her in his lap. She was crying so hard she barely noticed, just wrapped her little arms around his neck and sobbed. He pulled her tighter, careful not to crush her. Closing his eyes, he held on. Her tears burned where they fell against his skin, and he wished to remember every one of them, because someday soon there would be an accounting.

Eventually she had no more tears to shed, and just lay quiet in his arms.
Finally she spoke, her cheek pressed against his shoulder while her arms held tight around his neck.

“
He marked me. I am infected and dark inside. Like a hollowed out thing.” Her voice was barely a whisper in the dark.

Solan stilled utterly at her words.
“You are not those things.” Then with every muscle in his body tensed, he asked the question he most needed answered. “Did he rape you?”

“
No ... He would have, but the others got to me first.” Her whole body shivered in revulsion. “But still he flows through my veins like a cancer. No one will ever want me.” Her voice broke with the words. “He fed me his tainted blood and marked me as his.” Then her voice dropped even lower. “I’ll never have what Morgan found.”

He fought down the fury at her words.
As much as he wanted to rip the world apart until he found where the vermin hid, she needed something else from him. Something he was not sure he could give her, because he did not know if he had it to give. “Any man would be honored to claim such a mate as you. You have endured much darkness, and still you shine with pure light.”

“
You don’t know ...” But he interrupted her, pulling her from his neck so that he could take her face between his hands and capture her gaze.

“
I do know,” he said, a steel core running through the words. The silver in his eyes heated and intense. Then he softened, the silver liquefied. “I am a dragon, milady.” He swiped her tears away with a thumb. “I know treasure when I see it.”

She blinked up at him and a little of the despair left her eyes.
A small glimmer of hope showed through and she shuddered out a breath. “He marked me.” She finally said, searching his eyes as if looking for the disgust she expected. “I feel him crouching inside me like a spider.”

Solan lowered his forehead to hers so that she would not see the flames of rage and mistake them for something else.
“Then let us kill him and be done with it.”

He felt her shiver
; he knew she felt the killing rage behind the words and wondered if it would scare her off. Instead, she seemed to take comfort from his fire.

She breathed deeply,
she relaxed her muscles. Her eyes closed, her voice tentative with hope. “All right.”

A sound alerted them to a presence and Melly quickly wiped the last of the tears from her face and turned to face the interruption.
Morgan was watching them with Eben right behind her. She looked a little shocked to see her in the General’s arms, and Eben looked like he was made of granite.

“
I remember,” Melly said. Her eyes on her sisters. Morgan looked at her steadily with a soft expression on her face.

“
Are you well?”

Melly hesitated, thinking about it carefully.
“I am not.” She looked at the General, who had eyes only for her. “But I will be.”

“
What does that mean?” Morgan asked, coming closer.

“
It means I can find the blood mage.”

“
Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to go.”

“
Yes, I do.” She looked at her sister and smiled sadly. “I think if I do not see this through it would haunt me. I have enough ghosts already without adding that.”

General Solan carefully placed her on her own legs and stood, towering over her by a good two feet.
“I need to prepare for the journey.”

“
I would have a word General Solan.” Eben’s voice was ice cold and hard with it. “In private.”

But Solan looked to her first.
“You will be well now?”

She smiled at him.
“Eventually.” She took a deep breath. “Thank you, General.”

He shrugged his massive shoulders and followed Eben out.
It made her smile, the way he acted so stoic and still managed to put her at ease.

When he was gone from sight
, trailing Eben out of the room, she turned and caught her sister’s eyes on her. “I hesitate to tell you this when you are dealing with so much, but I worry you will develop feelings for the General that he cannot reciprocate.” Morgan’s voice was soft and uncharacteristically unsure. “A dragon knows his mate almost immediately.” The ‘and it’s not you,’ went unsaid but was heard nonetheless. “I don’t know that a relationship is a good idea when he has a chance of running into his mate with the mages coming here. If they come here.”

“
I know what I am, Morgan,” Melisande said simply, though she did feel the hit with each word from her sister’s mouth. “I have always known I am no match for a dragon. But it would be a lie to say I am not drawn to him ... in many ways.”

Morgan blew out a breath.
“I just don’t want you hurt anymore.”

“
I know that. But I am not as fragile as all that.”

“
I don’t think you fragile at all.” She sighed. “Just be careful. He is a good man, that I know, but you are a beautiful woman and he has been alone for far too long. He may decide to start a relationship with you, but what happens if he finds his mate? He would not choose to dishonor you, but I have seen the power of the mate bond myself.” She walked to her sister and took her hands. “Do not bet your happiness on this. That’s all I am saying.”

“
I cannot say that I will keep my distance. He makes me feel safe, and that is a powerful thing. This journey we begin ... I will need that. But I do not seek to trap him.” She took a long breath, wondering at the roller coaster of emotions she had gone through this day. “I would be his friend; he seems to need one, as do I ... But I will let him go when I must.”

Morgan studied her face, seeing the implacable resolve there.
“And you say I consider you fragile, little sister?” She shook her head with a sad smile. “Daily I am awed and inspired by your fortitude.”

Melly smiled, for real this time.
“You might be a bit biased in my favor.”

“
I might.” Morgan laughed, and then lost her happy when she spoke again. “You remembered everything?”

“
I can’t talk to you about this, Morgan.” Melly pulled a deep breath. “It is enough to tell you that I have remembered and that I can find the blood mage.”

“
I will not press you, but if you need to talk ...”

“
I know you will be there if I need you. That has never been in doubt, sister.”

***

This time Eben did not take him to the war room, but deeper inside Forsaken. Solan had an idea what this talk would entail and he was not looking forward to it. But he would fight for the right to escort Melisande. No one would deter him from that purpose.

They reached a room deep in the bowels of the place.
Here there was less pretense of human comforts and more appreciation of the beauty of nature in its most natural form. Great stalagmites hung over cavernous echoing chambers. A hot spring created a great underground waterfall surrounded by rock groupings that created natural seating that shot from the stone of the mountain. Ladon was already in the chamber waiting with a grim look on his face. While Eben closed the great double doors behind them, Solan braced for an attack— verbal, or otherwise.

They did not start as he expected.

“You are heading into mage and human territory. It seems like the ideal time to not only take care of the blood mage, but also suss out the situation we face there,” Lord Ladon said as soon as the doors were secure. “We have been discussing this, and if you took the land route you could take care of more than one of those issues.”

Solan
studied the newest council member. As a prince in the line of the lost monarchy, he still carried a certain power above that of the usual council Lord. That did not mean that Solan would listen to him without thought, but he would certainly give his words credence. “If I take the land route, we must do it as men, and I will have to take more warriors.”

“
That’s true,” Ladon said. “But then it would be best perhaps to not have so much alone time between you and our mate’s sister.” While Solan digested that, the man went on. “How many warriors would you want to take and whom?”

He would have liked to argue
, but the idea had merit. It also meant that while the journey might take longer, he would have less time alone with the Lady Melisande, but they were right—that might be a good thing considering how he was feeling about her already. “Three others would be sufficient. Lux, Furee, and Aarion would be my choices, Besides Ryall, they are the greatest warriors and Ryall has a mate to protect.”

“
Then I will present the trip to the council, with the reasons behind it—after you have been gone a sufficient amount of time, of course.”

“
You think they would attempt to stop me?”

“
I think they would attempt many things. Not least of which would be choosing their own men for the journey.”

General Solan met the younger dragon
lord’s eyes. “You suspect some trouble from the council?”

“
We think given the current political maneuvering that it would be wise not to assume anything.” Eben finally spoke up. His voice just as expressionless as Solan’s. “With the information that has come to light recently about the council actions or inactions in the past regarding mage mates, and the new lack of cohesion on the issue— let’s just say we are guarding against the possibilities that Lord Bochus was not the only dragon susceptible to the call of corrupt power.”

General Solan looked around him at the great room
where they had come, deep in Forsaken. “You suspect someone might be listening?”

“
I would know if any dragon came close enough to monitor, but with shape-shifting children and mages of growing power living within these walls, we must take ... precautions.” He zeroed in on Solan, his voice sharpening to a razor’s edge. “Underestimating the mages that reside here would be a mistake.”

Solan nodded
. “That I have seen for myself on more than one occasion in the past few days.”

“
On another matter,” Ladon spoke up his eyes firing dragon gold. “The Lady Melisande.” He didn’t say anything else, nor was it necessary to get his point across.

Solan sighed inwardly, though he did not give away his thoughts by expression or deed.
“I understand.” He finally said after the silence lengthened with warning. “I would not bring her harm. Not for any reason. Nor can I keep the distance you are hoping for.”

“
We could send another in your place,” Eben said mildly.

Solan felt a gaping maw of anger swallow him whole at the thought of another going on this journey with his mage.
“You can try,” he growled out, his eyes firing to liquid silver and his dragon claws instinctually popping through human flesh.

Eben and Ladon both studied
him, Ladon with surprise, but Eben Kinkaid just raised a brow and finally gave the smallest half smile. “Sheath your claws, General. It has already been agreed that you are the best dragon for the job. I have every confidence that you will see to Melisande.” There was a short pause where Solan could feel the dragon power swell around him until it was like being smothered in hot oil. Then, before he could react with an answering challenge, it was gone. Eben Kinkaid stood quietly watching him, the fire in his eyes restrained. His voice was low but no less cutting. “Or you will answer to me.”