Demand of the Dragon (2 page)

Chapter Two

Caleb crashed the claiming ceremony just in time. Two
minutes later and Lucy Sheffield would’ve been mated to that...
tool
of a dragon.

It wasn’t like he wanted Lucy for himself. She simply deserved
better than the pathetic-excuse-for-a-Draco that had been standing beside her at
the altar. What had Tristan been thinking, arranging for her to be married to a
Draco who couldn’t protect her? Geezer had been the weakest dragon in their clan
for the last fifty years. The Draco seemed content to squat at the bottom of the
totem pole. Sure, his family had wealth and stability, with a castle built on
northern lands, but what did that matter? Geezer would never know Lucy the way
Caleb did.

“You...” Lucy sat up and rubbed her hands over her eyes.

He smiled. “Me.”

“Caleb? Where am I? What happened?”

Kneeling in front of the chaise lounge in the post-claiming
chamber, Caleb became hyperaware of the Dracos surrounding them, watching their
every move. Despite their lingering gazes, Caleb couldn’t stop staring at Lucy,
drinking in the details he’d missed so much. Honey-blond strands of hair swept
over her shoulders like a silky river, flowing full and lush to her waist.
Almond-shaped eyes, soft cheekbones and a petite, button nose made her seem
angelic and pure. But as Caleb’s gaze settled on Lucy’s lips—petal-soft and
slightly pouty, glistening with a hint of moisture—he shifted uncomfortably.

Something had changed.

Was it the sharpness of Lucy’s eyes that used to be so serene?
The way her body seemed to explode with curves? It was those things and more,
Caleb realized. What struck him most was the way sexuality seemed to seep from
her pores.

They’d always had a physical connection—one Caleb had never
acted on, despite how it’d tied him in knots. He’d never wanted to jeopardize
what they shared. Never wanted to give a relationship a shot, only to have it
fall apart and shatter their friendship. Now, though, Lucy seemed more beautiful
than ever. As if time had illuminated her assets and hidden her flaws.

“You hit your head on the altar.” Caleb cleared his throat.
“You’ve got a bit of a bump, but Queen Elixa thinks you’ll be fine.”

“Queen Elixa?” Lucy winced as her fingers found the bump on the
top of her head. “Oh, God. What happened at the ceremony?”

“I showed up like a knight in shining armor to save you from
making the biggest mistake of your life, and you hit the floor like a wounded
damsel in distress.” Despite the heaviness of the situation, Caleb smirked,
tilting his head to hers. Her naturally feminine scent—flowers mixed with
something sweet and powdery—danced through his nose. “It was quite the
theatrical debut.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Lucy sat up farther, squinting as if
she couldn’t focus properly. “After I went out did we...did he and I—did we
finish the ceremony?”

Did Lucy really think Queen Elixa would continue the claiming
ceremony and carve her name into Geezer’s chest while she was unconscious and
sprawled on the floor?

“The ceremony’s been postponed until we get a few things
straightened out,” Queen Elixa interrupted before Caleb could speak. She stepped
from the doorway into the center of the room, her guards following closely
behind her. The queen exuded regal grace, her chin that lifted toward the
ceiling. The Draco specks arching across her cheekbones shimmered bright blue,
showcasing how striking her scales would be when she shifted into full dragon
form. “But Caleb has asked to be the one to explain it all to you.”

“Explain all of what?” Lucy shook her head. “Tell me.”

Queen Elixa smiled sweetly, crossing her arms in front of her.
“Tristan wished for you to be claimed by Geezer, so I followed his demands and
put the plan into motion. But when Caleb mysteriously returned last night, he
shed light on some things. He has reason to think your brother could still be
alive, and if there’s a chance of that, we cannot force a claiming ceremony to
take place.”

“What?” Lucy’s hopeful gaze remained on the queen. “Tristan’s
alive?”

“I think it’s best if we leave the two of you alone so that
Caleb can answer your questions. You have much to discuss.” Queen Elixa moved to
the door, taking her entourage with her. “Keep in mind, Lucy that if Caleb is
wrong and Tristan is deceased, as we’ve believed him to be for the last three
years, you will marry Geezer. It is what your brother demanded of you. It
doesn’t have to be today, tonight or tomorrow, but it must be soon.” She
stopped, and turned back. “Welcome home, Caleb. We’re glad to have you
back.”

Caleb nodded as the door slammed shut, echoing through the
chamber as hard and loud as his drumming heart. An awkward, gaping silence
filled the space between them.

As Lucy watched Queen Elixa leave, Caleb realized she hadn’t
looked at him. Not really. Her attention had focused on Queen Elixa, the
four-post bed in the corner, the mahogany dresser on the far wall, the
flickering candles in the wall sconces, and even the sleeve of her gown. It was
as if she’d mapped every detail of the room, leaving him completely out of
it.

“Where is he?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Guilt tore into Caleb’s side, splintering hot
shards of pain into his stomach. “I lost track of him when he went through a
portal.”

Portals on Feralon were nothing extraordinary—each of the three
territories on the isle had a few. Some portals led to San Francisco, back to
the mainland and human civilization. Other portals led to adjacent territories
on the isle. Caleb knew one that led from dragon territory to werewolf lands,
and another that led from there to mermaid territory. But there was one portal
in particular that no one had ever traveled...at least not until he and Tristan
went through it.

“So the situation’s not any different than it’s been for the
last three years.” Lucy tunneled her fingers through her golden tresses and
gazed far off. “Tristan’s gone.”

“At least now you
know
he’s not
dead. He’s simply missing.”

“I never thought he was dead to begin with. Everyone may have
given up believing that he was out there somewhere, but I never have.” Lucy
leveled him with a heated stare. “Where have you been?”

Her eyes sparkled like sapphires, the most precious gems he’d
ever laid eyes upon. Her gaze stirred something in his chest, the way it used to
when they were close. When he’d swallowed his feelings for her brother’s sake,
so things wouldn’t be awkward, so he wouldn’t have to explain to Tristan why
he’d rather spend time with Lucy than with his friend.

Fear of the unknown had always played a part in Caleb’s
decision making. What if he got Lucy in bed only to realize they weren’t
compatible that way? He would’ve had to break her heart, and if Caleb did that,
Tristan would’ve wanted to break his face.

Rightly so.

Swallowing down his desire, Caleb clenched his jaw and folded
his hands in front of him. He couldn’t reach out for her if his fingers were
linked...

“You’re not the only one who has held onto the belief that
Tristan is still alive.” He wanted to say so much more.

“You’re right,” she said, “But I’m the only one who’s been here
waiting for him to come back. You shouldn’t have taken off the way you did. Or
at the very least, you could’ve said goodbye.”

Something flashed across Lucy’s expression. Something dark and
shadowed. Why did he sense anger flaring within her? This was far from the
homecoming he’d anticipated.

Unable to stop himself, Caleb reached out for the bump on
Lucy’s head. “Does it hurt?”

Lucy flinched, eyeing him with distaste. “At first it hurt like
hell, but after a while the pain got easier to bear.”

Caleb leaned back, and sat on his haunches. “Did you really
expect me to be there to catch you every moment of every day for the rest of
your life?”

“I certainly didn’t expect you to drop me.” Lucy glared. “I
thought you were dead, Caleb. I thought you were both gone. If you’ve been alive
all this time, where the hell have you been? Why didn’t you come back or send
word that you were all right?”

Caleb leaned forward and clasped his hand over hers. Sparks of
electricity sizzled through Caleb’s fingers and up his arm. “Luce, I had to go.
After Tristan disappeared, I did what I had to do and—”

“Don’t tell me about what you had to do,” she finished, sliding
her hand from beneath his. “I had to stay here and wonder what happened to my
brother and my best friend. I had to try and accept the fact that you were never
coming home. I had to listen to Queen Elixa when she said you were both dead.
That the time had come to move on. I’d finally accepted my new fate...until you
come waltzing back into my life acting like nothing has changed.”

“It’s more complicated than that.” He’d held everything inside
for so long. Too long. He ached to tell Lucy everything. “I’ve worked for Isle
Security, securing the portals on Feralon for the last eight years.”

“Come on.” She shot to her feet. “You think I can’t do math?
That means you worked there five years before Tristan disappeared, when we were
still friends.”

She slowly paced around the room wringing her hands in front of
her. As if the tight circles around the bearskin rug helped her separate truth
from lies.

“There were things you didn’t know,” he said, standing, folding
his arms over his chest. “Things you couldn’t know for your own safety.”

“I’m a big girl, Caleb, I think I can handle whatever you’ve
got to say.”

Caleb’s heart slammed against his rib cage. The pain of that
night clawed its way back into his mind, gritty and raw, scraping against his
insides like talons in tender flesh.

“Tell me,” she said.

The room grew hot. Stifling. Caleb bristled under her
penetrating gaze.

“I have to know everything.” She closed the distance between
them, looking calmer than she had mere moments before. “You can’t hold anything
back from me now.”

Lucy hadn’t only grown up in the three years he’d been gone.
She’d grown stronger, too.

“Tristan and I were working together, guarding the portal
beneath Thorne Castle. On the night he disappeared, I wasn’t there. I was near
the Sindracos’s village when I heard his screams. They were so loud, they echoed
up from the ground.” Caleb paused as Tristan’s shrieks blasted through his ears
once more. The memories were as sharp as they’d ever been. “I flew back to the
castle and saw Tristan fighting some sort of beast. It wasn’t like any creature
I’d ever seen on Feralon. I figured it came from the portal, from some other
realm. When it retreated into the portal, Tristan followed, diving after it. I
didn’t have a choice. I did what I had to do.”

“Don’t say it,” Lucy said, covering her mouth with her hand.
“You didn’t...”

“I went into the portal after him.”

Lucy froze, but Caleb hadn’t told her the worst of it.

“I searched the wastelands on the other side of the portal for
what felt like forever. Time doesn’t stand still on the other side, Lucy. It
simply doesn’t exist. There are things that no one should ever have to see. Pain
that no one should have to bear.” Caleb paused, remembering the deranged
creatures, black, scorched plains that stretched on for miles, and the
throat-clogging stench of sulfur. “When I finally found Tristan, he was being
attacked by the same kind of beast I saw the night we went into the portal.
There was another portal nearby, but neither of us had a clue where it led. He
was injured, but managed to escape through it. He dropped this on his way
out.”

He fished Tristan’s medallion out of his pocket. It looked more
like a silver pocket watch than a medal, with deep grooves on the back that
twisted into an
S
shape.

Lucy took the medallion and turned it over in her hand,
examining every smooth curve. “Tristan never took it off. I don’t think I ever
saw him without it.”

“I escaped through the same portal,” Tristan said, his voice
hoarse, “but I emerged beneath Thorne Castle. Yesterday evening. Tristan wasn’t
there when I came ‘round. He must have exited through another portal.”

Lucy’s expression shone with hope. “If you made it out of the
wastelands alive, then maybe Tristan did, too. He could be on the isle
somewhere!”

“That’s precisely why I interrupted the ceremony to tell you.
If we can find him, you won’t have to be mated to Geezer. I’m just glad the
timing was right.”

Throwing her arms around his neck, Lucy squeezed Caleb tightly,
squealing into his ear.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” she said. “Everything’s really
going to be all right.”

“I don’t know where to start the search,” Caleb said, breathing
in the sweet scent of Lucy’s hair, “and the portal could’ve taken him anywhere,
but I won’t rest until I find him.”

Pulling back, Caleb brushed his hands over Lucy’s shoulders.
She was so tiny in his hands. Delicate and fragile like a rare flower blooming
in Feralon’s wasteland.

Lucy blinked quickly, tenderness glistening behind her deep
blue eyes. She was quiet for a few beats before asking, “When do we leave?”

Even after all the time that’d passed, Lucy still amazed him.
She’d go willingly, fly into the heart of their enchanted isle to find her
brother, even if Caleb didn’t know where the hell to start. After everything
that had happened—Tristan disappearing because Caleb wasn’t at his post and
leaving Lucy behind for three years—she still trusted him. Wholeheartedly.

It was a trust he didn’t deserve.

“How is it possible that three years have gone by, and you’re
still the same Lucy you were before I left?” Caleb fought the urge to brush the
back of his hand down her rose-tinted cheeks. It seemed as though no time had
passed. The urge to touch her cheek, kiss her lips and hold her hand was just as
strong as before. He lowered his voice to a tender whisper. “Queen Elixa told me
about the demand in Tristan’s will. You know you wouldn’t have to marry Geezer
if you’d had another prospect. Why haven’t you been claimed, yet?”