Dragon Hunter Book Two: A Dragon Shifter Serial (Dragon Hunter Chronicles 2) (3 page)

“
O
ur tasks are clear
,” said Kabal, the man with the reddish hair and copper eyes. His voice, like Lumen’s and Minach’s, was deep, dark and smooth. “We will, each of us, do our part when the time comes. The Four will come together, and we understand all that the Seeking entails.”

“The Seeking?” said Neko, who had now managed to remain silent for what felt like an eternity. Lumen had referred to her as a
Seeker
when she’d first met him. She’d assumed that it was simply an archaic term for a Hunter, but now she was beginning to have her doubts. The word seemed filled with ancient meaning that went far beyond the slaying of the occasional Lapsed.

Lumen turned to her as the others watched. No doubt they wondered how their leader would address the young woman without giving their long held secrets away.

“I’m afraid that some secrets need to remain just that, for a little at least,” he said. “What we divulge to you will depend on your desire—and willingness—to work with us. For now, trust simply that we are looking to protect London’s inhabitants, not to harm them.”

“I see,” said Neko. “And I’m to have utter faith in a room full of Dragon shifters, then?”

Minach opened his mouth to speak but Lumen raised a hand, silencing him.

“I will only tell you this, Hunter: if Controllers such as the man who hired you find a way to what we’re seeking before we do, they will become incredibly powerful. And that would be disastrous—not only for the Dragons, but for everyone. The Lapsed are nothing in comparison to the enemies you’d face then.”

Neko looked into his eyes, as always searching out answers that never quite came. The one thing that she knew—that she’d
always
known—was that he was sincere. More and more she was learning to trust him, difficult though it was to accept that he was on her side.

Faith in others did not come easy to the Hunter; it never had. But her instincts were good and she knew that he was what he said he was—a protector. It was in his very blood, just as her own dictated what she’d become.

“I’ll begin to look for answers today,” said Lumen, turning back to his Guild. “And the first step is to find this Hash, Vail, who took a few poorly aimed shots at Neko and me. And so I’ll be heading back to London as soon as this meeting ends.”

Neko’s eyes locked on his face, her mind reeling.

London? He’s going back into the line of fire?

“Do you intend to leave me here?” she choked, unwilling or unable to take her eyes off of him.

“Of course. You’ll be far safer here, underground, than with me. You’re part of all this now. The Guild will protect you from harm. They will keep you safe, for me as well as for you.”

For me as well as for you.
He was doing it again; claiming that she was to be kept safe for his sake, as though she were his possession. And much as they should have infuriated her, the words flowed through her like melted chocolate. Delicious, smooth and dark.

“Well, I have very little desire for protection,” she said. “I want—
need
—to come with you to London. I insist, in fact, that you bring me with you.”

“Insist? One doesn’t insist to the leader of Dragons that he do her bidding,” shot Tryst, her words hitting Neko like daggers in the chest. “You are in no position—”

In spite of the knowledge that it could get her killed, Neko interrupted the woman. “I
know
Vail. I know how to deal with him one on one. I know his weaknesses. I can help.”

“I don’t need help,” said Lumen. “Or have you forgotten that I can breathe fire, Neko?”

“You’re not going to want to try flying around London’s narrow streets and back alleys with
your
wing span, not to mention a flame-thrower mouth,” Neko retorted. “Trust me. If you want to remain invisible—unthreatening—to the human population you’ll let me come with you. London’s citizens won’t be able to ignore you for long if you destroy their ancient buildings by clobbering them with your giant wings, leaving behind evidence of your destruction.”

Minach had been watching them interact, an amused smile on his lips. “Bring her with you, then, Lumen,” he said, “unless you think she’ll try and do you in again, of course.” With that, he chuckled.

Lumen’s eyes locked on Neko’s face, softening, a look of pure affection occupying his features. “I don’t think she’d hurt me for anything,” he said, his voice clothing her in a soft robe of syllables.

“I wouldn’t,” said Neko, her voice gentle for once. It was a promise, but also a plea to help her out of their underground fortress. Surrounded as she was by the intoxicating scents that filled the room, she felt like a Vampire in a blood bank. It was torture to be so over-stimulated, and she was desperate to free herself of the weakening spell.

“Fine. Then come with me, little one,” said Lumen, pressing his hands into the table in preparation for his departure. “Off to London we’ll go.”

“All right,” she replied, rising to her feet. “But call me ‘little one’ again and my knife at your
throat
is the last thing you’ll have to worry about.”

“A feisty Hunter,” said Tryst. “I suppose I have to offer my approval. Do us a favour, then, both of you. Find out what’s been going on, and why. Only then can we proceed. In the meantime, we’ll discuss our options here.”

“I will tell you when I know anything for certain,” Lumen said. “And I believe we’re done here, for now at least. Neko and I will head to the city and sort through this mess, with the Hash’s reluctant help. And I intend to begin showing the Hunter around the passages. They may be useful to her in future.”

“Passages?” Neko asked. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll see. Come, let’s head out and we’ll talk on the way.”

She was about to follow him when she stopped in her tracks. “My weapons,” she said, turning to Minach. It was almost an afterthought; she hadn’t considered them since he’d taken them from her. “I’ll need them.”

Lumen nodded towards the dark-haired shifter, who handed the bandolier, jacket and harness back to Neko.

“Try to harm this one, and your death will be unpleasant,” Minach growled, nodding his head towards Lumen.

“Don’t worry,” she replied. “He hasn’t irritated the shit out of me in at least five minutes. He’s safe.”

She and Lumen left the room, the stone door shutting behind them as though of its own free will. The underground was as magical, it seemed, as the Dragons who inhabited it.

N
eko had wondered
if Lumen intended to fly to London with her on his back once again, and if she’d be going for another chilly ride over the English countryside. But when they left the chamber, the shifter turned right, leading her down a narrow hallway that they hadn’t yet been through. He opened a large wooden door at its end.

“Another dark passage. Fantastic,” said Neko as she stepped through.

“We’ll be out of the dark soon enough, Hunter.”

“I don’t know if you’re speaking metaphorically or literally. But either way would be a nice change. I’m not accustomed to feeling…” She stopped herself, realizing that she’d been on the verge of uttering the word
helpless.
But the two syllables refused to come. She’d never confessed such a feeling to anyone.

“I’ll do my best today to show you our world,” said Lumen, ignoring her quasi-confession. “I want you to experience it as an insider. And I wish very much to let you in on some of our secrets.”

“What, not
all
of them?” She very nearly cracked a smile again.

“When—
if
—you and I are together, we will have no secrets,” he said, his voice devoid of humour. “Until then, however, there are certain things that you will struggle to understand.”

When we’re together, as in the biblical sense?
Here he was again, implying that they were destined to play the horizontal mambo for eternity. Of course, that was hardly a repellent thought—it was only the seeming lack of choice in the matter that stuck into Neko like a sharp pin. He could at least
pretend
that it was up to her.

“You do realize that I have a say in this…this
relationship
that you keep predicting, don’t you?” she asked. “I told you that we can’t be together.”

“You did. And yet you didn’t offer me a reason for it.”

“My reasons are my own.”

Fear, apprehension, scars. So many reasons that when you get to know me, you’ll no longer want me, Dragon.

“Yes they are your own. And as for having a say, you don’t yet seem to grasp that you have
all
of it,” said Lumen. “If you decide that you want to be with me, then we’ll be together. It’s really quite simple—I know what I desire.”

“Oh, yes. It’s all so simple.
If
I come to the realization that I want to be with you. Jesus, it’s like a bloody line out of a Shakespeare play.
To fuck, or not to fuck…”

The large man stopped and turned to face her. Once again she found herself staring up at him, doing her best to make eye contact in spite of a shyness overtaking her. His eyes were so bright in the dim light, so penetrating. Looking deep inside her, reading her soul.

“
Fuck
is a harsh, ugly word,” he said. “A word better reserved for prostitutes and drunks. I would make love to you, Neko. Caress your white skin with my fingertips. Treat your body as the beautiful sexual temple that it is. I would coax you to orgasm over and over again, with my tongue, my fingers. The swollen tip of my cock, stroking you as you watched, seeing how very,
very
hard you make me. Until you had no choice but to cry my name, to beg me for more. And I would slip inside you, tearing you apart—oh, but you’d enjoy it. You’d be mine then, forever. Because you would understand at last what it is to have a true bond with another.”

“I…” she began, crimson heat invading her face and neck. Damn him. How could she possibly respond to such a proposition without a resounding
yes?

Delicious, cocky, infuriating man. Yes, I want you more than anything.

But she didn’t have to reply, as it turned out. Lumen spoke again, relieving her of the words that had caught in her throat. “But none of that should happen until you know your feelings, and can confess them. At least to yourself. I’m not here to take advantage of you.”

Her eyes went to the stone floor, the silence around her palpable, interrupted every few seconds by a slow
drip-drip-drip
sound in the distance.

“I need to love you, you mean,” she said at last. A man she’d only met a few days before. A man she’d been hired to slay.

“No. There’s no obligation to use that word.”

But for a moment she considered telling him that she could see herself,
feel
herself, falling so hard for him that she might shatter into splintering shards when she hit the ground. That she was at his mercy, almost ready to surrender her life of solitude to experience a life with him.

Mad a thought though it was.

But instead she turned her eyes towards their destination and walked.

N
eko went silent for a time
. As they walked she searched for a way to change the subject; to move away from the intensity of what had been growing between the two of them since the moment they’d met.

Confusing thoughts drove through her in a flurry, her mind too overwhelmed by desire to think straight. But she needed to get back on track—after all, a few days earlier she’d been a simple Hunter. Her life had been easy, more or less. No complications; only tasks. Jobs. And now she found herself torn between two lives; the one she’d always known and a strange new one—more exciting, more dangerous.

All this upheaval didn’t suit a solitary life.

She wanted to ask where they were headed, but the truth was that she wasn’t overly concerned at this point with their destination, so long as they eventually left the windowless dark of the underground.

And as long as he remained at her side.

“Vail, the Hash,” said Lumen eventually, his eyes focused ahead. “Tell me more about him.”

Neko was relieved at the opportunity to talk business rather than dwell on emotions. “Well, he’s good at what he does, which is assassinating unwitting victims. He’s accustomed to easy kills and oblivious targets. But he’s never gotten the upper hand on me; he’s not a fighter. He doesn’t do well when his victim knows he’s coming.”

“Good. And I imagine that he does even less well when he doesn’t know he’s being hunted.”

“Probably not. He’s not the most clever man in the world.”

Neko wasn’t afraid of another confrontation with Vail, at least not really. Even if she were alone, she could likely take him on. Her reflexes were quicker, and she had the advantage of being a born predator. It was second nature to her to take on her prey, as it was to a cat to hunt mice.

“Are there many of you?” asked Lumen. “Hunters, I mean—and Hashes.”

“There are probably twenty or so Hunters who work for the Syndicate. And an equal number of Hashes, though we don’t exactly keep tabs on one another. Hashes tend to be avoided. They’ll do anything for coin, and that includes taking us down if we’re perceived as threats to their livelihoods.”

“I see.”

“So, where exactly are you taking me?” she asked. “For all your talents, I can’t imagine that you know where to find Vail.”

“You’ll see in a moment,” Lumen said, his eyes fixed on something up ahead, a smile spreading across his lips. It must be nice, she thought, to be so excited about the prospect of a miserable, potentially dangerous day ahead. All these heavy thoughts tearing destructively through her mind, and
he
was looking as though they were about to enter a candy shop.

“We’re nearly there, in fact,” he said.

When the Dragon shifter stopped, Neko looked first at him then at their bleak surroundings. All she could see were more stone walls, the arch still strong and confining above them. But now, to make things even less promising, they seemed to have arrived at a dead end.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “There’s nothing here.”

Lumen placed a gentle hand on a section of the large stone wall next to him and pressed. Under his strength, the wall gave way, opening outward as though it had always intended to do so. An invisible door that somehow only he could see. Yet another of the legendary powers of the Kindred.

“Go ahead,” he said, ushering her through.

Gentle light flowed through the temporary doorway and Neko stepped into its beams, followed by the shifter, who somehow shut the wall silently behind them—or more accurately, it shut itself. More magic.

“And here we are, in yet another passage,” Neko sighed, disappointed not to be reacquainting herself with the concept of sunlight as she looked around.

This hallway was different, however; modern light fixtures flanked its sides, and pipes hung from the ceiling, running parallel to the walls. The area looked like it could be a part of the Tube, London’s system of underground trains, or else a tunnel running beneath some industrial building.

“We’re coming up to the train station,” said Lumen. “We’ll take public transit into town, like civilized people.”

Neko couldn’t help herself and let out a chuckle. What a strange thought, after all she’d seen and done that morning. “What, I won’t be riding on your back again?”

“Not today, at least not yet. We need to keep a low profile for now, as you pointed out earlier. No sense in drawing eyes—particularly those of Umbra or the Hash.”

Before long they came to another door, a metal one with a stubborn handle, and he pushed it open before guiding Neko through. They stepped into a dank concrete stairwell and climbed upwards, eventually coming to a room that was very far removed from the ancient passageways where they’d been a few minutes earlier.

A large space unfolded before them, open and airy. People milled about, reminding Neko of the reality of the lives of most humans. They knew nothing, of course, of what was going on beneath them. Of the Guild of Dragons who were looking to protect their well-being, conspiring in hushed tones under their homes and places of work.

“We’ll pick up Vail’s trail once we’re in the city,” said Lumen, “and pursue him. We need answers, and the sooner we find them the better. Much as I may be starting to understand a little of Umbra’s actions and motives, we need to be certain before we go any further.”

“None of what Umbra has planned is good, from what I can gather,” said Neko.

“No. None.”

They came to an automated ticket machine against one of the station’s walls. When Neko thrust a hand into her pocket she realized how unprepared she was to go about her day as an ordinary person would. Reaching inside her clothing, her fingertips made contact with the handle of a dagger, and she instinctively pulled her jacket shut. “I haven’t exactly brought a wallet with me, I just remembered,” she said.

“It’s fine—I’ve got it.”

Within thirty seconds, Lumen had extracted his own wallet and paid for two tickets, handing one to Neko.

“Thanks. I suppose I didn’t expect you to carry cash. It seems an odd thought, after everything.”

“I do. And it’s no problem. There’s plenty more where that came from; money is not an issue for me.”

“So that part of the mythology about Dragons is true, then? Do you all sleep on piles of gold?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Lumen said. “We are, all of us, wealthy. Probably in part due to the fact that we care very little about material goods. Not to mention the fact that our ancestors were rich and powerful.”

“Well, well. You do become more interesting, don’t you?” she asked, leaning against the wall behind her.

“I certainly hope so. I should hate for you to find me dull.”

“I can’t imagine it. You’re many things, but dull is not one of them.” She stopped herself before risking complimenting him further, and looked about until her eyes located a sign for the ladies’ room. “Listen—the train’s not due for a few minutes. I need to use the loo.”

“Be my guest.”

She walked away, looking over her shoulder to see that he was watching her with an admiring smile on her face, seemingly unconcerned that she’d make a run for it.

“I should take off, just to show him,” she thought, knowing perfectly well that she wouldn’t.

When she reached the bathroom she used the toilet and then, finding herself alone, stripped off her jacket to reveal her sleeveless top. Turning on the tap, she stared for a moment at her face before splashing cold water over it. It felt good, reinvigorating to clean off some of the grime that seemed to have built up.

She grabbed a handful of paper towels and soaked them, adding a little soap to clean under her arms. Turning to her side her eye picked up a familiar sight in her reflection: a scar on her left shoulder blade.

It had been there since she could remember, and no one, not even her parents, had ever been able to tell her where it came from. Two parallel, zig-zagging lines forming red streaks along her skin. One of the many scars ornamenting a Hunter’s body. Most had come from encounters with claws, and some from knives. But this one was special; it looked almost hand-crafted, as though someone had carved it deliberately into her flesh.

She assessed her face once more before leaving the bathroom, trying to see what Lumen found so enticing in it. But she came up short.

Large, untrusting eyes. Cheeks with a hint of pink to them. Lips that wanted to be kissed.

But only by one man.

No—she wasn’t as beautiful as Tryst. But Lumen seemed to find her attractive. The most mind-blowingly divine man she’d ever met wanted her. It was enough to make her swoon—and she had never once swooned in her life. It was too girlish a concept, better reserved for flakes who depended on men for shots of self-esteem.

Allowing herself one brief smile at the absurdity of it all, she headed back to where she’d left him. On his face was a look of relaxed pleasure, as though they were away on holiday together, instead of heading out on a manhunt.

“So, I take it you’re not afraid I’ll run away, now that we’re above ground?” she asked

“No.”

“Why not?”

“For one thing, you’re clever, and so you know you’re safer with me than on your own. Strength in numbers and all that.”

“But if Vail actually wants you dead, there’s hardly a risk in my heading off—”

“Oh, I suppose if you believed my dead body was what he really wanted, you could go home and rest your weary head. You could trust that he’d only come after me, and that he’d leave you alone. But then again, he might just ignore me for the time being, break into your house, hold a knife to your throat and demand that you tell him where our hidden Dragon lair is. But if that
did
happen, I know you wouldn’t tell him. And so he’d torture you, at the very least.”

Neko crossed her arms, her expression one of a woman who’d been moderately offended. “This is all assuming he could even get his hands on me, which isn’t so easily done.”

“True. I know how swift you are, not to mention how resistant you are to a man getting his hands on that delicious body of yours. Still, I think you’ll stick with me rather than take the risk.”

“Why’s that?”

The train was pulling up now, passengers preparing to step onto the platform while others readied themselves to climb on.

“Because,” said Lumen, “if you don’t stay by my side we might lose each other permanently, and that would be a fate worse than death for us both.”

Her breath caught in her throat. He was right, as always. Losing him now
would
feel worse than death, a vital organ ripped away from her body. But how they’d gotten to this place was a mystery. It had been so quick, as though a century of bonding had occurred over the course of just a day or two. He’d migrated into her soul, into her very bloodstream. It was beyond her meager human understanding.

When the other passengers had moved out of the way they scaled the train’s steps in silence, locating two quiet seats next to one another, and Neko slipped into the one closest to the window.

“You’re a strangely open person, you know that?” she said, her eyes staring out through the glass into the distance. Her heart was beating fast, as it did each time Lumen hinted at profound feelings for her.

“And you’re a strangely closed off one,” he said. “So afraid to concede what’s occurred, to tell me what you really desire. To acknowledge what you know to be the truth.”

“Being closed off is how I function best. In fact, it’s the only way that I know how to be; I’ve found that keeping my cards close to my chest works nicely for me.”

He leaned in, his breath causing a loose strand of hair to brush against her cheek. The fingers of his right hand slipped towards her neck, tracing a line from her collarbone downward, slipping slowly and deliberately towards her right breast. “Well, one of these days you should consider letting other things—such as me—get close to that chest of yours.”

She turned his way, only to see that he was smiling again. Warm, affectionate, playful. So honest about his desire for her, even as she struggled constantly to fight the words, the feelings. To deny what she knew at her very core: that she didn’t want to proceed through a single day of her life without him by her side.

She took his hand in hers, pushing it gently into his lap before letting go. “Let’s get through this morning in one piece before we discuss going out on our first date, shall we?” she said, leaving the topic floating between them.

“Very well, Neko. We’ll see how we work together. And then perhaps we can see how well we
are
together. But in case there’s even a trace of doubt in that closed off mind of yours: I should very much like to get you fully nude and to spend some more time between those lovely thighs.”

“Oh, would you now?”

His smile was almost enough to make her rip off her clothing right then and there. Public location be damned.

“I can still taste you on my lips and tongue,” he whispered, his scent twisting around her, imprisoning her in its allure. “I’ve craved you ever since I first sampled you, Neko.”

She turned to look out the window again, reluctant to let him see the smile that was forming.

Damn you, Lumen, for ruining me and driving me mad. For making me crave you back so much that it hurts.

T
he ride was brief
, and for the most part even pleasant. They spoke about London, their favourite places to eat and drink, the galleries they’d visited. They discovered a mutual enjoyment of the National Portrait Gallery—Neko liked to study the faces that had wandered through London over the centuries, and Lumen was more interested in the historical accuracy of them, claiming that most weren’t actually as they should appear.

“Richard the Third looks downright sane in his portrait,” he told her. “But he was anything but.”

“And you know this because…?”

“Friends of mine have met him. He was a bleedin’ lunatic.”

Neko dismissed his tales with a grin and a wave of her hand, as though to deny the possibilities. They were entertaining, but unrealistic, after all. There was no way that the British monarchs had hung about with Dragon shifters.