Dragon-Ridden (23 page)

By the time Night signaled for a
stop, Tate had worked through most of her disappointment. She regretted her
loss of control about as much as she did the pain that now resonated from her
knuckles, a deep, heavy throbbing that continuously reminded her of her
tantrum.

Night stopped moving and reared up
onto his hind legs. He put his paws on the wall and sniffed. He dropped back
down.

We’ll have to be careful the
closer we get. I’ve dealt with her guards before, and they can be difficult.

The narrow space in the tunnels
would make it nearly impossible to sneak up on any guards.

“I hope you have a plan, then,” she
told him.

He chuffed at her and flicked his
tail.
I do have a plan.

Tate folded her arms. “I can’t wait
to hear it.”

You’re going to be bait.
He
bared his teeth in a feline smile.

Tate dropped her arms and straightened.
“I beg your pardon.”

Relax, I won’t let you get
captured. You’ll go first as a distraction
, he explained.
I’ll come up
behind and disable any guards that we see
.

If they were careful and the guards
didn’t attack Tate on sight, it might work. It was chancy and required a lot of
faith on her part that Night would be there when she needed him. Quite frankly,
it was the only plan they had. After the trust issues with Umi and crew, Tate
was really hoping Night had a sense of honor and loyalty.

They both agreed Tate would clear
the way as Night followed from a distance. They made sure she was never more
than a turn ahead. The whole plan hinged on his superior hearing. As long as he
stayed close, he would hear when she encountered any guards. While she
distracted them, he’d sneak up and disable them.

That was how Tate came to be
walking down the endless labyrinth of corridors by herself. She jerked at a
perceived noise and paused as she waited with baited breath. Nothing happened.
She almost laughed at her own jumpiness but remembered why she was jumpy in the
first place.

She stopped at the next turn in the
tunnels and listened closely before peeking around the corner. It was empty,
and she exhaled with relief. She stepped out and strolled down the hall.

Two men turned the corner up ahead.
She froze in place, blinking rapidly at them. They hadn’t noticed her quite
yet, absorbed as they were in their own conversation.

“Night,” she whispered as softly as
she could. “We’ve got company. If I die I’m so coming back to haunt you.”

The guards noticed her standing
there and stopped abruptly, their hands dropping to their weapons, as startled
as she’d been earlier. She smiled and gave a little wave. No cause for concern
here, just a harmless female lost in the tunnels.

They eyed her suspiciously before
glancing around to assure themselves that she was alone. Once it was apparent
that she was the only other person there, they straightened from their
defensive crouch and walked up with a cocky bounce in their step. She didn’t
let the smile fall from her face, but she felt the strain of keeping the
pleasant expression when they eyed her like she was a piece of meat.

“What’re you doing here, female?”
the shorter one asked gruffly.

Tate let a little relief filter
into her expression. “Oh, thank the Saviors. People.” She sniffed loudly but
couldn’t quite get tears in her eyes. “I’ve been down here for hours. I was so
lost. I thought I’d die down here.”

They shared a look but didn’t seem
too surprised. Evidently it was something they’d heard before.

“If you can just get me to the
surface, I have family who could pay you for your trouble,” Tate said.

The tall one shook his head in
resignation. “Sorry, love. You really have no luck. This is the Red Lady’s
territory, and she keeps what she finds.”

He took her by the arm and marched
her back the way they came. The other man followed behind.

“What?” Tate stammered. “You can’t
do that.”

“Afraid so. The Emperor’s Justice
doesn’t reach down to the catacombs. Down here lostlings, like you, are used in
any manner the lady sees fit.” He gave her a once over. “You seem pretty
enough. Maybe you’ll be lucky, and they’ll keep you as a pleasure girl. If not,
you’ll be used as a bait or heavy labor. Both have short life spans. Isn’t that
right, Quinn?”

Silence greeted his question. He
pulled her to a stop and looked back over his shoulder. “Quinn?”

His companion was a gory mess on
the ground. More terrifying was Night crouched over him with blood coating the
fur around his mouth and front paws. Even Tate’s heart gave a painful thump.

The man’s mouth opened for a scream
while he fumbled for the sword at his waist. Tate’s fist flew catching him in
the throat, cutting the sound off before it could start.

“Guess you should have just shown
me to the surface,” she muttered.

Night was a blur as he flew past
her, landing on her captor and riding him to the ground. A quick chomp and
fierce shake of Night’s head and the man would never scream again.

“This isn’t exactly what I thought
you meant by disable.”

They were a threat. I eliminated
them
. Night looked up from the carcass and licked his lips. He padded to
her side and rubbed his shoulder against her.

She patted him on the head. She
didn’t really fault him for his logic, not after what the two had been planning
for her. It was just unexpected. She ran her fingers through the fur at his
ruff with a troubled expression on her face. It shouldn’t have been so
surprising. He was a predator, after all, with a predator’s instincts.

They encountered guards once more
before reaching the Red Lady’s keep. The second set of guards was handled in
the same matter as the first. They, like the first, offered little trouble and
almost no resistance. As soon as they got a look at the seemingly defenseless
Tate, they stopped even looking for another threat.

 The Red Lady’s keep was
located in a maze of rooms that was extravagantly decorated in expensive silks,
most of which was some variation of red, gold and bronzes. Even the ceiling was
covered by panels of fabric that masked the black stone. Several gilded cages
were showcased in prominent areas, their occupants sitting listlessly on the
floor. Tate’s stomach clenched at some of the figures. While some were
obviously animals, there were just as many who were a cross between human and
animal. One was as human looking as Tate. Evidently the Red Lady was something
of a collector in the rare and unusual.

“This is wrong,” Tate whispered.

Yes.
Night said, crouched
beside where she hid just out of view of the room.
These are the less lethal
items in her collection. She keeps the deadlier pieces in a hidden room.

“Are they all from the tunnels.”

I don’t think so.
Night’s
tail whipped furiously behind him.
I think they collect them from all over
the world.

Red seemed to be the dominant theme
in the room, from red silk to red clothes.

“I see where she gets her name.”
Tate nodded to some of the furnishings.

Night said, quiet loathing
emanating from his still form.
That’s not why she has that name
.

Tate grimaced as his meaning sunk
in. How lovely. Another sadistic, mentally unstable person she could anger.
With her luck there wouldn’t be a Night Lord left in this whole city Tate
hadn’t angered in her first week.

“Let’s get this over with before
we’re discovered,” Tate said drawing back into the tunnel. “Where are your
cubs?”

Night picked up one paw and then
set it back down, repeating the action with the other one.
I’m not entirely
sure.

Tate’s jaw clenched. Not entirely
sure. That translated to he didn’t know. What did he expect they’d do, wander
around until they just happened upon his cubs.

“We’ve come all this way, and
you’re just mentioning this now?” She swatted him on the back. “The whole
reason we’re here is to rescue them, and we can’t very well do that if we can’t
find them, now can we?”

Night bared a fang and glared at
her. He said plaintively,
I have a plan
.

“Were you ever going to share this
plan?”

“Yes, do tell,” a snide voice said
from behind them. “We’re dying to hear.”

Tate closed her eyes and dropped
her chin to her chest. Why, why, why couldn’t anything ever go her way in this
city?

She shot Night an unfriendly look.
His hearing was good enough that he should have heard them sneaking up. The
fact that he didn’t meant this was part of the plan he refused to share with
her. She narrowed her eyes at him. His whiskers twitched in response.

Tate spun around with a friendly
smile. “Gentlemen, I’m so glad to see you.” She clapped her hands together and
gestured at Night. “I found something I think might interest the Red Lady.”

They regarded her with flat eyes,
ones deadened by the things they’ve seen and done. Tate suppressed a shiver.
These were hard men, only interested in the coin in their pockets and what they
had to do to put it there. Mercenaries through and through, they held little
compassion for anyone or anything.

The taller of the two sported a
broad, flat face with a beard shadowing his jaw and his hair pulled back from
his face. The other was shorter by only an inch and still towered over Tate by
a good half a foot. A scar ran from the corner of his eye to his ear ruining
what would have been a moderately attractive face. Neither looked like they
believed Tate.

She nudged Night with her foot. Now
was the time to attack. He dodged but stayed crouched next to her.

They pulled a thin and battered
body from behind their bulk. Dewdrop glared at Tate from the slit of one black
eye, his other eye swollen entirely shut. A gag prevented him from speaking but
did nothing to stop his split lip from leaking blood.

“I don’t think so… Tate.” The tall
one grinned maliciously, revealing yellowing teeth. “This one’s told us all
about your plans to rescue the Lady’s pets.”

He shoved Dewdrop forward causing
him to trip on chains that bound his feet as well as his hands.
Expressionlessly, Tate caught him before he could pitch face first into the
stone and pulled him to her side.

Night bared his teeth at them but
didn’t make a sound. She wanted to kick him again.

The shorter one stared at Night
impassively while the taller one gave a great shout of laughter. “Don’t think
the Lady doesn’t know what you’ve done, kitty cat. I’m sure she has several fun
things planned for your young. If you ask nice, perhaps she’ll even let you
watch.”

The muscles in Night’s body
clenched then relaxed again. Tate couldn’t understand why he was just sitting
there. They wouldn’t be able to rescue the cubs if they were dead.

 “Enough of that,” the taller
man said pulling a thin metal rod from his belt. Next to Tate, Night shifted
and growled. She felt a wave of relief. Finally he was going to do something
besides crouch and wait.

The mountain man jabbed the rod at
Night who leapt to the side and hissed, the hair on his back standing on end.
The other man grabbed Tate. She tried to avoid him but hanging onto Dewdrop slowed
her enough that he was able to latch onto her arm, jerking her off balance. She
released Dewdrop and spun to kick the side of her captor’s knee. He easily
avoided the kick and whipped out a knife to hold against her stomach. She
stopped fighting when she felt the weight of the steel against her and held her
hands up slowly.

“I’d stop fighting if I were you.”

Night yelped as the other man
shoved the rod against him and tried to jump away from the shock originating
from the metal. The man followed, hitting him twice more until Night was
cornered against the wall.

Tate struggled not to react to the
sounds of pain coming from her friend and held her captor’s gaze rebelliously.
She flinched as the rod sizzled again.

Dewdrop hadn’t even tried to run,
sliding down to sit with his back against the wall.

“That’s enough,” Tate’s man said
when the other man would have jabbed the rod into Night again. “The lady wants
him alive.”

“What if he tries to run?” the tall
man whined.

“He won’t,” the other said harshly.
He shot a hard glance at Night. “Will you?”

Night found his feet with unsteady
legs and shook himself. He lowered his head and limped to Tate’s side.

“Fine.” The tall man clicked the
rod off and slipped it into the loops on his belt. “But if I even think he’s
about to try something, I’ll keep the shocker on him until it burns the flesh
from his body.”

Seeing that she had no intention of
resisting, Tate’s captor took a cautious step backward and motioned for Dewdrop
to stand. He winced and limped forward to Tate. She took his arm, letting him
lean on her.

Tate protested when they shoved
them forward. “There’s no need to push. We’ll go with you.”

“You’re a pretty one ain’t cha?
Perhaps the Lady will let us have a little taste before she totally ruins you.”
The tall man ran his eyes up and down Tate.

Ew.

Tate grimaced. It had better not
come to that. She bit her lip against the words she wanted to say, things like
how disgusting he was and that she’d geld him before allowing him anywhere near
her. Wanting to seem weaker than she was, she said none of this, whimpering
instead and cringing away. It was easy to act scared, because she was.

“That’s enough Ulfric,” Tate’s
captor said. “We don’t have time for these games. We track down the fulcrum.
Let’s just lock these guys up and get to work.”

“You’re such a spoil sport, Will,”
Ulric said, his bad breath turning Tate’s stomach. To Tate, he said, “Too bad,
love. After the Red Lady’s done with you, no man will want you.”