Dragon's Blood (3 page)

should don a full suit rather than his jeans and a T-shirt, but he had no time for political etiquette. Other matters, mating matters, were foremost in his mind.

Chapter Two

Scarlett woke with a start, her last memory before the blackness still terrifying her.

“Shh… It’s okay. You’re safe.”

She turned her head and found a dark-haired stranger, who looked much like Janos, sitting in a chair beside her. Her eyes went wide, and she scrambled away to the other side of the bed.

“Hey, kiddo, it’s okay,” the man said. “No one here wants to hurt you.”

“Where’s Janos?”

“Meeting with the other elders, and I suspect wishing he was back up here.”

“I need to…um…” She started to crawl toward the end of the bed, but quickly got her feet under her and vaulted forward onto the floor. Already running, she dashed for the door. This new stranger was faster. He was in front of her and blocking her way in a blink. Too fast for her to stop. She slammed into him full force. The impact didn’t budge him, and she groaned as she stumbled backward. He caught her arms to keep her from falling.

“Let me go,” she demanded.

“Can’t. Janos would be pissed, and it’s not safe out there for you. It is my sworn duty to protect you.”

“Right,” she replied sarcastically.

“You’re at a huge risk. Do you realize what’s waiting for you? Djinn who can fry you with energy. Elvish who can call the elements against you. And that’s just part of what they can do.”

“And what about the Dragons who can engulf me with fire? Burn me to death? Or squeeze me to death with their wings.” She jerked from his grip and backed away, though she was sure the only reason she was free was because he’d let her go. That was hardly comforting.

He blocked the door, so she had to find another way out or wait until he wasn’t in her

way. She stalked to the window.

“We’re eighteen floors up,” he told her before she got there. She continued to the glass to see for herself. None of tonight seemed real. The subway, the killers, Janos’ transformation, and now she was trapped in a room with a man who seemed to have inhuman speed. When had she fallen into the rabbit’s hole?

“Hey, I’m not going to hurt you. You’re safe,” the stranger said behind her. In the reflection on the window, she saw he hadn’t moved from his position blocking the door.

“Janos will kill me if I so much as shake your hand.” He brushed a hand over his front where she’d smacked into him. “So I guess I’m screwed then, but I’m not making it worse.”

She turned to him, her back pressed to the window. The last seven years had conditioned her to always be in escape mode. Her gaze skittered around the room for weapons while always keeping him in her peripheral vision.

“Are you thirsty? The bar’s fully stocked. I can get you a bottled water or a soft drink.”

She ignored the question. “I saw him…turn into…something.” How the hell did she say she saw a guy turn into a dragon and not sound completely out of her gourd? And the other guy? He’d been floating!

Her captor crossed his arms over his chest and casually leaned against the door. “You were in danger,” he explained. “It was the only way Janos could protect you and get you out of there alive. Believe me he doesn’t shift unless he has to. And he
did
have to. You know…those energy balls hurt like hell. Trust me. I’ve taken a few direct hits from them. Burn like hell, too. You would have been killed if Janos hadn’t shifted.”

“So you know, he’s a…um…well, what is he?”

“A Dragon, but then I suspect you already know that. He’s my wingscion—my partner. We work together. He’s also my best friend and the elder of my clan.”

“Your clan?” She swallowed, wishing she could take a few more steps away. Her insides trembled like Jello. She lifted her chin, showing no fear, and took a deep breath through her nose. “You’re a…Dragon…too?”

“Yes.”

She nodded, feeling a bit hysterical. She’d always been aware of people around her who were different. Though many put entities like werewolves and vampires down to myth, she’d always believed they existed in the shadows.

“You need to be brought up to speed quickly,” he continued. “Janos probably should be explaining things, but since he’s stuck in a meeting and you’re obviously freaking out, I’ll

lay things out. I find that once I know a situation, no matter how weird it seems, I feel a bit calmer because I can start to deal with it.”

“I’m not freaking out.” Maybe a little, but she knew how to appear calm.

“Denial. Okay…well, we’ll go from there. And by the way…your heart sounds like a kettle drum during the William Tell Overture right now, but that aside, let’s start with the toughest stuff and move into easier things. Monsters are real.”

She gave him a look of disbelief. “Yeah, kinda figured that out. Dragon. Floating guy. What did you call him? A Djinni. Monsters. Got that. Seems crazy, but since I’ve seen it, well, there’s no point running around saying it’s not possible and they don’t exist.”

“And mouthy. You’ll need that with Janos. His name is Janos Aventech. As I said, leader of my clan. I’m Jonah Genjhury, his wingscion. Wingscions are battle partners—we work together as a team.”

“Okay…”

“And you’re a Dragon mate.”

She shook her head. She’d been with him until there but…
Dragon mate?
“Uh-uh.”

“You are. It’s in your blood. Once we get back to the compound, I can prove it to you. I’m one of the clan’s doctors.”

She shook her head again.

“There are other signs,” Jonah continued.

“Like?” She almost laughed. She could easily believe in the dragons and the djinn, but this mate crap… She wasn’t a mate and she sure as heck wasn’t buying into it. She wanted a guy she chose, not someone merely drawn to her blood.

“When was the last time you were sick?”

She shrugged.

“You don’t know because you never get sick. Right?”

Well, she couldn’t remember ever being sick. She was just lucky and good with hand sanitizer. “I don’t know,” she answered.

“And you heal quickly. More quickly than you should.”

She shrugged again. “I have a good immune system.”

“No full-human heals as quickly as I suspect you do. All Dragon mates are like that.”

“If Dragons don’t get sick and heal quickly, why do they need you, doctor?”

“There are reasons. That aside, there are other signs that tell how special you are. Let’s see…there’s excellent night vision and cellular memories that have been passed through your line. They may have remained dormant until they surfaced in you. Do you have any

innate abilities? Something that others would have looked at you doing and called you a prodigy?”

Scarlett nodded slowly.

“Do you tend to be a night owl?”

“Yes.”

“One last thing. You had an instant and inexplicable attraction to Janos, didn’t you? It was more than appreciation of his form. You wanted to touch him, press against him, and it didn’t matter where you were. You couldn’t stop staring at him. That’s what happened, right?”

Well, that was embarrassing. She looked away, wondering what Janos had told Jonah while she was passed out. How could Janos have known how much he’d shaken her, how her belly had clenched and her panties had dampened with unexpected need? And she hadn’t been able to look away. She wanted his kiss again, without the bad guy in the background.

“It’s typical for Dragons to feel a jolt go through their middle when they’re near an unclaimed Dragon mate. It’s an awareness.” He chuckled. “Kinda like a…Spidey Sense. We’re adapted to finding mates so our species can continue. But Janos hasn’t accepted that what he felt isn’t typical. It’s more.”

“Why?”

“I suspect he’s your mate.”

Scarlett shook her head vehemently. “No. He’s not.”

“Wow, you two really are a matched pair.”

“None of those things are proof.”

“What he felt, what I feel, those are pretty concrete. There’s no mistaking our bodies recognizing you.”

“That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“Doesn’t it? It means you’re alive now. And it will mean an awful lot when it’s your sons looking for their mates.”

The thought of ‘mating’ with Janos to make those kids sent a tingle through her that she tried to ignore. Trouble was, the more she tried to ignore her attraction, the more aroused she became. Good thing only Jonah was in the room. She didn’t want him. He wasn’t as drop-dead handsome as Janos, though his dark brown eyes, black-brown hair and killer muscles were nearly as compelling. Nearly, but not quite. He didn’t give her any sort of buzz. He unfolded himself from the door. “Are you going to run?”

She shook her head, and he stared at her as if assessing her honesty. She sighed.

“Look, I’m not. I don’t want to be a Dragon mate or go to your compound or any of that. I’m just an ordinary boring human. I want my ordinary boring human life. But I believe you about keeping me safe, even if I don’t get why they want to kill me.”

“Because you’re a—”

“Dragon mate,” she finished for him. “I suppose the bad guys have a ‘feeling’ too?”

Scarlett didn’t mean to sound sarcastic, but the whole mate thing was freaking her out about as much as those goons trying to kill her.

“No. They have magic,” Jonah replied without a hint of humor. “And they’re willing to use every bit at their disposal to find our mates and kill them before we can be united. And we’re willing to do everything we can to stop them. Kiddo, you’re in the middle of a war.”

* * * *

“Didn’t your family come out of the middle ages with wealth? It must be hell to live hand to mouth for thousands of years.”

“We’ve never lived hand to mouth.” Janos glared at Harrod and tried to bury his anger. The man loved nothing more than to prod at him, and he knew nothing. Janos’ family had come out of the middle ages with money to spare, but everyone at the compound worked. It was the Cruentus belief that people who worked in satisfying endeavors were happier. Years of doing nothing grated on the nerves, so why not work at something one loved?

None of that mattered at the moment. He wished Behemoth, the head elder, would just get the meeting started. Janos wanted to get upstairs to his charge—he couldn’t believe he hadn’t gotten her name. Aside from saving her, the overwhelming sensation driving through his blood was desire. He wanted to strip away that ugly brown wig and see what she hid beneath. He needed to stare into her wide green eyes as he sank into her body and her legs wrapped around his hips. Her pretty pink lips would part, and she’d cry out his name while lifting her hips to him, an offering to his Dragon—

He sighed and tapped a pen on the pad of paper in front of him. He couldn’t have her. She wasn’t his.

Levi, elder of the Ghenton clan from here in New York, leaned back in his chair and tipped toward Janos. “Another fine day in the neighborhood, I see,” he said from the corner of his mouth.

Janos rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I really need to get back upstairs.”

“I heard what happened. News travels fast. Explains why all the Elvish and Djinn have flooded New York.”

“I don’t get why they’re so hot after her. Why not send one assassin, maybe two?

Why an army? I know they failed before—”

“They failed before?” Levi repeated, and Janos felt his scales lifting at the tone of awe in the man’s voice. No one touched her. No one.

Oh crap. He glanced down at his right arm and saw a light tracery of lines forming, still almost too faint to be seen.

“It must be Scarlett Mills,” Levi continued, unaware of the cataclysm happening within Janos. “As far as I know, she’s the only one to survive through an attack. She disappeared…” Levi trailed off as his gaze followed Janos’ stare. “She’s yours.”

Janos shook his head. “Can’t be.”

“Dude, the marks don’t lie.”

“Like you know.” They usually saw eye to eye on matters, not surprising since they were closest in age. Though some bright monk had decided to use Levi’s name, Leviathon, to describe an older Dragon mentioned in the bible, Levi was only about a hundred fifty years older than Janos. Though they were both about a millennium old, they hadn’t grown stodgy like some of the other elders. And like him, Levi wasn’t mated. Janos still felt ill-fitted to the task of elder—the youngest in history. Except for him and Levi, all of the elders were spawned during the BC era. Originally, there had been twenty-five families making up the council, but six had been exterminated—one by Roman gladiators, one by the crusades, and one by medieval and renaissance witch hunts. The rest had fallen prey to the Djinn and Elvish. They’d nearly decimated the Dragons’ numbers and had wiped the Dragon families of Shadowine, Thorusus and Bleddon from existence. Behemoth shuffled some papers in front of him into a pile and stuffed them into a folder. He thumped his fist on the table, and all activity and discussion ceased. Everyone slid their chairs into place at the table, sitting at attention. Standing, he scanned those gathered, the silence growing while everyone awaited his announcement. “As you know, and as young Janos experienced earlier today—”

Janos grimaced at being called ‘Young Janos’ in front of the council.

“—the Djinn and Elvish are growing to be a greater problem than ever. The last such instance, which was smaller than this, resulted in the witch hunts which took the Bleddon from us. Our enemies’ objective seems to be focused on one woman who is now under Janos’

protection. My operative in the inside reports that she survived when our enemy tried to eliminate her last time, and now they’re more determined than ever to kill her.”

It had always amazed Janos that Behemoth had managed to get someone on the inside of the Elvish forces. He suspected it was a half-blood who was both Elvish and Dragon, a

rare mix. And the Elvish must be aware of the Dragon heritage.

“Why are they going full out for her?” Harrod asked. “She’s a mate, but she’s just one woman who didn’t even know of our existence.” He pinned Janos with a stare. “Until now.”

Janos looked down at the arm that lay beside his notepad. The sepia filigreed design grew darker as his blood continued to react to Scarlett—Scarlett. His mate’s name was Scarlett. He liked it and it fit so perfectly for his clan. The Cruentus Clan. The Blood Clan. His skin itched at the rapid change taking place beneath it. Normally, the mate marking didn’t appear so quickly. He hadn’t even sampled her blood… His eyes closed as he realized. His shift. He’d shifted in front her. While he’d held her. His body in flux like that could draw in her essence without tasting her.