Dragon's Curse (Harlequin Nocturne) (15 page)

Cam grasped Ariel’s wrist and tugged her toward the Lair. She
stumbled trying to keep up with him.

Once they were inside, he quickened his pace and headed for the
elevators. The doors closed behind him and he punched the button for their
floor, still hanging on to her wrist.

Ariel tugged in an attempt to free herself. “Let me go.”

He turned on her, rage and pain glittering in his eyes. She
backed as far away as she could from the hard, frightening mask that turned his
features into an unyielding glare of hate.

She swallowed before asking softly, “What’s wrong?”

“Shut up, Ariel.”

She cringed at the coldness in his tone. This was the same man
who had kissed her and caressed her last night? The same one who had followed
her to the park and driven her back to the Lair after her conversation with
Renalde?

When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, she grabbed the
bar on the wall with her free hand. The last thing she wanted was to be alone in
his apartment with him.

Without turning around, Cam nearly snarled, “Your well-being
doesn’t matter to me. Let go of that bar, or you’ll wish you had.”

He waited for half a heartbeat before he started for the
apartment. Ariel clung with one hand to the bar for a split second before she
realized he meant what he’d said. He was so much stronger than she was, and her
fingernails scraped around the smooth wood as her hold slipped.

Cam didn’t pause to unlock the door, he didn’t even turn the
knob, he simply shoved the door out of his way, walked through and slammed the
door closed behind him.

Ariel struggled against his hold, digging at his fingers with
her free hand as he dragged her toward the master bedroom. “Damn it, Cameron
Drake, let me go.”

He did—just long enough to shove her down onto the bed. She
quickly scrambled for the other side.

“Get off that bed and I’ll chain you there.”

She glanced over her shoulder only to see a pair of shackles
hanging in the air between them. There was no doubt in her mind that he would
make good on his threat.

Wary and more frightened than she’d ever been, she sat down on
the bed. “What are you doing?”

He grabbed two duffel bags from his closet. After tossing one
at her, he started packing clothes into the other one. “Packing.”

“For?”

“We’re going to Mirabilus.”

She held her breath. Her heart froze in her chest. No. No. She
would not go back there. Not for Renalde, not for Cam—she’d even struggle to
return to that place for Carl.

Ariel sucked in a deep breath of air, desperate to still the
dizziness threatening to overtake her. “No. I am not going to Mirabilus.”

Before she completed her statement, she was flat on her back
with him straddling her. “Yes, you are. This game of yours is over, Ariel. Done.
Finished. I’m not playing with you anymore.”

Unable to meet his rage, she closed her eyes and shook her
head. “No. I can’t. You don’t understand.”

“Damn you!” He pounded the bed alongside her head. “Look at
me.”

Mustering all the courage she could find, she opened her eyes
and stared mutely up at him.

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

“No. But—” How could she explain her reasons without giving all
away?

“Do you think I don’t know who you are?”

Her breath caught. Her stomach twisted into knots.

“You broke into the workshop at my family’s keep. The only
reason you won’t go back is because you’re afraid of dragons.” When she didn’t
say anything, he added, “You’re a would-be thief, following in the footsteps of
your brother. Both of you work for the Learneds—my enemy.”

Ariel gasped. “How did you—”

He laughed at her. “Don’t you listen? I told you before that
I’ve known who you worked for since the minute you walked into my office for
your interview. Why do you think I hired you? It sure as hell wasn’t for your
nearly nonexistent expertise with plants.”

The twisting of her stomach turned to agony. She felt as if
he’d reached in and torn her heart from her chest. “Then this…this has all been
nothing more than a…ploy…a game to get information from me.”

“What else did you think it was? Did you really believe you
could come in here to play your own game without any retaliation? Didn’t your
boss tell you that if you play, you pay?”

Shame and betrayal warred in her heart and mind, one as potent,
as hurtful as the other. Ariel turned her face away. “I—”

“You haven’t begun to pay—yet. But you will.”

Is that what her life would always be from now on? A pawn in
someone else’s game? Nothing more than an object to use as retribution? She bit
her trembling lip.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Cam grasped her chin, forcing her to face
him. “A beloved family retainer, a friend, a trusted confidant died today
because of you.” He paused to visibly swallow before asking, “Do you think your
tears mean anything to me?”

“You don’t understand!” Her voice broke on a cry.

“You have had more than one opportunity to gain my
understanding. I would have willingly helped you, had you just once told me the
truth.” He rose and looked down at her. The disdain on his face was obvious.
“Now I don’t care.”

Ariel sat up on the bed as he walked away to retrieve the
duffel bag. She brushed away the despicable tears spilling from her eyes, and
forced back the pain tearing at her to shout, “They will kill my brother!”

He threw the bag at the door and stormed back to the side of
the bed. “You fool, they still will.”

“No.” Ariel looked down at her hands. If she believed that, all
hope would be lost. The only thing she had to hang on to was the slim promise of
Carl’s continued safety. “No. He promised.”

“Promised?” She flinched at Cam’s harsh bark of laughter. “The
Learneds don’t know the meaning of the word. Get up, you need to get packed.”
When she hesitated, he ordered without emotion, “Now.”

“Please, I can’t. I can’t go there.”

“This isn’t a debate.” He pulled her from the bed and shoved
the empty duffel bag into her arms. “You’ll pack, or I’ll pack for you. Doesn’t
matter to me either way. But you are coming with me.”

Cam pushed her toward the door. Following behind her he grabbed
his bag on the way out of his bedroom. When they walked into her room, he
pointed at the grimoire. “Take that along, too.”

She tried once more. “Don’t make me do this. Don’t make me go
with you.”

His raised eyebrow should have been answer enough. But when she
didn’t change her mind, he said, “If I leave you here my aunt will kill you with
her bare hands. You’d fare better against the dragon than you would her.”

* * *

Nathan stared at the flashing computer monitor on his
desk. The beginnings of a smile eased his scowl. “It worked.”

“What worked?” Jeremy sat up straighter on the chair across
from his father’s desk. The last conversation with Ms. Johnson hadn’t gone well.
When he’d seen the whip hanging over the back of Nathan’s chair, he had feared
that this interview with his sire would end as badly as their last one.

Slowly healing gashes from the whip still burned like fire each
time he entered this office. Memories of the whistling sound as the whip flew
through the air toward him, the stinging pain as it laced across his flesh and
the taste of his own blood as he’d bitten his lips to keep from screaming were
still fresh in his mind.

Eventually he’d given up trying to hold back his screams and
had let the high-pitched wails tear from his throat until he could scream no
more. The only reason he lived was because his father believed he could still
prove useful.

Until he could devise a way to catch his sire off guard, he
would build upon that belief.

“The Drakes’ private jet is being fueled. And flight plans to
Mirabilus have been filed.” Nathan’s voice lightened with each spoken word.

Jeremy closed his eyes in relief. As hard as he’d tried to get
to the handyman at the Lair, he’d been thwarted at every turn. Refusing to
accept failure, he’d turned his attention to Mirabilus.

It had been fairly easy to hire someone to slip beneath the
older, weaker security system on the isle and kidnap Brightworthe.

Unfortunately, killing Brightworthe had been child’s play. The
mercenary’s death had been quicker and even less enjoyable.

In truth, the whole episode had proven quite boring.
Brightworthe had died far too easily for Jeremy’s taste. He’d found no pleasure,
no assimilation of power in the man’s quick demise.

“What had you expected?”

His father’s question instantly jerked him out of his thoughts.
“From what?”

“You killed the soldier too fast—leaving nothing for you to
gain. And the old man wasn’t a wizard, just long-lived. Surely you didn’t expect
to find anything worth stealing from his departing soul?”

“No.” Absently, Jeremy added, “But I had hoped there would
be…something of value.”

Nathan laughed softly, drawing the end of the whip through his
fingers. “Nothing of value can be gained from a mortal’s soul. You need to learn
how to take pleasure in their suffering.”

Jeremy flinched, afraid to even wonder how he could learn such
a skill. From the intent look of pure evil shimmering from his father’s eyes, he
feared the answer would be found at the painful end of the whip.

The older wizard’s roar of laughter set Jeremy’s heart racing.
Nathan let the whip coil onto the floor alongside his chair and then leaned
forward. “You are still useful, my dear boy. And at the moment, I find it far
too amusing to watch you seek ways to best me. Your death right now, at this
time, doesn’t suit my interests.”

When Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief and eased back into the
chair, Nathan added, “At least not today.”

Chapter 14

T
hrough half-closed eyes, Cam studied Ariel
while she alternately stared out the window of the jet and fell into a fitful
sleep. He should feel bad about having been so heartlessly nasty and manhandling
her earlier.

But he didn’t.

It was a little hard to have much sympathy for her considering
how she’d withheld information that might have prevented Brightworthe’s death
and Harold’s fall.

It would have been quicker, and easier, to fly to Mirabilus
alone under his own power. But Danielle Drake would have killed Ariel if he’d
have left her at the Lair—not figuratively, but literally.

And while he was beyond angry with her and himself for this
strange sense of betrayal, he didn’t want to see her dead.

Which was the reason he’d made damn certain he and Ariel had
gotten out of the Lair and onto the jet as quickly as possible.

To his chagrin, his beast had spent the past nine hours making
him pay for hurting Ariel’s feelings and frightening her. Heartburn and
indigestion didn’t begin to describe the rumbling and twisting of his
stomach.

Still, he found the dragon’s snit rather fascinating. What did
it hope to gain by this spiteful torment? This woman wouldn’t be in their
future.

After taking care of things at Mirabilus, he would find a way
to get her out of this mess with the Learneds. Then he’d send her on her
way.

Cam gritted his teeth against the sudden twisting contraction
of his stomach. Silently he tried to reason with the beast,
“Look, you know as well as I do that it was just physical. There was never
anything between us except lust. She doesn’t care for us any more than I do
for her.”

In his mind he could see the dragon toss its head and turn away
as if refusing to listen. Cam seethed inwardly. Of all the times to be cooped up
with an audience.

He didn’t argue with the dragon often. Most times it was a
losing battle. But until Ariel, they’d never had to argue about a woman. This
was a battle Cam knew he couldn’t afford to lose.

He tried another tactic.
“Okay, sure, you
seem to think she’s your mate.”
The beast hitched one spiked eyebrow,
but still refused to look directly at him.
“We’re cursed,
you know. If you keep her, she’ll die. It’s kinder to let her go. Even more
so if she believes we don’t care.”

Cam waited a moment, then asked,
“Don’t
you understand that’s it always going to be just you and me?”
When
the memory of the shadowy changeling they’d seen last night entered his mind, he
added,
“You know as well as I do that last night’s vision
was nothing more than wishful thinking.”

The dragon’s mournful sigh sent a shiver down Cam’s spine. The
beast lowered its head and Cam knew by the sudden heaviness in his chest that it
understood.

“Mr. Drake, we’ll be landing soon.” The pilot’s voice over the
intercom drew Cam from his internal conversation.

He nudged Ariel’s foot with his own. “Put your seat up and
buckle your seat belt.”

Ariel jumped at the contact. This was the first thing he’d said
to her since they’d left her bedroom at the Lair.

After bringing her seat up and securing the seat belt, she
stared back out the window toward the island far below. The last time she’d
flown over the island it had been night and she’d jumped out of a perfectly
working helicopter into the sea.

Her parents had always thought that it was insane to bail out
of an aircraft—especially if the thing was in good working order. She’d agreed.
And when she’d dropped from Renalde’s helicopter, she’d felt insane.

But right now she’d give anything for a good parachute.

It didn’t matter that Mirabilus sparkled like an emerald in the
sunlight. Nor did she care that from here even the rocky cliffs looked beautiful
and exotic jutting out between the green of the land and the brilliant blue of
the sea.

If she had a choice, she’d rather bail onto the rocks without a
chute rather than step foot on the island again.

Something deep inside her warned that
it
was waiting for her. The dragon-man she’d encountered in the
workshop lurked in the shadows, eager to once again make her acquaintance.

“It’ll be all right.”

She flinched at Cam’s touch against her cheek and jerked her
face away. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t be nice, you don’t mean it. Don’t touch me.”

Naturally, he caressed her cheek before turning her head back
to face him. “It’s not for much longer. Soon we’ll be out of each other’s
lives.”

“Good.” His soft laugh at her snide reply chafed, so she
elaborated, “I’m glad we won’t have to deal with each other for much
longer.”

He stroked the pad of his thumb across her lower lip. “Of
course you are. In the meantime, we could pretend to get along.”

She smiled, then caught his thumb between her teeth.

“Bite me, Ariel, and I swear I’ll drop you naked to the floor
of this plane and make you moan until you beg for release.”

Surely he was bluffing.

“I don’t embarrass easily. An audience wouldn’t faze me in the
least.”

Still uncertain if he’d truly pull such a stunt with a cockpit
full of people, she hesitated.

“The pilots and the attendant are all on the payroll. Do you
think they’d say or do anything to stop me?”

When she didn’t relax her hold, Cam did little more than arch
one eyebrow. Instantly her bra disappeared and she felt the silky smoothness of
her blouse rub against her naked breasts.

She opened her mouth, freeing his thumb. But instead of
withdrawing, he traced across her tongue, then lightly trailed just along the
inside of her lip before pulling his hand away.

A tiny jolt of electricity raced through her, she gasped at the
sudden and completely unexpected zing.

Cam leaned back against his seat. He propped his elbows on the
armrest and steepled his fingers before him. “We’d be liars if we said there was
no attraction here.”

He might not embarrass easily, but she felt her cheeks flame
and looked down at her lap.

“We’re only going to be here a few days. Nothing is going to
happen to you—nothing you don’t want. I’ll see to that.”

She waited for the punch line, fully expecting it to include
something about sex.

“However, I’m not going to have time to play any more games.
You need to tell me what it is you’re doing for the Learneds. In return, I’ll
find a way to get them out of your life.”

Ariel blinked with surprise at that unexpected offer. She
looked up, not trusting him to be telling her the truth. “Why would you help me
now?”

“Honestly?”

She nodded.

“Once they’re out of your life, they’re out of mine and so are
you.”

She couldn’t understand why that statement hurt so much. To
keep him from knowing what she really felt, she glared at him. “And if I refuse
to tell you?”

“I have every intention of chaining you to a bed naked and
driving you wild until you change your mind.”

A part of her wanted to laugh at his ludicrous answer. But the
serious tone in his voice and his unwavering stare warned her that he might not
be kidding.

Unwilling to put him to the test, she said, “If I tell you,
he’ll know.”

Cam’s lips twitched, making her aware that no matter
how…interesting he found the idea, he had only been teasing her. He asked, “How
would he know?”

“He’s like your aunt.” She spoke without thinking.

This time, he frowned. “When do you have to call him
again?”

“In six days.”

“Then we have less than a week to find whatever it is you’re
looking for.”

Ariel debated for a minute. The plane banked and she looked out
the window at Mirabilus. Her breath hitched. The less time she spent here, the
better off she would be. Finally, she gazed back at Cam. “An emerald dragon
pendant and a wooden puzzle box.”

He shook his head. “You can’t have the dragon. It belongs to
Alexia and I know that she’d never give it up.”

“Is there another one?”

“Doesn’t matter, because even if there is, I’m not about to
hand it over to a Learned.”

Ariel wanted to scream at him in frustration. Why go through
this pretense of wanting to help her if he had no intention of doing so? “If I
don’t find these things, my brother will be killed.”

“Then we’re going to have to figure something out, aren’t we?”
His frown deepened as he glanced out the window at the quickly approaching
runway. “I know why they want the pendant, but what magic does this puzzle box
contain?”

“I have no clue. It’s not like Renalde confides in me.”

The jet touched down lightly and taxied toward the small
airport. Cam flipped his cell phone open and requested a car be sent to the
hangar. He undid his seat belt and then rose. “Let’s go. Our ride will be here
momentarily.”

Queasy and not at all anxious to get off the plane, Ariel took
her time. Essentially they were here for a murder investigation and a funeral.
Neither would be fun for Cam.

“Will the authorities be here?”

“Authorities?”

Ariel shrugged. “To investigate the murder?”

To her dismay, he walked away. Over his shoulder he explained,
“In Braeden’s absence,
I
am the authority.”

She followed him down the steps, shocked to find a limo already
waiting. When Cam stepped onto the tarmac, the driver snapped his heels, came to
attention and saluted before opening the limo’s door.

Ariel had the sinking feeling that Cam hadn’t been kidding
about the lord-king thing. She climbed into the car, taking a seat across from
him. “Mirabilus isn’t just an island, is it?”

He kept his focus on the papers he’d retrieved from the
briefcase on the seat, answering absently, “Of course it’s an island. It’s land
surrounded by water.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, attempting to rein in a flash
of anger. “It’s not part of any other country, is it?”

“No.”

“So, your brother is…the king?”

“In a sense.” He paused to shuffle through the pages in his
hands. Finding the one he wanted, he put the rest down, adding, “His official
title is High Dragon Lord of Mirabilus.”

Of course
. “And you are…what?”

“Tired of your questions.”

She jerked back as if slapped. “Excuse me, your lordship.”

“That’s ‘my lord.’”

“What?”

He glanced at her over the page he was studying. “You address
me as ‘my lord’ or ‘my liege’ if you prefer. But in this case, a simple ‘sir’
will suffice.”

Before she could summon the ability to speak, he went back to
his reading. She batted the page with the back of her hand. “Excuse me?”

He lifted his head and stared at her. Ariel couldn’t believe
she was involved in this conversation. “How about if I
address
you as Cam, or maybe even Cameron?”

“In private that’ll be fine.”

“In private? You’re kidding me, right?”

“Unfortunately, I’m not. This is an official visit, not a
vacation. I’m in charge when Braeden isn’t in residence. This is my island.
Small as it is, it’s my country.”

“I’m not a citizen of your country.”

“Neither are you my wife. If you want to call me by name when
we’re alone, that’s fine. But in public, if you can’t bring yourself to show a
little respect for the customs of Mirabilus Isle, you can either keep your mouth
shut, or stay in your room. We’re not in the States. This isn’t Tennessee.”

“And I didn’t ask to come here.”

He tapped the tinted window between them and the driver. The
limo came to a stop. Cam pulled out his cell and offered it to her. “Would you
like to listen to Danielle’s voice message? I’m sure then you’ll understand why
you’re here. She’d have no problem killing you. And with her talents, trust me
when I tell you that she’d get away with it.”

He had a point. She waved away the phone. “Fine. So I have to
be here. But that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to act like I’ve stepped into
some medieval court.”

“I’m not asking you to.” He dropped the phone, reached across
the distance separating them to hook a warm hand around her neck and drew her
closer. With his lips nearly against hers, he whispered, “Although, the idea of
being your absolute lord and master has merits.”

Ariel forced herself to ignore the flare of heat threatening to
steal her mind. She pushed him away. “Stop it.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“Oh, no, except try to drive me insane. You can just forget it,
my lord
, you are not sharing this lowly
peasant’s bed.”

He chuckled, then tapped on the divider again before leaning
back against his seat. He picked up his papers, asking, “Can I go back to work
now?”

The man was infuriating. “Please do.”

* * *

Aelthed breathed a deep sigh of relief as a welcome wave
of homecoming washed over him. Finally, he was back on Mirabilus Isle.

He’d been listening, eavesdropping on the changeling and his
mate when they’d argued in the apartment. That’s how he’d learned about the
jaunt to Mirabilus.

Nothing could have stopped him from slipping unseen into the
woman’s luggage. He wasn’t about to miss what might be his only opportunity to
return to the land of his birth—and death.

Granted, it wasn’t as if he could walk the grounds, or pace the
beach, but just to know he was home was enough to make him weep with
gratitude.

* * *

Cameron stared out the tall window of his bedroom,
watching as the solitary figure, carrying a duffel bag, crossed the open
distance to the workshop.

Did she really think she’d be given complete freedom to come
and go as she pleased? Little did Ariel know that two of his staff followed
closely behind her at all times.