The Demon's Game (14 page)

I inhaled deeply to see if I could pick up anyone’s
scent… and I shuddered in revulsion. Vinegar was all I smelled. It was the
single worst smell I ever had to suffer through, and someone had thought to use
it to prevent me from getting a fix on my location. Whoever my opponent was, he
knew what I was.

A man entered clothed in black leather and tacky
jewelry. His hand was riddled with far too many rings as he reached out towards
me.

“Sleep, dragon,” he said.

Lethargy tried to claw its way into my mind. Since
Dylan was my best friend, all his friends were gods or Guardians, and his
youngest son was a little devil in disguise, I should have been used to
powerful men trying to control me. Rojan was furious. His roar burst from me as
lightning leapt from my bound hands. The man hit the floor with severe
convulsions, but the moment my lightning ceased, he rose to his feet.

He wasn’t human. That was one bit of information I
wished I had prior knowledge of.

Four men, all much bigger than the leather clad guy,
entered. They looked more like henchmen than anything else, and they felt like
it, too, when they held me still.

“You will regret that,” the man warned.

It was pointless to ask why the man kidnapped me;
either I was here because of Rojan or because of Dylan. Growing up, I tried to
run from the Mokii throne. Since I met Dylan and was usually running
with
him, I realize how unimportant I was. Everything centered on Dylan or Rojan.

One of the henchmen stabbed me in the arm with
something sharp and my vision dimmed.

*          *          *

I shared dreams with Dylan all the time. While most
of them were pleasant, like flying, or confusing, like when Dylan was solving
mysteries in his subconscious, there was the occasional… or rather frequent
fantasy of Divina. In fact, despite never so much as touching her if I could
help it, I was very familiar with her body and lips. This was a very disturbing
knowledge for me at first since I never felt sexually attracted to her.

When we first met, I thought something was very wrong
with me because although I realized how beautiful she was, I wanted nothing
physical with her. I felt Dylan’s thoughts and feelings for her in my dreams,
so after the first few times this happened, I figured out the reason for my
lack of interest and stopped trying to make sense of it. I knew if she wasn’t
Dylan’s mate, I would be tripping over myself trying to win her for myself, but
as it was, I couldn’t even betray Dylan on a subconscious level.

Emiko was a different matter. Regardless of having
been crowned prince of Mokii, I was never a promiscuous or experienced man.
Emiko was actually my first, but still I knew that she was a selfish lover.
This may have been why I so often shared Dylan’s dreams.

I woke from what I thought was one such dream of
Divina… but the lips on mine were very real, and very good. The body pressed
against mine was even better than the lips.

When I opened my eyes, it was to the close and lovely
face of Sydney. My brain, slow with lust, took a few minutes before starting
back up. Then I was startled, because she was the last person I expected to see
after being captured by… a random stranger dressed in leather. It was at this
point my brain reminded me I didn’t know who I was captured by or why. Rojan
was no help, for he was still focused on Sydney’s lips and the heat of her body
on top of mine.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I’m here to get you out. I was in town when I saw
these guys take you and two little boys. I followed them here and then went
back for the rest of the dragons. Everyone is waiting for my signal.” She
leaned forward with innocent enthusiasm and consequently thrust against my much
less innocent anatomy.

“Get these chains off me,” Rojan said before I could
ask her to get off.

She reached over me to pick at the cuffs with some
kind of lock pick. While it meant she was no longer sitting directly on my
member, her chest was now a hair’s width from smothering me.
Damn, that
would be a pleasant way to go.
Rojan purred and I couldn’t stop it. When
the chains released, she wiggled her way down my body to release my legs. By
the time she focused on her task, she was faced away from me on her hands and
knees with her butt sticking up.

I tried desperately to recall every lesson my father
ever taught me on torture and interrogation… but it didn’t help. My hands were
free and it was almost beyond my control to keep them to myself.

Why?
Rojan asked.

I knew what he meant. Why would I deny this beautiful
woman who would offer herself to me with a single word? I could use Emiko as an
excuse; I really didn’t want to hurt her. The fact was, however, our
relationship with Emiko was nothing significant. The real reason I hesitated
was because I didn’t want a true relationship. Emiko and I would never be a
couple, so she was safe.

According to the gods, Dylan and I were somehow
balanced, so if we were separated for any substantial amount of time, our own
powers would cause havoc to us and those around us. Furthermore, since Ron
invoked the balance of the universe inside him (which I really never
understood) it would take over Ron and kill Dylan if we were apart for too
long.

I didn’t care why it was dangerous for us to be
apart, only that it was. Somewhere down the line, I realized that my purpose
was to protect Dylan so he could be the Guardian he was meant to be. This meant
I had to move wherever he did. Dylan was never afraid to step into a war zone
between people, demons, dragons, or even gods in order to help people… It just
made it very difficult for me to have any sort of relationship with a woman.

This woman was too similar to Rojan’s mate and too
easy to fall for. If I fell in love with an Earth dragon, what was I supposed
to do when it was time to return home? What if Dylan found out, thought I liked
Earth, and decided to stay here permanently for that reason? As pleasant as
Earth may be, it wasn’t my home.

The cuffs released and Sydney stood, taking her
lovely warmth with her.

“We have to get Ron and Hail.”

“The little boys? They were taken to a different
location. I heard them mention someone named Dylan and say he had to choose. I
only heard a little bit and I didn’t know who they were talking about, so I was
more concerned about following you. I also contacted the others and told them
how to find us. Give me the word and this place will be overrun with dragons.”

“There is no reason for casualties if we can make it
out on our own, and unless everyone shifts into their dragon form, there will
be losses to our side.”

“How can we get out of here without shifting?” Sydney
asked.

“Stand back,” I said, pushing her a few paces back
from the door. I held my hand out to the door and called up my dragon fire. I
expected the door to disintegrate from my hottest fire, but I didn’t count on
my meager wizard skills to assist in the destruction. The door blew apart like
it was a bomb. Dylan would have applauded my accidental theatrics.

“How did you…?”

I put my finger to her lips. “This is between you and
me. Our secret.”

She smiled. “Seal it with a kiss. It’s a human
tradition. I assume this has something to do with you being from another world,
but I won’t tell anyone. I really like---”

I cut her off this time by wrapping my arm around
her, pulling her close, and kissing her. By the time I let her go, she was
unsteady on her feet. “We should go,” I said.

She nodded, leaning in to kiss me again. Despite
Rojan growling at me, I pushed her back a little. “I know the way out. Follow
me,” she said. I let her lead without letting her stray far from my side.

The first time we were attacked, I barely made it.
The only weapons I had to work with were my claws and teeth and while my dragon
fire was powerful, these people were a lot more diversified in magic. Potions
were my forte, but not particularly helpful in this case unless someone would
let me offer them some spiked tea. I managed to disable an unsuspecting guard,
only to encounter an ambush a few minutes later. My sense of smell was still
recovering from the vinegar.

When one of the leather clad abductors managed to
throw a ceramic statue at me with magic and broke my leg, I knew I was
outmatched. I let the shift take over and clamped my mouth over the opponent’s
head until my teeth sunk shallowly into his chest and back. I gave him a rough
shake before letting him go. That was a warning; I didn’t want to eat him,
although Rojan could do it for me if he had to.

The man realized the entirety of the situation and
ran screaming down the hall. Sydney followed my example in shifting, and the
rest was a small matter. These people were powerful in magic and quantity, but
we were dragons.

When we made it out of the facility, a horde of
dragons were waiting to ambush the mob that pursued us. Taylor was there as
soon as I shifted to help me into his car. Syndney got into the backseat next
to me before he could take off.

“There is a small cave by the field. We’ll go there
and then you can shift.”

Dragons heal faster in our true form. Since this
is your true form, I don’t know if it would help at all
, Rojan thought.

I didn’t really care if it helped me heal or not, I
just wanted to be in my dragon form. My entire body hurt, but only time or
Dylan could have helped. I guess I fell asleep from exhaustion on the way, for
I woke as Sydney nudged me insistently. Sydney and I were in a dark cave,
heated by a generous fire. There wasn’t anything particularly impressive or
distinctive about the cavern. Nevertheless, it was very cozy, which may have
been because of the luscious furs and pillows I was lying on, or maybe the fact
that Sydney and I were alone… and she was naked.

“Shift so you can heal,” she insisted.

Being in dragon form while she was so beautifully
presented to me was no more thrilling to me than it was to Rojan, but I steeled
my resolve and shifted. She followed suit and curled up next to me.

*          *          *

I woke to the familiar impression of Dylan’s energy
as he healed me. I felt myself shift back into person form, after which he
pulled me to my feet and wrapped a blanket around me before I could even open
my eyes all the way.

“What happened?” Dylan asked.

I told him through our bond as if speaking out loud
was too much work. Dylan, in turn, told me how he was confronted at the
hospital by vampires. He didn’t seem convinced that they were vampires, but
since I hadn’t scented any of my opponents, I couldn’t offer my own verdict.

“Why did you flash to me? Why not save the boys?”

“Faith, I guess.”

“In your wife?” I asked. Perhaps he left out the part
where he called to his wife for help. Then again, Dylan only left out details
when it benefited him or for dramatic effect. Sydney was asleep when I felt
Dylan’s energy fill the enclosure. As Dylan flashed us home, I hoped the
dragoness would forgive me for not being there when she woke.

“No, in an old promise,” Dylan finally supplied. With
the last word, Ron, Hail, and Xul appeared. “Hello, demon,” Dylan said to Xul,
hugging Ron.

The little child looked uninjured, but groggy. I
could smell the drugs in his blood; the kidnappers had kept Ron unconscious.
While it was the only way they could possibly have captured him, Rojan and I
would show no mercy if we met one of them again. Anyone who would drug a child
deserved the worst punishment a dragon could administer.

Hail stretched his arms out to keep them wrapped
around Ron as Dylan hugged his son, but as soon as Dylan lightened his grip,
Hail pulled his brother tight against him. I could smell emotions as strongly
as chemicals and I understood Hail’s very well. Hail wanted to kill those
responsible for capturing his brother and was mortified that he couldn’t stop
it. Hail was Ron’s protector, like I was Dylan’s, and he felt like he had
failed at the only thing he lived for.

“Hello, master,” the demon acknowledged with a note
of sarcasm. He wore a black satin shirt, black leather pants, black boots, and
a metal chain around his waist like a belt. Around his neck was a thick black
leather collar. “How shameful that you would put your own children in danger to
save your dragon pet.”

Dylan had explained to me that he forced (or tricked)
the demon into the image of one of his step-fathers. After hearing the story of
Harvey, I couldn’t really understand Dylan’s ease with the demon other than
that Dylan was very merciful. He would never judge a person or creature based
on someone else. Still, the demon looked very untrustworthy to me. He was about
my height with dark brown, shaggy hair and light brown eyes. While I couldn’t
smell any deceitful intentions, it was possible that my dragon skills could be
fooled by demon powers. Or maybe I just didn’t want to trust a demon who
referred to me as “Dylan’s dragon pet.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I wouldn’t even put Edward’s
gargoyle in danger to save my
demon
pet. I knew you could do your one
job in life. After all, my children are the only reason you are even allowed
out of the void. You have a vested interest in their health and wellbeing.”

“That I do. I was already heading your way anyway.”

“So you realized something is going on here.”

“Of course. My master returns to Earth, moves to a
town full of non-humans, and stops everyone in the entire town with one
subconscious thought. Yeah, I damn well noticed.”

The bright flash was unexpected. I was very familiar
with Dylan’s preferred means of transportation between worlds, but the person
who appeared before us was the last person I could possibly have predicted
appearing on Earth. Xul shrieked and ducked behind Dylan to hide. Ghidorah, the
Guardian of Skrev stood proudly at his massive height. I wanted to hide behind
Dylan as well.