The Spirit Dragon (3 page)

Ryuu watched Jasmine’s eyes widen and wondered what she thought about his declaration. He silently prayed the idea didn’t repulse her, but expected nothing less since she still thought him a dead man walking.

“What!” She managed to sit up and peer at him with what appeared to be more horror than when she thought him a walking corpse. “You—you can’t be a dragon and I’m most definitely not your mate!”

In her attempt to stand, she fell against him. Looking up, she stared deep into his eyes. “Tell me you’re joking and that you’re really a zombie.”

Did she really wish he were a reanimated corpse? Ryuu wasn’t certain if he should be amused or insulted. He cocked the corner of his mouth in a sad smile and slowly shook his head. “I cannot, madam. I am the Spirit Dragon and I have come to claim my mate.” Bending, he scooped her up in his arms.

“Put me down!” she shrieked when he didn’t comply.

“Are you trying to rouse the house to arms?” What was he thinking? Of course she screamed to get the attention of her body guards. “Bellow all you like, mate. We will be gone by the time they get up here and they will not find the secret entrance to this room.”

He moved toward the closet and the place where he entered the house. Looking down, he noticed the dark spot on the floor where the brick wall swung inward. He shook his head and hoped that the idiots charged with her care didn’t look in the closet too closely. Otherwise, his journey with his mate might not be so long after all.

The sound of running footsteps reached him. Hurrying into the passageway, he closed the door behind him and ran down the dark corridor.

“Are there spiders in here?” Jasmine’s voice sounded a bit shaky. “There are spiders in here, aren’t there? Are there spiders in here?”

“No, my dear,” he answered when it seemed as though she might repeat her question again and again. Apparently, his mate was terrified of spiders. “There are no spiders in here.” There might be rats, but he had never seen a spider in his home since nearly a month after he moved in. He wasn’t certain why, but it seemed as though the hairy little creatures didn’t much like him. He shrugged. That was no matter. He didn’t like them either. “It seems we have at least one thing in common. I also do not like spiders.”

Jasmine tried to look around, but Ryuu was certain she didn’t see much. She had human eyesight. He would have been surprised if she could see anything in the dark tunnel.

“Are you sure? Huh? Are you sure?” she asked before her head lolled back to rest on his shoulder.

She had passed out, most likely from the amount of alcohol she had said she drank at dinner. “Thank the gods!” The last thing he needed was to have her in this passageway screaming the walls down. It would only have been a matter of time before her guards knocked down a wall to come to her rescue.

Hurrying down the dark path, Ryuu stopped before a blank wall and pressed several stones in sequence. It was another passageway. If the others managed to find the entrance to this cave, they certainly wouldn’t find the hidden tunnel.

The door popped open with a groan. Ryuu pushed on it with one hand and stepped inside, glad he wouldn’t have to assure his mate about the lack of spiders again. Closing the door behind him, he slowed his steps a bit and took stock of his situation.

For the first time ever, he held his mate in his arms and she was unconscious, not to mention that she would rather he was this dead thing she called zombie instead of being her mate. What did that say about the future of their relationship?

He stared down at her closed eyes, her thick lashes appearing like dark crescents against her skin. What was it about this woman that made him feel so much already? The emotions swamped him as she stared down into her slack face and wondered what kind of life they could build together.

Ryuu had no idea what would happen in this new life they would share. He determined to make it a happy one, for Jasmine’s sake. She would never regret waking him. His little minx might not want to mate with him now, but he vowed she would never, ever be sorry, if she did.

Looking up, he continued through the tunnel, heading for his lair. Whatever future they had together, he would see to it that they would have one filled with love and laughter. Already, she had made him laugh. It was something his life sorely lacked right up until a few hours ago. Now, he had laughed several times today, at himself
and
at her antics. What did the morrow hold? Whatever it held, one thing was certain, it would not be boring.

It was full dark by the time they finally exited the catacombs below his home. Wasting no time, he quickly used his magic to shift into his dragon and leapt into the air with her still in the cradle of his arms.

Turning north, Ryuu headed for his lair, unwavering in his decision to keep her with him until she either rejected him outright or agreed to be his. One thing was guaranteed, he had no intention of letting her go until she could see him as a flesh and blood, and not to mention,
alive
man. That he was also a dragon was irrelevant.

Jasmine woke to the sound of water dripping into a basin. It echoed through the room, the sound loud to her ears. The house was so quiet, she was almost afraid to get up for fear of disturbing someone. The people here seemed to live to do her bidding and she felt guilty every time they leapt to get her something.

When she finally gathered the energy to open her eyes and look around, her mouth dropped open at the sight of the large cavern before her. She was no longer in her rented manor, but in a large cave somewhere resting on a large, stone shelf cushioned by thick comforters.

Sitting up, she stared out at the large pool of blue-tinted water so clear she could see the pattern of stones on the bottom. Large stalactites hung low over the pool. She could only imagine their mates sat below the surface of the water, though she couldn’t see them. Perhaps the constant flow through the large, stone basin kept them from forming on the bottom of the pool.

Red, green and purple stones glistened softly in the walls, making Jasmine wonder just where in the world she was. If she had to guess, she would have thought it a dragon’s lair. Her sister April had described her husband, Drake’s, lair to them all once.

“Ugh! Why do I feel hung over?” she brought her hand to her aching head and attempted to remember the events leading up to her arrival in this place. Unfortunately, she didn’t remember much past her dinner of lamb stew and wine.

Sliding to the edge of the shelf, Jasmine eased her legs over the side and stood. She swayed as the room spun around her and frowned down at what appeared to be naturally formed steps to the steaming pool.

“Hello,” she called out.
Hello,
hello,
hello,
her voice echoed through the huge cavern, and she shivered. “Is anyone here?”
Is
anyone
here,
anyone
here,
here.
The sound of her voice eerily thrown back at her made her shiver yet again. For a second time, she tried to remember what happened to bring her here, and failed.

“What am I doing here?” Her mind wandered back to the handsome, yet still completely dead zombie that attempted to woo her the day before and almost felt bad that he was probably lying prostrate on the ground becoming dinner for whatever types of carrions that Scotland had.

Looking around, with the exception of the makeshift bed, Jasmine saw nothing but smooth, limestone and granite walls, glistening pools, and gleaming gems. “Is there no way out of here?” She spoke softer this time, hoping her voice wouldn’t carry to echo back at her. It was just plain creepy. “It’s scary being all alone in here.” She crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders.

“Do not fear. You were never alone, Jasmine.”

Spinning around, Jasmine brought her hand to rest over her heart. “You scared me half to death!” If he hadn’t been a zombie, she might have slapped him for the scare. As it was, she didn’t want to get any closer to him than she was at the moment. In fact, she decided to back up a pace, just for good measure. She looked around. “Where’s the exit? I am
not
staying here with you.”

Jasmine knew it was only a matter of time before he decided that he needed her blood to survive. Then he would attack her. She couldn’t afford to be alone with him when
that
time came.

Ryuu glanced up toward a little spot of light in the rock over their heads. What looked to be a tiny opening must have been the way he brought her into this huge cavern. It was at least three or four hundred feet over their heads.

“The exit is up there,” he said confirming her fears.

How in the hell was she going to get up there to escape?

Ryuu turned to her, his eyebrows nearly at his hairline. “The only way for you to get out of here is to fly through that hole.” He moved a step closer while Jasmine countered his move with two steps back.

“As I have said, I am the Spirit Dragon and
you,
my dear, are my mate.”

“Well, hell,” Jasmine said on a moan. She moved back to sit on the fur-covered stone shelf where she woke. “Why couldn’t you have been a zombie?”

Ryuu was uncertain whether he should be hurt or amused by her comment. What was it about him that made her wish for the company of a reanimated corpse over him?

“Why would you rather I be the walking dead?”

She looked up at him and gave an exasperated sigh. “Because, if you were a zombie, I wouldn’t feel bad when Drake’s men kill you.”

He almost laughed at that. Instead, he asked, “Why would they kill me, and how do you suppose they would find us to do so?”

Reaching up, Jasmine grasped the locket that rested against the smooth skin of her throat. She opened it, revealing what appeared to be something oddly mechanical.

“All of my sisters wear a similar tracking device unless we don’t want Drake’s men to find us.” She shrugged. “A few of my sisters have ditched them and ran away. Not that running ever did them any good. Their mates found them and made their claims regardless.”

“That is as it should be.”

“Not in this time, mister. Women are emancipated human beings. We’re allowed to live our lives the way we want without the interference of our flawed male relatives who seem to still think we’re property somehow.” She looked at him angrily for a moment before she looked up and her expression turned sad. “Here they are now, if I’m not mistaken. If I were you, I’d run before they catch and kill you.” Jasmine waved her arm toward the three shadows approaching them that blocked the light from the upper entrance.

“Hell and damnation!” Ryuu immediately shifted into his dragon. An ethereal fog swirled around them as he snatched up his mate and headed for the hidden entrance to his lair. He had not been entirely honest with Jasmine when he told her the hole in the upper reaches of the cave was the only way out.

Desperately flapping his wings, he hurried to the maze of caves that surrounded the large chamber he had made his living quarters. With luck, he would make it into and through the catacombs before they caught up to him. He could collapse the entire tunnel in on itself to keep them from following, but he would rather only have to ruin the entrance.
That
he could easily fix.

He didn’t want to injure the other dragons. He
would
kill for his mate. There was no doubt of that. However, he only wanted to resort to that kind of violence on his terms. The one at the top of his list was no killing with his mate present. It was one thing to have to live with her knowing he had killed. It was quite another for her to watch him as he made the kill. It was unacceptable.

Pouring on the speed, Ryuu wove in and out of the otherwise undiscovered catacombs hoping to lose the dragon males who would attempt to take his mate from him. When he was certain no one followed him, he headed for the exit he rarely used.

Looking down, he extended one long claw toward Jasmine’s throat.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She reached for her throat a moment too late.

“I’m relieving you of the device they use to find you.
That
is what I
know
I am doing.” With a vicious tug, he snapped the chain of her locket and let it fall to the ground. Her bodyguards would
not
find her a second time. He would see to that.

Just as he approached the exit to the cave, Ryuu dragged the tips of his wings against the walls. The action loosened the rocks, causing a cave in as they burst out into the cool night air.

If her brother-in-law’s men hoped to find her, they would not do so using
this
part of his lair.

With several hard flaps of his wings, Ryuu shot up through the darkness, his mate cradled gently in his dragon’s strong forelegs. He headed east, hoping to find a safe place in the mountains of another country.

As the Spirit Dragon, he could enter the ethereal realm. His only worry was whether or not his mate could safely make the trip. He knew it wouldn’t be a problem if he bound her to him first. However, he could not do so without her consent. To his knowledge, no one had ever bound an unwilling mate before. Besides, as tempting as the idea was, he could not bring himself to stoop that low.

“Where are you taking me?”

The sound of Jasmine’s voice brought him from his thoughts and he looked down at her. He was rather surprised to see her sitting so complacent in his embrace. Had she finally come to terms with the fact that she was his mate, or was it nothing more than wishful thinking?

I
have
one
more
hidden
lair.
It
is
in
the
mountains
of
an
island
near
the
country
you
now
call
Japan.
Like all dragons, he spoke telepathically while in his dragon form.

“I
thought
your name sounded Japanese.” She frowned. “I’m not trying to sound like a bigot, or anything, but you don’t really appear to be of Asian descent.”

Most
of
the
people
on
the
Asian
continent
are
descendants
of
a
few
ancient
dragons
and
a
tribe
of
people
who
separated
themselves
from
the
rest
of
the
humans
on
Earth.
”
He held his wings still, gliding silently through the air. He enjoyed the peace and quiet and solitude of their flight. There was something to be said for the sole company of one’s mate.

He stared at Jasmine with the hope she would forgive him for kidnapping her. He had lived millennia awaiting this day. The last thing he wanted was for his mate to hate him for claiming her. After waiting so long to find Jasmine, it would kill him to lose her now.

Gliding slowly, Ryuu circled the island that was his last and most guarded lair. The island was uninhabited. He owned it and had for years. He loved the way the mountains rose up out of the sea, the way the jungle covered the ground in a rich, green canopy.