Dragon Treasure by SJ Sanders

Chapter 27

The world came into focus slowly. First, she heard the movement around her, and the hum of voices before she became aware of a weight next to her. Lifting her lashes, she peered at the figure sitting beside her, and the hazy figure of a man slowly came into focus. Blinking, she pushed herself up and frowned at him.

“Do you think it’s a good idea to be here, Jerard, when Drathnor is probably on the warpath and ready to tear shit up?” she rasped.

The knight grinned down at her as he leaned forward, his elbows braced on his knees.

“That is a fair description of what has been happening within the monastery over the last few hours,” he agreed pleasantly. He ran a hand through his hair and grimaced. “I have to admit that I didn’t expect a dragon to be quite so headstrong over a female. It was unexpected.”

“He’s my mate. Of course he would be protective,” she informed him weakly.

Despite the fact that her chest and throat hurt like a bitch with every breath—not to mention trying to speak—she was glad to note that it was recovering already from the reedy sounds that she had barely been able to make before.

Jerard nodded, his fingertips absently tracing over his knee as he regarded her.

“Is that what you really want, though, Tania? Do you really want a mate who will lose his mind if you are out of his protection? You are a strong woman, resourceful and intelligent too. You were trapped into this mating—wrong place at the wrong time. It was an accident that you ended up bonded to that thing rather than a nun who trained years for it. Do you really think that this is what is good for either of you?” he murmured, his hands smoothing her hair back off her brow.

She shook her head, her eyebrows slanting in confusion. “What are you saying? Of course I want to be with him. Even if I didn’t, we’re bonded. We are one. It’s not like skipping out on a date, or poisoning in inconvenient husband,” she snapped.

He lifted a finger and touched the tip of her nose. “Ah, you see, that’s where you are wrong. I can help break your bond without you feeling any sickness from it. It will be just a matter of re-bonding you to someone else.”

His finger stroked down her cheek in an unwanted touch, and she resisted the urge to break it. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully on him, waiting to see exactly where he was taking this. His thumb brushed her bottom lip.

“I could take care of you, Tania,” he murmured, blue eyes staring down at her from hooded lids. Their hot gaze traveled over her face. “Be mine. Pledge yourself to me and you will never want for anything. Gold will be yours in plentitude, I promise. I will even give you the freedom to go anywhere you like. You wouldn’t always be caged at my side. You will be powerful, wealthy, and independent as you always wanted to be. You would only need to show your favor to me when I call on you,” he whispered. “Wouldn’t that be nice? Like a dream you always wanted? Leave the dragon to his fate, and follow your own heart. A normal life surrounded by anything your heart desires.”

Her tongue swiped over her lips. “Who are you?” she whispered.

He leaned closer, his cascade of hair falling around them as he met her eyes, his nose just shy of brushing against hers. His lips curved.

“I’m your knight, dear Tania. I wish to save you from all of those if you allow me. If only you will give me your heart.”

She closed her eyes, her mind in a whirl of confusion. He was right when he said that she had never wanted to be mated to a dragon. She fell into it. All she wanted was a life of her own, not to be tied permanently to another creature in all ways. Logically, she knew that it would be smart to take his offer, to break out of whatever spell this bond put her under.

But…

She didn’t want to be free of it.

Swallowing back bile, her throat screamed in agony and she shook her head, tears trickling beneath her lashes as her mind wove what her future would be like. Empty, plagued by sorrow and regret. She didn’t want that. She didn’t want a life without Drathnor’s presence. She didn’t want to spend day after day with a void within her. She didn’t want the handsome knight, for all his promises that may have tempted her before. He was like some fairytale.

She didn’t want the white knight charging to her rescue.

She wanted the dragon.

She loved him.

“No,” she rasped as loudly as she could manage, her eyes snapping open to meet his surprised gaze. “No,” she repeated firmer, louder. “I could never love you. My heart already belongs to Drathnor.” Her lip curled into a sneer. “I will not love another, not for any promises you make or any riches you offer. No matter what you have… knight.”

His perfectly shaped, full lips parted with a sigh and slowly he sat back in his chair, his hair falling around his shoulders like a halo. Bringing a hand up, he rubbed at his upper lip thoughtfully.

“I’m really sorry to hear that. Despite the fact that I had no intention of mating, I really do enjoy you, Tania. I had hoped that you would see reason and remain by my side. Now I am left with the unpleasant business of disposing of you.” His lips curved, and he gave a lopsided shrug as he shoved to his feet. “Oh well. Perhaps in another lifetime, fair Tania.”

Bending down, he scooped her up into his arms, lifting her easily from the bed. Tania immediately went on the offensive, her legs flailing to disrupt his balance as her elbows and fists jabbed. He grunted when she got a few decent shots in, but his grip merely tightened around her. Somehow, he seemed larger, his arms wider and longer. Not of proportions like her dragon, but big enough to pin her effortlessly against his larger body as he carried her out of the monastery through a hidden rear entrance.

As she saw the stables get nearer, she twisted hard in his grasp, her hand straining for her knife at her hip. His arm tightened over her chest, squeezing the breath from her until a lightheaded feeling pulled at her. Her fingertips fumbled over the hilt of her blade. Far away she heard an enraged roar, but everything swam around her as the world tipped and her body dropped down, down, down.

She lay there for many minutes until she became aware of the cold dirt beneath her. Jerard was gone, leaving her alone staring up from a deep hole. Her breath shuddered out of her, and a gasp of pain left her when she rolled off a stone digging into her hip. The entire area felt bruised from the impact, but still she pushed herself up to her knees as another roar shook the air.

Drathnor rose from the monastery with a bellow, his wings spread wide as his head snaked through the air in search of her. He bugled once as he began to gain height, his pale body gleaming in the early morning sun. She smiled, her heart leaping with the knowledge that he would find her and get her the hell out of there, but her joy turned to horror. A faint scream croaked out from her damaged throat as a nest of black tentacles shot out from the side of the monastery. They completely eclipsed him, swallowing his splendor as they circled around her dragon like an inky net.

The weight of the tentacles bound his wings, and Drathnor fell from the sky with an enraged roar. She gaped out as pain stabbed deep within her as their bodies careened into the monastery with a thunderous crash. She felt his pain bloom brighter and brighter in her even as his fury rose until that too was snuffed out.

There was nothing but silence.

A numb ache spread through her limbs as Tania toppled back onto the ground. Her chest moved with a single shuddering breath. She wheezed as she lay there staring at the ice blue sky so much like the eyes of her beloved.