Dragon Hunter by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 2

Fog arrived on the large balcony. It was a beautiful morning, which was great since yesterday had been a bust due to thunderstorms. He removed his pants, hanging them on a hook on the far wall. Then he walked over to the edge of the ledge. Most of the balconies had a railing now to provide more safety for human residents. There was a section that had been left open so that the dragons could shift and fly. Much of the lair had been adapted. It made sense now that so many humans were among them. Mated to shifter males, producing offspring.

There was a time he was sure a human female was in the cards for him. In fact, he couldn’t wait to claim one for himself. Things had changed. Now he wasn’t so sure anymore. He wasn’t sure of anything. It was a sad and shitty situation to be in.

“Hey!” Winter slapped him across the back. “Why the glum face?” the newest member of their team asked.

“I’m not glum,” Fog countered. “I’m just enjoying the view. I was enjoying the silence as well.” He widened his eyes.

Winter chuckled. “Until I came along.”

“I didn’t say that.” Fog smiled.

Winter grinned. “You didn’t have to. Are you ready to take down a couple of deer?”

“Am I ever.” He rubbed his hands together. Lately, his job was the only thing that made sense to him. He needed to pull himself out of this funk. It wasn’t like Azure was ever his. Nothing had ever happened between him and the she-dragon, and yet…he still felt like a piece of his heart had been ripped out when she’d picked Ice.

Not that it was ever a competition. Not that Azure had noticed him…ever. She hadn’t. Fog had noticed her, though…big time. He’d tried to—

“Morning,” Ice said from across the balcony. His voice was bright and breezy.

Irritation bit at Fog. The male had always been his friend. His superior and his friend, and now he couldn’t stand to be in the same vicinity as him, let alone on the same team. It was a fucking mess. The only saving grace was that Azure was now on another team. Ice was not permitted to supervise his own mate. Having to watch them together outside of working hours was a nightmare already. At least he had this time to enjoy and relax. His mind was less muddled in his dragon form. Although his dragon had pushed him to test compatibility with the female, his beast was over her now that Azure was mated to someone else. It was his human side that was muddying the waters. His human side that had all of these crazy thoughts and fears. His dragon wanted him to pick someone else and procreate. His human side was loath to do so. It was a shit show of epic proportions.

Bottom line, Azure and Ice were mated. They were bound together forever. Azure might even be with child. Everyone knew that she and Ice had spent her last heat together. Fog had never held any claim over the female. He seriously needed to get over his shit, and as a matter of urgency. He was mature enough to know that the problem lay with him and not with Ice.

“Morning, boss!” Winter yelled.

“Good day for hunting,” Fog muttered. He needed to try harder. This was pathetic. Ice was his friend. His bud. Fog was the prick in all this.

“That it is.” Ice grinned, looking as happy as fuck. By now, they had to know if Azure was with child. Was he happy about that? Was it something else? The thought of Azure carrying Ice’s whelp angered Fog. He felt like such a dick! Why couldn’t he get over the she-dragon already? Why?

Holy fucking shit!This was driving him insane.

Avalanche grunted as he arrived, naked. The male clearly hadn’t bothered to even dress before leaving his chamber that morning.

Fog grunted back. Shit! Now he was turning into Avalanche. Next thing he’d end up living for food and… What else floated the male’s boat? Fog wasn’t sure. That was saying something since he’d worked with the male for years. Fog didn’t know much about Avalanche after all this time. “How are you?” he asked the male.

Avalanche’s eyebrows drew together, and he gave Fog a strange look. Like maybe he thought Fog was losing his ever-loving mind. He grunted again, this time with a questioning edge.

“Good to hear.” Fog smiled. Avalanche was a closed book and staying that way.

Sun sauntered over to them. “Did I miss anything?” he asked, looking questioningly at Ice. Everyone was waiting to hear news on Azure. At this stage, it was too early to scent whether or not she was with whelp.

“Not a thing,” Ice said. “You’re right on time. We should head out.” He rolled his shoulders. “Not sure about you males, but I’m ready to take something down.”

Avalanche grunted. “I’m ready,” he growled.

“I was born ready,” Sun smirked, pulling off his pants.

“My eyes are peeled and my claws ready,” Fog said, having to force enthusiasm into his words. What the fuck!? He loved his job. Maybe he needed a vacation. That or a change of scenery.

Within seconds, they were shifting and taking to the sky. Fog didn’t feel like much of anything, but he flapped his wings, anyway. He went through the motions. How fucking depressing his life had become. He needed something to liven things up. What though? He came up blank.

* * *

Riley heard moaning.

There was that, and…dripping. Drip…drip…drip…followed by another moan, louder this time.

She tried to move, and a moan was ripped from her throat as well. Her mouth was dry. Her heart was pounding. Her head too. How much alcohol had they put back? What time was it? Where was she? Where was Ash? Her mind was coming up with…nothing.

To make matters worse, Riley couldn’t see a thing. Perhaps her eyes were still closed…even though they felt like they were open. She turned her head. Still blackness. She blinked a couple of times. Nope. Nothing.

A stone was digging into her thigh. A stone? Why was she lying on a stone? Come to think of it, the ground beneath her was hard. One thing was for sure, she wasn’t in her bedroom. Riley touched the surface. It was uneven…like rock. Rock? She frowned. It hurt her head to try to think. What the heck was going on? Her mouth was really dry. Ouch, the pounding in her head simply wouldn’t let up.

“Riley?” Ashlyn croaked.

Hearing her best friend’s voice was like a balm to the soul. “Ash!” Her voice was just as croaky and even a little desperate-sounding. Something wasn’t right. Make that, something was very wrong. She knew it deep down. Riley licked her lips, which were dry too.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

“Are you okay? What…? What happened to us?” Ashlyn sounded panicked. “Where are we? What…um…what?”

Drip. Drip. Drip.

It all came back to her in a rush. Being grabbed. Flying. Holy shit…flying! What? That scaly clawed talon around her waist. Oh god! Oh god! She sat up, her head objecting, but she ignored it. “Ash!” she whisper-screamed. Riley knew two things with crystal clear clarity; they’d been abducted and they were in big shit. Huge shit! From the way her hairs were standing on end, and gooseflesh was rising all over her body, she would say that they were not alone.

“Ham gom!” a deep voice said from somewhere above her.

Ashlyn screamed.

“Ash!” Riley screamed her friend’s name. Panic welled. What the hell! Who was that? They didn’t sound friendly. Or human. Had they been abducted by aliens? She enjoyed sci-fi romances as much as the next girl, but this was too much.

“Ham gom!” the same voice growled. It was clearly a warning. She didn’t have to understand the strange language to know that there was menace attached.

Ashlyn squealed and then whimpered in fear. Riley could hear that her friend was trying to be quiet, even through her panic.

“Nik, pumme. Nik!” a voice growled. It sounded like there was more than one of them since the voices were slightly different and were coming from two different places within the pitch-black space. It might not be so frightening if they could see.

Fear of the unknown was real. Very real, since her hands felt clammy, and nausea rolled through her belly. It might be her hangover kicking in, but Riley didn’t think so.

Riley yelped as someone with a strong grip grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. He put an arm around her and pulled her against a solid wall of muscle. The guy was huge. Bigger than a line-backer. Bigger than anyone she had ever known.

Shit!

Shit!

Shit!

Riley had to bite back a scream. She whimpered instead, her breath coming in short pants. The need to fight hit her hard, but she squelched it. There was no way she could get out of his iron-clad grip. She didn’t want to incense him further. Adrenaline coursed through her. “La gorm!” the guy shouted, rubbing his hand up and down the side of her arm.

“Nik!” another one of them roared. He said a whole lot more than that, but she was too afraid to register the words. Didn’t understand any of it anyway, so why bother trying?

The guy holding her stopped rubbing her arm and gripped her tighter. He shouted something back. They were definitely arguing… Over her? Holy shit, this wasn’t good. She could hear Ashlyn whimpering somewhere close by, but she couldn’t see anything. The urge to panic, to fight, to do something, anything, was hitting her hard. She had to work to stay calm. Panic wouldn’t help her right then. Not in this situation.

Instead, Riley tried to get her bearings. She looked around her, although “looked” wasn’t an accurate term. It was all black on black on black. Wait a minute… To the left, it was more of a dark gray than outright black. She saw a dark shape move. The shape was huge. She swallowed thickly.

Stay cool!

Breathe!

Holy shit!

Holy freaking crap!

No human was that big. Surely?

Maybe the darkness was playing tricks. That had to be it.

Riley turned her head back in the direction of the grayness. Perhaps that was the way to the exit. She had to stay calm. Had to keep her wits about her if they were going to get out of this alive. She could still feel her small purse wrapped around her body. Good thing she’d secured the strap firmly around herself before they had left the club. Just a year ago, she’d left her bag in a taxi after a night of partying and had never seen the thing again. What a nightmare having to replace bank cards and her driver’s license. It was a lesson she had learned and learned well.

Perhaps her phone would still have a signal. Where were they? This was a nightmare. Panic rose up in her all over again.

No!

Calm!

Breathe!

“Please let us go,” Riley said when the arguing between the strange men stopped.

“Please.” Ashlyn’s whimper almost brought her to her knees. Her friend was always so brave, so strong. For a second, hearing the fear in Ashlyn’s voice terrified her. Riley grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, looking for calm.

“Be…still,” a heavily accented voice said. “You…ahhh…you safe.”

As fucking if!At least they could speak English. “Who are you?” she tried again.

“Still! Be still, pumme!” the same one growled.

“Please!” Ashlyn pushed out. “Let us go.”

“We won’t say anything,” Riley said. “Let us go and—"

“Nik! Need you! Must…must stay,” the same one added in that scary deep voice of his.

Need you!

Why?

What for?

Riley could only imagine what these freaks wanted from them. She kept settling on one thing as she thought about how this bozo holding her had touched her arm. Bottom line, these guys were creeps. Creeps who could see in the dark? Creeps who could fly? Maybe her mind was muddled. Perhaps they hadn’t been grabbed by flying creatures. It couldn’t be. It made no sense…or did it?

No! She wasn’t going there. Forget it! She’d lose it if she tried to make sense of this situation.

“Where are we?” Riley asked. “Who are you?”

“Ham gom!” the one holding her snarled.

“Be still,” the other one said. Maybe what he was trying to tell them was to be quiet…to shut up.

Like hell!

Screw them!

They could go to freaking hell!

She heard someone else, now to the right of them. He was pulling in a deep breath like he was going to say something.

The one holding Ash beat him to it. “We go!” he said in that same thick accent.

“No!” Ash whimpered.

Riley needed to do something. They were already in a second location, which was a big no-no when getting kidnapped. She’d seen it on a program on TV once. Perhaps an old Oprah rerun or on the Crime channel. She couldn’t remember exactly. All she knew was that it was true. It didn’t seem they had reached their final destination yet. Once that happened, they would be in the deepest shit of their lives. She reached up and touched the guy who was holding her – on the chin and then full in the face. A split second later and he leaned back, breaking contact. “Nik, pumme!” he growled at her.

Holy shit!It was just as Riley thought. They weren’t wearing goggles to see in the dark, yet they seemed comfortable in the pitch black.

Shit!

This was terrible!

“Sarke,” the guy to the right said; it sounded like he was moving. He mumbled something else in that strange language. It reminded her of an episode of “Star Trek.” Riley made a mental note to stop watching so much television if she ever got out of this.

“Sik,” the guy holding her growled; his whole body seemed to vibrate.

“We go…urne,” the guy holding Ash said.

Her friend groaned, “No…please.” It sounded like Ash was trying to get away.

“Ham gom!” the guy holding her said. Shut up! He had just told Ash to shut up. Big bully! “Na fa!” he added. Who knew what that meant. She didn’t care to know or to stay to find out. It was time for action. It was now or never!

Riley whimpered forcefully, opening her purse as she did. The clip made a clicking noise that seemed infinitely loud. For a moment, she was sure that someone would say or do something, but it didn’t happen. The guys…creatures…whatever the hell they were, didn’t react.

The guy holding her dragged her along. “Sarke, pumme,” he said, sounding a little less menacing. It didn’t make her feel better at all.

Riley put her hand in her bag, trying to think of something to do. Anything. There had to be something. She tried to walk slowly, but the guy dragged her with him, taking long strides. She felt around inside her purse, feeling her wallet and cellphone. There was a loose lipstick and then the keys to her apartment.

Think! Dammit! Think!

Her hand wrapped around the item that was attached to her keys. It definitely seemed like these guys could see in the dark. Riley tried not to think about that too much. If she did, it would freak her the hell out.

Everyone knew that vampires and elves existed. There were rumors of wolf shifters. Non-humans existed. Was it too much of a stretch to assume that there were non-humans that they didn’t know about? Non-humans who could see in the dark; non-humans who were able to fly, perhaps? No, it wasn’t a stretch at all. She would go so far as to say that they certainly existed and that she and Ash were being abducted by them right that very second.

It was time to act. If she hazarded a guess, she would say that they were in a cave somewhere. If they went much farther, she wouldn’t be able to get them out of there on account of not being able to find a way out. As it stood, they might not be able to find a way out of here, but she had to try.

“Remember in fifth grade when—” Riley started saying.

“Ham gom!” the guy up ahead snarled, his voice reverberating on the walls.

“I won’t shut up, you asshole. Fifth grade when…we got out of detention.” They’d escaped from class that day. Hopefully, Ashlyn would realize that Riley was about to attempt to break them out now as well.

“Nik, pumme,” the one holding her growled. “Cha!”

“Cha yourself, dickhead.” She pulled out her keys and, using her fingers, she twisted the top on the small flashlight that was attached, shining it at the face of the guy holding her.

He started screaming, covering his face with his hands.

“Run!” she shouted to Ashlyn, shining the light in her friend’s direction.

The guy turned, still holding Ash. He was buck naked. All three of them were. They all shielded their faces. The one who had been holding her kept his face averted but tried to grab her. She kicked him in the shin using the flat part of her foot. Take that, asshole!

He groaned, almost getting her with an unexpected hand swipe. “Ash!” Riley screamed, moving away a few steps.

Her friend was fighting to free herself. It wasn’t working. “Go!” Ash screamed. “Get help!”

“No!” Riley yelled. “I won’t leave you,” she shouted.

“Go!” Ash fought harder, but the naked prick had her in a strong hold.

The one who had been holding Riley started coming at her; he used a hand to shield his face. Aside from eyesight, his other senses must be heightened because he was moving fast and coming straight for her.

With a scream, she turned and started running. Shit! The guy was gaining on her. She could hear his footfalls. Could hear his breathing. She ran in the direction she hoped they had come from. Within seconds, she found herself in a big open area. Perhaps where they had woken up?

The dickhead was right behind her. He was close. Too close. She did the last thing he was expecting and turned, shining the light in his face.

Oh hell!

What?

His eyes!

What was that on his torso?

Holy shit!Definitely not human. They both screamed, only for very different reasons.