Dragons Don't Cry (12 page)

It was the roar that woke me. My dragon was
back.

I’d worked hard at covering my trail. It
wouldn’t stop him, but it wouldn’t make it easy either. The
continuous roar grew closer before it faded.

I grinned.

I had a little light left to continue
reading, but it disappeared fast. I ate a bit of food to keep my
stomach from growling, and I waited. An hour passed before I heard
the mighty roar again. It came much too close, and I thought he’d
found me. He moved away roaring again, but the sound had changed to
one of anguish. I remembered this from Laryn after he flew off the
first night I met him.

My poor dragon. Guilt set in.

A noise outside my cave had me worried. The
crunch of twigs and straw let me know someone or something
approached. I scooted to the back of the cave and picked up a large
gold goblet to use as a weapon. I’d never seen flesh-eating animals
in this realm, but it didn’t mean they weren’t here. The head that
peered inside was not Bastian’s.

I was in trouble.

“’Tis a good hiding place, my lady. Your
dragon is too wound up to go close to the ground and follow your
scent.” Laryn stared at me with blue sparks in his eyes.

I put as much force as possible into my
words, “Go away.”

He looked me up and down. “I think not.” He
ducked his head and entered my hiding place.

“Bastian will kill you.” Pure bravado, but I
had to try.

“He must catch me first. Once in my
territory, I will hide you in my lair and he will soon forget
you.”

“Like you forgot your bride?”

I saw his pain, but he grabbed my arm. I
kicked and swung my arms to no avail. He was stronger. He jerked my
hair, dragging me out of the cave.

“No, you mustn’t do this, Laryn.”

His facial muscles softened and he reached
up to my cheek. “Sleep.”

“Nooooo…”

Chapter Nineteen

Bastian

Laryn had trouble keeping up with me on our
return home. He would pass through my territory before continuing
to his lair. Our hunt had been successful, our bags full of gold.
Laryn seemed in better spirits and I was glad we’d gone. I was not
glad to be away from my bride.

Approaching my lair, I noticed the gold and
jewels thrown from my perch. If this was the worst of it, I would
have her in my arms, and minutes later, my cock buried deep in her
warmth.

The rooms were silent when I walked through
them naked. I needed my bride. I searched everywhere before making
my way to the hallway leading to the remainder of my castle. I
unlocked the door, throwing it open. Maxwell stood on the other
side. I could immediately tell he was upset.

“Is she here?” I thundered.

He shook his head and pointed to the front
of the castle away from my private rooms.

“When did she leave?”

He stared at me in a panic.

I took a breath knowing I had to ask yes and
no questions.

“Did she leave today?”

He nodded.

“In the past hour?”

No.

“This morning?”

Yes.

“Do you know where she went?”

No.

I turned around and slammed the door as I
ran to my room, out the doors, and over the ledge. My roar belted
out with fire shooting hundreds of feet in front of me. I was
beyond angry, and planned to paddle her curvy little ass when she
was home. How dare she disobey me!

The first pass, I circled close to my lair.
Between spewing fire and smoke, I saw very little. On my second
pass, I flew outward, cutting back on the smoke and fire looking
closer at the places a small human could hide. There were hundreds,
maybe thousands. One thing I couldn’t control was my roar. I knew
she could hear it, and I hoped she was afraid. She needed to
be.

An hour later, my anger turned to worry. I
flew slower, looked harder. Returning to my lair, I grabbed a
clothing pack and flew off the perch again. I landed, dressed in
comfortable clothes complete with boots before walking around the
castle searching out her scent. It took me little time to find her
trail, and I rebuked myself mentally for allowing my temper to keep
me in the air so long. I would find her quickly and lock her in my
lair for a month as punishment for her foolishness.

Beside the stream, I found several small
footprints. I also found evidence that she tried to hide them. I
snapped down on my fury and stayed on her trail. Laryn’s scent hit
me at the same time I saw one of her shoes on the ground. I ran
toward the shoe and saw the indent in the rock. I knew she was
gone, and my rage exploded uncontrollably.

Laryn was a dead dragon.

My clothes ripped as I shifted and took off
for Laryn’s territory. This was my fault. I knew I’d messed up
before I left with Laryn. My arrogance got in the way, and I went
about explaining the entire trip wrong. Knowing she would be angry,
I fought back without giving her a chance first. We could have
talked about it. I could have coaxed her more. She had a soft
heart, and if she knew I wanted to help my friend, she would have
given in. Now I would kill my friend and relish every drop of his
blood.

I pushed my speed feeling the burn in my
wings. It didn’t matter. I approached his lair, my fire burning the
tops of the trees in front of me. Dragons kept their inner dwelling
secret. Even when we played cards, we only saw a few rooms. I
landed on a flat surface near a large turret and shifted. I leapt
to a balcony catching an iron rail and pulling myself up. I knew
the place was big, but I wasn’t leaving without Acasia.

Oh and blood. A lot of blood.

I needed to get past the human quarters and
into Laryn’s main rooms. The humans flashed me strange looks, some
afraid, some challenging. One went flying ten feet because he tried
to block me. Delicate was not on my agenda.

Laryn’s domain was similar to mine. I found
the passage under his castle to his treasures, but I didn’t care
about them. I was in pursuit of only one treasure. A short while
later, I located his rooms. Quiet greeted me, deathly quiet. I
looked about his great room; a few books, a set of gold goblets,
sparse but lived in. Enormous beds took up most of the space in the
two bedrooms. He kept little of his treasure up here. The bathing
room was the one room more luxurious than mine. It was more of a
bathhouse.

Grief overwhelmed me. Laryn hadn’t brought
her to his lair. Her scent was nowhere. He had another hiding
place.

I searched the territory for hours before
flying to Sarn’s. I hadn’t eaten; my three-day adventure had left
me exhausted, and my bride was gone. Sarn would feel me enter his
territory. I collapsed in front of his lair. Maybe Sarn wouldn’t
ask questions and just kill me for coming uninvited. I knew I was
barely coherent by the time he found me.

His human hand was surprisingly gentle on my
bare shoulder. “What is it, Bastian?”

I expected anger, death, but never concern.
I wasn’t as close to Sarn as I was to Laryn. Not that friendship
had anything to do with stealing another’s bride.

“Laryn took her.” I didn’t look up. Yes, I
was pathetic, but the loss of my bride ripped my heart open, and I
felt like my life was over.

There was a long pause before Sarn spoke.
“Come inside. I’ll find you clothes and we’ll contact Tahr. I’m
under the assumption you’ve been to Laryn’s home?”

“Yes.”

Sarn pulled up on my arm. “I wouldn’t bring
her back here if I had her, so I’m not surprised you didn’t find
them.”

“I can walk.”

“Then walk. I’d prefer not to carry you
inside and allow my bride to see you as weak.”

His words penetrated my foggy mind. “I need
food,” I said as I struggled to follow.

“You’re posing more damn trouble than you’re
worth, but I’m sure Calista will take pity on you.”

I followed him to the room we played cards
in. I sat in an oversized chair across from Sarn. “Calista is
bringing food. Start from the beginning and tell me what
happened.”

Usually I would never admit to making a
mistake or treating my bride as anything but a possession. I no
longer cared if Sarn or even Tahr thought me whipped. I couldn’t
live without Acasia.

Chapter Twenty

Acasia

I woke up in a soft, unfamiliar bed. It took
me a few minutes to remember what happened. I looked around. There
seemed to be only one room and one bed. I could smell the dragon,
but it wasn’t my dragon. This was no good.

The door slammed open against the far wall
and Laryn entered carrying a stack of wood. There was a fire in the
hearth and a cool current of air passed through the room from the
open door.

Where the hell was I?

I pulled the covers closer to my neck and
waited for Laryn to turn my way.

He didn’t smile and his voice was surly.
“How do you feel?”

Should I answer?

No, not yet.

He walked closer and I gripped the covering
tighter.

It didn’t stop him. He grabbed a handful of
the material and whipped it from the bed. I screeched
involuntarily. The only thing I was thankful for at this moment was
I still had my clothing on from earlier. Or yesterday. I had no
idea where I was or how long I’d been here.

Tears swelled painfully behind my eyes as I
tried to stop them.

Laryn bent at the waist and put his face two
inches from mine. “I asked you a question.”

I decided right then and there that Laryn
was not a nice dragon. Suddenly, I couldn’t remember the question.
“Umm.”

“What good are you if you can’t talk?” His
warm breath washed over me, but it didn’t matter. He was not
Bastian.

“I… I can talk. I don’t wish to.”

He moved away, a not-so-nice smile playing
on his lips. “Well, my lady, if you don’t talk, you don’t eat.”

I could live with that. If I ate at this
moment, it would come back up. I didn’t think Laryn would be as
understanding as Bastian was if I puked on his feet or in his bed.
His one bed. Maybe I was wrong. If I puked in the bed, he might not
get other ideas. Not that a lack of bed ever stopped Bastian.

My heart hurt. It was a pain greater than
I’d ever had. Bastian was alone. My poor, poor dragon. Even if he
was an ass, he didn’t deserve this.

Laryn walked away and started rattling pots.
I guessed he was hungry. A pleasant smell permeated the room ten
minutes later. My stomach growled. Wonderful, I couldn’t even keep
up a pretense of not being hungry. It didn’t matter, I wasn’t
eating. I also refused to let the quiet get to me. I wasn’t very
good at keeping my thoughts to myself but I wouldn’t give in.

I knew Laryn was lonely. If I’d learned
nothing else about dragon brides, I’d learned they were companions,
but it was something I refused to be for Laryn. He needed to return
me.

I didn’t eat even after Laryn fixed a plate
for me and set it on the table by his bed. He ate his food, giving
me prying looks every so often, but he didn’t say anything. When
finished, he left the cabin, slamming the door in his wake.

I needed a weapon, and I didn’t know how
long he’d be gone. I also had no idea if I could hurt him, but if
he came near me again, I’d try. Scrambling from the bed, I ran to
the eating area and found several knives in a drawer. I chose a
small one that I could easily conceal but would still do damage if
I stabbed it in the right place.

My stomach flip-flopped. I’d never stabbed
anyone, not even an animal. For Bastian, though, I could do
anything.

I have no idea how much time passed. I
realized it was probably stupid to have not run away a few minutes
after he left. But I had no idea where I was and I think I’d
already proved I should stay where I was put.

The door finally opened and Laryn strode in,
looked at my uneaten meal, and grunted. He poured water into a cup
from a bladder on his belt and carried it to me. I turned my
head.

“You’re a stubborn one, but I don’t think
you’ll make it more than a day without eating or drinking. But have
it your way for now.” He pulled a wooden chair from the table
closer to me. “Tell me something of yourself,” he said after
sitting down.

If my eyes could flash fire, he’d be
incinerated. I watched him stand back up and move closer so his
face was inches from mine. For some reason he seemed to think it
intimidated me, but he was wrong. It made me angrier.

“I like a strong female, but don’t be
stupid.”

Well, if I was stupid, I might as well
establish it permanently. I stabbed the knife blade upward through
the thin bed covering while pushing up with my body. It wasn’t easy
and I didn’t have a lot of force, but I connected.

He gave a loud grunt, twisted my hand while
tearing off the cover, and threw the knife across the room. I could
see blood welling beneath his shirt.

“You little hellion.” He backhanded me and I
fell flat against the bed.

I covered my stinging cheek in shock. I’d
never been hit in my life. Of course, I’d never stabbed anyone
either. His hand went to his shirt and came away bloody. I think he
might have been more shocked than I was, but I could see when anger
took over. My entire body started shaking.

He stared at me for the longest time as his
muscles clenched. He was going to hit me again, or kill me. I
looked into his eyes as dispassionately as I could. He’d kidnapped
me and I’d be damned if I’d apologize for stabbing him. Bastian
would kill him anyway. It was only a matter of time.

Very slowly, he moved away. I watched him
find the knife and then look for others. He left, taking the
weapons with him. Now I really started shaking. My hunger didn’t
make it any better.

Bastian, please rescue me.

It was a silent prayer; I needed him. I
turned on my side and closed my eyes.

Chapter Twenty-One