Liev
Liev blinked awake as the first of the morning light began to filter through the thin curtains of the room.
Despite the fact he’d spent the first half of the night on the floor and the second half crammed into a bed that was many times smaller than the one he had back home, he felt better rested than he had in years – almost as if his muscles had been suffused with new energy, a kind that he had never felt before.
Looking up at the stained ceiling, Liev frowned slightly.
Could it be the mated bond?
Darklis had said she had seen it too. It would make sense: if their powers hadn’t been permanently removed but only temporarily suppressed, they would still feel the magic that the bond had created between them.
Now, we just have to find a way to get our powers back...
Darklis stirred in his arms, and Liev looked down at her sleeping face. She truly was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. He knew if his dragon were with him now, it would have agreed. She was perfect. And he knew that he would do everything in his power to protect her, with or without his dragon.
He sucked in a sharp breath at the thought – and the memory that came with it. Darklis had suggested that perhaps their dragons would return overnight.
Clearly, this hadn’t happened. As Liev searched through his mind, he could still feel no trace of his missing dragon. His chest still felt empty.
Swallowing down his disappointment, he resolved not to lose heart. Darklis would need him to be strong. Together, they could do this.
Suddenly overwhelmed with love, Liev leaned down to tenderly kiss Darklis on the forehead. She opened her eyes at the touch of his lips against her skin, blinking at him for a moment or two, before smiling.
“Good morning!” she said.
Liev smiled, unable to help himself. Darklis was beautiful, intelligent and brave, but she was also cheerful, even in the face of their current predicament. Her calm temperament and solid judgment also served to balance his hot temper, making his struggles against his own rashness just that little bit easier.
She truly is perfect.
“Good morning,” he said, smiling and running his fingers through her hair. “I trust you slept well?”
To his amusement, a hot blush began to creep across Darklis’s cheeks.
“Uh, yes,” she said, dropping her eyes – though not before Liev saw the smile on her lips. “I mean, after – after –”
Liev laughed. Darklis was so bashful he couldn’t help it.
“Yes, after,” he agreed. “I slept much better here with you as well. Just so you know.”
Darklis glanced up at him, and then, a moment later, joined in with his laughter. “All right, fine! Laugh at me if you want, but this is the first time I’ve ever woken up with someone. So cut me some slack!”
“Mine too,” Liev said, feeling warmth surging in his heart. “And I couldn’t be happier about it.”
Darklis bit her lip, looking up at him. “Even though our dragons haven’t come back?”
“Even though.”
She leaned up, capturing his lips in a searing kiss as soon as the words had left them. His body responded to her touch immediately and he groaned, feeling his blood rushing southward.
“Darklis,” he said, breaking off reluctantly. “If we keep this up, I won’t be able to –”
“Right, right. I know,” she replied, smiling at him. “And... yeah. I feel the same way. And as much as I’d love to stay here, we should probably think about leaving this hotel room sometime this week.”
Liev swallowed heavily, his mind immediately flying to all the possibilities that might be open to them, if only they weren’t currently stuck in this situation. Groaning, he closed his eyes and shuffled to the edge of the bed, trying to picture the least sexy things he could think of. Otherwise he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to force himself away from her.
“I’ll... go have a shower,” he said quickly, standing. “A cold one. Probably.”
Darklis’s laughter followed him to the bathroom, until he closed the door behind him. Sighing and at last feeling his erection beginning to subside, Liev gave himself a stern talking to.
She’s your mate, but right now, you need to focus. One, get to the bus station. Two, find Darklis’s brother. Three, return home. Four, make the manticores pay for what they’ve done.
Shaking his head and reaching for the shower curtain, Liev could only hope against hope that everything would be that simple.
***
The receptionist – the same one as when they had booked in – looked up as they came down the stairs and passed her behind her desk.
“Key,” she said, holding out her palm. “And the fee for another night, if you’re planning on staying.”
“We’re not,” Liev said, bristling once more at her tone. With effort, he reined himself in. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
The woman gave him a slightly incredulous look, before shaking her head and looking away. Darklis handed her the key with a small, tight smile. “Thanks.”
The receptionist only snorted a little, her eyes narrowing. “So you’ll be leaving today?”
Suspicion rose in Liev’s chest. He had been trained from birth not to give away too much information about his movements: despite the fact that dragons were a lot more civilized than they had once been, it was still not outside the realm of possibility that the prince of a wealthy clan could be kidnapped – or worse.
“Maybe,” Darklis said noncommittally, beating him to the punch. Clearly, she too knew to be cautious – which, given her background, Liev thought, was all too understandable. “But like I said, thanks for the room.”
“You’re here on vacation?” the receptionist asked suddenly, her eyes still narrowed.
The suspicion that had begun to grow with Liev now became alarm. This woman had shown no interest whatsoever in them beyond that they pay her for the room before this – and the abruptness of her tone told him she wasn’t asking out of a desire to seem customer-friendly.
“Darklis, we should go,” he murmured, touching her arm gently. Darklis looked up at him, and he read understanding in her eyes.
Perhaps I’m over-reacting, Liev thought as Darklis once again thanked the woman and together, they made their way to the rickety front door. But isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?
If his dragon had been with him he would have known, Liev thought in frustration as he reached for the door handle. He was still getting used to all the ways things were different. But his dragon’s instincts would have been able to detect danger, to warn him to take flight if he had to. Without it, Liev felt almost as if he had lost one of his senses. In a way, he supposed he had.
His dragon was so much a part of him that it had never occurred to him that they might be parted. And now that they were...
“We should be very careful,” Liev said as he closed the hotel door behind them.
“I agree,” Darklis said quickly. “If the manticores even suspect that we came through the portal after their friend, they may be looking for us. They have to know that stealing from a dragon’s hoard isn’t going to be taken lightly.”
Liev nodded. “Of course, he may have just been a rogue manticore acting alone. In which case, assuming he lost his powers too, he’d surely want to make himself scarce. For now, at least.”
“Mm. But let’s not assume anything,” Darklis said, flashing him a quick grin.
Immediately, Liev felt his heart filling with warmth. Her smile was enough to leave him speechless.
“We – we should go before the sun gets fully up,” he finally managed to get out. It was amazing how much she affected him. He’d never known himself to be struck so completely and utterly incapable of thinking before.
Darklis nodded. “You’re right. Hopefully we can –”
Her words were cut off by the sudden sound of a piercing scream from inside the hotel.
Liev and Darklis stared at each other a moment, and Liev could see the same shock he felt rising in his chest reflected on her face.
“The receptionist –” Darklis said a moment later. “Could she –”
“– be in trouble,” Liev finished for her. Despite the woman’s insistence that all the rooms were full, she was the only other person they’d seen in the hotel – and they’d only left a moment before. Who else could it be?
And that scream had definitely been a cry of pure terror.
Before he could think, Liev had jerked open the front door of the hotel again. His mind raced with possibilities: perhaps it was thieves who had come to take the cash behind the counter, or perhaps it was an unruly guest who was causing trouble.
Or perhaps...
Liev stopped that thought in its tracks. Or tried to.
Maybe the manticores tracked us to this hotel, and the receptionist is in trouble because of us...
In any case, it didn’t matter. A woman was in trouble and needed their help.
Liev ran down the hallway, with Darklis hot on his heels.
The scene that greeted them when they reached the reception desk made the ominous feeling inside him grow into open alarm.
Four men surrounded the receptionist – one stood behind her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her pinned where she was. A ferocious snarl distorted his features. The receptionist looked utterly terrified, her fingers scrabbling ineffectually at the man’s muscular arm.
“Let her go at once,” Liev shouted as he skidded to a halt. Unconsciously, he spread his arms, as if to prevent Darklis from moving ahead of him, though he knew she was sensible enough that she wouldn’t jump in without thinking – not when there was a hostage involved. “Whatever you are planning to do, it is not worth it.”
Liev grimaced a little. He had years of training in hand-to-hand fighting, but four against one was still bad odds. Of course, even without his dragon, he assumed he was still stronger than any human.
But if they’re not human...
Liev frowned. There was no evidence of that yet, but it was something he needed to discern, and quickly. If they were nothing but common thieves he would motion to Darklis to go and find a police officer as quickly as possible.
But if they were not, he could not risk any more humans becoming caught up in the situation. A fight between a shifter and a human could never end well for the human.
“Heh.” The large man holding the receptionist against his chest smirked, his eyes glittering. “Not worth it, you say? I think that’s for me to decide.”
Liev raised his hands, crouching defensively. All the men surrounding the receptionist were large and muscular, and they clearly weren’t ready to back down just because they’d been interrupted.
“I’d say it’s already been pretty worthwhile,” the man continued after a moment.
“Please, don’t hurt me!” The receptionist’s scream was shrill and sudden. But then, in the next moment, the man holding her shoulders released her, shoving her forward – and straight into Liev.
Liev stepped aside quickly. He was too quick on his feet for the stumbling woman to knock into him, but he reached out a hand to catch her before she could crash into the stairs beside him.
“Are you all right?” he asked her, trying to set her down as gently as he could on the floor – but before he could get far, he was forced to whirl away as the men, taking advantage of his distraction, suddenly surged toward him.
Ducking his head and twisting, Liev threw his leg out in a low kick, sweeping the first man’s legs from beneath him. He landed heavily on his shoulder on the threadbare carpet with a grunt and a loud thump.
“Darklis, stay back,” Liev called out as he turned to meet the next attacker – but this one barely gave him a chance to raise his hands before a fist slammed into his jaw. It may not have been elegant, but it was effective, and Liev could feel his ears ringing with the force of the blow as he staggered back, before raising his arms to ward off the next one.
Not human then.
No human could move this fast, or punch this hard. Liev knew from experience that he could feel a punch thrown by a human, but there was no way it would have knocked him sideways like this, or made his vision blur with the force of it.
But regardless of the man’s – the manticore’s – strength, Liev was still faster on his feet, and still knew how to defend himself.
He ducked the next swing easily, coming up behind the manticore’s shoulder and slamming his elbow down into the back of his neck. The manticore grunted, falling to the floor to join his friend, who had only just begun to stagger to his feet.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Darklis helping the receptionist up and beginning to urge her down the hallway and out of immediate danger.
Taking a few steps back, Liev eyed the remaining men. The one whom he had hit in the neck was still on the floor, but the other three were standing and glowering at him menacingly, shoulders hunched, fists bunched.
“Whatever your purpose is here, you won’t succeed,” he said, hoping he was buying Darklis enough time to get the receptionist to safety. “If you truly believe the Drakos Clan will allow you to live after what you have done –”
“Ha!” The man who had been holding the receptionist – a tall, powerful man, Liev noted, with dark hair – cut him off with a contemptuous laugh. “The Drakos Clan won’t be doing anything once they find out we have their prince.”
So that’s their game, Liev thought, grimacing. Perhaps it hadn’t started out that way, but the manticores were clearly moving quickly to change their plans. At first perhaps they had only meant to steal the scepter, but since he had followed them, they now had their eyes on a bigger prize.
I was impetuous, Liev thought, his eyes never leaving the men as he inched his way back down the corridor. It had been his fault he and Darklis had been sucked into this situation – he should have listened to Magnus, and let the Drakos Guards deal with it.
If he could get to the door and out onto the street, then the manticores could be more constrained in what they would be able to do. Would they really risk attacking him in broad daylight, in the middle of a busy city?
“Don’t make us hurt you now,” the man said, his glare becoming a sinister smile. “You or the Novak girl. We were told to bring the both of you in one piece, after all. You’re no use to us dead. Either of you.”
“What has Darklis got to do with this?” Liev demanded, fury pounding through him. How dare this creature even look at Darklis, let alone speak of her!
“Oh, you’ll see,” the man replied, before shrugging indifferently. “Or maybe not. It’s not my concern. All I was told was to get you in as quickly and quietly as possible. So let’s not make a meal out of this, all right?”
Liev shook his head. “You seem to have mistaken me for someone else. A Drakos never gives in, so long as he can still fight.”
The fourth man – the one he had felled with a blow to the neck – was beginning to get to his feet. The odds weren’t good, but they would be significantly improved if he could just get to the door...
The dark-haired man sighed, rolling his eyes. “All right, fine. But don’t say we didn’t try to be nice.”
Liev tensed his muscles, readying himself for their attack. But the men didn’t move. Instead, from behind him, he heard a single, ominous sound: the cocking of a gun.
“Liev.”
Darklis’s voice was soft, but he could immediately hear the urgency in it. Cold panic surged through his veins as he turned, his heart pounding.
The receptionist – a large, heavy-set woman – had her arm wrapped around Darklis’s shoulders, in exactly the same way the man had been holding her when they had arrived. But in her other hand she held a pistol – and she was pressing it to Darklis’s head.
“Darklis!” he cried out before he could stop himself. Every nerve in his body screamed, urging him to leap forward, to bury his dragon’s fangs in the neck of the one who would dare to threaten his mate.
Except I can’t. I couldn’t even tell that woman was a shifter...
Because surely only another shifter could hold Darklis tightly enough that she couldn’t escape, her arms pinned to her side, her eyes wide with fear. And only another shifter could have caught her off-guard like this, after having taken advantage of her natural kindness. Darklis had been trying to get the woman to safety.
She was in on it all along, Liev thought, grinding his teeth as he forced himself to stay still. The receptionist. They set this up. They knew we’d come running to help.
And dragons might have vastly accelerated healing compared to a human, but not even they could survive a bullet to the head.
“Let her go,” he snarled. He could sense the men moving behind him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Darklis. “I’ll come quietly if you let her free.”
“Liev, no,” Darklis said, her eyes going even wider. “This was my mistake. I should have been paying more attention.”
“Well, this is touching,” the dark-haired man said ironically. “But I’m afraid it’s useless. One of you would be good, but if we can get both, well... that’s much, much better.”
“Let her go,” Liev repeated, his voice rising to a furious growl. Within him, he could feel something struggling, something attempting to unfurl and rise fully into his consciousness.
Something he knew, and immediately recognized.
My dragon!
Snarling, Liev whipped around as the men advanced, forcing himself to tear his gaze from Darklis. With all his soul, he tried to focus on the stirring within him, to reach deep inside himself and bring his dragon to the surface. With its instincts and strength, he knew he could beat down a hundred men – manticores or not. There was nothing a dragon could not do when fighting for his mate.
But the men didn’t give him a chance. They surged forward, attacking in unison. They clearly had experience fighting together. Liev ducked their first blows, landing his own on two of the men as they stumbled past him.
But in his weakened state, without his dragon, the best he could do was temporarily stun them, and they were back on their feet in an instant.
“Liev!”
He heard Darklis call out a warning, but he was a moment too late to act – the dark-haired man’s fist slammed into the side of his head, making light flash in front his eyes.
Gritting his teeth, Liev used all his willpower to stay upright, but even the momentary stunning had been enough to give the others an opening. Strong hands grabbed his arms, twisting them around behind his back, while a foot slammed into his knee. He staggered, held fast, unable to fight back.
“Darklis!”
Roaring in pure fury, Liev kicked out with one foot, managing to knock one man’s legs out from under him. He struggled, almost getting one of his arms free, before the dark-haired man appeared before him again, his powerful fist smashing into his temple, making him see stars.
Liev tasted blood in his mouth as he shook his head, trying to clear it.
“Let her go,” he said again, as his head reeled. “I’m the one you want. Leave her out of this.”
Hands tightened on his arms, pulling his muscles painfully. He struggled, but like this, he couldn’t resist the strength of the shifters who held him.
“I feel like I’ve already explained this,” the dark-haired man muttered as he massaged his knuckles. “One is good, but two is better. And now – time to shut you up.”
Liev roared again in fury, struggling against the hands that held him – and then pain shot through the back of his head, and everything went dark.