Chapter Seven
Jane stood on the back of a flying dragon as it sailed through the rainbow-colored clouds. Despite her arms thrown wide, the wind wasn’t more than a soft whisper against her skin.
For the first time, she started to understand why Kai loved flying so much.
However, before she could enjoy the sensation any longer, a roar cut through her dream and her eyes popped open.
Kai thrashed in his restraints on the bed. If that wasn’t bad enough, a face she didn’t want to see stood over him.
Maggie Jones gazed down at Kai with longing.
Jane jumped to her feet, but a pair of muscled arms wrapped around her from behind. She tried to throw her head back to make contact with her assailant’s nose, but he easily dodged it. She spat out, “Let me go.”
Maggie smiled at Jane. “For the next ten minutes, you’re powerless, Jane Hartley. I hope you enjoy the show.”
She vaguely remembered Maggie having a Protector cousin. The bastard must’ve sent the second guard away on an errand.
Maggie turned her attention back to Kai, who was struggling even more against his restraints.
His pupils were slitted, meaning his dragon was in charge. And given his jerky, erratic movements, his beast wasn’t in his right mind.
As Maggie lowered her head toward Kai’s lips, Jane stopped breathing. “No.”
The dragonwoman ignored her to murmur to Kai, “I should’ve done this a long time ago. I’m finally ready to bring you the happiness you deserve, with someone who understands all of you.”
Maggie closed the distance to Kai’s lips, and Jane tried again to smack her restrainer’s head. When that failed, she used her heel to stomp his foot.
But the dragonman merely grunted and tightened his hold on her.
The bitch was trying to steal her mate and Jane was powerless to do anything.
When Maggie raised her head, Jane held her breath and hoped with everything she had that Kai’s dragon had been truthful when saying Jane was all that they needed.
Because if Maggie Jones started a mate-claim frenzy and stole Kai away from her, Jane would die a little inside. Mate-claim frenzies always resulted in pregnancy, which meant Kai would have a child. His duty would want to see it through with Maggie.
For the first time, she wondered if she’d been a fool for trying to win a dragonman’s heart when fate had decreed that another was his best chance at happiness.
But she quickly pushed the doubt aside. Kai was her dragonman. She had to believe that his love for her was stronger than a dragon’s instinct.
~~~
Kai regained consciousness inside the mental prison. His head was foggy and he could barely make out his dragon’s form at the front of their mind.
Female voices drifted through the space, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying at first. Then a voice he hadn’t heard in over a decade rang out clear. “I should’ve done this a long time ago. I’m finally ready to bring you the happiness you deserve, with someone who understands all of you.”
Confusion set in. Why would Maggie say that to him?
His awareness fully returned as strange lips touched his.
Roaring, his beast thrashed wildly. The drugs must’ve affected his dragon severely since he didn’t speak, but only roared and bellowed, trying to get free of the restraints around their arms, middle, and legs.
Not sure if his dragon would hear him, Kai shouted, She isn’t for us. Remember Jane.
As if on cue, Jane’s voice reached his ears. “Kai! If you can hear me, help!”
The desire to claim a female hit him at full blast. He fucking hoped it wasn’t for Maggie. We love Jane.
Still ignoring him, his dragon yelled as he finally broke the restraints around their upper body. A split second later, he extended a talon and ripped through the ones around their waist and legs. Jumping to a crouch on the bed, his dragon hissed and looked at Maggie.
Shit. Kai pounded against his invisible prison. He couldn’t allow fate to ruin his life and take away the other half of his heart.
Then his beast shifted their gaze to Jane, who was being held captive from behind by a male dragon-shifter.
His dragon finally spoke inside their head, He dies.
As he lunged at the male, Kai punched his mental prison wall once, twice, and on the third time, it cracked. He couldn’t allow his beast to kill anyone or he’d never hold Jane in his arms again.
With his dragon still in control, their human form punched the male dragon-shifter in the nose and pulled Jane away, until she stood behind them. His beast clocked the male again, and he dropped to the floor. With a growl, he moved to pin the male down.
Despite the effects of the drug and his beast’s raging nature, Kai drew on every speck of discipline he possessed to slowly create a mental cage for his dragon. It was hard to ignore the sound of his fist against the other male’s jaw, but he somehow managed it.
His future with Jane depended on it.
He finally lunged at his beast inside his head and wrestled with him. In their physical forms, the dragon would easily win. However, inside their brain, they were the same size.
They rolled, and Kai managed to steer them toward the cage. When Jane cried out, “What the fuck?” he tossed his dragon inside and quickly sealed up the opening.
Fully in control of his human body again, Kai turned to see Maggie holding a talon to Jane’s neck.
He didn’t have time to wonder where the shy girl of his younger years had gone. “Maggie, what are you doing?”
“Humans are weak. She’ll break, Kai. I’m going to save you the heartache later and just end it now.”
With Maggie’s pupils flashing from slits to round and back again, Kai remained where he stood. Kai may be able to control his beast because of his military discipline, but Maggie lacked it.
And as she pressed a little harder against Jane’s neck, a tiny drop of blood cascaded down her skin.
His dragon threw himself against his cage, and again. If Kai didn’t entice Maggie away from Jane, his dragon would break free and Maggie would kill his mate before he could do anything.
As much as the idea of wanting Maggie made him recoil, he needed to trick her. He may not be as good an actor as Jane, but if Maggie had convinced herself killing Jane would bring him into her arms, she’d probably believe anything she wanted to hear.
Kai put out a hand. “Killing anyone, even a human, means we’ll be separated, Maggie, love. Let her go and take my hand. Then we can go wherever you like and be together.”
It took everything Kai had to keep his gaze on Maggie and not share a glance with Jane. He only hoped his clever mate would understand what he was doing.
“Then kiss me to prove it, Kai. If I believe you truly want me, then I’ll release the human and flee with you. Trick me, and she dies.”
He nodded. To protect Jane’s life, Kai would pretend he wanted Maggie.
Ignoring his dragon’s bellow at kissing anyone but their mate, Kai slowly closed the distance between them. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Jane’s face. She had a frown and tightly pressed lips, but it was an act—she lacked the usual fire in her eyes that denoted her anger.
Still, as he approached Maggie, the thought of kissing the woman who broke his heart all those years ago made him want to bolt in the opposite direction so he could run to her leader and report her. He wouldn’t ruin his or Jane’s life by hitting her. No, she deserved to go to prison and know she put herself there.
But he needed Jane safe and sound first.
He stopped a few inches in front of Maggie and tried his best to smile. He lightly caressed her cheek. “Hello, Maggie.”
“Kiss me, Kai. With my mate gone, nothing stands in the way.”
Except for Jane, but he kept that thought to himself.
He moved in closer. “Nothing at all.”
“Prove it. Show me how much you want me.”
He mentally asked for Jane’s forgiveness as he closed the distance and touched his lips to Maggie’s.
The feel of her skin against him did nothing but make him want to step away and wipe away her taste. She tasted like rotten fish compared to the sweet honey of his beautiful Jane.
Still, he needed to convince Maggie, so he probed her lips with his tongue and entered her mouth. When she lightly caressed his tongue with hers, he wanted to gag.
Think of Jane. Getting her away from Maggie was all that mattered and was worth any price.
Despite it going against every honorable instinct he had to be faithful to his mate, Kai wrapped an arm around Maggie’s waist. He continued kissing her for a few more seconds before pulling away. He did his best to keep his tone husky as he asked, “How was that?”
“A good start. But I need to be sure.”
Before he could do more than blink, Maggie moved her talon to Jane’s shoulder and stabbed her.
He barely noted Jane’s scream as he grabbed Maggie’s wrist and slowly pulled out the talon. The second it was free, Jane slumped to the floor. Kai quickly flipped Maggie onto her stomach and kept her hands restrained behind her back.
Part of him wanted to yell at Maggie, but he looked to Jane holding her hand over her shoulder.
There was a lot of blood.
Kai roared, “Nurse, help!”
But no one came. Odd, since dragon-shifter nurses always kept an ear out for trouble inside the surgery.
Kai reached up to one of the restraints on the bed next to him and tore it off. Quickly tying Maggie’s hands to give him a few minutes before she tried shifting, he moved to Jane’s side. “This is going to hurt, love, but I need to get you out of here and find a doctor.”
She sucked in a breath. “Then do it.”
Gently as he could, Kai scooped Jane up and held her against his chest. Not wasting another moment, he moved to the door, kicked it out, and took Jane into the corridor.
As he ran toward the reception area, he expected to run into one of the nurses or Dr. Perry. However, he saw no one, not even when he reached the reception area.
Something was wrong.
He chanced a glance at Jane. Her pale skin made his stomach twist. If he didn’t find somewhere safe where he could use his field medic training to staunch the bleeding, she could die.
Racing out of the surgery’s front entrance, he barreled down the hall, searching for an open door.
~~~
The throbbing pain in Jane’s shoulder almost made her forget about Kai kissing Maggie.
Almost.
She knew he’d done it to save her. Maggie may not understand Kai’s body language, but he’d clenched one of his fists as he kissed Maggie. Compared to when he kissed Jane, his actions had been wooden.
Jane wasn’t prone to pettiness or hysterics, but if Maggie ever appeared in front of her again, she would chance it and take the bitch down.
Kai turned a corner, and the motion jolted her shoulder. Jane hissed as pain shot through her body.
“Hang on just a bit longer, love. I just need to put distance between us and the surgery, to make sure we’re safe,” Kai murmured.
She was about to say she understood when he stopped suddenly. She bit her lip and turned her face toward Kai’s chest to keep from screaming.
It was only when Kai placed her on something soft a minute later that Jane realize she’d closed her eyes. She tried to open them, but they were unusually heavy.
Kai said, “One second and I’ll help you, love. I just need to reinforce the door and fetch a few supplies.”
For the brief moment his heat disappeared from her side, Jane shivered. Just as she finally managed to open her eyes, Kai was next to her again. “I need to check your shoulder and see if I can stop the bleeding. I won’t lie, it’s going to hurt. Are you ready?”
She bobbed her head and steeled herself for what was to come.
Kai ripped the remnants of her shirt to expose the wound. Jane glanced down and her previous meal threatened to come up.
While she could handle seeing a little blood, she had a gaping wound with more exposed tissue than she wanted to see. No wonder she was on the verge of passing out. “Am I going to die?”
“No fucking way I’m going to let that happen.” He took some towels with him as he raced inside a small room adjacent to what she surmised was a toilet and came back with wet towels.
He dabbed around her wound and spots started to fill her vision. “Kai, I’m going to pass out.”
“Stay with me as long as possible, Janey.”
“I—” Lightheadedness made the room sway. “I love you, Kai. I hope you know that.”
“Don’t you dare say goodbye to me, Jane Hartley.”
Someone pounded on the door.
Kai pressed a dry towel against her wound and she cried out. He murmured apologies as he quickly tied another piece of material around it.
The pounding intensified. Kai lightly traced her cheek before murmuring, “Stay with me a little longer, Janey.”
She wanted to say she would, but it was becoming harder to keep her eyes open.
With a curse, Kai shouted, “Who is it?”
“Rhydian Griffiths. Open this bloody door, Kai Sutherland. That’s an order.”
As Kai moved to the door, Jane tried to reach a hand out to ask him to stay. However, she could do little more than watch Kai’s back before the world went dark.
~~~
Leaving Jane to open the door was the hardest thing Kai had done in years. But if there was anyone who could help him and his mate, it was Snowridge’s clan leader.
Kai moved his temporary barricade and threw open the door. The instant it was open, he raced back to Jane’s side.
She was unconscious.
Fuck. He glanced over his shoulder, but he didn’t see any of the doctors or nurses he knew. “Jane needs medical attention straight away. I slowed down the bleeding, but she might need surgery.”
“All of the on-duty medical staff are unconscious. I need to know what happened in there, Kai.”
He cupped Jane’s cheek and slowly moved his fingers to her carotid artery. Her heart beat was steady but slower than he liked. He finally answered, “I know you have at least one retired doctor here. Fetch him and I’ll talk.”
Rhydian signaled to one of his Protectors, who took out a mobile and went into the hallway. “Dr. Hughes will be along shortly. Now, start talking.”
Kai never took his gaze from Jane as he answered, “I woke up to Maggie Jones kissing me and all hell broke loose.” Kai rehashed the events before asking, “How did this happen, Rhydian? I trusted you, and now my mate could die.”
“Not everyone welcomes humans as you do, Kai. I’ve learned to tolerate them out of necessity, but there are no human sacrifices here, nor have there been for quite a while. I suspect the children being kidnapped and everyone blaming the human dragon hunters was the final straw for the extremist few.” He paused and his voice was quiet when he said, “In truth, I’ve had a hard enough time filling the ranks with new Protectors after what happened with Gwendolen Price.”
During her time with the British Army, Gwendolen Price had fallen in love with a human soldier, become pregnant, and when injured during a mission, her human lover had sacrificed himself to save her. Shortly after, she had been discharged and had spent her time on Snowridge, raising her half-human daughter.
Rhydian added, “Lowering standards ultimately resulted in corruption, such as with Maggie’s cousin. With my most trusted Protectors out looking for your sister and the missing children, the less reliable were left here. I accept full responsibility for the chaos.”
Kai watched the rise and fall of Jane’s chest. There was a lot he wanted to ask, but his mate’s health was the most important thing to him at the moment. “Once Jane is out of danger, we’re going to have a much longer conversation, Rhydian. Until then, I suggest you clean up the ranks of your Protectors.”
“It’s already being done. Rest assured that Maggie Jones will face trial for her transgressions.”
At the mention of Maggie, his dragon roared and began thrashing once more. Kai couldn’t risk his beast taking control, so he slowly reinforced the mental cage. By the time he finished, Dr. Arwel Hughes—the retired doctor who had helped Stonefire with finding a cure for the dragon madness drug—burst into the room with a bag in hand.
Despite his gray hair and slightly stooped shoulders, he pushed Kai aside and began removing the makeshift bandage.
“If there’s anything I can do, Doctor, please tell me,” Kai said.
Dr. Hughes didn’t deviate from his task. “Just stay out of my way. If I need something from my bag, I’ll ask and you can give it to me.”
Kai gave the doctor room to do his work. He didn’t know if Dr. Hughes had any experience with humans since his training days decades ago. But he was still better than no doctor at all.
Rather than worry about something he couldn’t change, Kai focused on Jane’s face. Even though she was unconscious, he would use every bit of stubbornness he possessed to will her to live.
Because a life without Jane would be worse than hell. He’d gone through it once when Maggie had rejected him and he’d survived. But Kai wasn’t sure he could survive it again without Jane at his side.