Anna awoke in a cramped bedroom. The room looked like something from another time– the walls were made of gray stone, the furniture was dark wood and old-fashioned, and everything seemed to have a Victorian Gothic look to it. As soon as she came to, she rushed to the solid-looking wood door and began to bang on it, screaming and pounding until her hands became sore and her voice hoarse. But no one responded. Once she realized her cries were going to go unheeded, she collapsed onto the bed, her body wracking with sobs.
She couldn't believe what had happened; she couldn't believe Jason had betrayed her. All this time, everything he'd said to her, he'd done with her, was all cover for whatever was now happening, this strange kidnapping she was now a part of. And on top of it all, not even the children were safe. Anna's heart ached as she thought of William and Sophia, both locked away in a room likely no different than this, in the grips of fear.
Anna paced back and forth in the room, her stomach tying itself in knots. Who was this young man, she wondered, and what did he want with her?
Before she could consider the questions for very long, however, the door unlocked with a metallic thunk and opened with a creak.
Anna's eyes shot to the door, adrenaline already pumping through her body. She balled her hands into tight fists, ready to fight anyone who would try to take her anywhere.
But it wasn't just anyone at the door. It was Jason.
Anna rushed toward him anyway, slamming her fists against his chest, trying to do him as much harm as she could.
"Calm down!" he said in a stern voice. "Stop!"
"You fucker!" she shouted. "What the hell have you done to me?"
Jason grabbed her wrists and easily restrained her.
"You need to stop this right now," he said. "I can explain everything, but you need to be calm or they'll leave you in here alone again."
Frustrated tears poured down Anna's face, but she knew she had no other options. Not to mention, she wanted answers.
"Sit," said Jason, pointing to the bed.
Anna complied. Jason shut the door behind him and took a seat in one of the deep-red chairs near the bed.
"Where am I?" demanded Anna.
"You're in the Hamptons," said Jason. "The rich part. The very rich part."
"And what am I doing here?"
Jason took a deep breath.
"You're here to get married."
"What?"
"Let me explain."
"You'd better."
Jason looked away, as if wondering just where to begin.
"My wife," he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth. "She was an…ambitious woman. A dragon, like me. Though, not quite, exactly."
"What does that mean?"
"Silver Dragon Mercenaries," said Jason. "Named for the color of me and the other mercs in my crew. Silver is…the most prized of all the colors. And the most powerful, not to mention, rare. My wife was not a silver dragon like me, but she had the ambition of one. Elena was her name. She was a low-born dragon, one I fell deeply in love with. Caused quite a scandal- silver dragons are expected to mate with other silvers and, well, make more of our kind. But we were in love and didn't care. We were wed, and Sophia and William were the result of our love. For a time, everything was good.
"But, like many women do, Elena seemed to think I wasn't living up to my potential as a silver. So, around a year ago, she decided it was time I be…pushed in the right direction. That desire brought her into conflict with the Abraxis Clan, one of the most powerful dragon clans in the western hemisphere. She manipulated the Abraxis into pitting their own mercenary squads against mine. She figured that after enough conflicts, the Silver Mercs would eventually be drawn into open war with the Abraxis Clan. And she came close to making this a reality. The other mercs and I were right on the edge of debating whether or not to take the Abraxis Clan out for good.
"But right before things went too far, I got to the bottom of the ‘secret client' who'd been sending us on all those missions against the Abraxis Clan: it was Elena. I called her out on it, telling her she'd been putting my life and the life of my men on the line, but she seemed to think it'd all be worth it when we killed off the Abraxis Clan and ruled in their place. I would've forgiven and forgotten in time, but, unfortunately for her, the Abraxis found everything out at the same time I did. And they weren't happy.
"They captured Elena and I, and brought us out here. They dragged us in front of the elders, telling me that my failure to keep my wife in check nearly brought ruin to their clan. Their punishment was swift and severe. Elena was executed right before my eyes while I was held, helpless; my wife was burned alive in front of me and there wasn't a thing I could do about it."
Anna could hear the pain in Jason's voice as he brought the memories back.
"I was certain they were going to kill me, too. But, to my shock, they decided to spare my life. I asked why, and they told me it was because, in exchange for my children not growing up as orphans, they would let me live in order to perform a service for them at some point in the future. I agreed, having no other choice. That's where you come in."
Anna was shocked to hear this; how could she have figured into the plans of beings like these dragons?
"There's a concept in the world of dragons known as being ‘fated'. It means that one possesses a strain of dragon blood so similar to another's, their bonding would be nearly unbreakable and that whatever offspring they produced would be powerful beyond compare. And Anna, you and I are fated for one another."
"What…" she said, hardly able to believe this. "…is this another lie?"
"No," he said, "this is why you're here, why you were selected to live with me. We'd known of you for months, and knew that, due to your fated nature, you would eventually find your way to us, to me. And when you finally did, I was to make you mine."
"But…why?"
"Because when your identity was learned, the Abraxis Clan let me know just how my favor was to be repaid: I was to bond with you, sleep with you, and impregnate you with my offspring. You see, your fated nature means you're not entirely human. Those spells you've been having? Those are symptoms of the dragon blood in your veins that'd been lying dormant becoming active due to the child that's growing inside you. It's a sign that you're becoming what you've always been."
"…Child?" she said, hardly able to speak the word. "Then that means…"
"That's right," said Jason. "It means you're pregnant."
The word echoed in Anna's mind. She couldn't believe what she'd heard.
"But that's not all," he said. "The favor owed is that once you've been given a child, you and the baby within you will be given over to Ionian Abraxis, the young man who brought you here. And once you're wed to him, the child will be bonded to the Abraxis Clan, and the power of your dormant ancient dragon blood and my silver dragon blood will result in a dragon of untold power, a dragon capable of ruling this city."
"And so why are you here now, to tell me just how fucked I am?" asked Anna, her courage rising.
"No," said Jason. "I was sent here to inform you of your situation, and to talk you into accepting it. Ionian doesn't want a weeping bride on the altar, after all. But this little fuck has killed my wife, taken my children, and stolen the woman I love. I'll be damned if he gets away with what he has in mind."
The woman I love? Anna thought. Does that mean that…?
And as she searched her feelings, she knew it was true. Not only that, but she knew she felt the same way. She should've hated Jason for what he'd done, but she couldn't bring herself to feel the anger she knew she was entitled to. All she cared about was getting Sophia and William home safe.
"Then what are we going to do?"
"I have a plan," Jason said. "You know I have a mercenary team, but you've only met me. Ionian thinks he has me here and out of contact, but he doesn't know there's a bond between us silver dragons that he can't begin to understand. And what I've got in mind, I'll need the power you don't even know you have…"