Releasing the Dragon Read online

  As the shadow hand started to draw the nut—tiny dog and all—into Slo’vv’s chest, Annie couldn’t be still any more.

  “Oh no, please don’t!” she exclaimed before she could stop herself. “You’ll kill it!”

  There was a collective gasp from everyone in the room and they all stared at her and then at Slo’vv to see how the shadow-being would take her remark.

  Dru frowned and his eyes slitted open briefly to reveal the inner fire as he took a step that put himself between her and Slo’vv.

  “Forgive my x’aan-chow—she has a tender heart,” he growled and gave Annie a warning look.

  Slo’vv’s yellow eyes turned suddenly red but when he spoke, his hissing voice was mild.

  “That iss all right—it iss perfectly true that I decimate and destroy whatever I take within me. It iss my nature as a Shade-being to do so.” He leaned forward, focusing on Annie which made her shiver. “If you are sso fond of thiss little beast, you may have it, my dear. If you are willing to come and take it from my hand.”

  “Annie…” Dru’s voice held a warning growl but Annie chose not to hear it. Straightening her shoulders, she took a deep breath and nodded.

  “All right.”

  Dru didn’t try to stop her but he stayed protectively close as she crawled forward until she was right in front of the shadow-being—or Shade-being as he apparently called himself. This close to him she felt as though a chilly wind was blowing against her mostly-exposed skin.

  More than anything, Annie didn’t want to touch him—didn’t want to make contact with the weird, shadowy stuff that seemed to make up his body. But the poor little dog was whining and crouching low in the purple walnut and she knew if she didn’t take it away from him, Slo’vv would kill it, as surely as he had killed the everything plant and the light-up music cube.

  Taking a deep breath, she reached for the nut. She tried not to touch Slo’vv as she took it, but as she picked the nut with its precious contents out of his hand, tendrils of his shadowy black substance curled upward and traced along the bottom of her palm.

  Immediately her mind was filled with horrible ideas.

  Dru hates me and can’t wait to get rid of me…The minute I get home I’ll be fired from my job…My parents are dead—they got in car wreck and I didn’t even get to say goodbye…

  Then she was snatching the jewel-box purple walnut away from the creepy Shadow-being and throwing herself backward, away from him.

  Dru leaned down and caught her as she clutched the nut with the tiny dog protectively to her chest. Annie barely felt his hands. She was staring with wide eyes at Slo’vv who was regarding her with a disturbingly hungry look in his yellow eyes.

  “Mosst intriguing,” he hissed, staring at Annie. “You have courage, my dear. And your fear iss also mosst tasty…”

  The horrible thoughts were gone but Annie still felt like about a thousand spiders had just crawled all over her skin. She said nothing but held the nut safe in her hand. Inside it, the little dog had stopped whimpering and she felt a tiny, warm wet tongue lick her thumb gratefully.

  “It’s all right, little guy,” she whispered. “Everything is all right—I’m not going to let him have you.”

  “I think we had best go,” Dru remarked. Leaning down, he swung her up into his arms. “It seems my x’aan-chow is…tired after a long day of travel and excitement.”

  “Very well, Drugair. I thank you for your giftsss…and for the taste of your pet’sss fear.” Slo’vv’s high, hissing voice seemed to echo in Annie’s head. “I hope we may expect to ssee you at dinner shortly?”

  “Yes. Yes, of course.” Dru nodded shortly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must see to my pet.”

  Still holding Annie, he bowed his head briefly and turned, taking her away from the freaky Shadow-being to Annie’s great relief.

  Sixteen

  “You should not have done that.” Dru paced the room, his Drake roaring within him, angry at the perceived danger to the female he wanted to claim as a mate.

  But Annie refused to look chastened or remorseful. She lifted her chin and frowned at him.

  “You shouldn’t have given him a living thing! How could you possibly think of letting him kill this poor little guy?”

  She held up her palm where the tiny canine frisked and played, barking with high, almost inaudible joy.

  “I did not know it was a real canine,” Dru growled, frowning down at her. “I thought it was some clever kind of toy. But regardless of its status, you should have let Slo’vv have it! Now that he has gifted it to you, you are in his debt.”

  “In his debt?” Annie shivered, looking worried for the first time. “How…what am I supposed to do to pay him?” She made a face. “Nothing sexual, I hope. Because I’ll be your x’aan-chow and follow you around like a good little kitty but there are limits.”

  “I will have to try and find him another gift to erase the one you owe him.” Dru sighed, making a mental inventory of the items he had left. He had given the best ones to the Shadow-Demon already and he wasn’t certain if anything that remained would suffice. After all, what could be equal to Annie’s curvy, goddess-kissed beauty?

  “Well maybe we won’t be here long enough for him to demand another gift,” she suggested hopefully, breaking his train of thought. “After all, we’re just trying to find out about that Zar’ren guy right—about what he has planned for the Mother Ship?”

  “Yes, but that is easier said than done,” Dru pointed out darkly. “Zar’ren is notoriously tight-lipped until he is ready to reveal himself.”

  “I bet I can get at least some information from his x’aan-chows,” Annie said thoughtfully. “Aren’t we going to dinner in a few minutes?”

  Dru nodded. “We are.”

  “I’ll see if I can talk to them then. Remember, I’m your man on the ground. Or your woman on the ground, I guess.” She smiled at him and then looked thoughtful. “You know, speaking of getting information, there’s something strange about the girls Zar’ren brought with him. Especially the little one—that Tatti.”

  Dru scowled. “I know it might seem strange and heartless for him to bring a virgin and invite others to despoil her but I assure you, Zar’ren is capable of that and many other cruelties.”

  “Yes, that’s awful,” Annie agreed. “But there’s something strange about Tatti—something I can’t quite put my finger on. She—”

  Just then a huge gonging sound reverberated through the entire Shadow Palace and they both jumped.

  “Oh my God!” Annie pressed a hand to her chest. “What in the world?”

  “That’s simply the summons to Last Meal—or dinner as they call it here,” Dru explained. “Come—put your tiny canine back in his shell. Food and drink are provided by the nut that houses him and too much time spent outside it will weaken him.”

  Annie looked like she wanted to protest but when she heard this, she nodded and placed the tiny canine back inside the wrinkled purple nut shell. The moment he got inside it, he settled tiredly on the blue satin cushion and promptly went to sleep.

  Carefully, Annie shut the lid and placed it on a nearby night table beside the vast bed which dominated the sleeping chamber Dru had been assigned. She looked up at him, her ears pricked forward and her tail lashing.

  “All right—I’m ready to go.”

  Dru sighed deeply. He didn’t like taking her to Slo’vv’s table, especially feeling that she owed the Shade-being a favor. But there was little else he could do. Within, his Drake roared angrily, proclaiming that their female was in danger and they ought to leave at once and take her someplace safe.

  “Hush,” Dru told it. “We cannot go yet. I must complete my mission.”

  But the Drake was not happy as he picked up Annie’s leash again and led her out of their rooms and down the plushly carpeted corridor to the dining area.

  The dining room was a grand affair that looked like something out of Arabian Nights, Annie thought. There was a long,
low table only about two feet from the floor and under it was a kind of long trench where the wealthy Masters could put their legs as they leaned back against high-backed, luxurious pillows embroidered with gold and silver thread.

  The carpet in the room was made of the same spongy material as Slo’vv’s private salon, so crawling on it was at least comfortable. There were name cards at the various places and Dru soon found his and beckoned her to follow. They were sitting at one end with Slo’vv at the head of the long table, to Dru’s right and Zar’ren directly to his left.

  Annie wondered where she was supposed to be—there wasn’t room in the trench under the table for even the smallest x’aan-chow to fit and she definitely wasn’t the smallest. But when Dru led her around to the where he was sitting, he told her she was supposed to be at his side throughout the meal so he could feed her tidbits from his plate.

  “Although I warn you,” he murmured as they settled at the table. “Do not expect the kind of food you are used to. The Shadow Palace serves things to Slo’vv’s taste—not so much his guests’.”

  Annie wondered what that meant but then everyone finished getting settled, including Zar’ren who came in, leading his two sex-pets on leashes. Mirabella looked bored and Annie saw that Tatti looked frightened but her collar was still red and white so presumably she had escaped being deflowered. That was good, at least.

  As the two girls settled, one on either side of their master, she thought she saw a good opportunity to get some information. Carefully, she scooted closer to Mirabella, who was the closer of the two pets, and tried to strike up a conversation.

  “Hey, have you ever been here before? This is my first time,” she whispered to the girl beside her.

  Maribella tossed her white-blonde hair and wiggled her bunny ears.

  “Oh, yes, I’ve been here before. Zar’ren always engages me when he comes to the Maw Cluster.”

  “He does?” Annie looked at her in surprise. “So…he doesn’t own you?”

  “Of course not. I’m a professional, independent sex-contractor.” Mirabella looked proud of her status. “I’m well-paid to pretend to be one of these sad little x’aan-chows. But I never really have to do anything but hop on the self-pleasure machine and give the males in the room a show.” She shrugged as though it was no big deal to masturbate in front of a room full of men. But if she was the kind of “professional” Annie thought she was, it might not be to her.

  “Well…what about poor little Tatti then?” Annie nodded her head at the other x’aan-chow who was shivering with apparent fear on the other side of the vast, tall cushion Zar’ren was seated against.

  “Oh, her?” Maribella gave a most unladylike snort. “Don’t feel too bad for her. She’s a puppet.”

  “A what? You mean like a Pairing Puppet?” Annie couldn’t have been more surprised. And yet…hadn’t she thought there was something strange about Tatti? That her eyes were too big and her proportions were wrong? And her halting way of speaking sounded unnatural too—she had the same mechanical note in her voice as the puppet Annie had displaced to go with Dru on this mission.

  “Exactly.” Maribella nodded. “A Pairing Puppet.”

  “But…but why bring a professional, um, sex-contractor and a puppet to a place like this?” Annie asked.

  The other girl shrugged her slim shoulders nonchalantly.

  “You want my take on it? My ‘master’ there is part Kindred. And no matter what he says about hating the rest of his race, he can’t get away from his genes. Kindred are nearly incapable of hurting or mistreating females which is, of course, what this place is all about. So to fit in, Master Zar’ren has to make it appear he’s abiding by the rules. And of course, bringing a puppet like Tatti and branding her a virgin who’s open to free play makes him seem hard-core nasty.”

  “I see.” They were still hiding behind the tall cushions where the masters were all sitting but Annie craned her neck and dared to look around Zar’ren’s high-backed cushion to catch a glimpse of him. With the shiny silver patch over his eye and his bare, muscular arms he certainly looked the part of the bad guy. But maybe he was soft-hearted after all?

  “Don’t let the fact that he brought a puppet and a professional with him fool you,” Maribella murmured when she drew back. “He’s still got some nasty tricks up his sleeve, does my master. Just you steer clear of him and you’ll be all right.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” Annie murmured. “I’ll be sure I stay out of his way. I—”

  But just then another gong sounded and a loud voice proclaimed, “The first course is served!”

  “Annie, come,” Dru called and she crawled quickly to the side of his high cushion and looked up at him. “Stay near me,” he directed. “It’s time to eat.”

  Annie cuddled beside him, partially lying in his lap and watched as uniformed attendants dressed in dull black uniforms and spotless white gloves began bringing out dishes. She wondered again what kind of food would be served at the Shadow Palace.

  She didn’t have long to wait because the attendants put a large, wide bowl with a lid on it in front of Dru. Then, when everyone had one, the attendants drew off the lids with a flourish in what seemed to be a pre-arranged gesture.

  Annie looked at what was in the bowl wonderingly. It was some kind of black soup but the steam that rose from it didn’t rise at all—it fell, trickling off the edge of the soup bowl as though it was heavier than the air around it. It reminded her a little of dry ice except it was black.

  “Hmm—shadow broth.” Dru didn’t sound very enthusiastic but he picked up a large spoon gamely. The spoon was made of some black metal and it had a very deep bowl—looking almost more like a measuring spoon than a soup spoon, Annie saw. When Dru dipped into the shallow bowl, he merely held the spoon in the bowl and let it fill with the strange, heavy vapor coming off the soup. Then he raised it to his lips and sipped, sucking in the black steam with a perfectly straight face.

  “What does it taste like? Is it good?” Annie whispered. She was both hungry and curious. It had been a long time since the breakfast tray she’d refused from Liv. The soup smelled strange—kind of musty—but she was, as always, ready to try new things.

  “I do not think you would like it,” Dru answered in a low voice. “If you wait until we get back to our rooms, I have some things for you there.”

  “Let your little pet try the ssshadow broth, Drugair,” Slo’vv hissed from the head of the table.

  Annie gasped and turned her head to see that the Shade-being was watching her avidly with his large, yellow eyes. It gave her a nasty shock to realize he’d been looking at her and she crowded a little closer to Dru’s side.

  “Go on,” Slo’vv said again, extending a black arm from his torso and flicking shadowy fingers at Dru. “Let her try. It might be to her tasste.”

  “Very well.” With a straight face, Dru allowed the deep bowl of the spoon to fill again and held it out to Annie. “Pretend to like it,” he murmured in a voice so low she felt it rather than heard it.

  Feeling uncertain, Annie leaned forward and sipped the black vapor from the spoon. It was strangely cold and again she was reminded of dry ice—then the taste hit her.

  Ugh! If someone had boiled dirty gym socks and sweaty jock straps and mixed the resulting stew with a liberal dose of the dust from an old bowl of wax fruit, that might have come closest to the flavor of the shadow broth. In short, none of the flavors in the soup tasted remotely edible and all of them were nasty.

  The disgusting flavors coated her tongue, making Annie want to gag. Somehow, she managed not to—though it was a near thing.

  “Mmm,” she managed to say, through gritted teeth. “That is…extremely different.”

  “I’m ssso glad you enjoy it, my dear.” Slo’vv’s yellow eyes gleamed. “It is a specialty of my home planet. Would you care for sssome more?”

  “Actually, right now I’m really thirsty,” Annie demurred. She looked up at Dru hopefully. “Master, may
I have a drink?”

  “Of course, teeska.” Dru started to give her a sip from his water glass—or Annie assumed the stuff in it was water—but Slo’vv grew several long arms and gestured impatiently at the servers.

  “No, no—pour them some of the wraith wine we purchassed just lasst year.”

  One of the servers came with a wide-mouthed bottle that was almost more of a jar and poured a stream of chunky, navy-blue ooze into a goblet and handed it to Dru.

  He brought it to his lips and took a sip before offering it to Annie. His face was impassive but there was a warning in his eyes and she was careful to barely let the stuff pass her lips. But even a little was too much.

  Sour…rotten…moldy—these were the words that popped immediately to mind. It was all Annie could do not to spit it out and gag. However, she somehow managed to swallow and nod cordially at their host.

  “Mmm, delicious. But it’s…kind of strong for me. Master, may I have some water?” she asked, feeling desperate to get the awful flavors that were swirling on her tongue out of her mouth.

  “Here you are.” Dru gave her a sip from his water glass, which thankfully tasted of nothing but water and mostly washed away the repulsive taste of the soup and wine. All around her, she noticed masters and sex-pets also drinking water thirstily and nobody was really touching the first course. After one polite sip of the Shadow broth, the masters mostly drew circles with their spoons in the strange stuff. Clearly no one really liked it, for which she didn’t blame them a bit—it was repulsive.

  Now I see why Dru said Slo’vv serves food to his own tastes, not his guests’ tastes, she thought and wondered what could possibly be next.

  She soon found out. The black-clad attendants whisked away the mostly-full soup bowls and brought covered plates to sit before each guest. As before, they drew off the lids in a coordinated flourish, revealing what looked like a charred lump of meat—or maybe just a big piece of charcoal.