Releasing the Dragon Read online

  “I…I’m all right.” Annie’s teeth were chattering and she realized she was chilled to the bone. It was as though she’d gone out in subzero temperatures without any clothes on.

  “Sweetheart…you are so cold!” There was a break in his voice and once again Annie had the sensation of big, invisible wings enfolding her. Heat radiated against her skin as the big Kindred cuddled her protectively against his broad chest.

  “S-sorry,” she whispered. The purple walnut was still clenched tightly in one hand. Her fingers felt frozen but somehow she managed to open them and flip back the lid of the tiny jewel-box nut.

  Please let him be all right, she prayed, though she wasn’t sure who she was praying to. Please, oh please—don’t let that awful blackness have killed Nutter Butter!

  Inside, on the blue satin cushion was a tiny lump of fur, no bigger than the end of her finger.

  “Nutter,” she whispered to the little dog. “Hey, sweet baby—are you all right, Nutter Butter?”

  At first there was no response. Then, to her intense relief, the little ball of fur unrolled itself and a tiny face with ink-spot eyes came into view. The miniature dog was trembling all over but when he licked her fingertip, his little tongue was warm and the tiny yip-yip-yip that came from him sounded strong.

  “He’s all right!” Annie felt tears of relief rise to her eyes. “Oh, Dru—he’s all right!”

  “Thank the Goddess you are also all right,” he growled, sounding half angry, half worried. “You took an awful chance, Annie. A Shadow Demon is not a creature to play with.”

  “But issn’t that exactly what you have been doing—playing with me? Pretending to be sssomething you are not?” Slo’vv’s voice hissed, reminding Annie that their host was still there, in the long hallway with them.

  Dru looked at the Shade-being, still holding Annie close to his body.

  “It is true—I have deceived you. But only in the service of my people. I had to know what Zar’ren was planning for the Kindred.”

  “You owe me compensation for your untruthsss,” Slo’vv hissed. “You owe me the girl. Give her to me!”

  Dru’s eyes glowed.

  “I will rip you to shreds and feed each cursed piece of you to the blackness of space before I let you near her again,” he growled.

  Slo’vv manifested glowing yellow eyes to go with his sharp yellow fangs.

  “I will allow you one more chance, Drugair. Give her to me and all will be forgiven—the debt will be paid between usss. If you do not, you will never be welcome in my home again.”

  “Then we are no longer friends.” Dru lifted his chin. “Annie is mine—I will never give her to you.”

  “Very well.” Suddenly Slo’vv began to grow…his shadow-like substance filling the corridor like roiling black smoke. “Then go! The Shadow Palace and the entire Maw Cluster isss closed to you forever!”

  Dru didn’t answer with words. Instead, he turned with Annie still in his arms and jogged down the corridor, heading—she hoped—for the exit. Looking over his broad shoulder, she could see the black smoke rolling towards them like a plague cloud. The feeling of dread and horror was growing again and icy chills were running down her back despite the heat of Dru’s big body.

  “Hurry,” she urged him, shutting the nut to keep her little dog safe from the awful smoke. Somehow she knew if it enveloped them, there would be no getting out of it a second time. Both of their hearts would stop before they could even begin to fight back.

  The elevator was right in front of them and as they ran, its broad doors opened and the strange Doggers—the dogs with human heads—that had first greeted them, came bounding out.

  They began to growl at Dru but then they stopped short when they saw the roiling black cloud of smoke filling the hallway. Their growls abruptly turned to uncertain barks as both tucked their tails between their legs.

  As they stood there, trembling and obviously uncertain about what to do, Dru ran past them and into the elevator. He turned, slapping one hand flat to the side of the elevator and muttered hoarsely, “Up!”

  As the doors began to close, Annie saw the two dog-men enveloped in the choking black cloud. A high, frantic whining rose from their throats and then died abruptly as they fell over, their human eyes wide and staring.

  Dead, she thought. Oh my God, they’re dead!

  “Give her to me!” Slo’vv’s dry, cold, hissing voice seemed to fill the entire corridor like the smoke that was chasing them. “Give the girl to me now or both of you ssshall die!”

  “Never!” Dru roared back. Tendrils of black smoke drifted into the elevator as the doors continued to close. Vast invisible wings spread and fanned the air in answer, driving the smoke out.

  The last thing Annie saw of the Shadow Demon Slo’vv was his glowing yellow eyes boring into hers. And then the doors clanged shut and the elevator began to rise to safety.

  “Oh Dru,” she whispered in a trembling voice. “Are we going to be all right? Can he reach us in here?”

  “I will not allow his smoke to enter here,” Dru growled softly. “We will soon be back in my ship and away, teeska. Everything will be all right—I swear it.”

  “Thank you.” Annie buried her face in his chest, trying not to tremble too hard. Only when the elevator at last opened and they stepped out into the parking area and she breathed the fresh air, did the trembling stop.

  “Oh Dru,” she whispered. “Let’s go home.”

  Nineteen

  “Commander Sylvan? Commander Sylvan is that you? I must speak to you! Please, come in!” Dru was nearly frantic by the time the Blood Kindred Commander’s face appeared on his viewscreen. He seemed to see Dru’s anxiety at once.

  “Yes, Drugair—what has happened? What’s wrong?”

  “First tell me this—are you well? Is everyone on the Mother Ship all right?” Dru demanded. He was already flying his ship out of the Maw Cluster, heading home, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering yoke and waited for Sylvan’s reply.

  “Well…yes. We are all perfectly fine.” Sylvan looked mystified. “Why? What happened at the Shadow Palace?”

  “It must have been a bluff.” Dru slumped in relief but reminded himself he couldn’t get too complacent.

  “A bluff?” Sylvan frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “Zar’ren—he knew who I was.” Dru grimaced. “I’m afraid my cover is blown at the Shadow Palace. I can never go back there—or to the Maw Cluster period, for that matter.”

  “You are useful in other fields too,” Sylvan reminded him. “But tell me—what did Zar’ren say?”

  Briefly, Dru filled his commander in on the effects of Xi-46 and the rogue Kindred’s threat.

  “He told me he had already deployed massive amounts of the chemical throughout the Mother Ship,” Dru finished. “But I suppose he was only bluffing in order to assure himself that I really was a Kindred agent and not a merchant as I had claimed.”

  “We are all well here,” Sylvan repeated. “But I’ll have the ship searched just to be sure. How did Zar’ren say he would deploy this aphrodisiac chemical?”

  Dru shook his head. “Forgive me, Commander—I didn’t think to ask. He claimed he had already deployed it and I was frantic to be certain the Mother Ship was all right. But according to Zar’ren, the compound can be distilled into a liquid, made into a solid, or heated and turned into a vapor.”

  “Then the most likely places to check are the ventilation shafts and the water distribution system,” Sylvan said gravely. “I’ll have both searched although I don’t know how he would have gotten anything into either area—even if he’d managed somehow to get aboard. We have both systems locked up tight and guarded constantly.”

  “I don’t know either but I do know this—usually when Zar’ren makes a threat, he follows through with it,” Dru said.

  “We’ll have to check quietly,” Sylvan remarked. “I don’t want to cause a panic.”

  “If you’ll fold space for
us, Commander Sylvan, I’ll come and help you check over the ship,” Dru offered. “I want to see with my own eyes that everything is as it should be.”

  Sylvan nodded.

  “I’ll have it done at once. Come back as soon as you can, Drugair. Sylvan out.”

  The viewscreen went blank and the next moment, a jagged red gash appeared in the blackness of space before them.

  Beside him, strapped in the passenger’s chair, Annie drew in a sharp breath.

  “What the hell is that?”

  “The fold,” Dru said shortly. “It allows us to journey from one part of the universe to another instantaneously. We went through it to get here in the first place.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “I suppose you didn’t realize what was happening since you were in the back, pretending to be a Pairing Puppet.”

  “I do remember feeling really wrong at one point—like my body was growing or shrinking or changing somehow.” Annie frowned. “I guess at least this time I’m prepared for it.”

  “Good, because we are going in.” Dru took a tighter grip on the yoke and steered the shuttle directly into the red gash.

  A moment later they emerged into a familiar part of space. To the right of his viewscreen, he saw the green and blue globe of the Earth. To the left, was the Earth’s single moon. The smooth, white sides of the Mother Ship could be seen orbiting around it.

  Dru headed for the Earth.

  “Hey!” Annie had been gripping the armrests of her seat tightly as they came out of the fold but now she sat up in her chair, frowning. “Hey, why are we going to Earth? The Mother Ship is that way.” She pointed at the viewscreen.

  “We are going to Earth so I can drop you off someplace safe before I go help search the Mother Ship for any traces of Xi-46,” Dru said firmly.

  “But…but I could help search,” she protested. “You know I could, Dru. Didn’t Commander Sylvan say he didn’t want to cause a panic? You need everyone you can get who already knows the situation and won’t freak out about it.”

  “No.” Dru frowned at her. “Absolutely not. I don’t want you exposed to the compound again. You heard what Zar’ren said—you could have a much worse reaction next time. You might need…” He cleared his throat. “More help than I can give you.”

  Her eyes widened and then narrowed.

  “Meaning what—you’re afraid I’d need you to make love to me—to Claim me—in order to get me over it?”

  Dru felt his Drake shift inside him and tried to quiet it.

  “Exactly.” He kept his eyes straight ahead as he flew. “And as you know, I cannot do that.”

  “What, not ever?” Annie’s voice sounded choked. “I mean, I know neither of us was, uh, interested in that when we first met. But now…after everything we’ve been through together…after the way you were so upset and protective when you thought I was threatened or in danger…I guess I just thought…”

  “The fact that you were in danger was the problem,” Dru said harshly. “You nearly died, Annie. All because you came with me on a mission. I almost couldn’t protect you. Almost lost you.” He could barely get the words out and his Drake roared inside him with anguish at the thought.

  “I thought we made a pretty good team,” Annie said in a small voice. “I thought maybe, after you Claimed me we could…I don’t know—maybe do it again? I like going undercover.”

  Dru glared at her. “Are you serious? You think I would risk you again? Never!”

  “But you won’t Claim me either, will you? Won’t—what do you Kindred call it? Won’t bond me to you,” she snapped.

  “No.” Dru’s hands tightened on the steering yoke until the plasti-steel creaked. “No, I will not risk bonding you to me.”

  “Because of your Drake?” Annie demanded. “Because I make him uncomfortable? Because I don’t think that’s true, Dru. I think he likes me and wants us to be together!”

  “That is only part of it,” Dru said, trying to quell the roaring of his darker half as it agreed wholeheartedly with her.

  “It’s all of it,” Annie protested. There were angry tears in her big brown eyes which she swiped away with the back of her hand. “You said before you don’t want to let him out—that it would shame you and your family. That’s the whole reason you won’t bond me to you—because I make you feel too much—I bring your Drake too close to the surface. And you’re afraid if you give in to me, you’ll have to let him out.”

  “That is not true!” Dru shouted, tightening his grip on the yoke some more.

  Gods, if he wasn’t careful he would rip it out of its socket! Then how would he steer? Taking a deep breath, he attempted to quiet both himself and his Drake.

  “Annie,” he said, turning towards her. “Please try to understand. My Drake is only part of the problem. I cannot claim you because I have a dangerous job. It wouldn’t be fair to leave you wondering if I would come back every time I took a new mission. Or to ask you to join me in the danger.”

  “Except you’re not asking me at all—you’re telling me. Making the decision for both of us.” She was crying openly now but she had her face turned away, as though she didn’t want him to see her tears.

  “Annie…” Dru felt like his heart was tearing in two. “Teeska, please…”

  “No!” She turned to face him, her eyes red. “I may still be wearing these damn tail and ears but I am not your pet—not a stupid animal you can make decisions for. We dreamed of each other for months—and we risked for each other up there in the Shadow Palace. I should have a say in this too. An equal say.”

  “Oh?” Dru tried to keep his gaze impassive, his voice calm as he landed his ship carefully right outside the apartment building that housed her domicile. “And what do you say, Annie?”

  “I say I love you, you big dumb jerk!” she flared at him. “But it’s clear you don’t love me back!”

  “Annie…” His heart gave a painful thud and inside him, his Drake gave a mournful howl. “Annie, I do love you,” he protested, knowing at last that it was true. He didn’t know how he had started but now he couldn’t seem to stop. “I do love you and it’s because I love you that I cannot bond you to me. I wish—”

  “Save it.” She glared at him as she fumbled open the flight harness straps that held her to the chair. “I’m not listening to any more of your sanctimonious crap! I’m leaving—don’t bother me again.”

  With that, she slammed out of the shuttle, headed for the door of her apartment building. Dru saw her tear off the little black feline ears as she went and throw them to the ground. Somehow the angry, hurt gesture seemed to go straight to his heart. He put a fist to his chest, feeling it thud painfully.

  “Mine, you cannot let her go—mine! She should be ours—mine!” his Drake’s mental roars were deafening but Dru held his other half down with an iron fist and refused to listen.

  “It is for the best,” he said aloud, talking to both himself and his Drake. “This is the only way to keep her safe.”

  Then he pulled up on the yoke and took the shuttle back into the air. His last glimpse of Annie was of her disappearing into her apartment building, the black cat tail swishing angrily behind her.

  Twenty

  “Stupid Kindred asshole!” Annie muttered to herself as she rode up the elevator and stalked down the hallway that led to her apartment.

  The sun was shining with bright, Florida intensity through the window at the end of the hallway. It was early morning here on Earth—apparently the whole trip to the Maw Cluster and back again had only taken an Earth day and night. It was hard to believe…hard to comprehend how her life had changed so radically in such a short amount of time.

  I’ll never be the same, Annie thought, feeling a sob rise in her throat and swallowing it down with some difficulty. I’ll never feel whole. Dru was supposed to be my other half—I know that now. Only he doesn’t want me.

  The thought made her want to sink down right where she was in the hallway and start bawling like a baby. Only the f
act that she was still wearing the shimmery, mostly see-through silver outfit and had the damn cat tail shoved up her butt stopped her. She couldn’t let her neighbors see her in this state—if they did, she’d have to move. She would never be able to show her face in the hallways and elevator again!

  As though the thought of neighbors had called to her, Mrs. Hofstadter’s door opened and her gray head popped out. The moment she saw Annie and took in what she was wearing, her faded blue eyes opened wide. However, she was nice enough not to talk about the outfit.

  “Why Annie honey, there you are. I was so worried about you!” she exclaimed. “You never came home the other night and then this young man came looking for you this morning.”

  Annie’s heart gave a nasty lurch in her chest.

  “He did? Who was he? What did he look like?”

  “Well, let me see. He was about so tall…” Mrs. Hofstadter raised her wrinkled hand about a foot above her head. “And he had light blue eyes and light hair—but not much of it though.”

  Annie felt another lurch—this time in her stomach.

  “Did…did he say his name? Was it Christian?” she asked, feeling sick.

  Mrs. Hofstadter shook her head.

  “Well actually, no he didn’t. But he did say he was an old friend of yours from high school.” She grinned conspiratorially at Annie. “I thought he might be that old flame you were going on about.”

  Dimly, Annie did remember gushing to her elderly neighbor about how she hoped she could hook up with her old high school crush. It had only been a few nights ago but it felt like years had passed since that conversation.

  “Well, I’m not interested in him now,” she told Mrs. Hofstadter. “He turned out to be a jerk.” A jerk who had somehow found out where she lived. But she felt too tired and heartsick to really consider that right now.

  “He did? Oh my—what a shame! I’m so sorry, dear.” Mrs. Hofstadter patted her arm consolingly. “Well don’t you worry—there are plenty more fish in the sea.”