Dragon Seeker, Part Three Read online

  “Lumen told me where you were,” Minach said. “He gave me permission to leave London to come seek you out. I suspected that you might need me, though I know you’re perfectly competent and all.” He looked around at his surroundings for a moment. “As for why I’m here in this odd little garden…for some reason, my Dragon was drawn to this place as I flew over it. Now that you’ve emerged from underground like some sort of burrowing rodent, I suppose I understand why. So tell me, where’s that mate of yours?”

  “In the labyrinth under the hill, somewhere,” Lyre replied internally, his tone less than happy as he nodded towards the tower in the distance. “We were both down there, but…Bloody hell, it’s a long story. We were cut off from one another.” As he uttered the words, a familiar feeling overtook Lyre. His Dragon, rising up inside him, was growing angry, protective, as though he’d just woken from the effects of a tranquilizer dart only to realize that his treasure was missing.

  “You all right?” Minach asked, noting the strange look that had just overtaken his brother’s face.

  “Fine—just—my Dragon went dormant for a while, and he’s just now come back to me. It seems that being in your presence…Well, there are strange powers at work in this place.”

  “Our Dragons always were more powerful when we were together,” Minach replied. “It’s a good thing, because I’m fairly certain we’ll need them before this day is through. I take it that you weren’t alone under the hill, then?”

  Lyre shook his head. “We only saw one Lapsed, but I suspect there are Forsaken down there as well. I don’t know exactly why Beatrix and I were pried apart from one another, but it’s not good. I need to get to her; she’s not safe on her own. Besides, she has a mouth on her. She’ll provoke them, even if they don’t plan to kill her right away.” He nearly smiled at the thought of it. Dauntless, that’s what his mate was. She wasn’t the sort of woman who cowered in the face of danger.

  Minach frowned, his jaw tightening. It looked to Lyre as though the beast inside his brother was growing enraged as well. He didn’t have a mate of his own, but he would feel naturally protective of Trix, who was all but his sister now. “Well, then, you and I must find our way to her before her sailor-mouth gets too sassy,” he said. “Maybe it’s time to revive some of our old tricks.” His expression altered to reveal a mischievous side that Lyre hadn’t seen in many years.

  “But your leg,” Lyre said, recalling Minach’s extreme limp the last time they’d been together. “I’d nearly forgotten, you were injured. You can’t come with me.”

  “Injured? Nah. I’m much better than I was a few days back,” his twin said, leaping from foot to foot to demonstrate how much he’d improved. “Good news does that to a person. Or at least to a shifter. My healing seems to have accelerated since I found out about…” He cut himself off to search for the appropriate words.

  “You’re talking about my…about bonding with Beatrix,” Lyre said.

  “Lumen told me, yes, and I felt immediately better.” Minach looked deep into his twin’s eyes. “But he didn’t need to say anything, of course. I knew it already, Brother. I could feel your joy, even from a distance.”

  Lyre was shocked to see his brother looking so sincere, so lacking in his usual cynicism. As if the wall that he’d erected between them so long ago had come crashing down the day that he and Trix had claimed one another.

  “Listen, Lyre,” Minach added before his brother could speak, “I’m so sorry… for everything I did to you that day, and every day since. I’ve hated myself for it, for a lot of years now.”

  “I know you have,” Lyre replied, the words calm, gentle and full of understanding. “Believe me I know, and you are forgiven, and always have been. I’ve never wanted this rift to continue between us.”

  “Well, I suppose I didn’t give you a choice. It’s taken me this long to forgive myself, and hell, I still haven’t entirely done that. I feel as though I owe you. So let me help you to find your Seeker. Please.”

  Lyre smiled. “Fine. Yes. Help me find my mate before those bastards get to her,” he replied. “Wait a minute,” he added, studying his sibling’s face. “You…got a haircut since the last time I saw you.” This new, tidier style made Lyre feel a little as though he were looking into a mirror.

  “Yes. It was a strategic move, if you will,” Minach said out loud as he ran his fingers through his black mane. “I thought it might come in handy, in case you and I needed to face any unsavoury characters today. I wasn’t sure what clothing you’d be wearing, or I would have copied that as well.”

  “You look exactly like me, you fucker,” Lyre signed the words this time, chuckling as he did so.

  “Exactly like you, yes. Except more handsome, of course. I’ve always been more handsome.”

  “In a grouchy wanker sort of way, sure. Well, handsome or not, you’re not going to pull any idiotic manoeuvres, are you?” Lyre’s fingers moved through the words at lightning speed, and his twin hadn’t lost his knack for reading them. “I don’t want to have to kill you.”

  Minach shook his head. “Nothing idiotic. I think it’s time I made up for my past stupidity. So what say you and I find our way to your lady love, and kill some Forsaken bastards while we’re at it?”

  “I say let’s fucking go to it.”

  * * *

  “You’re here for the second Relic,” a woman’s voice said slowly, echoing through the chamber’s deep shadows. A menacing figure stepped out from the band of darkness that coated the walls in a thick mist around Trix. The lantern on the table, it seemed, only managed to illuminate the circular stone slab that it sat on and its immediate surroundings. Even Trix’s enhanced eyes couldn’t discern how many more figures might be standing in the darkness as the woman had been, waiting for the command to strike.

  “Yes,” Trix replied, holding her sword defensively in front of her face, both hands firmly grasping its hilt. “I’m looking for it. So don’t get in my way, Queen of the Subterranean Bitches or whoever you are, or my Dragon bone blade will find your throat faster than you can say foreskin.”

  The woman let out a chiming laugh that sent a wave of chills down Trix’s spine. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, a little too smooth, too soft. “We’re after the same thing, after all. I’m simply relying on you to do the work for us.”

  Us? A surge of disappointment and dread swept through Trix. Well, bollocks. Apparently the Queen has a whole flock of bitches. And now she missed Lyre more than ever.

  The female Forsaken was tall and thin like Farell had been. Her cheeks were faintly rosy, her eyes bright, piercing. Both bad signs; that meant that she’d fed recently, and that she would be at nearly her full strength. Powerful and no doubt impossibly fast, like others of her kind.

  Deadly.

  Her long, silky hair was a shade of light brown, and Trix would normally have admitted that she was beautiful, had she not smelled so fucking repugnant. The sweet stench of a bloodsucker hung about her like a horrid veil sweeping through the air.

  “I intend to be present when you find the Relic,” the woman told her, cold eyes fixed on Trix’s own. “And then, of course, you’ll hand it over to me. You will not leave this place until it’s in our hands.”

  In spite of her apprehension, Trix let out a sharp laugh, temporarily allowing her sword to fall to waist level. “I don’t think so, Empress Skanky-pants,” she said. “The only way you’ll get the Relic is over my dead fucking body.”

  “Yours or your Dragon lover’s,” the woman replied, her lips locking in a tight smile as her eyes narrowed. “The choice is yours.”

  Shit. So, they knew about Lyre. But surely they hadn’t taken him? Surely…

  Trix’s heart was hammering in her chest so loudly that she was certain everyone in the room could hear it. Adrenaline told her to strike. Kill her. Kill anyone who threatens you or the man you love.

  “What do you mean? Where is he?” she asked, trying her damnedest to keep her voice under
control. “What have you done with him?”

  “My people tell me that he’s safe for now. It’s nothing to concern yourself with. We have eyes on him. But I promise you that he will die slowly and painfully if you don’t do as we ask.”

  Okay. Eyes on him didn’t mean they had him. The bitch was full of shit.

  “I…I don’t even fucking know where the Relic is,” Trix said, trying to buy time while she contemplated her next move. “I’m only guessing that it’s here in the first place.”

  “Oh, it’s here,” the woman said, looking about the chamber. “You know that as well as I do. The question is where, of course. Only the Seeker can find it. So go to it. Your time is running out. But first I suggest putting that blade of yours away. It’s not wise to swing that thing around; someone might get hurt.”

  For a moment Trix hesitated. Everything inside her wanted to take the bitch down. To kill her where she stood, and then to kill anyone else who told her they would hurt Lyre. She would never let them take him on her watch. Not these vile arseholes.

  “I know what you’re thinking. But I would advise you to do as I say,” the woman added. “If you harm me, my people will kill your Dragon lover.” Her eyes shifted to look about the room as though the we that she referred to was hidden in the dark shadows. “Your mate knows by now that he cannot shift in this place. He’s nothing more than a man of human flesh down here, with no defence against the Forsaken. He is weaker, even than you.” Again, she laughed. This time, a shade of cruelty coated the sound.

  But what did she mean, he couldn’t shift? Was that the real reason he hadn’t been capable of bringing down the stone wall in the tunnel? If his Dragon had been torn away from him…

  The thought nauseated her. Lyre was already isolated by his deafness, and now he would be entirely alone, somewhere in the darkness of the Underworld. Severed from his Dragon. Severed from his lover.

  Maybe if he was with her again, maybe if she found the Relic, she could give him his power back. But he wasn’t here. He was out there somewhere, lost to her. Lost to himself.

  Reluctantly, Trix sheathed the Katana. Until she came up with a plan, she had no choice. She’d have to stall, to pretend to look for the Relic, and hope to somehow fight her way out with it. But how the hell could a mere human ever fight off this sort of enemy?

  Grinding her jaw, she reminded herself silently she was more than human now. She was a Seeker, mated to a Dragon shifter. She hadn’t yet experienced her full range of powers, and maybe she was capable of far more than she’d ever thought.

  “I’ll do as you ask,” she said. For now.

  * * *

  Lyre lifted the round door and ushered Minach into the underground passage, following a moment later.

  “Delightful place, this.” Minach’s voice reverberated inside Lyre’s mind as he sealed the door shut overhead, following his brother into the depths.

  “Beatrix and I both think it was once used by Dragon shifters,” he said. “Which explains why the locals are somewhat frightened of the place. Of course, it’s now been taken over by some not-so-savoury inhabitants, so they have even better reason to be terrified.”

  Minach stopped for a moment to examine a carving on the wall to his left. He ran his fingers over it, tracing the outline of a Dragon’s head. “The Dragons were always very crafty when building these underground passageways. I wonder…” he began, turning back to his brother. “Wait. How did you find me?” he asked.

  “Find you? I suppose I came to a dead end, and…” he recalled the quartered circle that had led him to open the wall. “The Relic symbol was carved into the wall, and I pushed it. It turned out to be a secret entrance, or rather an exit.”

  “Well, where there’s one secret entrance, there are bound to be others,” Minach replied, stepping forward. “Let’s keep an eye out. I suspect that together we’ll find our way.”

  They walked for some time until they emerged from the small tunnel into the larger one where Lyre had spent so much time wandering, both men grateful to be able to stand up straight. Lyre led the way back down the winding passage that would eventually lead to the wall that had crashed down, separating him from Trix.

  They’d moved in silence for some time when Minach stopped suddenly, grabbing Lyre’s arm. A sound had caught his attention.

  “Something’s different here,” he told Lyre. “I hear dripping, behind this wall.” He turned to his left and stared at the wall, before advancing to press his ear to it. He rapped his fist over various parts of the surface before backing away again.

  “What is it?” asked Lyre.

  “It’s hollow,” Minach said. “Another hidden doorway, perhaps.

  Lyre’s eyes scanned the surface, which was coated in another series of carvings depicting Dragons in flight over various mountain ranges, fields, villages…and then his eyes settled on a familiar symbol once again.

  “There,” he told his brother, pointing. On the façade of a small carved house was a round window, cut into quarters by a cross. He pressed his fingers into the shape, and once again felt the ground vibrate under his feet as a massive slab of stone gave way inwards. Minach had been right; it was another doorway.

  They stepped through into another tunnel. This one felt as though it might lead towards the labyrinth’s centre in a more direct way than the other had. There were no more hairpin turns; instead, it simply directed them in a straight downward slope for some time until it finally flattened out.

  “Stay behind me,” Minach told him, stepping ahead. “I’ll be your ears. But if anything should happen, hide.”

  “I won’t let anything happen,” Lyre said, his Dragon growling inside his chest in agreement. He hadn’t gone dormant again, despite finding himself deep inside the labyrinth. It seemed that as long as the brothers were together, their Dragons had the strength to defeat whatever power had tried to suppress them.

  Minach turned back to look at him. “You need to find your mate. Which means that you need to remain unseen, whatever might happen to me. Promise me that you’ll conceal yourself. Find Beatrix instead of worrying about your idiot twin.”

  Lyre nodded, understanding. “I promise.”

  They walked again in silence, watching, waiting, knowing that eventually they’d find some clue as to Trix’s whereabouts. When they spotted a light in the distance, it looked as though they’d made some progress.

  “There’s a good—or bad—sign,” Lyre told his twin, pointing ahead.

  “Bad, I’d say. Look, it’s moving towards us.” It was true; the light’s source was bouncing gently up and down.

  The brothers froze in their tracks, each sniffing the air. The familiar and hideous scent of a Forsaken hit Lyre’s nose. Inside him, the powerful Dragon sought to escape, to make his presence known. Whatever danger they faced would be no match for his and Minach’s Dragons together.

  But his twin, it seemed, had another plan in mind.

  “Go, now. Hide yourself, and mask your scent as best you can,” Minach said, pushing Lyre back. “Get into the shadows.”

  “But…”

  “No buts. Just do as I say. I want to help you to get to Beatrix,” his twin told him, his eyes flashing bright before a smile landed on his lips. “Just trust me, Brother.”

  With that, Minach began to run towards the light, gesturing wildly with his arms.

  Fuck, thought Lyre. He wants to get caught. My insane brother is going to get himself killed.

  It was all he could do to fight his Dragon back as he watched two Forsaken take his twin by the arms, dragging him down the hall. But Lyre did as Minach had asked, pulling back into the shadows, doing his best to conceal his scent. It was torture to watch what was occurring ahead as the light disappeared into the distance. His brother had saved his arse, but at what cost?

  Surprise

  Trix moved slowly around the room, trying to piece together her next move. As she padded towards one of the chamber’s long walls, she inhaled quietly th
rough her nose, trying to assess who or what might be lurking in the shadows around her. So far, she’d picked up a few different scents: a familiar smell of decay, signifying that at least a few mindless Lapsed were lying in wait, obediently anticipating their Forsaken leader’s commands.

  But there was another scent, too, somewhere in the distance. It was far more pleasant, though Trix couldn’t quite place its source. It almost reminded her of the Dragon shifters. Alluring, musky, quasi-sexual. The scent of a Forsaken who hadn’t fed, perhaps. There was a purity to it that seemed impossible for one of their kind.

  She shook her head, trying to focus, and moved along the wall, studying the carvings in its surface as soon as she was close enough to make them out. They seemed to tell a story, but this time it wasn’t about war. Her eyes picked up the outlines of women, men, children, wolves, a lion, a very large bear. At first she felt as though she were scanning the pages of a strange and wonderful fairy tale, catching her up in an unlikely sequence of events that traced the evolution of a large family of shifters.

  But, captivating though the story was, none of it was helping her to find the Relic.

  The Forsaken woman was at times beside her, at times behind. Always accompanied by the hideous odour that was unfortunately all the stronger for the Hunter’s sense of smell having improved so dramatically.

  “What are you doing?” the woman asked as Trix milled about, deliberately examining every inch of stone at a painfully slow pace.

  “Looking for a clue,” she said. “I’m not yet sure what I’m searching for, exactly.”

  “Well, I don’t care. Just bloody find the Relic,” the woman hissed, her tone altering to impatience. Trix turned and looked at her for a moment, her face set in a combination of amusement and anger. In a hurry, are you? She thought. Interesting. The Forsaken should have all the time in the world, and yet something was agitating her. Trix could read it all over her features: she wanted out of this place, and the sooner the better. Potent fear seeped through the Forsaken’s pores, mingling with her nasty odour. Maybe she was more terrified of the Dragon shifter roaming the tunnels than she let on.