Badass Dragons - Complete Set (7 page)

CHAPTER SIX

Synrith had a way with her. The way
he spoke. The slow, delicate nature of his voice. He was gentle and firm, but
at the same time, Cheryl knew there was poison behind his words. His eyes were
enticing and beautiful, but behind them lurked a monster. His dragon was a
predatory creature, sly and unwavering. Yet he was confident. His strength had
finally shone through. Cheryl said she believed him. That together they’d make
everything okay. And when she looked at him, and held his gaze, it was not a
lie that she’d told. Only, she could never break that gaze. For, if she were to
look away for long enough…

Cheryl hadn’t
been paying attention to where the car was headed. Her eyes parted from his a
moment as she realized they were traveling inside a darkened tunnel. Small blue
lights every so often. She couldn’t see any other cars that were here. This was
no ordinary road.

“Where are
we?” she asked.

Synrith
looked at her pleasantly. “Almost there now.”

She shifted
in her seat. Bit her upper lip.

A terrifying
thought leapt out within her.

What if he
didn’t care about Sophie or Jet? What if he just wanted to get her here?

Cheryl’s
looked anxiously around the car.

The guards
opposite stared back silently.

“Be strong,
little one,” Synrith muttered, almost mocking her.

Cheryl’s gaze
slammed back at him. “I am an adult you know.”

Synrith said
nothing in return.

Cheryl felt
cornered.

The car was
coming to a stop. Cheryl turned away from Synrith and looked to the window beside
her. She saw there was a white platform out there, with an elevator at the back
wall. It was heavily lit with dark blue light.

The chauffeur
got out of the car and moved round to open Cheryl’s door. She stepped out
quickly and stretched her legs. Synrith followed, and then did his guards.

“Wait out
here, please,” he said to them. “We’ll only be a couple of hours.”

Hours?

What the hell
did he have planned for her here?

“Shall we?”

Synrith was
offering his hand to escort her.

Cheryl took
it, and even though he was wearing gloves, she felt he was cold to touch.

Of course, it
wasn’t the most unpleasant sensation. He wasn’t so cold it hurt her. Stepping
towards the elevator she felt a breeze of air conditioning sweep over her. It
felt nice. Real. This moment with Synrith – as he pushed the button and they
waited for the elevator –

This moment
here.

Cheryl
thought she might have dreamed it.

She knew
right then. It was before everything.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

The elevator ride was an uneventful
one. They moved up five floors to their location and Synrith was silent
throughout. Cheryl felt better now that the guards had been left behind, as she
had a better chance of defending herself should Synrith choose to attack her.
Of course … he wouldn’t have needed them to restrain her if he wished to have
his way with her. He could do whatever he liked to her and she was powerless to
stop him. At least it seemed that way. It was probably better to start treating
Synrith as a friend after all. Cheryl wouldn’t want to get on his bad side.

Fifth floor.
Immediately as they exited Cheryl was hit was a deliciously cool aroma, and a
thin layer of steam. Below them, the floor was cover in light blue tiles.
Frosted glass windows ran alongside the right-hand wall, and beneath them was a
series of indoor plant life, including exuberant flowers and leafy trees that
reached the ceiling. There were bird baths. Statues. Fountains with running
water.

In the centre
of the room, was a large spa pool. Water ran out from the sides forming pillars
of bubbles.

There was the
sound of a rain forest playing in the background.

“You will sit
over there,” Synrith said, indicating to a bench on the other side of the pool.

“Are you
going to tell me what’s going on now?” Cheryl shot back.

“I do believe
we’re getting closer to that,” Synrith answered. “Please sit for me.”

“Alright,
alright,” Cheryl mumbled.

She turned
and began walking around the edge of the pool. She noticed he was going in the
opposite direction.

“What are you
doing?” she asked.

He turned
slightly. “Patience, little one.”

Cheryl
grumbled under her breath, but continued in her action to oblige him.

As she
approached the bench she noticed a large painting hanging over it. It was of a
tropical setting, full of large trees, a running river between them. A small
deer was stooped over, taking a drink from the water.

In the
background, the moon was purple, and there was a castle in the distance.

Cheryl stared
at the picture for so long, she didn’t hear Synrith come up from behind her.

“You like
that, do you?”

Cheryl
turned. She saw that Synrith was wheeling a blanketed cart towards her.

He stopped.

“Well yes,”
she murmured. “It’s a very nice picture.”

“Thank you,”
Synrith said.

“What? You
didn’t…”

“Paint it?
Why yes, I did actually. What do you like about it?”

Cheryl
shrugged. “I don’t know. I like the deer.”

“So did I.” A
troubled look passed Synrith’s eyes. “Please sit down now.”

Cheryl sat
down on the bench and he wheeled the cart further. Then removed the blanket.

“Lunch is
served.”

CHAPTER
EIGHT

Underneath the blanket was an
assortment of sandwiches, grapes, berries and pineapple on separate silver
trays. At the sight of it, Cheryl realized that having not eaten since
yesterday, she was quite hungry.

She reached
out and took what appeared to be a chicken and avocado sandwich and started
eating. Synrith seemed pleased that she had accepted his food without
complaint. He reached underneath the cart and produced two glasses a bottle of
chilled champagne.

“None for
me,” Cheryl said waving her free hand.

Synrith
frowned. “You do want to hear what I have to say, don’t you?”

He wasn’t
going to take no for an answer.

“Okay, okay,”
Cheryl gushed. “Just a small one.”

Synrith
poured them each a glass and then handed one to her as he sat beside her.

“Do you like
the sandwich?”

“Well…”
Cheryl said between bites. “It’s a sandwich.”

“I’ll pass
that on to the chef.”

“What?”
Cheryl spluttered. “No, I don’t – I don’t think –”

Synrith
smiled.

“Oh. You’re
joking.”

“Took you
long enough.”

He raised his
glass. “Drink with me.”

“Okay.”

She clinked
glasses with him.

They both
took a sip.

“Mmm,” Cheryl
said. “Now this I like.”

Seeing him
smile, she added, “But not too much.”

“It’s time
for me to explain things now, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Cheryl
said finishing her sandwich. “Please do.”

“Okay.”
Synrith took another sip before he began. “What’s happening here is, we’re
going to rest up for a few hours. You will eat. You will drink. You will bathe.
You will be changed into new clothes and fixed with some make up. You will be
as beautiful as you can be.”

“Why?”

“I’m sending
you into where vampires are known to frequent. You will make contact. You will
explain that you’re Sophie’s sister, and that she has been taken by the wolves.
You will tell them you have escaped from me, and I have refused to cooperate
with them to get her back.”

Cheryl
blinked. “Go on.”

“Your goal is
to get the wolf pack’s location from them. They will be set up somewhere. A
large house or building to that effect. You have to find out where they are.”

“And what
happens after that?”

“You will
give the location to me. And I will handle them.”

“So that’s
all? I just have to speak to these ‘vampires’ and they’ll tell me where I can
find the wolves.”

Synrith
nodded.

“Well, why
don’t we go out now and track them down? Why do with have to hang back for so
long?”

“Unlike
dragons, wolves and vampires are night creatures. This all must take place
under the cover of darkness.”

“Hmm. Well,
they better not be hurting Sophie. I swear. I hate just sitting here, you
know?”

“Convincing
the vampires you are on their side will require some work,” Synrith said.
“You’ll have to practice how you’re going to behave in front of them.”

“Practice?”

“They will
see through you otherwise. You have to be very careful about what you say.”

“Okay. So
should we do a rehearsal or something.”

“Yes. But not
now. We’re just resting at the moment.”

Synrith drank
more champagne. Cheryl took a handful of berries and started eating them.

“I really do
hope she’s okay,” Cheryl said.

“She’ll be
fine.”

“And Jet?”

“No,” Synrith
said, his voice carrying out through the misty atmosphere. “He won’t be.”

CHAPTER NINE

Jet Strongarm woke up face down on
the cold, hard floor of a cell so small that he couldn’t do more than kneel in
it without hitting his head on the roof. There was no bed. There was no water.
Agony  pulsated through every part of his large body. Next to him, there was a
large pool of blood on the ground. He’d been stabbed in the stomach with an
enchanted blade, and the wound was still bleeding. Thankfully, the magic of the
enchantment wasn’t all that strong, and he was able to cast restoration spell over
his injury to stop the blood loss.

His memory
was a bit fuzzy. It hadn’t all come back to him yet. He managed to crawl his
way over to the bars and put his head to them, searching either side of the
corridor outside. He heard a faint cough come from one of the cells opposite.

Jet took a
deep breath and fixed his hands to the bars. He began pulling at them, hoping
they would come out.

A foot came
out from the side and struck his fingers.

Jet backed
away in fright. He didn’t get a good look at the foot, but it appeared there
was  figure sitting directly to the left of his cell.

“Hey,” he
murmured in a low voice. He cleared his throat and spoke up a bit louder. “Hey,
is someone there?”

A black cat
jumped from where the figure had been and landed in the centre of the bars. It
meowed
at him.

The figure
got up from her chair and knelt down in front of the bars.

Jet
recognized her.

It was
Cheryl’s sister, Sophie.

“Hey,” he
said. “Can you get me out of here?”

She scooped
up her cat and began stroking him. The cat seemed a little distressed.

“I know you,”
Jet said when she didn’t answer him. “Please help me.”

“There’s a
lever right next to your cell here,” Sophie said quietly. “I’ve been told to pull
it down if you misbehave.”

“What for?”

“It lowers
the ceiling. It crushes you.”

Jet
swallowed. Sweat poured off his face. “Who are you doing this for? Can I talk
to them?”

“I’m not
supposed to talk to you.”

Sophie stood
up and went back to where she was sitting.

After a
minute or so, the cat managed to get free again. He jumped into the cell with
Jet.

Sophie sighed
angrily and leant down again. “Give him to me.”

Jet picked
the cat up and held him to his chest. “Just tell me what’s going on here. I … I
was with Cheryl … Did something happen to her?”

“Cheryl’s
fine. Now give him to me.”

“Look,” Jet
leaned forward to the bars. “I’m your friend. We have to help each other.”

“Like you
helped Cassandra’s brother?”

“What…?”

“I was told
you burnt his face off while he was still alive.”

Jet lowered
his head. He released the cat to her.

“That vampire
was after your blood,” Jet muttered. “I saved your life from him.”

“If you had
let me go and spared him, he would have sold the dagger to Rafe and you
wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Rafe… Oh. I
see now.”

Jet leaned
back against the wall. A tear dropped from his eye.

“I belong to
him now,” Sophie declared. “When Cheryl comes here she’ll belong to pack too.”

“Cheryl…” Jet
whispered.

“You heard
me.”

Jet closed
his eyes. He knew he couldn’t let that happen.

He had to get
out of here somehow. He had to find a way.

Cheryl would
never belong to these animals.

Cheryl
belonged to him…