Forever Rowan (13 page)

Aidan figured their best chance would be when Jordan next came to take a sample from Rowan. With his Dragon free he could easily overpower the guards. He’d get Rowan and the doctor to safety and come back in the confusion for Erin.

As he held a sleeping Rowan in his arms, he rubbed her belly. The idea of his child growing in her womb made him proud and scared at the same time.

He did something he hadn’t done in twenty years. He went into the bathroom. Stripping down to nothing, he dropped to his knees. They touched the cold concrete floor but he felt none of it as he sat back on his feet. Bringing his arms up in the air, he began a quiet chant in his language. The deep melodic rhythm overtook his body, and he squatted there for hours praying to the Great Dragon for help. Thanking him for the return of his sister, and the conception of his child. He asked over and over that his offspring and mate live through this nightmare. And he begged forgiveness for walking away from his community, his clan and his family.

They awoke, wrapped in each other’s arms, to the familiar clang of their prison door opening. Aidan hated the sound of that damn door opening. He never knew if it meant they were going to live or die. His eyes widened in shock as Erin appeared in the doorway to the bedroom along with Jordan.

He slowly let go of Rowan and rose from the bed. He strode to the woman who was his sister wearing only a pair of sweat pants. He was amazed as he laid eyes on her for the first time. Their likeness was striking, beginning with the identical color of their hair. Both were tall and athletic. Erin looked as dumbfounded as he felt

He reached for her, but she stepped away and behind Jordan. “Stay away, Dragon,” she snarled. Her pale blue-grey eyes were rimmed with tears and her hands were shaking. Erin recognized him; she knew he was her real family. But the influence from William Stone was imbedded deeply within the young woman.

He wanted to embrace her, tell her he was sorry for not protecting her, but he wouldn’t. She was frozen with fear and he realized he couldn’t push her.

“Get up. We only have a few minutes,” she instructed.

“Erin, what are you doing?” Rowan asked as she went to her sister. The younger woman allowed Rowan to hug her briefly.

“Jordan told me the truth, showed me my medical records. He also told me about the baby. I can’t live with myself if I let Daddy hurt you any further.” Her tears started to drop.

“Erin, it’s okay. We didn’t know, none of us did.”

Her comfort fell on deaf ears. Aidan watched Erin ease away from Rowan before she looked at Aidan, not quite meeting eyes that mirrored her own.

“Jordan contacted Jenna. Your friends will be here in the next five minutes to ensure your escape. He also drugged the guards watching the security cameras. You’ll have five minutes to navigate the maze down here. I drew this map. Father had another outside entrance built after Jenna left. He was afraid she would go to the authorities and that the compound might be raided.”

Rowan took the map from Erin and passed it to Aidan. “He wanted to be able to get rid of any prisoners or experiments he had going on in here, didn’t he?”

Erin only nodded and stepped back behind Jordan.

“How many prisoners are left?” Aidan asked, his voice hoarse from holding in his emotions. His sister hated him as much today as she had before. The fact he was her true family made no difference and it saddened him. There was no way in hell he was leaving her here to be poisoned further.

Erin shrugged her shoulders in response to his question.

“Rowan stays behind me. If they try and dart me again I want you out of the way.”

“That won’t work this time,” Erin spoke up. “Someone from your side of town betrayed you. She drugged you with a formula that slowed down your ability to change. We were able to shoot you with a paralytic and heavy sedative before your skin hardened.”

He felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Betrayed by someone he knew. Impossible. No one he knew would be in league with William Stone.

“Who?” He roared as he felt the change start.

“I don’t know. Father wouldn’t say who.”

He didn’t know if he believed his little sister, but right now he wasn’t going to pursue the issue. It made no difference in the here and now. As soon as they escaped, however, he’d be on the hunt.

His eyes closed as he felt the familiar rush of magic light its way from his head to toes. To the outsider his appearance wasn’t all that different. His skin had a bluish tint to it and the change in shape and color of his eyes. Microscopic scales infused with derma, and his muscle strength increased a thousand fold.

Best of all, his magic was free. He felt the electrical current at his fingertips and closed his fists. He normally had no trouble controlling the powerful magic. Having been suppressed, even this short amount of time, was going to make it much harder to deal with.

“You three stay behind me.” He kissed Rowan gently. “I love you.” He looked at the map and headed out the door.

They passed the sleeping guards as made their way down a long hallway.

Passing through several doors, they went to a spiral staircase leading further down into the bowels of the compound.

With his vision in Dragon mode, he needed no bright source of light, which was a good thing because they entered a dank moldy room. There were other smells, but the musty air was so heavy he wasn’t able to distinguish the odors until it was too late.

Rowan cried out as the room was suddenly bathed in bright light. Standing in front of them was William Stone, surrounded by several heavily armed men. Their guns were pointing not at Aidan, but at Rowan and her sister.

Erin gasped. “Father, I thought you were called to Washington D.C”

He gave his daughter a pitying expression, “No, dear. I was testing to see if my last child would be faithful to her father and his cause. I know Rowan told you where you came from. I have ears everywhere.”

Rowan’s stomach sank; he’d set a trap for them. And now they were all going to die. The look in her father’s eyes told the story of his insanity. There was no longer an inkling of breathing, feeling human being. No, he was a husk of pure hate; she had never been so terrified.

“If you move, Dragon, if you so much as flinch, I will kill your mate and your child.” Stone moved closer. Rowan watched as Aidan closed his fists tightly, a growl spilling from his mouth.

Her hands automatically went to her stomach.

“And you,” William pointed at Jordan. “I should have realized you were weak. Always so weak. Why do you think I killed your handsome young lover?” William smiled as Jordan’s face turned a ghastly grey. “That’s right, Jordan. You were too drunk. I was the one who went in and slit his treacherous throat. I only allowed you to think of yourself as a murderer because I needed your expertise in my lab.”

Stone whipped out another pistol. “I wanted you to be my son. But no, you turned out to be weaker than my daughters.” The sound the pistol made firing echoed through the room.

Rowan screamed and dropped to her knees. Jordan fell to the floor, the bullet piercing his stomach. His dark eyes moved to her, tears brimming the edges. They both knew he wasn’t going to live long.

“I’m sorry, Rowan.”

“Shh...don’t try to talk, Jordan. Please just rest. Save your strength.”

Three things happened at once, Erin leapt toward her father, grappling with him for one of the guns. She managed to get him to the floor. The wall behind the guards burst open, shooting rock and earth everywhere. Rowan watched in horror as Aidan flung his head back and roared, the sound shaking the room, knocking several guards down.

In through the blown-out wall came five men dressed in black and as big as mountains. Two were vampires; she recognized them when their mouths opened on the necks of two of the nearest guards. They bit hard, ripping out the throat of the unsuspecting men faster than they could register pain. Another male, taller than the rest, came through the crowd. He stood next to Aidan and together they shouted for everyone to get down. Then lightning poured from their fingertips, striking more guards as bullets flew through the air.

William managed to free himself from Erin and was on his knees next to Rowan. “One last present for you, my daughter, I pray you burn in hell,” he spat before plunging a needle into her thigh.

Her world fell away as her body became numb. She fell on her side, her eyes wide open, watching the carnage all around her. It was hard to breathe, where was Aidan? She needed to see his face once more before she died. Her hand was frozen against her tummy and her last thought was of the baby that would never be.

The room was clear. Many of Stone’s men lay dead, either from the vamps or from the lightning strikes.

Aidan turned, looking for Rowan, and his heart dropped as he saw her lying next to a still-bleeding Jordan. The injured man tried to get up and check Rowan’s pulse.

He rushed to her side, saw the needle stuck into her leg. Pulling it out, he sniffed, trying to see what she’d been injected with.

“Oh Great Mother, NO!” he shouted as he recognized the poison that had entered his mate’s body. Black dragon blood. The toxic substance was released only when a black dragon was killed violently. Their body’s last act of revenge was to poison their killer if they were near the body.

The cure was rare, and he didn’t know of a case where a human survived.

“Aidan, what is it?”

“Black dragon blood, sire.” he said as the Dragon Prince knelt next to him.

“We have to move fast then. Come, let’s get her out of here.”

The King’s soothing Irish lilt pushed Aidan into action as he picked up his wife, cradling her close.

“We can’t leave him.” Erin cried out behind him. Aidan turned. She was sitting with Jordan, her hand pressed against his bloody wound. The man was clearly near death, but he would honor his sister’s wishes.

“Take him, he helped us to escape,” Aidan ordered. Sebastian raced past him and scooped the other man into his arms.

Bas wanted to scream as he watched the blood oozing from Jordan’s stomach.

Erin stopped him. “You do what ever you have to, to save him. He deserves better.” Sebastian looked down at the other man and felt his head ready to explode. The injury was too bad. There was only one way to save him now.

“Whatever it takes, vampire,” she said. Bas looked from her determined gaze back down to Jordan’s glassy one. He squeezed the man as he raised him in his arms to get a better hold.

“Promise me you will save him?” Erin begged as her hand clenched Bas’s elbow.

Bas swallowed back the lump threatening to choke the air from him. “He will not die.” Her eyes widened as Bas felt his own turn to flame. He ran from the room, holding onto Jordan, his own heart ready to burst from his chest.
You won’t die this night or any.

Erin started to make her way back into the compound.

“Where do you think you’re going, little lady?” she looked up and up and up. This was an accomplishment for a woman of her considerable height. The male model standing before her was stunning. Long black hair was pulled back into the same kind of braid Aidan wore. His skin was pale and his eyes a lightning blue, so stunning they begged for a closer look. His Black Irish heritage was written across his finely sculpted face, cheekbones, nose and, full lips. Erin was shocked into complete silence. He looked her up and down and the spell was broken.

“I’m going back. Someone has to kill my father.”

He kicked up a wicked grin that stole Erin’s breath. “And you plan on doing this suicide mission yourself, darlin’?”

“Yes, I do. I can’t live with what I’ve done.” And she couldn’t. If she didn’t set things right her life would come crashing down around her. She wasn’t ready to face the guilt of the life she’d lived.

“That’s not a smart option right now. We need to leave. Regroup and talk about where to go next. Your sister must be taken care or first.”

“You’re not my boss and you can go to hell.” Erin tried to walk around him when he grabbed her arm, not allowing her to move. Damn he was strong.

She tried to push him away, but he only swung her up in his arms.

“What the hell?” she screamed as she pounded against his rock-hard chest

He growled and Erin gasped as silver reptilian eyes stared back at her. Those sculpted lips came slamming down on her mouth. He kissed the breath from her. Electricity skimmed across the surface of her skin, burning every organ, every muscle.

When he pulled back, his mouth was wet and she wanted to kiss him again. “What the hell have you done to me?”

The man laughed. “Kissed you.” He thought it was funny, the way she reacted to his kiss.

“I am Remy Monroe, Dragon Prince and you are coming with me.” Excruciating pain shot down from the back of her neck and spread throughout every single nerve ending. She’d never known such agony and it was more than her body could withstand. The world went black.

The truck sped down the highway toward Aidan’s lair. It wasn’t far from the densely wooded area surrounding the Stone compound. How would Stone react if he knew he resided less than fifteen miles from a Dragon?

The doctor and the other vamps headed back to Nic’s building. Only he, Rowan, Erin, and Remy were speeding down the road in excess of one hundred miles an hour.

It was imperative to get Rowan back to his home. They might have a chance to save her and the baby. He shut his eyes against the tears burning behind his lids. He was not letting her go. If she died he would most assuredly follow her. But dammit, he wanted her to live. Wanted to raise their child together. He wanted to know his sister and return to his clan. To his family.

Please, baby, hold on he begged over and over again as he held her tight. He directed Remy where to turn and as they made a right down what looked like a foot path, the tree branches widened enough to allow the truck through.

A dragon’s lair could be hidden behind a thin veil of magic. The road rose off to the left, and then a large stone opening appeared out of a seemingly solid wall of stone.