Page 27 of Red Fury (The Dragon Tributes #8)

S hadow

My head feels like someone took a sledgehammer to it.

The throbbing is relentless, pounding behind my eyes with each beat of my heart. Everything is fuzzy, like I’m trying to think through thick fog. My mouth is dry, and my tongue feels thick and useless.

Where the hell am I?

I try to move, and that’s when the panic sets in.

I can’t.

I can’t see, either.

I try again and realize that my hands are bound behind my back. My legs are tied at the ankles. There’s something rough and dark pulled over my head and a gag stuffed in my mouth that makes breathing difficult.

I can’t see anything.

How did I get here?

I have a memory of an old lady. Of feeling confused. Of… I can’t quite grasp it. I try once again to get free and can’t. It’s useless.

Terror claws at me, and I start fighting against the binds and moaning against my gag. I should be able to break through whatever’s holding me. I’m a dragon shifter, for crying out loud. I have superior strength.

Still, I can’t manage it!

The ropes or restraints or whatever they are, don’t budge. Not even a little. I pull and twist and struggle until I’m gasping for breath around the gag, but it’s useless. I’m as helpless as a human.

I remember a pinch on my arm and feeling dizzy. I remember blacking out. Someone drugged me; maybe that’s why I feel so weak. It was the old lady who wasn’t old.

I force myself to stop struggling and focus on my breathing. On taking steady breaths. On being calm. The dizziness is starting to clear, but my head still pounds like crazy.

“Oh, good, you’re finally awake,” a female voice says from somewhere to my right. “It took long enough.” She sounds like she is smiling, which somehow makes everything worse.

There’s also something unsettling about the casual way she is talking to me, like we’re old friends catching up over coffee instead of…whatever the hell this is.

The covering is pulled from my head, and bright light assaults my eyes. I squeeze them shut, then blink a few times as they adjust.

They finally do, and I note that the woman looking down at me is stunning in an otherworldly way. Long black hair cascades over her shoulders like silk, and her eyes are the most unusual color I’ve ever seen – almost purple, like amethysts. Her skin is pale and flawless. She’s tall and willowy.

And she’s smiling at me like she’s genuinely happy to see me, which is deeply disturbing.

But it’s her scent that really throws me off. It’s…wrong, and that’s putting it mildly. Not human, that much is clear. But it’s not dragon shifter, either. There’s something different about it, something that makes my instincts scream danger even through whatever drugs are clouding my system.

What the hell is she?

Perhaps my brain is muddled and I’m getting this all wrong.

“There we are,” she says, her smile widening. “Much better. You have such lovely eyes. That shade of green is very unusual. My master was right.”

Master? A chill runs down my spine.

“How rude of me,” she continues. “I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Neilina.” She tilts her head, studying my face. “And you’re perfectly safe. You have nothing to fear. I won’t harm you.”

I don’t believe her for a second.

“I’m going to remove your gag now,” she says, reaching toward my face. “You can scream if you want, but I’d prefer if you didn’t. It will hurt my ears, and no one will hear you, anyway. So, you may as well comply and make this pleasant for both of us.”

Her fingers work at the knot behind my head, and the gag falls away. I work my jaw, trying to get feeling back into my mouth.

I don’t scream.

“Good girl,” she says approvingly. “Now, I’m going to untie you as well. Please don’t try to run or fight me. Let’s keep things cordial.” Her voice is still warm, but there’s something underneath it now. A warning. “So…um…what’s your name?”

I ignore the question, focusing on flexing my fingers as feeling returns to my hands.

“What do you want with me?” I demand instead, my voice hoarse from the gag. “Why am I here? Where am I?”

Neilina laughs. “All will be revealed in good time. Patience is a virtue.”

She finishes untying the restraints. When she offers her hand to help me stand, I want to slap it away, but my legs feel unsteady.

The dizziness returns in a wave that makes me sway on my feet.

“Easy now,” Neilina says, her arm sliding around my waist to steady me. “You’ll feel right as rain in no time. The effects of the sedative will wear off soon.”

“What do you want with me?” I ask again, hating how weak my voice sounds.

“I’m going to wash and dress you and get you ready for the master,” she says matter-of-factly.

“The master? Who is this master? And why do you call him that?”

It’s weird. Just plain weird. I don’t like any of this.

It’s giving me the creeps.

“You really don’t have any patience, do you?” Neilina’s laugh is light and airy, completely at odds with the situation. “All will be revealed in good time, I promise. For now, let’s get you cleaned up, shall we?”

She guides me toward what I now realize is a bathroom, and my jaw nearly drops.

I take the place in for the first time and realize that everything is pure luxury. Plush carpets, gold fixtures, and a bathtub that looks more like a small swimming pool.

“Sit,” Neilina instructs, gesturing to a rich velvet chair beside the enormous tub. “I’ll draw you a bath.”

Like hell.

I’m a dragon shifter. I’m not some helpless human who’s going to meekly submit to whatever this psychopath has planned. The moment her back is turned to start the water, I bolt for the door.

I don’t make it three steps before she catches me.

Her hand clamps down on my shoulder with inhuman strength, spinning me around and slamming me back against the wall. The impact knocks the breath from my lungs, and before I can recover, she has me pinned completely.

I can’t move. Not even an inch.

Why am I so damned weak?

“Let me go!” I snarl, trying to break free from her grip. But it’s like being held by a steel trap. She’s not even straining.

Desperation makes me try to shift. I reach for my dragon, calling her forward with everything I have.

Nothing happens.

Not a single damned thing.

Nooooooo!

My dragon feels distant, muffled, like there’s a thick wall between us. I can barely feel her. I hate it.

“I wouldn’t waste my energy if I were you,” Neilina says calmly, not even breathing hard despite holding my entire body weight against the wall. “There are drugs in your system specifically designed to prevent you from shifting. You can try all you want, but it won’t work.”

How does she know?

More of that panic claws at my chest. Without my dragon, I’m…useless…I’m vulnerable.

“It will be so much better for you if you simply follow instructions and do as you are told,” she continues, her iron grip never loosening. “I really don’t want to have to restrain you again. If you make me angry, you won’t like it much. I can promise you that.”

Then she does something that makes my skin crawl.

She leans in close and inhales deeply, her nose almost touching my neck.

“Mmmmmm,” she groans, the sound low and almost sexual. “Your scent is divine. So warm, so…alive. So interesting.” She breathes in again, and this time the groan is definitely pleasure. “No wonder the master is so intrigued by you. I know you’re a shifter, but what kind? You’re clearly not human.”

Shit! Shit! Shit!

What kind?

What does that even mean?

There is only one kind.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I whisper. “What are you?”

She smiles at me, her eyes glinting like jewels.

Not human.

She’s not human at all, and neither is this master she keeps speaking about. Having said that, I have no idea what they are or how to fight them.

I’m in so much shit.