Just another conundrum…
All of her questions mattered little at this stage of the game. Adramelech had her. The Demon Lord had accomplished that much, but Audrey had stopped him from getting Rian or even her mate’s name, and that was information she was taking to her grave.
Listing to the side, Audrey squinted against her now constantly blurring vision as recent pictures of Rian and his brothers appeared in living Technicolor before her. Setting her drink on the table, the princess grabbed the arms of her chair and held herself upright as best she could.
Something was wrong...really wrong. Not only was she having trouble sitting upright and her eyes refused to focus, but now the room seemed to be spinning. Summoning all the strength she had left, Audrey stared at the screen. The crescendo of the music swelled, making her ears ring as she watched Rian instruct what had to be the men he’d told her about over the years. Some she recognized from pictures he’d shown her…others merely from his descriptions.
Her mate stood tall, obviously in charge, pointing at a huge map stretched across a massive wooden table. The camera angle changed and now she could see what they were looking at, where they were planning to go, and all she could do was scream, “Noooooooooooo….!”
There on the table was a map of hell. Rian, her wonderful, amazing, stubborn as a mule dragon was mounting a rescue. He was coming to save her. Her heart was overflowing with the love and admiration for the man the Universe had chosen for her while she tried not to slide off her chair. He hadn’t given up on her.
She smiled a sad smile, praying to God and the Heavens to do whatever they could to stop him. It was a trap. A trap set by the Demon Lord sitting right next to her. Her mind was foggy, her senses failing, and her consciousness slipping away.
Adramelech scooped her out of the chair before the movie was over, but Audrey had gotten the jest. The bastard was one-step ahead. They’d gotten away with fooling him all those years, but now; he had the upper hand and was going to use it to destroy them all.
He carried her out of the parlor through the dining room as her vision narrowed to a pinpoint. Handing her off to someone she didn’t or couldn’t recognize, the Demon Lord ordered, “You know what to do. I never want to see this traitorous piece of trash again,” just as Audrey’s vision was failing and the ringing in her ears made it impossible for her to hear.
Rian…don’t…come…
7
Seven hours deciding how to maneuver hell, rescue his mate, and find a dragon thought dead for two-thirds of his life, and Rian was ready for a shower, a half a cow, and a stiff drink…in that order. Walking home, the Dragon Leader focused on the link to his mate burning brightly within his soul. He, like that light, was praying to find his mate, whole, healthy, and ready to come home.
“We’re about a mile out,” Lennox, the Guardsman with a pension for explosions, stated through mindspeak.
“Good, I could use your opinions on something.”
“Wouldn’t be about a dark-haired beauty, an ugly son of a bitch demon, and a trip to hell, would it?” Declan, the medic of the group and straight shooter in any situation, asked. Rian smiled to himself, thinking about the day Rory gave Dec the nickname ‘Joe Friday’ because he literally said ‘just the facts’ when they were planning to take down a rogue pack of hunters.
“I see my brother has been talking again.” Rian chuckled.
“Wasn’t Rory this time,” Pearce, the peacemaker of the group, answered. “Kell hollered at us last night, but we were in the middle of a firefight with hunters and wizards and only caught bits and pieces.”
“Plus, you know Kell isn’t much of a talker,” Lennox snickered, making them all chuckle and agree. “He did, however, tell us about you knocking Maddox on his ass. How is the old guy, by the way?”
Rian was sure they knew more than they were saying and were giving him time to tell his side of the story. Needing to explain his actions and enlist their help, he said, “He’ll be fine. We solved our differences like teenage boys and now it’s all good.” He chuckled, shaking his head before continuing, “Why don’t y’all head over to my place after you land? Kyra and Sam stocked the fridge and I was thinking pizza sounded good.”
“Damn good,” Declan heartily agreed in a brief show of emotion.
“Better order several, we’re starving. Living on rations for the last week has sucked,” Lennox complained.
“We’ll be there.” Rian could hear the smile in Pearce’s voice. “Heavens knows these two think they’re about to starve. Food’s all they’ve been thinking about for the last two hundred miles. I keep telling them they’re not going to starve, but it seems my words have fallen on deaf ears.”
Laughing, Rian teased, “Eight pizzas coming up.”
“Only two pies each? Are we being punished?”
Lennox was still laughing as Rian said, “Just hurry up. We’ve got lots to talk about and time’s running out.”
“You got it. Landing now. See you in ten.”
“See you then.” Rian cut their connection, pulled his cell phone out, and dialed Carmentis.
They had the best pizza and the shortest delivery time plus they didn’t bat an eye when he ordered twelve extra-large pizzas, a hundred wings, and three dozen breadsticks. Rian knew Rory and Kellan were coming to his house after checking on the trainees and where there were two O’Reilly brothers, the third was sure to follow. One way or another, there was going to be a horde at his house and just like him, they were all always hungry.
The Dragon Leader barely made it home and got a shower before he heard the back door open and Lennox call out, “Anybody home? Everybody dressed? The party has arrived.”
Padding down the hall on bare feet, Rian turned the corner and answered, “The party, huh? I was thinking more like the wrecking crew.” Clapping his brethren on the back in welcome, he teased, “Blow up anything good?”
