Page 49 of Mikhail
The small fishing village was on the edge of the coast, not as far away as he’d thought. He drove down the winding, narrow road into town. The sun was setting on the edge of the water along thehorizon.
Mikhail found the little museum of witchcraft. A Closed sign hung in the window, but there was a light in the back of the store. He thought he saw someone move across the source of light. He parked out front and tested the door handle. Finding it unlocked, he eased the dooropen.
The museum was quiet, and the air was thick with the scents of old magic. He inhaled deeply and caught the light, natural aroma of Piper and the heavy, dark, cloying smell of another male dragon.Conrad. Mikhail curled his lip in a silent snarl as he prowled toward the backroom.
He passed a glass display containing old bowls carved with ancient runes. A faint whisper seemed to echo from the bowls, and a shudder rippled through his body. These bowls had once been for human sacrifice. The runes trapped souls within the bowls, imbuing them with power. He’d seen it done once, long ago when he’d been a drakeling. There was so much magic in this room, it seemed to hum with life. As he got closer, he swore he could hear his mother’svoice.
“Magic calls tomagic.”
His dragon froze within him, as though the beast was holding its breath. Mikhail reached the back door, which was slightly ajar. He leaned in and tried to peer inside, but he couldn’t see anything. There was a soft shuffling sound within. A sound he recognized as Piper’s. He kicked the dooropen.
Piper was tied to a chair, a cloth wrapped around her mouth. Conrad stood behind her, a silver blade pressed against her throat. Piper’s eyes were bright with fear. He stared at her, willing her to calm, hoping she would trusthim.
“Remember, Barinov, you play by my rules, and she is unharmed.” Conrad pressed the knife a little deeper into Piper’s neck. She flinched, shoving her head back, but she was unable to escape theblade.
“I’m here. The jewels are in my car.” He held out the keys, not missing how Conrad’s gaze fixed onthem.
“Toss me the keys,” Conraddemanded.
“Step away from my mate first,” Mikhailcountered.
Piper’s eyes softened when he saidmate. He wanted to smile at her, to reassure her that everything would be okay, but he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted when facing another dragon. It could get them bothkilled.
Conrad slowly stepped away from Piper, but there was a dangerous glint in his eyes that Mikhail didn’ttrust.
“There’s just one more thing.” Conrad removed a slender black case from his coat pocket. He opened it up while still holding the knife. Mikhail saw a syringe inside the case, filled with greenliquid.
“What is that?” heasked.
Conrad set the case down and kicked it over to Mikhail. The case bumped the toe of his boot. “My insurancepolicy.”
“You want me to inject whatever this is into me? Do you think I’m afool?”
Conrad sighed and lowered the long knife back to Piper’s neck. She winced as a tiny bit of blood dewed on the blade’s edge. Mikhail and his dragon both tensed. He curled his fingers intofists.
“This isn’t negotiable, and its effects are temporary. It subdues your dragon for a day or so. You won’t be able to transform. I need that time to secure the jewels. You might come after them once your mate issafe.”
“I wouldn’t,” Mikhailvowed.
The other dragon gave a hollow laugh. “Forgive me if I don’t blindly trust you. We are dragons, after all. So use it, and then we make thetrade.”
Mikhail looked at the vial, then to Piper. She tried to say something, but he couldn’t understand the words. Conrad pushed the blade deeper, and she whimpered as another drop of blood trickled down the silver face of theblade.
“Time is running out, Barinov,” Conradsaid.
Mikhail retrieved the case and then took off his jacket. He rolled up the sleeve of his sweater and pulled the syringe out of its straps. The case dropped to theground.
He pressed the tip of the needle into his flesh and depressed the plunger. A burning began to flow through his limbs. He moaned, helpless as he fell to his knees. The dragon inside him seemed to flicker, and then suddenly it vanished. The gaping hole it left inside him was almost too much to bear. It was a familiar feeling, one that he’d felt once five hundred years before, only moreintense.
“What…” he groaned. “This can’t be…” He struggled for words as he collapsed against the wooden beam closest to him, digging his fingers into the wood to stay on hisfeet.
“Feel familiar? You and I have both tasted its effectsbefore.”
Mikhail looked to the man, remembering the day he’d been transferred to better quarters and the ragged person who had taken his place in his old cell. “You…”
That recognition made the man smile. He let the knife drop to his side and started walking around the room while his rival was immobilized. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for a moment like this. Do you realize what a thorn in my side you’ve been? The very moment you landed on our shores to make your alliance with the Belishaws, you’ve been interfering with my plans. And now, five hundred years later, you’re doing it again, and just as oblivious to how you keep getting in myway.”
Mikhail remembered what Elizabeth had told him about this man and his schemes. “You wanted to destroy theBelishaws.”
