Page 66 of Awaken the Dragon
Mt. Cedius, Home of the Drakon Emperor
Every part of Shola’s body ached. She was lying on a hard cool surface that didn’t help the aches and pains shooting throughout her body as she tried to stretch her legs. Her eyes would not open immediately; she’d been trying for what seemed like forever to drag herself out of the fog that held her down. When her legs were finally straight, she attempted to move her arms, but it felt like the action would break her bones. Pain ricocheted through her limbs and she wanted to scream but didn’t.
Snatches of memory popped into her mind, and she saw the white truck jump the curb and stop just in front of her as she left the Tower. The next memory was of someone coming up behind her and a sharp sting in her neck. Her arms were yanked behind her back and heavy material was wrapped around her hands before she was lifted off the ground. That stick in her neck must have paralyzed her because she didn’t recall putting up any type of fight. Instead her body had remained still while her mind listened.
The first voice she recalled hearing was the one that had caused great pain to radiate throughout her chest.
“When she gave me the box and the forms she’d completed to ship, I knew right away what it was,” Monife had said.
Monife, the general of the second most prestigious group of warriors in the River Tribe. The woman who had grown up alongside Shola and had even shared meals at Shola’s house. Ejaita had welcomed Monife with open arms as the young woman was following in Ejaita’s footsteps by becoming one of the youngest leaders on the all-woman law enforcement team. Shola wouldn’t go so far as to say that she and Monife were like sisters because there had always been something unseen that separated them. Now, Shola knew what that was.
“How did you know?”
That was Warrick, his deep hissing-like voice was new to Shola, but she would never forget it.
“I knew what she was from the start. My family didn’t live in the village with the other tribe members; we had a small house in the deeper, uncharted areas of the forest. Since they had escaped from the Far Realm, my parents were taught to harness their solitude. Or, in other words, hide. I didn’t like hiding, so I ventured down to the river almost every night to swim and frolic as other members of the tribe did. I was there the night Shola met her maker,” Monife told him.
“Ahhhh,” he replied. “And because of your dragon powers, you could see all that happened that night, whereas any other tribe member may not have seen everything.”
“Correct. I saw the great Orisha Oya come to ten-year-old Shola. I heard the story that was told to her.”
“And you waited,” he’d said.
“Yes. I waited until I was able to stand up and do something for our tribe as well. Just because I am also Drakon does not make me any less Yoruba.”
Monife was Yoruba, born and raised in their village. As far as Shola knew, there had never been any knowledge of Drakons living among them in Mobo. It seemed she was learning more and more by coming to the Western World. Only, Shola was not certain that was where she was at this moment.
The air smelled different, fresher, crisper. It wasn’t hot, nor was it cold. More like a spring day with a mild temperature, which worked because she didn’t feel like she was still wearing the slacks and blouse she had worn to the meeting at Theo’s office. That brought forth another memory.
Hoan ruled the Drakon. Theo was a Drakon. Theo had been working for Hoan, and because he somehow knew that Warrick planned to betray Hoan, Theo needed to kill Warrick. This is what Hikeen wanted her to believe, and as painful as it was to consider, everything the vampire said could be true. Theo had been skeptical of Warrick from the start. Shola recalled the way he referred to Warrick as her husband-to-be in the beginning, his tone always laced with contempt. And how about the day he asked her if she loved Warrick? Was that because he knew he was going to kill him?
As true as it could be, none of that sat well with her spirit. The entire scenario was in direct conflict with the man who’d built a home for his closest friends, even though he wanted to believe they were only staff. And it didn’t match the man who’d warned her about taking a life and who had done everything in his power to protect her even when he’d had no idea who or what she was. Her temples throbbed, and Shola whimpered. She wanted her eyes to open so she could see where she was, but they wouldn’t cooperate. And her mind would not stop going.
How could she have lost sight of her reason for being sent to Burgess? Her destiny. Her purpose. Her life.
Because it had felt way too good to finally have someone look at her and really see her. Even when he learned who she was, to still look at her as if he believed in every word she’d spoken. And his touch, not only had it felt like the first time for her, but it had also empowered and emboldened her in a way that none of the training she’d endured could. Theo had opened a door within her that she never realized was locked tight, and she’d given permission for him to walk through that door and settle in. He made her believe she could expect more from her life than this one task. The time she’d spent with him made her want more, and now she feared it was too late for everything.
“She is awake. It’s time to go.”
That was Warrick.
The moment his voice registered in her mind, she was lifted from where she lay. He carried her as if she were a baby, a thought that was too disgusting for her to digest, because her eyes flew open and she whispered, “Put. Me. Down.”
He threw back his head and laughed.
“My wife-to-be has awakened.”
“I am never marrying you!” she announced and prayed her limbs would cooperate as she struggled to get out of his grasp.
His hold on her tightened. “Calm down. Your dragon friends aren’t here to help you, and you’re a long way from home, so whatever powers that goddess may have given you likely won’t work on this realm.”
Shola immediately looked down at her hands. They were unbound and whatever they had used to cover them when she was on the Human Realm was now gone. She looked around and saw that he was right. They were in some type of cave with black jagged rock walls and a piercing green light in the distance ahead. From what she could see of him, Warrick wore all brown, his eyes were bright gold, lips clenched, bald head shinning.
“You are going to regret this,” she told him.
He laughed again. “If you don’t calm down, you’ll be the one with regrets.”
She tried again and was elated to find she could now lift her arms enough so that they fell against his chest. They still felt like lead weights, but she was determined. She took that moment to focus all her strength on the single action and pressed as hard as she could into him. He stumbled, but his arms stayed tight around her.
