Claimed by the Savage Dragons, page 15
Of course he’d remember!
Where Mari is still in her faint.
The faction doctor pauses when she sees her.
‘The Tribute.’
I nod.
She purses her lips. ‘I don’t usually get called for the humans.’
‘But you do know their physiologies?’
She gives me a look. ‘I worked at Johns Hopkins for years before the Fall, Drey. Of course, I know their physiologies. I just…don’t usually get called when they’re hurt, that’s all.’
She shakes her head. ‘No matter how many times I tell them to do so,’ she mutters.
Del moves closer to the bed with a frown, sniffing the air. ‘So, this is the Tribute I keep hearing about.’ She lets out a dry laugh. ‘You pissed off quite a few people when you didn’t gift her to Aziel.’
I roll my eyes. ‘Well, she was already claimed, as you can no doubt smell.’
She chuckles. ‘Oh, yeah, I can smell, all right.’ She raises her brows at me. ‘Still quite strong, too. That must have taken a few hours, huh?’
Snorting, I throw myself into the nearest chair, mostly so that I don’t start trying to touch the human.
‘She got here over a month ago. I…’ I let out a breath. ‘I left her care to Dominick.’
‘Dominick,’ she mutters, removing the blanket and letting out a sigh. ‘Probably not the best human-sitter you could have chosen.’
‘That’s a fucking understatement. He and others, I think, have been smacking her around. She said something about not being allowed food, being worked for twenty hours a day.’
Del shakes her head. ‘I can believe it. Aziel’s favored are treated better, marginally, but the others… Well, they don’t last long here. What happened other than that?’
‘Well, Dominick was in here making her get out of bed. He hit her a couple of times. There’re bruises all over her though, so it wasn’t the first time. She was saying she’s tired and she hasn’t been feeling well for a couple weeks.’
‘Understandable with little sleep, abuse like that, and inconsistent meals.’
I nod. ‘Well, I got rid of Dominick and made her some tomato soup with some bread. She ate it all, but then she threw up all over me and ran to the bathroom. She passed out after that.’
There’s an odd, strangled sound coming from the doctor and I realize she’s laughing. Hard.
I give her a long-suffering look as she chortles at me.
‘Sorry,’ she gasps. ‘Sorry, it’s just she threw up all over you?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Ha! I would have paid to see that.’
‘I’m sure,’ I mutter. ‘But maybe you could tell me what’s wrong with my human, huh?’
She makes a clear effort to stop chuckling, raising one brow a little before quickly turning away when I frown in confusion.
‘Of course. But to be honest, Drey, she’s probably just hungry and tired. Sleep and sustenance are pretty basic needs for any creature. But who knows what her life was even like before she came here. I mean you should have brought her to me for tests when she got here. She could have parasites, radiation sickness, malnutrition, or all of the above.’
‘I thought she had been.’ I run my hands through my hair, pulling hard at the strands. ‘I trusted Dominick. He said it was done. The fucker dropped the ball hard.’
‘That’s for damned sure. Look, I brought my med kit. I’ll take some blood while she’s out and I’ll come back in a couple days to do the other tests. Sound okay?’
I nod. ‘Yeah. Thanks, Del.’
‘Ok, I’ll just—’ The doctor freezes.
‘What is it?’ I ask, standing up.
‘Just a sec.’
She puts up a finger and I frown at her, but she ignores me, moving closer to my female and taking a long inward breath through her nose.
‘She’s pregnant, Drey.’
‘What? You’re sure?’
‘Definitely. Hundred percent. There’s a scent beneath the others. Faint. But that’s what it is.’
‘Fuck,’ I mutter, my stomach sinking. ‘She told me that no one had made her…’
Del shakes her head. ‘I’ll have to run tests, but from the look of her abdomen she’s probably between eight and twelve weeks. Human gestation is nine months, about twice as long as dragon females.’
‘So, it would have been before she even met Tor and Brax . They must not know.’
I let out a breath.
‘Shoddy. There was a time when Tributes were virgins,’ she snorts.
I can’t help my chuckle, and she grins at me as she draws a little blood from Mari’s arm.
‘I’ll test this first. That should give me most of the data I need. In the meantime, the vomiting is probably morning sickness. Bland foods. Little and often. Make sure she’s hydrated and that she rests. I’ll be back in a couple of days. Call me if you need me.’ She frowns and gives me a pointed look. ‘And I’d keep her here, Drey. A couple of Aziel’s guys are sick sons of bitches when it comes to human girls. They might try to hurt the baby.’
My blood runs cold at the thought of one of them getting his hands on her, but I just give Del a curt nod.
I sit with Mari for a few minutes before she stirs with a groan.
‘What happened?’
‘You fainted in the bathroom.’
‘I did? Sorry.’
My lips thin. ‘You don’t need to be sorry,’ I say gently. ‘Do you want some water?’
She nods and I fill her a glass which she drinks from thirstily.
‘I’ll get out of your hair. Sorry.’
She makes like she’s going to get up and before I know what I’m doing, I’m caging her in.
She looks up at me with a gasp.
‘Sorry, ‘ I mutter, backing off and putting my hands up. ‘You don’t need to go anywhere. You’re staying here. No more kitchen work.’
She doesn’t look scared, but she sits up carefully. ‘I don’t get it. You didn’t care before. What’s changed?’
Everything.
‘I didn’t know what was happening. I’m run ragged most of the time. That’s no excuse, but I didn’t see. I’m making it right. Tor and Brax left you in my care and I’ve done a shitty job so far. With you, you know…’ I make a broad gesture at her torso.
She blinks at me. ‘What?’
‘You know, your pregnancy.’
‘My what?’
‘You do know you’re pregnant.’
She just stares at me.
Jesus. She didn’t know. And I just told her. Like that. It takes everything in me not to facepalm.
‘That’s not possible,’ she finally says. ‘They told me it wasn’t possible.’
‘The doctor confirmed it,’ I say.
‘Well, the doctor is wrong!’ she says loudly, her eyes flashing in anger. ‘They said it’s not possible, so it isn’t and you’re wrong!’
My dragon is in awe of her fire and I’m not far behind.
Claim her now while she’s angry! She’ll bite and scratch as a mate should!
I shut him out because she’s breathing fast and now pressing herself into the corner of the room. Tears are leaking from her eyes.
I go to her, squatting in front of her. ‘I promise you, everything will be fine,’ I murmur, putting my hand over hers.
I’m gratified when she doesn’t move it away.
She shakes her head vigorously.
‘No,’ she pants. ‘Won’t be fine. My mom died. So will I.’
She looks into my eyes, hers swimming with tears.
‘Why did they lie to me?’ she whispers
My heart breaks for her, as the dragon snarls that we should find the humans who did this, who tricked her somehow, and kill them slowly.
‘Who?’ I grind out. ‘Who were they?’
But she’s suddenly lunging forward and burying her face in my chest.
I’m frozen in surprise for a good few seconds before my arms wrap around her and I pick her up.
I take her to the couch and sit with her on my lap. Holding her until her breaths even out.
‘I’m sorry,’ she says in a small voice. ‘I don’t even know you.’
You will, the dragon mutters.
‘But you feel like the others do,’ she sighs.
‘Tor and Brax?’ I ask.
She nods against my chest.
‘How do they feel?’
She’s quiet for a moment. ‘Like home.’
Her words make my mind stutter to a stop. Like home.
That’s exactly how dragon mates describe their bond.
But she’s a human.
She can’t be a true mate.
I frown as my phone buzzes, and I let out a breath when I read the message with the specifics of the meeting I have to attend with the other factions in a couple of months to discuss the problems in the Borderlands as well as other issues. I decide then and there that Mari is coming with me no matter what. I’m not leaving her care to anyone, not even Del. She’s not leaving my side.
I hesitate for a moment, but then message Tor and Brax. Their banishment isn’t even half over, but I want them to see Mari. That’ll make her happy and, hopefully, keep her calm. And I can trust them at least not to stab me in the back.
No, they’ll come at me from the front once they hear how I’ve let their human be treated on my watch.
I sigh, holding a now slumbering Mari close.
My phone buzzes.
It’s Del. She wants to run more tests. She doesn’t elaborate, but I wouldn’t expect her to. She’s always been a law unto herself even when she was a youngling, and I was five hundred years her senior. Those were the days. Being a laird of a small clan in Scotland circa thirteen hundred was infinitely easier than being a commander of an entire faction these days.
But something comes across in her message that gives me pause. It’s as if she’s hiding something.
‘What is it about you, little human?’ I whisper. ‘What secrets are you keeping?’
Chapter Eight
MARI
When I wake, as usual it’s the scent I notice first. The smell of Dreythos is spicy, like cinnamon or nutmeg, or maybe apple pie. The same as it was with Tor and Brax, I feel safe with him and I realize now that his private rooms have always made me feel like that, even over the past few weeks when, after a long day in the kitchens, I knew that Dominick would be waking me up in just four hours to begin the same day all over again. I can’t actually believe I’ve been here so long already. With every day being like the one before it, I thought maybe it had been ten days, a couple of weeks at most, but six weeks?
I shake my head.
A month and a half of being beaten multiple times a day, starved, worked to the bone. I wouldn’t have believed I could survive even that long but now that I’m here, and I’ve slept properly, it’s like I’m coming out of a haze. I was surviving, but not much else.
None of the other humans spoke to me after Jesse and the overseer the first day. It was like they’d been told I was untouchable, well except for all the times I was tripped or slammed into. I worked longer hours than all of the others and when I left the kitchens, I felt like there were eyes on me all the time.
More than once, the overseer slapped me for working too slowly, or for being late even though it was Dominick who brought me to the kitchen every morning, and I made my own way back to Drey’s rooms every night.
The other dragons actually didn’t bother me much over the past few weeks. It was limited to Dominick after the first night. I’ve barely seen any of the others. Not that I’m complaining.
I get out of bed and look for the tan dress I’ve been wearing for days. It’s not anywhere I can see. Instead, there’s a small pile of clothes on the end of the bed. Some soft black pants and a sage green flowing top. There’s even a bra and some underwear. I put everything on. It all fits. I purse my lips, wondering who got my measurements as I go to the bathroom.
My stomach has settled for now, which is a nice change from the past few days of throwing up and not being able to eat even when I’ve been given food. I put my hands over my lower abdomen. It’s protruding slightly now.
Pregnant.
Even thinking it makes my heart start to thud in my chest and the visions of my mom in the bed in our house, blood soaking the sheets and the town medic telling me to say my goodbyes to both my mom and the baby who would have been my sister.
I cover my mouth with my hand to stifle my sob. What am I going to do? How could Tor and Brax have lied to me like this?
I already know the answer. Because I’m naïve and stupid and because I’d never have gone for their dumb plan otherwise.
‘Mari?’
I turn at Drey’s voice, trying to dry my eyes before he sees me. I’ve noticed that he gets very agitated when I’m upset. Over the past few hours, he’s asked me three times who knocked me up.
How can I tell him it was his two oldest friends? Would he even believe me, or would he think I was lying? He seems to believe that I’m already almost three months along, which is impossible. I only slept with Tor and Brax, at most, six and a half weeks ago. It doesn’t make any sense.
What is happening?
‘Are you okay?’
I nod. He asks me that a lot, his eyes boring into me like he can see into my very soul. Or maybe he just wishes he could read my mind to find out who got me pregnant.
I’ve said nothing when he asks me, or I’ve blatantly changed the subject, and I think he’s finally getting the message that I’m not telling him, at least not until the others return so they can corroborate my story.
I mean, if he doesn’t like my answers, what’s to stop him giving me back to Dominick, returning me to the kitchen, maybe sending me out at mealtimes to put a foot wrong and get punished with some dragon man’s stinking cock, or tied to the post in the corner of the hall to be whipped?
He frowns at me as if he can hear my thoughts and I plaster a small smile on my face that I’m sure he knows is false.
‘I need to get back to my duties,’ he says. ‘The mornings I’m usually in the Great Hall holding court.’ He rolls his eyes. ‘But afternoons are always in my office, so I was thinking. You have a leisurely breakfast, maybe watch some movies, read, do whatever in my rooms. No one can get in here except me and Del. You’re safe.’
Del?
At my questioning look his lips turn upwards a little.
‘The doctor,’ he elaborates. ‘And she won’t just turn up without me here. And I’ll come back, make you some lunch, and then you can spend the afternoon in my office. With me.’
He doesn’t command me like the other dragons here have, I notice. He asks me.
‘What if I say no?’ I ask.
For a millisecond, he’s crestfallen. I see it in his eyes, but he covers it quickly. ‘You can say no, Mari. Of course you can. You can stay in my rooms, and no one will bother you. I promise. Whatever you want.’
‘Your plan sounds okay,’ I say.
‘Okay.’ He smiles a real smile, and I find myself returning it, which makes his wider.
‘Can I ask you a question?’
‘Anything,’ he answers.
‘Why are you being so nice to me?’
He winces. ‘Because I promised Tor and Brax.’
I stare at him. He’s lying. I don’t know how I know that, but he is, or at least he’s not telling the whole truth.
‘And?’ I say.
His eyes widen. ‘And…’ he sighs. ‘My dragon. He doesn’t like many. But he likes you. A lot.’
I remember at the dam how Tor and Brax both had trouble controlling their other sides around me and I wonder if it’s the same thing with Drey. Do all dragons feel this way around me? No. That can’t be it. Those two in the hallway were fine, and I never saw even a hint of Dominick’s other half. So, why these three? Is it the same reason that I feel so much better when I’m around them? That my body heats in their presences and I want them to—
I feel my cheeks getting warm at the thought I don’t have and I hope Drey doesn’t notice.
He doesn’t seem to, thankfully.
‘Anyway,’ he says, turning away. ‘I have to get going. Del will be coming over later to give you some vitamins and make sure you’re healthy, but I’ll be back by then.’
‘Why?’
He glances back with a frown, his eyes dipping to my stomach. But he doesn’t answer my question. Instead, he gives a small sigh. ‘I promised you that you would be safe, and I meant it, even from the baby that’s growing inside you. Okay? I don’t make promises lightly, Mari, and I never break them. Okay?’
‘Okay.’ I whisper.
And then he’s gone and I’m alone.
I go to his kitchen first. I have no idea how to work anything except the kettle to boil water because I saw him do it this morning. I take a mug from the cabinet and rifle through the next one for one of the little bags he said contained chamomile tea.
I find one and give myself a small, ‘great job’ whoop.
I take the tea over to the couch, but the TV isn’t like the ones I’ve seen before, so I grab a book on pre-Fall history off the shelf and start reading that.
I must doze off because the next thing I hear is the click of the main door.
I don’t know what it is, but I’m scared suddenly. I’m off the couch and in the kitchen, cramming myself into one of the lower cabinets under the counter opposite the breakfast bar because I noticed before that they’re almost empty.
Several pairs of heavy footsteps go across the room.
‘I thought you said she was here!’ growls a voice I don’t recognize.
It’s muffled by the wood I’m inside, but I can still hear clearly. I just hope I can’t be scented through it.
‘She should be,’ another answers. ‘He’s in the Hall. She’s not there. Where else could she be?’
‘Smells like her…and Tor…and Brax.’
There’s some sniggering.
‘Course it does. She’s been living here for a month.’
‘Think the Commander has had a taste too?’
More sniggers.
‘I might if Aziel lets me.’
Someone snorts. ‘He’s not gonna let you have the Tribute. She’s his trophy. At least until he’s tired of her.’
