Dragon Keep Me

Chapter Three

Cass

I paced in my living room. The woman, Natalie, aka imposter Elizabeth, had been legitimately afraid. I smelled her fear while I questioned her, and if she was faking her confusion she was doing a damn good job of it.

I looked at the time. It was after two in the morning now. Tomorrow I would take her to the pack, and have River inspect her. River was a good witch. As good as they got, I supposed. Technically, it had been the good witches all those years ago that took me and threw me into that dungeon for two centuries. Ironically, it was a dark witch who freed me.

I plopped on the couch, feeling a little guilty. Maybe it was a coincidence, and I’d just locked a human woman in a cell for no reason. I didn’t think so, because her scent was different, and hard even for me, a dragon, to detect. It was possibly being masked.

I leaned my head back against the couch. I didn’t want to fall asleep. If I did, that dreaded dream would return.

Natalie

When I opened my eyes, there was soft morning sunlight streaming through the window. My head was resting on my knees, and I picked it up with a start, able to see more of my surroundings.

I was indeed in a cell. There was one other one in here, but it was empty. The walking area in front of the cells went around a corner I couldn’t see past, leading to what I assumed was the door I'd heard last night. The walls and floor were stone, like if I were in a medieval castle.

A delicious scent drew my eyes down to food on a tray in front of me. Not just food, but like, good food. A stack of pancakes, French toast, and eggs with bacon and hash browns. Home cooked breakfast with a side of serial killer? My stomach rumbled, but I didn’t touch it.

It was probably drugged or poisoned. There was a bottle of water next to it and my dry mouth salivated. I leaned closer and examined it. The seal wasn’t broken, and it was certainly tempting.

Before I could decide, the man’s voice echoed into my ears, making me jump.

"It’s not drugged. You can eat," he said.

I backed up and pressed up against the wall. "Stay away from me you creep! I’ve taken self-defense classes and I do Pilates!"

Pilates? I should’ve said I did CrossFit or something. It was quiet. Yeah, that’s right creeper, I’m not going to be an easy target.

He finally came around the corner and my jaw nearly hit the floor. I was expecting some homicidal, inbred hillbilly, but he was the most attractive man I’d ever seen. Ever. Easy. No comparison.

I could’ve taken every Pilates class in Seattle, and lifted weights, and been a black belt in karate, and I probably still couldn’t have fought him. He was huge, like a professional sports player. I was five-foot-eight and he was nearly a foot taller than me. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and I stared at his body with my mouth hanging open, unable to stop myself. He looked like a marble sculpture. Personal trainer by day, serial killer by night? He must spend all day at the gym to have a body like that. The only thing he had on was a pair of jeans that hung low on his hips, leaving little to the imagination.

My eyes traveled up to his face. He was glaring at me, a piercing cold look in his icy blue eyes. Black hair hung down to his cheek bones in soft waves, and his face and jawline were sharp and chiseled, because why wouldn’t they be when they accompanied a body like that?

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me, nodding to the food.

"Are you going to eat?"

"Uh-uh," I mumbled in my throat and shook my head.

He sighed and shrugged. "Fine, then we’re leaving."

"What? Where are you taking me?"

"To see a friend."

"No, no, I am not going. This is absolute bullshit! Who do you think you are to just take me and lock me in here? I want to go home. Let me go!"

"You aren’t going home until I figure out what you are. Besides, you broke the ward stone and it’s now locked everyone either in or out. No one can get through the border of the realm."

"The realm?" I shouted, searching for something to hit him with. "What the f**k is this? Dungeons and Dragons?"

He smirked. "You’re closer than you think with that one."

I stared at him as he opened the cell door. Was he crazy or was I?

"Don’t be difficult. Let’s go," he said, sighing.

I slid up the wall, keeping my eye on him. If we got outside, I could at least make a run for it. It was better than being locked up, right?

I left my cell, staying as far away from him as I could. Maybe he was the sexiest abductor on the planet, but that didn’t mean anything. He could still be the biggest creep that ever lived. I’d watched the Ted Bundy true crime documentary; this guy could totally be a Bundy.

He walked around me, obviously expecting me to follow like a little dog. What an arrogant d**k. He reminded me of those asshats at corporate who whitened their teeth too much and thought I should be the one to get the coffee because I was a woman. I never got the coffee. Not once.

"You’re not going to tie me up or anything?" I asked, surprised, and a little insulted.

He turned around and there was a different, wicked, gleam in his eye. "Why? Would you like me to tie you up?"

The look in his eyes and the tone of his words made butterflies burst to life in my stomach.

I gulped. "Uh, no."

He smirked again and then headed out the door. I followed him, unsure if that was a good idea. We went up a spiraling staircase and emerged into a small kitchen. It was nice, with modern appliances, and I could tell by the lingering smell that this was where my untouched breakfast had been cooked.

He grabbed a shirt off of the back of a black leather couch as we walked through the living room area. It was so normal, all of it. I didn’t know what kind of house of horrors I was expecting, but this wasn’t it.

He put the white t-shirt on, but to my surprise, didn’t put anything on his feet. Outside, I knew we were still in the Pacific Northwestern forest somewhere. It had rained, but it was still late summer, so it was already hot and humid.

"We’ll take the car," he said after a moment of contemplation, heading towards a black SUV parked nearby.

"As opposed to what?" I asked.

"Flying."

I didn’t see a plane anywhere around here, and the trees were so thick, I didn't think one could take off. He was obviously expecting me to follow, but I ran in the other direction.