Drakon's Prey (Blood of the Drakon) Read online

  And someone had to pay for the death of Father Simon.

  Which brought him back to the woman tentatively walking up the front steps of the cabin. He had her picture running through every known database. That was one of the perks of being the best hacker on the planet. He’d find out who she was sooner or later. In the meantime, it would be interesting to see what she’d do.

  When he saw her lips moving, he activated the speakers, curious to know who she was talking to. Was she wired?

  “You can do this. There’s probably no one here. Just knock.”

  Tarrant leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen. She was talking to herself. Her voice was low and husky and sent a whisper of awareness trickling through him.

  She licked her lips and raised her hand. “You shouldn’t have read so many fairytales as a child. It’s only a cabin.”

  He grinned before he could stop himself. “You have no idea, little girl.” What would she do if she knew what was waiting for her in a hidden bunker deep below the cabin?

  She rapped sharply on the door. “Hello? Is anyone home?” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and glanced up at the darkening sky.

  She took a deep breath, put her hand on the doorknob, and turned. It wasn’t locked. The hinges on the thick panel gave an ominous squeak.

  “Great,” she whispered. “Just great.” In a louder voice, she called out again. “Anyone home?”

  He switched camera views and watched her walk into the space. She peered around the interior as though she expected someone to jump out and surprise her at any moment. The living room and kitchen area were open. There were two closed doors off to her left. Not surprisingly, she headed there next.

  She knocked on the bathroom door and then the bedroom, before opening both. She visibly relaxed when she discovered she was alone. She didn’t bother to unbutton her coat or remove the small knapsack from her back as she began to explore.

  She went straight for the stone fireplace. “This is gorgeous.” She pulled out her phone and snapped several pictures. Phone still in hand, she crept into the kitchen and studied the woodstove. Several pictures later, she wandered into the living area again and ran her hand over the back of the ancient sofa.

  Tarrant’s entire body tightened. What would it feel like to have her hand on his body? He growled and shook off the sexual tension.

  He glanced at one of his many computers. The search was still running. He was checking the DMV one state at a time. He’d match her picture eventually.

  She sighed, seeming defeated, and slumped down into the chair. She coughed when a light plume of dust wafted around her. “Nothing. I don’t know what else I expected.”

  His beast stirred to life inside him, as curious about the woman as he was. That was dangerous. He didn’t trust her, not for one second.

  One of his sensors went off, and he pushed his chair over to another computer. “Son of a bitch.” Two men, dressed all in black and carrying assault rifles, were sneaking through the woods. Were they with her, or was she in danger?

  He wheeled back to the screen with the woman on it. As if she sensed danger, her head came up. Two seconds later, she bounded from the chair and out the front door, closing it softly behind her.

  She crept into the forest and hunkered down beneath a fallen tree to wait.

  Now that was interesting.

  One of the men moved in close to the cabin and snuck a glance in the window. He went methodically around the small building, checking each window in turn. “She’s not in there.” Tarrant’s well-planted cameras had no trouble picking up the whisper.

  “Where the hell is she? The boss will kill us if anything happens to her.”

  “Maybe we passed her, and she’s on her way back to her car.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  “We’ll head back and watch her rental. If she’s not there, or doesn’t show within the hour, we’ll come back here.”

  “Roger that.”

  As Tarrant watched, the two men began a fast, but silent, trek through the woods. One passed within five feet of the woman, but she was well hidden and stayed completely silent.

  He expected her to move as soon as the men were gone, but she stayed for another twenty minutes before finally leaving her hiding spot. This was obviously not the first time she’d hidden from someone.

  His dragon side wasn’t happy, and neither was Tarrant. Whoever the woman was, she didn’t deserve to be hunted, and certainly not by the Knights.

  The computer dinged, signaling the end of his search. He kept one eye on the woman as he wheeled over to the computer. “Valeriya Azarov. Resident of New York City.”

  A feeling of dread filled the pit of his stomach. He’d been using his technical skills to run a trace of all the people who had visited Herman Temple, the man tracking his brother Darius. He’d also made a note of anyone the man had visited. And he’d had a short meeting with one Karina Azarov.

  Tarrant wasn’t a man who believed in coincidence. Whoever this unknown woman was, she was associated with the Knights of the Dragon.

  He threw back his head and roared.

  …

  Herman Temple carefully set his phone on his desk when what he really wanted to do was smash it against the wall. Things were falling apart, and he’d worked too long and hard to allow that to happen.

  He glanced out the window and noted his reflection. His white hair was still distinguished, but his posture wasn’t as straight as it had been, and his reflexes were slower. In short, he was aging, and he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  A knock came on the door. “Enter,” he called. He allowed none of his anger and the underlying fear show. When the door opened, he wasn’t surprised to see Matthew Riggs there. After all, Riggs was his head of security, even if he was currently sleeping with and feeding information to the current leader of the Knights of the Dragon.

  “Sir.” Riggs inclined his head slightly, but there was no true deference there. Riggs thought he was so clever, but Herman had been playing these games since before Riggs’s grandfather had been born. Dragon blood had kept him alive a long time. But now his source was gone, and his time was running out.

  Herman sat back in his chair, his pose totally relaxed, giving the impression he was a man without a care in the world. “Yes?”

  “Valeriya Azarov is in Washington State.”

  Now, that was a surprise. “Why is she there?” He’d always felt that Karina’s sister was a weakness to both her and the group. Not that he could talk. His son had ended up being a liability and a disappointment to him.

  “Undetermined,” Riggs continued. “Karina has sent men to watch her.”

  “Karina, is it?” Herman enjoyed when Riggs frowned and looked uncomfortable. “No matter. Fuck her if you want, just remember she has no loyalty to anyone but herself.” Neither did he, but that was neither here nor there.

  Herman pressed his fingers together, forming a steeple, and contemplated his next move. “I want to know why Karina’s sister is in Washington. What does she know about the Knights’ business?” He pinned Riggs with a steely gaze. “She’s not a member of the Knights and cannot be allowed to interfere.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Herman watched his former head of security leave. Riggs still had the title. He couldn’t let him know he was being replaced. Not yet. He was much too valuable, especially with his connection to Karina.

  Karina must have slipped up somehow. Valeriya must have found out about Washington. And how much else did she know?

  Herman picked up his phone and made a call. “Henderson, come into my office.” He hung up knowing the other man would hurry. He was ambitious and would eagerly step into Riggs’s role. He’d also have no problem disposing of his predecessor when the time came.

  The intercom buzzed. Two seconds later, the door opened and Luther Henderson walked in. He was physically big and tough, but he was also incredibly intelligent. Most of all, he was loyal and would
not be distracted by a pretty face. Herman had had his eyes on Henderson for a while now. He had no family, no friends, and no romantic connections. In short, he was perfect.

  “I have a job for you.”

  Chapter Two

  Valeriya held herself very still as the man passed within feet of where she was hunkered down beneath a fallen tree. She didn’t hold her breath, but took very shallow ones. Even after she’d sensed he’d gone, she waited. She was too smart to move too soon.

  Once again, her intuition had warned her. All her life, she’d been able to sense danger coming her way in time to avoid it. It was a trait she’d shared with her paternal grandmother. As a child, Valeriya hadn’t really understood what the feelings meant, only that something bad happened when she ignored them. Her grandmother had spent countless hours with her, explaining how their gift worked.

  It was an early warning system, one that had allowed her to sidestep the minefield of her childhood, making her always aware whenever trouble was imminent. She didn’t quite understand how it worked. Only that it did. An icy sensation would skate down her spine, followed by a certainty that danger was nearby.

  As she’d grown older, and with her grandmother’s encouragement, she’d tested the talent, sharpening her skills. Her grandmother had also counseled her to keep quiet about her gift, to not even share the knowledge of it with her parents and sister. Not that Valeriya would have. Just thinking about doing such a thing had made her feel ill, as though her intuition was warning her against such an action.

  As a child, it had left her feeling like an outsider in her immediate family. As an adult, she was glad she had kept her silence.

  Now her gift not only alerted her when there was danger nearby, she was also able to determine from which direction it was coming and from whom. It had served her well as a woman living alone in New York City, but she’d honed it to a razor’s edge while growing up in a household that was the hub for the dangerous Knights of the Dragon.

  She relied totally on her instinct and intuition, trusting it implicitly. It had never steered her wrong.

  Her shirt was stuck to her skin beneath her sweater and coat. She might have sweat buckets and her heart might still be beating a tad too fast, but she’d held fast and was safe, for the time being.

  She slowly eased out from under the fallen tree. It took a bit of work as some of the branches tangled in her coat and backpack. There hadn’t been time for her to remove it.

  What were those men doing here? They weren’t high-ranking members of the Knights like her sister, but foot soldiers, assassins. Was the cabin under surveillance? Or had her sister sent them here for her?

  God, she was stupid. Her sister might not be the only person keeping an eye on this place. She knew they all spied on one another. There were no secrets from the Knights of the Dragon.

  Maybe they were just doing a sweep of the place and keeping an eye out for Darius Varkas or anyone else who showed up here. That was just as likely.

  She shivered as the cold wind bit into her skin. Valeriya stood with her arms wrapped around herself, wondering what she should do next. The men were gone, but they might be watching the road. Maybe they’d found her car, even though she’d pulled it off the road. And if they had, it would be easy for them to trace her back to the motel where she was staying.

  Something vibrated beneath her feet. She held her hands out at her side to steady herself as the ground seemed to buckle slightly. Was it an earthquake? It passed but left her feeling more unsettled than ever.

  Valeriya cautiously made her way to the porch, dropped down onto one of the steps, and leaned against the railing. “What am I going to do?” Several scenarios ran through her head, including driving straight to the airport, flying home, and pretending she’d never left. If her sister wasn’t aware she’d left New York, she might never have to find out.

  Another option was getting all the cash she could out of her bank account and running. Her instincts were screaming that her life was about to get a lot more dangerous. But running would only work for a short time. The Knights had contacts everywhere and would eventually find her. She wasn’t exactly equipped to live off the grid.

  Her sister had impressed upon her the last time they’d spoken that she wanted Valeriya to join the Knights in their quest to find and capture all the dragons in the world. If she discovered Valeriya had come here, Karina would view it as a betrayal.

  A shiver skated down her spine. She honestly wasn’t sure how far her sister would go if she refused to fall in line. And it wasn’t only Karina she had to worry about, but the other Knights.

  Valeriya hoped that if her sister discovered where she was, she wouldn’t act rashly. Valeriya didn’t think she would. Not out of any sense of family loyalty, but because it would make Karina appear weak to the other Knights.

  She’d acted without thinking through the consequences. Her sister had stayed out of her life for so long that she’d allowed herself to believe she was well and truly away from the Knights and their nasty business. Obviously, that was wishful thinking on her part.

  She’d paid cash for her trip, but that precaution probably made little difference. She’d still had to book the plane ticket under her own name. Her skills didn’t run to acquiring a fake ID. Her sister, or one of the Knights, was probably monitoring her activities. And there was no way Karina would believe the trip here was for research for Valeriya’s books.

  So be it. She couldn’t willfully sit on the sidelines any longer. And if there was one thing she knew about the Knights of the Dragon, it was that if you weren’t with them, you were against them.

  She straightened her shoulders. “If the Knights know I’m here, I might as well check out of the motel and stay for a while. If anyone shows up, I can warn them they’re in danger.” And if the men came back, she’d hide once again, assuming they weren’t waiting for her back at her motel.

  If her sister had sent them, she might have ordered them to simply watch and see what she did. That was the more likely scenario. Karina always said that information was power.

  Not for the first time, she wondered how her sister could follow the life path she’d chosen. They’d inherited money and several lucrative businesses when their parents died. And Karina was a sharp businessperson, more than able to handle all the responsibilities that came with both. They could have been a real family, been true sisters, if not for the Knights. But her sister had always chosen them above Valeriya.

  She glanced up at the darkening sky and sighed. If she hurried, she could reach her car before dark. Still, she was reluctant to leave. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but this place drew her. Deep inside, her intuition was demanding she stay, as if there was something very important to be discovered here.

  “I’ll be back,” she whispered to the wind. “I’ll be back tomorrow.” She had no idea if this Darius Varkas would return here, but if he came, she was determined to protect him. Being a writer and illustrator, and self-employed, she could stay as long as necessary. In the meantime, she’d work on new sketches and ideas for her next book.

  It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all she had.

  Valeriya pushed herself off the porch and took the first step toward the road. It was surprisingly more difficult than she’d anticipated. “I’ll be back,” she repeated. She broke into a run and kept it up until she got a stitch in her side and her lungs burned. She slowed down, but only until the pain subsided enough for her to run again.

  She almost cried with relief when she saw her car and there was no one waiting. She was happy she didn’t have to confront the unknown men. Maybe they hadn’t been looking for her at all.

  Her hands shook when she pulled her key fob from her pocket and pressed the button for the lock. It gave a beep, and she yanked the door open and slid in. She was still wearing her backpack. She twisted around until she was able to remove it.

  It was fully dark now, but the stars were coming out. Valeriya took a deep breath, sta
rted the car, and headed back toward the motel. In her mind, she was already compiling a list of the supplies she’d need if she planned on staying at the cabin for a while.

  …

  Tarrant watched Valeriya run away. The primitive urge to chase her sang in his blood. He wanted to catch her and bring her back.

  Mine.

  He ignored the whisperings of the beast that lurked within him. The only reason he was able to let her go was because she’d whispered she’d be back. For some reason, he believed her. And even if he didn’t, he could find her. There was nowhere in the world she could hide from him.

  He’d lived for thousands of years and had his finger in almost every aspect of business. His communication empire was vast, far larger than that of any single country in the world. He controlled the airwaves and had since the very beginning, when telecommunication had been nothing more than the idea of madmen.

  He’d made billions, but it was the power that was more important to him than the money.

  Restless now that she was out of sight, Tarrant turned back to his computer and began to search for information. Before he slept, he’d know everything there was to know about Valeriya Azarov and her sister.

  His fingers flew with increasing speed over the keyboard, bringing up information on multiple screens. Not surprisingly, Karina Azarov was involved in both technology and pharmaceutical businesses. The Knights were heavy into pharmaceuticals, trying to find ways not only to control drakons, but also to be able to reproduce drakon blood in a lab. His lips curled. Good luck with that.

  He was more interested in Valeriya. She looked as exotic as her name, with her long, black hair and her clear green eyes. He ignored the way his body responded to thoughts of her. Yes, he was aroused, but that was to be expected. He hadn’t been away from his lair in months.

  He stared at the screen and blinked. Surely this couldn’t be right. Valeriya Azarov was a children’s author. She wrote books about…dragons. Tarrant didn’t know whether to curse or laugh. Out of curiosity, he downloaded her books. He’d check them out later.