Chapter 15 #3
I could picture the threat. Him trying to expand into his dragon shape and ending up squeezing through the immovable bars, like a potato put through a French fry slicer.
Alistair’s lips pinched. “You know I’ll find a way to escape, and when I do…”
“You won’t lift a claw to hurt me because I was smart and acquired your most precious possession.”
“I have nothing I value enough to keep me from killing you.”
“Oh really?” Nessie crooned. “So you’re telling me you care nothing for the human female?” Nessie’s head swung, and she fixed me with an evil stare.
Alistair snorted. “What makes you think I give a rat’s ass what happens to Davina?”
Expected response, but it still hurt to hear.
“For one, my seer. Fiona predicted the female would draw you to my loch. Second, the smell of you is all over her. You’ve claimed the human.”
Claimed me? Wait, she could tell we had sex? Kind of embarrassing.
“We copulated. It means nothing,” was his harsh rebuttal. Again, kind of hurtful, but logically, he couldn’t admit he cared, not knowing Nessie planned to use me as a tool for his good behavior.
“If that’s the case, you won’t mind then if I give her to my Caps to play with.” Without making a movement or giving a command, a Red Cap stomped in my direction.
Alistair’s gaze finally met mine, blazing with fury and despair but also defeat. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Nessie teased.
“Don’t hurt Davina,” he whispered, hanging his head.
“You always were weak.”
“It’s not weak to care.”
“It is when it gets you placed in a cage, ready to do my bidding.”
Alistair lifted his chin. “What happened to you, Nessie? You didn’t use to be this cruel.”
“Nessie still isn’t. Even now, she whines and cries but can do nothing.”
My frown matched Alistair’s.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying you’re not Nessie?”
“Oh, this is her body. Was, might be more accurate. And not an ideal one, at that. However, having lost my own, better to live again, even if crippled.”
Alistair grasped the situation before me. “How did you possess Nessie, Tiamat?”
“Finally, he figures it out after practically being given the answer.”
“But how?”
“Twins share a bond, don’t you know? Even dragon ones.”
“That might be true, but I know you haven’t been inhabiting Nessie’s body since your death. I would have noticed,” Alistair exclaimed.
“My rebirth was recent, and you can thank Dr. Malone for that.” The man remained prostate on the floor, shaking, but whether with rage or fear, I couldn’t tell. “You see, while the eggs we eject contain and pass on our knowledge, a heart holds a dragon’s soul.”
“You died, though.”
“I did, but a strong dragon, such as myself, can force its spirit to remain latched onto the heart, rather than evaporate into the ether.”
“You chose to haunt your place of death,” Alistair muttered.
“Hardly haunted, more like waited until the right opportunity presented itself. It took longer than expected, but eventually, Malone came by and busted open my tomb. At that point, it took very little effort to have him pocket the calcified remains of my heart. He never knew or remembered he’d been compelled to travel to Scotland to throw it into the loch.
Nessie, being a weak and sentimental fool, collected the fragment of her long-dead sister and held it close. ”
“Allowing you to transfer your spirit into her body,” Alistair murmured as I listened avidly.
“You know, I ate my seer, Anatu, when she told me eons ago that instead of killing Nessie, as I planned, I should keep her alive, as I might one day need her. Me, need my weaker egg-twin? The idea was preposterous. But after some thought, and indigestion that gave me bad dreams, I chose to remove Nessie’s wings instead, rendering her impotent.
What do you know? My mercy ended up being my salvation, for here I am, ready to fulfill my destiny. ”
“You’re still delusional, I see. How do you figure you’ll make the population of the world fear you when you can’t even leave the loch?” Alistair retorted.
“I might not be able to yet, but once I take your ability—”
“You want it? Let me out of this cage and see if you can take my heart,” he dared with a smile.
“As if I’d be so foolish. For now, you will remain behind bars while Malone works on recreating the drug that once took me down.
Pity its recipe was lost. But with modern science I’m sure it won’t be long before he cooks something up.
While we wait for that to happen, you will aid me in convincing the hatchlings to come to the loch. ”
“So you can kill them and take their powers? Like fuck,” he huffed. “I told you before I won’t help you.”
“Then best say your goodbyes to the professor because, if you won’t give me what I want, I’ll take away the woman you covet.”
A raging impotence had Alistair clenching the bars, snarling, “Harm one hair on her head and you will die.”
“Cooperate and I won’t have to.”
With that, Nessie, or should I say Tiamat, sank under the surface of the water. Malone, finally unfrozen, popped to his feet and strode off, muttering, and Alistair…
He sighed, and being male said, “Told you we shouldn’t have come.”
And I did what a woman rarely did and admitted, “You were right.”