Forbidden Dragon (The Bride Hunt Book 5) Read online

  Forbidden Dragon

  The Bride Hunt: Book 5

  Charlene Hartnady

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  About the Author

  Also by Charlene Hartnady

  Excerpt

  Copyright April © 2017 by Charlene Hartnady

  Cover art by Melody Simmons (ebookindiecovers)

  Edited by KR

  Proofread by Bridgitte Billings ([email protected])

  Produced in South Africa

  [email protected]

  Forbidden Dragon is a work of fiction and characters, events and dialogue found within are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either living or deceased, is purely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter 1

  “You should have taken the fuckers out.” Suddenly his chamber felt too small. The walls were closing in. The air was too thin. His skin too tight.

  Blaze rarely showed up unannounced. Granite knew as soon as he laid eyes on the male that something was up. Little did he know just how bad things had become.

  Blaze shook his head. “It was clear that they were on a mission scouting the southernmost part of our territory. It was also clear that they had no clue what they were looking for or if they were even in the right place.”

  Anger churned inside him. “All the more reason to …”

  “Taking them out would’ve sent a clear message to those who sent them. Right now, whoever is sending these choppers into our mountain range has no idea if they’re onto something or not. They’ve been on several scout missions into our territory. They zig zag across a grid before returning to …”

  “It’s only a matter of time before they spot something. Before someone fucks up.” His heart beat faster at the thought.

  Blaze shook his head. “It’s doubtful. We’re well-trained and camouflaged. Our territory is vast. They’re shooting into the dark and hoping to hit.”

  “Doubtful?” Granite’s voice was deep and laced with anger and irritation. It couldn’t be helped! “That’s not good enough. They could get lucky and then what? Who the hell are these fuckers?”

  “Humans. Heavily armed males. We don’t know anything more about them.”

  “It had to be one of those females,” Granite shook his head. “There were two who returned home after being on our territory.”

  Blaze nodded. “Yeah! I suspect that you are right.”

  “We need to put a stop to these hunts.”

  Blaze shook his head. “We have had too much success. The whole thing is running better now that we are working with the vampires. The females are carefully screened before being selected to take part. They will eventually grow tired of hunting ghosts and will look somewhere else.”

  “Except we aren’t ghosts, are we?” A low rumble. “If they find any proof, even the tiniest …”

  “We need to be on our guard. Up the number of scout patrols going out. Our lairs are well hidden.”

  “What about the mines?”

  “They are so deep in the mountains. I doubt that the humans would venture there, and if they did, it would be at their own peril.” Granite noticed the tension in Blaze’s jaw. The stiffness in his back. The male was just as worried as he was, he was trying to hide the fact.

  “And when they bring a whole fleet of aircraft … hundreds of males armed to the teeth with silver? We were almost wiped out all those years ago, when humans were still on foot carrying spears and swords. It would be impossible to beat them now. Guns, bombs, bullets infused …”

  “I know,” Blaze snarled. “I have a family …” He saw the anger drain from the male and worry take its place. The male dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment. “If anything were to happen …” his voice was heavy with emotion. Blaze swallowed thickly, his eyes finding Granite’s. “We need to be ready. This Resistance Therapy has to work. If we can beat our silver affliction we can beat the humans. We need time.”

  “Agreed but it doesn’t feel like enough. At this rate we may very well run out of time.”

  “We need to hide and watch. We need to train harder than we’ve ever trained before. If it means taking certain calculated risks, then so be it.”

  “Agreed!”

  “The four of us must set our differences aside.” The Fire king clasped his shoulder. “If we are not united then we are nothing.”

  “It was the single biggest mistake our forefathers made.” Granite clasped Blaze’s shoulder in return and squeezed.

  They both nodded and dropped their arms. “There is something you need to know,” Blaze sighed. “My son …” he looked away for a beat before looking back at Granite. “His markings are not … they are not golden.”

  “What?” Granite felt his whole body tense. He frowned. “Silver?”

  “Not silver,” Blaze paused. “Coal’s son has the same strange markings. They have no color. The marking is there but it is merely an outline.”

  “We need to stop these hunts.” What the fuck was wrong with the male?

  “No!” Blaze growled. “It is my belief that these colorless outlines are the new royal markings.”

  “On what basis?”

  “Call it a gut instinct. I am royal,” he touched his chest, “my son carries my blood. The most royal of blood. How could he not be a royal?”

  Granite could see how strongly the male felt about it. He wanted to argue with him over it because he was being completely biased in his thinking. Blaze was delusional if he thought these colorless markings were the new ‘royal’. Granite bit his tongue instead. He finally gave a nod. “We will step up the Resistance Therapy. We will beat this silver affliction and then we will tackle the humans head-on. No more running and hiding. We will stand united and strong against them.”

  “There is still time. Don’t put your males in any danger.”

  Granite looked Blaze in the eyes. “We are all already in danger. Every last one of us.”

  Chapter 2

  The big shifter flinched as she pushed the needle into his arm. He made a hissing noise and ground his teeth. She pushed the second and third needle in next to the first. This time he groaned. “Don’t be such a big baby.” She tried to hold back a smile. Thing was, she’d watched these guys go at each other in full on combat mode. Blood flowed and sometimes bones cracked.

  This guy was huge. Even his muscles had muscles. “It hurts,” he groaned. Then he grinned at her, despite the pinched look on his face.

  “You’ve been co
ming for treatments for weeks now, Rock. You would swear this was your first time.”

  “It still hurts. We dragons are not huge fans of silver.” He gripped the top if his bicep, looking down at where the silver needles protruded from his skin. You would swear it was a couple of arrows or a sword stuck in his flesh instead of three tiny needles.

  Louise pushed the start button on the timer. “Twelve minutes of suffering, you know the drill.”

  Rock winked at her. “I would take a silver bullet if it meant spending time with you, Doc.” His gaze dipped to her breasts even though she knew he couldn’t see a thing through the white, loose-fitting medical coat she was wearing.

  She pulled a pen out of the breast pocket of her coat and opened his file. Rock’s eyes moved back to lock with hers.

  “So,” she clicked the top of the pen. “I need to confirm that you have done no strenuous exercise within the last two hours.”

  Rock shook his head. “Nope. I have training later this afternoon. Like you said, I know the drill.”

  She gave him a smile. “How were you after the last therapy session?” Rock currently came in for treatment twice a week. They’d gradually increased his contact time with the silver.

  He gave a shrug. “Not too bad. I was at full strength later that same day.”

  Louise made a note in his file. She felt excitement grow inside her. It was taking longer than she had hoped but they were definitely making progress. “What about redness? Was there any swelling in the area?”

  Rock nodded. “Yeah, it was red and slightly swollen but it only lasted for an hour tops.”

  She made another note. “That’s great.” When they had first started the treatments the needle mark would be red and raised for at least twenty-four hours. This was fantastic news.

  “What about nausea, diarrhea?”

  Rock shook his head. “No.”

  “What about right now, how do you feel?”

  “It stings like a bitch but there is none of the nausea or dizziness I felt before.” Rock swallowed thickly. “It irritates rather than debilitates. I am weaker. I can feel the silver but it is nowhere near as bad as it used to be. I think we might be able to beat this thing.”

  She gave a nod. “That’s what I’m hoping. We need—”

  The door opened, drawing their attention. It felt like the air was sucked from the room as he walked through the door.

  Him.

  The king.

  It was Granite. He had a perpetual frown. His dark eyes narrowed as they landed on her. His mouth was full and sensual. His lips looked so incredibly soft for a moment and then they pulled into a thin line. His muscles seemed to bunch. Especially the ones on the side of his neck. His six-pack became more pronounced, forming a ‘V’ at the sides of his hips. Not that she was looking or anything.

  “Out!” he barked at Rock.

  The Earth king wasn’t as good-looking as many of the dragon shifters. His nose was too prominent, his lips too full. His eyes were so dark they looked black, yet he was one of the most attractive men she had ever laid eyes on. Which was quite unfortunate since he was also a gigantic asshole. Not that she would ever date him. Firstly, she was there on business and she didn’t mix business with pleasure, and secondly, it wasn’t permitted. There was a clause within her contract. Strictly no fraternizing with the dragon shifters. It was very clear, while her feet were on this soil – which would be for a while yet – there would be no dragon fun. This suited her down to the ground. So, no biggie!

  Rock started to stand, his chair scraping on the tile floor.

  “Don’t move,” she addressed the shifter, who looked down at the ground in a submissive manner. He remained half-standing, hovering somewhere in the middle.

  She turned her gaze to the brooding king. “I’m right in the middle of a treatment. I’m afraid it’s going to have to wait a few minutes.”

  His frown deepened and he clenched his jaw. She didn’t think it was possible but the move made him even more attractive, which pissed her off. She’d only ever been attracted to sweet, kind scholarly types. The total opposite of Granite.

  Men who pulled out her chair for her. The type of guy who would walk you to your door after a date without expecting an invitation inside. Somehow, she suspected that Granite would demand. He was the type of guy who would eat you whole if you weren’t careful. A not unpleasant shiver raced down her spine. She ignored it.

  “Do as I say,” he spoke under his breath, flicking his gaze towards Rock for an instant. His voice was a low growl that had her insides turning to mush. Stupid, stupid insides.

  Rock instantly obeyed, heading for the door.

  “Don’t go too far!” she shouted at his retreating back. “The timer goes off in six minutes. I need you back then,” she quickly added the last just as the door was closing. “That’s how long you have.” She folded her arms over her chest and tried to give the rude king what she hoped was a death stare.

  Louise had a job to do. It was one she didn’t take lightly. She would never be able to tell anyone about her time here but it didn’t change the fact that the work she was doing was ground-breaking stuff. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. She had been appointed by Blaze, king of all four dragon kingdoms. Yes, she might be on Granite’s soil, working with his men, but she wasn’t one of his subjects. She certainly didn’t take orders from him. They had been told to work together. Together, damn it. He clearly didn’t know what working as a team meant.

  “How long before the test males are immune to silver?”

  I’m fine, thank you and you? What an asshole. There was zero small talk. He could at least pretend he had some sort of manners. She sucked in a deep breath. “We’re making progress.” She recited her findings and the headway they had made. “All three men are withstanding longer contact times and recovering more quickly.”

  “You call that tiny needle contact?” He made a snorting sound. “How long before we have real progress?” His dark eyes burned into hers.

  For a second Louise was tempted to take a step back, or to look away but she held her ground. Only just. “We’re years away from—”

  Granite made a noise of disgust. “Years …” His hands curled into fists. He choked out a laugh, one that held very little humor. “We don’t have years. Maybe a year at most. You need to work on months. Six months would be a good timeframe. Get it done.” He turned, heading for the door.

  It was Louise’s turn to laugh and to follow it up with a frown of her own. She shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. There should be limited exposure to the allergen. It needs to slowly—”

  Granite turned back. “We don’t have time. You are working according to human standards. We are not human. We can withstand—”

  “Have you ever had an allergic reaction to silver before?”

  Granite shook his head. “I’ve never come into contact with the metal. I’m careful.”

  “These treatments bring about a reaction. Patients experience nausea, dizziness. The point of contact becomes red and swollen, extremely painful to the touch. They experience extreme fatigue and weakness, achy joints and fever. It would be nothing short of torture to increase exposure too quickly. Are you saying that’s what you want?”

  “My males are strong … they are in their prime and quite capable of handling it.”

  “Easy for you to say,” she mumbled. “You don’t have to go through any of it. Rush immunotherapy has its place, but I wouldn’t recommend …” She watched as Granite walked towards the stainless steel table in the far corner. “What are you—?” She watched in horror as he picked up a whole bunch of the silver needles. “No … wait … what?” She gave a strangled cry as he stuck them all into his chest. He didn’t so much as flinch as blood began to drip down. By the length of needle that protruded from his skin, she judged that they had sunk about a half an inch into him. She quickly counted twelve silver needles.

  The idiot!

  “Why the hell did y
ou do that?” She could feel that her eyes were wide. “We never put an allergen into the torso. Only ever in a subject’s arm. Are you crazy?”

  Granite shook his head. “No, I’m a dragon, not some weak human. I can take it.” She noticed that he had beads of sweat on his forehead and that he looked a bit pale.

  “Lie down,” she pointed to the bed. “I need to remove the needles before you suffer anaphylaxis. You could die.”

  Granite gave a shake of the head. “I am a dragon and a royal. I won’t die from a few pinpricks, I assure you. Add me to your list.” His nostrils flared as his breathing rate increased.

  “You shouldn’t put yourself at risk like that. I’ll need to speak with Blaze. Ask permission—”

  “Add me to your list. I don’t give a fuck what Blaze has to say about it.” Sweat trickled from his brow and blood continued to drip from his wounds.

  “Please lie down,” her voice came out sounding far calmer than what she felt.

  Granite shook his head again. He tried to take a step towards her and stumbled, quickly righting himself. He was sweating profusely, his breath coming in short pants. Louise was sure that if she checked his pulse it would be racing. He kept swallowing deeply.

  “Are you feeling nauseous?”

  “I told you, I’m fine,” his voice was hoarse. His eyes seemed darker. “Add me to your list. Step up the treatments and add me. I will endure with my males.”

  “Lie down.” She pointed to the bed, more insistently this time.

  Granite shook his head. “Add me.”

  “Fine, I’ll add you, now lie down so that I can help you.” There was an edge of desperation to her voice. He really didn’t look good. It was probably just her imagination but even his golden chest marking looked less bright. His coloring wasn’t great. His vital signs were deteriorating before her eyes.

  “Six months.” His breathing was labored. “You need to get this done within six months despite what it takes.”

  “I can’t promise that. I will administer rush immunotherapy as long as your men agree. They will need to understand what it entails though. It won’t be easy for them … or for you.”