Daughter Of The Dragon Princess(17)

"Mate?"

"Didn't your ‘friend' mention that part?"

Lily's head was reeling. No, he hadn't told her that part. She wondered  why. Then her mind flashed back to the feel of Mal's mouth scorching hot  against hers and a wave of bitterness and betrayal engulfed her. She  glanced back at Weyland. He was still smiling, his blue grey eyes  holding more than a hint of malicious amusement. It came to her then,  who he reminded her of-Stark.

She leapt to her feet. "We have to get out of here," she said to Joe.

"Why?" Joe asked, a small frown forming. "Have I missed something?"

Weyland laughed. "Don't you want to hear more, Lily? Besides, some  friends of mine are coming to meet you. I'd hate for you to miss them.  They know things you might be interested in hearing. Information about  your father."

Lily stood for a second, unsure. "My father is dead."

"Yes, thanks to your friend, Malachite. But he had a legacy that has  been carried on since his death. A legacy that required only you to  reach completion."

The crunch of tires on gravel sounded outside the window.

"That will be my friends arriving." Weyland said. "They'll be so pleased to see you again, Lily."

"Again?" She turned to Joe. "Come on, we're leaving."

"I don't think so," Weyland said.

Her heart lurched. Weyland held a gun in his hand, pointed not at her, but at Joe.

"What's going on?" Joe asked. He still seemed bemused rather than alarmed.

Lily bit her lip, looked at Weyland. "Don't."

"I'm sorry," Weyland replied. "But you shouldn't have involved him."

"I didn't know I had," Lily said. "Please, I'll do what you want, just let him go."

"Oh, I think you'll do what we want anyway."

The front door slammed and footsteps echoed in the hall. Lily's heart  thundered in her chest. The door opened, and two men entered. She  recognized them from outside her apartment and from the farmhouse last  night. She swallowed down the fear and swung her gaze back to Weyland.

His finger tightened on the trigger, the gun roared and Joe crumpled to the floor.

"No!"

She fell to her knees besides him. The bullet had entered the center of  his forehead, small and neat. His eyes were open and he stared straight  ahead, still with that same expression of bemusement on his face.

Lily clenched her fists. Crimson tinged her vision. She bit her lip  trying to force herself to calm down. She'd felt like this last night,  and she remembered Mal's expression of terror. Mal, who had faced down  death with a smile on his face, terrified of her. He was somewhere near,  she knew it, could feel it. He would find her. Save her. Help her get  revenge for Joe.         

     



 

Hard fingers clamped onto her shoulders, dragging her to her feet. She  took one last look at Joe, and turned to glower at her captors.

"What's wrong with her eyes?" Stark asked.

Weyland shrugged. "Lily," he said. "Perhaps, if I repeat my earlier  request, this time you would comply. The mark Lily, I want to see the  mark."

She glared her hatred at him, and he sighed.

"Strip her," he ordered.

Rough hands tugged her shirt from her shoulder, baring her upper arm.  She didn't resist, too busy fighting the rage inside her. She didn't  know what would happen if she gave in to it, only that it would be  nothing good. Yet part of her yearned to let it all free, to live … or die  with the consequences.

Fingers stroked her arm, lingering on her shoulder, and every muscle in  her body tightened. Weyland stood beside her, touching her, and she  gritted her teeth. She looked from him back to Joe's lifeless body, and a  wave of fury surged inside her. Across the room, the velvet curtains  burst into flame, orange tongues of fire licking upwards. Exhilaration  filled her; she wanted nothing more than to see them all burn. The edge  of Stark's jacket ignited next. He slapped wildly at the flames and she  smiled.

"Shit. What the hell is happening?" He pointed at Lily. "It's her."

"It can't be," Weyland said, but she could hear the alarm in his voice.  "The Dragon Princesses can't make the fire. They were never capable of  magic."

"Well, this one is. I told you what happened the other night-the same thing." He reached out and shook Lily's arm. "Stop it."

"I can't," she murmured. "I don't know how." She wasn't sure that even  if she could, she would stop it now. The sight of the flames entranced  her. The thick, delicious scent of smoke filled her nostrils. At that  moment, she would have stood and watched the whole world burn.

"For God's sake, one of you do something."

A moment later, she felt a sharp prick in the back of her neck and darkness once again enfolded her.





Chapter 10





They came over the last rise and found themselves standing on the crest  of a green hill. The land fell away all around them and the sky arched  blue overhead. Before them stood the portal of Taryn Carnack.

Through the gaps in the tall standing stones, Mal could see the  amphitheater, with the altar and the portal behind. A sense of  timelessness and expectation hung heavy in the air, and a shiver of  recognition trickled down his spine.

He searched the area but could see no sign of Lily-no sign of anything. No sounds disturbed the unnatural peace.

Cole came up beside him. "This place gives me the creeps."

"It's supposed to."

"Charming," Cole muttered. "Just what is it anyway? It looks like some sort of mini-Stonehenge."

"It's a gateway."

"You mean like on that TV show, where they go through this portal thing to another world?"

Mal glanced across at him in surprise. "Yeah, just like that."

"TV program's a load of bollocks, and this doesn't look like a gateway  to me. It looks like a pile of old rocks. And I don't see our girl  anywhere."

"No." Mal frowned. "I don't think Lily's here, after all."

"Great," Cole said. "Just great."

Mal stroked his hand across the rough surface of the guardian stone,  warm to the touch, as though the stones possessed a life of their own.  He traced the swirling patterns cut into the rock, before stepping  through into the center.

Within the circle, all was quiet. No hum from the gateway-nothing. And no Lily. Where else could she be?

"Try her cell again," he said to Cole.

Cole punched in the number. "Nothing. So what do we do now?"

What choice did they have? "We wait or rather, I wait. You can head on home."

"Nah, I'll see this to the bitter end." Cole sighed heavily. "But I'm  going to catch up on some sleep. Be sure to wake me if anything  happens." He sank down onto the grass, propped himself against one of  the standing stones, and closed his eyes.

Mal couldn't relax. He wished there was something he could do-he hated  the waiting-but every sense screamed to him that Lily would come here.  He just couldn't understand why she wasn't here yet. What could be  holding her up?

They waited all through the afternoon and evening. The moon had risen  behind the ring of stones, when the sound of people approaching broke  the eerie silence. Many people.

Crossing the circle, he nudged Cole with his toe. "Someone's coming."         

     



 

Cole struggled to his feet. "Lily?"

"If it is, she's got company. A lot of company."

He gestured to a gap between the standing stones. The night was no  longer dark. A flickering orange glow lit the hillside. He couldn't see  them yet. They were still over the rim of the hill, but they were  getting closer. He tugged on Cole's jacket and pointed away from the  stones. They withdrew and took cover in a small copse of trees.

"Very melodramatic," Cole murmured as the procession wended its way towards the stone circle.

They were all dressed in long robes, hoods hiding their faces. The group  was packed close together, the outer members carrying burning torches.  Then, for a second, the ranks parted revealing a brief glimpse of Lily's  long red hair, before they closed in around her again.

A sudden coldness clutched at his chest, and he had to battle down the instinctive urge to race forward.

The group parted again and this time, he had a clear view of Lily. A man  carried her wrapped in a grey blanket, but the bright glow of her hair  spilled over her captor's arm. Mal kept his gaze fixed on her until the  group reached the crest of the hill and disappeared into the stone  circle.

"There must be twenty of them," Cole said. "We've got to get back-up. We can't take that many."

"No. If we do, then chances are they'll kill her and run."

Cole shook his head. "I'm not happy about this. Just who are these guys  anyway? They look like a load of nutters to me, and what's with the  funny outfits? Is it some sort of religious cult?"

"Something like that. Come on, we have to get closer."

Two men emerged from the circle. They separated and started to walk the  perimeter. "Stay here," Mal whispered. "Do not move until I tell you  to."