The Dragon Sacrifice_A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance Page 4

  “Thank you for the food. Now, if you would kindly explain what is going on,” she said after she’d swallowed the last bite.

  Stenton cleared his throat. Jerrard ran a hand down the back of his neck anxiously. Neither seemed eager to tackle the mountain of unanswered questions Seela had been gathering since entering this cavern.

  “You go,” Stenton said to Jerrard. “You’re the one who brought her here.”

  “But you’re better at explaining things,” Jerrard countered.

  “Someone just start,” Seela said, growing impatient.

  “Fine,” Jerrard said, placing both hands on the battered tabletop. The spread of his fingers was so large Seela couldn’t help but stare. Both men were bigger than average humans, broad and muscular. How could they stay in such good shape while trapped underground? Just add it to the pile of unanswered question.

  “Seela,” Jerrard started, glancing at her, “much of what I’m going to tell you may seem unbelievable.”

  Seela laughed. “I’ve seen more unbelievable things today than in the rest of my life. Nothing you can say will shock me.”

  “You’d be surprised,” Stenton mumbled.

  Jerrard gave him a look before continuing. “As you know, I am a dragon.”

  “We are dragons,” Stenton corrected.

  “I thought you were going to let me tell it,” Jerrard piped in.

  They might squabble the whole way through, Seela realized. Clearly, these two had been spending too much time together. “Just stick to the basics. Please.”

  “Right,” Jerrard agreed. “Myself, my brother, Stenton, and my other brother Langdon are dragons, or, rather, dragon princes to be exact.” Jerrard gestured to the ancient painting on the wall.

  Seela studied it again. “I thought you’d all gone extinct a century ago.”

  “That is what your current human king wants you to think,” Jerrard said. “They did try to kill us all by poisoning our eggs, then sending armies after our nests and flocks. They killed most of the dragons.”

  “Brutally,” Stenton added, shaking his head. “Horribly. I’m sure not all humans are so horrible.” Stenton glanced at her, raising a dark blond eyebrow.

  Seela winced. “We always heard that dragons were…”

  “Savages?” Jerrard asked. “That’s how we’re painted in the histories now. But that’s not our true nature. We don’t eat human babies. We don’t eat humans at all,” he said, popping a raisin in his mouth. “Either way, the humans killed off as many of us as they could. What they didn’t realize was that dragon royalty could not be killed. Our magic was too ancient, too powerful.”

  “Pretty excellent characteristic to have hanging around,” Stenton added, smirking. “Magical blood.”

  “Yes, magical blood,” Jerrard repeated. “When the human king tried to kill our kind, he realized it was impossible, so he tried to control us instead. His mages attempted to put curses on us. One of them stuck.”

  Stenton leaned in. “It’s not all bad. Some of the curses blew those mages into a million wet pieces.” He grinned, showing off white teeth.

  Seela’s eyes went wide. “Is that what happened to magic then? They lost it all trying to curse you?”

  “In a sense, yes,” Jerrard answered. “There are none left that know the magical ways. The magic isn’t gone. There are just few humans who can wield it.”

  “Ah,” Seela said, nodding. “So then, you two are cursed?”

  “Yes,” Jerrard answered. “What my brother was mentioning earlier is that we are now only allowed to transform into our dragon selves once a year and for a very short amount of time.”

  “And Jerrard used his up saving you.” Stenton gave his brother another of his admonishing glares. When he noticed Seela’s frown, he waved his hands in surrender. “Not that you weren’t worth it, I’m sure.”

  “What of that… creature that tried to attack us in the caves? It wasn’t a dragon. What is that?” she asked.

  Stenton leaned back in his chair as he and his brother shared a glance. “When the mages trapped us, they were unable to trap our father, the dragon king. He is still free, though we haven’t seen him in a hundred years. The human kings realized that keeping us underground was not enough. They wanted to continue to try to kill us. They knew the longer we were down here, the weaker our magic would become. The king realized if we were weak enough and could not transform, his beasts could defeat us. It’s taken one hundred years, but they are getting close.”

  “Where did those creatures come from?” Seela asked.

  “The mages used the last bit of their magic to create them.” Stenton winked. “Kind of them, don’t you think?”

  “Monsters,” Jerrard added. “They’re horrendous.”

  “But what are they?” Seela asked, shivering as she remembered it sliding up close to her. The smell would never leave her memory.

  “They are part spider, part warthog, and part… something else. And they have old magic.” Jerrard darted his eyes to the door as if worried they were out there.

  “They are not to be messed with,” Stenton added.

  “As our captors, they keep us penned in here year after year. They keep the humans out as well.”

  “But what about me?” Seela asked. “You said I was the Sacrifice.”

  The two men exchanged a glance.

  A voice from the doorway drew their attention. Standing in the arch was the other man she recognized from the painting. The third brother?

  The man had short, dark brown hair, so glossy and luxurious Seela had the strong urge to run her fingers through it. Like his brothers, he was tall and broad with royal cheekbones and chin, but his eyes were sapphires, nearly glowing in their brilliance. So handsome she felt drawn in by his gaze.

  “What about you?” he repeated in a deep baritone. Coming into the room, he stopped before her, gazing down. “You, Seela, may be the answer to all of our troubles.”

  5

  Stenton snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Let’s not start this again. The ancient stories are false. No human woman can save us. That would be absurd.”

  “Would it?” Langdon asked, staring with an intensity the other two didn’t seem capable of. “The prophesy states that a woman of magical blood can break the curse and lift us out of this wretched existence.”

  Stenton snorted, but said no more.

  All three sets of eyes fell on Seela.

  “Now hold on,” Seela said, pushing back in her chair. “I have no idea what you’re suggesting, but I don’t have magic-curse-breaking powers.”

  “Didn’t they pick you for a reason?” Jerrard asked.

  “Yes,” Langdon added, “part of the bargain that keeps our father from raining fire down on your human king is that we have been promised a woman with magical blood each year. The problem is the bargain didn’t stipulate that the horde would not kill her the moment she set foot in the cave. Only this time, Jerrard, or fate, has stepped in.” Langdon ran his eyes over her face like he was searching for those abilities. “Forces are at work to help us, and you are to be the key to unlocking the shackles.”

  Seela thought back, remembering the dark expression on Bishop Danbury’s face. She was chosen for revenge, nothing else. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Betrayed again,” Stenton said, pushing out of his chair. “Not that it matters.”

  Jerrard stood, blocking his brother from leaving. “Wait. I saved her from the horde. How I knew to be there at that time and in that place, I don’t know, but it felt right. Something pulled me there. It has never happened before.”

  Langdon clapped Jerrard on the shoulder, a twinkle in his eye. “Magic called you there.”

  Stenton scoffed. “Believe what you want, but Jerrard gave up his one transformation. Now we only have two left. If they come for us again, we’re doomed.”

  “They can get in here?” Seela asked.

  All three brothers looked at the magical door behind
them. The rough, wooden door had runes on this side as well as those she’d seen in the hallway.

  Stenton was the one to answer. “The monsters want to feast.”

  “On you?” Seela asked.

  All three brothers nodded.

  “Oh, Lords.” Seela put her hand in her head, feeling faint.

  “Don’t worry,” Jerrard said, his voice reassuring. “They haven’t been able to breach the door yet.”

  But the other two princes’ faces let Seela know they took no comfort in that statement. And she’d been the one who’d weakened them when Jerrard had used his magic to save her.

  “There has to be a way out of here,” Seela said, feeling suddenly claustrophobic. Her eyes traced around the small, low-ceilinged room, but the princes shook their heads.

  “We’ve had a century to explore the tunnels. There’s no way out that isn’t magicked in some way to keep us in. And only breaking the curse can release us.”

  Seela put her head in her hands, gripping it. The throb at her temples pounded in time with her accelerated heartbeat. What was happening to her life? One minute she was about the enjoy Festival, the next she was being spirited off to Lords knew where, and now she was trapped in a cave with magical monsters lurking outside.

  “It’s a lot to take in,” Jerrard said behind her.

  “You should lay down,” Langdon added. “Let us show you to a bed.”

  She nodded, suddenly too tired to do anything but follow their directions. In a daze, she followed behind Jerrard, with Stenton and Langdon in tow. Down a long, dimly lit hallway they went, single file, until Jerrard stopped at a door and opened it.

  It was like stepping into another world.

  Where the entryway and sitting area were small and cramped, this cave had ceilings that soared to the heavens. It was somehow flooded with light from hundreds of candles, each guttering as they stepped inside. Candles were perched on tables, rocky ledges, and dripping from candelabras that hung from the stalactite-encrusted ceiling.

  Even more spectacular were the gems embedded in the walls that reflected the candlelight. Purples, greens, and blues danced on the walls as the light reflected from their multifaceted edges, making the room feel like a fairy tale.

  “Oh, my Lords.”

  Pulling her eyes from the ceiling and walls, she took in the room. A gigantic four-poster bed took up one wall. It was covered in fluffy white blankets that appeared as soft and light as clouds. Beside the bed, two armchairs angled toward each other. Between them, a chessboard carved from the most beautiful wood Seela had ever seen. Across the room, more bookshelves soared at least two stories up, stuffed with books. Lastly, her eyes landed on a deep pool of water at the back of the cave, which looked quite inviting. She only hoped it was warm.

  “This is my room,” Langdon said, “but it is now yours for the entirety of your stay.”

  She offered him a tired smile. “Thank you. That is most generous, but really, I don’t need all this.”

  “I insist,” Langdon said. He seemed like a man who was used to getting his way.

  “I’m just a simple girl,” she added, feeling guilty. They thought she’d been specially selected, that she could be the savior they’d been waiting for all these years. She should tell them the truth.

  But when she stared into their kind, hopeful eyes, her tongue froze. “Thank you,” was all that came out.

  “Enjoy your rest,” Jerrard said, shooing his brothers out. Before closing the door, he fixed her with a look. “Please call if you need anything.”

  He shut the door behind him, leaving Seela alone.

  Seela made her way to the bed, falling into it. The blankets were as soft as she’d expected, the mattress as luxurious. She vaguely wondered what in the world she would do with herself and how she might find rescue. Would Mickey come after her? Would her mother? Neither knew she was here. And no sacrifice had ever returned to tell the tale. Seela made a note to ask the princes about that, but the fatigue was winning out. Her blinks were long and heavy. She fell asleep and knew no more.

  6

  Langdon gathered the others at the table, making sure they knew from his countenance that this meeting was mandatory. Neither brother put up a stink, though it was often Stenton’s way to be contradictory. Too many decades of living in tight quarters, of squabbling and fighting. They were sick to death of each other, and it flared up in small and big ways.

  But tonight, everyone seemed to know the gravity of what had happened here. Two things loomed that they needed to discuss. The woman and Jerrard’s diminished power. Both seemed paramount and possibly disastrous.

  “We have to discuss what to do in light of the occurrences,” Langdon said, spreading his palms on the table.

  Stenton casually kicked back in the chair. “Is this the part where you try to school us on dragon lore that any fledgling would know by heart? Because if it is, I have a lot of whittling to do.” His voice was laced with sarcasm.

  The older brother ignored Stenton’s bait. “The woman we have before us, do either of you sense any magic in her?”

  Stenton shook his head sadly. Jerrard was the one who paused. “I told you before, something alerted me to that cave at just the right time. If I had been a second later, the horde would have had her. Another year gone with no chance to break the curse. Something is different this time.”

  “You’ve always been lucky, little brother,” Stenton said. “Luck isn’t the same as magic. Usually, it’s one or the other. Though, my sexual partners always experienced both.”

  Langdon rolled his eyes. “You haven’t had a sexual partner in a century.”

  “Unless you count his fist,” Jerrard added.

  Stenton kicked at them under the table. Jerrard groaned and rubbed his shin, but Langton was too focused. He knew something important had happened to them, something that would make or break their futures in this cavern.

  “Maybe her magic is latent,” Jerrard added.

  “And maybe she’s just a beautiful woman,” Stenton said, throwing up his arm. “But what in the world are we going to do with her?”

  “Keep her from the horde, that’s for sure,” Langdon said decisively.

  “And how?” Stenton asked. “Because genius, here,” he said gesturing to Jerrard, “used up his magic, they know we are vulnerable. I can sense them growing closer even now.”

  Ah, so that accounted for Stenton’s foul mood. The most telepathically sensitive of the brothers, Stenton could always tell when the horde was on the move. Langdon leaned forward so his brother could see the seriousness on his face. “How close are they?”

  “Three caverns over,” Stenton said, closing his eyes. “They can’t get any closer, but if either of us loses power, we’re toast.”

  “Then we must not lose power,” Langdon added, though he could see in Stenton’s eyes it was easier said than done. As cursed dragons, it wasn’t just shifting to their true forms that drained their power. It was any number of things, some of which could not be predicted. It had happened once when Stenton fell from a very high height in one of the caverns they were exploring. He’d survived the fall, but had been unable to shift into dragon form for the entire year.

  “So don’t lose power,” Stenton repeated, “but what about the girl? This one has already taken a shine to her.” He thumbed at Jerrard, who blushed.

  Langdon glanced between his brothers. Jerrard’s desire had been plain on his face, but he also sensed a tightening in Stenton’s features that let Langdon know Stenton was feeling something for the young lass as well. Who wouldn’t? She was a beauty. Hair flowing in dark waves, voluptuous curves, red lips, and large breasts. Langdon cleared his throat as his body reacted to the memory of hers.

  But was beauty enough? He’d take a hag if it meant she could break the curse and free them. A beautiful mage was more than he could ask for.

  “We get to know her,” Langdon said firmly. “We will treat her kindly and spend time with her. Make he
r feel comfortable all while testing her to see if there is any magic within her.”

  “So keep her alive and content? Tall order.” Stenton stood up, stretching. “I’m going to bed before anything more catastrophic happens. Langdon, you’re welcome to the chaise in my room, but you know how I snore.”

  “I’ll be bunking with Jerrard,” Langdon said, glancing at his younger brother, who gave no complaint.

  But Langdon didn’t get much sleep that night. Worry hung on him like a yoke. He’d managed to keep them alive all this time, but now things seemed to balance on a knife’s edge. Why he felt this was their last chance, he wasn’t sure, but one thing was certain—he hoped Seela was more than she appeared.

  7

  Seela woke up in a puddle of drool, her hair plastered to her forehead in sweaty waves.

  She sat up, groggy and unsure of where she was. Glancing around the dim room, she remembered it all—the abduction, the dragons, the princes. What would today bring?

  When she spied a tray of food, her stomach rumbled—eggs, toast, and jam. It was waiting at the foot of her bed though she hadn’t heard anyone come or go, but then, she’d been dead tired from all she’d been through.

  She grabbed the tray and dragged it back to the bed, still basking in the luxuriousness of the blankets. Why were some things here new and some old? Where did they get this food from? It certainly hadn’t grown in the dark. But still, she shoveled it into her mouth, grateful the princes weren’t here to see how famished she was.

  When she’d eaten, she got up to explore the room. She’d been too tired to do so the night before, so she took her time. Any number of unanswered questions might lurk in that ancient bureau’s drawers. Or behind the door she realized awaited at the back of the room. But Langdon could come in any time and find her rifling through his things. She didn’t want to risk offending her host, especially because doing so might mean her being turned over to those monsters. Strolling around, she examined what she could without digging, keeping one eye on the door.