Read Captivated (The Dragons) for Free Online Page B

Darla. Move.”
    I cried out when I heard another shot ring out and looked to the wall panel when Link slid it open and slipped me in.
    “Don't leave this room. No matter what.”
    I heeded the fire I saw in his eyes and nodded without a word. They were the eyes of a dragon. I understood the spirit in him in that moment. Clear as day.
    I folded my arms around myself, realizing I was shaking. My cheeks were wet, I'd started crying at some point, apparently. I guess that sort of thing happens when you're in fear for your life.
    I glanced the room around me. No one else had taken sanctuary in it. It looked like a spa room, complete with a little pool in the middle, or a maybe a hot tub. I wasn't sure which. I'd never been in or near one.
    My breath caught in my throat when the door opened, and Link beckoned me to hurry.
    “Is everything alright?”
    “It's alright now.”
    “Did you get them?”
    He hesitated before answering, like the words he was about to give me were sour in his mouth.
    “They got out. One with a few bullets in him.”
    “Was anyone here hurt?”
    “Earl, but he's fine. It's just a flesh wound. They shot first.”
    “What the hell happened?”
    His hand took mine, and he led me out of the VIP area and through the crowds quickly, gesturing me toward the stairs before I could connect eyes with anyone else. Some of the girls were frantic, and the guests were understandably, clearing out.
    “Someone tried to break into the warehouse.”
    “Who?”
    Link's grip tightened around my hand, and he pulled me up the stairs to my room, opening the door for me.
    “One of the 'Ghosts' by the looks of it.”
    I stepped through the door, following his gaze, turning to face him with a heavy question in my eyes.
    “The Pres wants you to test what you've got by tomorrow night,” he told me. He said it with an unmistakable finality that stole the question from my mind before it could descend to my lips. “Try to get some sleep.”
    He closed the door to the room before I could respond. He didn't lock me in like before, but I knew he wouldn't let me leave that night, and I couldn't “get some sleep” after the craziness that had just broken out. It wasn't so easily done after an experience like that.
    So I got to work, and that work, over the course of a night and a full day, bore fruit.
    ––––––––

    ––––––––

“I t works!” I told him, more excited than I probably should have been, but dammit I was excited. I'd made a drug that helped me wake up in my dream, and I'd explored it for one glorious hour before the alarm went off.
    I rapped the wall before I had a chance to think or even pull my hair up to appear “mannerly,” and when Link opened the door and stuck his head through it, his curls rumpled, I threw my arms around him.
    I let go almost immediately. I think some part of me was assessing whether or not I'd done the wrong thing, what I was really thinking putting my arms around someone who'd been helping keep me hostage, and whether or not I truly cared.
    I'd had the induced dream, sure, but it seemed like the other side effects were working their way into the equation, too. I felt feverish and a little anxious.
    Link leaned toward me but held himself back after a step, like he'd been about to kiss me before his senses got the better of him.
    “You had a dream?”
    “Yeah,” I answered with a nod, a bright smile making its way across my face again. “The 4 th flask. It definitely works, and that means the 3 rd flask has some uses, as well.”
    “The others?”
    “I played eeni-meeni with them. I haven't tried those.”
    “Yet?”
    “I just didn't try them. Don't need to now. He wants me to test them all?”
    “I don't know. Maybe. I can ask.”
    A thud descended to my gut, and I felt the tug of preemptive disappointment. I didn't want him to leave, and there wasn't really any denying it at this point. He looked like he was getting ready to though, and I took a step