Page 11 of Dragon Me Through Space

“What?” Charles asked. I was pretty certain no one in his entire life had ever told him no before … except me. It was nice to hear.

“No. I’m not bringing her to you,” Gage said.

“Princess, there’s movement on the floor,” Scout whispered in my ear.

“Time to go,” I told Gage, swiped a dozen vials into a bag, as well as a few other things, and headed to the back corner of the room where a secret hatch hid beneath my bed.

“You’re mine,” Charles snarled from the communicator. “I will have you.”

“She’s not yours,” Gage growled and steam poured from his nostrils and mouth in his fury. “You try to touch her and I’ll tear your arms off.”

And my heart just about exploded hearing him say that. No! I didn’t know him and he was just following our contract.

“Gage, let’s go,” I whispered.

Gage turned and followed me.

“End call,” I instructed Scout.

The call ended, but not before I saw Charles’s pissed off face.

“He’s going to come after you,” Gage said.

“He always does,” I whispered and pushed my bed aside to reveal the hidden hatch.

“We need to have a talk when you get back to the ship,” he growled, following me down the ladder to the first floor of the bar and out the back exit.

Gage went first, grabbed my hand, and began to run.

“Scout, best route to the ship,” I ordered.

The route came up in my vision, one of the positives to the enhancements Charles gave me was that I had a built-in display Scout could connect to. That meant I didn’t need to wear any special glasses or headsets, which was great since I tended to lose things or break them. “Right here,” I said and Gage obeyed. “Left. Next right.”

Gage followed my orders without question, which was surprising but also a relief. We were two turns away from the ship when Charles and a huge group of his soldiers dropped down into our path.

“Darling, I’ve missed you,” Charles said. He wore a grey suit with a lab coat over it, his goggles perched atop his head, just in front of his bovine-like ears.

The soldiers surrounded him. Their ranks were comprised of some, like me, who had been experimented on, and others who had been down on their luck and were “saved” by his employment. Unfortunately, his employment required them to do all sorts of despicable and disturbing things that left dark marks on your soul. Of the twelve with him, I only recognized three of them. The three who had been personally assigned to guard me.

“I’m surprised you three are alive after failing to guard me properly,” I taunted with a half-smile. “Did you get punished with more experiments? Forced to spend time with my sisters?”

They showed zero emotion, no acknowledgment of my taunts. Shit, he’d zombified them. That meant they were going to be even deadlier to fight. Fortunately, the front line consisted of his weakest members, who I knew I could take down without much trouble.

“If you find an opening, run to the ship and stay there,” Gage ordered me.

I pulled my swords out of the sheaths I had strapped to my back and let some of my electric powers out. “Not a chance. This is my fight.” I leapt forward, cutting down three of the guards I didn’t know before Charles could shout orders and back away.

Gage shifted partially, letting scales cover his body, claws appeared at the tips of his fingers, and his head turned more dragon-like. Somehow, we fought together seamlessly. It was like I could sense him and anticipate his moves. With every turn and slash, he matched me and cut down one for every kill of mine. It was a beautiful and deadly dance that had an electric feeling buzzing within my skin.

Within minutes, all of the soldiers were dead and only Charles still stood.

Gage stood beside me, wings folded against his back, scales covering his arms, neck, and face. His eyes had slitted pupils, but his face now looked human aside from that and the scales. “Leave or you die,” Gage threatened him.

“She is mine,” Charles snapped. “I’ve put too much money into her to let her go. She’s my greatest creation.”

“I am your greatest creation,” I agreed. “Your work allowed me to escape even your impenetrable facility. However, I’m not going back. You’ll never get another drop of my blood. Leave, or I will kill you.”

He rolled his eyes. “We both know you can’t kill me. I’m the Underlord of Porantine. If you kill me, you’ll cause chaos here.”