Releasing the Dragon Read online

  “But—” Annie began. She wanted to protest that she did too have training but then she realized that playing various espionage and spy video games, reading thriller novels, and seeing every single Bond movie twice probably didn’t count as “training.”

  “If it will make you feel better, I will use a Pairing Puppet as my x’aan-chow.” Dru patted her hand soothingly. “In this way I will not be unfaithful to you, teeska.”

  Annie snatched her hand away.

  “Why do you care about being unfaithful to me since you have no intention of Claiming me anyway?”

  Deep down she knew she was being unreasonable. She didn’t even want to be Claimed by the big Kindred—but it would be kind of nice if he had wanted to Claim her. The fact that he didn’t both irritated and saddened her somehow. Which made her snappish and angry.

  “Annie, please understand—I want to Claim you.” Dru looked into her eyes earnestly and his accent got thicker with emotion so that “want” came out as “vaant.” “But I cannot—it would not be safe.”

  “Why, because the Drake thing inside you doesn’t like me?” Annie demanded. She still wasn’t sure what that meant but she well remembered the sound of his voice when he’d rescued her from Christian—the strange powerful echo that had made her brain throb. Clearly there was something inside him though she didn’t exactly understand what it was. Was he some kind of an alien werewolf or something?

  “No,” Dru snapped. “Not because my Drake does not like you—I cannot Claim you because he likes you too much.” He leaned towards her and took her hands in his, looking intently into her eyes. “Understand this, teeska—my Drake wants you with a passion I have never felt before. He longs for you so hungrily I fear I cannot control his appetites. Therefore I must keep you far from me. It is the only way to be safe.”

  “Safe from what?” Annie asked but he only shook his head.

  “Forgive me but as I am leaving tomorrow, I must prepare for my mission.” He looked at Sylvan. “I must go to the Pairing House and choose a puppet to take with me as well. May I have your permission to take one away from the Mother Ship?”

  The blond Kindred frowned.

  “If you think a Pairing Puppet can effectively portray a live female. They have very simple responses, you know. Are you certain you won’t give yourself away by using a non-living consort?”

  “It should not be a problem,” Dru said stiffly. “The males who frequent the Shadow Palace see females as less than sentient. X’aan-chow literally translates as ‘Sex-pet.’ Let us just say that complex conversation will not be needed from the puppet I bring with me.”

  “What is a Pairing Puppet anyway?” Annie interrupted. “Is it some kind of a Kindred blow-up doll? And what exactly are you going to do with it once you get to this, uh, Shadow Palace? Are you going to have sex with it?”

  Dru’s cheeks went dull red but he lifted his chin.

  “I will do whatever is necessary to track my target and make certain he is not planning some nasty surprise for the Kindred.”

  “So you are going to have sex with it!” Annie knew it was ridiculous since she had technically only just met the big Kindred, but she felt betrayed and hurt and angry at the very thought. How dare the big jerk decide to take some semi-sentient sex toy on an exotic spy mission instead of her? And how dare he admit he would “do whatever was necessary” with it, right in front of her? That was like hearing your fiancée admit he was going to visit a hooker!

  Well…maybe not exactly like that since they weren’t engaged and the puppet thing wasn’t really alive but still, that was what it felt like to Annie.

  “I am sorry if I have hurt you but this is my job,” Dru’s voice was low but steady. “It is yet another reason I cannot Claim you, Annie. It would be unfair to bring you into the kind of life I lead.”

  “You mean the kind where you jet off to exotic locations and screw sex puppets in a palace?” Annie snapped.

  “Annie—” He reached for her but she pushed him away.

  “No.” She shook her head firmly. “Just go, please. I don’t…I can’t talk about this right now.”

  She hated herself for it, but suddenly tears were hovering on the horizon and she didn’t want to cry in front of him again. Not when he was the source of her pain.

  Dru rose from the side of the bed, a look of hurt and regret on his sharp features.

  “Forgive me,” he said again. “I will leave you now.”

  He nodded at Commander/Doctor Sylvan and Liv, the nice nurse who had remained silent in the corner the entire time they argued, and then he slipped out the door and was gone.

  Nine

  Dru’s heart felt bruised as he left the med center and walked down the long corridor that led toward the Unmated Males Area. He had seen how hurt Annie was by his refusal to Claim her or to take her with him but more than that, he had been able to smell it. Her lovely, feminine scent had become muted and sad with hints of anger and bitterness as well.

  Dru supposed he couldn’t blame her. What he had done was tantamount to telling her he would be cheating on her. True the Pairing Puppets weren’t sentient beings, being only simple androids in the shape of females which were kept for Unmated Males to slake their sexual needs until they found mates. But he would still be having sex with someone—or something if you wanted to get technical—besides Annie herself.

  Not that he wanted to. He had visited the Puppet House often enough when he had first come to the Mother Ship but the moment he started Dream-Sharing with Annie, his desire to slake his lust with the artificial females had died at once. Now the very thought of doing what must be done with a Pairing Puppet when he reached his destination made him feel vaguely ill. But there was no help for it—at the Shadow Palace, a male without a x’aan-chow had no status at all. Certainly not enough to enter the inner chambers where his target, Zar’ren, was sure to be.

  Zar’ren was a bad actor with a grudge against the Kindred—which was strange since it was rumored he had Kindred blood himself. Several times in the past he had plotted to sabotage the Mother Ship, so if Commander Sylvan had news that he was planning something new, someone had to keep an eye on him and stop whatever he was trying.

  I should just kill him, Dru told himself grimly as he made his way through the Unmated Males area and up to the little white house with pink trim where the Pairing Puppets were stored. But assassination was a last resort specifically because of Zar’ren’s Kindred heritage.

  The Kindred didn’t kill their own if they could help it.

  Inside the Puppet House, the “girls” were lined up neatly, sitting on chairs and couches placed around the room. They sat there, staring blankly at old fashioned Earth books with actual paper pages, but their eyes were motionless. They couldn’t read or think beyond obeying simple commands. To be honest, they couldn’t do anything but fuck.

  The thought made Dru sick, as it never had before he started Dream-Sharing with Annie. Gods, did he really have to do this? But he knew if he arrived at the Shadow Palace without a x’aan-chow, he wouldn’t even be allowed past the first gate. There was no help for it—he had to take one of the puppets with him.

  Looking around the room, he wondered which to choose. Probably one that looked as little like Annie as possible. He didn’t want to be reminded of his infidelity during the mission.

  But despite his determination not to pick a puppet like the female he cared for, his eyes happened to fall on a short, plump, plus-sized puppet with long red hair. The puppet didn’t have Goddess-kisses all over like Annie did—instead it had smooth white skin. And its hair was curly rather than straight. But it was still more like Annie than any of the other puppets.

  I shouldn’t, Dru thought but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Walking over to the puppet, he tapped her on the shoulder.

  “You,” he said roughly.

  “Yes, Warrior—how can I serve you?” she asked mechanically, looking up.

  “You’re coming with me,” Dr