Savage Dragon. Anna Hackett
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Why do you kill for them? An insidious voice whispered in his head. Why not accept your power, become the savage beast they already think you are?
With sheer force of will, he silenced the voice. “I’m tracking this wild, Kira. You can either team up with me, or find another wild to hunt.”
“What makes you think I’d team up with the man who slaughtered my brother?”
Kira watched Sarkany’s back stiffen. Her words hung between them in the cool afternoon air like black smoke.
“Your brother went wild, Kira,” he said softly, without turning to face her.
Anger coiled in her—just like a deadly snake waiting to strike. Her beloved Marek was dead and this was the man who’d taken him from her. The venom in her boiled, and she wanted to spew it all out on him—the hurt, the anger, the sadness. She hated him, hated him with every drop of her dragon blood.
“No.” She refused to believe that Marek had turned into one of the dark creatures she hunted.
“You know once they cross the line, it’s too late.” Sarkany’s voice was as blank as stone.
“You don’t know that.” She hurled the words at him and clutched her hands together to stop them from trembling. “Marek wasn’t evil. I could have saved him.”
Sarkany swiveled to face her. God, she hated that even now she noticed how striking he was. He was big, six foot five, with broad, muscled shoulders that broadcasted his power. He had a strong face, brilliant green eyes and shaggy brown hair that curled at his collar. Black trousers accentuated lean hips and strong legs, and his white shirt looked stark against his bronze skin. He looked elegant, as if he’d just stepped out of some damned cocktail party.
But his elegance didn’t hide what he was—a warrior, a predator, the most skilled knight of the Order of the Dragon.
Marek, remember Marek. Her brother had been her best friend. There’d been only a year between them. He’d loved computer games, going to parties and teasing her. He’d been so fun-loving, so giving. It was inconceivable he’d let his magic twist him. She would never accept he’d gone wild or that he’d had to die.
She’d never forget that day, four months before, when she’d returned home from a hunt to learn he’d been executed. To learn Marek had lost his life in a dirty back street in Budapest at the hands of the Savage Dragon.
“You murdered him.”
Sarkany stalked over to her, all strength and grace, until only inches separated them. “Don’t be a fool. You’re a knight of the Order. You know it was too late.”
“Don’t call me a fool!” Her gaze clashed with his. Why did he have to be so handsome? So overpowering?
He was no pretty boy. He was one-hundred-percent raw, commanding male. There was nothing pretty about those untamed green eyes that seemed to look right into her. Where she didn’t want anyone to see.
When he took another step closer, their bodies brushed. “Then stop acting like one.”
She wanted to escape the heat of him, but her pride wouldn’t let her. He intimidated her. She hated admitting that, even to herself. She was a knight and she never let anyone intimidate her. Except this man.
Every cell in her body was savagely aware of him. Every nerve ending came to vibrant life. Her dragon stirred and wanted. Lusted.
Kira sucked in a breath. It was just her dragon blood—dragons ran hotter than humans, their beasts intensifying their desires. She refused to be attracted to this man. Shame blazed through her as hot as the lust. She brought to mind the image of her parents, devastated at the loss of their son.
It was only anger she felt for this man. “I could have brought him back.”
Strong hands clamped around her upper arms and dug into her skin. His dark head bent until his lips were but a whisper away from hers.
“If you really believe that, you have no right to be in the Order. If you think you can save them, it’ll make you slow, give them the advantage.” He released her and she stumbled back. “Then you’ll die.”
Her heart thudded with painful clarity. She shook her head. He wasn’t right. She could have saved Marek because they’d shared a strong bond, but she knew the others were dangerous. She had the scars to prove it.
She forced her temper into submission. She had a job to do and she would get it done. “I have what it takes, Sarkany. I’m going after this wild.”
His green eyes flashed. “Then I guess we’re a team, after all.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. She tossed her braid back over her shoulder. “You stay out of my way, I’ll stay out of yours.”
“Just don’t slow me down, Bethlen.”
Chapter Two
Kira did her best to ignore Sarkany as they made their way through the trees. He moved without making a sound and yet her gaze was drawn to his fluid stride.
She huffed out a breath. Focus on the hunt, Kira.
The path they were following was rough and overgrown. She looked at the forbidding peaks above them and the thick forest of trees. “It’s going to get a lot rougher.”
Sarkany shrugged. “That’s why he chose this location—better protection. His lair’s up there and he’ll protect it. Fiercely.”
She nodded and trudged on. It was strange sharing a hunt. She was used to working alone and making her own decisions. What was Sarkany doing here, so far from his assigned hunting grounds? He’d guarded Spain for years, one of the toughest areas—home to the Order of Calatrava.
Her prediction was right. The path got rougher, the trees and vegetation crowding in. The day was dying away and the forest shadows grew darker. She tugged up the collar of her jacket to block the cool air. “The path’s too narrow. We’ll have to go single file.”
“I’ll take the lead.” He started to shoulder past her.
She slapped a hand against his chest. “I’ll take the lead.”
His lips firmed into a hard line. Then he gestured in front of him. “Be my guest.”
They trekked along in silence, but she felt his gaze boring into her back. The tension between them grew, stretched taut, like a band waiting to snap.
Finally she broke it. “What are you doing in Hungary? The zealous monks of the Calatrava get too much for you?”
“The Dragonstalkers don’t bother me, even if they do believe any being with a drop of dragon blood should be exterminated.” He paused. “It was time to come home.”
He meant home to the Dragon Court. She’d caught glimpses of him there over the years, when he’d come to visit his family. The Sarkany family ruled over the dragon lords. His uncle and aunt were the Draco and the Wivere, the Dragon King and Queen.
Right now the Court was in its historical home, Budapest. In the old days, it had always stayed in Hungary, but now, in the age of jets and the Internet, it moved every few years to different locations around the world. And allowed dragons all over the world access to their royal family.
“My cousin has taken over the Order. I’ve been helping him.”
She knew it was tradition for the crown prince to run the Order and protect the dragon bloodlines. “I heard Rhain was taking over.”
There was a pause. “You know Rhain?”
“Only by reputation.” She’d heard the stories about Rhain Sarkany, the future dragon king. The dark, dangerous prince was making quite a name for himself as a knight. And a notorious womanizer.
Sarkany grunted.