The Summoning [Dragon's Lair 2] Read Free Page B

carefully. There
were no windows and only one door. The entire room seemed to be comprised of
rough-hewn stone and heavy tapestries, and a thick rug helped to trap the
warmth of the fire burning in the hearth. It was as if she’d stepped back in
time. Fear hit her then. Had she? Remy and Philippe had never really shown her
the extent of what dragon magic could do.
    The door opened, and a young
woman entered. The door closed behind her, and the lock clicked in place from
the outside. After depositing a bundle of clothing on the edge of the bed, she
moved deeper into the room and pushed aside one of the tapestries to reveal a
bathroom beyond. While the main chamber was rustic, the bathroom was not. It
had every modern convenience. The girl kept her head down, and everything about
her seemed to indicate that she was beyond shy and, in a strange way, reminded
Lilly of herself before she’d met Remy and Philippe.
    “Where am I?” Lilly demanded.
She wasn’t going to be drawn in by the wiles of a woman who appeared to be her
captor.
    “You’re at Dragon’s Breath, the
Arcadian clan’s compound in Colorado. No one will harm you.”
    “My safety wasn’t an issue
before I was abducted by force from my own home,” Lilly shot back. The girl
ducked her head, and Lilly would swear that she trembled. In a softer tone, she
asked, “Why have I been locked in like a prisoner?”
    “Not a prisoner,” she corrected
as she moved about the bathroom gathering supplies. “You are in the maidens’
house where all the unmated dragonswans reside. Your door is locked because
there was no way of knowing what state of mind you’d be in when you awoke.”
    It all made such logical sense
that she couldn’t fault it. “And what happens when Remy and Philippe arrive?”
    The girl never looked up, just
kept her eyes focused on the floor. Her voice was so soft it was almost a
whisper. “They will be housed in the Main Hall, and you will join them there. And
after the challenge, if they prevail, you will return home with them.”
    Lilly felt ill, and even though
she was terrified of the answer, she asked anyway. “And if they lose?”
    “Then Dax and Farron will claim
you as theirs.”
    Oh, god , she thought. “When
you say challenge, what does that mean exactly?”
    The girl added some sweet-smelling
oil to the water. “They really haven’t told you much, have they? I am supposed
to help you bathe. If I don’t, I’ll be punished. I will tell you everything I
know if you cooperate.”
    A year ago, Lilly would have
balked, but after working at Dragon’s Lair and often spending the evenings
there with Remy and Philippe, she had lost all modesty. Strolling into the
bathroom, she stripped off her robe and climbed into the steaming water.
Apparently, she’d been lying in the same position for a very long time because
her body ached from it. The water was surprisingly soothing. “Tell me
everything.”
    “Our laws are very simple. The
Council of Elders rules everything. We cannot ever challenge another of our
kind without going through them. Whether it’s about land or, in this case, a
mate, they decide everything. Dax and Farron have challenged Remy’s and
Philippe’s right to claim you as their mate.”
    “They don’t even know me.”
    “It isn’t about you. You’re
simply the instrument that allows them to exact their revenge,” the girl
explained. “Lean forward, and I will wash your hair.”
    Lilly did so, not questioning
that the fragrant steam seemed to have sapped her will entirely. She didn’t
have the strength to move or to do anything, other than obey the girl’s
commands, yet she felt more in touch with her body than ever before. The
fragrance of the steam and the gentle glide of the water as it lapped at her
skin seemed to overwhelm her senses.
    “Dax and Farron hate Remy and
Philippe,” she whispered. “Just as Jacques, one of the Elders, hates them. When
they informed the council they’d taken a mate, it