Touch of Flame

Chapter 13

Malachi had managed to calm down the burning rage in him and go back to being mission-focused. He rarely lost a battle of wit and he never gave his enemies what they wanted. He was usually the provoker and he was good at it but this woman, this damned creature, where did she come from?

If only she was a dragon…

But she wasn’t. She was a human. A human for god’s sake. How could he smell her so strongly? It couldn’t be possible. He could not be compatible with someone like her.

He hated that she fascinated him, hated that she challenged him, something he would normally like and want in a partner. She would have made a great queen.

He spat the bitter taste in his mouth caused by his own thoughts. He never thought he would encounter such an obstacle. He never thought that his…., even saying the word pained him, but he never thought she would be his enemy. The one standing in the way of his mission. How did this happen?

One of the soldiers came in, probably to take some more blood. The professor must have a wish to drain him. The soldier pulled the chain lever to secure him against the graviton.

As usual, Malachi liked to scare them and make them nervous as they neared to take his blood. They always came in three or four even though he was chained. While three of them stood guard with their weapons ready, one of them came to take his blood. He pricked a vein and let his blood flow through a hose and into a bag.

“You know, you should at least offer me water otherwise you will have no blood to take soon,” Malachi told him.

The soldier avoided looking at him and as soon as he was done, he distanced himself quickly.

“Tea is fine too,” Malachi said as the soldier hurried away.

“Be quiet, dragon.” One of the other soldiers pulled the lock on his pistol just to scare him.

“Why in a bad mood? Seems like you didn’t have your morning tea.”

“I am saving my tea to drink while I watch you get tortured.”

Malachi gave a sly grin. “You don’t have the stomach for that. I can tell by your face.” He looked at all of them. “Are you really soldiers? You all appear to have abruptly quit drinking your mother’s breastmilk and decided to fight dragons.”

The soldier lost his temper at last and fired a shot at him. The bullet went right into the side of his stomach.

Malachi kept his face straight despite the pain spiraling in him. “Is that all you got?”

The soldier aimed at him again but the other one stopped him and began to drag him away.

“I like my tea with honey,” Malachi called after them.

Well, at least he had the pain to distract him now and he was working on his provocation. Someone would lose their temper one day and make a mistake. But soldiers didn’t matter. He wanted to get his hands on the princess. If only her scent didn’t trigger the beast in him so he could stay focused. Because of her scent, his senses were suddenly heightened overshadowing his logic.

Now he understood when the male dragons acted like crazed beasts when they found their… he skipped the word again. He often thought they overexaggerated. Now he knew they didn’t. This feeling was too strong even for him who put himself through hard training of resilience and endurance. He had to remind himself of his hatred to try to balance it. He tried to vividly remember what made him hate those vile creatures and why he was here. He could not forget.

Hours passed by and he could sense the weather changing. The faint vibrance in the walls informed him that there were loud musical instruments playing somewhere. The humans were having a party, it seemed. They should enjoy themselves while they could.

Malachi thought back to his brothers back home. Hopefully, they were remaining calm and not making any haste decisions. He didn’t want any of them to be caught while trying to save him. He would get out of here, no matter what.

As more time passed by, Malachi decided to get some sleep while still chained against the graviton. As usual, after a long while, he became numb to the pain so it wasn’t a distraction anymore. He closed his eyes and took a nap before the presence of someone awoke him. The sweet scent of daises penetrated his senses. She was here.

As he lifted his fallen head, his gaze followed the bottom of a blue dress slowly tightening around a female body as his gaze traveled up. The light blue fabric fit perfectly around hips not as narrow as he claimed them to be and then around a narrow waist and a moderate chest.

A few golden locks teased the swell of her rising and falling chest and her bare delicate shoulders and neck.

His gaze traveled further up and settled on her face. She had some color on that usually pale and dull skin today. The clearest difference between the humans and the dragons was their skin color. Dragons often had more color in their skin. It was either sand, olive, or bronze. Some of them were even darker.

Humans were often pale. The dragons called them colorless. He never found their skin attractive yet he could not tear his gaze away from this pale creature. She came to him even more beautiful than before.

“Did you dress up for me?” He asked her tauntingly. He knew they were celebrating something up there.

“It depends. Do you like it?” She made a gentle swirl. Dressing up wasn’t her thing, he could tell.

“You would look better naked.” He said with a flat expression.

She remained calm but he would tell from her body language that he did make her a bit uncomfortable.

“I read somewhere that you are creatures of magic.” She said ignoring him.

“Seems like you have been busy. Aren’t you too interested in me?”

She walked closer and stared into his eyes. “You are the subject of my interest now, Malachi.”

His heart skipped. He knew she wasn’t saying it in the context that should make him feel that way.

They just looked at each other for a moment, neither of them willing to look away first. And then she stepped even closer. This was worse than being shot with obsidian.

There was no mistaking this scent. He could feel it force itself into his senses even when he denied it. And he also detected the scent of a man on her. She wasn’t married so guessed that she must have danced with a certain man. Not several. Just one.

He wasn’t surprised. No matter how pretty she was, not many of those fragile human men would want to be with a woman like her.

“Don’t you have a family waiting for you?” She asked.

“They aren’t waiting,” he told her.

“They let you go despite your mission.”

“Yes.”

“So they hate humans so much that they are willing to sacrifice you or they believe in you so much.”

“Both.” He grinned.

“They will come here sooner or later and I will shoot them down and bring their dead bodies to you.”

“You can not threaten me with my family, princess. If necessary I would kill them myself. I already have.”

She narrowed her eyes to see if he was lying. He wasn’t.

“Your father.” She figured out.

“Yes.”

“For the throne.” She said with disgust.

“Yes.”

She looked even more disgusted. “Why are you all so hungry for power?”

He loved her conclusion. Power hungry? He was only hungry for one thing.

“Well, you are starving me.” He shrugged. “If I chewed your father, I wouldn’t spit him out.”

Her face twisted with anger and then her eyes blazed with determination. Slowly her lips curved into an evil smile. “You will regret your words one day, King Malachi.”