Waking Other Lives (Completed, Drakon Series, Book 1)

The Palace (Seth's POV)

I forcefully kept my eyes open, I was simply too exhausted to keep awake, but I needed to be alert in case of a Drakon attack. Dante had fallen asleep an hour ago, his coarse singing had finally ended, and it was rather quiet in the car, except for the sound of the working engine. Sierra was still under the influence of the drug, but touching her, holding her head on my lap worked its magic, soothing my dragon. From time to time, Dante murmured in his sleep; the words were all endearments, such as baby, love, my angel, all of which irritated the hell out of Elvan. I would have laughed had I not been worried sick over Sierra. I just couldn't wait to get to the Palace. That was another concern; I was bringing two humans, a mad Dante, and myself, or rather a weakened and altered version of myself, to a group of Palace residents, all of whom were Drakons. And, probably Elvan wouldn't take it lightly to learn that Dante and I weren't humans. How would that go, I didn't know. Yes, as much as my eyes sought the Palace gates, I was also wary of what was to come.

As my eyes were drooping, I came to myself with Elvan's cursing. "Shit, shit, shit!" she said, as the sound of the engine suddenly ended, the car coming to a full stop in the middle of the road. "We ran out of gas, shit," she cursed again.

"Meaning what exactly, that we are stuck in here?" I asked, straightening my body to fight off the fatigue. Why was I surprised, after all, the human way of doing things always had a weakness, which is why we were now in some deep shit.

"What's going on?" asked Dante, with sleep-induced confusion swirling in his eyes. He had woken up, his sleep apparently disturbed by the absence of the car motion. At least, he was himself again. It was extremely weird that his moments of sanity seemed to be happening more frequently, and each time for an elongated duration. If I didn't know any better, I would swear he was improving. But, how was that possible? There was simply no cure for the Drakon madness.

"We don't have gas, that's what is happening, should you care about anything else but your sleep," Elvan answered, curtly.

"Oh? You are in a bad mood, huh honey?" he replied, in a sweet drawl. "This sucks. Seth? What are you thinking of doing?" he asked, yawning.

"The woman who shot me and imprisoned you may be after us. We can not stay here; we'd expose ourselves to the risk of being caught, we have to hide while one of us brings help."

It couldn't be Dante, as he was still susceptible to his fits, it couldn't be Elvan, as they'd kill her. That left only me, who could barely walk. This was bad.

Elvan looked around, at me, at Sierra and Dante. "I'll go. I'm the only one fit to go. Where exactly is the help located at?" she asked.

"No, you can't go alone. I'll go with you," said Dante, immediately.

"That could work if only I can be sure of you not hurting her. Dante, she may not be able to control you when your condition regresses, and for obvious reasons, she can't go alone. I don't know what to do."

"I won't hurt her Seth; I'm shocked you would think so. I have never hurt a woman in my life; I rather prefer to pleasure them to death," he said, placing a sexy smile on his face. "Are you interested, sweetie?"

"No, I certainly am not," Elvan said, stomping her foot in annoyance. "He's driving me nuts, but I can control him, even when he starts to sing those horrible ballads, you know? I don't know why he does that, but he is overall rather harmless," she assured me. "Even if his whole presence is trying my nerves," she added.

"I don't know," I said, but this seemed to be the only solution, though it was far from perfect. Dante could guarantee Elvan's safety, but it all depended on him being sane when they made it to the Palace. If he was not himself, though, they could blame Elvan for everything. "Dante knows the way in, but in case he slips, I want you to ask for Noah. Tell him; you are under my protection, tell him... I depend on him to take care of you, the way he has taken care of Travis and Mina."