Chosen By The Dragon by Imogen Taylor Read Free Book Online

what’s wrong? I can’t really talk. At all.”
    “Hello sunshine.” Tristan’s voice, broken, shaking with emotion, told Jacob everything he needed to know.
    “Tristan,” he said loud enough for the rest of the conference room to hear, “what are you doing?”
    “I told you that you were going to pay for what you’ve done.”
    “Tristan, stop. You won’t gain anything by doing this. You can’t do anything about what happened, so don’t make it worse for yourself. You’ve been excommunicated from the negotiations, but don’t do something that’ll make you clanless.”
    “I am clanless! Do you think they would’ve kept me after being kicked out of The Negotiations? They had plans, Jacob. Now they’ll have to wait another twenty-five years before they can do anything. Because of me! If I survive the week, I’ll be surprised. But you know what? You know what Jacob? I’m not going alone. No, I’ve brought company. We’ll leave this world together.”
    Jacob’s body began to shake as the cold fingers of terror slipped over him. His mind had raced with what he could possibly do, but when he heard that last sentence, everything stopped.
    “Let her go.”
    There was the sound of wind buffeting against the phone as Tristan moved. Suddenly Jacob could hear Wendy’s muffled whimpering. “You really picked a good one,” Tristan said. “Special. She makes for wonderful company. I should thank you, really. Without you, she and I never would’ve met.”
    “I’m going to kill you,” Jacob said. “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you slowly.”
    “Come find us,” Tristan said, his voice cold, dark.
    With a beep, the call ended. Jacob looked back to the other representatives. “He’s lost it.”
    “Are lives in danger?” Darren asked.
    “Yes.”
    Darren closed the book and set down the gavel. “These proceedings are closed for the day. Jacob, handle it.”
    “Thank you,” Jacob said quickly and ran for the door. There would be blood by the gallons before the sun set that night.
    He’d make sure of it.

Chapter 12: A Prisoner
     
    The wind howled along the cliff face. IT was freezing this high up the mountain. Wendy was bound, her hands behind her back. In her mouth was an old rag with a strip of duct tape over her lips to keep her mouth shut. The man was there, Tristan.
    He paced a furious path in front of her, ranting about how Jacob had done him wrong. His face looked like it had been shoved through a meat grinder and then pieced back together by a drunken five-year-old. His words slurred around his swollen lips. Wendy was no doctor, but she suspected he had a broken jaw, or at least a severely wounded one.
    As he yelled, he held onto his side as though trying to keep everything inside his body from spilling out. Jacob had really worked him over!
    “You’re dead,” Wendy tried to say to him, her words lost in the rag.
    “Hmm?” he said, turning an ear toward her, a small stream of dried blood crusted down the canal to his jaw. “I didn’t quite catch that. I’m sure you think your prince will come for you, huh?”
    Wendy nodded in large, obvious motions.
    “Cute,” he said. “Very cute. And very true. There’s a lot you don’t know about your dear love. No matter where you go, he’ll find you. He’ll always find you. And do you know why that is?”
    “Because I can smell her,” Jacob said.
    Wendy couldn’t believe it. When Tristan spun around, they both saw Jacob standing there, looking pissed.
    “You did this,” Tristan shouted. “You brought this on yourself. You brought it on her. You did this!”
    “No, you little weasel. I played by the rules. Even when I destroyed your face, I did it within the confines of our law.”
    “This will heal,” Tristan said, pointing his hand at his face, “but when I throw your sweet love off this cliff, that won’t.”
    “I came here to kill you,” Jacob said, “but now that I’m looking at you, I’m filled with pity. You’re