Heart of a Fighter (Rocky River Fighters 1)

“My name is Ivan, Camilla. It’s very nice to get to speak to you. I’ve been looking for you for a very long time.”

“Did—” Pausing to clear her throat as her voice broke, she tried again. “Does Alex know what you did to my parents? Does he know who you are? Either way, you can tell him I’ll see him in Hell before I ever let him touch me again.”

Ivan frowned, his Russian accent thickening. “I do not know who this Alex is, but the thought of anyone else but me ever touching you displeases me. And I will kill anyone who tries. Remember that, Camilla. I am pleased that you remember me. Our time together is off to a wonderful start,” he said with a smile.

She stared at him in disbelief. He couldn’t seriously be sitting here, so pleased over the thought that she remembered him killing her parents. He was insane for thinking it meant something good. Then the rest of his statement sunk in. He didn’t know who Alex was. She was still beyond furious with him, but knowing he hadn’t brought her here, that he hadn’t planned on sharing her with another man, caused dizzying relief to sweep through her.

A quick, soft knock sounded at the door, and Ivan got up to answer it. She heard him say, “She is awake. You live another day”—before he shut the door, and turned with a tray. He held out a glass to her. “I’m sure you must be parched.”

Her first instinct was to refuse, but she thought better of it. Raising an eyebrow, she turned to the side slowly, showing her cuffs. “I can’t drink as I am.”

“Ah, of course!” he replied, taking a key from his pocket and moving close. “Now, you must promise not to try to escape. You wouldn’t get far, and it would only make me angry. I don’t want to have to punish you, princess. So don’t make me.”

Trying not to stiffen at his touch, she nodded as he unlocked the cuffs and took them off. “I’m not a princess,” she replied, rubbing her wrists where the cuffs had bitten into them.

“I disagree,” he replied, handing her the glass. “You are a full-blood dragon. That makes you royalty of our kind.”

Watching her closely, he glanced at the glass of water. She didn’t have any intention of drinking something here because she didn’t know what it might be laced with. But she brought the glass to her lips and pretended, not wanting him to force her to actually drink some, or cuff her hands again.

“What did you mean by telling the other guy he would live another day?”

Settling back into the chair, Ivan shrugged. “You are always who I wanted for a mate. But after I lost you the first time, I decided I had no time to lose. I found two other female dragons after you. The first was a female named Adara. I found her, but the man I had on her was too slow to report back, and when I went to fetch her, she was gone. By the time I found her again, she was mated. To a grizzly shifter, of all things. Inferior creatures. The next was Daria. I entrusted her retrieval to one of my men, and she put up a fight. Unfortunate, but it was to be expected. What was unacceptable was my man getting too rough with her when she put up a struggle, and h

er dying because of it. Both men failed me, and both died for it. Actually, you might know Adara. She was tracked to Eagle Creek, the same town I found you in. Imagine my surprise in finding you in the same place.”

Eyebrows high, she stared at him. He’d tried to take Adara? She was glad he was thwarted, and felt horrible for Daria, who’d lost her life because Ivan tried to kidnap her. But she felt guilty because she couldn’t help the small part of her that wished someone else had been found, instead of her.

“Do not look like that, my dear,” he said, catching the emotion she hadn’t been able to hide, and misreading it. “Had I been successful getting another female dragon, I would not have truly mated them. Both of them had mixed blood, though Daria was almost a full-blood. But her idiot mother mated a lion, and ruined the purity of their line. Regardless, they were inferior to you, princess. I never would have given up looking for you so I could properly mate with you. But I’m sure you understand the need for more dragon children. They would have been mere breeders for me, but you will be my mate, and you and our children will hold exalted positions in the household.”

Fighting to keep her disgust from her expression, she swallowed hard. “How did you find me?”

“I’ve hired many men to search for you. The last one was a human, and I despise them, but I was assured he was the best with technology and hacking, so I allowed my man to bring him in. I had high hopes for him, but after more than a year, I was growing impatient. He disappeared one day, just vanished into thin air. I’m still looking for him, and one day he will die for such an offense,” he said, voice hard. “But I digress. I had another tech brought in, and he was able to recover a small bit of the human’s work.

“It wasn’t much, but it was enough. The human had tracked you as far as Cheyenne. My men were dispersed with your photo, and they widened their search to all outlying areas. One of them found you in Eagle Creek through some tiger shifters who recognized you. The shifters were rewarded handsomely, and my man was promoted. It was child’s play to find out where you lived from the chatty locals once we knew you were there. I made sure I was there when you were taken. I couldn’t take the chance something would go wrong, or if you struggled, too much force was used. You’re far too valuable to leave to chance.”

Cammie sat quietly as she absorbed that. Alex truly didn’t have anything to do with Ivan finding and capturing her, and the relief she felt was staggering. She still felt betrayed that he’d lied to her, and unsure that he didn’t have his own agenda, but it would have crushed her soul to dust had he been in league with Ivan.

Ivan clapped his hands together and stood, drawing her attention. “I will leave you to rest. I won’t put the cuffs back on, but do not abuse my trust. You will not get far should you try to escape, and though I don’t want you hurt, I will not hesitate to punish you for trying to leave me. I am your destiny, and you cannot escape me. I will have dinner brought to you soon, and we will not be parted for long, so do not fret, my princess. And rest assured, once I am sure you won’t run, you will have access to my entire compound. I am very wealthy, so trust me when I tell you, you will have anything you desire.”

Except her freedom, she though bitterly. Holding herself perfectly still as he came forward, she fought to not bite his fingers off as he trailed them down her cheek. He left the room, and her spine slumped in disappointment when she heard the click of a lock engaging. A locked door complicated things. Skin crawling, she scrubbed her cheek, hoping to remove the feel of his repulsive touch. Mind racing, she scooted backward on the bed, leaning her back against the cold wall. She had to think of a way out of here. If she could just get past the locked door, she knew she could outrun the men likely guarding the hall. And if all else failed, she could fight her way out. She was good enough, she knew that, and she was fast. Hopefully, she could take out everyone before they could raise the alarm.

A couple hours later, she had a tentative plan in place when she heard the scrape of the key in the lock. Racing to get in position, she held her breath as the door opened, and a small man walked inside holding a tray. He was looking down, thankfully, and as soon as the door was shut behind him, she slammed the chair she was holding down on his head. He started to slump to the floor, and she darted around him, grabbing him in one arm, and the tray in the other. She didn’t need any racket drawing more guards.

Putting the tray on the floor, she dragged him further into the room and grabbed the handcuffs. Yanking his hands behind his back, she quickly cuffed him, and then took a long strip of the sheet she’d ripped up and wrapped it around his head, covering his mouth. Standing back, she appraised him before grabbing the heavy silver lid off the platter on the tray, and quickly smashed him in the head. Overkill, maybe, but just in case there weren’t guards, or she managed to get past them without attracting attention, she wanted to make sure he wouldn’t wake up and scream. Besides, he worked for Ivan. He deserved it on that basis alone.

She searched his pockets, quickly finding the set of keys she was looking for. She might need them to escape. Wanting to be thorough, she kept searching for anything else that might be useful, and found a pocket knife. Stuffing it in her pocket, she straightened back up and took a deep breath. Time to be brave and leave the room, hopefully getting the hell out of there.

Putting her ear to the door, she listened hard for any noise outside, but heard none. Inhaling deeply, she steadied her nerves, effortlessly slipping into the frame of mind she went to when she fought. Easing the door open, she held her breath, half expecting a shout to sound. When nothing happened, she slowly opened it farther and eased her head outside, looking for guards. Not spotting any, she slipped outside and shut the door, trying each key until she found the right one to lock the door. It cost seconds she couldn’t afford, but it also added another layer of security against the man inside.

Her dragon stirred in her chest, urging her to flee, and Cammie froze for a second. That was the first time she felt her dragon since being captured, now that she thought of it, and that was beyond abnormal. Where the hell had she been? Unable to take the time to wonder, Cammie looked around her. To her left was a dead end, so she set off down the hallway to the right.

Stealthily, she crept along, her bare feet making no noise on the unforgiving stone. The hallway was barren, with no decorations or rugs, so she knew this wasn’t were Ivan stayed. Dragons were accustomed to comfort, and one as wealthy as Ivan claimed to be wouldn’t live like this. Coming to the end of the hallway, she peered around the corner and spotted a guard a few feet down. His back was turned to her, so she pulled the knife out of her pocket and opened it, taking a silent breath.

Moving swiftly on silent feet, she came up behind him. Going up on tiptoe, she slapped one hand over his mouth, and placed the knife to his jugular.

“Do you want to live today?” she hissed. He nodded frantically, and she continued. “Good. I’m going to take my hand off your mouth. Don’t make a peep, and I won’t slit your neck. Make a noise, and all bets are off. Nod your head if you understand. Very good. Keeping your finger off the trigger, take the gun and hand it to me.”

Doing as she told him, the man grabbed the gun by the butt and eased it behind him. Taking it, she adjusted it in her hand and gave him a silent apology as she used her speed gift, removing the knife from his throat and swinging the butt at his head, so quickly it was like it happened at the exact same time. Closing the knife, she caught him and eased him to the ground.