Chapter 9

Dragon

"I can't find her," Cora stated and placed Emmy's hairbrush on the table.

"What?" Tristan snapped. "What do you mean you can't find her?"

Cora sighed.

"I mean that I can't find her."

Tristan gritted his teeth, he was beyond tense. If anything had happened to Emmy… The security guards hadn't found a trace of her and she had managed to avoid all the security cams. Well, she had lived here most of her life; of course she knew how to get out unnoticed.

"What happened?" Cora asked calmly. "Why did she run away?"

Tristan glanced at her.

"What difference does that make; I only want to find her!"

"Alright, calm down. I'm only asking because it could help us find her."

Tristan clenched his fists and hesitated for a moment before telling Cora briefly what had happened last night. She was quiet for a while before replying.

"You know, Tristan, for someone so intelligent, you can be incredibly stupid."

Tristan's eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, I'm aware that I shouldn't have left her alone…"

"That's not what I mean," Cora cut in. "Haven't you honestly noticed that the girl is crazy about you?"

Tristan's eyes widened.

"What?"

Cora sighed and rolled her eyes.

"For the love of… Apparently it doesn't matter how old men are, they are still…"

"What are you talking about?" Tristan snapped. "You can't possibly mean that Emmy… My little Emmy…"

"Your "little" Emmy is in love with you," Cora huffed. "She has been for years."

Tristan was so stunned that he couldn't get a word out. Surely Cora was mistaken… No, she wasn't. It was suddenly very clear to Tristan. Oh no… Emmy had come to him, wanting to give herself to him and he had humiliated her the worst possible way. How could have he been so damn blind? No wonder she had run off… He needed to find her. No matter what it would take.

Emmy blinked her eyes, she felt much disoriented. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was that she had been running. Running away from the mansion. Away from Tristan. Her heart had been broken and she had felt completely humiliated. She had sobbed while running; she has had no idea where she was going. Then a car had stopped next to her and someone had asked did she need a ride. She had said no.

After that she couldn't remember anything. Where was she? Slowly she managed to open her eyes. She was in a bed. What bed and where? Something was definitely wrong. After a brief struggle she managed to get into a sitting position. She felt dizzy, but she forced herself to concentrate. The room she was in was a nice looking bedroom that was decorated with discreet colors. Yes, everything was very nice, except that there were bars in the window.

Emmy swallowed, she felt her heart pounding faster. Quickly she looked down and was more than relieved to notice that she was wearing all her clothes. Then she noticed a bandage wrapped around her arm. She had been through so many medical examinations that she knew immediately what it meant. Someone had taken her blood. This wasn't good at all…

Her legs were shaking, but she forced herself to stand up. She needed to get out of here… The door opened before she managed to take a step towards it. The man standing in the doorway was young; he had dark hair and dark eyes. He smiled when he noticed her.

"Well, hello there, darling," he said with a British accent.

Emmy backed away as quickly as she could; her heart was pounding like a drum.

"It's alright…" the man started as he approached her.

"Stay away from me," she demanded, struggling to sound firm.

The man stopped and raised his hands in surrender.

"It's alright," he repeated calmingly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Emmy stared at him cautiously.

"Why…why did you bring me here? What do you want?"

"All in good time, darling," he replied smiling. "What you need to know right now is that no harm will come to you. Would you like something to eat?"

"No, I want to leave," she murmured.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, but no need to worry, I have every intention to treat you like a princess."

This had to be some kind of joke.

"Really?" Emmy snorted. "What are you then, a dragon?"

"No," the man chuckled. "You can call me Lucien. Your name is Emmy, right?"

She didn't say anything, her heart was still pounding. Oh no… Her medication.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, trying her hardest to sound calm.

Lucien frowned.

"I thought I made that part clear already. No, I have no intention to harm you."

Breathe…

"In that case, I need my medication."

"What?"

"I have a heart defect and I really need my medication."

Lucien stared at her for couple of seconds before nodding.

"I'll be right back."

No more than a second later he was gone. The door was wide open, but it didn't help Emmy. She barely made it back to the bed. Her heart was pounding…

"Here," Lucien said as he handed her a piece of paper and a pen. "Write down what you need."

Emmy obeyed without arguing, she was really scared. She didn't want to die.

"Please hurry," she pleaded while giving the paper back to Lucien.

He nodded and disappeared. Emmy's whole body was shaking now, she needed to lie down. Tears were filling her eyes. Tristan… She was afraid that she would never see him again.

"Hey," Lucien's voice said, he was touching her cheek. "Stay with me, darling, you'll have your medication soon."

She was unable to speak, she was struggling to breathe. He took her hand and kept saying calming words to her until someone else entered the room.

"Alright, here's your medication."

Lucien helped her up and made her swallow few pills with water. He tapped her back as she started to cough.

"Here we go…"

Carefully he helped her on her back and touched her hair. Emmy was barely conscious; she didn't hear his murmured words.

"Hmm, if I would have known that little runt becomes you, I would have most definitely raised…"