by Cree Storm
The man had a strange look about him and Zev lifted his head, sniffing the air, trying to pick up if the man was human or shifter, and if so, then what type. He caught a strange earthy scent, like grass and dirt, but still wasn’t sure what the man was.
Another man stepped out, this one not as big as the first, but he looked more sinister than the first. He was slightly taller, but a lot slimmer, and held himself with confidence, authority. He had short, reddish blonde hair, and wore an expensive suit. The man yelled at the first, something about stronger chains, then turned and headed back inside.
Zev’s gut twisted thinking about those chains and the knowledge that his baby was in that damn building, along with his new brother. Zev watched as the man grabbed chains from a box next to the door, then disappeared back inside.
Once the door was closed, Zev moved quickly, rushing around the generator and heading straight for that door. He climbed the stairs, then stopped at the window beside the door and froze, as his eye’s widened in horror.
CHAPTER 18
Standing in the center of the loading dock area was a huge ninety-foot-long, fifty-five-foot-high, stone washed blue dragon with pointed wings spanning about twenty-five feet, a long neck with blonde, horse mane hair, spikes on the underbelly, multiple horns coming from top and side of its head, and its face and body covered in fur.
The beast stared at a few men who stood before it with chains and a few guns pointed at him. The dragon opened its mouth and blew out a hot stream of breath. Zen couldn’t see it, but he could feel the heat from the blast as it filled the room. The burst of air hit the men and they all stumbled backward, falling on their asses and tumbling away, crashing into things. Once they stopped, he noticed none of them moving.
The dragon turned its head toward a man in an expensive suit that stepped closer with some kind of gun in his hand, but it didn’t look like any normal gun that Zen had ever seen. The dragon, which at this point Zen figured was Jett, turned toward the man and swung his large tail out, knocking the man off his feet. As suit guy landed, the dragon opened his mouth wide and a shower of water rained down over suit guy. The way he flailed and sputtered, the asshole looked like he was drowning.
A flash of red in the far corner caught his eye and Zen turned to see what it was and his eyes narrowed. He would know that woman anywhere…Lucinda. Just as he took a step in her direction, Lucinda shimmered, then shifted into a bright green dragon with orange stripes down her side, and black eyes. She was not as big as Jett’s dragon but formidable still. Her wings spanned at least eighteen to twenty feet wide and had sharp spikes on the tips, as well as a few running down her back that were as black as her eyes. She lifted her front paws, legs, whatever they were called, and showed five long, black talons extending out about three inches from each finger. Shiny white fangs appeared as she looked at Jett’s dragon and hissed at him.
Jett turned, facing her and it looked like the dragon was actually smiling. Zen chuckled and shook his head. Jett most likely was smiling, the crazy bastard. He thought to himself.
Lucinda charged toward Jett with the spikes on the tips of her wings outstretched in his direction, then she raised her claws, those talons aimed right at Jett’s chest. Jett flung his wings wide and spun, smacking Lucinda and sending her reeling across the room.
The window next to the door exploded in, glass and brick shattered, and a fine dust cloud formed. Everything rained down over a crouched figure now on the floor. The large man straightened to his full height and Zen could finally see that it was Zev. He turned and faced Lucinda’s dragon, Zev’s eyes were full of rage as he breathed heavily.
Zen knew his dragon brother and the others were badasses, but he didn’t understand how true that statement was until now. Sure, they were dragons and firefighters, but Zen, Jett, and the others, like Day, Morgan, Finn, and Illan, were fierce and didn’t seem afraid of anything. That went for Nick and Wyndingo as well as their guys. Suddenly, Zen was very happy they were on his side.
“Mother!” Zev growled and it came out so cold and deadly, like a voice straight out of hell, that it caused even Zen to take a step back.
The green dragon’s head spun in Zev’s direction, those black eyes focused on him. The dragon began to shimmer again and shrunk. After a few seconds, Lucinda stood there, her gaze fixed on Zev and Zen could see the surprise in her now green orbs.
“Zev?” Her voice came out in a whisper and the tremble within gave away her shock.
“Take one more swipe at that dragon and I will end your fucking life, Lucinda,” Zev hissed in a strangely calm, cold voice as he took a step in Lucinda’s direction.
“What are you doing here? I must say, when I came looking for my useless offspring, you were not who I had in mind. But I guess I should have thought about you showing your face in Maddox seeing as you’re now in Crystal with those other disgusting homos,” Lucinda replied, her voice full of disdain.
“What are you doing here, Lucinda? You have no right to be in Maddox and you are not wanted here. You were banished from the clutch many years ago and cannot be a part of any other.”
Lucinda threw her head back and laughed, her long red hair flowing down her back. After a moment, she calmed and lifted her head, then met Zev’s gaze with her own cold, hard one. “There is no clutch here in Maddox, you stupid fool. You should know that. Maddox is open to all paranormals wishing to start somewhere new, and that is why I am here.”
“Bullshit! And Maddox does have a clutch, Lucinda. Do you remember a dragon named Wyndingo?” Zev asked with a smirk.
Lucinda’s eyes widened in fear, but she quickly caught herself. “When that little tart showed me around this place and mentioned a Wyndingo. I had wondered if it was the same asshole. But Wyn does not scare me. I’m doing nothing wrong here by opening my business, so he cannot do anything to me, especially if the town officials welcome me. And my new friend, the pixie Regent, Dain, will vouch for me I am sure. I will be getting very close to his mate to ensure I have no problems here in Maddox. She and I will become very good friends,” Lucinda replied in her holier than though voice as if she were royalty and above everyone else.
Zev smirked at her as his eyes filled with laughter. “Dain’s mate? Really? That’s what you’re betting your safety on? Good luck with that. And you do have to worry about Wyn, as well as Illan. He is still the leader of the dragons and works very closely with King Destrain, Dain, Wyn, and Nick, as well as being leader of the paranormal council now, and Illan will never allow you anywhere near Maddox or Crystal. Or near either of your sons.”
Her eyes widened again as she gasped. “How did you…”
“What? Know about my brother? Let’s just say Zen and I have found one another and we both stand firm in wanting you the hell away from here.”
“Or dead,” Zen finally spoke, stepping forward.
Lucinda’s head snapped in his direction so fast he was surprised he didn’t actually hear the snap. Her eyes were opened wide and jaw lax as she stared at him in disbelief.
“What’s the matter, Lucinda, cat got your tongue? Why are you so surprised to see me? You did come to Maddox looking for me after all, didn’t you? That’s why you sent that asshole over there to grab me, but instead he put his disgusting hands on my mate,” Zen growled the last part as his eyes turned stone cold.
Her face changed from shock to disgust as her gaze turned cold. “Mate? Men cannot mate with other men.”
“Well, someone’s not been reading her Cosmo,” Jett said, causing them all to look at him. He shrugged his shoulders as he smiled. “What? She claims to be opening a modeling agency, yet she has no idea how the gay movement has swelled in this country. Plus, did you see the photos she has on some of those walls out there? If she’s so disgusted with homosexuals then how is she opening a modeling agency to begin with, much less hanging all those pictures of gay models all over her walls? Just seems wrong to me, like she’s trying too hard to compensate for what’s really going on.
”
Jett moved closer. “Oh, and lady, and I use that word very loosely if you know what I mean? From what I’ve heard there is nothing looser in this world then your legs as they fly open to allow anyone in, but let me tell you a little story about the pixie Regent who found his two mates. Both men, and neither of them were too happy to hear that the queen Ho-bag was throwing herself at him, you shameless hussy.”
Zev started laughing and Zen looked at him like he had lost his mind. Zev met his gaze and said, “What? He’s right, and he’s fucking hot as hell as he says it. Just look at him.” Zen rolled his eyes and looked back at Lucinda.
“You’re both gay?” she asked in disgust.
“Yup,” Zen and Zev answered proudly together.
“Seems like Mommy dearest may be the link to that one seeing as she gave birth to both of you,” Jett said.
“That’s the only thing good about her. She makes fantastic children,” Illan said from the doorway. His sudden voice making all of them turn in his direction.
Zen was shocked to see the group standing at the door, but panic filled him when he saw that his sweet pea stood with the others. Illan, Justice, Avery, Morgan, Finn, Day, Ollie, and Pascal stood shoulder to shoulder facing them.
“Sweet pea, what are you doing here?” Zen asked in a panic as he took a step toward the group.
“Did you really think I was going to let my mate face this evil bitch without me? I may be small, Zen, but I will not let you face these things alone. You’re my mate, which means we stand together in all things,” Pascal replied with conviction.
“Hey! Hands off, that’s my jewel. What are you? A leprechaun looking for the gold at the end of a gay man’s rainbow? I gotta tell you, fuckhead, what comes out of that end ain’t no bucket of gold,” Jett taunted, then shifted just his dragon tail and swiped the man in the suit, knocking him off his feet and sending him high into the air, only to drop down hard, crashing onto the concrete floor in a heap. A shiny gem rolled from his grasp, stopping by Jett. He bent down and picked it up, then breathed on it and rubbed it on his chest before putting it in his pocket. “Vulture,” he spat, then spit on the man in the suit.
“Lover,” Zev admonished Jett lightly with a smile.
“He had it coming just for wearing that ostentatious suit,” Jett huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I find this shocking,” Ollie said.
“What, that a mother could be such a bitch to her own children?” Zen asked.
“No, that Jett knew the word ostentatious in the first place, then used it correctly,” Ollie replied.
Finn barked out a burst of laughter as he bent forward, holding his stomach. Pascal looked to Ollie with a smile and shook his head. “Not now, Ollie. Can’t you see my ma…Zen watch out!” Pascal screamed as his eyes went wide, his gaze focused on something behind Zen.
Zen spun around to find Lucinda coming at him, her hands shifted into her dragons and those black talons pointed right at him. Zen took a few steps back, at the same time shifting into his elephant. He charged Lucinda, lowering his head at the last minute and ramming the top of his head into her stomach, then lifting her off her feet as he wrapped his trunk around her waist.
Lucinda scratched and clawed against Zen’s head and trunk trying to get free as she screeched and cried. Zen lifted her higher and unfurled his trunk, flinging her into the air. As Lucinda soared, she shimmered, then shifted into her green dragon and crashed into the wall behind her, breaking through to the outside.
Zen ran to the opening. Peering outside he saw Lucinda in flight. She circled above him and headed back in his direction. Zen jumped down onto the ground and ran away from the building. He needed to get her away from where his mate was. He lifted his trunk high and trumpeted, calling to Lucinda to follow.
Once Zen was a fair distance from the building he turned to face her. Lucinda swooped down in his direction and opened her mouth. Zen thought for sure he was about to get blasted with fire and started to walk backwards to get away. But instead of fire, a stream of power shot from her mouth, like a sonic wave, and smacked into him, sending Zen to the ground and rolling for about fifty feet.
His brain felt like mush and he had a hard time standing, but Zen fought against it. He shook his head to try to clear it and struggled to his feet. He heard a loud, deadly roar and looked up in time to see a dark green dragon with mountain meadow green eyes, scaly dewclaws on the tip of its wings, spikes down the tail and on his chin part of his snout. He had to be at least 96 feet long and 64 feet high, and his wings had to span about 30 or so feet, and he had long curved horns on his head. He knew instantly that it was Zev.
The larger dark green dragon flew toward the smaller green dragon at top speed and as the two hit they clasped their wings around one another and spun in the air, dropping toward the ground as they did. Suddenly a gust of wind blew past Zen and he turned to see Jett’s dragon again, standing by the building with Ollie and Pascal holding each of his wings, as he blew the gale force winds toward Zev and Lucinda. Zen looked back toward the duo to see them lift away from the ground before they made contact.
Lucida’s dragon opened its mouth and bit down hard on Zev’s shoulder, making him grunt and fling his wings wide open, before he turned and sped off. The move must have been unexpected to Lucinda, because as Zev released her, she plummeted toward the ground again. Before she could open her wings, Lucinda hit the earth, hard, and Zen could swear he felt a small ripple in the ground beneath his feet as Zev shifted back to his human form, panting hard.
CHAPTER 19
Pascal couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Lucinda hit the ground hard and he flinched. As she remained still, he released Jett’s wing and started toward his mate. He needed to get to Zen. He closed half the distance when, suddenly, someone grabbed him around the waist, tightly. It was so painful he cried out at the top of his lungs.
Zen spun around to face him and Pas could see the fear and rage in his mate’s eyes. Zen started toward them, but stopped when the man holding him spoke. “Take one more step and I’ll slit his throat, then drink his blood. Do you know how powerful I will become if I drink just one drop from this fox? If I take my fill, all of you combined wouldn’t be able to stop me.”
“Let him go!” Illan commanded.
The asshole holding him spun them around to face Illan and Pascal could see that the dragon leader was now standing only about ten feet from them and he did not look happy. The rage Pascal saw in Illan’s eyes made him tremble and pull back against the man’s chest more. He knew the look Illan was giving them was not for him but it still terrified him.
“Don’t try to be a hero, dragon. I’ll have him gutted before you can get to me.”
“Good work, Picard. Slowly move toward my voice and we’ll take the little fox away from here,” Lucinda said from behind them and the man immediately started to walk backwards.
“Leave him alone, Lucinda! It’s me you want! You came for me, so take me!” Zen yelled.
“I’ll just take a little nip from your mate and I’ll be able to take you both. Don’t worry, Zen, I’ll put him in the cage next to yours so that you can still see him. I have clients that would love to get their hands on the blood of a Santorini fox.
“Lucinda Barker!” Ezra’s voice echoed around them, drawing everyone’s attention.
Lucinda hissed in Ezra’s direction as she bared her claws again. “Ezra.”
“We finally meet again, you sick, twisted bitch, but this time you will not get away from me,” Ezra announced as he moved closer.
“I don’t see why not. I have always managed to get out of your grasp, Ezra. This time will be the easiest yet with this little Santorini fox’s blood,” she said joyfully.
“You know her, Ezra?” Justice asked.
“Unfortunately, yes. Lucinda is one of the leaders of the biggest blood brothels in the country. My men and I have been hunting them for many years. We’ve managed to take out everyone but Luc
inda and two others.”
“Blood brothels? What is that?” Day asked.
Ezra’s jaw flexed as he clenched his teeth and explained in a tight voice, “They enslave different types of shifters and sell their blood to their clients. Different shifter blood works differently on other shifters and vampires. Her clients go in for the night and pick what shifter they want, like a whore brothel, then they feed from them. Some of these disgusting pigs rape the poor creature as they drink from them, too. They say it makes the high they get even stronger. Lucinda also offers the sale of blood for them to take with them for later. They can buy vials of blood from the different shifters she has to offer before they leave for the night.”
Pascal’s stomach lurched thinking about those poor beings enslaved by Lucinda and what they must be going through. Then he thought about his own situation. Did this man that was trying to take him and now held him plan on doing this to him? If his blood got out into the general population they would all be in big trouble. He couldn’t allow it.
Pascal caught Ollie’s gaze and the look Ollie gave him told Pas that his brother understood what he was thinking. They needed to do something, now. He and Ollie had always been able to talk to each other without words or thought their whole lives and Pascal was never more grateful for that than he was now.
Ollie stepped in closer to Jett and whispered something in his ear and Jett smiled. Pascal watched as Ollie’s grip on Jett’s wing tightened. Jett looked toward Finn and Finn suddenly went to his brother’s side. They were twins, after all, so maybe they had a funky connection like he and Ollie had?
Then everything happened so fast. As soon as Finn touched Jett, the two of them shifted into a two-head dragon and they took off into the sky with Ollie on their back. Illan, Morgan, Day, and Justice all shifted and took off into the sky with them. A second later Zev screamed out, “I always knew you were a sick bitch, Lucinda, but this…this is…Fuck! You deserve to fucking die!” Then he and Zen shifted.