Azaran: The Brotherhood of Ormarr Book One

by James, Jacki

  Eeli tilted his head to one side and grinned. “Hey dude,” he said in his best I’m just a kid and I’m no threat to you voice. The guy paused and looked at Eeli like he was trying to figure out what the deal was. Eeli walked right up to the guy, still grinning. Then Eeli raised both his hands in the air, not in surrender but with a forward motion toward the guy. The guy moved out of his fighter's stance and raised his hands in response to Eeli’s motion. Then Eeli quickly dropped one hand down and thrust it forward, giving the guy a throat punch. The guy gasped for breath as he stumbled backward. Eeli rushed forward delivering a kick to the side of the head, and the guy went down. I stood there in awe. Azaran had told me Eeli was good, but wow.

  “Let’s go,” he said over his shoulder, rushing through the kitchen door and down the hall. I followed him closely as we opened and closed doors until I opened one and saw a little boy sitting in the corner holding a small yellow dragon. The dragon hissed and postured in an attempt to protect the boy. When the boy saw me, he backed farther into the corner and instinctively hunched down trying to make himself smaller.

  “Eeli, in here,” I said to him, not taking my eyes off the boy.

  “Hey, are you Jeremiah?” I asked. “Your mommy and daddy sent us to get you. You ready to get out of here?”

  “I can’t,” he said in a small voice. “There are dragons out there, but we're not supposed to talk about dragons, but you can see Buttercup, so you must know about the dragons, I guess.”

  “You named your dragon Buttercup?” Eeli asked him with a grin as he entered the room.

  “Well, actually her name is Arinko ‘cause she’s like the sun, but I like Buttercup better.” The little dragon turned and rubbed her head against his chin, and then turned back to us hissing again. “She’s a baby; she won’t hurt you.”

  “I have a dragon, too,” Eeli said. “Her name is Bo. Do you want to meet her?”

  The little boy shook his head no vehemently. “She’s little like buttercup,” I added. “And she is really sweet. She’s purple.”

  “She isn’t big like the one who hurt my daddy?” he asked.

  “No,” Eeli said. “All three of my brothers have big ones, but mine is little like yours.”

  “My daddy has a big dragon, but he isn’t the one that hurt my daddy. He tried to protect him, but there were so many bad guys.”

  “Bad guys like the ones here at this house?” I asked him, and he nodded yes.

  “Can I meet Bo now?” he asked.

  Eeli reached into his shirt and pulled out the adorable purple dragon and put her on the ground. She scampered over to the yellow dragon, and they smelled each other. Buttercup must have decided Bo was okay since she allowed Jeremiah to touch her.

  “Jeremiah, we don’t have much time, and we really have to get out of here. Will you come with us so we can take you to your mom?”

  Tears welled up in his eyes and he sniffed. “Where is my mom?”

  “Your dad was injured in the fight, and he’s in the hospital, and your mom is there with him. They’re both worried about you and sent us to get you. You ready?”

  “Buttercup, too?” he asked.

  “Of course, you don’t think I’d ever go anywhere and leave Bo behind do you?”

  I held out my hand, and he took it. Eeli went first leading us down the hallway to the back door. He stuck his head out and then held the door open for us. “Straight for the trees like before,” he said.

  “Okay, Jeremiah, we’re going to run for those trees, but we need to be fast, so I’ll carry you, okay?” I reached down and picked him up and he wrapped his legs around me. I made for the trees, but halfway there I heard a whistling sound like when fireworks were shot off. I looked up at the sky and there was a giant fireball hurling through the air. “Eeli, watch out,” I called as I veered to the right where a car sat parked in the driveway. I skidded around the end of the car and ducked down, curling protectively around Jeremiah. I glanced up and got my first good look at a dark wraith. He was flying above us looking for the best way to attack. I expected a black dragon, but that isn’t exactly what he was like at all. Instead, it was an oily, inky black creature. Smoke swirled up around it, and where Sindri had beautiful, fierce eyes, this thing had red glowing orbs where its eyes should be. They looked terrifying. I watched in horror as it zeroed in on us, forming another fireball in the back of its throat. It let out an earth-shaking roar and launched the fireball at us.

  There was no way I could move fast enough. This was it. I wrapped myself tighter around Jeremiah hoping my body would act as enough of a shield to save the boy. I quickly sent a message out to Azaran. I love you Azaran; I sent it with all the emotion that went behind the words, and then I braced for impact. I was prepared for heat, but suddenly the air was freezing. I looked up to find a swirling white smoky mist. The kind that comes off of dry ice. I looked back over my shoulder to see Zale and Itsaso. A stream of blue light that looked like fire shot from Itsaso’s mouth and crashed into the fireball that was headed for us. They crashed together with a loud boom, and a bright light exploded in the sky, giving me time to escape. I used the car as leverage and got to my feet still holding the boy. I ran for the trees, and when we hit the tree line and I found a wounded but alive Eeli, I breathed a sigh of relief.

  I dropped beside him placing Jeremiah on the ground next to him. “Seems like the only doctoring I do at all here lately is taking care of you,” I teased.

  “Hey, this time wasn’t my fault. Last time really wasn’t, either, I was trying to catch Bo.

  But that doesn’t matter. What matters is this time it wasn’t my fault.” His clothes were singed and his ankle was swollen, but other than that, he didn’t look too bad. Bo was curled up in his lap.

  They’re all down. We’re coming in to get you, Azaran said in my mind.

  “Az says they are headed in after us.” A couple of minutes later, Azaran, Malachite, and Zale came crashing into the woods. Jeremiah whimpered and moved closer to Eeli.

  “Don’t worry, buddy, those are my brothers; they won’t hurt you. Actually, they’re our ride out of here. Have you ever ridden on a dragon before?” Eeli asked him.

  “Yeah, my daddy’s.”

  “Well, this will be no problem for you, then. Let’s go.” He attempted to stand, but he winced and stumbled a bit.

  “I’ll take a look at that when we get home, but for now, let’s just get you there.”

  We took Jeremiah to his parents and headed back to the house. I treated Eeli’s wounds, and we got him off to bed. Then we went to our room and curled up in the bed together. Me, Azaran, and Sindri. She had taken to sleeping with us on nights she thought I was stressed. I loved that she could sense my emotions the same way that Azaran could. She was an amazing companion. I still hadn’t heard her speak to me, but I could feel how much she liked being with me. “I don’t think I can sleep,” I told Az. “I keep trying to figure out what today was all about. Why did they want Jeremiah? There has to be some logical explanation behind it. People don’t kidnap kids for no reason.”

  “It’s like we’re missing some important piece of the puzzle, but you’re right. There had to be some reason behind it all.”

  Suddenly Sindri hopped off the bed and ran from the room. A minute later she came back carrying one of the small bottles of oil the guys used on the dragons’ scales. She jumped up in my lap and dropped the bottle. You should give me oil. It will help us rest.

  I gasped a little and pulled her to me. “She spoke to me!” I exclaimed to Azaran, looking at him to find him grinning. “She spoke to me in my head like you do. It was so cool.” I opened up the bottle and poured a little in my hands and did exactly what she had asked. She was right, the rhythmic motions were soothing and so was the oil’s scent.

  “So now that you’ve seen what we do, what do you think?”

  “I think we need to get my clinic set up downstairs so I can take proper care of your injuries.”

  “You order
whatever you need and have it delivered. We’ll get you set up,” Azaran said, lightly kissing the top of my head. “I want you to order the best of everything. If we’re going to have a clinic here, I want it to be state of the art."

  “Well, that I can do. I have to tell you, Az. Eeli was impressive. He moved through that house like a trained operative, not a seventeen-year-old kid. When we realized there were three men in the house, he knew exactly what to do. It was all because of his training.”

  “I told you my brothers were a force to be reckoned with. I’ll owe Zale for the rest of forever for stopping that fireball. I was too far away, and when I saw you there sheltering Jeremiah with your own body and that damn fireball hurling itself at you, my heart almost stopped. And I heard you. Did you mean it?”

  “Did I mean that I love you? Of course, I did.” I closed my eyes and opened my mind. “Can’t you feel it? Because I feel it in every cell in my body.”

  He grinned and leaned over and gave me a gentle kiss. “Good, because I love you, too.”

  Epilogue

  An elaborately decorated office somewhere in Ireland.

  I had only been here once, years ago. It was the first time I came to make a deal with the devil. I got my wish that time, but I’ve been paying for it ever since. I took in the expensive drapes and the jewel-studded globe. Everything from the diamond chandelier that hung from the ceiling to the overpriced Persian rug on the floor said opulent, powerful, important. Greedy.

  That last one I understood. Greed. That was what got me into this mess in the first place. But what got me into it didn’t matter, anymore. I was in over my head, and there was nothing I could do about it. Any chance I had for salvation died that afternoon with Cadmar.

  “So, I’ve called you here today because it’s time for us to make some changes State side. We’ve worked hard within the system to create an unstable environment, and we’ve done an excellent job, if I do say so myself.”

  “You have. I don’t think there’s been a time outside of the civil war that things there have been so chaotic.”

  “Even then, both sides understood what they were fighting for. Now they’re all punching at ghosts that don’t even exist. Plant a few rumors here, make it sound like the current administration is for,” he shrugged, “or against something, and the next thing you know they’re fighting about something that isn’t even real. It’s quite fun to watch, actually. But I digress. The Ormarr brothers need to go. They’re the one thing standing in my way over there.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean have to go. You don’t honestly expect me to kill them.”

  He waved his hand in the air dismissively. “Of course not. If they need to be killed, I’ll take care of it myself. I’m telling you this now to give you a chance to find another solution before I have to take such action. I don’t care what you do with them, just get them out of my way.”

  I stood there a minute thinking about what he said. The Ormarr brothers were without a doubt the strongest team in the Brotherhood. Which wasn’t surprising considering their lineage.

  “You’re still here,” he stated plainly. “Did you need something?”

  “No, no. Is that all you called me here for? I travelled a long way to be here.”

  “How far you traveled is of no concern to me. I wanted to deliver the news in person. I have done so. You may leave now.”

  * * *

  The story continues in Zale: The Brotherhood of Ormarr Book Two

  About the Author

  Jacki James has been saying she was going to write a book since she was sixteen and wrote fanfiction (before fanfiction had a name) about her favorite Rockstar. She is a believer in love of all kinds but Paranormal MM romance is her favorite by far. She has a romantic heart and a dirty mind and likes to write stories that let both shine.

  www.jackijames.com

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  Jacki and Jill

  Reading Past the Realm

  The Brotherhood of Ormarr Series

  Azaran by Jacki James

  Zale by Michelle Frost

  Eeli by Bobbie Rayne and Steph Marie

  Malachite by Sammi Cee and Michele Notaro

  Also by Jacki James

  Breaking the Rules

  Family Rules

  Work Rules

  Marriage Rules

  Cowboy Rules

  Donovon Coven

  Elemental Magick

  With Jill Wexler

  45 and Holding

  With Michelle Frost

  Age Rules: An Open Wounds and Breaking the Rules Crossover

  Stand Alones

  Kiss Me Like You Mean It, Valentine’s Inc #1