Darkness Rising

by Katie Reus

  “A couple days. A week at the most.”

  He wasn’t sure how that was possible. It would take time for word of his awakening to travel. He looked over at Prima, who simply nodded as she absently pulled a couple leaves from her hair.

  “They have something called phones now. And the internet. Trust me. They will find the others.”

  Her words were sincere and Reaper had no reason to distrust her. And right now he wanted to see the healer again and wasn’t sure how to make that happen. But he had an idea. A sneaky one. “When you woke did you need to see the healer?” He was careful with his words, not wanting them to scent a lie on him.

  “Sort of. My awakening was not an easy one.”

  “I think I should perhaps see one of the clan’s healers,” he said, looking back at the Alpha. “Only if you would allow me to?”

  “You guys are really big on formality.” Rhea had tucked her rectangle away into a pocket and rejoined them.

  The Alpha gave his mate a soft smile before he looked back at Reaper. “We have two healers. I’ll take you to see the one you’ve already met.”

  “I’ll do it,” Prima said. “I need to talk to Greer about something anyway.”

  Yes, he liked the sound of her name. Greer. It was simple and unique. He did not like the way she had snorted when they had been introduced. There was nothing wrong with his name.

  Reaper. It was time to reap the benefits of awakening in this time and place. Starting with the gorgeous and annoyingly aloof female healer he couldn’t stop thinking about.

  Chapter 3

  Greer hurried down the stairs when she heard a knock on her front door. It was fairly rare for shifters to knock at all. They only knocked if the front door was locked—which she’d done today. Something that was out of character for her since she was one of the clan’s healers. And with Victoria, her fellow healer, just having had her baby, Greer had taken over all the duties even though Victoria had insisted she was fine. And she very well was fine, but she deserved this time with her mate and new baby. Still, Greer had wanted some warning if someone very specific decided to come to her house, hence the locked door.

  As Greer reached the front door, she scented him.

  Reaper. The male who had thought he could tell her what to do. As if he had the right.

  Just the thought of him bothered her even as it aroused her. But she was quite gifted and she covered up her scent, smothering it and the strange feelings he evoked. She didn’t care for bossy males. Keeping her expression neutral, she opened the door to find him and, of course, Prima.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked, addressing Prima. If she didn’t look directly at him, it seemed to help. Sort of.

  “I think my friend should see you. He’s been in Hibernation for a long time, and my own awakening was not an easy one. I would feel better if a healer looked him over and I did not want to bother Victoria.”

  Putting away her personal baggage, she went straight into healer mode. Stepping back, she gestured with her hand. “Of course, please come in. Have you eaten anything?” she asked him. Because Prima was right. He should be looked over by a healer and fed. And she was ashamed she hadn’t thought of that already. “I’m sure you must be starving.”

  When he looked at her, his eyes a mixture of amber and green, she saw his dragon staring back at her for a long moment. In that span of seconds, she was aware of how very ancient he must be. Looking into his eyes was like looking at the moon, stars and planets. There was far too much depth in his gaze, as if she was peering into the distant past.

  Just as quickly, he blinked and the man stared back at her. “I am hungry.” His voice was a deep rumble and there was something in his tone she couldn’t quite put her finger on. As if maybe he wasn’t talking about food at all.

  Except food was all she was offering.

  “Come this way.” Her kitchen was spacious, able to accommodate twenty dragons easily. “Please sit at the island,” she said, moving toward her refrigerator. It was always stocked courtesy of Maeve, one of their chefs, mainly because people were always stopping by.

  “I’ll do that.” Prima practically shooed her away from the refrigerator. “You scan him and make sure he’s okay. I’ll get him food.”

  She didn’t like the flush of awareness that slid through her as she moved closer to the giant dragon.

  Some part of her was drawn to him even as she wanted to run away. What the hell was that? She’d never experienced this before, the electrical sensation flowing along her skin, her healer’s energy dancing just under the surface.

  It was probably a case of curiosity. But that didn’t explain the pull she felt, the raw sexual awareness she was desperately trying to keep locked up. She’d never had to force herself to stay in professional mode, but for the first time in her long existence she had to do just that. Her dragon was curious about this male, wanting to lean in and run her nose along the column of Reaper’s neck, to nibble on his ear—but she shoved the urges back.

  As she sat in front of him on the barstool, she was careful not to touch him. Though it was hard to ignore that their knees were only an inch apart as she situated herself. Part of her was almost afraid to actually touch him again, to feel his warm skin under her fingertips. When she’d grasped his wrists out on the wide-open stretch of snowy land, there had been an arc of electricity she’d felt straight to her core. It unsettled her. “I need to scan you with my healer’s gift. Is that okay?”

  “You may touch me anywhere and any way you choose.” His voice was a deep, sensual rumble.

  She blinked, her cheeks heating up at his roughly spoken words. “I don’t actually need to touch you, I just need to… You’ll see.” She reached out gently, putting her hands above his head and around his face before she moved slowly down to his heart. She didn’t need to go any lower than that, simply holding her hands in place as she allowed her healer’s sense to push outward, scanning him for any type of injuries or illness.

  Fire and strength radiated from him. So much so that it shocked her.

  He was healthy from what she could tell, his body a finely honed weapon. Which she shouldn’t be noticing right now, and she was ashamed that she did. But it was hard to ignore his broad shoulders and the sharply defined musculature underneath his shirt—not to mention the pale scars along his forearms and around his neck. They seemed to be everywhere and she wondered if they extended to places she couldn’t see.

  Abruptly, she dropped her hands. “I can officially give you a clean bill of health.” Shifting the chair back to get some much-needed space, she pulled in a breath, not that it helped. Being this close to him rankled her in a way she didn’t quite understand. Her dragon was fully awake, rubbing up against her insides, wanting to know who this male was. If she didn’t know better she might think it was the mating pull. But there was no way that could be true.

  Healers almost always mated with healers, or if not healers, then those with similar qualities. Her dragon could not be attracted to this warrior who took lives. Even Victoria, who had mated with Drake, had mated with a male so sweet and kind even though he was a warrior. Drake had withstood Hell for over a thousand years and came out with a pure heart. This…made no sense.

  “Are you sure? Maybe you should check again?” His tone was perfectly neutral but there was a wicked glint in those amber, green-flecked eyes.

  She narrowed her gaze. “You are fine.” Oh, yes he was.

  “He’s looking for someone,” Prima said, drawing her attention toward the other female who’d laid out a bunch of food for Reaper on the island. “A few someones in fact. Perhaps you could check with some of your healer contacts and see if they know where these dragons are.”

  “You’re searching for your clan?” she asked as she looked back at him, taking another subtle step away. Though it was kind of a silly question. Of course he was searching for them.

  “No.”

  She blinked once. Okay, then. Sighing, she looked at Pri
ma again. “Give me the names and I’ll check with my contacts in the dragon community as well as among the wolves and some humans I know. Perhaps they will be able to find who you’re looking for.”

  “You speak with humans?” He seemed shocked by this.

  “Of course I do. I have human friends and I have healed many humans over the centuries. They are a part of this world as much as we are.”

  He made a scoffing sound that made both her and her dragon sit up straight in irritation.

  “You have something against humans?” Her tone was perfectly polite and civil, but he was doing a good job of pushing her buttons.

  He lifted a broad shoulder. “Humans are weak. Mortal.” He said the last word as if it were a sin.

  “Newsflash, buddy—we’re mortal as well. We don’t live forever.” So much for staying cool about this. But he’d found one of her hot buttons.

  He lifted a big shoulder again and she was annoyed with herself for noticing how broad and muscular he was. “Their lives are over in the blink of an eye. I have no interest in knowing humans.”

  “You think you’re better than them?” She should really stop pushing but he was pissing her off.

  “Of course I am.” He said it in such an imperious manner that Prima choked on air and stuck her head back in the fridge. “I am an ancient dragon with many kills and wars to my name. Humans are weak.”

  “What you are is obnoxious.” First he’d tried to tell her what to do and where to go and now he was insulting an entire group of people?

  “Excuse me?” He straightened in his seat, his expression offended.

  “You’re the most maddening dragon I’ve ever met! I know a human who survived a Hell realm and she’s one of the bravest people I’ve ever known. You, on the other hand, are a maddening…jerk…fuckface!” Her words were all twisted because she was so angry she couldn’t come up with an actual insult. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually called anyone a name. Not even in her head. But this male made her crazy.

  He paused, watching her as he digested her words. “You would like to fuck my face? I find this idea pleasing. Very pleasing.” He practically purred the last few words. “I will lie down right now and let you—”

  “Stop!” She turned and stormed out of the room because she didn’t trust herself not to do something stupid, like launch a ball of healer energy at him. She just couldn’t look at his stupid, obnoxious, handsome face any longer. Those smug, sexy lips— Nooooooooooo. No, no, no.

  As she reached the foyer she nearly ran right into Dragos, who took one look at her face and turned right back around. She couldn’t believe she was letting Reaper drive her out of her own home, but she was keyed up, her energy sparking at her fingertips as if she was a dragonling with no control.

  And the idea of actually fucking his face? Why did she like it so much? Even thinking about straddling that sexy, oh-so-handsome face and letting him tease her with his tongue? “No!”

  What. The. Hell.

  Oh no. No, no, no. This could not be what she thought it was. No way in hell. She needed to get far away from him, and fast.

  * * *

  Prima howled in laughter as the sexy healer stomped out of the room.

  “You find this funny?” Reaper demanded.

  “Yes, I really do. You have been awake less than an hour and you have already angered the sweetest dragon in our clan. You just told her you would like her to fuck your face and offered to do it right here. To quote some of my younger clanmates, you’ve got problems, my friend.”

  He did have problems. Many of them, and they definitely included the sexy female he had just inadvertently angered. “I do not understand why she likes humans,” he muttered. “It makes no sense.”

  “If that is your takeaway, you really missed the point of your conversation with her. Look, you have been asleep a long time. I know you think you are attracted to her—”

  “I am attracted to her,” he snapped. There was no sense in denying it. He was desperate to taste her, especially after that show of fire and anger. And the image of her sitting on his face while he pleasured her made his entire body hard.

  “Fine. But she is a healer. And you are, well, you are Reaper. It would never work. So forget about her. I will find you some females who would love to fuck you if that is what you require. In the meantime, let’s talk about why you are awake.”

  He stilled. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t play games with me.” Prima’s expression was deadly serious.

  He couldn’t afford to piss her off, and the truth was he did not want to lie to her regardless. “I…am not sure why I woke up. My blood tells me that things will be changing soon. That war might be coming.” He still had much to learn about this world if that were true.

  Still frowning, she started piling food onto a plate for him. Then she slid it into…

  “What is that?” he asked.

  “A microwave. It heats up food—but you can’t put certain things in them or they’ll catch fire. I learned that the hard way… What else does your blood tell you? Because this world is constantly at war, even now.”

  He lifted a shoulder. “It simply tells me to be ready to battle. That fire and war are here.” He was a dragon. He would survive. The strong always did. “Where is your sister?” he asked instead of commenting.

  Prima shook her head as the microwave made a dinging sound. She opened the door and pulled out the plate. “She is in another country hunting down a male. Sort of.”

  “Sort of?” He inhaled deeply as she slid the plate in front of him. The scents were…different. Some were pleasing, others new to him.

  “Everyone thought I’d gone mad all those centuries ago but in reality I think Mira has. She is helping a male and other shifters with…something.”

  “Mad?” He’d gone to sleep before the twins had so he wasn’t sure what she referenced.

  She started finger-combing her mess of tangled hair. “It was nothing. I was simply tired of the world—tired of the pettiness of humans.”

  He grunted and picked up what was definitely a cooked bird wing of some sort. He popped the whole thing in his mouth and found the bones crunchy. Whatever it was seasoned with was delicious.

  “In public don’t eat the bones,” Prima said absently as she pulled out her small rectangle again. She frowned as she looked at it.

  “Why not?”

  “Humans will think it’s strange. They just eat the meat.”

  He shrugged and ate another one. Humans had weaker teeth and digestive systems. He was a warrior. Crunching bones satisfied him on a deep level. “What is that thing?”

  “It’s called a smartphone. Or just a phone. We send messages to others with it.”

  “Messages?”

  “Yes. Across the globe in seconds.”

  “That is impressive.”

  “It is. And it is how they will locate your friends. Tell me more about why you want to find Brennus, Cynbel and Cale.”

  “I fought with them over the centuries. They are ancients and awake.” He wanted to search out familiar fighters, to prepare for what was to come. “Oh, I must find Arthur as well.” He had forgotten about that male, and his blood told him the ancient was definitely awake.

  Prima paused at the mention of the ancient Celtic dragon. “I always wondered what it would be like to fuck him.”

  “Arthur?”

  “Yes.”

  Reaper shook his head. Arthur and Prima would likely tear each other apart.

  “You trust them?” Prima continued.

  “I know them.” That was different than trust though. He wasn’t sure he trusted anyone. Not truly. The twins and a handful of others being an exception. Mainly because there wasn’t a malicious or calculating bone in Prima’s or Mira’s bodies. They were the best kind of dragons, far more in touch with their animal side than human. But Brennus, Cynbel, Cale and Arthur? If he had to pick who he trusted of those four, Arthur would win. The ma
le wasn’t calculating either.

  “Hmm.” Her rectangle—smartphone—dinged again. She looked at it, frowned again.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t know. It’s Mira. She doesn’t like that all these ancients are waking up, or what you told me about fire and war.”

  “You told her?”

  “Of course.”

  He should not be surprised. “Even if she doesn’t like it, there’s nothing to do but embrace it. Nothing is written in stone, regardless. Besides, we are dragons.”

  And only the strong—the dragons—would survive. He did not have much hope for the humans, however.

  Chapter 4

  Greer knocked on the already open door to her Alpha’s office. Conall was leaning against the front of his desk, arms crossed over his chest as he talked to his mate about something pack related.

  They both smiled when they saw her. “Shut the door behind you,” Rhea said.

  “What’s up, guys?” She’d been summoned here, which was very rare. They weren’t huge on formality in their clan except on certain occasions that called for it. And the summons she’d received had definitely been official.

  “What do you think of this new ancient?” Conall asked, getting right to the point.

  It had been almost two days since she’d had to see Reaper—yep, she’d been avoiding him. A weird little tingle went down her spine at the mention of the newcomer, but she ignored it. “He’s obnoxious.”

  Rhea laughed lightly. “I swear, he seems just like Mira and Prima.”

  Conall nodded once. “I agree. And I have found some of the dragons he is looking for, in New Orleans.”

  Good. Then he could leave and she could be done with him. And all those strange sensations that flared to life when he was around could disappear with him. She was a healer, calm by nature, but around him her insides were a riotous storm, wild and out of control.