by Katie Reus
Chapter 19
Greer landed on Decatur Street and let the shift come over her. Reaper flew overhead, his brilliant colors highlighted against the flames billowing out of a nearby building. He is okay. And she cared about that—a lot.
Sore from battling dragons and in a semi-state of shock, she looked down the length of the street. Cars were on fire, some completely ashed or crushed. The green and white awnings of Café Du Monde were on fire as well. Terrified human faces were plastered against shop windows.
The battle in the air was over for now but today would have far-reaching consequences. The entire world had changed in an instant—because there would be no putting this back into a box. Wolf shifters and vampires strode out of the middle of Jackson Square’s grassy park. The giant wrought-iron fence surrounding the park was destroyed in most places, the statue in the middle had toppled over, and dead dragons and other supernaturals were littered everywhere.
She’d seen and done a lot in her very long life, but today… Today never should have happened.
Powerful wings rippled through the air above her as Reaper descended to the street across from her. Even with everything going on around them, he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Lavender, gold, and dark purple created a shimmering waterfall of brilliant colors. A sharp burst of sparking magic filled the air, then a moment later he was in human form, bruised and bloodied as he strode across the street. His jaw was tight, his eyes sparking amber.
He is okay. For some reason she had to remind herself of that. She’d seen him in the air. Seen the insanely hot fireballs he’d shot at that dragon who’d tried to kill her. The heat from the blue flames had filled the sky, pushing other battling warriors away from the scorching massacre.
“Greer.” He said her name like a prayer, desperate and fearful. For me.
“I’m okay… Are they all dead?” She was fairly certain they—the dragons and treacherous dragon shifters who’d decided to fight their own kind—were, or she wouldn’t have landed. But one of the dragons had bitten her wing, causing her to free fall. She’d needed to change to her human form to heal. And recover. Fighting, she’d expended far more of her healer’s energy than she’d wanted. She had no outward wounds now, but her underarm muscles were sore, as if she’d been punched over and over. The shift couldn’t heal everything. Only time would do that. Unfortunately she didn’t think they had time. Too many people had been injured and she needed to help.
Without responding, he covered the distance between them in seconds and gathered her into his arms, his big hands gently cupping her face as he pulled her close.
Then his mouth was on hers, the timing insanely inappropriate—and she didn’t care that humans and other supernaturals could see them. The gentle hold of his hands was in direct contrast to the hungry, needy way he kissed her—as he ate at her mouth as if he might die without her.
She clung to his shoulders, kissing him back, fervent and desperate as everything burned around them. Too soon he pulled back, his expression fierce as he suddenly shoved her behind him.
King and one of his wolves strode up to them, most of their clothing burned off, their expressions as grim as she felt.
“I’m securing the city,” King snapped out, as if expecting them to argue.
Reaper simply nodded. Greer tried to step around him, but he kept her firmly behind him. Whether because she was naked or what, she wasn’t certain, so she simply peered around his body.
“Look, we need to set up triage centers around the city and find out if the hospitals were affected,” she said to King. So many people would have been injured in the fallout and Greer wanted to help. “And we’ll need to—”
“I know what to do,” King said, his tone much softer as he spoke directly to her. “My pack has had a plan in place for a long time in case anything like this ever happened. Can you set up a hospital at your mansion?”
“Of course,” she said. “I’ll need some supplies but for the most part I’ll use my energy to heal. Do you know other healers in the city?”
“Yes.”
“There will be law enforcement to deal with,” Reaper said. He had learned a little about the human police since awakening—Prima had given him brief lessons on various things.
Almost on cue, three uniformed, armed men—and one woman—slipped out of the shadows from across the street.
“Hands in the air!” the male on the left shouted.
Reaper frowned at the strange order. Why should they put their hands in the air? What was wrong with these humans?
King turned to look at the humans, unconcerned, his expression dry. “You’re going to want to put those things down.”
Reaper stared at the humans and their weapons. They would not injure shifters. Not for long anyway. But a stray bullet might hurt a human, or one of these humans might hurt themselves if they tried to attack.
He focused on the small weapons in their hands—he believed they were called pistols—and focused all his energy on the components of the weapons.
As if pulled by a magnet, all the pistols slammed to the ground with great force. Using mental persuasion, he drew them to him so they landed in a pile directly at his feet. Then he crushed the pistols under his heel, turning them to twisted metal.
King’s eyes flashed wolf once in clear surprise. “Thank you.”
Reaper nodded once, aware of the shocked expressions of the humans and the overwhelming scent of their fear. It popped in the air, sharp and potent. His dragon half craved the scent of fear but only from enemies. Not scared humans who had just had their world ripped apart.
“I am in charge of the city now,” King snapped out as he turned back to the humans who seemed to have gotten their expressions under control, if not their fear. “My name is King. And there is a supernatural war going on as you can very well see. If you want to be helpful, step up. If not, go home and lock your doors. I won’t tolerate any bullshit in my city. And rest assured, I will do everything in my power to protect it. Weapons don’t work against us—though you’re welcome to try and end up locked up somewhere. My tolerance is limited right now.” His blue eyes were shards of ice, his claws extended as he dared the humans to step out of line.
Out of the corner of his eye, a female wearing a black uniform similar to the others who were standing at the ready—even without their weapons, so they were brave enough for humans, Reaper decided—strode out of the shadows.
She was a shifter, he realized. Young, but definitely a wolf. “I can vouch for King,” the female with dark brown braids tight against her head said.
The uniformed officers looked at her in surprise, their stances easing slightly. But just barely.
But she continued. “He is a good male. Right now this is a problem that humans can’t deal with alone. Trust me. We need to get the city in order before panic starts. We need law and order and people will need to feel safe. The only way that happens is if King is in charge. You guys remember what happened with Katrina. If we’d been in charge, that wouldn’t have happened. And it’s not happening again. We can’t trust that the government will do shit for us. And…”
She looked at her Alpha before looking back at the others, but only after he nodded once.
“I’m a shifter too. And well over half of the force is. Closer to seventy-five percent, if you want to get technical. We’ve been working side by side with you for the last few years. Nothing should change now. Teresa, I’m still the same woman who picks your kid up from school when you get stuck on long shifts. And Marco, I’m still the same woman who eats your overcooked burgers at PD barbeques even though they should be outlawed.”
There was a long moment of tense silence but the human woman finally snorted. “All right, I’m in. I saw what you guys did, how you took out those things that wanted to destroy the city. Tell us what to do.”
“Dragons. They are called dragons,” Reaper said. “Not things. And we are dragon shifters. There is a difference.”
/> The female looked at him once, her expression neutral, though he scented her fear. She was masking it though and he respected that. “Fine. Dragons.”
“You fucking serious?” a male with blond hair asked, looking at his female friend. His own emotions were riotous.
“Yep. I’m going to adapt to all this,” the human female said. “And I suggest you do too. We’re outgunned, and we all want the same thing—to keep the city safe. I’m sure as shit not going home and locking my door. I want to make sure my kid—and all kids—stay safe.”
“How is Leesa?” the female wolf asked, true concern in her voice.
“Good. With my mom. They’re all safe, thank God,” Teresa said.
The male nodded slowly and then so did the other two males, including the one named Marco, who said, “I’m in too.”
King pointed at the female wolf. “Cat, round up all the officers you know. Meeting in Jackson Square in fifteen. Captain Santiago is already on the way—”
“Greer!” Justus was racing across the grassy area of Jackson Square toward them, Cynara limp in his hands.
Still in her combat boots, skirt and black top, she was completely still—and she was injured, Reaper saw. On her shoulder. Her shirt had been torn open.
Greer and Reaper both moved toward the vampire.
“She was hit by a dragon tail. One of the spikes barely glanced her shoulder. She said she was fine but then she collapsed. She’s been poisoned.” Raw fear etched Justus’s face.
Reaper could relate. If anything happened to Greer…he would not deal with it well.
“I’ll take care of her.” Greer turned and looked at Reaper, so much concern in her eyes. “We’ve got to get that triage center set up at the house, now.”
Reaper nodded as he turned back to King. “You heard her, and you have the address. Send as many as will fit into the house. Supernaturals only.”
King lifted an eyebrow.
“I only mean because if supernaturals are injured, they can lash out and might hurt humans. We do not want that to happen.” Reaper did not like explaining himself, but right now things would be a powder keg around the city. Supernaturals could not do anything to make it worse. He might not know much about this time period, but he knew that much about humans.
“I’ll make it happen. In the meantime…” King turned and glanced at one of his guys. “Grab them some clothes.”
“No need,” Reaper said. “Justus, I will allow you and Cynara to ride on my back this one time. We will make it there quicker.” In minutes.
Justus nodded, his expression tense. “I owe you for life.”
“No, you do not. Greer, can you shift? I saw your wing is injured.” It was taking all of his self-control not to scoop her up and fly far, far away. He’d been battling the need since he’d seen her standing naked on the street, her expression pure shock.
“I’ll ride on your back as well,” she said. He noted that she didn’t directly respond to his question about shifting and he understood that she would not want to show weakness in front of others. “I want to start healing Cynara now,” she added.
“Let’s go.” Before he allowed the shift to overcome him, he looked back at King. “Prima is burning all the dead dragons and dragon shifters to ash. This is necessary to my kind. Tell your wolves not to try to stop her or we are enemies.” Reaper would not explain to him why the bodies needed to be burned. The wolf should know, and Reaper would not let humans overhear anything about dragons. In his experience, humans could not be trusted with the secrets of dragons. His kind had been in hiding a long time, their secrets many. And none of the dragon bones could be allowed to get into the wrong hands.
Once King nodded, Reaper let the magic take over, ignoring the gasps of the uniformed humans as his beast took control. Right now he only cared about getting Greer away from here and helping the hybrid female.
Let King take care of the city. Reaper would take care of his own.
Chapter 20
Cynara blinked, struggling to open her eyes. Something smelled… Good. A muted vanilla scent lingered in the air. And she felt warm all over. Her eyes snapped open.
Fire. Destruction. The dragons.
“You’re fine.” Greer’s soothing voice rolled over her.
She turned and found the beautiful dragon shifter sitting in a rocking chair next to the bed. Her long copper-colored hair was in a braid and she had on the equivalent of hospital scrubs in a pale purple.
Cynara realized she was lying in a bed, that it was nighttime, and the smell she’d liked was the little tea lights flickering on the windowsill. “The dragon attack?” she rasped out, her throat dry.
Greer stood, the chair rocking back with the movement as the healer strode to a serving tray set on a six-drawer dresser. She poured a glass of water as she spoke. “The dragons are dead and the city is safe. We’re in lockdown, but safe enough. King and his people have completely taken over and secured the city and surrounding areas. Turns out the majority of the New Orleans PD are shifters of some sort anyway. It’s one of the only reasons the city fared so well compared to…” Sighing, Greer brought the glass over as Cynara sat up.
She pulled open the neck of the oversized plain white T-shirt someone had put on her and saw that the wound on her shoulder was completely healed. She still felt exhausted, however. “Compared to what?”
“Compared to the majority of the rest of the world.”
“What do you mean?” And how long had she been out?
“Large portions of the world have been completely decimated. I’m talking…razed earth.” Greer’s voice hitched, but she tightened her jaw before continuing. “Many rural areas weren’t touched at all, and basically any supernatural territory is left in decent shape. Rio de Janeiro, Edinburgh, Kyoto…and some others I can’t think of right now are all still standing and functioning, as New Orleans is. But this wasn’t random. It was a planned and well-coordinated attack. The masterminds behind everything disabled all nuclear centers around the world. Otherwise some humans might have gotten trigger-happy and unleashed them. But that’s the only positive thing. And whoever is behind this didn’t take out satellites or communications. Not all of them anyway. Not even a majority. They didn’t want to destroy everything—just as many humans as possible. But they wanted to keep the world still functioning.”
“Holy shit.” Cynara took a small sip, then gulped the entire thing down as her brain registered everything that Greer had told her. “Oh God, my brothers!”
“They’re fine. After the battle here Nyx transported the Stavros packmates who were here back to Biloxi. But she brought your brothers back. They’re all downstairs. And only because I forced them and Justus to go eat. Justus gave you a lot of his blood to help boost my healing powers, but he needed to feed. It’s the only reason he’s not by your side.”
“He gave me his blood?” She set the glass on the nightstand next to her. Cynara wasn’t actually surprised. The male was…everything.
“He did. I had to stop him from giving you too much.” A soft smile lifted Greer’s lips. “He cares for you deeply.”
Yeah, she knew that. And she cared for him. Hell, she loved him. More than anything. “I can’t believe…the world…”
“The world will wait.” Greer’s tone was pragmatic. “Right now I’m so glad that you’re awake. But you’ll need to rest for at least another twenty-four hours. Dragon poison is potent.”
“How long have I been out?”
“About two days.”
That was when Cynara realized how exhausted Greer looked. “When’s the last time you got any sleep?”
Greer gave her a ghost of a smile, her green eyes flashing to her dragon. “I don’t remember. We’ve set up a triage center here in the mansion. You were definitely the worst of the lot so almost everybody has left except a couple wolves who were burned by dragon fire. I’ve spent the last two days healing shifters who got caught in the fray. It’s been…exhausting.”
&n
bsp; “I’ve never seen anything so terrifying in my life.” Cynara was still trying to wrap her head around this new reality. “Well, at least not in the human realm.” Because she had seen some crazy shit in Hell realms. She was a hybrid after all.
“Agreed.”
“So King has really claimed this territory?” After Greer’s nod, she continued. “What about phones, internet, stuff like that?”
“Like I said, the satellites are still up. So far our phones are still working and all the different packs, clans and covens with alliances across the globe have been working as a team to share communication. Some things are limited but there are various news reports that have managed to make it through to what’s left of everyone.”
“This is insane.”
“It might feel like it, but it’s the new reality.” Greer said it so simply, reminding Cynara how much older the dragon shifter was than her. She’d been around over a thousand years, Cynara thought. Maybe longer.
“How’s your clan? I’m sorry I didn’t think to ask.”
Greer smiled serenely in that calm healer’s way as she sat back down on the rocking chair. “You just woke up after being poisoned by a dragon. It’s okay. And my clan is fine. They live in a fairly remote area and there were a few rogue attacks on a nearby ski resort but they ended it very quickly. No loss of life there other than the assholes who deserved it. The majority of places hit and decimated were densely populated cities, where our kind tend not to live. New Orleans is just a different type of city in that supernaturals tend to gravitate here. You’ve woken up to a different world. Also, Washington is completely destroyed.”
“The state?”
“Oh, no, I mean Washington, DC. It’s gone. The humans’ main government structure in the US is destroyed. So are a few states lining the eastern seaboard—they were decimated, with some still burning out of control. Most human government capitals around the world are destroyed as well. You don’t need to worry about that right now though. You’re safe and eventually things will work themselves out. Let me call Justus and your brothers.”