by Bobbie Rayne
Eeli
The Brotherhood of Ormarr Book Three
Steph Marie
Bobbie Rayne
Copyright © 2019 by Steph Marie and Bobbie Rayne
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the authors imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Edited by TRIBE Editing
Cover design by:
Jay Aheer www.simplydefinedart.com
People in images are models and should not be connected to the characters in the book. Any resemblance is incidental.
This book contains adult language and situations. It is intended for a mature audience.
Contents
1. Eeli
2. Slash
3. Eeli
4. Eeli
5. Slash
6. Eeli
7. Slash
8. Eeli
9. Slash
10. Slash
11. Eeli
12. Slash
13. Eeli
14. Slash
15. Eeli
16. Eeli
17. Christian
18. Eeli
19. Christian
20. Eeli
21. Christian
22. Eeli
23. Christian
24. Eeli
About the Authors
The Brotherhood of Ormarr Series
Also by Steph Marie
Also by Bobbie Rayne
1
Eeli
Heading toward the front door of the house, I called out, “Bodhi!” and the little purple dragon came running from somewhere in the back where our cave was. We lived up in the mountains where we’d transformed a cave system into a home for my brothers and our dragons, but half of the mountain that faced the road looked like an ordinary house. The entire back end of our home was cloaked in magic to look like trees to the human eye, but the front half was an actual house shell—well, there was some actual house in here, too, but it wasn’t anything like a regular home.
Kneeling down, I stuck my arm out and Bodhi rubbed her head along my hand like a cat, so I gave her a good scratch. “Thanks for coming the first time I yelled for you,” I told her. She had a bad habit of not listening to me. “We’re going to have a good day, right?”
Bodhi made a clicking noise that I took as agreement as she pressed her face into my chest. She was a young dragon—same age as me; eighteen—but still huge in her warrior form. Right now, though, she was about the size of a medium-sized dog—her wyrmling form—since we were inside. Dragons could change their size to match the situation, so if she wanted to threaten someone, she’d be bigger than a house, and if she wanted to sneak through a cracked door to steal candy, she’d be as big as a lizard. But her three natural forms and sizes were wyrmling, warrior, and inside the tattoo on my left arm.
We’re going to school? Bodhi asked inside my head, and I grinned. It hadn’t been that long ago that she and I weren’t connected like this since we’d only recently bonded together. Before my eighteenth birthday, I hadn’t been able to hear her voice inside my head, and after a couple of weeks, I was still always surprised when I did. I loved hearing her.
Yes, I said back through our connection. I have school, then we’re coming home to practice flying. I need to train later, too.
Too much training.
I shook my head. No, not enough. She’d been giving me crap about training too much. I wasn’t sure if she really felt this way or if she’d only picked it up because Zale and Malachite were always telling me to take a break. But I couldn’t. I had to be the best. I had to practice. I had to train. I had to get better.
She huffed out like she was annoyed at me. I like flying.
Me, too.
I checked that my knife was secure against my leg—I’d leave it in my car for school, but I generally took it everywhere since it was one of the only things I had that my parents had given me. It was true that I had a dragon at the ready if things went down, but my brother, Zale, had told me about the magical sleeve that’d been slipped over his dragon tattoo, cutting off his connection with his dragon. That thought alone was terrifying.
“Are you getting ready for school?” I startled at the sound of Davis’s voice. The huge, commanding man hadn’t been living with us long—well, he and my brother only lived here part-time, splitting time between here and Davis’s family’s island—so I wasn’t really used to the sound of his voice so early in the morning; although, I was happy he was here. I was sure that the average human would be intimidated by his huge presence, but I knew he was a good guy at heart, even if I was still getting to know him. Plus, if he ever tried something, I could take him if I had to. Or I could just have my dragon eat him.
I stood to my full height even though he was still nearly a foot taller than me—he was a humongous wall of muscles, and yeah, I guess I was pretty damn small at five-four, but I still stood tall. “Yeah, I’m getting ready to leave for school.” I looked down at Bodhi and said, “Arata,” and I grinned as my dragon shimmered at the same time as my skin, and Bodhi appeared in her tattoo form on my left arm from my forearm, wrapped around my biceps and over my shoulder. She was really quite beautiful. “See ya.” I grabbed my backpack off the floor with the intention of running outside, but Zale came into the room, too. I should’ve known he’d be right behind his mate, and I wasn’t surprised when Itsaso and Harri—Zale and Davis’s dragons—ran in after him in their wyrmling forms. The blue and silver dragons were adorable, but as fierce as their riders.
“You alright, Eeli?” Zale asked as Davis put his arm over his shorter shoulders. Zale was only a couple of years older than me and definitely the closest in height and build, yet he was still taller and tougher than me in general. I was basically the runt of the litter.
I sighed loudly. “I’m fine, I just don’t want to be late for first period.”
“You just seem a little—”
“Is that Eeli I hear?” Azaran, our oldest brother, yelled. “You should’ve left five minutes ago!”
Zale and I exchanged a look with wide eyes, and I muttered, “You never saw me.”
Zale nodded and I caught his mate grinning a little as he mimed zipping his mouth shut. Okay, so I really do like the guy. Shooting him a grin, I slipped out the front door and ran as fast as I could before Azaran caught me and reamed me out. He was my brother, but he’d raised me since our parents were killed when I was eight, so he was also sort of a father figure, too. And he took his job way too seriously. Actually, I was probably a lot like him. The thought made me wrinkle my nose.
I jumped into my little purple car and took off before Az could catch me, relieved when I got away. Close one.
Technically, I wasn’t even running late, but Azaran had drilled it into me that I had to be everywhere at least fifteen minutes early, so I was fine with time for school.
Parking my car in the back of the lot, I looked around for a moment at all of the humans milling about. I hated that I was the only one of my brothers that was left going to school, but at least I was almost finished with it. Only two-and-a-half months left, and I’d be home free. I was on track for graduating valedictorian, which I was happy about since I’d studied every day since before I could rem
ember. I’d even applied to a few colleges even though I had no intention of going to one. Az and I had decided that it would’ve drawn more attention to me and my family if I’d told them I wasn’t going to college, so I’d applied to keep the counselors and teachers off my back.
But I’d known since I was young that I was meant to be a dragon rider for the Brotherhood of Ormarr, although with what we’d learned recently about some of their practices, I wasn’t sure the Brotherhood was all it was cracked up to be.
With a deep breath, I got out of the car, my backpack over my shoulders, and headed toward the front doors. Halfway there, I came to an abrupt stop because the hottest guy in school stepped out of his car and up on the sidewalk only ten feet away from me. Even Bodhi shivered along my skin, though I doubt she could see him and was only reacting to my emotions.
Austin Walker had dark hair, bright blue eyes, and muscles to die for. He was also one hundred percent straight, the quarterback, and the most popular guy in school. And completely out of my league. Not that I’d even want to do anything about it if I had a choice. I was too busy studying and training and making sure I could be the best dragon rider in the history of the Ormarr family.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t look at him whenever he walked past.
Austin caught my eye and smiled at me as he walked by, and when I hesitantly smiled back, he winked at me. My eyes widened in surprise, and I was struck dumb for a moment. But then he walked on past me, and I shook my head out. Bodhi moved along my skin, and I was sure she was trying to comfort me, but all it did was make me cringe and remind me how out of control she really was.
Yesterday, she’d tried to escape her tattoo form. In the middle of my music class. Luckily, I’d been able to convince her to stay where she was, but she’d been antsy the rest of the day. And she wouldn’t tell me why. It seemed like it happened in every one of my music classes, so the only thing I could think of was that she just really didn’t like hearing high school students botching songs over and over again. Couldn’t really blame her.
Although losing control of my dragon like that was just about the worst thing I could think of. No matter how much I studied and practiced, Bodhi and I couldn’t seem to get things right. And I hated when I couldn’t get things to go perfectly. Absolutely, completely hated it.
The fact that it was the most important thing in my life only made it worse. If she and I couldn’t get our act together, how could I ever expect to be a good rider? How could Azaran take me on missions for the Brotherhood if he couldn’t count on me to be the perfect fighter he trained me to be? We needed to get it together, but how?
I headed to my locker to drop off half my books and my lunch so I didn’t have to carry them around all day long. Once I was all set, I went to my first period class and sank into my chair. It wasn’t long before Rachel sat beside me with a smile that I returned. She was a pretty girl with long brown hair that was always curled perfectly and big brown eyes and curves to die for. If I ever decided I had time to date—which I probably never would—I’d ask her out in a heartbeat. She was smart and funny and hot. But… she was also the only human friend I had in the whole school. Not that we were friend-friends, but she was the only classmate I didn’t mind partnering up with for projects and the only person I really talked to here besides the teachers.
“Hey, Eeli,” she said with a small smile. Every time she said my name, it made me think of the first time we’d talked and I’d had to break it down for her: Eye-Lee. It wasn’t that hard, but a lot of people mispronounced it or stumbled over it, which could be a little frustrating.
“Hey,” I said back.
“That statistics homework killed me last night,” she said. We were in our language arts class now, but statistics was a million times harder than this class.
“Yeah, me too,” I agreed. “Hopefully, she doesn’t give us a lot of homework tonight.”
“Fingers crossed,” she whispered as our language arts teacher walked in and began class.
About ten minutes in, a guy I knew to stay away from walked in. He was late every single day, and I had no idea why he’d ever been put in an AP class to begin with. He looked like some goth kid with his facial piercings and black eyeliner. His dark black hair was long and in his eyes a lot, and even though I didn’t want to look at the guy, I knew that he had incredible hazel eyes that stood out against his dark hair and pale complexion. If he ever tried to give a crap about anything or anyone, he would’ve been a good-looking guy, but he didn’t. He cared about nothing at all.
As if sensing where my thoughts had gone, Slash—what kind of name was that, anyway?—looked me in the eyes, and I couldn’t look away. Those bright hazel eyes seemed to draw me in every time I saw them and make me forget who was attached to them. Over the past three years, I’d always noticed him; every time we’d shared a class, I’d felt like I had one eye on him. And I didn’t understand it. Why was it always that slacker that seemed to catch me in his gaze? I didn’t even like him. He seemed like a jerk and hated everything, so what was there to like, anyway?
Yet… I couldn’t look away. I was never the first one to break eye contact. Never.
Finally, he released me from his weird hold and I was able to turn away.
Bodhi seemed to flutter under my skin, and a chill ran down my spine, causing me to wiggle in my seat a little. Our bond was new, so I was still getting used to it, but she always did that flutter thing around those hazel eyes of his. I couldn’t help but wonder why eyes that magnifying would have to be stuck on someone so rude.
“Eeli?” the teacher asked, and I snapped my gaze forward, probably looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
“Yes, ma’am?”
She smiled at me because all the teachers loved me. “Would you read the first two paragraphs, please?”
I glanced over at Rachel’s book and whispered to her, “Can I borrow yours for a second?” since I hadn’t pulled my book out yet.
“Mhm,” she hummed, sliding the book halfway on my desk, and I began to read aloud.
The rest of the class, I did everything I could to keep myself from looking in Slash’s direction even though I was curious if he was paying attention or sleeping through class. Why in the world was he in this class to begin with? He hated school. He hated everything.
“Is Az coming home tonight?” I asked Toby, also known as Doc, as I walked into the kitchen and hopped onto the island.
“He should be home soon,” Doc said with a smile aimed in my direction. “How did training go today?”
“Good. Bo and I really love doing the flying exercises. And I kicked Davis’s ass in the ring, so that was cool.”
“You wish, little bro,” a freshly showered Davis said as he walked by and pushed my shoulder. “I’m pretty sure I won that match.”
“Psh. I would’ve had you knocked out with that first punch if we weren’t holding back on face punches.”
My second oldest brother, Malachite, who was the biggest Ormarr at six-seven and muscles on top of muscles, walked in, shaking his head and looking at Davis. “He’s always like this. You could have him pinned down on the mat and he’d still insist he was winning.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that as I pushed my hair off my forehead. It was wet from my shower after training and kept sticking. “All I’d need is my knife to take any of you down.”
Before I could say anything else, I was knocked off the counter, landing on my back and looking up into Zale’s blue eyes as he said, “You wouldn’t last ten seconds, little bro.”
I wrapped my legs around his waist, ready to flip him over, but Doc yelled, “Everyone out of the kitchen! No wrestling near the stove!”
With a huff, I put my legs down and Zale shot me a triumphant grin before standing and offering me a hand up. I knocked it away and got up on my own, much to the amusement of all of my brothers—blood related and not. Davis and Toby were just as much my brothers as the rest of them, and they were all a
bunch of asses.
Malachite and I wound up on the couch together since Zale and Davis were making out in the hallway, blocking our path, and Toby was finishing cooking dinner. Bo came over and hopped on my lap, so I pet her and talked to my brother. “How’s the oil harvesting going?”
Malachite sighed. “Our plant isn’t looking too good. I think we’re taking too much oil, but I don’t think it’s fair to keep it all for ourselves.” Dragons required oil from the calma plant rubbed onto their skin.
“I agree,” I said. “We need to keep giving some to Davis’s clan. Maybe I can start looking for more information in our books on how to help it grow.”
“That would be good. I could help.”
I smiled at him. “Sounds good.”
“What we really need is more plants.”
“I know.”
Azaran and Sindri are back, Bo said.
Malachite and I stood at the same time, so I assumed he’d gotten the same message from his green dragon, Kesia. We headed toward the landing zone—the LZ—with the dragons, and Azaran dismounted Sindri and immediately pulled his mate, Doc, into his arms and whispered, “I love you, Toby.”
Doc whispered something back, but I tried to ignore them until they were done. When they finally finished—they’d taken forever—Azaran said, “I have no idea who’s controlling the Order of Amsel. I talked to each council member to put up feelers, and I have no leads whatsoever.” Azaran was on the Council of The Brotherhood of Ormarr, so he’d gone to a council meeting. We’d thought it’d be the perfect opportunity to find out who was using Brotherhood resources to control the evil organization known as The Order of Amsel, but apparently, these people were covering their tracks well.