Fated Dragons Complete Series: Books 1 - 5

by Emilia Hartley

  Glancing back, she wished she had. It was one thing to lay with a man for the pleasure of it, but it was another to lay with the man your heart sung to. She wondered if he could hear the song it sang when he was near, so violent and sweet all at the same time. And, now, she had to walk away from that.

  Rhys wanted to take her away from Karim and the gold dragons after she turned herself in, but he was one man against a small army. It wouldn’t happen. The best they could do was ask for their help and give them what they came for in return. It would end the chaos she’d unleashed on his home and, possibly, her parents could speak to the cooperation of the Red Dragon Embassy and help it retain its good name.

  Before either of them could change their minds, the gold dragons surged from around the corner. Karim, leading the flight, came to a shuddering halt. Farida watched his eyes narrow in suspicion. He knew that they were up to something.

  Or else, Farida would not have been found. Not if she didn’t want to be.

  Geared to move if anyone so much as flinched, Karim stepped forward. His eyes flicked from Farida to Rhys and back. In his head, Farida thought, the silver bullet marked Rhys as a non-threat. That meant sly and tech-savvy Farida was the real threat in this situation. She’d already outsmarted him once that day. She felt a smile curve over her lips as she remembered.

  She always had outsmarted him. Why her parents chose him as the family’s next leader was really beyond her. He was all brute strength, in the way he moved and the way he commanded those around him.

  Farida stepped forward, trying to become the regal queen she’d always thought she’d become. The queen she envisioned before her parents told her that she would not rule, her husband would.

  “I come to offer a trade,” she began.

  Karim couldn’t keep the incredulous look from his face, one that said he thought her offer was very funny. But, he stood his ground said nothing.

  Farida glanced to the men behind him. They were dragons she’d known all her life, men and boys that she’d grown up with or watched grow up. Their eyes were like pins in her skin and, as much as she would have liked to look away, she held their gaze. She was their princess.

  “Help the red dragons find a fugitive white dragon that you allowed to escape with your takeover,” Farida began, “and I will return home with you like you wanted.”

  Silence hung in the air around them. It felt thick and impenetrable while Karim refused to speak. He only weighed the situation presented before him, not once giving a hint as to which way he was leaning.

  Finally, he hung his head. Farida’s heart surged with hope. Had it really worked? Then, she heard his laughter. It started out soft, then became a jagged kind of sound that sliced through the feeling she tried to hold on to.

  “Do you really think there is any room for you to negotiate? That you’re in any position to tell me what to do?”

  Karim’s words caused heat to flare over her skin. It felt much like someone had dumped a bucket of fire on her.

  “The only position you will be in is on your back once you are home.”

  Behind her the world rumbled with Rhys’s growl. She slid in front of him so that he could not ruin their chances by attacking the monster that used to be her friend. It saddened her, really, that Karim had let the idea of power corrupt a good soul. There might not be any saving him at this point.

  Farida pulled in a breath and found herself standing even taller. She would not bow before his filthy words. She would not break beneath his empty threats. There was nothing in this world that Karim could force her to do.

  “And, you will get that as long as you help us find the fugitive. It was your brash plan to overtake the Embassy that allowed the fugitive to escape unseen. Rectify your mistake.”

  Karim snarled and closed the space between them. “I do not make mistakes.”

  Farida smiled. It was less a gesture of happiness and more one of a predator sighting juicy prey. It was a farce, but the men behind Karim didn’t need to know that. She was afraid, for her future, for her mate behind her and the power that was locked away from him.

  Karim didn’t hesitate. His gloved hand closed into a fist and hit Farida’s face. Beyond them, Rhys howled. A number of gold dragons leapt on him, anchoring him to where he stood. Farida didn’t fall. She didn’t stagger. The pain lit through her, but she wouldn’t be defeated by it.

  She turned back to Karim. “This is your last chance to get me home.”

  “You will go back to your family if it has to be in pieces. I will tell your parents that it was the red dragon mate of yours that did it to you. I mean, all you need to bear children in the soft flesh of your belly. Right?”

  Fear was a cold knife in Farida’s chest.

  What had happened to this dragon? Where was the man he used to be? It almost seemed like he was something else completely.

  A different monster.

  ***

  Karim grabbed her by her hair. She staggered, the pain sending her off balance. She was yanked to the floor, head cracking against the tile, Karim’s boot slamming into her stomach. Rhys watched as the air was forced out of her lungs and she struggled to focus.

  “Are you ready to submit? This is very un-wifely of you, Farida.” Karim leaned into Rhys’s mate’s face as he spoke, putting his weight into the boot on her stomach. “When you return home, we will once again teach you what your place is. I was only half joking about bringing you home in pieces.”

  Behind Karim, his men shared nervous looks and shifted from foot to foot, their grip on Rhys growing slack one by one. They didn’t like what was happening, whether this was what passed in their home or if they were too afraid to stop Karim, but they were not going to be the ones to put an end to this.

  They were her people, her family. Yet, they stood by while one of their own hurt her. While one of their own threatened her so brutally.

  The silver bullet was still lodged inside his chest. He was rendered damn near useless while his mate’s supposed fiancé hurt her. It caused a growl to rumble through his throat. Something swam just beneath the surface. Familiar, eyes burning with anger and pain. His fingertips burned with the heat of the beast that should be untouchable. Yet, there it was. It was a whisper of the power he normally held, but it was enough.

  An Egyptian dragon saw him move, shouted a half-felt warning. But, it wasn’t enough. Rhys tore himself away from the Egyptian dragons holding him with a strength he shouldn’t have been able to muster. His body slammed into Karim’s. They flew across the room with the force of the impact. Karim’s head cracked against the wall and Rhys felt a surge of satisfaction.

  Rhys’s fist pulled back and he felt the wavering heat wrap around it. His fist connected with Karim’s jaw, but the trained soldier only took the blow so that he could force his foot between the two of them. Karim launched Rhys away from his body and fumbled to his feet.

  The dragon was about to hide in a circle of his men, but Rhys was not about to let that happen. Karim had forfeit his life the moment he laid hands on Farida.

  The other dragon didn’t make it into his circle of friends. Rhys’s hand snatched him by the back of his uniform and pulled him off his feet. Strength surged through his muscles, like a gift from his far away beast.

  Karim’s back slammed into the concrete wall, Rhys’s hand shifting to cover his throat as he pinned him there. The Egyptian dragon reached up, gripping Rhys’s arm and trying to pull away his grip. Panic surged over the Egyptian dragon’s face. Rhys wondered if this man ever had to fight for anything. If he’d ever had his mettle tested, because once Karim’s feet left the floor, he turned into a sack of weasels trying to escape his grip without once thinking to attack Rhys.

  Then again, suffocating did cause many to panic, he thought.

  Farida rolled off the floor with a feminine groan. It pulled Rhys’s attention away from the figurative sack of weasels in his hand. That was all Karim needed. The façade of panic fell away and his boot rose to slam
into Rhys’s jaw. But, Rhys didn’t stagger back. The pain throbbed through him, an echo of the pain he’d face squaring off with Gareth or Wesley.

  It would take a lot more than that to stop Rhys.

  Instead, a smile split his face, revealing the coppery blood that had spread across his teeth after the boot to the face. Karim didn’t flinch. He was stoic in Rhys’s grip. If anything, the Egyptian dragon’s eyes promised Rhys a painful death, but as Rhys heard Farida’s groans, he knew that it would be the other way around.

  That was, until Farida barked out a command behind him.

  “Put him down,” she bit out.

  Rhys’s head spun in her direction. She stared him down with conviction. There was a thin trickle of blood dripping down her forehead. It made a jagged line across her brow and down her temple. She was not pleading for Karim’s life, there was no worry in her eyes for the man in his hands. Instead, he saw the hard gaze of a leader that made a choice and had to live with it. It was one his family had seen on Drystan’s face many times over.

  “You,” Farida barked as she swung her finger in the direction of an Egyptian dragon that had stood on the side lines. “I know you have silver corded zip ties in those damned pockets. Tie him up.”

  Her finger swung back in Rhys’s direction. He felt his heart stop momentarily, but it moved past him and landed on Karim. Her brows were flat over her narrow eyes as she stared him down. Karim returned her gaze, his eyes widening when his men began to do as she said.

  “He has drawn the blood of a royal and must pay accordingly. My parents, the king and queen of the Golden Dragons will be his judge and jury.”

  An Egyptian dragon pulled a handful of zip-strips out of his pocket and handed them to the dragon Farida had originally pointed at.

  ***

  Farida felt her heart lighten when the gold dragon moved towards Karim with the zip strips. She thought that, maybe, she could rule them, lead them, once and for all. They were her people, after all. And she was their princess.

  It was a feeling that she hadn’t let herself even reach for in years. The memory of who she was felt much like a past life, shrouded in mystery and confusion. Now, she saw her future as a queen.

  But, it was short lived. The gold dragon didn’t move to Karim. His hand grabbed Rhys by the shoulder and spun him around. Unprepared, Rhys stumbled back. His eyes widened as the zip-strip slapped over one wrist. The gold dragon deftly twisted the other wrist toward the first while Rhys was off balance.

  Farida felt the world crash out from beneath her feet. They did not listen to her.

  Rhys was forced to his knees when Karim kicked the back of his knees. Rhys did not go down without thunder and commotion. He snarled and roared against their power. Gold dragons were shoved this way and that, some flying off their feet as he fought against them.

  This couldn’t go on. This couldn’t happen.

  That was her mate. Her happiness. She would not let them hurt him.

  Her beast uncoiled, soared toward the surface. Her human body disappeared and the dragon surged forward. It filled the room. Her tail flicked and the other gold dragons flew back. Their bodies fell to the floor in a heap before any of them could react.

  Rhys stared up at her, mouth agape with awe. She didn’t have time for this. Her claws wrapped around him and she tucked him close to her body as she launched herself through the glass pane she’d studied the city through only moments ago. Glass rained down around them like glitter in the setting sunlight.

  They were free. They’d made it.

  Farida heard the bang and whoosh of guns fired and bullets piercing the air around her. Her heart thudded inside her chest. She tried her hardest not to look down. If a silver bullet took her and she lost her beast, they would go crashing down to the pavement below. Or, on the concrete garage roof.

  Either would hurt. Hell, either might kill them with silver embedded in their bodies.

  Farida’s dragon form surged through the skies, propelled by gossamer wings that reflected the pastel colors of the nearby sunset. The wind tore around them.

  Where could she go to get away? They were supposed to be looking for the missing white dragon, but that plan had been abandoned when her bid for help turned on them. She wanted to find the white dragon, a small favor in return for all that Rhys had put up with for her today.

  But, he was still unable to take his form. The silver was still inside his chest. So, she turned toward the only place she knew Rhys would be truly safe. The white dragon would wait. He would show his head and they would send another dragon to fetch the troublemaker. How much damage could one white dragon do on his own?

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  Chapter Eight

  Rhys couldn’t believe his eyes.

  His mate was beautiful. Farida’s dragon had exploded into existence in a flash of brilliant gold and white light. When his eyes adjusted once more, a lithe and coiled dragon filled the room. She reminded him of a cobra with the scaled hood that encompassed her head, gold glimmering on either side of her head and a stark line running down her forehead. Her massive wings peeled away from her body to spread out over the room and sharp talons pierced the floor from the thin legs that branched out from her lithe body. Her scales were a hard white that ended in glimmering gold.

  Her form had stunned him so much so that he’d sat, unmoving, when she approached.

  She was beautiful. Like a dangerous angel sent from the heavens.

  Thankfully, she had more brains than he did because she scooped him up with her thin legs and tucked him beneath her body before bending her hooded head over him and crashing through the window. Outside, her cramped wings unfurled and took to the air.

  They were free.

  They were also being shot at. Silver pierced the air and his heart raced through his chest. He could do nothing while she ducked and wove through the air, her body nearly slithering to avoid taking silver to her fragile wings.

  He wanted to tell her which direction to go, how to get away, but the wind tore past his ears with a deafening sound. The best he could do was tuck in and trust his mate. They deserved one another, right? They were supposed to be equals in every way.

  She would get them both to safety.

  After a long while, the city below gave way to rolling hills and then, mountains. The scenery became familiar and the hand around his heart unclenched. She was taking him home.

  Farida’s dragon sank in the air and Rhys panicked until he realized she was skimming the tree tops with her tail for fun. It made him laugh. She truly looked like a gold scaled cobra had grown wings. He was almost too enamored with her shape to notice the form moving on the ground below.

  He tapped her clawed hand furiously, trying to get her attention by any means. The form on the ground below ran over the forest floor like a man on a mission. He knew who was down there. No one knew what he would do, what he was going to do.

  Rhys had to stop Raphael. He had to protect his family.

  Farida’s beast glanced down at Rhys with curiosity. He simply pointed down to the ground below, arm tight with the tension gripping his stomach. Her eyes followed. They narrowed in on the slow-moving form on the ground.

  Why was Raphael still in his human shape? If he’d changed into his white dragon form he would have covered so much more ground. Raphael would already be terrorizing his home. Why move on foot?

  Together, beast and human descended into the forest below. Her form folded back after his feet hit the forest floor and Farida took the beast’s place again. She pushed her hair back from her face, now wild and unkempt. Her shoes had been lost somewhere along the way and her magic hadn’t bothered to replace them.

  Rhys would have liked to take his mate right then and there in the forest. The way her hair stood out like she was a creature of the wild made him want to make her one, see her bare against the forest backdrop. But, there was more at stake.

  Plus, having the zip-ties on hi
s wrists didn’t exactly make a good lover. At least, not in his book.

  He didn’t care what others did in their rooms, but that wasn’t for him. Without question, Rhys turned and darted through the forest. He knew which way he’d seen Raphael. While he ran, he pulled on the power that he was somehow able to reach. It was a dull force, not the sharp thing that he’d always known. Still, the heat wavered around his hands.

  It melted away the plastic that encased the silver. After a half a mile, it melted away the silver on his wrists, too. It didn’t free his power, the bullet was still buried in his chest, but it did free his hands.

  Raphael’s form came into view again. Rhys had lost track of Farida’s footfalls behind him. He couldn’t be bothered in that moment. She was safe here in his Territory. Raphael was the threat.

  “Stop!” Raphael lunged behind a tree before Rhys could tackle him, like a child playing a game.

  The thick trunk of the tree stood between Rhys and his quarry. It infuriated him. He wanted to roar, to move through the tree. Instead, Raphael peeked out from behind it with wary eyes. The white dragon took in Rhys’s body, trembling with anger, and sized up Farida when she made her way into the clearing.

  “I come to beg forgiveness!” Raphael shouted from the other side of the tree. “I want to ask for a second chance.”

  “Bullshit!” Rhys roared. “You are the enemy and you always will be. If you really wanted a second chance, you would have stayed in the holding cell. You would have earned our trust the right way instead of running like the child you are.”

  Farida touched his arm. He jerked away from her. The anger inside of him was turning into the familiar fire of his beast. Raphael was responsible for everything that happened in the past few months. Dakota’s kidnapping. Rhiannon’s brush with death. His sister’s breaking.