As wind continued to batter my face, my dragon roared for freedom. She fought against the confines of my mind, clawing at my will. She wanted her mate, and she wanted freedom—damn the rest of the world. Pretty silver scales flickered across my skin, and though I saw my mates calling for me, saw the desperation and fear in their eyes, I couldn’t stop the fire from burning across my skin and singing the concrete floor. Blackness surrounded my feet as the grime and dust was seared to the ground with the intense heat.
“One last chance. Give me Cash or burn!” I screamed over the roar of wind. My flames danced in the wind, circling my body as my rage rose and rose.
And just as quickly as it had all began, it stopped.
The groan of the house settled, the howl of the wind died, the shattered glass tinked across the floor, and my mates stared at me in shock.
A soft click was the only sound, and as I turned to face it, a false wall dropped behind one of the shelves with a loud thump. I blinked in surprise and my rage cooled. My flames flickered out and the burning of my clothes stopped abruptly. The silver scales on my forearms disappeared and the violent storm inside of me calmed as the bonfire scent of my mate washed over me in full force.
“Cash,” I gasped. I raced towards the empty shelf and threw it aside without preamble. It crashed into the far wall and splintered into pieces. Whoops. Barrelling forward, I stopped abruptly when Cash appeared from the darkness behind the false wall. “Cash,” I said again, my heart hammering with relief and excitement.
Cash grinned his signature lopsided smirk and stepped out of the shadows, hands on his hips. “I knew you’d find me, Ari.”
Relief crashed into me so hard I lost my breath. I threw myself at Cash, wrapping my arms around his neck. I plastered my lips to his, and then his cheek, and then his forehead, his chin, and his lips again. “You’re alive,” I said, tears burning the back of my eyes. “You’re okay.”
Cash chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. He lifted me up off the ground and buried his face in my hair. “I’m ok, Ari.”
I shook as I held onto him with every ounce of strength I had. My dragon mate was okay. We were all okay. We were back together again—finally.
“Good to have you back,” Owen said, clapping Cash on the shoulder.
Cash chuckled and nodded against my head. But still, I wouldn’t let go, and he refused to release me. “Thanks, Owen.”
“About time,” Jett scoffed. “Quick Silver just about burn this place to the ground to find you.”
“So that’s why I smell ash,” Cash said thoughtfully.
A hard chest pressed against my back, and suddenly three sets of arms were around me, holding me tightly. I sighed, my shaking finally stopping.
“Get in here,” Maximus growled.
Jett sighed dramatically. “Sappy fucks.”
Another pair of arms joined us, and I couldn’t help the crazy giggle that popped out of me. All of this—all of this over a trip to Bear Clan territory for Halloween. What a fucking night.
“Are we done now?” Jett complained. “Can we get the hell out of here?”
I perked up at that, leaning back from Cash if only slightly. He met my gaze, his bright green eyes alight with the relief burning through my entire being. “Let’s get out of here,” Cash agreed.
“Please,” I said.
Cash set me back on the ground, and as fast as a pack of wolves on the hunt, we raced up the steps to the basement door. The doorknob squealed as Maximus twisted it, but it didn’t give.
“Don’t tell me,” I groaned.
“Nothing a good kick can’t solve,” Owen joked.
“Hah hah,” Jett said sarcastically.
“Wait,” a soft voice made us all freeze.
Who the fuck was that?
The soft female voice was certainly not me, or any of my rugged male mates. So who was it? I peered around Cash, Jett and Owen who were all right behind me, but saw nothing other than the basement at the foot of the stairs.
“Please,” the voice said.
We exchanged glances. What more could this spirit really do? It knew the lengths I would go to to protect my mates. Fuck with us now and her house was going down with her.
I nodded carefully, and my mates slowly backed down the stairs until we were all in the basement again. I looked around until a shimmer of light caught my eye where the false wall had once been. Taking the hands of my mates closest to me, Cash and Owen, I crept forward. Cash snapped his fingers, a small flame appearing above his thumb. When we stepped inside, Maximus and Jett waited in the doorway as if they could keep it from suddenly shutting on us and trapping us inside.
As Cash’s light grew I took in the dirty mattress, the buckets, the table with another tea set, and then at last the shimmering form of a young woman I recognized—the eldest daughter I’d seen in the photos littering the house.
She stood in the center of the room, her hands clasped in front of her, brown hair curling down to her waist. Her blue eyes shown with worry as she kneaded her fingers. Below her feet was a circle, painted in what looked like blood. What the hell is that?
“I’m sorry,” she said. She looked down at the floor, biting her lip and twisting her fingers in the long white nightgown.
My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to process all that I was seeing. “You took my mate.”
She nodded.
“Why?”
She stopped fiddling with her gown. “When I was alive, it was said that dragons were extinct.”
“And?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “And that the last dragon, the Dragon God, could return lost souls to each other in the afterlife. I thought maybe he was it…” She raised her gaze to glance at Cash, only to meet mine instead. “But obviously that was a lie since you’re a dragon too.”
I blinked in surprise. Returning lost souls to the afterlife? Dragon God? What? I knew the dragons worshipped a Dragon God, but I’d never heard this take on the deity before.
“That’s a very old myth,” Cash said softly. “But dragons haven’t gone extinct, dear.”
She nodded, her curls bouncing around her face. “I see.”
I raised an eyebrow and inclined my head as I realized something. There was no reason to call us back down here to tell us this. So why did she bring us? She wasn’t tearing us apart with wind and glass anymore, and she did seem sorry, but there had to be something else. “What do you want?” I asked.
The girl looked up, her almond-shaped eyes round with surprise. She quickly schooled her features. “I want to make a deal.”
“A deal?” My nostrils flared. She wasn’t in a position to be asking favors.
“Yes, please hear me out.” She bit her lip before forcing herself to look each of us in the eye. Finally, she settled on me. “I’ll stop everything and let you all go in peace—n-not that you can’t just destroy everything here in a moment. I… please, just take my medallion to the lake in the mountains. My… my sister, I want to be with her.”
My heart throbbed at the confession, at the sheer desperation in her eyes and in her voice. “The lake in the mountain you say?”
Hope blurred her image and suddenly she was a foot in front of me. I jumped as she reached forward to take my hands, only to realize she couldn’t. Instead, she clasped her hands in front of herself like a prayer. “Please bury my medallion next to the lilies on the bank. My little brothers told me that is where they buried Lily, but father never let me see her. I-I just want to be with her again.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the love for her sister, the desperation pulsating from her ghostly form, or what caused me to nod my head—but I did. “Ok. Where is your necklace?”
The girl held her hands over her face as ghostly tears welled in her eyes. “In the top drawer of my dresser in the attic. Th-Thank you. Thank you, Lady Dragon.”
I snorted softly. “Just Ariana is fine.”
She smiled, her whole face lighting up despite her tears. “Thank you.�
��
With that, her image faded, and I was left staring at a blank concrete wall. My heartbeat slowed now that she was gone, and the danger had passed. I wasn’t sure why she was so protective of this house—but suddenly the violence in the attic made sense. She wanted us out and away from her medallion.
“So, the lake in the mountain?” I looked at Owen.
Owen still looked taken aback, just like the rest of my mates. “Um, yeah. There’s a grove of lilies on one side. It’s not far from Mom’s house.”
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s grab that medallion and go home.”
Owen smiled. He always loved when I called Bear Clan territory my home. He was the first to break the spell of confusion the ghost girl had left us under. He wrapped his arms around me in a quick hug before he ushered me out of the dungeon room. I couldn’t imagine what horrors she must have endured down here, but after everything I’d seen, making a not-so-out-of-the-way trip to the lake sounded like the least we could do.
“We’re really just going to pretend like a fucking ghost didn’t just come out of the floor?” Jett said coolly.
“Seems like it,” Cash said, clapping Jett on the back as he followed Owen and I out of the room and back to the stairs.
Maximus sighed. “What a night.”
“I’ll grab the medallion,” Owen suggested. “You should all grab our stuff and head to the car.”
I stopped halfway up the steps. “Are you kidding? Like hell I’m letting any of you out of my sight ever again.” Cash barked a laugh, and soon the rest of them chuckled like I’d made the funniest joke in the world. “Hey, it’s not funny! I’m serious.”
Jett shook his head as his laughter died down. “That’s what’s so funny, Quick Silver.”
Epilogue
Ariana
It turned out the medallion was more of a locket. I ran my thumb across the two pictures inside—on one side a picture of the ghost girl, with the inscription “June” below it, the other, the youngest daughter with “Lily” written below. These two girls would be reunited at last. How long had they been apart? How long had June haunted the hallways of that house utterly alone?
“Ari?” Cash nudged my arm with his elbow. “Are you ok?”
I looked up at my dazzling dragon mate, his green eyes alight and his black curly hair swaying in the breeze as we made our way around the edge of the glimmering blue lake to the patch of lilies Owen had mentioned.
“I’m fine,” I assured him with a smile. “Just thinking about June.”
“Crazy chick is lucky we didn’t have her house burned down with the way she was acting,” Jett said, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was still none too pleased to be on this little mission, but still, he came.
After our talk with ghost girl, we found her locket, and true to form, got the hell out of Dodge. We arrived in Bear Clan territory in the middle of the night before promptly passing out. Now, just after lunchtime on a bright sunny day, you would never have guessed the hurricane that passed through the mountains last night. The only remnants of the storm were the puddles and branches littering the yards of Owen’s family home and all of their neighbors.
“There it is,” Owen said. He laid a hand on my shoulder and pointed to the edge not far ahead with reeds and cattails poking out of the water. Not far from the ancient willow tree and its enormous boughs, was a large patch of pristine white lilies nestled in the undergrowth.
I smiled. “Perfect.”
We picked our way around the lake until I could kneel before the flowers. I took the gardening shovel from my back pocket and dug a small hole next to them.
“Do you think June and her sister ever came here?” I asked, staring at the images of both girls one more time before clasping the locket shut.
“I think they’d have to to know about it,” Maximus said. He crouched next to me, his blue eyes dazzling in the reflection of the lake.
“Maybe they came here as kids,” I guessed. “It isn’t too far from their home.”
“I bet their mom took them here,” Owen guessed. He stared out at the lake like he was reliving memories of his own.
“I bet she did,” I agreed. Carefully, I set the locket into the hole I’d dug before covering it back up and patting the earth down. “I hope you find peace, June.”
“Ari,” Cash said carefully.
I stiffened. Something in his voice made me turn around slowly. I almost expected a vampire, or other predator here to ruin our serene moment, but instead what I got through the late afternoon mist surrounding the lake was an image of two ghost girls hand in hand, running across the lake’s surface to the far side. They giggled and laughed, their voices echoing in my ears.
“It looks like she found peace after all,” Jett said, surprising me. He hadn’t seemed so invested in the pair, but maybe it was all a ruse. After all, my surly panther mate cared a lot more than he let on.
I watched them run until they disappeared into the mist, their laughter fading with them. Slowly, I stood, wrapping an arm around Maximus, and resting my head on his shoulder. “I’m happy.”
Maximus kissed the crown of my head and snaked an arm around my waist, holding me tight to his side. “Me too.”
My smile grew and I squeezed his side in answer. “How about we head back to the house to get ready?”
“Time for another scary movie?” Cash joked.
I cringed. “No, I think I’ve had enough scary movies for awhile.”
My mates chuckled, and I couldn’t help but laugh too as we made our way down from the lake and back to the O’Connell residence. The howls of the neighboring children filled my ears, and I grinned as I caught sight of a few running ahead in costume.
A twist in my gut reminded me of the nausea I’d been having recently, and my finger skimmed my belly. “I wonder…” I murmured. I watched the kids go until they were out of sight, and a new kind of smile lit my face.
Maybe Bear Clan territory wouldn’t be the only Clan with kids running around soon. Maybe it was our turn. I looked between my dazzling mates as they goofed around with each other. I grinned as Cash shoved Jett dangerously close to the lake, and Jett gave Cash a glare that promised vengeance. I laughed as Jett raced after Cash, who went pale and took off faster than I’d ever seen the man run.
This was my home, and maybe one day it would be our kids’ too.
The End
Enjoyed this series and ready for some more RH action? Continue the series HERE or, if you’ve already binged the Silver Shifter series, try my brand new Soul Collectors series, an RH urban fantasy story set in the same world as SS!
About the Author
Katherine Bogle is the bestselling author of QUEEN OF THIEVES and HER WOLF as well as the international bestselling DOMINION RISING series.
She first found success with her debut novel, Haven, which came second in the World’s Best Story contest 2015. Since then, she has gone on to release 17 books with one core theme: kick-butt heroines. Though her series may span genres—from fantasy, to steampunk to science fiction—she will always write about strong women overcoming the odds.
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Read More of Katherine’s Books
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Silver Shifter series (Paranormal RH)
Soul Collectors series (PNR/Urban Fantasy RH)
Clockwork Thief (Steampunk/Fantasy)
Dominion Rising (Sci-Fi)
Chronicles of Warshard (YA Fantasy)
Awaken
Monica Corwin
Untitled
Trapped in a hotel during her ten-year college reunion, Cameron Fortuna, only wants to avoid her ex. Which becomes impossible when she finds herself locked in a hotel room with her best friend, the aforementioned ex, and the exchange-student fairy prince she never expected to see agai
n.
One
I thought I could hide. When the doors locked earlier in the evening my college reunion assumed it was a joke. Turned out, the current graduating class had decided to use us as a prank to end their reign. A whole weekend locked in a hotel together. Things might get Lord of the Flies very soon.
I couldn’t hide even if I wanted to. All the hotel’s room doors had been propped open like some sort of seventies lovefest. I simply wanted one space with peace and quiet.
I quickly found my room through the chaos only to run smack into the back of a tall man when I entered. I braced for the scent of him, more than people’s energy, their scent is always the first thing I notice, and when honeysuckle and lavender hit me, I relaxed for the first time all night and wrapped my arms around his back.
Sasha twisted as I clutched him and stared down at me. “Okay, baby?” He tucked his fingers into my long dark curls with a sighed.
I nodded into the silk of his vest and hugged him tighter. When I released him, he spun to face me with his brow wrinkled and a dashing smile. “You sure? You look like you wanna run very far away.”
I waved at the door. “I almost had a run in with Holt on the way up. Of course, I acted like an adult and ran up the stairs.”
As if summoned by his name alone, a shadow fell across my feet and I spun to face the man who’d broken me in college. Who’d set the stage for every failed relationship I’d attempted for the past ten years. The man I wanted to punch in his perfect white teeth.
Sasha’s arms enveloped me and drew me into his body. My best friend, sometimes lover, although we agreed we were better besties than mates.
I leaned into him, letting him take some of the pain pulsing through me at the sight of Holt.
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 45