Demons & Dragons

by Gina Kincade

  “Actually, I think I followed you completely,” Aiyanna tilted her head and shrugged.

  “I’m a witch who is in love with a vampire—Brandon, here. We met on the job. I already knew him from assignments, but still, it is hard to get it all into your head straight, your differences, while the heart begs for you to be together. Your mating, while more immediate, more instinctual, couldn’t have been much different. I know Xander was torn about the whole thing at first. Glad to see it didn’t take you guys as long as it did Brandon and me to hook up.”

  “Thankfully, some things can’t be so easily denied.” She smiled at Xander, wishing she could run into his arms, but forced herself to stay and listen to her new friend.

  “I remember the day Brandon and I got together like it was yesterday. I remember the words he said to me as we started our mission, his gruff, baritone voice sort of hissing in my ear, trying to prove a point. To me, his tone still sounds as menacing as it does seductive. His voice sometimes stops my breath.”

  “Oh, come on!” said a voice from behind Alexx.

  “Seriously, can we not be here for hours with the girly talk?” came another male voice, but one distinctly older.

  Alexx only looked at Brandon for him to say, “Xander, my boy, you better get used to this now, all the girl talk.”

  “But we don’t have to,” came the older voice again.

  “Stuff it, Sorcerer,” huffed Alexx. “Traveling with all of you men, I get very little girl talk. I intend to make the most of it. So, deal with it!”

  There were sighs, groans and grunts, but the men quieted after a little more of their, now half-hearted, grumbling.

  “That day we were after the infamous Richard Vosslar,” Alexx continued. “Missions with Brandon had become real catch twenty-two situations for me. If I caught Mr. Vosslar, then Brandon would be denied the victory. Our work over the past year had been intimate, dangerous, but such is the nature of the beast when you work in close confines on deadly missions with men in a Special Activities Division of the CIA. Let me back up here a bit and tell you about the group.

  “The two of us, along with seven others, are referred to as a Special Ops Group and we’re trained to carry out the deniable covert missions of this branch of the government. The group consisted of me, a hereditary witch able to manipulate energy; two vampires with power and speed; a very diversified shifter who can practically become anything; two other shifters—one an ancient bird and one true werewolf; a psychic trained to be a killer by the Marines; an actual Mothman whose skills with mind control and prophesy have proven invaluable; and an old Sorcerer whose varied magick keeps him equally useful. The Mothman psychic and the other vampire are on different assignment currently.”

  “So, you can see why a Chimera and a woman with a dragon spirit would be invaluable additions to such a strong team.” Brandon added.

  “I have to be honest though, the competition within this group is fierce. We battle for each victory like it is a prize, day in and day out, whatever our mission. Despite this, we are a tight group, always have each other’s backs. I think I can speak for all of us when I make the claim that we would each die to save any other in a heartbeat. A crazy dynamic, but it works, and is so amazing to be a part of.”

  “I see,” Aiyanna said, forcing her voice back to confident, because she was afraid her shock at what she’d just heard would sound like weakness or fear to the group. She wanted to be a part of it, knowing what an asset Xander would be to them, and herself as well. It would be good to finally put her gifts to better use.

  “You see, but do you want to join?” Brandon asked, inching closer to where Aiyanna sat, sandwiched between Xander and Alexx.

  She looked to Xander. Obviously he could sense her excitement because his matched her own, and all traces of his doubt seemed to have disappeared. He smiled at her, and Dragon help her, she wanted to jump his bones then and there. They were not only going to be mates, but also partners in fighting crime. Well, so to speak.

  Xander turned to Brandon. “You got us, man.”

  Aiyanna grinned and shook her head at Alexx, who then hugged her as sounds and words of celebration filled the cave.

  When the guys sort of grouped themselves together, Aiyanna pulled Alexx aside, over to the bed, and asked, “So tell me more about how you and Brandon got together, now that the guys are preoccupied.”

  “Glad to. But first, let me just say how thrilled I am to have another female in the group. I have been with this motley crew for close to three years now, the only female in this division, and while I love each of them, I so miss girl talk!” Her smile was warm and open. “So, right to it, back to the night Vosslar had to ‘disappear.’

  “We were on foreign soil to kidnap him, a man deemed ‘a threat’ to plans for a Marine Force Recon unit stationed in the Middle East. Over the past two years, I’d seen Brandon in differing ways, through various states of peril and affliction. In all of them, he appealed to me. His physical abilities were unparalleled, and his character was impeccable. The things he’d done for others never ceased to amaze and fluster me. Who am I kidding; I couldn’t think a rational thought around him. Yet, my feelings for him were my weight to bear alone. The man was as silent and deadly as they came, and as dedicated and caring as I’d ever met at the same time. Trying to keep up with him was not the only thing making me hot, if you know what I mean!”

  “I think I do,” Aiyanna laughed like a co-conspirator. “So, tell me more!” She looked over her shoulder to see Xander watching her. For the moment, they were both absorbed in the other; butterflies in stomach, lust curling around them, in love, and shaking from head to toe, ready to begin their new life together.

  “Okay!” Interrupting them, Alexx giggled a little. A nice soft touch, to a woman who seemed formidable. “Well, as we moved through this oddly designed building that night, I knew there was no more denying to myself how I felt about the man. Telling Brandon, on the other hand, was a completely different story. He was a vampire; one of the undead, and I was a witch and very much alive. But, yet again, on a delicate and critical mission my partner was Brandon; not that I was complaining at the time. Well, much.

  “I remember all the little things like trying to deny my body’s responses, yet being acutely aware of his hand on the small of my back as we halted our run to squeeze through a door. Then, once in another room, I stiffened as Brandon’s hands grabbed my waist to make me crouch behind a stack of dilapidated boxes. He was always doing that, touching me, helping me with his generous nature, not knowing he was impairing me at the same time.”

  Alexx went on about that night and others, her stories giving Aiyanna a little insight into the Sorcerer and the Mothman and a few of the others she would soon be working with. She was mesmerized by the moments of fear, the angry fights, Brandon’s confession of love for Alexx and their first kiss; all of the tales, to the very last words.

  After everyone finally left, as Aiyanna and Xander cuddled together in his bed, spent, beyond happy, her world had never felt more perfect or more complete as the sun gently rose on another day, and her eyes closed.

  Chapter Five

  X ander woke to his body connecting with a very solid surface; a sudden, painful sensation. Opening his eyes, but blinking against the sun shining off the snow, his back slammed against the wall again as he heard Aiyanna cry out. Finding his animal silenced by a weight he couldn’t see, he shook his body violently only to find himself restrained by four men.

  There were several others around his cave, standing room only, really, with Aiyanna restrained, much the same way as he was, to the opposing wall. He struggled. Blinding rage at seeing other hands on her, strengthened him, but to no avail. He couldn’t shift, and he couldn’t get to her. His head throbbed from the stifled rage as blood tried to rush through his constricted veins, making it feel like his brain was hemorrhaging. Several sets of large male hands tainted her naked flesh, groping rather than merely restraining. The sight mad
e him want to kill them all as bile rose in his throat.

  “A surprise attack in the day worked quite well.” The man from the other night, the asshole who’d taken Aiyanna—Aiden, if memory served—stood in the middle of them all, rubbing his hands together, a sick grin on his face. Xander knew him to be a disreputable shifter, his animal nature, a hawk. Everything about the man was dark, demented. The stories he’d heard about this hawk-man made him thrash against the hands holding him, not caring about the pain he caused himself, as the shifter walked closer to Aiyanna. Aiden’s gait was confident, one foot slowly stepping surely past the other, making Xander mad in the watching, the waiting. He was prepared to chew off his own limbs if he had to in order to save her from the hawk-man.

  “Well, well, what do we have here?” Aiden said, running his hand across Aiyanna’s shoulder where she was now marked. “A rescue and a mating? Well, you can both thank me later. Or, maybe...” He laughed, a hideous, high-pitched, almost chirping sound countering Xander’s growls. “You should thank me now, because soon you will both be dead. A dual sacrifice might be just enough given we’re now in the last day to access the power of the full moon thanks to your man’s heroics. Well, heroes die sometimes, babe. So sorry to have to tell you.” He looked back over his shoulder at Xander as his ugly clawed hand stroked her cheek.

  Aiden ran his hand over Aiyanna’s cheek, letting it casually fall over her breast as he went. With his fingers poised on her stomach, just above her sex, Aiden turned to smile at Xander.

  Xander screamed, words unintelligible even to himself, he was so angry. He saw spots in front of his eyes, his lungs burning as he thrashed, until one of the men put both of his hands against Xander’s throat. Panic rose; he knew he couldn’t lose consciousness, so he let his body go, stopped fighting them, to focus on another way. There has to be another way to save her. The CIA team from last night. He would send a distress signal mentally and hope one of them heard it. Try as he might to send that silent message, thoughts ravaged his brain, seeing her, naked and restrained again. He struggled against his captors again and again, the superficial injuries to his skin only spurring him on; the near loss of consciousness making him mad, giving him a sense that he maybe could break free and save her still.

  “Calm him, Selene!” Aiden screamed at the only woman in the room, a tiny, frail thing, who looked like someone had beaten her within an inch of her life. She too had a shady rep, full of stories of black magick, whoring, drugs, the list went on and on as to her wasted gifts. Seconds later his ability to control his body left him. With each swirl of the woman’s wrists, he became paralyzed.

  “Tonight, Chimera, you can watch her die first,” the hawk-man hissed, rubbing his hands together so hard Xander swore flames would soon burst from them if the flesh didn’t just fall off first.

  Energy, raw, untamed, moved through his body on full power. Balls of powerful magick were crashing into each other inside him, as if unable to find a proper channel in the darkness that was the spell over his muscles. He couldn’t speak either, though everything in him pleaded, screamed for her safety, until even the voice inside his head was hoarse. She stood strong against them, head up, body stiff. Her only frailty seemed to be the tears welling in her eyes. Although, he could feel she shed them for him; each drop that fell from her lids might as well have been a knife into his heart.

  He had to look away, his body shutting down from the turmoil raging inside of him. Several super sized birds, which resembled pterodactyls, stood at the entrance to the cave, which must’ve been how the other shifters had made it up here. He knew what each man holding him was; he could sense each of their animals close to the surface of their beings. Xander sensed Aiyanna’s dragon, too, but it had also been stifled by magick.

  Calming himself, knowing it was their last chance, he tried to put out a distress signal through the atmosphere, imagining it melting the snowflakes falling outside as it went, in the hope that anyone who could help them would pick it up. He wasn’t sure exactly what time of day it was, if the special ops team had left the area or not. Some of them were gifted like him to sense danger; well actually, others’ fears.

  With the witch’s spells in place over them, Xander and Aiyanna sat helpless against their opposing walls, still naked, the cold air from the outside overwhelming the dying fire in the hearth. He knew each time she shivered, felt it match his own, but neither of their bodies moved. Covered in a cold sweat, even swallowing seemed difficult with every tense muscle unable to move. Through the legs of the shifters inside his cave, he could barely catch a glimpse of her. Wishing he could move his neck to see around the commotion, his breathing increased, made his head throb in time with his accelerated heartbeat. At least his lungs and heart still were able to move. There was that.

  As time ticked by in slow motion, the rogue shifters ironed out their plans for their ritual tonight. Xander was still trying to feel his fears, let them wash over him, drown him with their harsh waves, to get some attention, someone to come fight this battle for him. Ego be damned now. She was all that mattered. It was a hell of a position to find himself in so soon after claiming Aiyanna. Yet, if he wasn’t careful, his fevered anger would override any angst he could find. He focused on his mate, and let the sensations of his very real terror, come for her.

  When he moved his eyes, thankful he still could, trying to see her face, the ancient bird-like creatures outside started to screech, their wings creating a blizzard of the snow that had collected at their feet. Soon, they came rushing into the cave like a great gust of wind had blown them. They sought purchase with the ground, nearly trampling him as they fought, a few stepping on his legs as they tumbled into the others. From what he could make out, his DC guys had come. The initial commotion seemed to end with leaps into fighting stances and all manner of animal noises, each threatening. The cave was literally wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling, fur and claws and teeth. He couldn’t hear or see Aiyanna now with the havoc going on around them.

  A were fell onto his lap, struggling then limp as a vampire ripped its neck out. Luckily, the vamp he knew. It was Brandon. He smiled coyly as he threw the now dead man from Xander’s lap. Xander marveled that the sun, brighter with the fallen snow, sparkled off the vamp’s skin. When they had come last night it had been still dark. How the hell was this vamp out in the sun now? How this was possible, he had no idea, and no time to give it further thought at the moment. The man was not a ball of flames, so who was he to question it? How the hell would he, anyway, now that he couldn’t speak?

  Brandon yelled over the turmoil, of course, probably realizing Xander’s predicament since he hadn’t moved, spoken or shifted. Brandon’s own lover, Alexx, appeared. Being a hereditary witch, she was able to manipulate energies.

  “He’s spelled, I can feel it. Can you help him?” Brandon asked Alexx.

  “I’ll try. The magick is old, but also tainted with something else. I’m not sure I can fully discern it or break it.”

  Xander waited. Being unable to even ask about Aiyanna was driving him mad. The noise, the total disorder and obvious destruction, blood and howls of pain, were making him even more tense. His shoulders were hunched up by his ears, he guessed out of instinct because he had no way to raise or lower them intentionally. His arms and legs cramped from the internal struggle to move. The invisible weight that prevented his movements twisted, curled around him like a vice as Alexx spoke in a different language and moved her hands. A dark, blackish cloud, as thick as dense smog, surrounded him; became a visible, living entity, a monster in and of itself. He sensed the smoke threatening his life and Alexx’s as her body began to have spasms or seizures. Brandon was at her side, his hands clenched, jaw tight, obviously trying not to intervene. He had to give the guy props for this, but he and Alexx had been together a lot longer than himself and Aiyanna. Brandon had to know Alexx’s limits by now.

  The commotion in the cave was starting to thin as each shifter was wounded and had turned back into a ma
n. The DC team was relentless, piling their victims’ bodies up at the mouth of the cave. It was no longer cold in there; that was for damn sure. What he could now see through a clearing in the smog around him, was the tiny witch who had spelled him in some kind of battle with the CIA’s sorcerer. Different colored balls and streams of light moved between them, cutting through the air with a sizzle like lightning. The words of their chants clashed as well as their magick.

  “Ardescat Lux.”

  “Deflexio.”

  It was then he saw Aiyanna again, her body crushed up against the cave wall, but protected by the hawk-man, the damnable ringleader of all of this chaos in his cave. The sick bastard was keeping her safe only so he could later kill her himself. Whatever the reason, Xander’s emotions tore through him, causing pain where his body responded to it physically and then it was stifled completely by the impure magick restraining him. His body became a magnet for the residual magick in the room. He was being shocked repeatedly, his heart and lungs barely functioning. The ominous language floated around him, luring him into a trance despite the violent nature he could sense in the words. He became a barely conscious observer, the fight surreal, the madness over his mate’s plight making everything feel a dream; like he was no longer in touch with any sort of reality.

  “Dispelsatio.”

  “Hexagramma et Pentagramma, Malos Spiritus Sigilent!”

  All who were left gathered around the witch and sorcerer. All fighting stopped as their magickal battle started to affect everyone. Enemies suddenly took cover beside each other, knowing they would not live to fight another minute if zapped by the mystical lightshow. As consciousness started to elude him, Xander pondered how the mayhem was no longer just in the town, but at his front door, inside his own cave. Messes such as these were his responsibility to stifle, and he was failing miserably. Yet, he couldn’t welcome death with Aiyanna still alive and suffering.