Bad Dragons: Special Edition Complete Series

by Terry Bolryder

  Seth ignores their glances, and they give us a wide berth as we approach a large doorway that looks like the exit. We make our way through the crowd that Seth looms over, pushing past until we’re at the top of a grand ivory staircase that must be at least fifty or sixty steps tall. Below us, the steps open out into a grand courtyard with colorful mosaics in silver, gold, and bronze. And along the perimeter, a dozen or so tall marble columns circle the center.

  Griffin. Rainier. Byron. Van.

  All of them are standing in a tight group in the center, fists clenched. My heart leaps for joy at the sight of them, and in tandem, all their attention shifts to me for a second, making me yearn to be down there with them.

  But before I can take a single step, the murmuring of the fae surrounding us suddenly hushes and their gazes turn to the doors on the other side of the courtyard where a tall, dark figure is walking out.

  The fae prince, Nerrenth.

  With a flap of his wings, he descends until he’s landed beneath me, halfway up the gigantic staircase. He’s wearing the same armor he had the other day, leather and medieval-looking. But for the first time, he also has an ornate-looking scabbard at his side, and I can see the handle of a sword sticking out of it.

  “We’ve come to take back Anna,” Griffin says, stepping forward boldly, his eyes set firmly on Nerrenth.

  “I anticipated you sooner, dragons.” He is slowly walking down the steps, taking them three at a time, as if his formidable height couldn’t allow less.

  “Don’t expect us to go easy on you this time,” Byron says, folding his arms.

  Nerrenth’s movements are eerily smooth, and he reaches a hand down to withdraw a long, elegant blade from the sheath at his side.

  I gulp.

  Seth’s arm holds my waist, making me feel protected in spite of my worry.

  Seeing them again, all ready to fight despite the odds, only reaffirms just why I love each and every one of them so much.

  And why I can’t lose them again.

  Nerrenth suddenly leaps off the stairs, springing upward and crashing downward into the center of the dragons. The marble beneath him erupts under the impact, and the dragons dodge in four different directions to avoid the attack.

  Around us, words of praise and excitement from the fae make my skin crawl.

  “Hold on,” Seth whispers into my ear, and suddenly, black wings spring through a slit in his black coat. With a heavy beat, we’re pulled off the ground, and I can see from above as Griffin and Byron both leap at Nerrenth in unison, swinging their fists at him.

  Nerrenth swings his blade widely, and both of them narrowly avoid the razor-sharp edge.

  I can feel Seth’s heartbeat racing with mine as he carries us over the battle toward the back of the courtyard. Rainier looks up to see us, and he moves to catch me as Seth’s grip slackens close to the ground.

  Thankfully, Seth holds on, setting us both down before he falls forward, barely catching himself with his elbow on the hard surface. Rainier rushes over to us as I can hear a shout nearby, though I’m not sure which dragon it came from.

  “Are you all right?” Rainier asks hurriedly, glancing over his shoulder to watch the fight. “Seth?”

  “I’m fine. You have more important things to worry about right now.” Seth grunts, pushing himself up with no small effort.

  “I’m sorry, Rainier,” I blurt out, and he puts both arms around me, holding me close for a moment. “This is all my fault. I signed the contract. I—”

  His hand is in my hair, brushing it aside as his silver eyes look at me tenderly. “No, it’s not your fault, Anna.”

  There’s a crash to our left, and we both turn to see Byron extricating himself from a deep indent in a marble wall, rubble falling to the sides as he does. On our right, Van and Griffin stand nearby, facing Nerrenth, who’s approaching from the center, sword still drawn.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” Byron says, making my body shudder both from the sight of him and the sight of blood streaming down the side of his face.

  “I’m fine,” he says flatly in response to my thoughts. “Except, you know, fairies are trying to kill us to get into the human world.”

  “We figured out that much,” Griffin says.

  “Van, Griffin, I’ll give us a distraction. Be ready,” Rainier says, releasing me and turning to face the fast-approaching prince.

  “Please. I can’t lose you, any of you,” I say desperately. I can’t help but fear the worst. Lee is practically planning on it.

  Van’s finger on my lips silences further protest, and Griffin flashes a confident grin, giving me hope.

  “We wanted to meet you,” Griffin says.

  “We wanted to love you,” Byron exclaims over his shoulder, watching as Rainier walks forward.

  “And now we want to protect you and our world.” Van finishes.

  In front of me, Rainier’s hands reach out, and to our sides, one of the great marble columns is cracking, splitting, then toppling downward with impossible force. Nerrenth looks up, coldly appraising the thing as it crashes down in a deafening explosion of rubble and dust.

  The other four dragons stand in front of me, and a gold shield goes up, blocking the debris, buying us precious seconds.

  I know I was meant to be with them. Like fate’s threads were meant to bring us all together to this one place at this one time.

  Griffin stands next to me, the shield shrouded in dust that slowly clears. “So, Anna, we were all thinking—”

  Suddenly, a powerful thump hits the side of Byron’s shield, and my whole body jumps to see Nerrenth, fist pressed to the outside only a few feet away from us. His expression shows the barest hint of frustration, which only makes him look that much eviler.

  “There might be a way to stop this,” I blurt out, hoping to share my plan with the dragons. “If only we ma—”

  Thump. The shield’s walls seem to wobble as though it’s about to give out.

  “Can’t hold it… No time.” Byron grunts, face straining. “Griff, go right. Van, let’s do this.”

  Griffin grabs me with both hands, and just as the walls shatter, he jumps to the side, absorbing the impact with the ground wholly with his body. Van and Byron disappear from my side, along with Nerrenth, in the dusty fog, but I can hear shouts and blows being exchanged.

  “Where’s Rainier?” I ask, worried.

  “Right here,” he says, emerging from the quickly settling debris around us. Griffin stands us both up, plopping me on the ground. Off to our right, I can see the shapes of three men fighting. “Seth’s on the other side of the courtyard. I think he’s looking for an opening.”

  “Then let’s give him one before our chances run out.”

  I hear a grunt and watch in horror as Van is thrown past us, slamming into a white column to our side.

  My body reacts, wanting to go to him, but Griffin pulls me back.

  “Stay here. I’m going in,” Rainier says, pulling up the sleeves of his sweater as he charges forward.

  Griffin moves over to Van, dragging him back to us as I look up the staircase, the view from our spot finally clear.

  Above us, at the top of the staircase, I can see Lee sitting in an ornate white chair. His legs are folded, his fingers drumming along the chair’s arms as he watches.

  “Dammit,” Griffin curses as he looks up at Lee. “I know why you hate us, but how could you betray the whole world?”

  Lee just shrugs, then ignores Griffin completely, watching the center of the courtyard.

  The fighting is getting closer, and as Byron and Rainier dodge beneath swings of the sword, just barely evading, Nerrenth follows up with a powerful kick that throws Rainier off his feet and sends him rolling over. A swift punch to Byron’s already bruised face staggers him, and Nerrenth uses the opening to rush at Griffin and me with dizzying swiftness.

  “Think fast, dragon.” His deep voice sounds so sour it could curdle milk, and Griffin grabs me, moving me out of the way just as the s
word swings horizontally in a deathly arc.

  Griffin growls, cursing, and I can see him clutching his chest with one arm. His shirt is sliced from one end to the other, but the wound doesn’t look too deep from here.

  “Fuck,” Griffin growls in frustration, hunched over as Nerrenth stands above him, casting a long shadow over the white surface of the courtyard.

  “Say your prayers,” Nerrenth says, raising his sword high.

  But as he swings down, it stops in midair, and he glances over his shoulder at Rainier, who’s lying on his back, reaching out one arm. The sword is trembling as if two people are pulling at it from different directions.

  Nerrenth scoffs. “As if you could make a fae’s sword disobey its master.” And with a wave of his hand, the sword settles in his grip again.

  But before he can bring it all the way down, Griffin springs up, his fist connecting with Nerrenth’s jaw in a heavy blow that makes him take a step back.

  Then, from the back, Byron appears, wrapping his thick arms around Nerrenth’s midsection, trapping his arms just as Van springs forward from somewhere I can’t see.

  Van’s like a viper, striking with vicious punches into Nerrenth’s stomach over and over, laying into the larger man with everything he has.

  Griffin collapses in front of me, and I rush to his side.

  “Just a scrape, honestly.” His blue-gray eyes cannot lie to me. And as he reaches up a hand to cradle my neck amidst the sound of blows near us, I don’t know what to say.

  Except…

  “Griffin, I have something to ask you about mating.” I speak quickly, afraid I can’t even get the words out. “I want to be with you, but—”

  “Oh yeah, we already figured it out before we got here,” Griffin says with a dry laugh. “We all want to be with you, dragon heart.”

  My heart’s so full it’s practically bursting. There isn’t much time, but maybe, just maybe we can still do it.

  67

  My pulse is racing so hard I feel like I’ve been running for miles. “We just share blood, right?” I ask Griffin.

  He nods.

  Next to me, I glance at a small shard of marble, and before I can overthink things, I grab it, scraping the sharpest end across the center of my palm. Red wetness wells up immediately, and I look down to Griffin.

  He chuckles. “Pick a spot.”

  I can’t bear to look at the horrible slash across his chest. The way deep crimson is pooling on the ground around him. Instead, I see a small cut on his arm, and I place my hand over it quickly, knowing there’s no time. For a moment, I just hold it there, and his other hand reaches behind me, cradling the small of my back.

  “Look out,” Griffin says, and he shoves me out of the way and stands just in time for Van’s body to barrel into him with such force it knocks him over.

  With an enraged growl, Nerrenth grabs Byron’s wrists, wrenching himself free and twisting Byron’s arm back so hard the position makes my stomach drop.

  But there isn’t time to do anything else as I spot Rainier lying motionless a few yards away.

  I run for him, wanting desperately to see whatever it is I hear crashing behind me but knowing that time is running out. I jump over a heavy marble boulder, doing my best to not trip or fall as I make it to Rainier’s side.

  One silver eye opens, the other bruised shut as he manages a weak grin. “You really are a dragon heart.”

  “I’m here to mate—”

  “You mated Griffin. I felt it. There’s no need to ask. We’re all in, Anna,” Rainier says, his tone calm even as I see the pain he’s in right now.

  In spite of the dust and rubble, I can see a small splotch of red on the side of Rainier’s head where his silky hair is matted with blood. I press my cut palm there gently.

  Rainier takes a deep breath, and I feel something quiet, almost magical, swirling around us.

  I felt it first with Griffin. But the sensation is getting stronger.

  “Go. There isn’t much time,” Rainier says. And somehow, he’s pushing himself up off the ground, holding his shoulder with one arm as he moves in the direction of the fighting.

  Behind us, Griffin and Van are both blowing fire on the fairy, the heat and flame crashing into him almost concealing Nerrenth entirely. Then suddenly, Nerrenth emerges, looking singed but indomitable as his fist slams into Van’s face and he turns back to charge at Griffin.

  And to my left, I see Byron sitting up in a pile of rubble that’s suspiciously human-shaped.

  Rainier shouts and several huge boulders lift off the ground, but I ignore the fighting, rushing to Byron’s side as my ears ring with sound of the rocks cracking.

  Byron’s eyes drift open, and the gold orbs of his irises recognize me instantly. His cheeks are purple and red, his jaw scraped at the corner, another cut making a diagonal slash across his cheek.

  He attempts a smile. “I’m not out for the count yet. Just catching a quick breather,” he says with a cough at the end.

  “Your face. Byron, I’m so sorry.” Seeing these men fight to within an inch of their lives is heartbreaking.

  “It’ll heal. I think. Doesn’t matter either way.”

  I study his battered form, trying to figure out where I should touch him, where it would be least painful. I’m trying to ignore the fear rushing through me, the exhaustion and stress racking my body, but I’m starting to get overwhelmed.

  “Hey, you’re not alone, dragon heart,” he says, his warm voice tinged with a rasp of pain. “You brought us all together. Take us to the end. You can do it.”

  I nod, fighting back tears as his hand finds mine tenderly and raises it toward his face. Looking into his golden eyes, I find my resolve, and the fear melts away again. I set his hand gently back down to rest and use my hand to cup his cut cheek. He relaxes into my touch for a quiet moment as his eyes close in bliss.

  “Mate,” he says quietly.

  There’s another crash, something heavy slamming into the courtyard, and Byron’s eyes open. He groans, the sound of someone who has to get out of bed with a horrific hangover, and stands up, shaking off dirt and rubble.

  “You’ve got this, dragon heart,” Byron says, and with a shout, he charges into the fray where Rainier and Griffin appear to be barely holding off Nerrenth. On the other side of them, I can see Van lying facedown in a puddle of blood, and I rush around the edge of the fight to get to him as fast as I can.

  He doesn’t even move when I approach.

  How do you mate someone properly when there’s so much blood on the ground already?

  Then Van’s hand shoots out, firmly grasping my wrist, and he uses his other hand to push himself off the floor a few feet with his limited strength. He looks up at me, the deep purple of his gaze stormy, intense. His lips are split down one side, red trickling over his jaw and chin.

  And when he raises an eyebrow in question, I know exactly what he’s asking.

  Of course, I tell him in my thoughts.

  Van lowers his head to kiss the center of my hand, so soft and tender I can barely feel the brush of his lips against my palm. He holds the kiss there for one second, then two, then he releases my hand, letting his own drop to his side.

  His body is trembling, held up by his other arm and sheer, stubborn force of will. “I’ve seen it. The future. Don’t be afraid. Everything will be—”

  He cuts off as his strength gives out, and he collapses back to the ground.

  But as much as I desperately want to help him, there’s only one way I can help everyone.

  Seth.

  I can see him across the courtyard, standing at the edge of the stairs. Even from here, his emerald eyes are glowing a bright, toxic green, and there’s blackness trickling from the corners of his eyes.

  He looks like he’s about to lose it.

  I need to get to him now.

  I take the deepest breath I’ve ever taken in my life and run for it. Next to me, I hear something crash into the ground, and my heart fal
ls in my chest, not knowing if it’s a rock or a person. But I press on until I’m near Seth.

  Then I feel it.

  A blackish green aura surrounds him. The thing I felt when I first met Seth, only a hundred times stronger.

  I can feel my whole body recoil in fear. In terror. At this distance, I can see the streams of black, poisonous-looking substance seeping out.

  But regardless of the danger, I know Seth won’t hurt me.

  So I walk forward.

  Seth’s eyes shoot toward me, his irises narrowed. I want to step back, but I don’t.

  He’s holding his side, in pain. Did he jump into the fight when I wasn’t looking?

  “Sorry, thought I could help,” he says. “Just got banged up in the process.” There’s blood on his hand where he’s clutching himself tightly. “Guess I should leave the heavy lifting to the big guys.”

  “Seth, I talked to the others, but I haven’t had a chance with you yet. But we don’t have time…”

  “I heard their thoughts,” he says quickly. “Nothing would honor me more than being your mate. I can’t imagine living without you.”

  “I love you,” I say, grabbing his hand and letting our palms clutch together. It’s so warm, and for a second, the air seems lighter. Then Seth’s body tightens, and he shakes his head.

  “Sorry,” Seth mutters, and then he shoves me out of the way just as Nerrenth attacks him, knocking him off his feet.

  Before I can fall backward, someone catches me under the arms, carrying me upward. I look up to see Griffin in human form with dragon wings, flying us to the top of the staircase where we land and he sets me down.

  Lee, sitting near us on his white chair, appraises us both coolly, and Griffin scowls at him before taking off and heading back down to the fight.

  My gaze is still on Lee, but he shrugs again and turns to look down at the fight.

  The courtyard is in shambles. I can see the motionless bodies of my dragons scattered amongst the rubble as Nerrenth bears down on Seth. But just before he delivers another deadly blow, Griffin slams into his side, knocking them both over.

  The fight is all but over as my heart falls deep in my chest. Griffin tries to stand quickly, but Nerrenth slams him in the side with his booted foot. Griffin tries once more, struggling as one more quick kick sends him onto his back.