by Jaymin Eve
The Compasses and I didn’t stop. Braxton, Maximus, Tyson and Jacob were glowing with power, the swirl of energy above their heads strong and prominent. I could see the focus in their faces; they wanted the king and nothing would stop them. Cardia remained off to the side of Maximus, and just like me, she wasn’t getting too close.
I felt the whoosh of the Four’s power flutter across my hair then, and I almost gave a shout when the marked froze in front of us. Tendrils of the Four’s energy caressed my skin, but my dragon roared to life and sent her energy out to push through theirs. Thank the gods. Would have been a bit of a disaster if I had frozen too.
Not waiting for the others to catch up, I went straight into the fray, dashing from one marked to another, cracking them in the temple. We didn’t want to kill them. This was a fight most of them had not signed up for, but we needed to make sure they were down and would stay that way for a while. The Four’s power had frozen them, but they were still awake and aware. We were just shutting their lights out for a few extra hours.
The Compasses were right with me, all of us moving at super speed to get through the masses. The rest of our people were doing the same. Louis was wicked useful, knocking down about eight at a time with his blasts of power. On top of that he was adding his energy to the Four, and helping in other areas. Dude was an overachiever; we were damn lucky to have him.
The further we moved through the minions, leaving prone bodies in our wake, the more aware the marked were becoming. The Four’s power only had so much hold, and we were reaching the edge of that control. I’d lost sight of Larky once the fighting erupted, but I could feel his presence close by. My mark continued to burn and tingle, reminding me that we needed to move our asses and find the king.
“Jessa!”
I looked up from putting down a marked woman and found Rose barreling through bodies toward me.
“I’m so glad I found you. The king is just over there.” She pointed me toward the edge of the group, and I caught glimpses of his golden hair above the fighting masses. The marked who were not controlled yet were reaching us now and starting to fight back. I was distracted from Rose when two marked charged me. I sidestepped the first – a fey – before smashing him in the temple. He was down fast. The second was a shifter, but with no fight training. It took me a few moments longer, but I managed to land a solid uppercut that had him seeing stars. It was hard to knock out supernaturals, but when you were strong and knew exactly where to hit them, it was doable.
Rose grabbed my arm. “If you have any way to stop him, you have to do it now.”
She was shaking and I wondered what was happening to her.
“What’s wrong?” I had to shout to be heard.
“His brothers are coming, and the four together are too strong to fight.”
My quads were close, each occupied with fighting and immobilizing marked, but she caught their attention. “What brothers are you talking about, Rose?”
Her big eyes were rimmed in red, tears sprinkling her lashes. “Larkspur is a quad. He and his brothers are the original quads. You weren’t the first he dragon mated, his brothers were. But it went wrong. I think because only he’s a shifter, the others are pure blooded: fey, magic user, and vampire. Their energy wasn’t built to be shifters, and by forcibly dragon mating a soul to each of them, it destroyed their minds – but not their strength. They’re close to invincible.”
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to figure out what she was talking about. “The shining ones said those other three souls were never mated. They returned to the sky.”
Rose clutched me closer. “They did almost die, the souls and his brothers. Larkspur found a sorcerer strong enough to put them into a deep, healing sleep. They remained in this stasis for almost a thousand years, and now they're healthy and strong. They can shift and they’re here to destroy your pack. They’ve come for your mate.”
The Compasses tightened ranks around me. They’d heard the entire conversation, even whilst smashing any marked who came at us.
“He knows or suspects that you’re pregnant, Jessa.” The urgency in Rose’s voice increased. “He promised the shadow spawn the first dragon shifter from you, the chosen one, and that’s enough for them.”
Panicked screams were lodging in my chest, trying to burst free. Braxton’s arms wrapped around me, pulling me back into his body. I didn’t even care about the surge of power from him, I took comfort from his strength. His massive chest shook around me, and I knew he was close to letting his beast take over.
“Go to Larkspur,” Rose said as she glanced back in his direction. “You have to fight him now before his brothers come.”
The quads moved even closer, and Braxton set me back on my feet. “Why did he bring you today?” I asked her.
Sorrow had her face dropping, shadows crossing the cocoa color of her stunning skin. “To control the marked he must channel the energy through me. I’m the original. My blood was used to cast the spell. He uses me to issue the commands. That way the crowd of voices and energy doesn’t drive him crazy.”
Motherfucker. That’s how he was doing it. Rose was the conduit for them all.
“I don’t think I’ll survive any more of the channeling,” she said, her voice low enough to be muffled. “In this sort of situation, with close proximity – well, one more time and my mind will fracture. I’m desperately holding on to it. You have to stop him.”
I was relieved at the reassurance that she was on our side. All of the sympathy I’d felt for her in the floating castle kicked in again.
“I’m going to kill him,” I said to her; the five of us were already moving toward Larky. “Just hold on to your sanity for a little longer.”
She sobbed again and my urgency upped another notch. I was running out of time. I had to get to the dragon king before he destroyed her and everyone else here.
We started to run. I dodged to the side to kick out at a marked demi-fey who was choking one of our wizards. My boot hit her in the throat; she choked and gagged for a few moments before a well-placed kick from Tyson shut her lights out. We continued moving, doing what we could to help those in our path, but unable to really stop. I was kind of enjoyed smashing marked as we passed them by. Poor minions. Couldn’t catch a break.
An opening in the crowd paved a path right to the golden king. He was lazily standing there like he was just waiting for a bus or something. A grin lit up his face when he saw me, and I could tell by the look in those dark eyes that if he captured me today he was not going to let me go again.
Immediately, about ten marked came at us, trying to separate me from the boys. No way was I stupid enough to take him on without help. I threw back my elbow, catching one of the minions in the face, before spinning around to stomp him, hard. The next few minutes were a flurry of activity, the quads and I making short work of putting the rest down.
A charging troll hit me then, knocking me back and barging through to get to Maximus. I managed to stay on my feet, but Braxton’s growl rocked over the crowd. There was no way to miss the worried glance he cast at my stomach. I rubbed at my side, giving my mate a smile of reassurance. The troll had only smacked my hip, which was smarting like a bitch. Those troll fuckers hit like steam trains.
Braxton hooked me under one arm, Tyson under the other, and they lifted me free from the mass of bodies blocking my way. As we regrouped, I realized we’d lost Cardia somewhere in the mess, which explained Maximus’ distracted glances around.
Not the best thing to be doing when he was right in the middle of fighting that troll who’d hit me. Luckily, the vamp was skilled in many different fighting techniques, and the troll was young and untrained. If Larky had taken the time to actually train his marked, we’d have been screwed for sure.
The second Maximus was free I grabbed his hand. “Come on,” I shouted, knowing he was going to double back to find Cardia. “If we can stop this, we save them all. It’s our only chance.”
The moment I spoke there
was a roaring rumble, like one of the magic users had called on a storm. A quick glance up into the glow of the rising sun and I realized it was far worse than a storm. Three dark beasts were cruising toward us, quite distant now, but would be here in moments at the speed dragons moved.
“Shit!” Braxton said. “I’m going to have to shift. Otherwise those three will destroy everyone here.”
He was right. Their speed, flames, claws and massive fang filled jaws would cut through the supernaturals. On both sides.
Braxton was strong, I knew that. He held his own against the king, but three versus one … they would tear him to pieces. I grabbed his arm, the quads’ joined energy thrumming across me strong enough that I almost dropped it just as quickly.
“You can’t go alone, they’re too powerful. There is no way.”
I jumped as Louis popped up from somewhere. Sneaky sorcerer. “I’ll stay with Jess and help her until you can return. Braxton, you need to shift. It’s the only chance. Jacob, Tyson, and Maximus, you need to stick close to him, protect his back. Your calling will work on the king’s brothers as well. They’re quads, joined together the same as you four are.”
Damn. It was all starting to make perfect sense now.
Louis continued: “I didn’t know until those dragons appeared, but now I can tell that this is why you and the Craiz brothers have a calling, to fight the original quads who messed with what was not theirs to mess with. The king controls his brothers, their minds were damaged from the forced dragon mating, but they’re strong. Do not underestimate them.”
Rose’s warning had been accurate. The king started all of this when he messed with the sacred bond of dragon mating. Now we had to clean it up. Funnily enough, now that I saw more of the puzzle pieces, I was starting to notice some real parallels between Braxton and Larky. Both were quads and powerful dragon shifters. Arrogant. They loved power and were destined to control and lead, it’s just that Larky took it multiple steps too far. I wondered if the dragon king would have followed through on the forcible dragon mating of his brothers had he known the end consequences? That his quest for total domination would destroy his family. Maybe that was actually when he lost the last part of his soul.
My thoughts were put on hold as I was gathered up in the arms of my pack. They had dropped their joining briefly, so I wasn’t zapped, although I could still feel the panic and frustration from each of them. Braxton was the last, and as he wrapped his arms around me, his strong body cradling and protecting me for one last moment, I had to fight down the tears.
“Don’t die!” I said fiercely as I pulled back from him. “Don’t you die, Braxton Compass, because your child and I need and love you more than anything.”
He pulled me close enough to drop his lips onto mine. “I promise you, Jess. I will always come for you. Not even death could stop me. Remember, we’re a team. Where you go, I will follow.”
He kissed me one last time. I didn’t want to let him go. Then everyone had to step back to give him space. Louis sent out a wave of energy, scattering those around us. In a blink, my mate was no longer on two legs, but on four massive black and blue, scaled legs. Those large, unblinking yellow eyes locked in on me, and my dragon wanted so badly to shift as well. We had to defend our mate.
Not yet, I reminded her. We have to stop the king or everyone will die, and Larky will take the baby.
I loved Braxton with every piece of my heart and soul, but I was pretty sure I loved my child just a little bit more – my young who was vulnerable and needed my protection.
The Compasses climbed onto the back of their colossal brother. I refused to believe that this was the last time I would see them all. And as my boys rose into the air, Braxton’s powerful wings lifting them at a rapid rate toward those three beasts, I swear my heart went with them.
“Come on, Jess. You have to trust that they’re strong enough to do this.”
Louis’ hand on my arm forced me to focus. Larky was no longer where he’d been lazing, and my senses were suddenly on high alert. Shit! Where was the creeper now?
Roars split the air above us and I couldn’t stop myself from spinning to find my boys in the sky. The king’s brothers had circled around the Compasses and were preparing to attack as one from all sides.
“I need to shift,” I said to Louis. “I can’t leave them up there with just Braxton.”
I was in full panic mode now. The king’s brothers were huge, each about the same size as Braxton. He would be torn to pieces.
The sorcerer wrapped himself around me, cupping the back of my neck and pulling me in so that our eyes were inches apart. I had no choice but to stare into his mesmerizing purple depths.
“Give them a second. I know you’re worried about them, but I think their power will work on the king’s kin.”
My upper lip lifted as I snarled into that perfect face. “You think? You better pray you’re right, sorcerer, or I’m going to rip your freaking head off.”
He smiled. Smug bastard. Why was he never afraid? It was disconcerting to be faced with so much confidence. Even the Compasses had their moments of doubt and fear, but besides a little guilt-laden moroseness regarding the death of his chosen mate, Louis was cool as ice.
The roars increased above us, and more than one set of eyes were locked in on a once-in-a-lifetime sight. Four dragon shifters. Three Compass males. One epic battle.
The boys must have let loose with their energy then. I gasped as the dragon-minions halted mid-air as if in suspended animation. Braxton then dived low, the others clinging to his back as he came up underneath the first and the air was saturated in blood and innards as those razor sharp claws eviscerated its soft underbelly.
I could scent the dragon magic. It was strong, especially as the blood flew free.
Braxton changed trajectory, doubling back to dragon two. Jacob and Tyson leapt off his back and landed on the second beast, and in that moment the Compasses must have lost their connection. As the fey and wizard landed, both of the beasts who were still in possession of their guts started to move. The third plummeted from the sky, and all those in the vicinity below had to get out of the way immediately or risk being crushed.
I was distracted from my pack by a bunch of marked storming toward me, their dragon specters spinning dizzily above their heads. I dropped lower, calling on my dragon and wolf, forgetting the sorcerer was at my side. With a lazy flick of his hand, and some well-placed power words, those marked flew off into the distance.
I turned back to my boys, relieved to see that all of them were still fighting. Braxton was going head to head with one of the black dragons. Gouges littered both of their hides, but the other dragon was definitely covered in more injuries. Tyson and Jacob looked to be inflicting plenty of damage on their beast, each of them using blades they had pulled from their own personal arsenal. The quads were always weaponed-up, even if they were just going for breakfast. The dragon was struggling to dislodge them from its back, even with all the dipping and diving going on.
“I told you they’d be fine,” Louis said with that humor in his tone again.
I whipped around. “Shut it!” I might just punch him for fun. I knew my eyes were blazing, cheeks flushed as I glared my displeasure.
Louis’ reply was cut off by a sweep of air behind us. As we turned, I had a terrible feeling about what I would find there.
Larky, in his dragon form.
“Does your magic work against dragons?” I asked Louis, both of us stepping closer together.
“Not very well,” he said. “I have a few tricks which might hold him, but probably not long enough for you to get through the body and into the heart.”
About fifty yards separated Larky’s beast from us, and there were a lot of marked in between, but I could feel his focus on me. He was coming to get his prize, and I couldn’t let myself be taken. He would strip me of my one weapon, our one shot to end this.
The screeching above increased, and a quick glance over my shoulder
told me that the Compasses were not doing so great now. The third dragon had somehow repaired that original damage and was back up, tag-teaming with the dragon fighting Braxton and Maximus. Was Larky’s marked curse unnaturally keeping his brothers alive too?
“We have to do it now,” I said.
With a roar, my dragon pushed herself to the front of my being, desperately trying to force me to change. I knew now why she was so much stronger than a regular dragon spirit, so much more in control and independent from me. She was never supposed to be a mated soul. She was the queen of dragons and her soul was pure power.
But I loved her as much as my wolf, meant to be or not.
“I’m going to shift,” I said to the sorcerer, trusting my dragon’s instinct. “It doesn’t look as if the quads are going to be back anytime soon, and at least in dragon form I’m fast and strong. With your help I might be able to take the king without them.” The odds were slim, but I would always give it a fighting shot.
Louis nodded, and I immediately removed the necklace and handed it to him. “Keep this until I need it, I don’t want it broken in the fight.”
I didn’t give him time to answer, and I didn’t bother taking my clothes off. I gave free rein to my beast, immediately connecting to the shifter magic inside. The change was seamless and no longer caused me any sort of pain. As my senses heightened, and vision sharpened, I felt calm and in control. My claws sank into the ground, gaining traction, and my tail whipped around and knocked back many of the marked who had been getting a little close.
Hell to the yes. I was awesome – okay, my dragon was awesome, but I was coming a close second just by knowing her.
I bound across the space between Larky and I, covering the distance in seconds. My dragon wanted to connect with Braxton, but I wouldn’t let her distract him while he was in such a precarious position. It was up to us to finish Larky first.