by Debra Kristi
Contents
Title Page
Suggested Reading Order
Welcome
In Chaos
1 Royals
2 Confrontation
3 Memories
4 Vexation
5 Carousel Riders
6 Eclipse
7 Revelation
8 Suitors
9 Miracle
10 Chilled
11 Distraction
12 Magical Favors
13 Bibelot
14 Findings
15 Family
16 Glass
17 Curious
18 Needs
19 Compass
20 Pendant’s Tug
21 Extraction
22 Found
23 Slip Away
24 All Fixed
25 Splinters
26 Dragon Lines
27 Death Reaped
28 Chasing Reapers
29 Zeke, Not Zeke
30 Revelations
31 Reaper’s Mark
32 Demons
33 In Sight
34 Swift Death
35 Dominance
36 Bleeding
37 Convergence
38 Rising
39 Rebound
40 Dragon Song
41 Ambassadors
42 Forever...Maybe
Before you go
Dark Perceptions
Acknowledgements
Glossary of Terms
About The Author
Copyright
Book 3 in the Age of the Hybrid series
A Mystic’s Carnival Story
Suggested Reading Order:
Dark Perceptions: A Mystic’s Carnival Novelette
The Moorigad Dragon: Age of the Hybrid Book One
Reap Not the Dragon: Age of the Hybrid Book Two
Plight of the Dragon: Age of the Hybrid Book Three
Moorigad (Complete Age of the Hybrid Series with extras)
Other Series by Debra Kristi:
Becoming: The Balance Bringer -
The Balance Bringer Chronicles Book One
To discover more about books by Debra Kristi, visit her book page where you can explore worlds and characters to your heart’s content: http://www.debrakristi.com/all-books/
………………………
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Mystic’s Carnival, you may have heard of it—the name has been whispered in quiet conversation, mentioned in folktale. Many believe it does not exist. Let me assure you, it’s as real as the air around you. If you are lucky or so in need, you may be among the few who come to know the wonder of this mysterious destination. It is not your average carnival, no, not at all. The show of twirling lights, motor rides, and funny sideshows never moves, never sleeps, and can never, ever be found unless so wished by the carnival herself. Is she a living, breathing entity? I’ll let you be the judge.
Follow now, if you will, into the story, and let our characters introduce you to the splendor of their world and the mystery that can only be found at Mystic’s Carnival.
Safe travels, weary reader~
“In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.”
—Carl Jung
1
ROYALS
Sebastian
Sebastian flailed on the damp ground, thrashing his arms into the mud, the flames licking at his skin. Excruciating, his mind screamed. In reality, it merely tickled, but his brain could not comprehend the meaning—not yet, anyway.
The luminescence and sparkle provided by the trailers, signs, and wizardry wonders found in Mystic’s Magical Market, his little home and pocket of fortunetellers and wannabes within the supernatural destination known as Mystic’s Carnival, was lost to him now. There was only the chaos, and fire.
Kyra batted and slapped and hit him with her hands. It didn’t hurt. Her touch comforted, reassured Sebastian he still mattered in her world. The image of her danced before him like a moth losing survival’s fight to the fire: exquisite flickers of orange and red, death courting life’s essence. His vision impaired, bleaching a rainbow of colors from his sight, he stared through a filter of senseless heat and anger. And everything around him, absolutely everything, smelled of burning and ash.
The word dragon slithered around the bends and folds of his grey matter. In the earlier struggle, he and Kyra had retrieved Kyra’s dragon half, Kalrapura. They’d saved her from Marcus. From being devoured or absorbed for his malicious scheme. But in returning her to Kyra, they had failed. How in Hell’s Gates had the dragon ended up inside Sebastian?
Kyra’s words crashed back into his thoughts. She’s in you. The dragon is inside you!
His skin charred from his fingertips toward the bend of his elbow. His back shook with spasms, then exploded in torment, slicing from his shoulders down the sides of his spine, ripping the fabric of his shirt. Massive wings, salmon-colored and torn, swung from behind him and around Kyra. They curled up then flapped out of sight, before reappearing at her side again. Sebastian tried to focus, not on the wings, but on Kyra. It was difficult. His mind swirled with emotion, and she remained unclear, washed in tones of crimson quivering with gold. What if scales started to replace his skin? Or the man he was ceased to be?
“Calm yourself.” Her steady gaze eased his physical madness, and her voice swam through his head straight to his heart, releasing the iron lock around his internal peace. She was the medicine he needed, and he would let her guide him. He knew nothing about the condition he now faced.
Pushing his arms to the side and abandoning the burn of his hands, Kyra straddled him and lowered her face close to his own. The distance between them was mere inches, and even after all they had been through, the scent of sunflowers still lingered on her skin. He remembered the sunflowers in Marcus’s apartment, the smell wafting around her at the coffee shop. She’d said she was cold, that the flowers gave her the illusion of warmth. Her physiology was probably built to balance the strength and heat a dragon radiated. Without the dragon’s fire, she was chilled. He, on the other hand, not meant to harbor such a beast, was burning to cinders.
Her palms cupped his cheeks, and they exchanged endless dialogue through their gaze, no word spoken aloud. Kyra’s stare bore straight to Sebastian’s soul. His breath froze, and his heart skittered…and he felt the dragon coil.
“Control can only be found in the calm of one’s own mind.” She touched her forehead to his. “Search and find yours.”
Her words washed over him like the healing waters of serenity. The warmth of her skin, the gentle caress of her hands along the curve of his jawline—instant tranquility.
The wild flapping of wings subsided. The throbbing in his back dulled. And the flickering heat of fire burning inside him abated. Sebastian was almost himself again…or at least looked the part. He no longer displayed any uniquely dragon features. He took a deep breath. So deep it reached into his gut, tried to claw at the core of his being. He wished he could will the dragon back to her. Will it through their touch. But nothing was ever that simple.
In the span of a few days, his life had been shredded and taped back together in a special kind of horror.
They might have saved Kyra’s dragon, but they hadn’t stopped the ceremony. Marcus now had the strength and power of multiple dragons running through his veins, had a small army at his beck and call, and wanted Sebastian dead. On top of that, some kind of rebel military force had targeted Sebastian as enemy number one for the deaths of two fallen comrades, two deaths Sebastian had not caused. He had his father Mortifier to thank for that one. Then there
was an insane Mara after him for her personal breeding stock. If that weren’t just ghastly gross. Not gonna happen.
But now…now he had a dragon trapped inside of him. An all-powerful, beastly, hybrid dragon, inside of him, a Reaper! What did that make him? A reaping dragon?
Sebastian sighed and closed his eyes. At least Kyra had returned to him.
He opened his eyes and gazed up at her. He could see forever and back. She was his now, his tomorrow, his for all days until the end. The end of time, or the end of him. Kyra was, and would always be, his everything.
Two arms hooked under Kyra’s armpits, lifted her up and away. And just like that, she was gone.
“Kyra?” Sebastian croaked and started to sit.
Two men grabbed him, hauled him to his feet. Both men were slender and tall, a deceiving build for the strength they displayed. Maybe they were a new show here at the carnival, one Sebastian had not yet seen. After all, they were dressed in vibrant orange and red. Sebastian glanced down at his all-black attire, the shirt smattered, torn, and singed.
Before them, a third man held Kyra by the arm. She wrestled, but in a manner meant to show her discontent, nothing more. A vexed scowl carved firmly into the lines of her face, and her gaze cut from Sebastian to her far left, where a woman approached. A stride behind the woman walked another man, as if subordinate. A grand total of four men, all in matching neon pajamas—what was the occasion?
Kyra’s shoulders dropped. No. Her body language couldn’t be a sign of concession. Sebastian shoved free of his watchful hold and surveyed the situation. Kyra appeared to know one or more of the people present, so…probably not a new carnival act. Whoever the woman was, still walking their way, she had quite the entourage. And she presented Sebastian with a distinctly unique welcome-home party. A lump logged in his throat. He’d spent far too much time away from Mystic’s Carnival, mostly because of his ludicrous Reaper training. Something he suspected his father had manufactured for his own selfish reasons.
The woman drifted toward them with the grace of a soaring eagle—magnificent, beautiful, lethal. She was a perfect china doll brought to life, if that china doll came from a secret assassin’s line, with her nose tilted to the sky and her fragile frame wrapped in rich garments of intricate designs. Whether she was important or only thought she was, she clearly believed herself to be above everything and everyone in her perimeter.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. I’ve dealt with her kind before. As has every irritating Grim Reaper. In death, we are all equal.
She stopped a few feet in front of them, her lips pursed, one brow arched. Striking, she reminded Sebastian of…of…
“Kyra.” The name wisped from his lips like the morning fog through the trees. His gaze shot to Kyra, and he took a step in her direction. Hands clamped onto his arms once again, stopping him in his tracks.
Kyra didn’t spare him a glance. Her eyes were mere slits and focused on the woman. She showed no fear. No confusion. Only anger stirred in the one he loved.
He studied the woman and understood. Same bone structure as Kyra, only her skin and hair were darker. He stood in the presence of Queen Shui, leader of the Water Dragon Clan. Kyra’s mother. Not only that, she had brought her men-servant dragons with her. He was surrounded by dragon shifters.
“Well, shit,” he mumbled.
“Careful with Kyra, Ryhuu. She is not her full self at the moment,” Queen Shui spoke to the man with a firm hold on Kyra’s arm. He nodded, a silent and respectful bow. She then turned her weary attention to Sebastian. “You think,” she began, slow and metered, pretending to fiddle with the way her sleeve hung, “you are worthy of my daughter?” She tilted her head and delivered an intense stare Sebastian had no doubt was meant to intimidate.
Sincerity and devotion tore through Sebastian’s spine, straightening his back and squaring his shoulders. He fought against the ache of the dragon at battle within him, shoved the men at his side away, and locked his gaze on Queen Shui. “Your interpretation of the situation is a bit off. I’m not at Kyra’s side because I feel worthy of her. On the contrary, I may spend the rest of my life trying to be—”
“Stop it!” Kyra jerked toward her mother. “I’m sick of your judgmental opinions and overbearing conditions. Why must you always push people around like pieces on a game board to be controlled?” Kyra yanked her arm free from Ryhuu’s hold and tossed him a don’t-even-try glare when his hand reached for her again. He pulled back, clasped his hands before him, and put his head down. Kyra approached her mom.
“You have feelings for this…” Queen Shui glanced from Kyra to Sebastian, her gaze appraising him from head to toe, her hand fluttering in his direction. “Thing.”
Kyra’s chin dropped and her nose wrinkled. “He is not a thing. He is my friend, and just as important as you or me.” She pointed at her mother and then pounded her chest with a clenched fist.
“May I—” Sebastian started.
But Shui’s hand shot up, stopping him mid-sentence, her attention never veering from Kyra. “It is because of your misguided emotions that this one is not already dead.” She closed the distance between herself and her daughter, and caressed Kyra’s cheek. “You need time to come to your senses. You’ve not been well.”
Kyra shoved her away. “There you go again. Deciding what I need, when I am quite capable of making those decisions for myself.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I agree, things have been a little messed up lately—”
“Understatement.”
Kyra ignored her mother’s interruption. “—but I’m starting to see through the haze. It may take some time to get all my memories back, but I feel things I know to be true. I feel them deep in my core.” Kyra pressed at her belly. “I know Sebastian is my friend. And…” Her gaze flittered to Sebastian. “I think I love him.”
Sebastian sucked in his breath. He’d waited so long to hear her profess her emotions, and now she’d done it here, in front of a bunch of stiff and irritating dragons. “Kyra?”
“Don’t be silly, child.” Queen Shui stepped between them, blocking his view of Kyra. “You are too strong and too important to lower yourself to a lesser being.” The queen sniffed the air. “Once you are returned to your true self, you will understand.” She turned to the men flanked at Sebastian’s sides. “He shall be taken to the forked cells within the caverns of the Devil’s Eye.” Her hand waved dismissively. Iron-tight grips locked upon Sebastian and began to drag him away.
“No!” Sebastian yelled and dug his heels into the ground, wrenched his arms at his sides. His captors did not let go. They slowly dragged him backwards, away from Kyra and her mother.
Kyra’s hand latched onto her mother’s sleeve, her gaze steady on Sebastian. “You can’t do this, Mother. He can’t breathe beneath the water. Not like you and the others.”
Fire exploded across Sebastian’s skin. The dragon within him no longer slumbering, flames covered his arms, shoulders, and chest. The men holding him jumped back and stumbled to a safe distance. Sebastian lifted his palms to the side of his head and roared to the heavens. “Make this stop!”
“Interesting,” Queen Shui said, taking a step closer. She studied Sebastian more intently than she had before. “You smell of so many things, demon. You hid the dragon well within you.”
“Calm yourself, Sebastian,” Kyra yelled, then moved to her mother’s side and grabbed her by the shoulders. “You see? You can’t harm him. He has my dragon-side inside him. He has fire…and he has water.” Kyra’s face lit up as if she knew she’d backed her mother into an impossible situation. A stalemate. The queen would have to back down or lose her daughter’s chance at becoming a true Water Dragon. “We need to keep him safe.”
Sebastian crossed his arms and batted at the fire. He barely noticed Queen Shui turning to face Kyra, leaving a mere sliver of her profile in his view. Be it his efforts or his state of mind, the fire consuming his limbs subsided. He took a deep, labored breath and crouched to the ground in an atte
mpt to steady his mind. When he raised his head, he peered directly at Shui and Kyra.
The queen’s dark hair curled and twisted in an intricate exchange similar to a basket weave, although he could easily envision slithering serpents. Nevertheless, no strand was out of place. He suspected much of her life was the same—neat and orderly. But not her daughter. Kyra was the queen’s draw of the Fool from the tarot deck, infinite possibilities lay out before her in the form of one unpredictable daughter. And with Kyra’s fiery personality, events were bound to upset Shui’s perfect order. Sebastian’s lips curved into a delicious smirk. The kind of smirk a guy gets when he’s about to knowingly and freely sign up for a no-good deed.
“No harm will come to your dragon, Kyra,” Queen Shui said. “Whatever it takes, we will discover how to extract your other half from that beast.” Her body nudged ever so slightly in Sebastian’s direction.
Laughter burst from his lungs. Of course she would see him that way. Beneath her daughter, and beneath all other dragons.
She turned to face him, her eyes glinting a ferocious gold. He stood and met her stare. “You find humor in this situation, do you?” she said. “I trust all humor will snake away should you discover the dragon you harbor will devour you from within.”
Sebastian grinned. He wasn’t afraid. Death was in ally. They played for the same team—sort of. A fact Queen Shui had no knowledge of.
Kyra stood behind her mother, lines of utter horror and panic settling into her features. Sebastian didn’t feel the fear or the panic. He was thrown back to the question he’d had when he’d been captured, beaten, and tortured at the hands of the behemoth working for Marcus. Was death even a possibility for him, for his species? He didn’t want to find the answer by way of trial. He scrutinized Queen Shui, wondered if this was her best poker face.
The ground rumbled, and the surrounding trailers shook, crackled, and moaned. Black shadows eclipsed the lights of the spinning and twirling carnival rides around them, and the sky broke into a frightful thunder. The heavens darkened, but the moon was still visible. Something colossal filled the space above. Dark, crimson wings soared in, then swooped down, collapsing into a man on the ground. Another dragon shifter, but clearly not from the Water Clan. The new man stood tall, muscular, and completely naked. Sebastian averted his eyes.