Dragon: The Clan Legacy Series

by J. S. Striker

  *****

  Lucinda was a violent vampire at first, unable to control her thirst for blood and practically turning rogue as she roamed the city every night in search of fresh victims. Her first victims were her own attackers, just as they left a good night of drinking at a fancy restaurant and passed the alley behind it.

  Tommy, her old friend, pleaded for his life. But he was torn apart before he could utter the last words, the horrible screams dying in a gurgle of blood.

  Then the massacre began.

  She spared no one—not the women, not the innocents, not the children. The monster in her reveled in the kill, while the human in her was sickened and wanted to claw herself out of her own skin. The monster almost always won, and her spree continued until blood filled the streets.

  The vision of her murders was replayed over and over until Finn became numb. Until every victim became familiar, every detail no longer unknown.

  Then one night, the human side won. Lucinda searched for John, begging him to help her not kill anymore. He promised he would, if she promised not to lose control anymore.

  “Never again,” she vehemently told him, even as her hands trembled with thirst. With the lust to feed.

  Finn watched as months turned to years, years to more years. He watched as Lucinda took every inch of control she could, one step at a time until the mask was in place and nothing could break it.

  He watched as John became the leader of the vampire clan, Lucinda taking third-in-line through some sort of vampire battle and slowly becoming an effective leader in her own right. Her pleasant expression grew, charming everyone with her words—seducing everyone with her actions. She was the darling of the ton, the vampire who never lost her cool. No one had any idea of the girl from the streets. She was Lucinda, the woman of utmost elegance. Lucinda, the untouchable.

  Yet all Finn wanted to do was touch her as he remembered the girl that didn’t quite heal.

  *****

  When Finn opened his eyes again, he was back in the cell, almost as if no time was lost and nothing had happened. But every memory from the vision was seared in his mind, sealed there for a long time.

  Belvar stepped forward, away from Lucinda’s cell and closer to Finn’s.

  “I think she might need company, after all that screaming and stress. Let me do something about that.”

  The lesser demons came again, and the unresponsive Lucinda was taken from her cell and thrown into his, where he caught her before she fell to the ground. He snarled at the creatures, but they ignored him and quickly filed away along with their master. Nell was still silent on her end, and Finn felt Lucinda’s warmth gone now, her coldness seeping in his fingers as he held her.

  “You’re hungry,” he said quietly, as he felt her tremble once before she steeled herself.

  Hungry, and weak from the mind torture.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered.

  He kept silent, absorbing her still-present control as she avoided his eyes. Finn nodded his head once.

  Then he slashed at his wrist using his fingers, drawing blood.

  Her reaction was instantaneous—a widening of eyes before she tried to lurch away, as if burned. Her nostrils flared at the smell, and she fought to free herself. But Finn was stronger this time as he yanked her back firmly in place and positioned the wrist before her.

  “I don’t drink blood from skin anymore,” she said forcefully, almost primly, her fingers digging into his thighs and causing pain. He ignored it as he drew her head closer, mouth touching her hair.

  “I get it, but you have no choice.”

  “And why do you say that?” she asked.

  He breathed in, breathed out. He whispered near her ear. “Because we’re going to escape, and you need all your strength.”

  A charged silence filled the air as her fingers on his thigh tightened before turning slack.

  Then she slowly put her mouth on his wrist and drank.

  CHAPTER SIX

  They planned their escape with a quiet desperation that threatened to expose them, even while they kept it locked inside and tried to maintain all the calm they could. Belvar came to her daily, plunging her into his own version of nightmares as he repeatedly played the visions in her head and added his own little twists of torture, which she felt in her mind but didn’t mar her skin. Her skin, he said, was too beautiful to destroy.

  He was too nice to do so, he said.

  She became weak after every torture, and Finn waited for all the demons to leave before he secretly fed her his blood in slow and sure sips. Lucinda expected shifter blood to be dirty and cold, as they were all taught to believe and as she’d once tasted on a shifter wolf ages ago.

  But Finn’s blood was warm, and it was addictive. It ignited a thirst in her that she’d never had in a long time, urging her to put her teeth on his neck and taste the blood straight from his jugular. It made her want to put her mouth on his, to see if he tasted exactly as his blood did—warm, so beautifully warm.

  Those thoughts were rejected as soon as they came, as they had no place in her mind at the moment. At all. Instead, she focused on storing her energy, keeping it hidden somewhere inside so Belvar would only see the weak woman, the vampire whose strength was slowly leaving her.

  A few days later—they’d lost track of the days, to be quite honest—Belvar hadn’t returned, and their enhanced hearing managed to make out the hushed words of him being on a trip to another special victim.

  Mya, the lesser demons gurgled.

  Mya, the vampire betrayer.

  Whether she was the victim or the perpetrator was yet to be determined. Lucinda didn’t care.

  They escaped that night. They would have taken Nell with them, but somehow it was too late. She was no longer in her cell.

  She was gone.

  *****

  No demons actively sought them, though a few almost crossed paths with them. They weren’t exactly silent creatures, so it was easy to evade. The noise was enough for Lucinda to deduce that this was no trick and they kept their pace quick, as fast as their feet could carry them. Their path progressed from the dark cave areas to a series of hallways filled with mazes, where more demons resided.

  Apparently, not all demons liked the darkness. Most of them loved the light, and artificial lamps were set up in high ceilings, making it a tad more difficult for them to navigate the area.

  Apparently, not all demons agreed with each other, either.

  Lucinda and Finn witnessed more killings than most, as lesser demon attacked lesser demon and the others screeched in encouragement, often joining in the fight when they could. It wasn’t the kind of friendly fight that comrades had when bored or annoyed with each other, but the kind that ended in brutal death for those involved. The remains of the dead were then feasted on by the watchers until only dark blood was left on the ground.

  One time, even the blood was licked clean, as if it never even existed.

  Once they passed that area of the realm, the rest were somewhat easier. There was another set of mazes, twists and turns that they navigated via trial and error. There were more prison cells, with creatures of almost every kind inside—mostly dead and rotting. The sight of a sea nymph swimming in her own pool of white blood stopped Lucinda for a second, as she realized it was her first time seeing one. Then Finn was pulling her away, and she had no choice but to turn her back as their escape took first priority.

  More mazes, more prison cells. Then, a clear area where a few demons ran in tandem towards greenish lights, disappearing inside them and not coming back.

  Portals.

  There were guards, of course—still lesser demons. This led Lucinda to believe the greater demons resided somewhere else, and she was glad they hadn’t passed their area at all. With the lesser demons, they had a fighting chance.

  With the greater ones, they were as good as dead.

  They bided their time, aware of how long they were gone and hoping against hope Belvar and the others hadn�
�t caught on yet. More demons came and went, plunging inside the portals to destinations unknown—not one coming back, which meant the returning portals were somewhere else in the vicinity.

  A few seconds of leeway came when a dozen demons came in, followed by one behind. They waited for the horde to enter the portal, leaving the lone demon in the area as he waited for his comrades.

  As quick as lightning, Finn jumped him, ripping his head off before the demon could react.

  Then they were jumping into one of the portals and out of the horrific world.

  *****

  The landing on the other side wasn’t quite as bumpy as Lucinda expected as they landed on a pile of hay in the middle of a field she didn’t recognize. A quick look up showed her the familiar night sky, and she breathed an inward sigh of relief at the sight.

  A glance at Finn determined he was slightly bruised from the tumble, though no worse for wear than her. He met her eyes, and the pressure on her hand made her realize he’d been holding it while they jumped and fell.

  She snatched it back and cleared her throat, opening her mouth to say something.

  An annoyed voice interrupted her.

  “So, you’ve escaped.”

  Finn stood up faster than Lucinda and hunched down, poised to attack. They both looked at the blond man with red eyes standing in the middle of the field, just a few meters away and looking at them curiously.

  Not Belvar, but another greater demon.

  “Who the hell are you?” Finn demanded, his hands shifting and claws coming out.

  The demon held up his palms in a sign of peace. “Not the one you want to kill, I assure you.”

  “Then speak faster and tell, because maybe I will,” Finn growled.

  “I’m Belvar’s assistant, Mico,” the demon intoned calmly. “And he’s going to be so annoyed that you both escaped under my watch. He’s currently busy in China making some bargains, and it looks like he just lost this one.”

  The way the demon said it told them he didn’t really care, or pretended not to. Quietly, Lucinda held herself ready to fight as she stepped forward.

  “I want Nell,” she said softly.

  Mico tilted his head, as if thinking it over. Then he held up a hand again and snapped his fingers. Seconds later, a cloud of smoke appeared at her right and when it disappeared, Nell was there on the grass. Lucinda picked her up, feeling for a beat as she kept her eyes on Mico, who hadn’t once removed his gaze from her.

  A heartbeat, but faint.

  Nell wasn’t going to make it.

  Her tightly gripped control slid for a little bit as grief came. She locked her knees to keep them from trembling as Finn gently removed the dying human from her arms.

  Mico smiled.

  “You’re free to go,” he said. Then the smile became wider. “Just to let you know, though… your friend Raphael? The bargain was his. He never got to fulfill his end of the bargain to Belvar, and so it’s your head on the line.”

  Silence, as she absorbed this.

  “And one more thing: Belvar never really did get to promise that no demons would come after you once you were out of the demon realm, did he?”

  The force of the statement landed in Lucinda’s belly like a pile of rocks.

  Then green portals started popping up all around the field, and the lesser demons started to pour out in piles.

  It would have been a defeat right then and there if it wasn’t for Finn. In an instant, he shifted to his dragon form, all glistening red glory as he surrounded Lucinda in protection. She swung up and took Nell from his claws, keeping her in front as she gripped tight and hung on for the ride.

  Finn flew up and away.

  And again, the demons followed.

  *****

  Nell died exactly an hour later as they desperately tried to escape the demons and hide whenever they could. Lucinda felt the last beat of her heart before a soft sigh escaped her mouth, leaving her limp and lifeless as Finn continued his flight in search of refuge. He flew like a madman, and Lucinda could do nothing but hold on as he twisted and turned in the sky, taking them up and down to lose the creatures trying to kill them. Night eventually turned to dawn as the chase continued.

  The field was apparently just near the crash site where the demons first attacked, as they passed the area an hour ago. With this reference in mind, Finn flew even faster, ignoring the wind and the coming and going rain—flying and flying in a determined manner to a location Lucinda still wasn’t aware of.

  She started drifting off at one point, but managed to stay awake enough to hold on to Nell and see Finn finally dive down slowly until he reached an area of tiny buildings and bars. A street sign caught her line of vision, and she recognized it enough to realize exactly where they were. Ireland. The sky was clear of any demons now, but they didn’t take any risk, hiding in between buildings as much as they could with Nell in between them until they reached a pub named Cromwell, where he had a key. They entered without preamble and he locked the place back up, ushering her to the back until they reached an alley surrounded by walls on all corners.

  One more look at the sky, then Finn took her and Nell in his arms and asked her to close her eyes.

  Warmth surrounded her, and a blinding light. When she opened her eyes back, she was greeted with a beautiful sight of fields and mountains and cliffs, with the ocean crashing on one side and a gorgeous castle lying in wait on the other.

  Another time and she’d have taken the time to appreciate everything. But the grief was starting to catch up on her again, and all she could do was stare.

  Almost as if understanding, Finn’s hand gripped her upper arm and squeezed, and the silent support was enough to have her veneer almost cracking.

  “What’s the plan?” he asked, voice tired but gentle.

  To stop herself from breaking, she edged away from him as subtly as she could and tried to clear her thoughts.

  “Nell wanted to be a vampire when she died,” she said quietly. “My employees have their wishes written out, and I do my best to grant them.”

  Brody's wish had been the same, but it was too late for him. You couldn’t make a vampire out of a body more than a day dead.

  The grief amplified inside her, and she waited for Finn's anger. Waited for his judgment.

  None came. Instead, he nodded his head.

  “Come inside my home. We’ll keep her in the dungeons and start it now.”

  She stared at his back as he took Nell again and carried her.

  Then she slowly followed.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The moment they reached the castle and he settled the two inside, Finn locked everything up—the portals, his castle doors, any form of communication with the outside world. He took some time to send a short missive to Henrik before doing so, informing his dragon clan head that he and Lucinda were fine and needed to hide out until further notice. It was what Henrik would have done had he been in Finn's place and needed invisibility from the others for a while. After the lockdown was complete, he went back inside and guided Lucinda into the dungeons, located in the basement. It was basically a prison area with better amenities than most, and together they placed Nell inside one of the cells and put in a bed and some food beside it. Lucinda didn't waste any time in taking Nell's blood and giving hers, and Finn watched as she backed away and sat at the far corner of the dungeon to observe. The chair he provided her was wooden and old, but with the way she sat with her back ramrod straight and her head held high, she might as well have been a queen sitting on her throne.

  He watched as Nell slowly regained consciousness, eyes wary and sharp as she took in her surroundings. She was calm for the first few minutes, quiet as she took the time to stand up and put her hands on the iron bars, gripping them with her fingers as she stared at Lucinda.

  “Miss Lucinda?” Her voice was unnaturally high, her throat raspy.

  Lucinda nodded her head. “Hello, Nell.”

  And then the madness began.
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  Slowly, her bones began to creak—a sound that sent shivers down Finn's spine as he never took his gaze off her. Then the pleading started—pleading to be released, pleading for Lucinda to get her out of there as soon as possible. She was so hungry and tired, she said, like she was dying, and she just needed a tiny bit of blood from a human. Any human.

  When Lucinda didn't do anything—didn't even say anything—Nell began to grow angry. She shouted angry words, hurtful words, filling the air with curses over and over again. She began promising Lucinda that she was going to get out of there and get all the blood she needed, and Lucinda wasn't going to be able to stop her. The cursing died down as Nell finally began to cry, the sound so melancholy and sad as it echoed around the walls. Lucinda let her cry it out and waited until Nell lost consciousness and slumped on the floor before she turned to Finn.

  “When she wakes up, it's going to get worse,” she said matter-of-factly. “You may want to get something to eat and rest for a bit.”

  He knew it was going to get worse—had seen the same thing happen to Sophia a few years ago when the vampire side of her was activated, creating a wild creature unable to control herself anymore. Robbie had been with her the whole time, sleeping in the dungeons and barely eating, eyes on Sophia as she fought through the madness and reached for her human side. Finn and Charlie took turns assisting, talking to her and hoping somewhere in the chaos in her mind, she could hear them.

  Lucinda would be doing the same for Nell, but it was up to Nell to do the internal fighting.

  “You need to rest, too,” Finn reminded, taking note of the bags under her eyes, however faint.

  “I'll get my rest after all this,” Lucinda said stubbornly, turning her gaze back to the cell as Nell stirred awake again.

  Silence.

  Then Finn decided to be practical and left.

  “I'll be back.”

  No response came from Lucinda.

  *****

  He took a shower first—a hot shower that singed his skin but did wonders for the kinks in his muscles. Finn loved the water, loved swimming in the ocean below the cliff in his dragon form, loved delving down the lake in a nearby town while the sun shone high and the trees sung cheerily. He also loved to go to the forest and hunt, letting his predatory instincts go at it as he hunted for food and explored the rest of the time.