Dragon Guardians: Complete Series

by Scarlett Grove

  He spent several hours hiding and biding his time until one of the vampires approached, looking for their leader. “I’ve been able to use Edgar’s magic to re-cast our wards. I’ve never seen magic so strong.”

  “He is an ancient who’s bitten a powerful Dragon Soul.”

  Hanish gritted his teeth, as angry as hell that they were talking about his mate like that.

  “Edgar,” Victor said. “It is so good to see you. We have anticipated your arrival with great urgency.”

  “They are on their way here,” Edgar said. “And I intend to claim her this time. Nothing will stand in my way.”

  “Why were you unable to claim her before?” Victor asked.

  “She was less than amiable about the idea,” Edgar admitted.

  “What do you think has changed now?”

  “I think she’s had time to consider it, time to grow into her role as my mate. And if she doesn’t, we will kill the dragonkin she loves. Or worst-case scenario, we drain her blood.”

  Edgar flicked his wrist, and Hanish’s shields dropped. He was completely exposed to everyone in the room. The vampires dropped their blood slaves on the ground, and they all stood, gasping and angry. Hanish shifted into his full-dragon form, ignoring the tight space that cramped his massive body. He let a deluge of lightning fly. It struck the furniture and draperies, and they burst into flames. He continued his assault on the compound, catching several of the slower vampires in his wake. They ran screaming from the room.

  Hanish charged at Edgar, but the vampire was too quick and evaporated in a puff of smoke. Victor flew away as quickly as Edgar had. Hanish was determined to destroy the man and bring peace to his mate, but the vampire was slippery, and Hanish did not have Aria’s song to make his attacks quicker. There was nothing he could do about that now. He had come there to destroy Edgar, and he would do it.

  But the vampires closed in. Their attacks were weak, but their numbers were overwhelming. He wouldn’t be able to keep back the tide for very long. They rushed at him all at once. He tried to defend against them, but there were just too many. While their teeth could barely scratch his scales, they could use ropes and chains to restrain him.

  He was trapped, unable to escape. The last thing that went through his mind before he was completely overpowered was that he had betrayed JoJo’s trust. He should not have gone off without telling her. No one knew where he was. He opened communication to the others through his mental link, but it was too late. There was something blocking communication between him and his crew.

  Chapter 21

  “Hurry,” JoJo said, clenching her fists as she watched Zephyr and Yuki work on the wards.

  “We’re moving as fast as we can,” Zephyr said. “Stay quiet.”

  JoJo began pacing back and forth as the sun began to rise. She could feel that something was wrong. Something was definitely off. She didn’t know what it was, but she had the deep sense that Hanish was in danger.

  “Aiden and Aria caught an early flight,” Yuki whispered. “Cato is picking them up at the airport now.”

  “They should come here immediately,” Akash said.

  “Cato should come too,” Yuki said. “He could help us with these wards. He’s had more time and experience with them.”

  “I’ve got it,” Zephyr said.

  “We should wait for the others,” Akash said.

  “Hanish is in trouble,” JoJo said. “I can feel it.”

  “They know we’re here,” the huge warrior, Ragnar, said. “There’s no point in waiting.”

  “Let’s go,” Raiden said. “JoJo, stay close to me.”

  They moved swiftly into the compound under their stealth shields. JoJo could feel Raiden’s hand on her arm as he guided her, following the others. Her heart slammed into her chest. She didn’t know if she would find Hanish or if they would make it out safely. All she knew was that she had to try.

  Raiden scooped her into his arms and flew to an upper balcony. He set her back on her feet a moment later. She tried to stay quiet but let out a little yelp of surprise. Someone shushed her, but she couldn’t tell where the voice came from. It didn’t sound like Raiden.

  They crept along the balcony and into the window of a room that looked like an office. No one was inside. They crossed the threshold and began walking toward the door. JoJo saw bloodstains on the floor. She gasped, and her knees went weak. Her life began to flash before her eyes. Her thoughts were of Tor and Hanish before she fell to the ground and blacked out.

  She came to a moment later. Her body was still invisible, but the sound of Zephyr’s voice was in her ear. “I’ve given you a medication to regain consciousness. It should also help you relax.”

  She didn’t know if it would be possible to relax at a time like this, but she felt a warm sense of calm wash through her.

  “Come with me,” Raiden whispered in her ear.

  She felt his hand on her arm as they crept toward the door. One of the invisible dragons opened the door an inch. She knew they could speak to each other inside their minds and use their minds like the Internet, sharing information, maps, and all sorts of things. She was completely blind to all of that and had no idea where they were, what they were saying to each other, or anything else.

  What she did know was that when she found Hanish, she was never going to let him go. Some jerk from college wasn’t going to destroy the life she could have with her mate.

  The door opened, and Raiden pulled her through. They abruptly stopped on the other side and pressed their backs flush against the wall. They were in a hallway with a balcony overlooking the landing below. She could see groups of vampires speaking with each other on the bottom floor. Some were escorting a group of humans down into the basement. They were wearing nothing but slips of clothing and underwear.

  Then she saw him—Edgar. She bit her lip, trying not to make any noise. But their eyes locked, and suddenly, all six dragons and JoJo were no longer hidden under stealth shields.

  Chaos erupted as the dragons attacked. Light streamed through the windows, weakening the vampires, but without Aria’s song, it was impossible for the dragons to make contact. JoJo lifted her arms and directed her palms at Edgar. Mustering every ounce of strength inside, she pushed her power out through her hands at the man who had taken so much from her—a man she’d wished to forget but who wouldn’t leave her alone.

  He blew backward, as did several other vampires. The Storms dropped onto him and tried to attack, but Edgar dissipated in a wisp of smoke only to reappear in front of JoJo. He reached out and grabbed her. “I’m so happy to see you, my dear.”

  “Let me go.” JoJo lifted her hand and shot her power out through her palm, forcing him away. She drew her laser gun and pushed power through her other palm. She shot at Edgar, but her aim was terrible.

  He disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared behind her. She whirled and thrust her blowback power at him, but her strength was waning. With each subsequent use, it diminished, until she restored it through rest.

  Edgar flew backward from her blow, and she shot her laser gun at him. A bullet grazed his leg. He screamed and disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

  “Your bullets are powerful but not powerful enough for me,” he mocked.

  She whirled, looking for the source of the voice, but she couldn’t find him.

  “You see, my dear, I am one of the oldest vampires awake on the planet. I have been sleeping since we last met, biding my time until I could come back and claim you. I had been awake for too long when I found you, but I have rested. This time, I will not let you go.”

  “Never!” she screamed. “I would rather die.”

  “You will die to have new life,” he said, grabbing her as he reappeared.

  “Raiden! Zephyr!” JoJo screamed, but it was too late.

  Edgar pulled her into a room and locked the door. His eyes were deadly, and his smile displayed the spark of evil deep inside of him. “You and I are meant to be, JoJo. You are the most
powerful Dragon Soul I have ever witnessed. You have not even begun to realize the truth of your power—the power you will never achieve if you don’t mate with me. Come, and I will give you everything.”

  “I don’t want what you have to offer. Where is Hanish? What have you done with him?”

  “I wished to dispose of the dragon, but he’s proven to be more difficult than we anticipated.”

  The wounds from Raiden’s knife and her gun were still open and oozing green liquid from Edgar’s limbs. Edgar wasn’t as invincible as he claimed to be. If one of them could get a direct hit at something vital, they could finish him. But she was trapped, and her strength was gone.

  She aimed her gun at his head and pulled the trigger. But he disappeared in a wisp of smoke then reappeared beside her, wrapping her in his arms.

  “Let’s not fight, JoJo,” he murmured in her ear. He licked the wound he’d created when he’d bitten her all those years ago. She shuddered in revulsion and cried out with every last ounce of the love in her soul, screaming for Hanish to come save her.

  Chapter 22

  Hanish found himself in a tiny, dark room, his arms chained above him to the wall. The last thing he remembered was being overwhelmed by vampires and shifting into half-dragon form. He blinked in the darkness and pulled at his wrists, testing the handcuffs. They were magically strong, and his strength alone would not release him.

  Taking several deep breaths, Hanish drew from his dragon core, accessing his lightning breath. He blew a bolt of lightning at the middle link in the chain securing the handcuffs. It snapped in two. He was free. With the handcuffs still on his wrists, he put his mouth to the locks and directed the slightest bolt of lightning at the weakest spot in the hinges. It fell open and clanked on the concrete floor.

  Rubbing his wrists, he began to devise a plan of escape. He hurried to the door, listening for movement on the other side. When he didn’t hear anyone beyond his prison cell, he knelt and shot the lock with his lightning. It broke, releasing the door. Smiling, Hanish opened it an inch and peeked through. The dimly lit, narrow hallway stood silent and empty.

  Hanish drew his laser sword. Stepping out into the hallway, he was confronted by two vampires in gaudy red sweat suits who looked like low-level minions. They charged at him, and he sliced them with his sword. Unable to penetrate the vampires, he shot the space around them with lightning. The walls caught fire, and the vampires began to scream and shout. Hanish didn’t wait around for more to join them. He hurried up the stairs, blasted the doorknob with lightning, and burst through.

  On the first floor, he found his crew battling vampires all around him. Naked human blood slaves screamed and ran about frantically, momentarily freed from mind control.

  Hanish rushed into the fray. “Where’s JoJo?” he demanded, reestablishing his mental link with his crew. Now that they were all close together, the vampires couldn’t block their connection with whatever magic they had been using before.

  “She was just here,” Zephyr said.

  “He’s taken her,” Hanish growled.

  “Did somebody say they needed a singer?” Dax asked in his half-shift form as he twirled through the room with his two-handed sword.

  Aria was right behind him, inside a protective bubble. Aiden flanked her. She immediately began to sing, her voice rising high and vibrating through the room. The sound waves were like a crash of energy inside Hanish’s body and bloodstream. His attack speed seemed accelerated by a hundred percent. The vampires were unable to escape as he sliced into their bodies. They fell before him in droves.

  “Where is JoJo?” he demanded.

  “Check upstairs,” Zephyr said, shooting the vampires with his laser gun.

  Hanish raced up the stairs, disposing of vampires left and right on his way. They fell before him with a shriek, terrified of the dragon’s new speed. Aria’s song made them fast, but their laser weapons were imbued with the blood antibodies of mated Dragon Souls. It all created a perfect storm of death for the vampires.

  On the second floor, Hanish kicked open every door, clearing each room of the vampires within. He found a few mid-coitus and cringed. He found others sucking the blood of their slaves in what looked like a massive blood orgy. The slaves who were freed from the bloodsuckers screamed and ran in terror, slipping out the door and down the stairs. With every room he cleared, a few more humans were freed. But they seemed equally horrified at the sight of the laser-sword-wielding monster who’d freed them.

  Hanish finally came to a door at the end of the hall. He kicked at it but found that it burned at the touch and wouldn’t budge. “I’ve reached a door with wards,” he said through the mental link. “I need someone to get up here and help break them.”

  “I’m on my way,” Cato said. A moment later, Cato was beside him, scanning the door with his wrist device. He bit his lip as he concentrated, sliding his finger over the holographic screen above his wrist. “I’ve almost got it.”

  “I know she’s on the other side of that door.”

  “I’m picking up the readings of two beings—one human and one vampire.”

  “Hurry.”

  “I got it,” Cato said. There was a wash of magic as the wards dissipated.

  Hanish kicked the door, and it flew open. On the other side, he found Edgar poised to bite JoJo. Hanish rushed inside, swinging his sword. The vampire disappeared in a puff of smoke and laughter. “I will not be as easy to dispose of as these pitiful children,” Edgar said.

  “I’m up for a challenge,” Hanish responded, rotating in a circle as he tucked JoJo behind him.

  “My power is weak. I need to recharge,” she whispered.

  “Don’t worry. I’m here to save you.”

  “That’s funny because we came to save you,” JoJo said, lifting her laser gun and pointing it at Edgar as he reappeared.

  “Let’s discuss this later.” Hanish lunged in a flash of lightning, his sword ready to strike. He thrust the sword at Edgar, slicing his belly before he could disappear into smoke.

  The vampire shrieked, disappearing and reappearing again. He grabbed JoJo, poising his teeth over her throat. He pulled her backward toward the door. “She’s mine.” Green blood oozed from Edgar’s multiple wounds, and his face was turning the same sickly shade.

  JoJo squealed, trying to break free. Cato raised his gun and aimed it at the vampire.

  “You don’t want to hit the Dragon Soul,” Edgar said.

  Hanish brandished his sword, gritting his teeth. He would not let Edgar harm his mate. This had to end.

  JoJo stamped her foot into the vampire’s toe and twirled around, lifting her palm. “No means no,” she growled as she let loose a massive burst of power that smashed Edgar against the wall.

  Without hesitation, Hanish was on top of him, slicing his sword across the vampire’s neck. Edgar let out a gurgling scream as his head was removed from his body and smacked against the hardwood floor, smearing blood and pus.

  JoJo ran to Hanish and threw herself into his arms. He held her close. Her tiny, curvaceous frame felt even tinier against his half-shifted form. “Are you okay?” he asked, stroking her back with his massive clawed hand.

  “Yes. Yes, I am.” She sighed and stepped back, taking in the site of Edgar’s dead body. “We defeated him!” Tears fell from her eyes.

  “Let’s go home,” he whispered into the top of her head.

  Hanish, Cato, and JoJo hurried down the stairs and met the other dragons, who were still battling it out with the coven in the main room.

  “It’s time to leave,” Dax said. “We’ve had enough fun for now.”

  “I’m not leaving this place standing this time,” Yuki said.

  “Let’s burn it to the ground,” Dax said, immediately shifting into his massive red fire dragon form. He began to blow flames across the walls, scorching the drapes and the red-velvet settees.

  “We’d better get out of here before we get burnt up ourselves,” Hanish said.

&nb
sp; They ran outside. The dragons and the two ladies watched as the whole building was engulfed in a raging inferno.

  “Come with me,” Hanish said, lifting JoJo into his arms in his half-shifted form. He jumped into the air, cradling her against his chest. Dax carried Aria as they all flew off together.

  He glanced over his shoulder and found the vampire compound burning to the ground. They had killed most of the vampires living there, and he hoped that for now the dragons and humans of the region would be free from the vampires’ reign of terror.

  Chapter 23

  The trip back to the Storm house was long and tiring, but JoJo was happy to spend the journey resting her head against Hanish’s neck. He held her softly in his arms, cradling her body against him the whole way. After many hours of flight, they settled down onto the back lawn of the compound.

  “It’s done,” Hanish said. “We’ve destroyed their elder and burned down their compound.”

  “If I know anything about these vampires, they will regroup in no time,” Cato said. “They are nothing if not persistent.”

  “They have nowhere else to go,” Aria said. “They may be parasites, but this world is their home. And this is a fact we must accept.”

  “They could stop feeding on humans at any time,” Hanish said.

  “True, but they refuse,” Cato said.

  Hanish looked at each of them. “We’ve bought ourselves some time, time for the House of Storms to get settled into our new lives.”

  “We will be returning to the House of Flames now that the threat has been extinguished,” Cato said.

  “We should gather together again soon for something more pleasant.” Hanish said.

  Hanish took JoJo’s hand and smiled down at her as the Flames flew away. She smiled back, knowing that their lives could now truly begin. They walked together, hand in hand, into the house. After thanking Krista for coming down so quickly, they said goodbye to her and her mates then put Tor down for a nap. Then Hanish and JoJo sat together in the kitchen, sharing a cup of hot chocolate.