by Jill Haven
“What was that?” Seth yelled, turning a circle in place to stare at the walls, but unless he had X-ray vision, he probably wasn’t seeing any more than I was at the moment.
There was a loud thud overhead and it sounded like something—or maybe several someones—got lifted and smashed to the floor up there. Dust rained down on us. There was yelling and thuds from nearby that sounded like feet on stairs. The door to our room burst open and four men I’d never seen before rushed in. Seth put up his fists, but the business end of a shotgun was shoved into his face. Eric had had to shoot a rabid dog once that was running around in the parking lot at Go Wild, and I’d seen that. I didn’t want to get hit with a bullet.
“I know what Vladimir says, but I’ll fucking drop you if you don’t move right now.”
Sweat trickled down my back as another man his pointed own gun in my direction. All I could focus on was the noise upstairs and the wavering silver barrel.
“Fuckin’ wimpy goddamned dragons resorting to guns,” Seth snarked. The man holding the shotgun dropped the barrel toward the floor and stepped in with a hard fist. He landed a punch to Seth’s cheek. Seth stumbled back and I got up to help steady him. He held a hand to his face. “Ow, yeah, okay, we’re movin’, champ. Hell.”
Seth and I were herded outside together. One of the guys behind me shoved me, and I stumbled, landing on my knees hard. I was yanked up to standing, a rough hand on the back of my shirt.
“Ouch, that hurt.” I shrugged out of the dragon’s hold.
“Move,” he barked.
The night air was refreshing after being stuck in that gross-smelling room, but cold since I was a mess of sweat and jittering muscles. There was yelling and shots firing on the other side of the house. Seth caught my eye right about the time I realized that they were pushing us toward a van. This one wasn’t like the one that had brought me there, just a regular old van like anyone with a larger family might have.
Shots were fired nearby in some trees and I could see flashes in the dark to go with the reports. I ducked. There was a roar and what sounded like something big smashing through a window around the end of the house, closer to us than anything else like that I’d heard so far. The air was split by a painful roar that seemed to vibrate right into my soul and shake around my bones.
“These are our Divine Omegas. We captured them. We own them. They’re ours to keep and breed.” I recognized Vlad’s voice as he bellowed at someone. My stomach twisted.
“What an asshole,” Seth said none too quietly, apparently not caring about our jailers. Someone shoved me from behind to move me faster and I stumbled. There were more shots fired nearby.
This was it. The dragons who were in charge of us were looking around and seemed scared. They flinched and spun toward the direction I thought maybe that roar might have come from. The side door of the van was open waiting for us, and in the dim overhead light I could see the keys hanging in the ignition, swaying, almost like they were encouraging me to get to them. No one was in the van yet. I grabbed Seth’s hand, hoping he really was a good guy. He smiled and squeezed back. I threw myself toward the open van door, tugging him with me.
“Get in,” I hissed.
The men guarding us at first didn’t seem to realize anything was wrong, we were moving the direction they wanted us to go after all, but Seth caught on fast. He crawled through to the front seat and locked the doors while I slid the van door closed. He had the engine started and his bare foot flooring the gas pedal before I could even think.
“Oh my god, those dicks were so fuckin’ dumb. I can’t handle it.” He laughed and steered us toward someone who jumped out of our way.
“Smart enough to catch us to begin with,” I grumbled. “Stop that,” I said when he jerked the steering wheel to drive around a tree after someone else. “Find the driveway before we get stuck and we’re screwed.”
He laughed. “I think it’s probably over here. They sure weren’t smart enough keep us. You always this fun?”
“Nah. I just have a reason to make sure I don’t die,” I said. He nodded but didn’t take his eyes off the destruction in front of us. Part of the front of the house looked like something large had taken a fucking bite out of it. Wood was everywhere. Seth drove us from the grass onto a car-lined driveway and was finally able to go faster. I was just starting to maybe think about relaxing when he gasped and slammed on the brakes. I got knocked against the back of the front seat.
An enormous, beautiful black dragon blocked the road. The headlights illuminated golden eyes and exquisite ruby-tipped scales, and the sharpest, whitest, prettiest teeth I’d ever seen in my life. My heart leapt with joy.
“Carlisle!”
25
Carlisle
Three Hours Earlier
“Vince, I can’t thank you enough.” The sun was sinking and with every passing moment my worry slipped tighter around my neck, strangling me, a noose. I needed to find Haiden now, and the pleasantries with the dragons I needed to help me find him were killing me as surely as a claw to the heart would do it.
“Eh, it’s been an age since we Redcaps did anything this interesting. We’re protectors without a castle, ya know?” Vince, a tall, tan dragon with a mischievous grin and a mop of curly brown hair, fairly beamed at me. He was dressed to be in the woods in flannel, jeans, and heavy boots, but rather than carrying a conventional weapon, he had an axe strapped to his back about the size of a small shield. I wasn’t sure I could remember ever seeing one wielded in combat, certainly not in the last two centuries, but the blade gleamed with deadly intent every time he shifted around to survey the forest, as if he might find evildoers lurking nearby.
“I can’t thank you enough. I consider this a personal favor.”
Vince waved his hand. “You’ve said. We would have gone on the hunt for anyone stuck in this situation. What you’re sayin’ happened was an outrage.”
Vince had brought all of the members of his clan out of the woodwork to help and together they were scouring every inch of the woods and town. I’d warned them not to shift in front of the humans, but everyone local would realize something odd was happening. There were too many strangers around. It couldn’t be helped. Calls echoed back and forth through the woods, some dragon bellows, some human. There were a fair few women among the men, and I thought maybe there were sixty of us in total working our way east. I’d made the call to Vince myself earlier, and as soon as I mentioned the word ‘baby’, there was no question that I’d get the help I was looking for. All the clans knew how precious a child would be.
My heart swelled. “I wish it wasn’t taking so long to find Haiden. I’m beginning to worry they took him out of the area.”
Vince grunted and nodded. “Aye, I bet you do. I’d be losin’ my mind by now.”
“Thanks.” I couldn’t stow my sarcasm.
He laughed, not mean, more encouraging than anything else. We continued walking and talking, mostly about nothing important, until I got a text from Bishop that was simply an address. It seemed to go out to everyone simultaneously because Vince picked up his phone at the same time and another dragon in the distance did the same. The address was followed by: Meet in one hour.
A victory whoop went up from the dragons in the woods, an echo of exhilaration and joy, and we startled a hawk nearby into swooping up above the canopy. The van that had taken Haiden had been discovered on what was supposed to be an abandoned homestead, along with a group of about fifteen dragons. It didn’t even take us half an hour for everyone to get to their vehicles and converge near a barn on a property at the end of the road leading to the place where, if I was lucky, I would find Haiden.
“Who are they? Who is holding him?” I demanded as I forced myself to stand firm instead of pace along the line of the barn. The sky was growing dark and the trees loomed in shadows nearby. A slight chill had settled into the air. I both loved and detested the forest around here. The trees were beautiful and called to my dragon, but they also
made it easier to be snuck up on.
“We’re not sure.” Bishop stuck out even surrounded by the Redcap Clan. With his wide girth and the wicked scar on his face, he was a sight to behold decked out with guns and a black leather coat. The other dragons gave him a healthy amount of room, and even Vince stepped out of his way when Bishop walked into the circle where we were making decisions. “But we should strike. They appear disorganized. I think if we wait much longer, they’re likely to realize we’re here. Something will give us away.”
“What do you propose?” I asked Bishop and Vince. They smirked at each other.
“Attack. Chances are they’ve got no plans to hurt your mate. He’s only useful for them whole and well,” Vince said. “I’ll be the vanguard with my men.”
And so a few Redcaps transformed into their dragons, excitedly stamping their feet and quelling the urge to shoot fire and call to one another—I could tell by the way they longingly flapped their wings that they wanted to do all the things that were enjoyable as a dragon rather than follow the plan—and the rest of us sneaked through the woods without much more planning than that. Everyone was hungry for action, and I was finally beginning to realize that perhaps the issue with the dragon clans was that we simply weren’t made for this modern life. We needed excitement. I stowed that thought, though, when the house where Haiden was being held came into sight. It was large and old, and there were lights on in the windows. I caught sight of someone walking in front of one. Full dark fell while I waited for Vince and his men to get into position.
Then it began. One roar was the cue. It shook the air. My skin tingled with the itch to transform when the first dragon call hit the air and the sound of gunshots and metal clashing had my heart in my throat. I crept out of the woods and into the yard in time to see Mason and Bishop charging into the growing fray together. Bishop slammed his entire body into someone, bouncing him off the house like a rag doll.
“Ouch, that hurt!” Haiden’s tone was unmistakable. He was upset and scared. There was a lot of chaos to play hell with my judgment, but it seemed like his voice had come from the other side of the house. I began to move through the fighting going on, slamming my elbow or fist into the backs of dragons who clearly weren’t skilled fighters. Normally I believed in fair fighting, but not today. Thankfully it seemed like Vince and his men were quickly getting the upper hand.
“Where is Carlisle? I know he must be out here.” Someone in a suit emerged from the front door of the old house surrounded by what were obviously guards. What a coward. The fighting didn’t slow at all, which I was grateful for. Vince and his men were intent on taking the house, it seemed, and most of them were laughing and having a good time while they did.
“Who the fuck wants to know?” I yelled over.
The man stilled and seemed to narrow in on where I was. He casually walked through the fighting, dancing out of the way and not bothering to help his own men. My blood boiled. He was thin and tall and had dark hair. He reminded me a bit of Haiden and my gut sank.
“Vladimir Reagan,” he said in a normal tone when he was only a few feet away from me. “I’m the current clan leader of the Cloud dragons, and I demand you speak with me.”
“You stole from me. You’ve lost your rights.” I shifted enough to roar at him, my eyesight going keener at the same time, and the sound that came from the tips of my toes felt wonderful. I wanted to rip his head off.
“No, you’ve stolen from me. Haiden is a Cloud dragon by birth. He’s mine, or should have been. I can smell the pregnancy—and I’ll send your brat back to you once he’s born. I’ll mate Haiden after. We’re both powerful dragons, we both deserve our bloodline to continue. I’d say that’s more than fair. Call off this madness.” The asshole had the audacity to straighten the lapels on his suit and smile in my direction. “Come now. That’s more than a reasonable offer.”
I shifted fully as I ran toward him, my clothes shredding and falling away. Vladimir’s eyes widened and he began the shift as well, but I was on him, slashing with my talons while his bones were still cracking and rearranging. He grew into an ugly dragon with flat gray scales and green eyes. I slashed at his neck with my teeth and I slammed him with the spikes on my tail. We knocked into the house and the porch collapsed around us. Unshifted dragons from both sides shouted and darted out of our path. It didn’t take long for Vladimir to try to flee, scrabbling at the earth with his talons to dig and heft out from under me, to get to the woods for cover, but I latched onto his neck, clenching my jaws until my teeth punctured through his scales and hit meat. Blood, satisfying and rich, spurted into my mouth. He roared and began to shift back in size to his much more vulnerable man shape.
Vladimir had his hands held out in front of him and his neck turned to the side in surrender when he collapsed on the ground in front of me, naked and defeated. His chest rose and fell so fast that I expected his heart to erupt and do a dance. I whuffed a growl in his direction and he cowered. The wounds he had sustained seemed like they might be his last. He clasped his hand to his neck, closed his eyes, and trembled. When I looked around, his men were either subdued or fleeing, and Vince’s clan was giving pursuit. A few Redcaps were already standing around laughing, obviously recounting their wins.
But a van was bouncing through the grass nearby and in my heart I knew Haiden was in there. My chest ached and felt empty the way it did when he was going farther away from me, and the pain seemed to expand to fill my entire body as the van drove onto the driveway to start out along it toward the road. Haiden must be in there. I flapped my wings hard and lifted from the ground to fly around and block the road, cutting off the vehicle’s retreat.
The side door of the van smacked open and my heart leaped as Haiden jumped out. His glasses were askew, and his hair was a mess, but I’d never seen him looking more beautiful. He ran toward me full tilt, and I could hardly believe he was looking at me, in this form, the way he was, with obvious excitement and love.
“Carlisle, I wasn’t sure you’d find me, I mean I hoped, I did, but I wasn’t, oh, heck, I’m so—” Whatever Haiden was attempting to say was lost in the moment as he smacked against my side and did his best to hug me. I needed my arms for this, and I needed to be small enough to press every part of me against him. I began to transform, and he gasped, stepping back to cover his face, shivering hard. I groaned when I was a man again, and he peeked at me, and then he was in my arms.
I pressed my naked body against him, reveled in his heat and firm muscles. He stroked his hands down my sides, over my back, and finally ended up clinging to my shoulders. “I was so worried. Jade told me about the baby,” I said as soon as my mouth was capable.
He nodded and heaved a deep breath. “Me too. I was worried too.”
Shots rang out in the woods nearby and Haiden flinched, but the firing was getting fewer and farther between, almost like a pot of popcorn slowly losing its speed. Vince’s men were obviously nearly finished rounding up the Cloud dragons. I’d have to recon with destroying my future mate’s clan at some point, but for tonight I wanted as many of them driven off as possible. I clasped the back of Haiden’s head and kissed him, long and deep. His mouth was soft and fiery, and I never wanted to stop. Excitement overwhelmed my decency and I pressed myself against him. He moaned and rubbed his body against mine. His clothes were scratchy and rough, and I wanted to get to his soft skin.
“Guess that’s the good guy, huh?” a man asked nearby.
Haiden shivered against me and when he pulled back, he was smiling. I was surprised to hear him chuckle as he glanced over his shoulder at someone who was standing there. The man was slim, like Haiden, but he was barely dressed. Haiden’s excitement was thick on the air, but I also caught the newcomer’s scent and he smelled… very sweet. Like baby powder, but there was also that earthy human tang mixed in. My rage returned, and I glanced back toward the house. I’d have to make sure Vladimir was dead before we left. Stunned, I glanced back at the other Divine Omega. Where h
ad he been stolen from?
26
Haiden
Carlisle hooked an arm around me and used his body as a shield between me and the rest of the world. He was naked, so that didn’t exactly seem smart, but then, he could become a dragon, so maybe it was. My head was in a whirl, I’d hoped that Carlisle would find me. Somewhere deep down, I’d been preparing for the worst. He urged me back along the driveway toward the house and Seth walked along with us.
“Bishop,” Carlisle called. The big man scared me a little when he emerged from the shadows near the house, and Seth crowded closer to us as well. “I’m leaving you in charge of making this mess disappear. Leave nothing.”
“Salted earth?”
“A little less nothing than that. People will notice a crater, even out here in the boondocks,” I said, and Carlisle hugged me and repeated what I’d said in a much louder voice to Bishop, who actually laughed for once. Bishop was covered head to toe in blood, and I shivered at the sight. It was dead clear we were out here with dragons because no one cared that Carlisle’s not exactly small dick was hanging out. My face burned with embarrassed heat, and he caught my eye and grinned. Someone pulled Carlisle’s car to a stop near us. Mason got out, and I wasn’t really surprised. He opened the back door and Carlisle swung around and urged me inside. Mason tossed a pair of sweatpants at his head and he caught them. As happy as I was to see everyone, I was grateful to be sitting, too, because my stomach began to churn again like it had earlier.
“Ugh.” I held my tummy. “If this is pregnant, I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be fun.”
“You probably need to eat,” Carlisle said quietly as he stepped into the pants. I was almost disappointed when the waistband snapped home underneath his navel. “Dragons grow their eggs, and likely their babies, a… uh… tad faster than humans. It takes a great amount of effort on the part of the omega or mother.” He smiled, and I could tell he was holding something back, but I didn’t have the energy to push right now.