Depth (Apalala Clan Book 2)

by Dzintra Sullivan

  Dzintra Sullivan

  Depth

  Apalala Clan Novel Book Two

  Dzintra Sullivan

  Copyright 2018 Dzintra Sullivan

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, real people, and real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the Author’s imagination and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, organizations or places are entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. This book is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the express written permission of the Author. All songs, song titles and lyrics contained in this book are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders.

  ISBN-10: 0994297963

  ISBN-13: 978-0994297969

  Editing by Swish Design & Editing

  Formatting by Swish Design & Editing

  Cover design by Soxsational Cover Art

  Cover Image Copyright 2018

  Acacia, you came into this world full of big dreams.

  My wish for you is to have all you ever wanted.

  Don’t ever lose your sparkle.

  Love you, Baby Girl.

  Writing a book while it seems is a solo act, it is, however, much, much more. Without the dedication and love of my family none of this would be possible. To my husband, Richard, and my children, Indica, Acacia, Azmarah and Eli. I offer you my deepest thanks and hope with every fiber that I am, that I make you proud. #FamilyLove

  I want to thank my amazing PA Tracy Ehlers, and my betas, Clayr, Julieann, Sue, Emily and Paula for their constant support, hard work and belief in my words. You ladies keep me going even when I’ve completely given up on myself. Thank you doesn’t seem enough, but know it is from my heart. #MuchLove

  I want to thank the talented Tracey ‘Soxie’ Weston for creating another stunning cover and for putting up with my weirdness. #DesignerLove

  I want to thank Mama Kay (Kaylene Osborn) without her talent, patience, and understanding my words would be nothing but a jumbled group of letters. Thank you for making my words sing. #EditorLove

  Thank you to my Sirens. A street team that’s far more than names on a screen. You are my book family, and I wouldn’t be here without each and every one of you. #StreetTeamLove

  My deepest love and thanks goes to you, the reader. If it wasn’t for you wanting to read my crazy stories, I wouldn’t be here. It’s the readers that make an author, and I hope I bring you nothing but pride. #ReaderLove

  When true love is at stake, what depth is too deep?

  After the complete destruction of the clan’s dome, the five dragon warrior brothers were forced to find a new and safe location to form a fresh start. For Attor—second oldest son of the Dragon King and his brothers—the year had been long and hard, but the clan was now settled.

  Taryn Miles needs a quick escape from her past, and when the CEO of Tokyo Disneyland loves her unique pin-up look, he offers her exactly that. Taryn’s excited to start afresh in a new country, new job, and a new life.

  With the body of Mr. Quade still missing, Attor struggles to fight his unease. He knows while a dragon still breathes, the Phoenix will never stop seeking vengeance.

  A chance meeting with the flame-haired pin-up girl and Attor is torn between the need to protect the clan, and his desire to follow his heart.

  Catching this free-spirited chick with a deep desire to fly high and be free would be impossible—for anyone without wings that is.

  Can this crazy connection float?

  Or is it destined to sink under the weight of true love?

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Blurb

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Connect With Me Online

  About the Author – Dzintra Sullivan

  “Brother, I’ve seen half sucked prunes that look happier than you,” Volos said as he walked alongside his younger sibling. “The clan is settled, now is the time to move forward.”

  Without looking up, he grunted a sound of acknowledgment and continued pulling the white strapping tape tight over his knuckles. The sound of crunching gravel under his heavy boots made his frown deepen with discontent. The clan’s dome had been destroyed by the phoenix, obliterated from the ocean’s belly. A handful of dragons had lost their lives, and his brother wanted them to ‘move forward.’

  Easier said than done, thought Attor.

  Volos reached his thick arm out, stopping Attor in his path. “I’m serious, Attor,” Volos said with a dropped tone. “The clan looks to us for reassurance. They need their warriors to confirm their safety.”

  Attor lifted his head to meet the eyes of his brother. “Safety?” Attor repeated the word, the taste was acidic and unpleasant on his palate. “I can’t offer what there’s nothing of,” he said as he ducked under the arm that was pressing against his chest. Attor followed the natural curve of the path and entered one of the many chambers left by lava flows of a million years ago. The clan had set up a new home—with the help of some friends of the wiccan variety—in a small corner of a large inactive volcano. The sleeping giant was sitting off the east coast of Japan and hadn’t erupted in over a hundred million years, so it was considered extinct by many. However, the lava still flowed deep in its sleeping center, providing the perfect amount of warmth for the clan to set up a new nest-like home in a series of blocked off lava-made mazes. With a combination of the lava’s warmth and the wiccan’s spells, they had created an air filtration system, and things were back on track for the clan. Families had built homes into the sides of rock walls, crops were beginning to seed under a created weather system, and the central marketplace was back as the bustling hub of activity every Friday night.

  Volos stepped into the room, dumping his gym bag on the bench seats as he looked up. This was the room the brothers visited most, second only to the kitchen. A small boxing ring was in the far-right corner, and to its left sat a variety of weightlifting equipment. There was a boxing bag hanging from the roof and a couple of workout bikes near the front. It was smaller than they had in the Oasis, but it served its purpose.

  “Safety is a matter of mindset, brother,” Volos said as he placed a towel down on the bench
press.

  “You and I both know that’s bullshit, V.” Attor didn’t even look up as he stretched and clenched his hands, making sure the strapping he’d applied would hold up to his intended work out. Attor stood in front of the bag. Having removed his shirt, he was ready to beat the stuffing out of his inner demons for the third time that day.

  When the Oasis fell, Volos knew there would be a period of adjustment for all of the clan members. The brothers as a whole had bound together and worked around the clock to make sure the clan was relocated and settled as soon as possible. They spent hundreds of hours in dragon form, digging out the lava tubes to form larger spaces. Volos had been impressed with how the brothers forgot all grievances between themselves to put the clan first.

  As the last of the clan arrived, Volos began to see the change in his brothers. Jo and Ladon spent a lot of time exploring the new human neighbors. They had said unless they understood who and what the clan was surrounded by, how would they know if anything was altered, or a possible danger to the clan. V had agreed and allowed them a free pass to come and go from the Nest.

  The brothers called the clans new home the Nest, as it reminded them of an ant’s home. Lots of twisting and turning tubes, ending in small rooms, and spiraling off the same sizeable central meeting zone.

  Wyvern, his youngest brother, quickly returned to his computer studies, chasing leads, following anything that tweaked his security system.

  The brother that caused him the greatest worry was Attor. He’d gone from being level-headed and logical, to now, having a bottomless pit of unease continually surrounding him. A nervous energy that caused immediate antsy-ness to anyone who was close enough. Attor had become as dangerous as a Nile crocodile, ready to snap and lash out with violence when anyone dared to joke around him.

  “I know we’re as safe as we can be, and that the clan need to be…” V started to say.

  Attor turned to look at his brother, he took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling with frustration. “V, if the clan needs their fucking hands held, I’m not the dragon to do it. The clan is not safe. We can’t be. Not while those winged beasts of the sky still fly…” Attor flicked around and laid a dozen punches hard and fast into the bag, it bounced heavily against his fists as he clenched his teeth “We were too comfortable…” Another dozen quick punches landed hard and fast. Attor’s breathing increased as the muscles across his back zigzagged from side to side with the force of his deep-set anger. “They got too close…” Attor held a hand against the bag to stop its movement, turning his head slowly to look at his brother “They killed Ryu…” swallowing past the lump that was threatening to close his throat, “… and nearly got Jo.” He flicked back with the speed of a snake as he laid punch after punch against a bag that groaned from the power-filled assault.

  V watched his brother fight the demons that had settled in his head. It was true, the phoenix had cost the life of a number of dragons, including a warrior named Ryu, and almost cost the life of their brother Jo. It was a direct hit to all of the warrior brothers. They all shared the pain of the ones that were lost and the severity of how close others had come.

  “It’s been over a year,” V said.

  Attor froze, mid-punch and looked incredulously at V. “How long had it been before then? We got comfortable. You… let us get comfortable,” Attor said as he turned his head back to the bag in front of him. “I will never allow myself that comfort again.”

  Attor wanted vengeance for Ryu and the others. He wanted blood to fall for the attempt of taking his brother. He wanted to personally tighten his fingers around the feathered fuckers’ throats until there was no life left. The lives of Ryu and the others would not pass in vain.

  “Attor…” V started to say before he was distracted by the love of his life walking into the room. “Payton?” The anger at his brother’s accusation vanished from his face, replaced with love, as his eyes caressed what the fates had given him. She wore a simple white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, but in his eyes, she was the most beautiful creature on the face of the earth. “I didn’t know you were still here?” He grabbed his towel and bag, walking over to her open arms. “I thought you had left for work already.” A small sigh of contentment was heard as she wrapped her arms tightly around his chest and sealed the greeting with a kiss.

  “Hope I’m not interrupting?” Payton asked as she looked over to Attor, he was paused, mid-attack on the workout bag.

  “You could never interrupt me, my darling,” Volos purred at being near his mate. He glanced over at Attor and said, “We will continue this later.” Without waiting for Attor’s reply, he turned Payton in his arms and left the gym area.

  “You go get comfortable in the arms of your love, brother,” Attor said quietly to himself. “I will never be unprepared again. Next time, we attack first.” Sweat flew off his body as he returned to his workout. His punches landed hard with the speed and accuracy of a viper.

  Taryn leaned forward and squinted as she placed the false eyelash to her eyelid. She had been wearing false eyelashes since she was fifteen and had only glued her eyes shut twice. Sitting back, she blinked a few times, looking at the image in the mirror which stared back at her. She had her dark red hair in an up-do, having teased and brushed it into a neat bun on top of her head, then using sections of hair at the front to create a halo of pin curls to frame her face. Taryn had won many awards for her perfected pin-up girl look, from the pin curls to the winged eyes, right down to the bright cherry red lipstick. Her face was flawless.

  Happy with her makeup, she switched off the lights surrounding the mirror and got up. Walking to her closet, Taryn grabbed the costume for today’s work requirements.

  Her mind wandered back to that warm spring day in Vegas. She had just won the ‘Viva Las Vegas Pin-Up Girl’ competition. After months of interviews, photos, and seemingly endless string of appearances for both the judges and the public, Taryn had finally been announced as the winner of this prestigious pin-up girl competition. Fast forward twenty-four hours, and she had a warrant out for her arrest, and a once in a lifetime job offer in a foreign country.

  Taryn zipped up the side of her red and white polka dot swing dress and slid up the black petticoats. Running her hands slowly down the tight bodice, she smiled with a swing of her hips in the mirror as she made sure her breasts were not going to fall out. Walking to the window, she pulled back the latte colored curtains and looked out over a busy province of Tokyo. Taryn was utterly content with the choice she’d made six months ago, to follow the job and avoid wearing some silver bracelets for fifteen to life. The CEO had offered her an escape with no further questions. She accepted the chance to go to Japan, and she was on a private plane that evening—gone from the reach of the States. She quit her job at a small Italian restaurant, left her friends, and vanished from her family. With nothing more than a short-rushed note on torn paper, she left her old life to start afresh in Japan.

  One last look in the mirror, she straightened her sparkling ears. Taryn smiled at the pin-up Minnie Mouse reflection that looked back. Grabbing her small red bag, she left her compact apartment for the short train commute to work.

  “Hey, hey,” Taryn said into her cell which she held to her ear, as she stood patiently at the train station. On the other end was one of her newly made friends which she’d met at a fifties retro extravaganza held at her work. This American woman had an unbelievable passion for all the retro styling and a deep love for American cars. She’d explained that back in the States she had owned a number of amazing cars, but that she and her best friend got a job offer in Japan and they had to leave them in storage. They were Canadians, but they had traveled so much through the States that an immediate camaraderie was formed, quickly followed by a friendship. Fast forward a few months, and the three of them got together most weekends for a girls’ night out.

  “Hey yourself,” the voice replied. “You know what day it is?”

  Taryn laughed. “Yeppers.
Friday is drinkiday.” Taryn looked left as the train glided into the station. “Kylee, train’s here, babe. Got to go. Call you after work. Yeah?”

  Kylee’s voice bubbled with excitement. “You better, Payton and I need a break from this monster of a workload,” she said. “I needs my girl time, some rock-hard abs to look at, and a shit load of booze.”

  Taryn laughed as she clicked end on the phone, placing it in her bag and boarded the train. Standing in the corner of the overcrowded people mover, thankful she didn’t suffer from claustrophobia, she swayed from side to side with the movement of the train while her mind drifted to the night’s exciting possibilities.

  Payton was Kylee’s best friend, and the three of them got along wonderfully. They joked about two Canadians and an American taking over Japan, one sushi roll at a time. The only thing with Payton was her boyfriend. He was nice on the three times they had met, but Taryn had never seen a man so large. His chest was as big as a Buick. And the arms? Well, she had seen hundred-year-old trees with smaller trunks. The way Payton and he looked at each other was fantastic, though. Kylee liked to make vomiting sounds at the puppy dog eyes they flashed each other, but Taryn knew, Kylee was secretly jealous of the incredible connection the two of them shared. All Taryn could think was she didn’t want to have to pay his food bill.

  Boyfriend? Taryn snorted. Not a chance in hell. Thinking to herself, I have Horney Hank McHornyface. He always puts my needs first, and in return only demands new batteries twice a month. Taryn laughed lightly as she made a mental note to buy batteries on the way home. It was six months since she’d left her last boyfriend lying in a pool of his own blood. She wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.

  Attor walked into the small outcropping that the warriors had marked off as their own space. The central area had been made into the warriors’ common space, and a number of thin corridors led off to the smaller rooms that housed beds. Attor had gone straight into his room to have a shower. Again he was amazed at the power his father had pulled with the wiccan community. Here they were, two miles under the surface of the water, and with some wondrous help, they had a home embedded in the volcano. It had running water, showers, toilets and power, and the air filtration was the same set up that they had in the oasis. Attor had asked his father about the bathroom amenities, but his question had been brushed away with a simple, ‘Don’t ask questions, son. Just say thank you and shit in peace.’