by Kim Fox
“Oh, for God’s sakes!” her mother shouted, pushing her forward. “Go, girl. Don’t you see that this is your only way out?”
Draven’s body quivered as he heard footsteps echoing up the tower. Someone was coming.
“All right,” Draven said, swallowing hard. “Time for plan B.”
He knew what was best for her even if she couldn’t see it, and he wasn’t about to leave here without her.
“You’re coming with me.” He rushed forward to grab her but then stopped dead when someone burst into the room.
“Dravenous,” Terrowin hissed from behind him. “I’m going to feed you to my dragon. Alive.”
Draven cringed, knowing that his brother meant it. He’d be nothing more than bits of flesh stuck between his dragon’s teeth if he couldn’t escape. And now escaping with Caliburnus was out of the question.
He looked at her one last time, urging his dragon to bond. Come on…
But there was nothing. Maybe the prophecy was wrong after all.
Terrowin rushed forward with a growl, and Draven took off running toward the open window. He couldn’t risk fighting his brother in here. A stray punch or a flying body could kill these women, and he wasn’t about to risk hurting his girl.
With a grunt, he dove out the window, sailing into the cool air as he plummeted to the ground. A white Lamborghini caught his eye as he fell. It was swerving around the castle grounds, leaving tracks of dirt on the grass as it sped away from Berinon who was running after it, growing larger by the second.
A white Lambo? So much for inconspicuous.
Jax, Axel, and Zane would have to take care of themselves for now. Terrowin had jumped out the window and was right behind him.
Draven’s thoughts turned back to Caliburnus, hoping she’d be okay as he let his dragon come forward. The red dragon burst from his skin and he used his falling momentum to speed away from the castle with his open wings.
His dragon looked behind him and watched with an emptiness in his stomach as Terrowin’s massive brown dragon ripped from his body.
Oh shit. Draven still wasn’t mated with an invincible dragon chasing him.
The true Dragon King’s time was truly up.
Chapter 8
Cali
Cali held her breath as she watched the horrible scene from the window. The man who came to save her had turned into his red dragon, but so had Terrowin. And Cali knew how dangerous the brown dragon could be. Nothing seemed to stop him.
Her eyes flickered over to the white Lamborghini that was speeding along the road out of the castle. Berinon’s body was growing incredibly fast as he chased after them. When he was half the size of the tower, he caught up to them, kicking the car over like it was a toy.
The white car tumbled onto the grass, flipping over and over again until it skidded to a stop upside down. Cali watched in shock as the three American tourists she had seen earlier climbed out of the trashed car. The one with the mohawk exploded into a polar bear, the one with the beard phased into a brown bear, and the last guy with the wavy blonde hair burst into a massive lion. They stood side by side, watching Berinon as he grew even taller and wider.
“What did you do?” Cali’s mother screamed as she rushed over. She looked so hurt and betrayed.
“Mama,” Cali said, feeling her heart burn as she watched the tears pouring out of her eyes. “I wanted to stay with you.”
“You could have been free,” her mother screamed. She tugged at her hair, looking anguished as she stared at her daughter. “That was your chance. That was your chance.”
Cali’s chest felt so hollow as she watched the pain in her mother’s eyes. The truth was she had desperately wanted to escape with Draven, but she was afraid to leave her mother alone. She was afraid that she would never see her again. That she would never be able to fully enjoy her life knowing that her mother was locked away in this horrible tower. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself.
Her mother started sobbing as she sunk to the ground. “He came to save you,” she muttered between deep breaths. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be saved. You don’t deserve this. My baby girl doesn’t deserve this.”
Cali dropped to her knee and held her mother as her body shook with deep painful sobs. “It’s okay, mama,” she whispered, trying to soothe her. “It’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.”
But the horrible sounds outside didn’t sound like everything was going to be okay. The fighting dragons outside were making her skin crawl with every shrill screech that ripped through the sky.
She had to see what was going on. She had to know if the red dragon was okay.
With a quick breath, she stood up and looked out the window, gasping at what she saw. Terrowin’s cruel dragon was on top of Draven with his sharp teeth sunk into the red dragon’s shoulder. Dark crimson blood poured down his shiny scales as he fought to shake him off.
But Terrowin was too strong and his dragon was overpowering Draven as they fought in the air.
Berinon caught her eye as he kicked the charging polar bear like a soccer ball, sending him crashing through a stone wall.
“Get him,” Cali gasped when she saw the lion running up the dragon’s leg, digging its sharp claws into his skin with every bound up.
But Berinon was too fast. He yanked the lion off of his leg and threw him into the ground with a grunt. No. Cali’s stomach dropped as she watched the brave cat bouncing along the grass. He was barely moving when he finally came to a stop on the road.
“What’s happening out there?” Anna asked from her hiding place under the bed.
Cali held her stomach as she watched, feeling like she was going to be sick. “You don’t want to know,” she whispered.
They were losing. Badly.
Terrowin had Draven’s red dragon pinned to the roof of the castle and her savior was fighting with everything he had just to keep the powerful dragon’s teeth from sinking into his neck.
In the distance, Berinon was trying to stomp on the brown bear as it attacked. The polar bear emerged from the broken stone wall on shaky legs, and the lion was struggling to get to his feet.
“They can’t beat a giant,” Cali muttered under her breath. And she knew that Draven couldn’t defeat Terrowin.
They were all going to die, and she was going to be stuck in this tower for the rest of her life.
“God, I hate him,” her mother said as she glared out the window at the man who was supposedly her mate. Cali had been so focused on the fighting that she hadn’t even noticed that she had stood up.
Her mother’s wet eyes were full of hatred now as she stared at him. “He’s taken everything from me, and everything from you.”
Cali’s body ached as she watched the red dragon struggling. Every slash of his talons just glided off the brown dragon leaving the scales without a scratch, meanwhile, Terrowin’s vicious black talons were slicing the red dragon’s scales, making them weep with blood.
Cali and her mother had been told by Mary and Clara that his bond with her mother had ignited Terrowin’s core and left him invincible. He couldn’t be hurt by anything.
And that’s why they both knew the red dragon was doomed.
“You deserve a better life than this,” her mother said, shaking her head angrily. “And if I can do something to give it to you, I will.”
Cali was too focused on the fight to realize what her mother was really saying.
“I love you, Caliburnus,” she said before giving her a tender kiss on the cheek. “It’s time for you to be free.”
“Mama, I—No!”
Cali screamed out in horror as her mother pushed her aside and dove out the window. She squeezed her eyes shut and crumpled to the ground, sobbing in agony as her mother fell to her death.
Chapter 9
Draven
Just when Draven thought he was about to die, Terrowin disappeared. The brown dragon leapt off him, darted off the roof they were fighting on, and dove to t
he ground like a rocket.
Draven turned his battered head and watched as his brother raced to save his mate who was falling to the ground. He gasped when he realized what must have happened: Cali’s mother had sacrificed herself by jumping out the window.
If she were to die, then Terrowin’s core would extinguish and he would lose all of his powers. She was trying to give him and Cali a chance.
Terrowin’s dragon shot forward but was too late. Draven closed his eyes as Cali’s mother hit the ground and died.
“No!” Cali screamed from the window of the tower. Draven grimaced in pain as he looked up, his heart breaking as he listened to his future mate’s anguished sobs.
He was hurt bad. Terrowin’s dragon had toyed with him and made him pay for what happened in the dungeon. The invincible dragon had beaten him, sliced him up, and bit him all over. It would take a while before his enhanced healing could take care of it all.
Terrowin’s dragon lurched in the air and immediately slowed. He looked confused as his body trembled, already looking less powerful and fearsome as he had before.
Thanks to Cali’s mother’s sacrifice, it was an even playing field now. Terrowin’s core was no longer ignited. He was no longer a powerful mated dragon who possessed the gift of invincibility. He could be beaten. He could be killed.
Draven’s dragon screeched in pain as he tried to get up to his feet. Maybe it wasn’t exactly an even playing field—he was hurt very badly—but at least he had a chance now.
He glanced behind him to where his other brother Berinon was battling his friends. Or massacring his friends was more like it. The three shifters were getting their asses kicked by the giant.
A flash of gold in the sky caught his eye and Draven grinned when he saw what was coming. The odds were being tipped a little more in their favor as Aleida’s turquoise dragon flew toward them with Gunner’s massive lion standing proudly on her back.
The lion lowered his head and snarled as the wind blew his long golden mane. Aleida’s dragon opened her mouth as she flew at Berinon and let her sonic scream rip free. The devastating concussive blast slammed into his huge chest and knocked him back as she circled around his head.
Gunner’s lion leapt off his mate’s back and landed with a snarl on the giant’s stunned head. Draven turned back to Terrowin as Jax, Axel, and Zane charged forward with a new found vigor.
The tide was turning and even Draven felt it as a surge of adrenaline rushed through his battered body. His dragon let out a low snarl and pushed off the roof of the castle, ready to confront his cruel brother who was flying around, looking like he was in shock.
The red dragon let out a vicious screech as he slammed into the brown dragon, fighting with every last bit of energy and strength that he had. This time his talons were sinking into the brown scales. This time he was drawing blood.
Draven slashed at his brother’s wings as he sunk his teeth into his body, giving him every bit of fight and pain back that he had just gotten.
Terrowin didn’t know what hit him. He was flailing around and screeching in pain as Draven fought harder and harder, looking for the final killer blow.
Do it for her. He’ll never leave her alone.
As long as Terrowin was alive in this world, Caliburnus would not be safe. He knew how cruel his brother was and he knew that Terrowin would make Cali pay for what her mother did. For what she took from him.
Draven pushed forward, sinking his long talons into Terrowin’s back and slamming him into a stone fountain, shattering it. The brown dragon was stunned, and in a fatal mistake, had stretched his neck out, leaving it open for the final kill.
Finish him.
The red dragon opened its mouth, but then stopped when he saw what Berinon was up to. He had his massive left arm wrapped around Aleida’s dragon, pinning her mouth closed. Gunner’s lion was running across his shoulders, trying to get to his mate, when Berinon snatched him off and threw him.
The fall was dangerously high, and Draven was afraid the lion would snap his neck on the landing.
He pushed off Terrowin’s defeated body, sacrificing the kill to try and save his friend. The red dragon shot forward, flying as fast as he could as the flailing lion fell to the ground.
Draven caught him just in time, sinking his talons into the lion’s back, making the poor cat screech out in pain.
Yeah, yeah, quit crying you pussy. I just saved your life.
He dropped the lion on the ground and turned back to where he had left Terrowin, but the brown dragon was gone.
His heart started pounding as he looked up at the window of the Northern Tower where his future mate was stuck inside. He hated not having her in his sight, especially with two enemy dragons nearby.
Gunner’s lion took off, rushing back to fight the giant as Draven pushed off the ground and flew to the tower.
He flew up and dove towards the window in the same way he had done earlier. At the last second, he phased into his human form and let the momentum carry him through the open window. He dove in, twisting his body as he somersaulted across the stone floor.
Caliburnus was sobbing on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. The sobs stopped as she looked up at him with wet eyes and a shocked face.
He rushed over to her immediately, sitting beside her as he gently cupped her wet cheek.
“She killed herself because of me,” she said in a trembling voice.
“For you,” Draven whispered. “She gave her life for yours.”
She leaned into him and sobbed as he held her tightly, feeling a beautiful warmth flowing through his body. She felt so good and he couldn’t wait to finish all of this horribleness so he could take her back to Colwood where they could start their lives over.
Happy lives this time.
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes as she sniffled. “You said we’re mates and are meant to be together? How can you know that?”
Draven sighed, not knowing how to explain. There were two dragon shifters outside who still had to be dealt with and it wasn’t the time to get into crazy old prophecies.
He took a deep breath as he looked into her eyes. “I just—”
The words seized in his throat as his body froze. The room was turning black all around her and only she was visible in the darkness. Her light and her essence were brighter than ever as his dragon bonded to her.
Draven’s heart was hammering as they stared at each other in shock. The words to explain their future together were no longer necessary. They both knew. Intuitively.
It was like the universe had a new gravitational pull, and that pull was leading to her. It would always lead to her. She was his world now. His girl. His love.
His mate.
The blackness slowly dissipated and Draven swallowed hard when his body was able to move once again.
Caliburnus’ forehead wrinkled as she tilted her head, staring at him curiously. She reached up and touched his cheek, and the feeling of her skin on his sent electric shivers racing through his body.
“I—” she gasped, staring at him in awe. “I see now. I can feel it.”
“Me too,” Draven said, swallowing as he stared at her. “You’re my fated mate.”
Her lips parted and the sight was so sexy that Draven had to kiss her. He closed his eyes and leaned forward to touch her lips with his when a sudden thump had them both jerking their heads in shock.
Terrowin came charging into the room in his human form, looking furious.
Draven placed a protective arm in front of Cali and stood up, ready to fight to the death to protect his mate. His arms flexed as he glared at his brother, suddenly feeling different.
“Wha—” He looked down at his hands and flexed them into fists as he felt a new power flowing through his veins. He could sense the air around him. The earth down below. The water in the cup by the bedside.
He could feel it all. Every atom. Every molecule.
He had been so caught up with his new mate Cali
that he had forgotten that the bonding process had ignited his core. He was a mated dragon now.
And a fucking powerful one at that.
He pulled the wind into the room with only a thought, watching with a grin as it blew Terrowin’s hair over his angry face.
“You’re both going to die for what your cunt of a mother just did,” Terrowin hissed as he pointed at Caliburnus.
Draven could sense the elements around him. He could feel them. Control them. Wield them.
He grinned as he glanced at the glass of water on the night table beside the bed. Just by thinking about it and by letting his new power flow, he brought the water out of the cup and then let it drop back down.
I can manipulate the elements. Just like my father.
It felt so easy. He felt so in control.
Draven was so mesmerized by his new abilities that he almost forgot about his brother. Terrowin wasn’t a threat anymore. He was as good as dead.
The corrupted dragon shifter charged forward with his teeth bared and with murder in his eyes. Caliburnus screamed as he came.
But he didn’t make it far.
With a wave of his arms, a powerful surge of wind came rushing into the window, stopping Terrowin in his tracks.
“This my mate,” Draven said in a smooth controlled voice as he lifted Terrowin off his feet with the wind. “The prophecy was about her.”
“What prophecy?” Terrowin said, looking panicked as he stared at Draven with wide eyes.
Draven took a deep breath as he narrowed his eyes on his evil brother. “Caliburnus,” he said. “Place it in the hands of the one true Dragon King and he will be unstoppable.”
“I should be the Dragon King,” he shouted as the large vein on his forehead bulged. “I killed father. It should be me.”
Draven’s body tensed at hearing the confession. He always suspected that Terrowin was the one who slit his father’s throat in his sleep, but he was never sure. Until now.
“Terrowin Park,” Draven said. “You killed the king and now it’s time for you to die.”