No Such Thing as Dragons : Complete Series Box Set (Books 1 - 5)

by Lauren Lively

  Wyn shrugs. “Well, we tried.”

  “That you did,” he says. “And you get an A for effort.”

  “That's awfully sweet of you,” Deyro says.

  “I'm in a generous mood,” Nyro replies. “You're returning my vessel to me at just the right time.”

  “Too bad you'll never get your hands on her,” Wyn says.

  Nyro rolls his eyes and sighs. “Are we really going to do this again?”

  “Looks like it.”

  Nyro looks at me, his eyes probing me. He looks me up and down, a fanatical light in his eyes as he licks his lips. I've never felt dirtier before in my life. Deyro and Wyn spread out – one on Nyro's left and the other on his right. Their swords are up and at the ready, but I can see the tightness on the faces of both of them. They know this fight won't be as easy as dispatching those Gahan things.

  “This doesn't have to be like this. It would all be so much easier if you both just let me have my way,” Nyro says. “And if you do, I will reward you handsomely. I'll even make you my most trusted lieutenants. What do you say?”

  Deyro's wrist flashes and I barely even see the small knife hurtling toward Nyro. The white-haired man turns and holds his hand up a split second before the dagger would have buried itself in his throat. The blade stops, mid-air, and hangs there a moment. Slowly, it turns around and with a flick of his wrist, he sends it hurtling back toward Deyro. The Ranger blocks it with his sword just in time. The ringing of steel on steel echoes around the chamber and then suddenly, as if that sound was the opening bell, all hell breaks loose.

  Deyro and Wyn rush him from opposite sides, blades whirling. They both move with such an elegant grace about them, that it's entrancing to watch. Nyro holds up his hands, one palm pointed at each of them and like the dagger, they are stopped cold. They grunt and groan as they try to push against the unseen barrier, but they can't move. Nyro flicks his wrists and sends them flying backward. They crash against the walls of the chamber hard, knocking their breath out of them.

  And then he turns his eyes to me, those glowing golden orbs taking me in from head to toe. As if in response to his gaze, or maybe just the proximity of its father, the seed within me starts to squirm and writhe.

  “Soon, my child,” Nyro says, his eyes fixed on my belly. “We will be together soon.”

  “I'll make you a deal, Kaitlyn,” Nyro says. “Come with me willingly, and I'll spare both of their lives.”

  “Like hell,” I hear Wyn say a moment before a blue fireball catches Nyro in the side of the head, sending him sprawling to the side.

  The two Rangers are on their feet, rushing toward the fallen wizard. Even though I'm terrified, I seize the moment and dart forward. Grabbing the Deathstone off its pedestal, I raise it up over my head. I hear Nyro's scream of outrage and turn to see him looking at me as he raises his hand. Then I see Wyn's blade flash, slicing clean through Nyro's arm.

  The bloody arm falls to the ground, twitching, a pool of blood spreading out beneath it.

  “Now, Kaitlyn.”

  Wyn's voice is faint. Slow. It sounds like it's a million miles away. But the message is clear – finish off my duty. I let loose with a cry of triumph as with all of my strength, I slam the Deathstone against the rough stone floor of the chamber. The glass sphere hits and explodes with a sound like a cannon shot. The sound of the explosion echoes around the chamber, driving out all other sounds for a moment.

  The shards of glass – thousands of them – are all over the floor of the chamber. I watch as the glow within the glass fades and then winks out altogether.

  Nyro's outraged howling fills the chamber and when I look over at him, he's glaring at me, his eyes filled with hate. He uses his magic to throw the two Rangers off of him again – though I notice it's with substantially less force than before. He clutches the bloody stump of his arm to his chest, snarling at me.

  Nyro closes his eyes and begins to say something in that same tongue he spoke when he impregnated me in the first place. I don't know what he's saying, but I know it's not going to be good. In fact, it's probably going to be downright terrible for all of us.

  Everything moves in slow motion when I feel Wyn's hands on me. I look into his eyes and see that he's deeply rattled. He's scared. He pushes me forward and when I look at the Dragon Door, I see that it's closing. I hear his voice whispering in my ear, though I don't think he's talking to me. It sounds like some sort of incantation or something.

  I feel Wyn give me a good, hard shove from behind and I go flying forward. I stumble as I turn my body around, craning my neck as I look behind me. And as I pass through the Dragon Door, the last things I see are Deyro sinking his blade into Nyro's neck and Wyn, down on a knee, blood pouring from several open wounds, smiling at me.

  And when I land on the floor of the chamber in LA I quickly jump to my feet, my pulse racing and my breathing ragged. I take a step toward the Doorway – just as it blinks out of existence. I fall to my knees, my body racked with sobs, and fat tears rolling down my face.

  Wyn is gone. He sacrificed himself to save the world. He sacrificed himself to get me home.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The mood in the room we've been sitting in for the last few hours is somber and feels more like a wake or a funeral than anything. And rightfully so. It is more or less a funeral. Alexis is sitting across the table from me, her face pale, tears staining her cheeks and her body trembling – and I imagine I look exactly the same way. She's mourning the loss of Deyro every bit as much as I'm mourning the loss of Wyn.

  Ashley is holding my hands, squeezing them, whispering words of encouragement to me. But honestly, I can't hear anything she's saying. All I can hear is Wyn's voice. All I can see is his face just before I passed through the Door – after he'd shoved me through it.

  The Rangers who'd remained behind and some of the Children of the Dawn fill the meeting room. There are hushed and whispered conversations, the sniffle of tears, and a lot of long faces in the room around us. Quint is holding a tumbler of scotch in his hand – he'd poured one for each of us. He looks at it and I can see the sorrow in his face. The big Warden looks up and catches my gaze and gives me a tight, grim smile.

  “Deyro and Wyn made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us,” he says. “They made sure the Ba’Chul was defeated once and for all. They made sure that evil power will never rise again.”

  I shake my head. “I don't know why he did it,” I say softly. “I don't know why he shoved me through the door.”

  “It was closing,” Alexis says. “He didn't want you trapped in Chondelai. He knows you have a life here.”

  “But I wanted him in my life,” I say.

  “He sacrificed himself for you, Kaitlyn,” Quint's wife Astrid says. “He made a decision for the good of the many, rather than for his own wants and desires.”

  “That doesn't make sense to me,” I say. “They'd beaten Nyro. I saw it. Deyro killed him as Wyn was pushing me through the Door.”

  “Nyro was closing the Door himself,” Quint says. “If Wyn hadn't done what he did, you would have been locked in Chondelai forever.”

  “At least I would have been with him.”

  “He didn't want that for you, babe,” Ashley says softly. “He wanted you to be happy. To pursue your dreams. He wanted you to build a life for you – not for him.”

  “Well said,” Quint says.

  He raises his glass and everybody around the table follows suit, raising theirs. Quint looks around the table, a look of fierce pride upon his face.

  “To our fallen heroes,” Quint says. “They made the ultimate sacrifice for us. To Deyro and Wyn – a pair of our finest Rangers.”

  “Yeah, you never called me that before you thought I was gone forever,” Wyn's voice calls.

  At the sound of his voice, I jump to my feet, my heart thundering. Wyn and Deyro step into the meeting room looking bedraggled – but alive. I can't believe what I'm seeing – none of us can. Everybody in the meetin
g room is on their feet, a reverent silence settling down over us all.

  “What?” I ask. “How?”

  A broad smile crosses Quint's face as he grabs Deyro and pulls him into a fierce hug. Alexis is right behind him and when the Warden releases him, she jumps into his arms, holding him tight. Wyn is standing before me and all I can do is stare at him. I lay my hand against his cheek, just to feel that he's real. He is.

  I shake my head and then throw myself into his arms, embracing him tightly. The tears roll down my cheeks, only this time, they're tears of pure, unabashed joy.

  “I don't understand,” I say.

  “How in the hell did you two get out of this one?” Quint says, his laughter booming throughout the room.

  Wyn shrugs. “I thought that just in case we had some trouble, it might be good to have a backup plan.”

  “One he didn't tell any of us about. The asshole,” Deyro says.

  “Don't mind him, he's still bitter he owes me a hundred bucks.”

  “The story?” Quint prods them.

  “I had King Nepham hold the Door in the Riverlands open for us,” Wyn says. “I told him to hold it as long as possible because we might need a quick exit before they sealed them.”

  “Good thing, too,” Deyro says. “Because we needed a quick exit.”

  “The Council was in the Riverlands,” Wyn explains. “After we killed Ny –”

  “I killed Nyro,” Deyro says. “Me. My sword, his neck. It was me.”

  Wyn laughs and shakes his head. “Fine. After Deyro killed Nyro, we hustled back to the Riverlands,” he says. “They were mopping up the last of the Gahan and the Shadow Clan. But the Council was there and wanted to hold us. They were pissed you all decided to stay behind rather than obey their command to come home. They were talking about sending armed guards out here to bring you all back at the point of a sword. But, we slipped away and once we were through the Door, Nepham's people closed it.”

  Quint smiles. “Zarik and Ella?”

  Deyro nods. “Heading off for the Forest Clan castle,” he says. “They send their love to you all. I honestly have never seen Zarik that happy.”

  “I don't think I've ever seen Zarik happy, period,” Glyn says to chuckles around the room.

  “So, I guess that's it,” Quint says. “I guess we're on our own here now.”

  Deyro nods. “It would appear that way.”

  “There is one more thing,” Wyn says.

  “What's that?” Quint asks.

  He looks from the Warden to me and then to Astrid. I can't tell what he's thinking in that moment, but he has a mischievous glint in his eye.

  “You know how you said you and Astrid want to start a family? That you're thinking about adopting?”

  Astrid and Quint exchange a look. “Yes,” the Warden says. “I recall.”

  “What if I told you that you two might be able to have a baby the old-fashioned way?” Wyn asks.

  “What do you mean?” Astrid asks, a note of hope in her voice.

  “Well, we still have the issue of the baby growing inside of Kaitlyn,” he says.

  As if in response to his voice, my stomach churns and constricts almost painfully. I gasp, drawing concerned looks from everybody in the room. Astrid looks at me, an inscrutable expression on her face. I can't say with certainty, but I have a pretty good idea what's going through her mind – she wants a child and I'd like to get rid of a child.

  “If it is a baby,” Quint says.

  “The healers in the Riverlands are fairly certain that it is,” I say. “They've been studying everything about the Ba’Chul and his seed ever since this all started. It's ancient, but they believe they found reference to this sort of thing happening once before. They believe that with the Ba’Chul dead and his seed unspoiled, it will grow into a normal baby.”

  “But, they're not certain,” Quint says.

  “Nothing is ever certain in this life, Warden,” Wyn says. “Anyway, before we left, the healers gave me some books and some practical advice. Because this is a child born of magic, they taught me how to use magic to either rid Kaitlyn of a baby she doesn't want...”

  His voice trails off and I can tell he's enjoying being in the spotlight. Being the person everybody's watching. Plus, I think he just wants to twist the dagger into Quint a little deeper just to torment him.

  “Or what?” Quint finally asks.

  “Or use our magic to transfer the essence of this magical being from Kaitlyn to Astrid,” he says. “You will be able to start your own family.”

  There's a profound silence in the room as all eyes shift between all of us. Astrid's eyes are wide – as are Quint's. As are mine, probably.

  “It's up to you,” Wyn says. “But we can take care of it all right now and close the chapter on Nyro for good. We can all start fresh and build the lives we want.”

  He looks down at me and smiles. The warmth and love in his face are readily apparent and it makes my heart flutter.

  “We can build the lives we want together,” he says.

  “Together,” I repeat. “I like the sound of that.”

  Epilogue

  We slip into the back of the waiting limousine and the driver shuts the door behind us. Nestled into the back, Kaitlyn snuggles up next to me and yawns. I stroke her hair and kiss her on the top of the head. In her black satin dress with the plunging neckline, she's never looked more elegant or radiant as she did tonight.

  “You did great,” I say softly.

  “Having you by my side helps,” she replies. “You give me strength.”

  “Nahh,” I say. “You have all you need inside of you. And then some.”

  The car pulls away from the curb and we drive away from her first red carpet movie premier. The first of many, I would venture to guess. I undo the bowtie on my tuxedo and unbutton the top few buttons on the shirt, finally able to relax.

  Kaitlyn looks up at me, her eyes wide and dreamy.

  “You did it,” I say. “You're making your dreams a reality.”

  “I still can't believe it.”

  With the threat from Nyro behind us, life has settled back into a normal routine. Quint is still running a tight ship. The Rangers and Scouts continue to patrol and battle the evil that remains in the world of man – and there is still plenty left to fight.

  Using the magic of my Clan, I was able to transfer Nyro's seed into Astrid. And yeah, there were some tense times as we waited to see what would develop. It was completely uncharted territory. But Astrid gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She and Quint got the family – or at least the start to a family – that they always wanted.

  The only question now is, whether or not that child is going to be Dragonborn or a normal human. We still don't know the answer to that, but I happen to think the kid is going to have some sort of abilities. I can smell it on him – and I think Quint can too, but he's remaining quiet on the issue for now. I think he's hoping that he'll have his own little Dragonborn child he can groom to take over the family business, so to speak.

  At the moment though, he and Astrid are simply content and are enjoying the fact that they have a child of their own.

  Kaitlyn landed her first big role. It's a science fiction film and her performance has the critics buzzing. I personally think she's well on her way to being Hollywood's next big thing – but she still has her doubts and takes nothing for granted. Not that she ever would. She's a humble woman, not prone to having an overinflated ego.

  “Thank you,” she says.

  I cock my head and look at her. “For what?”

  “For everything,” she says. “For coming into my life. For coming back to me.”

  I smile at her. “I think I'm the one who should be thanking you for coming into mine. You gave me a whole new life, Kaitlyn. You gave me something worth living for.”

  She smiles again and sits up, quickly pressing her lips to mine. I help her climb into my lap and straddle me. Our kiss grows in passion, our tongues touching and c
ircling each other in her mouth. I slide my hands down her backless dress, relishing the feel of her soft, smooth skin. I slide them down and squeeze her firm, tight ass.

  She grinds herself down on me, gasping softly as she rubs herself against my stiffening prick. She pulls back and looks at me, a sparkle in her eye.

  “Did you ever think you'd be screwing a Hollywood starlet in the back of a limo?” she says and giggles.

  “Sweetheart, I never thought I'd be screwing anybody in the back of a limo,” I say. “Let alone somebody destined to become Hollywood royalty.”

  She slaps me playfully on the shoulder. “Hardly royalty.”

  “Wait and see,” I say. “You are going to be great. It's not going to be very long before little girls in Missouri are reading articles about you and dreaming about being just like you.”

  She smiles and bites her bottom lip, the look on her face one of pure and utter bliss. It's the look of a woman who fought and clawed her way up from the bottom and is now sitting on top of the world.

  I lean forward and plant soft kisses on her bare chest, sliding my tongue down and pulling the dress aside, circling her hard nipple with my tongue. I give it a little nip, drawing a soft yelp from her. I take her nipple into my mouth, kneading her other breast with my other hand as I suck on her. She runs her hands through my hair as I suck on her nipple harder, feeling the heat in me growing.

  Kaitlyn's mouth finds mine and our lips are locked in a fiery, passionate kiss. It's the kind of kiss that conveys the depth of emotion we feel for each other. The kind of kiss that leaves us breathless when we finally part. Kaitlyn kisses my neck, sliding her tongue across my skin and making me shudder. She's grinding herself against my cock and I moan. I'm so hard for her and it's straining against my pants almost painfully.

  Sliding my hands up her thighs, I push her dress up around her waist, reveling in the feel of her soft, silk stockings and the smooth tops of her bare thighs. She reaches down between her legs and rubs my cock through my pants. She grips and squeezes it, stroking me. I lean my head back against the seat, a moan escaping my lips.