The Steel Tower (Dragons of Midnight Book 2)

by Silver Milan

  Jett spun around soundlessly and rammed his bound wrists into the throat of the vampire behind him. The creature hurtled backward, slamming into the next vampire, knocking him down, too.

  Jett leaped over the bodies and, reaching deep inside of himself to access his reserves, clambered up the stairs, four at a time. In an instant he had obtained the next flight, and was on his way toward the third. It was a good thing he had dined on those two witches earlier, otherwise he would have had no energy for this.

  “Get him!” Aldam shouted from somewhere below.

  The stairwell began to rumble and Jett realized Isabel would collapse it with some Weave shortly. He dove into the first available door, and found himself in a smaller hallway.

  The floor shook and he heard a loud crash behind him; dust flew into the hall from the closing stairwell door.

  Jett raced to the elevators and hit the “Up” button.

  He gazed at the stairwell door behind him, waiting for the vampires to burst inside.

  Jett glanced at the closest elevator, willing it to arrive. “Come on...”

  DING.

  The elevator opened. He was prepared to pounce on any vampires that might be inside, but it was empty.

  The stairwell door opened with a crash behind him and vampires coated in stone dust emerged.

  Jett leaped into the elevator and hit the button for the twelfth floor. Then he repeatedly pressed the close button.

  The doors began to seal. A vampire tried to thrust his hand inside at the last moment but Jett kicked it away.

  The doors shut.

  The elevator was rising. A small metallic “ding” sounded with each floor. He watched the floor indicator slowly increased in number.

  Jett looked at the buttons, and considered traveling to the top floor instead, but decided he didn’t want to go too high... he intended to climb down the exterior of the tower. He touched the collar gripping his neck. If only he didn’t have this damn thing constraining his powers.

  The door opened on the twelfth floor and he peered out, checking both directions. It seemed clear.

  He hurried out into the hall. There were many windows, providing ample light. That put him at ease immediately.

  Apparently all vampires hadn’t fled the tower, because the second elevator dinged behind him and the doors opened. Three vampires dressed as spec-ops soldiers emerged, wearing mirror shades beneath their helmets, faces covered in protective black paint. They carried assault rifles in their gloved hands. One of them fired; okay, maybe that wasn’t an assault rifle, because a net emerged from the muzzle.

  Jett tried to dodge, but was too late, and the net wrapped around his legs, tripping him.

  The vampires were on him in an instant, pinning him down, beating him with the butts of their rifles.

  “Yes sire, we got him,” one vampire, apparently the lead, said into his headset. “Roger that, sire. We’ll bring him down.”

  The vampires hauled Jett to his feet, and one of them cut the net so that Jett could walk.

  They led him toward the elevators, walking in front of the sunlit windows without issue: their uniforms protected them from the rays.

  As Jett passed in front of the last window before the elevators, the glass abruptly shattered. He saw a blur of tawny fur and was thrown to the floor. The vampires screamed in pain, and when Jett scrambled to his feet, he saw two of them lying motionless on the ground, throats torn open.

  The remaining vampire pointed his weapon at Jett—or rather, at something behind Jett. Before he could fire, the soldier was flung upward by an invisible force and smashed into the ceiling. He crashed into the floor a moment later, and a blur barreled into him from behind Jett. Scarlet drops splattered the wall.

  A lioness with blood dripping from her teeth hovered above the body. A beautiful, graceful animal with streaks of white running along her sides, and a familiar pattern of brown and yellow patches on her back. A dragon bone bracelet was tightly wrapped around her right forepaw.

  The elevator dinged open. Jett caught a glimpse of more vampire soldiers past her.

  Ariel leaped onto Jett, driving him into a nearby window, and it broke under his weight. Together they plunged through.

  The exterior of the tower sped past beside them. Jett tried to wrap his arms around his lioness, wanting to protect her from the coming impact with the ground, but his wrists were bound fast. He attempted to position himself underneath her at the very least, because not even she could survive a fall from this height.

  But then a large talon wrapped around the pair, scooping them out of the sky.

  Jett looked up to see the graceful white dragon that carried them. Gwendoline winked at him as she flapped her wings, moving higher.

  Gunfire erupted from one of the upper windows. Gwendoline paused to breathe a beam of white light at the vampires there, and the shooting instantly stopped.

  The beautiful white dragon continued her flight, taking Jett and Ariel away.

  29

  Ariel lay naked on the bed with Jett, in one of the units of the apartment complex he owned in Belgrade. Their bodies were entwined, sheathed in sweat and the heady afterglow of sex.

  “My dragon, my Jett,” she purred.

  “You saved me,” Jett said. “You came back for me. Risked everything.”

  She smiled, gave him a kiss. “You would have done the same for me.”

  He nodded slowly, his face serious. “Yes. I would have. But still. I’m a dragon. A dragon. What you did... you’re so brave. So strong.”

  She caressed his cheek with one hand. “In some things.” She sighed, and turned away from him.

  “What’s wrong?” Jett asked.

  “Nothing,” she said. “Everything. I don’t know. I’m still upset about Flax and Banger.” Those were the two lions who had died in the assault. “I feel it’s my fault. Because I was leading the pride when they died.”

  Jett nodded. “The burden of leadership. They were good men, but always remember they chose to follow you of their own free will. And for lions, bloodsport is life. They died doing what they do best. What they love. Young lions dream of dying in battle. You’ve helped them fulfill their dream.”

  “I guess, but it doesn’t make me feel any better,” Ariel said. She gazed off into space.

  Jett squeezed her too him. “My lioness.”

  She was quiet for several moments.

  “Something else is bothering you,” Jett said.

  “As always, you can read me to my core,” Ariel said. “I guess I’m also a bit down because of how things turned out at the Steel Tower. I keep thinking about what could have been.”

  “You really wanted to be a Wayfarer didn’t you?” Jett said.

  “Not particularly,” Ariel said. “But I wanted to learn. About the affinities. The disciplines. Everything about the Strength. But now my witch career is over. I defied their rules, let an unapproved non-witch into their precious Tower, an uncollared dragon at that. And I led a pride against them to save that dragon when he was caught. That pride killed members of their warrior class. Maimed professors. And don’t forget my friends who participated in the attack. And Mathis for that matter. We’ll be arrested on sight.”

  “I’ll have Gabriel petition the Tower to take you back. We’ve done them a favor, after all. Their precious Tower was being ruled by a vampire coven.”

  She shook her head. “They won’t accept me. Even though we freed them from a coven, if I were a professor there, I certainly wouldn’t want me back. Not after what I did. Even if you get Queen Yvonne to overrule them and force them to take me, most of the professors won’t like me. They won’t want me to succeed. They’ll do their best to hold back me and everyone else who was involved.”

  “Then you’ll all come back to Midnight with me. I’ll have Ephephany train the lot of you. She doesn’t care much for tower politics, nor some of their more idiotic rules.”

  “I don’t want to get her in trouble,” Ariel said.
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  “Trust me, she won’t get in trouble,” Jett said. “Dragon witches are among the most powerful in the world. The Wayfarers won’t want to risk pissing her off and losing her. She has a lot of leeway. You know, they actually let her choose where she was stationed. And she chose Midnight.”

  Ariel pursed her lips. “I’m supposedly powerful, too.”

  “Oh I know,” Jett said. “Which is why there’s a good chance they’d take you back. But you’re right I think, about the teachers being against you. Wayfarers don’t like it when their colleagues are killed.”

  “Who does?” Ariel said.

  Jett nodded. “It’s probably best if you and your friends trained with Ephephany.”

  “And how are you going to pull that off?” Ariel said. “Given that she’s in Midnight, and you’re banned from ever setting foot in that place. Having broken the First Rule with me and all...”

  “You’re not banned though…” Jett said.

  “Ha,” Ariel said. “Like I’m going to leave you ever again. And you really think the citizens of Midnight will be all that happy about so many of us ‘lesser’ shifters walking their streets?”

  “Well, I was actually thinking of trying to convince Ephephany to come to Blue Hurricane territory. We’ll build cabins for your friends, and her.”

  “What if she refuses to train us?” Ariel said.

  Jett shrugged. “If she won’t do it, Mathis will. I’ve talked to him. He goes where Gwendoline goes now. She’s been breaking the First Rule with him. I doubt she’ll be all that eager to return to Midnight herself.”

  Ariel lifted her head from his muscular chest to gaze into his eyes, and she smiled. “You’ve got an answer for everything, don’t you my big dragon?”

  Jett flashed that cocky grin of his.

  Ariel lowered her head onto his hard body and sighed. “Things are always changing. Every time I feel like I’ve finally set down my roots, they’re ripped out again.”

  “Like I told you once before, my lioness, we’ll take each day as it comes.” Jett crunched his chiseled abs, sitting up slightly to plant a tender kiss on her cheek. “And about those roots… the love we feel for one another, that’s the one constant. That’s the one root that can never be torn away. As far as I’m concerned, when I’m with you, no matter where I am I’m home.”

  “You’re right.” She wrapped her arms around his hips and squeezed tightly. “Right here.” She pressed her lips to his chest, above his beating heart. “This is home.”

  Epilogue

  Gabriel soared above the Hooded Dale, the one place in all of Midnight where he could revert to dragon form. Well, it wasn’t precisely located within Midnight, but rather outside of it, in a massive valley surrounded by a steep ring of gray-green mountains shielded from view of the outside world by the powerful Weaves Ephephany maintained.

  Beyond the lip of the mountain range the sky was the orange-red of predawn. The valley was empty at this early hour, and while slightly unusual, he preferred it that way. He liked to be alone when he soared free.

  He came here twice a day, once in the morning, and again at night. It helped him forget who he was, and the burden that came with being king. Last night during the meeting of the Council of Seven, Queen Yvonne of the Wayfarers had informed him in front of everybody that Jett had attacked the Steel Tower with his pride. The circumstances were unclear, but apparently the tower had been under the control of vampires, and Jett had played a part in liberating the apprentice school. Even so, Yvonne expected Midnight to help pay for the damages.

  What were her words? Oh yes: “Next time, let the Wayfarers handle their own affairs.”

  Apparently Gwendoline had made an appearance as well, along with two other dragons, probably members of Jett’s former White Swords. Worse, Yvonne told him that all of them had been uncollared during their attack. While they had saved the school, in her opinion that didn’t justify Jett and his dragons breaking their laws, and she wanted them to face charges.

  Talk about gratitude. Not to mention stress.

  While Gabriel had no intention of paying for damages, nor prosecuting the dragons, when Jett got in touch, his brother would have some explaining to do.

  The sky brightened to a bluish red, and Gabriel knew the sun would be cresting the summit of the mountain beside him soon. It was time to begin his day.

  With a rumbling sigh, he headed toward the three largest mountains of the range that housed the subterranean capital city he called home.

  He began to transform before he landed, so that when he touched down he was half human. He continued to shrink as he made his way through the pine trees and approached the spot where he left his clothes.

  He was completely human as he donned the fashionable dress shirt and pants, and pulled on his boots. Finished dressing, he turned to make his way toward the closest tunnel.

  He passed in front of a tall pine and sensed movement beside him. Before he could react, something cold clasped around his neck.

  He instinctively grabbed for the frigid band, but then his arms flung out to either side, impelled by an invisible force, and he floated into the air. He tried to transform, tried to break free, but the collar restrained his inner dragon.

  The invisible force spun him around until he was facing a figure standing in the shadow of a pine tree.

  It was a woman dressed in a black, form-fitting outfit. A small circle cut out below her throat revealed the skin but gave only a slight hint of cleavage. A long cape fell to her boots. She wore a bone tiara and gauntlets. The twin fangs protruding from her upper lip told him she was a vampire; she had to have been at least a hundred years old, because younger vampires suffered even in the shade during daylight hours.

  “Who are you?” Gabriel said. “What do you want?”

  “My name is Medeia Tenebris,” the vampire witch said. “And I am here to conquer Midnight.”

  Thank you for reading!

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  Afterword

  Please help spread the word about The Steel Tower by leaving a one or two sentence review. The number of reviews an indie book receives has a big impact on how well it does, so if you liked this story I'd REALLY appreciate it if you left a quick review. Anything will do, even one or two lines.

  Thank you very very much!

  About the Author

  Silver Milan is a USA TODAY BESTSELLING author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels. Publishing under different pen names since 2013, Silver has sold more than 300,000 books.

  Get in touch:

  www.silvermilan.com

  authorsilvermilan@gmail.com

  Acknowledgments

  A big thank you to Melody Simmons for coming up with the fantastic cover for book 2. Covers are a big part of a successful book launch, and she certainly knows how to make something eye-catching!

  And as usual, thank you, my readers. Without you, none of this would have been possible. Your Amazon reviews and messages of support have helped more than you know! Thanks for taking a chance on me.

  Love,

  Silver

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