by Kim Faulks
Those blunt words speared my chest, bludgeoning as they went. How far we’d fallen. How removed we’d become. I stared at those claws as she picked under the tip of her nail. Were we really these animals?
Dead inside. All of you, dead.
“I’ve got to go.” I croaked. The words rebounded inside the hollow pit of my chest.
“Where, at this hour?”
I left Xael behind, heading for the garage, shaking my head. My chest was silent. My heart now turned to stone. That ache in my chest finally had a name—and its name was death.
Their boots echoed like thunder chasing me through the house.
“Marcus. Where are you going?” Orlando called.
I didn’t stop, didn’t even slow. “Out.”
I closed my eyes at the rush of steps, stilling only when his hand clamped around my arm. “Please, don’t go out alone. Byron and I have things we need to discuss. Let me come?”
I sagged under the weight of the witch’s words. You’re the eldest, your line starts and ends with you. Orlando bit his lip. He was a true Gemini. All the air signs were the same. I could see the cogs inside his mind churning, churning, thinking through every possible scenario before it ever happened. Fear suddenly filled his gaze. I’d sheltered him before, but I couldn’t anymore. “I need space. I need time to think this through.”
“But you said you were okay. You said we were okay.”
His amber eyes sparkled under the foyer chandelier. All I saw was desperation, his desperation for me to fix this… desperation for me to keep us all safe. Your line starts and ends with you.
My shoes squealed on the tiles as I stumbled. My brothers crowded the doorway. I met each terrified gaze. They stood frozen, until Victor nodded, and came to my rescue. “Orlando. Let Marcus have some space. Come on, all of you. We’ll have a drink. Goddess knows, we need one.”
Orlando’s fingers scraped my skin as they fell away. Eleven sets of eyes followed me as I shoved through the garage door and the vision filled me once more.
One by one, I’d watched my family fall. Victor, Evander, Isaiah, Michael, even the biggest of us all, Zadoc, went to his knees. Upstairs, I heard her cry out… my Xael, my sister….
My legs burned. The floor shuddered as the bull inside me raged. How could I be so powerful and yet so weak? My fingers trembled as I stabbed the button. The garage door lifted with a jolt and receded. I passed the Harleys, the sports cars, and the trucks, stumbling to where my Chrysler waited.
Your line starts and ends with you.
Just drive. A voice whispered inside my head.
I tramped the accelerator, and the ass end of the Sebring convertible squatted before lunging forward. Headlights cut through the overgrown hedge as I followed the sweeping drive all the way to the gate.
Bright headlights exposed peeling paint on the ironwork. Green flakes fluttered from the scrollwork to the ground. Barren gardens waited outside every window. I hit the button and my window slid down. Broken birdbaths was all that remained of waterfalls and ponds. I scanned the crowded pine trees and thorny thickets.
The once-white mansion I shared with my siblings looked like a faded, forgotten ghost. The thought lingered, catching the strand of another that worked into my mind.
Just as we were forgotten.
Workers refused to come now, despite a bad economy. Only the most loyal remained to clean and cook. I caught the whiff of decay with the night breeze and I turned my head to the mountain.
The smell of rotting, human bodies drove the help away. No matter how much I loved him, Zadoc had a vicious streak and he had to be stopped.
You’re dying. Have been for some time now.
I hit the button and raised the window as the iron gates shuddered. The stench lingered with the night fog. I nosed the car out to the road. Overgrown branches from the brush scraped the hood and slapped the windshield.
The mountain hid us well. A little too well. We had no real measure of time, only the passing of the seasons. To an immortal, even those were futile.
We’d watched the world change, hidden behind this tired old gate and these imposing walls. Elsewhere, stone had turned to steel and glass. Gone were the days of man-made, home-grown. Now, this world was machine-crafted and laboratory-created. We’d stumbled somehow in the beginning, and fallen farther and farther behind—too far to catch up. So we stopped trying… I stopped trying.
That thought hit me like a winter’s gust.
I’d stopped trying—and stopped living.
The reflectors blurred into one as I spun the wheel and gunned the engine. We’d been born into this world, but we weren’t part of it—and hadn’t been for some time. It’d taken the vision of death to show me the reality of our demise.
The Pine trees were a blur of black against the speckled sky. Lights danced farther in the distance. My back itched, waiting for my wings to tear free. Fly! Soar, the voice snarled. I turned my gaze to stare into the rear view. The pine forest took up most of Nyx County. All I saw were endless green trees and mammoth mountains—perfect to hide a family of dragon shifters the world had long forgotten.
I dragged my gaze to the road again. Something scampered across my path. An animal… no, a human.
My roar filled the car as I stomped the brake. The car shuddered. The back wheels drifted before the brakes bit and corrected the sway. The dark blur froze in the middle of the road. Headlights washed over the swell of breasts.
Too fast. I searched the shoulder for an opening—something.
Trees hugged the road on either side. The woman raised her hand. “No!” I jerked the wheel hard to the right.
Blackness rushed to greet me. Trees swallowed the front of the car, squealing as branches tore along the paintwork. I flew forward, surrounded by diamond-like shards. Fire lashed my chest.
I lifted my head, trying to get my bearings. Night. There was nothing but night as I watched my headlights dim. The engine ticked and hissed. The smell of gasoline suffocated me like a rag down my throat.
I tried to move and pain ravaged my leg. I grasped my trousers. The fabric tore. I couldn’t move, not even to call for help.
“Holy shit. Are you okay?”
The voice of the woman slipped through the cracks, floating above the stench of fuel and the thick scent of blood.
I opened my mouth to answer, to ask if she was okay.
But the night was impatient, rushing in to swallow me, and then, I felt nothing at all.
***
“Can you hear me?”
I flinched at the headlights. Glass. There was glass all over me.
“Easy now, you’re okay. You’re in Nyx County hospital. You’ve been in an accident, but you’re okay, son.”
Son?
I cracked open my eyes in astonishment. Light rushed in. I inhaled and pain ravaged my chest. A shadow moved closer. A male mortal’s face. White coat. Piercing light. I squinted and tried to turn my head. What happened?
The car. The woman. I’m going to hit her.
“No!” Steel burned under my grip and the light washed in. I glanced down to see the stainless railing clenched in my fist. A bed. I lay on a bed.
“You’re okay.” I glanced up, finding the human hovering close. His brow furrowed as he swept a beam of light across my eyes. “I’m Doctor Phil Braddock. You’re in the ER.”
I licked my lips. “ER?”
“Emergency room,” growled a familiar voice.
I turned my head. “Xael?”
“Marcus.” Her tone was sharp, balanced on the edge of a blade until suddenly, her gaze softened. “I’m… we’re glad you’re okay.”
“I don’t understand. Why the hell am I here?” I tensed my leg, testing muscles and tendons. The savage pain that ripped through my thigh had turned into a hollow ache. I delved deep, finding that river of immortality, alive and hungry. I narrowed in on the grey-haired man in a tacky white coat, but my words were for my family. “Is this some kind of trick?”
“Oh, no trick, brother. It seems a vehicle accident is enough to warrant a trip to the ER if you’re a human.” Xael leaned forward, holding me in those bottomless eyes.
Human? They thought I was human….
Dark eyes, caring eyes, hard eyes stared at me. All ten of my male siblings barely moved. Crammed together, they glanced at me, then shifted their gaze across the room.
Someone cleared their throat. Byron? I think. Cool air tickled my thighs. Frigid fingers seemed to inch their way closer to my….
I lowered my gaze. The thin gown barely covered my body and draped between my thighs, hugging the outline of my cock. I swallowed hard, and dragged the stiff sheet across my bare legs. “Please, forgive me.”
“It’s not us you need forgiveness from.” Xael’s sing-song voice had a villainous undertone.
The scent of pine invaded my senses, followed by the sharp sting of alcohol, which gripped my nose with pincers and twisted. But, underneath the clinical stench was something else.
Dirt and moss. The sweet scent of night jasmine wove between the thick smell of matted fur and blood—wolf’s blood.
The doctor reached for my neckline, dragging the gown low. I swept my gaze over the rest of the room. A woman stared back from behind the bedside cabinet. No, not a woman—the woman. Her green eyes were unflinching, slicing through to my core. I felt the loss like a physical thing when she lowered her gaze to the thin sheet in my hand.
The woman I’d nearly run down dragged her hand over her head, sweeping aside a moth-eaten hood to reveal a cascade of red hair that pooled around her shoulders. The sight hit me like a fist. Fire. Stone cracked and that fossil in my chest swelled, then pulsed to life. “Oof.”
“Oof is right.” Xael snickered.
I gave my sister no mind, instead taking in this woman. I stared at her clothes and her body. Freckles splattered her nose—such a cute nose. And those lips. I had to drag my eyes away.
But my damn fingers twitched, itching to follow the valley between her lips and ride that dip all the way into her mouth. I swallowed my breath and felt the hard bubble bruise my damn throat.
No scratches marred her skin, still the smell of blood coated my nostrils. I inhaled again, letting the scent roll over my tongue. Wolf’s blood—a male’s blood.... Not hers. Tension seeped from limbs I hadn’t realized were tense.
I hadn’t hit her with the car. Fire licked my chest and stoked something deeper. I let out my breath and searched for my voice. “So, you’re the cause of all this.”
The laughter died in her eyes. But they sparkled with something else. An animal surged to the surface. I waited. Almost there… rising so fast.
Fangs flickered in her gaze, fangs and fur… wolf.
She bared her teeth, her words every bit as sharp as her glare. “What kind of idiot drives that fast in the dead of night?”
The fire. The fury. My dragon inside lifted his head and drew her scent deeper. “This idiot, apparently.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but took her sweet time. Silence lingered until she muttered, “Well, I’m glad you’re alive. Your car though… it’s a damn wreck. I’ll tell my people to steer clear until you clean the mess up. Not all of us wear shoes, you know. But in case you need it, I saved you this.”
She bent over the arm of the chair, reaching for the floor. Chrome shimmered in her hand. Her steps were silent as she headed for the bed, carrying the broken side mirror of my Chrysler. “Call it my contribution to the clean-up.”
The closer she came, the more I became aware of my lack of clothing. Under the thin sheet my cock stirred inciting the boom inside my chest. I turned to my brothers. “Leave us.”
“We’ll just give you guys some space,” Victor muttered. “That means you too, doc.”
The doctor spun and speared Victor with a glare. “I’m not finished yet.”
Victor shook his head. His calm ‘give no fucks’ demeanor never wavered as he bulldozed the doctor out of the room. “You’ve done enough tests. Now, let’s give my brother and his friend some privacy.”
A rebellious scowl darkened the doctor’s face, before all nine of my brothers followed, shoving the doctor from the room.
Xael followed, sweeping one last chilled stare toward the woman. “We’ll be outside, Marcus. Let us know when you’re ready to leave.”
I nodded and stared at the mirror in this woman’s outstretched hand, then lifted my gaze. “What’s your name?”
The faint buzz of a phone echoed, followed by a bleep. The flame-haired beauty reached for her pocket, pulling a flip-top phone free. I couldn’t look away, absorbed by the furrow of her brow as she stared at the screen. Her lips parted. My pulse gained momentum while her breaths sped.
Something fluttered inside my stomach as the delicate skin on the side of her neck throbbed. The thready beat filled my dragon with excitement. Fear. He tasted her fear.
“Are you okay?”
The erratic sound of her heart filled my head, then in an instant, the beat slowed. The stench of fear was gone, and in its place was something familiar—something that didn’t match her vibrant green eyes or her flaming hair. Cold, she was cold. Ice slipped into her gaze and her tone followed. “I’m fine.”
A frigid finger trailed down my spine. I shook my head. She was lying, but why? And why wouldn’t she answer my questions?
“You guys are really skinny. Atkins, huh? Never had much use for dieting. I like my food running. Still, you look good. Although the girlfriend can ease off the death stare.”
I turned to the doorway. Dieting? “They’re my brothers, and Xael isn’t my girlfriend. She’s my sister.” I reached for my chin and rubbed the stubble. “A little zealous, I’ll admit. But, she only has my best interests at heart.”
Her eyes widened, and for a second that cold emptiness receded. “Jesus. How many of you are there?”
“Twelve. One for each sign of the Zodiac.”
“Humans.” She smiled and shook her head. “Your parents sound like astrology fanatics. Makes my moon-howling, fur-shedding father look almost normal.”
My stomach dropped like a stone. She didn’t recognize a Guardian. Didn’t she smell the dragon? I know didn’t smell of wolf and I sure as hell didn’t move like a demon. The slow thud of my heart ruled out vampires, but surely she felt something.
Her phone buzzed again. She jumped and the smirk disappeared.
“You were running from someone, weren’t you?”
Her head snapped up.
Green eyes sparkled with an intensity only the stars should create. I licked my lips and muttered. “Can you at least tell me your name?”
One shake of her head sent the fiery mane into a flurry. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t be around long enough for you to care.”
The sudden rise of her chest drew my focus. The green rock around her neck shone under the overhead lights, flecked with a red so vibrant it could’ve been blood. The stone was shaped in what would’ve been a canine tooth, but the end was broken.
“The stone you’re wearing. What is it?”
Her chin rose, shoulders straightened. Whatever the necklace meant, she took pride in it. “It’s the stone of my pack—bloodstone.”
The shaman’s words filled inside my mind. My payment. Bloodstone. Before dawn.
My feet hit the cool hospital floor.
Her head tilted, following my rise.
I tried to deny the witch’s warning. I tried to lie to my family and to myself.
But deep down I felt the winds of change, like I felt fate wrestle the wheel. The shaman hadn't sent me out for a stone. She'd sent me to find this woman.
Fangs and fur.
I let my hold slip and my dragon rushed in. The wolf’s gaze widened. My big black eyes reflected in her emerald stare. Her shoes squeaked as she stumbled a step farther from me, and another, and another. Don’t frighten her. Don’t make her run.
Her top lip trembled as it curled. White enamel sparkled. H
er breaths were harsh, drawing in my scent. Too deep. Now she’d fear me.
“What are you?”
Her question hung in the air while I tried to find the answer. But there were no words for what we were—not now—maybe not ever.
We were an abomination.
We were the monsters even the wolves needed to fear. We were death. We were destruction. Because of all those things, we were always and forever, alone.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” I edged forward. “I only want to help.”
A whimper slipped her lips. She shuffled backward. I was forcing her wolf into a corner. The thought sliced neatly through my ribs and punctured that cold, dead organ inside. She doesn’t know what you are. Stop scaring her.
I ran my tongue along my lips and edged one step closer. My fingers tingled. I could almost reach her… almost touch her.
I kept my voice steady while inside, a storm unleashed, threatening to bring me down. I stumbled under the weight, grasping the end of the bed and forced out the words. “Let’s try this again. This time I want the truth. Who were you running from and why the hell are you so scared?”
Tell him. What if he can help me?
It’s too late. It's already done.
The beta wolf of the Echo packs voice tore through my head. You want your freedom, girl? I clenched my fist at the memory. Then make it quick. Make it brutal. Your sister’s waiting.
It’s just a dream… it’s just a dream. No matter how hard I tried to block the sound, his voice slipped through the cracks. Kill the alpha and it’ll be over.
“You okay? Did you hear me?”
I flinched as a voice shattered the illusion. I lifted my head to the manic driver’s dark, furrowed brow. His lips parted, but I couldn’t hear a sound. I followed the movement. Fire burned in this man’s eyes. But it wasn’t the soft glow of embers. A raging fireball danced within the endless black. The flames twisted and turned like they were alive.
“Yes.” I whispered.
Not wolf and not my pack. Those words filled me. And yet, if he wasn’t wolf, then, what was he? Skinny, that’s what he is. Skinny and sick.