by Jaymin Eve
A blast of energy shot us all back; it took all of my strength to keep hold of Mischa. My entire body was aching as I reached up to push my hair from my face. The rod remained lodged in the center of the compass symbol, the vibration increasing, the walls around us shaking. Lemon had fallen next to me.
“What have you done?” I screamed over the noise.
She smiled, her teeth a little bloodstained, but her joy apparent. “We freed the king.”
“What?” My whisper was lost in the noise. “But we still have a few days.”
She heard the last part, flashing those bloody teeth at me again. “That thousand years had nothing to do with Larkspur, and everything to do with you.”
I know I was straining to hear her over the noise, but did she just say it was to do with me?
“Just before he was captured he sent out his energy to touch one shifter. To be his mate. Your blood was the key to him rising.” She dropped her head back with a clunk. “We fulfilled our calling. Larkspur will rule again.”
Larkspur? Why had no one ever told me that was the king’s name? I thought for sure his first name was “dragon” and his last “king,” since that was the only way he was ever referred to. And seriously, was I really supposed to believe that the thousand year thing was about me?
I coughed as the burning on my stomach continued to thrum. It was painful, but I also knew it meant my family was on their way. I just had to hold out long enough until help arrived.
The grinding rumble grew louder, and my odds of holding out had just dropped dramatically. The compass emblem was spinning, in a blur of speed too fast for me to track. Within seconds the mark was unrecognizable. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this compass was a doorway to somewhere else. I was just praying the damn king didn’t step through. I’d hold on to the faint hope the bitch twins had made a mistake.
The portal opened and natural light flooded over the dirty stone floors. I was transfixed, staring into the land which lay on the other side. It reminded me of the otherness of Faerie, but not the Faerie land I had been to. This one was desolate, barren, dead. The heat which had been alternating with the cold winds was now more pronounced than ever. The small section I could see … flashes of black glinted off the red planes, and then … roars exploded across the hall. Oh God, it was so loud, my eardrums felt as if they were about to explode.
The hole in the wall was widening, the landscape beyond becoming clear. I could see out into the fiery world of red rock and lava falls.
“Where the hell is that?” I bit out, not really asking anyone in particular.
Lemon answered. “That’s the land between, the dead zone. It is the place of banishment for those too evil for the prisons.”
What the actual freak? I swallowed loudly. “You’d better shift your ugly old ass up and get that shit closed. What sort of creatures will you be letting in?”
“We only allow the king. He was called.”
Our conversation was cut off when Orange dragged herself across the floor, halting beside Mischa. She reached out a hand and touched my sister’s ribs. In a rapid movement I shot out my free hand and gripped her around the throat.
“What, the eff, are you doing?” My voice was low, soft. I was already planning her murder in my head.
“Sealing the wound,” she choked out around my hold. ”I’m tired of slipping in her blood.”
I tightened my grip enough to leave a decent bruise. Orange said nothing. Eventually I had to let her go; I wanted Mischa repaired. I kept a close eye, making sure she did nothing but close the wound.
She was fast, her power leaving tingles on my tongue as it coated the room. But she did as she said, the wound was sealed. My sister was deathly white as I reached out and felt for her pulse. It was weak, erratic. I hoped she would be okay now that her blood was staying on the inside. Plus she was marked, she couldn’t die from blood loss, could she?
I must have murmured something about that out loud, because Lemon snorted. “The king is free, all marked can now die.” She took great delight in telling me this.
Say what? What happened to our immortality? And more importantly, if the marked could die…
“I guess that means you both can die now too.” I gently set my sister aside, standing in a smooth motion. Shit was about to get real.
I was preparing to launch in their direction when a deep voice shattered the room. “You might be my beloved, but I cannot have you hurt my daughters.” The powerful timbre echoed off the rock and froze my feet to the spot.
Dread settling heavily in my gut, I turned, hoping like heck I was wrong, but somehow I knew who would be stepping through that portal. Sure enough, as I faced my fear, a massive male filled the gateway, blocking the burning world behind him.
He was tall, bigger than any of the Compasses, with dark honey-blond hair and piercing eyes of undetermined color … maybe gray. Dressed all in black, like a weird armor made from … fuck, it looked like scales, which shimmered as he moved. He stepped into the room and I fell to my knees. His power was strong and it was sweet, like a river of honey washing over me. I knew I would drown if this continued, but it was so sweet and tantalizing, I didn’t even care.
Something tapped at a corner of my mind. It took me a few heartbeats to realize it was my dragon. She’d crawled out of her space in my center, her energy now prowling around my head. I didn’t hesitate, reaching for her, knowing she might be my one chance to fight the king. With a flash of ancient energy – power which felt methodically cold, but with a touch of dragon heat – clarity returned to me, clearing the vestiges of the spell I was under. I regained thought, and remembered who I was.
Jessa Lebron, daughter of Jonathon, mate of Braxton, and nothing to do with this imposter.
I rose, my movements calculated. That bastard had rolled me good, but he wouldn’t catch me off guard again. First thing first … had he said Lemon and Orange were his…
“Daughters?” The bitch twins were next to me, one on either side like they were ready to capture me should I run. “You’re the daughters of the dragon king? How is that even possible?”
They had been born years after he had been decapitated. Speaking of, how the heck was his head back on his body? Someone needed to check their sword, because head and neck looked to be firmly attached.
Larkspur decided to answer me. “When I went into battle, I had their mother hidden away and put into a sleep stasis to hide her energy. I did not want her used against me. I planned on releasing her from the spell when I returned.” A cold anger washed over him, freezing the brutal planes of his face. “I never returned, so the spell lasted a very long time. Eventually it wore off. She was pregnant at the time.”
I curled my lips at the pair. These lying hags had been doing their father’s duties for too many years now. “You also called me ‘beloved.’ You had a mate … and I already have a mate. I am not your anything.”
I spat the last lot of words at him. My dragon roared at the same time; she did not like the dragon king. I wasn’t sure when it had happened, probably a long time ago, but she was attached to Braxton. She had chosen him and so had I. And as if I had summoned him, there was a shout from behind me. The spot on my stomach pulsed and I knew help had arrived.
But I was afraid now. I couldn’t let him hurt my family.
When the king’s gaze finally lifted from me, his cold eyes trailing across the powerful group which were moving along the tunnel toward us, I took the opportunity and lunged for him, pulling a blade from my boot. The king’s gray eyes flicked back just in time. He rolled backwards, catching me in his arms, my knife buried to the hilt in his chest.
“I knew you couldn’t resist me.” His tone and smile was all charm, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and I found the lack of dimples disconcerting.
“Jessa!” Braxton’s roar shook the foundation of the stone around us. “Get away from him!”
Easier said than done, Larkspur had me firmly locked in his muscul
ar arms and he was making no move to release me. I kicked out, aiming for his balls, because that might be my one chance to cause him pain. Judging by the lack of reaction to the dagger, he was immune to most hurts. But testicles were sensitive for even the toughest of males.
He laughed as I struggled, his hold tightening until I couldn’t breathe.
“Let her go, Larkspur,” said Louis, energy gathered in his hands. I noticed that my dad had shifted into a wolf.
Maximus stepped forward. He was all vamped out – wait, what were the other Compasses and Grace doing here? My eyes flicked down to Mischa … Grace was here and she could save her.
Jonathon must have had the same idea. He sprinted forward, his four legs faster than any of us on two, bit down on Mischa’s jacket, dragging his daughter back to safety. No one stopped him. The bad guys did not care for that particular twin anymore, she had no further use. Me, on the other hand, well, I was the king’s freaking mate or something.
Not in this fucking lifetime
The king loosened his hold again. “I am not your mate, I already have a mate,” I repeated as soon as I had enough breath. I couldn’t take my eyes off Braxton. He looked like he was about to tear apart the entire place. He was ten feet from us, I think afraid the king would hurt me if he moved closer.
“You mean the shifter?” Larkspur eyes turned the color of a stormy night sky, dark with flickers of starlight dotted around. “If you forsake that mateship and stay with me, I will spare their lives. As the only dual shifter in existence, you have to make a choice. You have two mates, but there can only be one.”
How did he know I was a dual shifter? Was my ability something to do with the king?
“I choose Braxton,” I spat at him. “Always and forever.”
I locked in on my Compass, his blue eyes were hard and so bright I almost couldn’t look at them.
The dragon king laughed. “It’s not as simple as that. The fates expect you to give us equal time to determine true mates. You have had twenty-two years with Braxton, so I deserve the same chance.”
Lie. He was lying about that, and I was astonished he didn’t have the power to mask the fluctuation of hormones.
Louis strode forward, spells gathered in his hands. Tyson was right by his side and I knew they were combining their power to create a bigger spell. I didn’t even care if they killed me to get to the king, the supernatural community needed to be protected.
I locked eyes with my best friends – I included Louis in that group now. “Do it. Take him out.”
Larkspur chortled again. The sound was going to feature heavily in my nightmares from now on. “Not today, my fellow magic users. I’m going to take my mate and leave. Play nice with my daughters.”
“Father!” Orange screamed. “They will kill us.”
He threw them both a hard look. “If you’re weak enough to be killed at the hand of these pathetic youngsters, then I have no need for you.”
Despite his earlier entreaty not to kill his daughters, he truly didn’t give a shit about them. He dismissed them with a coldness that told everyone present how dead he was inside. He had no emotion, no caring. He would destroy the world to gain what he wanted.
I screamed then as power descended over the room, and if I thought he’d rolled me before, that was nothing on now. The tantalizing sweetness of the honey flowed again, filling me, drowning my senses. Locked in the arms of a psychotic dragon-shifter-sorcerer, I knew he was about to take me off to worlds unknown. The last thing I saw was Braxton’s face, lines of fury on his ancient features. I would have given anything to be in his arms instead of this asshole’s. But I knew he would come for me. The Compasses, Louis, my dad, would never stop, I just had to hold out long enough for them to find me.
Chapter 19
Braxton
Jessa! Mine!
The stone wall magicked itself back to being solid and darkness snapped the world into a fucking hellhole. Need had me throwing my body against the stone. Again. Again.
It crumbled but didn’t give.
I felt the head of the twin closest to me in my hand. She blasted out at me with power, but the dragon was immune. I snapped her neck. A twist, no thought, just action. Her lifeless body fell away.
Yes, they can fucking die!
Everyone needed to die.
Turning, smelling pulsing hearts that my fists wanted to crush the life out of, three bodies threw themselves at me. They were me. I could feel their kinship, their sameness, but they were not Jessa. I pushed them aside, threw them like leaves, and the cave rumbled as they hit the walls.
“Brax,” one of them tried again. I looked harder. “Brax,” Maximus said. “Focus, we have to think. Thinking will find Jessa, not killing.”
I stumbled, letting go of my brother, and my legs collapsed out from under me.
“Jessa.”
The anger inside was like a rushing flood of lava, burning, reshaping, reforming as it moved. Jessa had been gone for no more than five seconds and already I was different, death housed in the body of a supernatural. I wanted blood … I needed blood.
I stood. The blue flames were back, their light flickering off the underground tunnels, off the stunned and furious faces around me. Maximus stepped to my side, Jacob and Tyson on the other, although they kept some distance. I had thrown them away in my initial rage, and my control was not much better now.
My body vibrated, like it did when my dragon was fighting me for control, which he was right now. Thoughts were like blades slicing through my mind … memories … images. The male had her, had laid his hands on her, had touched the one that was mine to protect, mine to cherish. Mine forever.
No one touched my mate.
“What do we do?” Maximus’ voice was shot to shit, graveled as he fought his vampire beast inside. “How the fuck do we get her back?”
My ability to form a coherent sentence was gone. All I wanted to do was fight, and kill. I wanted to rip this world to pieces and continue destroying until someone returned my mate to me.
I roared, lunged again, reaching for anything to smash. But I couldn’t move. Waves of magic surrounded me … enough to slow my movements. It wouldn’t hold me for long.
I locked a male in my gaze. Fucking sorcerer. This had something to do with him, he always knew too much, was always everywhere.
“Where did he take her?” My voice did not sound normal. It was thrumming with energy from my dragon.
To his credit, Louis was the only one who didn’t take a step back, although the strain of holding me showed. Grace was still crouched over Mischa doing whatever she was doing to save her. I didn’t care. She was another person whose weakness had cost Jessa.
Then I saw the flash of yellow on the floor. Expelling an extra blast of energy, I broke through Louis’ containment spell and strode across to the other twin. I doused the flames before reaching out and slamming my hand around her throat.
“You will take us to the lair of the dragon king.”
Her face was red, bulging as she tried to fight me. But there was no chance. “You. Killed. My. Sister,” she choked out, her eyes filled with pain.
“Yes.”
Her eyes rolled back in her head a little. With reluctance I loosened my grip.
“I will never tell you,” she gasped and wheezed.
I felt Maximus at my back. “Oh, you will, you will be begging to tell us this information.” Vampire was riding my brother. “I’m laying down the odds now. Ten hours.”
Jacob snorted. “If Braxton remains like this, I’m going with two hours.”
I lifted my lips. The grin released some of the insanity I was holding inside. For the first time the twin seemed to fear me. She knew now. I was going to take her apart, piece by piece.
“Eight minutes,” I said, and she looked blank. “That’s how long it will take to have you begging for death. You are going to die, that’s a given, but the amount of pain you experience before leaving this earth, that is completely up
to you.”
My brothers fell in beside me, the four of us linking again. Our calling thrummed through us, the impulse to fight the king. He had our Jessa, and blood would rain across the world until we got her back.
Please, if you loved this book, could you do me a huge favor and post a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Reviews are so valuable to independent authors and I’d appreciate your feedback. Thank you for all the love and support, I have been totally blown away by the total love-fest toward Jessa and the Compasses. I heart you all a lot! – Jaymin J
About the Author
Jaymin Eve loves surrounding herself with the best things in life: a good book, chocolate and her two little girls. She's been writing for about ten years and now it's settled into her blood and she can't get it out. Not that she wants to.
She’d love to hear from you, so find her at
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JayminEve.Author
Mailing list: www.jaymineve.com
Email: [email protected]
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19