by Honor James
“Doesn’t make much sense,” Ladon said. He wasn’t talking to her, though, he was looking right at Viper.
Viper was looking at her, though, his black eyes with the splinters of silver never blinking. “No, it doesn’t. Drakos would have known of the prophecy, so why send us now?”
“It means he actually knows what the prophecy says, which isn’t what you’ve told us.” Ladon was talking to her again. “We need to see the prophecy, Your Highness. Because I have a feeling there’s more to this than you, we, all realize. Though I didn’t even know about a prophecy until just now, so you are still one up on us.”
“Drakos does know of the prophecy. It was the last prophet of the Draygon people that gave it to me. Our peoples have always been connected. He has kept my secrets, and I have kept his. However, it’s time for me to go back. Time for me to accept fate, because it’s the only way that the Draygon peoples will have children once more.”
Both men were staring at her hard. “What the hell are you talking about?” Ladon asked sharply. “No way is one life tied into the fate of a Race having children. Even I know that’s insane, for the love of the Gods.”
“But that’s where you are wrong,” Violet whispered. “As I said, I know just why there are no more births. It was hard to figure out. It was something I had to unravel, and it took me a long time, but I have figured it out. Everything is connected, Ladon, in some way, somehow and some shape. Everything is connected.”
“I still call bullshit,” he muttered.
Viper got to his feet suddenly, his nostrils flaring, and he let out a low growl.
“Ah, hell,” Ladon groaned. Tugging on her hand, he pulled her to stand. “Grab your things, now. We need to go as soon as he gives the signal.” He turned as Viper headed for the door and slid out. “Seriously? Dude, no killing anyone! Damn it,” he muttered.
Violet once more slipped her cloak on and covered her head. Grabbing her bag, she looked up at Ladon. “Let’s do this. It’s time for us to get ourselves as scarce as we can get. We need to make it to the Draygon Realm as fast as we can.” She was very hopeful that they would be able to get there faster than the moon was slipping from the skies.
Ladon slipped the bag from her hand and hooked it over his head, moving it so it rested on his back. “No matter what, stay close to me. Do not, for even an instant, leave my side. If we are attacked, I want you to stay one foot behind me on my left side, no more and no less. We clear, Your Highness?”
“We are clear,” she said and watched him. “Are you sure about this? About getting involved with me?” She asked softly. “Because you know just how dangerous that it will be, right? To be a part of my life.”
He shot her a look before sliding his arm around her shoulders. Hugging her to his side, he grinned down at her. “I’m a Draygon, I live for this shit, Your Highness. Don’t even worry about it. Though we will have Viper clearing out most of the danger. He tends to get downright pissed when someone tries to hurt someone in his care. Usually I don’t have to do much. Hell, the last time we were guarding someone, I had the time to give myself a manicure while he beat the shit out of the gang of Luhpynes dumb enough to go for our charge.”
“Ah, gotcha.” Violet shouldn’t feel hurt, she really shouldn’t, but she did. “So, I’m just a charge. Someone that’s in your care? Someone under your protection because your King asked you to watch over me?”
“Really? You’re going to go there?” Sighing, Ladon turned to face her, cupping her face gently as he leaned in. “You’re our mate. That makes you more special, more precious than I can tell you, Violet King. We’re trying to stay objective, though, which means we’re trying not to think of the fact that we apparently just signed your death warrant. So forgive me if I phrase things incorrectly during this rather high stressed moment in time.”
“Okay. You are forgiven.” She would forgive him anything if he was touching her, and she knew it. There was just something that had to do with him touching her that had her aching and desperate. “Gods.” She breathed in slightly and moved her cheek slightly so that she could bury closer to his hand. “I like that. A lot. Having you touching me.”
Ladon slipped one hand off her face and around her back, pulling her into a hug, leaving the other on her cheek. “All you have to do is ask, Your Highness. I’ll gladly touch you however you wish, wherever you wish,” he said, his voice getting deeper at the end.
“Call me Vi,” Violet whispered. “Drop the Highness part. We are to be mates.” She shivered in reaction to his voice, the touch, everything. “Then I’m asking you to touch me often,” she whispered and rubbed her cheek to his touch. “Please?”
“Deal, Vi,” he whispered intimately. She felt him nuzzling the top of her head as he squeezed her closer. Then he went still, his head lifting, and when she looked up, she saw him staring out the front window. She couldn’t see what he did, but the tension rose in the muscles pressed against her. “We need to go, now. Viper’s taken out a lot, but there are more coming. Son of a bitch.”
“A lot of what?” She asked with shock. “What do you mean?” she demanded. “I don’t understand.” She had thought she was safe. She had thought that they had more time. She was wrong. “Okay, let’s go,” she whispered. “I don’t want him hurt, not now and not ever.”
“Oh, he’s not the one hurting,” he muttered. Taking her hand in his, he led her to the front door. “Remember, stay to my left at all times. We’re going to slip out into the shadows of the door so I can figure out what’s going on out here. Depending on the situation, we may need to run. Be ready and keep your hood up high, sweetheart.”
“Okay,” she said quietly. “I will. Trust me. I’m trusting in you as well,” she told him quietly. “Don’t worry, I’ve learned to keep my hood up and stay hidden.” She once more squeezed his hand and then let go. She took a deep breath and shifted to his rear left.
“Good.” He shot her a smile and a wink. Pulling the door open a little, he whipped it open in the next moment and urged her through. Shutting it quietly behind them, he pressed her to the side of the house in the deep shadows. Before them, Viper was taking on three very large men, spinning, ducking, and lashing up occasionally. Not once did his opponents land a blow. Ladon pointed to their left and urged her to move, never saying a single word.
Violet watched the large Draygon fighting off the men that were attacking him. “Shouldn’t you help him?” she whispered. At his look, she sighed. “Okay,” she whispered and then fell into line at his back, just to his left.
At the corner of the house, he paused to look around. He then pointed to a vehicle as he looked at her. “That’s where we’re going,” he said very quietly. His voice barely reached her ears but the message was clear. He turned to look back at Viper and gave a short double whistle. It was obviously a signal, because Viper drew a blade from somewhere and ended the fight quickly. He spun around slowly, spotted them, and jogged toward them as he tucked the large blade out of sight. Ladon was already moving for the truck.
Violet realized that Ladon and Viper moved so that she was between them. She looked back at Viper and then forward to Ladon. She reached out and touched her hand to Ladon and then moved away so that she could stay where she needed to be.
At the vehicle Ladon went to the driver’s door and got in. Viper opened the front passenger seat and gave her a boost up into the seat, shutting the door right behind her. He slid into the back, taking her bag from Ladon as he started the vehicle and got them moving quickly.
“How many were there?” Ladon asked, his eyes on the road, watchful of everything.
“Besides those three?” Viper asked. Ladon gave a nod. “Another half dozen that won’t be returning home. We need to alert Drake so he can smooth this over with the AEDA. They were all Luhpyne and Vhampire, but he’s going to have to warn Drakos as well.”
“We’ll do that when we’re closer to the Veil. Our units don’t like being this far out,” Ladon muttered. “
Which portal do you figure?”
“Go for the southern one, it’ll be the easiest to slip through. And it’s closest to Drake’s place so we won’t have a lot of ground to cover before we have his guards watching over us as well.”
“Drake, Drakos’s son?” Violet asked now. “Why are we going for him? Why would we not go to Drakos?” She hadn’t yet realized what had changed in the Draygon world. “However, that would be good. To get across sooner rather than later,” she whispered. “I can open the Veil where we need.” Being one of the highest Echelons of the Royals had that advantage.
“Drake is King,” Ladon told her as he drove through the outskirts. “For a number of reasons, most of which I doubt we’ll ever know, Drakos decided now was the time to abdicate the throne. Drake was sworn in about two days past.”
“He’s a good man,” Violet whispered. “Drake. I only knew him for a short time before I had to leave,” she said quietly. “He’s a good man, and he’s a great deal like his father. He’s a very good man. He will lead your people and ensure that all is what it needs to be.”
“He is at that,” Ladon said. He sounded distracted, which is when she noticed his eyes kept darting to the rear view mirror. “Uh, Viper,” he said.
“Yeah, I see them. Son of a bitch,” the other man muttered. He was twisted in his seat. “Ladon, get us off this road and away from innocents. I don’t know where the hell they came from, but it’s like we’re broadcasting a signal or something to them.”
“Shit,” Violet whispered. “It’s because we are together. The power that I’ve kept carefully hidden, the lid is off the jar so to speak, now.” From time to time she had felt it trickling out, but hadn’t thought that it was any more than that. Violet had fully believed that she had herself in check. “I can get us through the Veil. We just need to find a place to cross,” she whispered. “You find that and we will get across to safety.”
Ladon shot her a look and nodded. “All right, but this is going to get hairy. We can’t go for the usual spot, Viper. We can’t let them see us use a spot that’s there. Better to have her open us a slot through.”
“I know. Not happy about it though,” he muttered. Viper touched her shoulder. “How quickly can you open a portal, and can you get it closed tight right behind us once we’re through?”
“Five seconds. Just keep them from shooting me if you wouldn’t mind?” She hoped she was teasing. “On the other side I might be a bit useless for a bit of time. Don’t worry though, it’s not the first time I’ve had to do a fast and dirty opening of the Veil and likely won’t be the last.” It took energy to open the Veil, and to do one rapidly, it took even more. “However, with the two of you with me, I don’t know. It might not take that long.” They were like energy boosters to her, which was odd to her, but she rolled with the punches, so to speak.
“You just worry about getting it open and shut. Ladon, you stick to her like glue. If she collapses, you get her up. I’ll worry about your back trail and any that happen to try to follow us through. Once we’re sorted and have no one trying to kill us, we’ll figure out where we ended up and how to get to Drake’s.” Viper squeezed her shoulder, then let go, turning to peer out the back window.
“Sounds good.” Violet looked back at Viper and added, “And don’t add any holes to your body. I happen to want to know just exactly who I have been waiting for all my life.” She hadn’t been a nun, but she was well over four hundred years old and had known that these men would come into her life eventually so it had been a very, very long time. “Besides, if you get hurt I might have to fight back.”
“It takes a lot to hurt a Draygon,” he said. Giving her a look, he reached out to touch her cheek. “If they decide to actually start using bullets, you hide behind Ladon and let him take the hits.”
“Hey!” the other Draygon protested.
“He’ll heal from them, you may not,” Viper said quietly.
“Good point.” Violet sighed. “I might not be as indestructible as the two of you, but I’m not completely helpless. I will get the Veil opened and closed and us through it,” she assured him. “There.” She pointed. “That’s where we will enter. We will take this vehicle with us. We might need it. Or should we leave it and use it as a shield?” She didn’t know which would be best.
“We’re abandoning it,” Ladon said. “Just get us a spot open, Viper will attend to the vehicle so that no one will ever know who was in it.” He was aiming right for the spot she’d picked. When he couldn’t get any closer, he went into a skid and whipped the vehicle around so that her side was to the Veil, leaving Ladon and Viper vulnerable. “Go!” Ladon yelled at her.
Viper tossed her bag to Ladon as he kicked open the door and stepped out to face off with the vehicle. Ladon was racing around their truck toward her. “Go, Vi, go, woman.”
She didn’t hesitate. She raced from the vehicle and reached out before the unseen and unfelt barrier. With a few whispered words the winds kicked up, her cloak whipping around her body and she smiled. “There you are.” She then stepped forward. “Viper, Ladon, hurry.” She was shaking, holding the Veil to her desires as she stood there, waiting on her mates to join her.
Ladon was right there, scooping her up and heading for the breach she’d made. “Hold it, Vi. He’ll be along in a minute, he’s just got to slow these assholes down.”
An explosion made him stumble forward slightly. He spun around, and their vehicle was engulfed in flames as was the one that had been chasing them. Several men were highlighted by the flames, all fighting one figure.
“Crap.” She licked her lips and then reached for her mate, Viper, and tugged him closer to her. “Come on.” She tried to rush him. “Let’s hurry. The Veil will be closing in a second,” she told the man on the other side of the Veil. She felt the Veil wavering, she felt the entire world shivering around her. “Please, let’s hurry.”
“Viper, damn it! Hurry up already,” Ladon shouted to the other man. He held onto her, easing her feet down, but he didn’t let go.
One minute Viper was in the midst of a fight, then an explosion rocked the ground on both sides of the Veil, and he’d vanished. Only to come running through a ball of flame right for them and through the breach. “Close it,” he said.
Violet didn’t hesitate. She did that. She let the Veil fall with a crash around them. She sobbed when she felt the backlash of magic hitting her. “Christ, that hurts.” She had stumbled and would have fallen if not for Ladon holding her up. Yep, it just was not good at this moment to be her.
“I’ve got you, Vi.” Pulling her into a hug, he cupped her cheek in a hand and held her close, his thumb stroking over her skin gently. “Slow your breathing down, sweetheart.”
“Is she all right?” Viper asked. She could feel him at her back a moment, before a hand landed on her hair to stroke gently.
“Backlash from what she did. We need to give her a minute,” Laden said softly.
“That’s fine, I need to figure out where we came through. Stick close to her. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.” Another light stroke to her hair, then the weight of his hand fell away.
Violet leaned into Laden and shivered when she felt a chill at Viper leaving her. “I don’t like this.” She hated opening the Veil, always had. “We will be okay,” she said quietly. “I will be okay,” she assured him. “It just hurts like crazy to do that. The backlash sucks like madness.”
“I know, Vi,” he said softly. Squeezing her closer, he rubbed his hand over her back gently. “We’ll get you back to Drake’s, find a room, and we’ll get you into a hot bath and then to sleep.”
“That sounds like heaven to me.” Violet was leaning heavily against Laden, and had her eyes closed. “This feels nice, though. The last time that I had to open the Veil quickly like that I was down for a full day, but I’m not feeling nearly as exhausted as I was then.”
“Likely helps that you have your mates around,” he said softly. “Here comes Viper,” he t
old her, turning them slowly.
“We’re about an hour from Drake’s if we walk. I suggest we don’t walk. I’d like to get her there sooner than that,” Viper said. He was up behind her again, his heat wrapping around her. “What are your feelings about flying, Your Highness?”
“I would like that as well.” She was leaning against both of them and closed her eyes. “I’ve always loved to fly. I never got to do much of it, however. So yes, I’m good with flying if you know of a way to get me there without dropping me.” She was teasing them, grinning as she did so, because the heat of both men was soaking into her and making her relax, feel at ease, and recharging her far more than she had ever dreamed possible.
“As if we’d drop you,” Ladon said with a snort. “Since Viper’s been doing all the fighting, I’ll do the flying. So hang onto Viper here while I shift, and then we can get into the air.” He stepped back a little and handed her her bag.
“Sounds good to me,” she whispered and shifted easily into Viper’s arms. She had her cheek against his shoulder and closed her eyes. “This feels so very nice. I could become accustomed to this.” She could become very accustomed to having him holding her. Having both of them holding her, actually. She liked it, a lot.
He slid his arms around her, rubbing one over her hands. “Have you ever seen one of us shift?” he asked her quietly. He was turning them slightly to face toward where Ladon was moving to a spot. “Watch,” he said softly.
Ladon wiggled his fingers at her before he took a breath and seemed to just expand.
She watched with fascination as Landon shifted. She could only smile. It was as if gold and silver glitter had fallen from the skies and created a whirlwind around the large man who was now an even larger Draygon. “That’s incredible,” she whispered in awe. “I’ve never seen the Draygon shift, but I’ve seen them shifted. If that makes sense.” She had seen them in both forms, just never how they got from point A to point B.