Dear Onyx,
Long time no see. I have taken your creature in the hopes that you’ll visit. It’s not enough for even a snack, so I’m not sure why your scent is clearly all over it. But since you value it, I have taken it.
If you want it, come find me.
Emerald
“What does it mean?” she asked Ran.
Ran blinked a few times. “I think it means another dragon has just woken up.” He looked at Melissa. “Shit. Draven.” He grabbed both Erin and Melissa and bolted for the front door. “We need to go.”
“What do you mean?” Erin asked after they made sure Jen locked the door behind them and then ran for the car. When they were safely buckled in, Ran hit the gas, peeling out onto the road.
“If he’s tracking Zach by scent, the next place he’s going is probably our place. And Draven is there alone. He’s a strong dragon, but we don’t know anything about these new ones. And if it’s anything like I’ve heard, we’re in trouble.”
She touched the ring on her finger. If only Zach were here, he’d know what to do. He’d probably know who this “Emerald” person was.
Hadn’t he said all of his kind were named for gemstones? And judging from the note, she’d been right to guess he was Onyx?
Ran picked up a phone and began dialing as he drove. “Draven?” he asked. “Good. Stay in the house. We’re coming. … No, I can’t talk about it right now. But we’re on our way. There might be another awakened dragon, though. Loose this time. No collar. Be careful.” He sighed. “May be some sort of mind control element. Insane, I know.” He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. Stay safe. See you soon.”
And then he was back to driving.
Erin just hoped Bo was okay. And wished Zach had left a way to contact him. For a second, she looked at his ring, wondering if that made it possible. But it just sparkled at her. Just a black stone in a gold band. No magic power there.
Just hopes and wishes.
For now, she wished Bo and Draven were okay and that all of them could come out of this safely.
She held on tight as Ran continued to drive.
Zach had nearly finished dinner with the oracle, updating her on what had happened in the human world so she could help him with Erin, when the phone rang from her office.
Only dragons called her there.
His heart jumped, wondering if perhaps Ran and Draven were calling for Erin. Maybe she was asking him not to go to sleep. Or maybe she was telling him to screw off.
The oracle walked out of the room and over to her office and picked up the phone.
He followed her and immediately could tell from the look on her face that whatever she’d just heard wasn’t good.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
She put up a finger. “Draven, slow down. What’s going on?”
Zach took a step forward, desperate to hear what was being said on the phone. Had something happened to his mate?
“What do you mean someone is there? … No, no, don’t give them the phone. Draven, what is going on with you? Draven, come back here…”
Zach swallowed. Something was wrong. It wasn’t like any of the dragons to ignore a command from the oracle.
The oracle’s face went dark as she listened to the phone. “That won’t work on me, asshole.” She scowled. “What do you want with Zach? How did you get free?”
Zach’s heart turned to ice. Already, he was starting to form an idea of what was happening. This reminded him of something from his other life. Something he didn’t like at all.
Someone he didn’t like at all.
The oracle slowly lowered the phone at her side, looking at Zach as if she didn’t know what to tell him. Then she handed it over. “Stay calm.”
Zach promised himself he would as he put the phone up to his ear.
“Onyx, baby,” a low, toxic voice said. “Been searching for you.”
“Aegis.” The emerald dragon. “What do you want?”
“Revenge,” he said. “Thought you’d run free and just leave me in cryo? Me and the rest of your kind?”
Zach swallowed. “What do you want? Where are you?”
“Somewhere nice. I might take over here after I have the residents in my control. After questioning Draven, I’m a bit excited to know I might be meeting your mate.”
Zach’s fists crushed the marble of the desk he leaned on. “Don’t you touch her.”
“Oh, I’m scared,” Aegis mocked.
Zach winced because he sounded a lot like he had when he first woke up. All he really remembered about the other dragon was they’d never gotten along and Emerald had a cruel streak.
Not that he was the worst thing around.
“I have your pet,” he said, putting the phone near something that let out a little mew.
“Bo,” Zach grated out. “If you do anything to him…”
“Hurting a three-legged kitten? Where’s the fun in that?” Emerald said. “Unless it hurts you…”
“Don’t,” Zach said. “What do you want?”
“Fight me,” Emerald said. “Fair this time. It’s time we settled this.”
“You wake up for the first time in hundreds of years, and that’s what you want? Another fight?” Zach said, exasperated.
Emerald just laughed. “I want to kill you. I want to rule this world. But I’ll settle for seeing you again, after all this time.” Then he hung up with a click.
Rage coiled in Zach’s stomach as he ran for the front doors.
“You’re flying, right?” the oracle said.
Zach nodded.
“I can get you there faster. There’s a portal,” she said. “I’m the only one who uses it, but we have no time.” She led him to a door he’d never seen before, and when she opened it, he saw a swirling purple vortex. “When you get there, you’ll still have a ways to fly. You must do it quickly. While you’re gone, I’ll try to figure out how this happened. The cryo lab was supposed to be extremely secure. Someone has betrayed us.”
Zach nodded, but deep down, he didn’t care what was happening. All he cared about was that his mate, and Bo, were safe.
Luckily, Aegis had said he didn’t have Erin yet, so hopefully, he still had time to get there before that happened.
He’d do everything in his power to make it so.
16
Everything was eerily quiet as they drove up to the mansion at top speed to check on Draven.
Ran’s panic was palpable as he pulled up the circular driveway and launched out of the vehicle, telling Melissa and Erin to stay in the car.
Luckily, Rin was sitting beside them in the car, strapped into a car seat, so he wasn’t at home with whomever was stalking them.
Erin looked at Melissa and Rin worriedly.
She knew whoever had taken Bo would probably also be tracking her. How long until he followed her scent to the car?
“I’m going in,” she said.
Melissa’s eyes went wide. “No. Let Ran and Draven handle it.”
“I get the feeling this is a little beyond them,” Erin said. “And if he’s going to hunt me, I want to make sure Rin is safe.”
When Melissa seemed unsure, Erin put her hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “Listen, I know you’re a dragon heart, too, and you want to help. But your son needs you most. Protect him.”
Melissa nodded, putting an arm around her son. “Be careful. And remember, I have healing power, so if someone is hurt…”
“I will,” Erin said. Then she darted out of the car and shut the door quietly before running out of sight of the front door to hide behind a nearby column.
She heard angry voices from inside and peeked around the corner to see in.
There was a handsome man there, dressed all in green, looking a little ridiculous but handsome nonetheless. He had blond hair, lighter than Ran’s, and astonishingly green eyes, visible even from here.
He was staring at Draven, who seemed frozen in place, and then his eyes turned to her.
&
nbsp; Ran also was unmoving, though he began to yell something at the man in green as Erin took off running around the side of the house.
The other man was after her; that much she was sure of.
She ran as hard as she could over the plush green grass that led to the forest. Perhaps she could hide there.
Then she heard someone call out, “Stop now, human.”
She kept running, a shiver moving over her as she nearly tripped on a stick. Footsteps approached her. And someone cursing. But she kept running. If that thing was going to chase her, she was at least going to try and get it as far away from her friends as possible.
“Stop! I command you to stop!” the voice called.
She almost laughed at how frustrated he sounded. She guessed he was used to getting his way. Was he the one who’d used mind control on Jen to get Bo?
She whipped around to take a look at him just as he blew a cloud of green mist her direction. She screamed and covered her face, but it just passed around her as if an invisible bubble kept it from touching her.
She stopped in shock. What was going on?
“Stop, human,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She was too tired to sprint anymore anyway, so she whirled to face him. Plus, she was emboldened by the fact that he hadn’t been able to affect her as he had the others.
“What do you want?” she asked. “Where’s Bo?”
“This?” he asked, holding up a bag that was moving.
She narrowed her eyes in anger. “You monster.”
“He’s comfortable,” green dude said. “Maybe a little pissed.”
“What on earth do you want? What are you doing here?” She looked over his odd, old-fashioned clothing. “Are you from Zach’s time?”
“Zach?” the man asked, raising an eyebrow. “Is that what he goes by? Funny. So modern. So nice of him to go around adjusting to life while the rest of us are frozen solid.”
“It wasn’t his decision,” she retorted.
“I know,” the man said. “And I’ll deal with the old woman on my own time. For now, I’m awake and I’m free, and I can run this whole damn world if I want to.” He looked around him, stretching his long arms to the sky. “It is a great time to be a dragon.”
Ran and Draven came running toward them across the lawn. Though this man wasn’t as big as Zach, he was still huge and intimidating. Plus, there was an evil look in his eyes, one of someone with unbridled power who doesn’t mind using it to get whatever they want.
“Oh, look, the cavalry has arrived.”
She looked at her new friends. “Don’t,” she said. “He can’t affect me. Just stay safe.”
Ran and Draven stopped, looking shocked.
The man in green scowled and looked at her hand. “Give me that ring.”
“No,” she snapped.
“Give it to me,” he demanded, walking forward.
“No!”
He reached her and grabbed for her hand, causing Ran and Draven to run forward again. But they were stopped when the man holding her put up a hand and said, “Stop.”
How on earth could he do that?
She saw him gathering up green mist at his hands and looked at them in alarm. “Watch out!”
A golden shield went up over them, emanating from Draven, shimmering in the light, just as the wave of green mist hit them, coming from the man’s hands and breath.
He sighed in disappointment. “You’re a pain in my ass, you know that?” He tugged on the ring again. “Dammit. Dragons aren’t supposed to give these up. You really are his mate, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” She lied. If she was going to die today, she was going to do it owning what she felt about him.
Love. Possession. Tenderness.
“Oh, stop your disgusting thoughts. I can hear them.” He put up a talon. “Fine, if I can’t get it off, maybe I can cut it off.”
She winced back as a stream of dragon fire came toward them. Or was it fire? It was black and shimmery, as if made from many tiny black diamonds, and it filled the air, making it impossible to see as they all ducked for cover.
When she stood, she saw a shimmering black shield hovering over her and her friends, separating them from the green guy.
“Aegis,” Zach’s voice said as a giant creature landed in front of them.
So that was his dragon.
Giant, shimmering, the size of a large house. A long, elegant neck, huge glittering wings crusted with black gems that shone in the light.
Deadly red eyes that glared at the man he’d just called Aegis.
Somehow, someway, he’d managed to come back for them.
Since her captor had been separated from her by the cloud of black gems, she was able to run to Ran and Draven and join them behind Draven’s gold shield.
“I’m sorry,” Draven said, gritting his teeth. “When he told us to stop, we had to.”
“Fucking dragons,” Ran said, irritated. “Those are some freaking unfair powers.”
“Totally unbalanced,” Draven said. “Are Melissa and Rin safe?”
She nodded. “They’re safe. I told her to stay there with the car locked. I don’t think he cares about them. He’s only obsessed with anything involving Zach.”
“Must be an old grudge match,” Draven said.
They watched as Aegis walked back, looking up at Zach’s dragon.
“Well, look at you,” Aegis said sarcastically. “All big and bad again. I’d heard you were stuck on a leash.”
“Unfortunately for you, not any longer,” Zach said. He blew another black cloud in the direction of his opponent, but the man was no longer there.
Instead, he was growing into a giant, dark-green dragon, covered in jeweled scales so shiny they almost looked translucent. His wings were a beautiful blue-green hue, but his eyes were a toxic-looking yellow.
He laughed, and the sound made Erin want to cover her ears and never hear again.
“So it comes down to this, hundreds of years later. You and me again.”
“Don’t you ever get tired of this?” Zach asked. “Don’t you ever want something more?”
Aegis shook his head. “More than treasure and power? I don’t think so.” He grinned. “You have no idea what is coming. You and the others. The one who freed me has plans for you. It’s going to get fun.”
“Not for you,” Zach said, rising to his full height. He lifted into the air, and Aegis did as well. They circled, making the grass and trees bend away from the force of the wind they generated.
Erin put her hands up, watching her mate. He was breathtaking. She’d wondered if she’d be scared when she saw him, but she was only in awe.
And so glad he was here.
And even in a form unlike anything she’d seen before, she still felt so much tenderness for him.
Be careful, Zach, she thought.
He looked at her for a moment, and she knew he’d heard her.
But Aegis took that moment to send a bright, fiery blaze of green and yellow fire flying at him.
Zach beat his wings, sending the poison back, and flew higher, spiraling into the air. Aegis watched for a moment and then flew up toward him, and those on the ground all watched in rapt attention as the two dragons collided in the air, wrapping together and beating their wings as talons and fangs clashed.
She held her breath, one hand over her face, as she saw one dragon getting closer.
It was green.
She put her arms up, bracing herself, as it came screeching toward them, opening his mouth to spit fire, and then suddenly stopped as a black cloud caught him from behind, engulfing him.
The cloud came closer, the dragon possibly inside it, and then stopped, and something black fell to the ground with a thunk.
The ground shook, and Erin and Ran and Draven let out a pent-up breath.
They looked over to see the shape of a man encased in shimmering black stone.
The giant black dragon that was Zach landed behind him and
transformed.
He was wearing the same clothes he’d worn when he left, and he stumbled to his knees for a second before pushing himself back up. He walked over to the black shape on the ground and roughly tore off the part of the shell over the head, baring Aegis’s face.
Aegis looked furious. “No fair. You’re always using diamond power to contain my dragon. It’s cheap, and you know it.”
“What’s cheap is coming back to life and attacking a kitten and a human as fast as you can,” Zach retorted, punching the other man across his jaw.
Aegis spat and shook his head. “You like this, don’t you? Punching someone helpless.”
“When it’s you? Always.”
Erin cocked her head in confusion.
“You can all come out now. I used diamond to force him into his smallest form. He can’t even draw dragon breath right now.”
The man glared at them malevolently.
Erin couldn’t tell if this was truly someone evil or just a stupid rivalry.
Ran and Draven walked up cautiously, looking nervous about the whole situation.
“I’m going to check on Mel and Rin,” Draven said, and Ran nodded.
Ran walked forward slightly in front of her as they approached the two ancient dragons.
Zach was still so breathtakingly handsome.
He stepped in front of Aegis, looking at her worriedly, and she couldn’t resist running into his arms.
She couldn’t think of her anger or fear at this moment, just how happy she was to see him again, awake and alive and there for her as he’d always said he would be.
His arms closed around her, feeling like home, as they always did, and she tried not to cry at how wonderful it felt.
“Bo!” she said, pulling back, and Zach looked over the grass to a little black dome.
Together, they ran over to it while they heard Aegis struggling with his prison, Ran watching over him.
She knelt by the little dome as Zach lifted it up to look under it. The tiny kitten trembled, then sniffed the air and leapt into Zach’s lap.
She sighed and sat next to them, leaning on Zach’s shoulder, and felt her body sag in relief. She reached over to run a finger over Bo’s soft head as he let out tiny, indignant meows, as if he, too, were upset Zach had left.
Onyx Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 1) Page 12