by Debra Kristi
“Yeah, I think it was.” Sebastian’s lips curled into a crooked grin.
“Don’t move!”
Sebastian and Kyra snapped their heads to the side. They were surrounded by what looked like soldiers. Sebastian recognized the way they were dressed. They looked a lot like the group who had rescued him previously. His chest fluttered and confusion flooded his brain. “What—?”
“Quiet! You weren’t given permission to speak.”
Someone whacked him in the back of the head with the butt of their rifle. The waves of pain rolled through his skull like an earthquake. He spun around and reached for the gun. Tense pain punched through his chest. He slipped and sank to the ground, landing on the wet grass. His whole body exploded with electric pain. He fought against it, wanted to stand up and fight, but couldn’t find the strength. Wires carrying the powerful current clung to the front of him. They lit him up like the carnival fun zone and it hurt like a son-of-a-monster.
Somewhere Kyra was yelling, but he couldn’t see her. There was a barrage of shouts and yells. Too many shots being fired.
A man lowered his face to Sebastian’s. His eyes were dull and lacked the spark of life, but Sebastian recalled him immediately, having seen his mug earlier in the day—in a family portrait. He was Jon Davies, father to Sophie and Alice. This was bad. Extremely bad.
Alice’s father narrowed his gaze directly in on Sebastian. It was commanding, hard. “You are wanted for the murder of Officer Alice Sullivan and Lieutenant Byran Crane.”
Sebastian balked. “You’ve got it all wrong.” He tried to respond. Tried to lift his arm, felt his hands sear with flame.
“No,” Jon Davies said. “You got it wrong when you decided to visit my home.” He leaned into Sebastian’s space, and Sebastian tried to melt into the ground beneath him. “You made an even bigger mistake when you kept Alice’s locket as a kill souvenir.”
Sebastian didn’t even have to reach into his pocket. At the mere mention of the locket, he could feel the weight of it. It pulled at him, wanted to drown him in a forever sea of guilt and sorrow. Damn Reapers. Damn Maras, too. He hated them all. Hated himself for being either, and for being both. “Tell your wife I’m sorry.”
Davies narrowed his stare at Sebastian. The walkie clipped to his belt squawked. Static and hum came to life and announced a flurry of activity at Club Afterlife. Balidhug’s men were on the move. Davies grunted. “He can’t hide from us. Moves again, we’ll find him. Now we have you.” He pushed a foot against Sebastian’s shoulder and rocked him. “You working with the beast, boy?”
“Me? Work with Marcus?”
Yells, then screams, erupted on their right. A deafening roar quaked through the park trees. Men and women flew past them overhead. His accuser looked up, his face widening, eyes bulging. His brow narrowed, his gaze flooding in confusion. Poor guy couldn’t grasp what was happening. Not yet. Sebastian knew. He knew exactly what was going on. Then Davies was gone, knocked away by a large orange tail. Kyra the dragon appeared before him in full water form. She scooped Sebastian up and took off into the night.
Funny how things could end up. It had started with Kyra, the girl who held his heart, rescuing another in a similar manner—sort of. Now it was him she held, and they ran from the people who wanted to destroy the man she’d previously rescued, and who now wanted him dead as well. His life was completely messed up, but at least he had Kyra. For now, anyway.
Or did he?
He bobbed up and down on the shoulder of the big orange beast, feeling woozy. Damn electrocution, damn organized movement, and damn two Kyras.
Wait. Sebastian rubbed his head. Why were there two Kyras? He narrowed his eyes, stared at the girl running behind them. “Kyra?”
“Slow down, Mom. You’re moving too fast.”
Mom! What? He’d gone to see her father and failed. How had her mother gotten here? Sebastian tried to turn, get a better look at the dragon holding him. He slipped. Everything went black.
Sebastian’s eyes sprang open, his body already bounding off the bed. “Kyra?”
Chelsea’s hand pressed against his chest and pushed him back to the bed. “She’s fine. She’s outside arguing with her mother.” Chelsea rolled her eyes. “You, sir,” she shoved her pointer finger at him, “shouldn’t move so fast. You’ve had a tough time of it recently.”
Sebastian shook the fatigue off. He felt fine. Taking a mental inventory of his faculties, he really did feel good. Interesting, considering what he’d recently been through. “I’m fine, Chelsea.” He grabbed her hand, then paused. Stared at her, searching her eyes.
She pulled away, looked away. “Something wrong?”
“No.” He said the word hesitantly. “For a minute, you didn’t feel like…” He decided not to finish the thought. He didn’t want to concern her. Not until he understood what was going on with the girl.
“What, Sebastian? Feel like what?”
“Nothing.” He sat up, felt inside his pocket and found the locket still there. He pulled it out and stared at the scrolling A on the front. Round and gold and a bit dinged-up. The only thing special about it was its sentimentality. Sebastian opened it, sought the pictures Alice kept close to her heart.
Sebastian stared at the open locket exposed in his palm. Stared at the miniature tracking device expertly placed within.
Shit.
He dropped the locket on the bedside table.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
That was how Davies and his men had found Sebastian and Kyra in the park. Were they tracking them even now? Tracking them all the way to the carnival? Could Jon Davies and his group of soldiers find a portal to lead the way?
Sebastian lifted his table lamp and slammed it down on the locket with a mighty force, smashing the tracker to bits. He looked up at Chelsea’s stunned face. “You said Kyra was outside?” He stood and walked right past Chelsea, out the door of his trailer into the night beyond.
Kyra leaned against the wall of the trailer, watching the lights of the carnival. She looked cozy wrapped in her sweater, hands cocooned within the sleeves. At the same time, she looked heartbreakingly distant, lost in thought.
“So, you found your way back to the carnival,” he said, hopeful of what this meant for her memory.
Kyra jumped at the sound of his voice, then turned to face him, her face bright with surprise. “You had me worried.”
“No worries. See? I’m fine.” Sebastian spread his hands to the side to emphasize how fine he was. And he was fine. Never felt better.
Kyra blinked but said nothing.
Sebastian took a step closer. Familiar with her many faces, he could tell something bothered her. He wanted to know what gnawed at her now. “Your mom’s here?”
“Apparently my dad told her where to find me.” She chewed on her lower lip before continuing. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” Sebastian shrugged, but said nothing. Kyra rolled her head. “This whole thing with Marcus has her agitated. She says it’s time. Time for me to make a decision. Do you remember anything about that?” Kyra gnawed on her fingernails.
Sebastian’s brow tightened, weighed down, narrowing his sight. “You don’t?”
“Not really. Vaguely. I remember very little.”
“But you remembered the carnival. You got us back here safely.” He glanced around, feeling a fog of confusion. He noticed Chelsea walking away from the trailer, a bit of huff to her step. Knew there was something about her, something he should be following up on, but he was with Kyra now.
“I didn’t remember the carnival,” Kyra said. “I was running after my mom. She had you, and I didn’t want to lose either one of you. Next thing I knew, we were falling through another one of those things you took me through earlier. A portal, you called it. We ended up here. My mom was not happy, but some old guy—I think his name was Zeke?—he said the carnival brought us here because this was where we were supposed to be.” Kyra looked after Chelsea and pointed. “That blonde g
irl showed us to your place and we got you situated.” Kyra moved in closer, so close their noses were mere inches apart. “She has a thing for you.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Sebastian said and tilted his head, exploring the side of Kyra, memorizing her. “And your dragon? You have water and fire. What will you do?”
Kyra inched closer still. He could feel her breath on his skin. “That’s the thing. I can’t feel my dragon. I don’t know if I can do anything.”
Sebastian felt the tension yank up his spine like a coaster car making the ride’s first climb. “Are you still cold?”
Kyra nodded and pulled her long sweater closed tight around her.
He shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. I saw Kalrapura. We saw Kalrapura. Didn’t you feel the blast of her return?”
Kyra shrugged. “I admit I felt something. But to be honest, all I’ve been able to think about since the day you showed up at my door is you.”
Sebastian turned away. “None of this makes any sense. I cut you to draw Kalrapura back to you.”
Kyra tugged at his arm, pulled him back. “How was that supposed to work, exactly?”
He raked his hand through his hair. Dammit. Why hadn’t it worked? What had he done wrong? He looked up and met her gaze. “The blood, of course. It’s your blood she should be drawn to first. Above all others.”
Kyra bit her lip and nodded.
“Yeah, I. Just don’t—” He stammered, then remembered. “The tooth pendant. Are you still wearing it? Maybe it’s working to suppress her, somehow?”
“What tooth pendant?”
“The one Marcus gave you. You used to wear it before…” Sebastian hesitated.
“Before I lost my memory?” Kyra finished.
He nodded, one quick tilt of the head.
“I haven’t seen anything like what you speak of.”
Sebastian’s brow furrowed and he rubbed at his forehead with his thumb and forefingers. He’d thought it all out so carefully. Where was Kalrapura?
Kyra placed her hand along his cheek and looked deep into his eyes. Her touch was one of warmth and sincerity. “It’s alright. We’ll figure this thing out together. I have faith in you. In us.”
Sebastian cracked half a smile. He wanted to really smile, but in the last hour things had gone from bad to oh-crap. Now he had some serious Mara hunters on his ass, and for the first time he realized something. “I need my dad.”
“What?” Kyra startled.
Sebastian had surprised even himself. “I need to better understand myself if I’m going to protect us from this new threat in our lives. In order to do that, I’ll need my dad.”
“Ah, okay.” Kyra wrapped her arms around him. Sebastian straightened and gazed into her eyes. “I thought,” she paused and sighed, “or hoped, you didn’t want anything to do with him?”
“I don’t, but I’m gonna have to look past that for now.”
“You’re doing that for us?”
Sebastian bowed his head slightly.
“I don’t know how things were between us before I lost my memory, but I know how I want them to be now.” Kyra’s fingers brushed along the edge of his lips.
“How is that?” Sebastian’s hand skimmed along the curve of her neck, slipping up along her jawline, the delicate edge of her ear.
No further words were spoken. Words were unnecessary to express their feelings regarding each other. Their bodies melded into one, her light enveloping his darkness. His night complementing her day. He was cold where she was warmth. They were yin and yang, opposites fitting together in perfect concord and tranquility.
Her dragon raced through him, burned him, and he knew they would solve the puzzle. Kalrapura was there. He could sense her, feel her. Together they would bring her to the surface.
Their kiss was all he had hoped for in a true first kiss, and what he never dreamed they would have. Every part of him—his body, his soul—longed for her. His limbs burned for her. The fire shot through his system like a hellhound on a vengeance mission. He wanted to scream. He only kissed her harder, deeper.
He never knew desire could hurt this way. It prickled across his back and spine, pushing out, wanting more. More Kyra. More everything. He was consumed by her, burned for her.
“Sebastian!”
He heard the scream. Once. Then again. He opened his eyes.
Kyra was on top of him. He was laid out on the ground. His hands were scorched and flames burned from his fingertips. She beat him with a rag. Massive wings, riddled with holes, wrapped out around him.
“She’s in you. The dragon is inside you!” Kyra yelled, and continued to beat at the fire.
No. Sebastian stared up at the night. Somehow, somewhere, something had gone terribly wrong. Could he fix the mistake? Or would he forever be a Reaper and a Mara—and a dragon?
From the author : I hope you enjoyed reading Reap Not The Dragon. Thank you so much for embarking on Kyra and Sebastian’s adventure. I had a blast writing their story! I did it for them and for you―the reader. It’s the readers and reviewers who make up the foundation of our author world and we love you madly for all you do! That being said, I have to ask a favor of you, if you don’t mind. I’d like to invite you to post a review of the book on Amazon or Goodreads. Not only do I love receiving feedback but reviews also help other readers find what they are looking for.
Thanks! Until next time, keep the magic real.
~ Debra Kristi
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The Age of the Hybrid Series is a story within the Mystic’s Carnival Collective (MCC)―a collection of stories sharing a common world written by various authors. If this is your first visit to the collective and would like to explore more, please visit mysticscarnival.com. Like a real carnival, there are many tents to explore and worlds to discover, just inside the gates. All you have to do is step through.
If you missed the start to this exciting tale, get caught up on the full story with book one:
The Moorigad Dragon : The Age of the Hybrid, Book One
If you enjoyed following Kyra and Sebastian’s story through books one and two of the Age of the Hybrid Series, look for the epic conclusion in late January 2016:
Plight of the Dragon: The Age of the Hybrid, Book Three
A gift for you:
Dark Perceptions : A Mystic Carnival Collective Story
Love is stronger than fear…or is it?
The last thing Sara remembers is a conflicted night out with her boyfriend, laying out under the dark night’s sky, Matt. H
ow she came to be seated among the crowd under the Big Top is a mystery to her. When and how did she get there? She doesn’t wait to find out. Whether it’s due to basic fear or the scary, hideous clowns, Sara and Matt run. Run beyond the tent walls into the deep, dark alleys of the carnival. What they find along their mad dash to the parking lot will have them redefining their idea of fun zones, thrill rides and date nights. Fear is an eat-you-alive monster. Refusing to be defined by that monster, they will confront those fears. What they find―
perceptions can be excruciatingly misleading…and some monsters have hidden claws.
Most importantly, I need to thank you―the reader! You are awesome and my stories would be lonely without you. You are everything.
I wouldn’t have made it this far without the amazing team that helped sharpen and shine this fantastical story. You guys rock! Thanks to my tireless editors: Tiffany Turpin Johnson of TJ Writeography, and Shelly Tegen and Holly Kammier of Acorn Editing. Love you guys! Faith Williams of the Atwater Group, hugs! I need you in my corner. And for piecing it all together and making it pop, thank you a thousand times over, Adara Rosalie and Melinda VanLone!
Betas!! You guys are the best! Love you to pieces: Kristy K. James, Lynne Freeman, and Diana Beebe. To my family—I couldn’t be more blessed. I am forever indebted to you. Love you all so much.
Essence of Anodynse – The incense extracted from the spinal fluid of dragons.
Balidhug – The name by which Marcus is referred to by those not in his circle.