Dracones Boxset Books 1-5

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

  When he’d recovered enough to get around, Brimstone asked for a ride to Spokane claiming he needed to find his sisters, one of whom was his twin. They gently tried to tell him that his twin was dead but he just laughed, telling them that he and his siblings were Phoenix and to them, fire was re-birth.

  They’d been stunned when he transformed into his Phoenix form right there in the living room. A pair of large, shiny black wings sprouted from his back, each feather a thin, black, razor sharp obsidian knife. His hands turned into lethal looking claws and grey eyes glowed while the rest of him, from what Sami could see, remained the same.

  “I can fly, but I avoid it during the day—causes problems with the humans,” he told them with a bit of humor.

  Sami struggled to take it all in, then deciding he needed to see the guy’s sister for himself, alive and well, had offered him a ride to the city.

  Now, Sami hurried down the stairs nearly running into Genna, who was helping Caden into the great room. “What you in such a blasted hurry for?” Genna griped, glaring up at him.

  Sami scanned the great room for Thaniel, the shy twenty-year old newly turned Were-leopard. “Sorry, I’m heading into the city.”

  “Ohhh. You’re lookin’ for the fire cracker girly.” Genna grinned.

  Fire cracker girly? Sami rolled his eyes and ignoring Genna, he glanced at Caden. The poor guy was healing human-slow. Sami didn’t envy him. “How ya doing?” he asked him. This was the first time he’d seen Caden since they’d brought him home two days ago.

  “I’m okay, thanks.” Caden shrugged then winced and tried to hide it. Genna’s eyes flashed with exasperation.

  “No, it’s obvious you’re not, idiot,” she muttered as she helped him over to sit on one of the couches. “Stay,” she commanded with a warning look. Caden took a deep breath but didn’t say anything as Genna headed into the kitchen.

  Sami shook his head and began to turn away to go look for Thaniel, when Caden spoke. “Thanks for letting us stay here.”

  Glancing back at him, Sami gave him a nod. “No problem.” I really hope it won’t be a problem ...

  Caden was the son of their enemy and while they weren’t very keen on him being here, Genna had helped them find Jax. All she asked in return was Tierney give them a safe place to stay. Of course, at the time they didn’t know Caden was the Master’s son. Although, it really wouldn’t have any made any difference, they had been desperate to find Jax.

  Sami headed down the hall and hesitated before Zander’s door. A moment later, he eased the door open. Jax sat in a chair beside Zander’s bed, staring at the man who had raised him and Sami, loving and caring for them as a father should.

  “Hey.” Sami stepped into the room and was startled to notice that Jax still looked a little rough from his time with the Ilyium. Although, his visible scars had miraculously healed. Why didn’t I notice that earlier? But then again, his mind had been on other things lately.

  “You heading out then?” Jax asked, looking up at him.

  Sami nodded, eyes widening at the mark on Jax’s neck. “Yeah, is that—?”

  Realizing where his brother was looking, Jax nodded. “Yeah.”

  The mark was a dragon eye rune that Jax had gotten when he bonded with Tierney.

  “Cool,” Sami said with a sigh and looked towards the bed where Zander lay unmoving in his magical coma.

  “I don’t get it, why isn’t he healed yet?” Jax asked, frowning at Zander.

  Sami shook his head. “The healer says some kind of spell was done on him—”

  “Fucking assholes, I’d love to tear them a new one,” Jax growled.

  “They sure like to make us suffer.” Sami tried not to think of the condition they had found Zander and Jax in when they rescued them.

  “Someone needs to make them suffer,” Jax muttered.

  “Yeah. Well, I’ll see ya later,” Sami said, heart heavy as he turned away. He walked out shutting the door softly behind him and headed down the hall to Thaniel’s room.

  Pausing in the open doorway, he glanced over at the large bed, not surprised to see it perfectly made. Thaniel had yet to sleep in it. Sami’s gaze swept the room and found Thaniel sitting on the floor in human form in the corner. It was a spot chosen, whether consciously or subconsciously, so that no one could sneak up on him.

  It was sad seeing him this way. In the first few days after Thaniel joined them, Sami and Tierney often found him there, alone and scared until Tierney asked if Thaniel would like to sleep in her room. Although still leery of everyone, Thaniel had nonetheless gone up and slept on the floor by Tierney’s bed. After they found Jax and brought him home, Tierney put him in her bed to recover and before long Thaniel moved to sleep at the foot of their large bed. They weren’t sure if he just wanted to be closer to Jax and Tierney, and felt more comfortable about it, or if it was a protective instinct in him being a Were-leopard.

  Sami thought Thaniel was adjusting to his new home, but maybe he was wrong. Fear shone bright in Thaniel’s eyes as he stared at Sami through his long pale-blond hair. Sami started into the room then stopped himself and rested a hand on the doorframe. His protective instincts were surging through him. The same instincts that Tierney and Jax spoke of when they first rescued Thaniel from the Were-wolf den in Spokane.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Sami asked, wondering what had set Thaniel off this time.

  When they had found Thaniel cringing in the corner of the room he’d been held in, they’d been horrified. Legs pulled to his chest, he’d huddled into a ball, hiding his nudity. At first, they thought he was a young girl of about twelve or fourteen, but quickly realized how wrong they were. Though terrified, filthy, and starved, Thaniel was actually a young man of twenty. They covered him and led him from the room. Then they fed him, bought him some clothes, and took him to their apartment in the city to shower and clean up. They’d been shocked when he stepped into the kitchen where they waited.

  Thaniel’s tangled, muddy-brown hair, once washed and brushed, was a waist long silky whitish-blond. It hung in his face partially hiding his perfect features. Still, his looks were ethereal with long eyelashes and slightly darker eyebrows over pale blue eyes. Although Thaniel looked young and innocent, once you gazed into his eyes you saw the pain, suffering, and fear.

  “How ya doing?” Sami asked now, hating that Thaniel still didn’t trust them and was still afraid. A lifetime of abuse, fending for himself alone, and then captivity hadn’t taught him anything else.

  Watching Thaniel’s shoulders lift in a faint shrug, Sami’s heart went out to him. Though only a year younger than him and Tierney, the poor guy had led a brutal, loveless life. As many problems as Sami had, he’d always be grateful for his family’s love and would never trade it for anything.

  Now, the look in Thaniel’s eyes made him even more grateful and wishing he could somehow ease the guy’s fear. They tried to tell him that this was his home, for good if he wanted it. But Thaniel had no reason to trust them and found it hard to believe they could want him here. “So, I’m heading into the city. I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you,” Sami said.

  Thaniel blinked in surprise then just as quickly, suspicion set in. Sami’s heart twisted with sadness but he pushed on. “In my room, I have monitors set up showing various angles of the property. Would you mind checking them once in a while? You don’t have to do anything.” Sami waved his hand to give him a kind of whatever display.

  At his words, Thaniel’s eyes grew wider and he perked up a bit then nodded showing he was willing to help. “Sure.”

  Sami wanted to smile and cry at the same time that something so simple could make Thaniel happy. Well, maybe not happy but anyway, happier than he was. “You don’t have to stay up there. With the Okami wolves keeping an eye on things we’re pretty protected, but I’d just like you to go in and check every so often. If you don’t mind?”

  Thaniel nodded and climbed fluidly to his feet. In just seven days, he’d already p
ut on some weight and muscled up. It was amazing what having food to eat will do, and his improving health was nice to see. He’d been skin and bones when they found him and had a hard time controlling his shift into his leopard. Then when they got him home, he’d been too shy to eat much or help himself. It wasn’t until Tierney told him that if he ate whenever he was hungry, he’d have an easier time controlling his Were-leopard that he began to take them up on their offer and help himself.

  “Well, if you see someone or something out of the ordinary, tell Tierney or Jax, okay?” Sami said. Thaniel nodded and Sami gave him a little smile. Sami only hoped the monitors wouldn’t intimidate him. They had introduced him to the different game consoles and showed him how to work the TV, but Thaniel didn’t seem interested. The only thing that seemed to interest him was books, so Sami gave him a couple of fantasy books to read. Thaniel had been thrilled and when he wasn’t sitting in his corner, he was reading. He had told them about his friend, Real, who had protected him out on the streets and taught him to read.

  Once Sami reached his truck where Brimstone and Soroyan waited inside, he climbed in. Brimstone turned to him with a grin. Wondering why, but not saying a word, Sami put the key in the ignition, started the truck and putting it in drive, started down the gravel driveway.

  “So, that’s a sweet place you guys have there, tons of room,” the slender, dark haired Phoenix between Sami and Soroyan, the enforcer for the Okami wolves said. Soroyan was the big bad wolf that Sami needed to drop off at Club Purgatori.

  “Ah, yeah.” Sami glanced in the rearview mirror at the massive log building that used to be a resort before they moved in fourteen years ago.

  They drove in silence for a couple of minutes before Brimstone turned his silver eyes on Soroyan. “So, you smell like a wolf, but not like a Were … what are you?”

  Sami almost choked at how blunt Brimstone was and glanced over to see Soroyan glowering at the guy. Sami didn’t think the big bad wolf would answer so he was surprised when Soroyan said, “No, not Were-wolf. Okami wolf.”

  “Okami, huh? Never heard of em.” Brimstone shrugged.

  “Well, you do know Were’s, like Were-wolves, are humans that have been bitten, right?” Sami asked.

  “Yeah, so?” It was obvious Brimstone didn’t understand where Sami was going with this, if he understood exactly what Weres were in the first place.

  “Well, after they’re bitten, they can shift into wolf form but have no control during a full moon. The Okami are wolves that can take human form. They haven’t been bitten, but instead are born that way and just like you shift into a Phoenix, their shift is also instantaneous,” Sami explained.

  “And we are not controlled by the moon,” Soroyan added gruffly.

  “Huh.” Brimstone started to say something, but just simply nodded like it all made sense, then looked at Sami, “Well, I know you’re not human, and I don’t think you’re any kind of Were, so what are you?”

  “Why do you think I’m not human?” Sami asked, in part out of curiosity and in part, to buy time as he decided how much he wanted to say.

  “You don’t smell like a human or a Were so …”

  Sami took his eyes off the road for a moment to glance at Brimstone who looked small sitting between him, and Soroyan’s six-foot-five bulkier frame. After spending years keeping their secret safe, Sami wasn’t sure what to tell the guy. Yeah, Brimstone trusted them with his secret, but Sami didn’t know how carefully he guarded that secret. “We’re immortals,” he finally said.

  Brimstone looked at him skeptically. “That’s it, immortals?” His eyes narrowed in suspicion as if he didn’t believe him.

  Turning back to the road, Sami nodded. He wasn’t about to tell Brimstone they were Dracones or where they come from.

  “So why then were you so upset when you thought my sister was dead? I mean, other than the obvious of seeing someone thrown into a fire,” Brimstone asked wryly, making Sami shift uncomfortably in his seat.

  “It’s complicated,” he said and heard Soroyan snort but the guy didn’t take his dark gaze from the passing scenery.

  “Well, Hellfire is one of a kind—” Brimstone paused for a second before saying, “I know there’s something going on with you regarding my sister, but I gotta tell you man, Hellfire, she isn’t like normal women. She is extremely independent, and more likely to kick your ass as speak to you.”

  “What’s with the names?” Sami asked, ignoring his comment.

  Brimstone snorted. He directed his gaze back on the road in front of them for a moment. “Our parents wanted us to be mean.”

  At Sami’s frown, he chuckled. “Really, it’s the truth. They waited till each child was a few months old before naming us. Seems to have worked too since I have two older siblings who are twenty-eight, twins as well and mean as sin. Then there’s Hellfire and me. We’re twenty-four. Trust me when I tell you, I’m the nicest of the four of us. Although our baby sister, who we call Nix, is twenty and the sweetest girl you could ever meet.”

  “They’re usually the deadliest,” Soroyan commented, still staring out his window at the forest. Sami shot Soroyan a surprised glance, unsure if he was joking or not. Though the way he stared outside, Sami figured he was likely wishing he was out running in the forest instead of riding to the city.

  “Where are your parents?” Sami asked then, glancing back at Brimstone.

  “They died five years ago.”

  “Oh, sorry man.”

  “Yeah.” Brimstone didn’t say anymore.

  “So, how’d you get caught anyway?” Sami asked, referring to finding Brimstone in the mine the Ilyium had used as a stronghold two days ago.

  “Well, Nix and I went looking for a new place to live. We try not to stay in one place too long.” Brimstone paused, trying not to show how worried he was about his baby sister. “Nix was tired so I left her at our new digs and went back to the warehouse for our belongings. That’s where the Were-wolves ambushed me. They knocked me out with a Tranq’ dart and delivered me to a crazy-ass fucking weirdo—Val Jean.”

  “I’ve heard that name before,” Sami said with a frown, trying to remember where.

  “Yeah, guy thinks he’s some kind of fucking King. He got really angry, said I wasn’t the Phoenix he wanted. He threatened the wolves then had me shipped off to the Ilyium, where you found me. That was about a week ago, now,” Brimstone said.

  Sami noted the furrow between Brimstone’s eyebrows and the sudden way he grew silent. Sami wondered if there was more Brimstone wasn’t telling them.

  “Who do you think Val Jean really wanted?” Sami asked noticing that Soroyan was suddenly paying attention.

  “Do you know where they took you, where this Val Jean is?” Soroyan interrupted.

  “No, I have no idea,” Brimstone said and Sami caught the tinge of worry in his voice. “Anyway, I’ve been caught before only it hadn’t been so bloody hard to escape, but this time … well I figured I was dead until you showed up. Thanks for that, by the way.”

  “You’re welcome,” Sami said, pushing the memories away of what had happened in the mine the other day.

  “I’m glad your brother is okay,” Brimstone said.

  Sami nodded not saying anything else even as his thoughts went to the power Tierney had used, and how she had brought Jax back to life.

  “Though that was some crazy-cool shit, and the magic you guys have … how’s Tierney’s dad doing anyway?” Brimstone asked. Sami knew he was still trying to figure out what Sami, Tierney, and Jax were.

  “Zander? He’ll be okay—eventually. Unfortunately, the Ilyium did something that slowed his healing,” Sami said.

  “Bastards,” Brimstone growled, and then sighed. “Don’t know what I’d do if something happened to Nix. She’s too innocent and trusting, and way too pretty for her own good making her a magnet for creeps.”

  Although Sami worried over his brother and Tierney, at least he knew they were both tough as nails. “That’s gott
a be scary.”

  “Yeah, it is, she’s the perfect target for assholes. Lord knows, the rest of us have kicked a few shit-heads’ asses just for looking at her wrong.” Brimstone swallowed hard. “God, if the wolves have gotten a hold of her…she’s the heart of our family, all that holds us together most of the time.”

  Sami nodded, hoping nothing bad had happened to the girl. “That’s Tierney. She holds all of us together too.”

  Brimstone nodded but didn’t say anything more.

  Chapter Two

  Surprises

  AMELIS FOUGHT THE URGE TO FLEE. I want to be here, I really do. She told herself as Val Jean’s piercing stare settled on her.

  “Come!” The self-appointed king of the Nightwalkers waved her forward and although humiliated by her inability to resist, Amelis fought not to rub her belly. If she hadn’t messed it up, the spell she used should keep Val Jean from knowing she carried Zander’s baby. She glanced around at all of Val Jean’s pets.

  For the most part the Were-animals, and other supernatural creatures chained to the walls on either side of the ornate room ignored her. Although, she took note of how the two nasty Were-hyenas both leered at her and licked their lips. She shivered and felt herself taking a step forward that she didn’t want to take. Damn. Her minions needed to find Zander. He was her only hope of getting rid of Val Jean’s compulsion.

  Amelis hadn’t gone two steps before the sensation of eyes on her made her pause. It was one of the new Okami wolves, the russet one. She had heard he was a young beauty in human form, with red hair a shade darker than her own. The wolf stared at her with hatred shining bright in his amber eyes. Amelis stared back and after a moment, he tore his gaze from her to glance worriedly at the bigger wolf beside him. Hmm, interesting …