Dracones Boxset Books 1-5

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

“I’ll put out the fire,” Sami said just as the door was suddenly kicked open. He spun around as a bunch of very large thugs, all dressed in black and armed with automatic weapons, stormed into the cabin. With a shriek, Goldy started towards Sami. She didn’t make it very far before one of the men shot into the ceiling.

  “Don’t move,” the guy yelled at them.

  Goldy stilled and Sami surveyed the men. Fuck, they found us!

  His mind raced believing they were Ilyium until he spotted a strange bright red infinity rune, like a tattoo on their necks. He’d never seen that on any of the Ilyium before. Then the eyes of one of them flashed red for a second and Sami knew they were something else. One of the men grabbed Goldy, and Sami started for him.

  “Wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man whose eyes had flashed red told him as he held his gun aimed at Sami’s head.

  Sami stopped moving. He’d likely survive a gunshot to the head, but it would incapacitate him long enough for them to kill him. His only option would be to wait for a chance to grab one of the weapons. While the Ilyium were mortal, Sami didn’t know what these guys were. He did have a couple of suspicions. However, none that helped him to know if bullets would hurt them or not. He began to raise his hands when the men parted and the last person he expected to see walked in.

  “Samarias.”

  Sami’s world tilted. How is this possible, how can he be alive? No, this isn’t happening!

  But it was.

  Marcius, his father and the man he had killed just days ago, strode through the room and wrapped an arm around Goldy’s waist. With another shriek, she struggled against him trying to get free.

  “How are you alive?” Sami asked, wishing he was dreaming but knowing he wasn’t. Things had just gone from bad to worse. Marcius laughed.

  “Oh, you should see your face, my boy!”

  “I’m not your boy,” Sami ground out, hatred seeping from him at the sight of his father.

  “Sami?” Goldy cried, struggling uselessly in Marcius’s grip.

  “Hold her,” Marcius told the men, and two of them grabbed Goldy by the arms.

  “Surprised?” Marcius asked Sami as he approached him. The man holding the gun on Sami stepped closer and pressed the muzzle into Sami’s head.

  Sami snarled at him, now beyond angry.

  “Boys,” Marcius said again, and two more men stepped up, grabbing Sami’s arms and holding him still while Marcius drove a fist into Sami’s stomach. “I owe you boy,” he growled, then punched Sami again while Goldy screamed at Marcius to stop. He ignored her.

  Sami struggled against the men holding him, unable to break free. Yeah, they definitely weren’t Ilyium. He wondered briefly if they were Nightwalkers, but dismissed that. From what he understood, Nightwalkers couldn’t go out in the daylight. As Marcius drove another fist into his face, Sami realized it didn’t fucking matter. Whatever these guys were, if he got the chance, he’d waste them without a second thought. But right now, Sami just wanted another shot at his father. He would have continued to fight the men holding him until another man shoved his gun against Goldy’s head as well, effectively stopping him. If it hadn’t been for Goldy, Sami would have taken a chance, and if it got him killed, then so be it. But while she needed his help he couldn’t bring himself to take any chances. He only prayed Marcius didn’t kill him before he got her away from the asshole.

  Blood poured from Sami’s nose and lips, and while he had tried to stay on his feet, the Awakening had left him weak. Marcius finally knocked him to the floor. “Not so tough now, are you?” Marcius sneered as he kicked Sami in the stomach. Then he turned and grabbed Goldy again. “C’mon girl, let’s go.”

  “No, I’m not going anywhere with you,” Goldy screamed, tears streaming from her eyes as Marcius pulled her towards the door. “Sami,” she screamed again, then kicked at Marcius. “Why are you doing this?”

  Sami groaned and struggled to his knees only to have the two men grab his arms once again, preventing him from going anywhere. Marcius stopped in the doorway and looked back at him while he spoke to Goldy. “Girl, I have someone who is very eager to get his hands…or fangs on you. Besides…that one…” He indicated Sami. “He’s no good for you. Did he tell you he’s a stone-cold killer?” At Goldy’s look of disbelief, Marcius nodded and smiled at Sami. “He is. He kills without remorse.”

  Goldy spat her next words at him, “I don’t believe you.”

  Now Marcius looked down at her. “You should, you see it’s me he killed, or tried to anyway. Imagine that, his own father! Is that how you’d treat your father?”

  ***

  GOLDY STILLED. All her life she had craved a father like the other kids had. Summer used to tell her a wild tale about her not having a father, saying instead that she was born of magic. Goldy she hadn’t believed it.

  Now, she knew it had all been true, but that still didn’t take away that yearning she’d always had for a father figure. She glanced at Sami and the hatred she saw directed at his own father made her want to weep for him. She wasn’t a fool and no matter how much she wished her life had been different, she knew Marcius was trying to play her, trying to turn her against Sami. Unfortunately, too many parents abused their children and she saw some of that first hand with a few kids at her school. Now she saw it so clearly in Sami—his refusal to talk about his father earlier, and his hatred then and now. She could feel how deeply it ran and while she didn’t know the why of it, she did recognize the how—Marcius.

  Hatred towards Marcius began to build inside her. How could this man hurt his child so badly that someone as sweet and kind as Sami would try to kill him? Disgust and anger warred inside her and Goldy started to sneer at Marcius when he injected something into her neck. Face frozen, she wanted to scream, cry but was unable to do any of that as whatever he injected took over. No! She screamed silently as Marcius turned her and pulled her close to him.

  ***

  SAMI GRUNTED as another fist met his stomach.

  “Take care of him, boys.” Marcius grinned and waved in Sami’s direction as he led Goldy away. “Come, let’s go find your brother,” he said as he led her docilely out the door.

  All the fight left Sami when he saw the disgust and hatred in Goldy’s eyes as she looked at him right before she willingly walked out the door with Marcius. After the last two nights, Sami couldn’t believe she was so willing to listen to Marcius.

  Then Marcius’s men beat the snot out of him. Sami, with his lip split and bleeding, both eyes swelling up, felt his ribs break, then his leg, and finally they broke both his arms. After as he lay on the cabin floor, they took turns shooting him. When they were done, they left him lying in a pool of his own blood. Pain consumed every part of his being and Sami lay there, waiting for death to take him. The only thing he knew without a doubt but didn’t really give a shit about, was that they were definitely not Ilyium. If they had been, they’d never leave him without cutting his head off and removing his heart.

  Devastated, his soul stomped on and destroyed once again, Sami replayed the disgust on Goldy’s face until it turned into Hellfire sneering at him, saying she never wanted to see him again. As his blood oozed out of various wounds that were already beginning to heal, Sami once again prayed for death. Just let me go! First Hellfire, his own soul mate didn’t want him and now Goldy hated him as well. His hatred for Marcius kept him going for a few more minutes. Why didn’t I ensure that he stayed dead that day? But then he knew why. They were in a hurry to find Jax, before he died too. Fuck. He should at least have taken Marcius’s head and heart then dropped them somewhere else, ensuring he couldn’t be brought back to life. Gods, he had even fucked up killing his own father—the bastard. Finally, hatred at himself consumed Sami and with all the will to live gone, he passed out.

  Chapter Twelve

  Awesomey Powers

  TIERNEY SNATCHED HER PHONE off the kitchen counter. “Jax,” she yelled telepathically. Hands shaking, she punched in Sami’s numb
er right as Jax rushed into the kitchen.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked his eyes wild as he stared at her, sensing her fear through their connection.

  “It’s Sami, he’s in trouble. I feel it,” she said as Jax snatched the phone out of her hand and put it to his ear.

  “He’s not answering. Dammit!” Hanging up, he punched Sami’s number in again without taking his eyes off Tierney. “What do you feel?”

  “I can’t communicate with him and his life force feels really weak,” she said, so scared she was trembling.

  “Damn Sami, pick up,” Jax yelled into the phone. “I knew I shouldn’t have let him go!”

  ***

  SAMI FLOATED, UNCARING, until a buzzing noise drew him back into hell. When the noise stopped, he breathed a sigh of relief and let himself doze off—until it started up again. With a groan, he winced at the ache in his body and opened his eyes. The cabin door was wide open, the fire had gone out and it was icy cold in the room. The buzzing stopped and started again a moment later, and then it all came back to him. Marcius, Goldy…the disgust on her face. Sami closed his eyes again wanting to fade back into the unknown to escape it all, until he realized it was his damn phone buzzing. He knew without a doubt that it was either Tierney or his brother and it wouldn’t stop until he answered it.

  He so didn’t want to answer it. He just wanted to die. But as he lay in a tacky pool of his own blood, he felt his dragon stirring and he knew he couldn’t do that to Tierney and his brother. Shifting around, he winced, because while all of his wounds had healed, he was very sore. Damn, he just couldn’t win, no matter how he tried. His phone continued to buzz and Sami found himself unable to ignore it. He slowly pushed to his feet and reached into the pocket of his jacket lying across the back of the couch.

  “What?” he asked after answering the blasted thing. He was shocked as he registered the time on the phone. He’d been out for at least an hour.

  “Sami! Oh, thank fuck,” Jax’s voice hollered from the other end of the connection.

  Sami closed his eyes and wished he could just disappear. “Yeah, I’m here,” he said instead.

  “Are you okay? Tierney felt that something was wrong, that your life force was weak. What happened?” Jax asked, clearly panic stricken.

  Sami considered telling them that he was fine and that nothing was wrong, but they needed to know about Marcius. They were in danger as well from the asshole. “Marcius is alive.”

  Jax swore quietly then took a breath before asking. “Are you all right?”

  His brother’s lack of a more explosive reaction, and not questioning Sami’s statement, clued him in that Jax already knew. Anger filled him. “You knew?”

  There was a brief silence on the phone. “Yeah,” Jax finally said.

  “You knew and didn’t tell me?” Sami couldn’t believe they would keep this from him.

  “Sorry bro, but you weren’t doing well and we didn’t want to worry you about him, but—” Jax paused. “But how do you know? Something happened, didn’t it? What’s happened?”

  Sami choked out an angry, hurt laugh. “Yeah, you can say something happened. The bastard showed up here. His goons beat the fuck out of me, shot me, and left me for dead. Bastard took off with Goldy.”

  “Dammit Sami. I knew I should’ve gone instead of you.”

  Panic, fear, and guilt laced Jax’s voice and Sami winced. Shit. Knowing how obsessed Jax was with protecting him, Sami suddenly felt bad for shoving that in his brother’s face so brutally.

  “Look, if it wasn’t me, it would have been you and—” Sami paused as he imagined how much worse Marcius would have hurt Jax. The sadistic bastard would likely have stayed to make sure Jax was dead. “Look, Jax, I’m okay, I’ve healed. Don’t worry about me, okay, please?”

  There was a moment of silence, and then he heard Jax’s declaration. “Yeah, sorry, not gonna happen.”

  Sami knew it had been worth a try, but Jax would always worry about him. Just as he knew he’d always worry about Jax, Tierney, and Zander.

  “Listen, sit tight, I’m on my way. I’ll leave in five minutes,” Jax said and Sami knew Jax planned to fly to Calgary, not in a plane but in his dragon form.

  “Jax—” Sami began but his brother interrupted him.

  “You said he has Goldy, right?” Jax asked.

  At her name, Sami felt like someone stabbed him in the heart. “Yeah.”

  “Obviously she made it through her Awakening. Maybe she’ll survive Marcius until I can get there and help you get her back,” Jax said and his words reminded Sami of what he and Goldy had gone through two evenings before. Then he remembered the new life they had made.

  “Hey, ah…have you heard anything about the curse being broken?” he asked hesitantly. He didn’t want to tell his brother yet since he still found it hard to believe that he could have made Goldy pregnant.

  “What? What are you talking about?” Jax asked, confused at the change in subject.

  “You know, the curse the Ilyium put on us,” Sami said.

  “Duh, yeah, I know which curse you’re talking about. It’s not like there are any others but really, what the hell are you talking about?” Jax asked, frustrated, and obviously anxious to get going.

  “Ah, nothing…never mind,” Sami said, distracted. No matter how much Goldy now hated Sami, and even if she wasn’t pregnant, he couldn’t leave her with Marcius. She’d soon learn what an asshole the man really was.

  Sami only hoped Marcius didn’t hurt her too badly before he could find her…and he had to find her. Marcius would likely kill the baby if he discovered she was pregnant, and if he didn’t kill it…Sami shuddered as he imagined his little boy or girl in Marcius’s hands, or the hands of the Ilyium who would do who-knows-what to his child. No, he needed to find them.

  “I gotta go,” he said, hanging up on his brother.

  ***

  JAX CURSED WHEN Sami hung up on him. He looked at Tierney, and knew worry and fear were making his eyes begin to glow. He saw it reflected in her expression. “I hate to leave you with all our enemies knocking at the gates, but—” He needed to go help Sami. “Marcius was there. He took Goldy. And Sami doesn’t sound right. I have to go, Sami needs me.”

  Tierney pulled him into her arms. “Of course you do, love. Don’t worry…we will be fine here. Sami needs you, besides we have Soroyan and the Okami, and don’t forget your sister. Genna is one bad ass devil-girl.” Tierney smiled up at him, and it seemed they were both remembering how Genna shot fire from her hands, leaving a bunch of the Ilyium crispy and smoking.

  “Yeah, I’ll still worry,” he said, lowering his lips to hers. Jax groaned, wishing he didn’t need to go. He hated being torn in two different directions like this.

  “I’ll be here when you get back,” Tierney reassured him with a seductive grin that made his cock twitch.

  “Where you going?” Genna asked as she stepped into the kitchen.

  “Speak of the devil,” Tierney murmured.

  “I heard that,” Genna growled, her eyes flashing midnight blue.

  Tierney shook her head at the five-foot nothing deadly Dracones girl, who looked like a smaller version of Jax. The only difference in looks was Genna had long blue-black hair. She slowly circled them.

  “Sami’s in trouble. Marcius found him and took Summerthorn’s daughter, Goldy,” Jax told her, distracting Genna from Tierney.

  Genna frowned and stopped beside Jax. “That filthy ass-wipe has my sister?” Genna asked. As another Genesis Dracones baby, Genna had never met her sister Goldy. At the news, her eyes flashed red. “I’ll fry his rotten, evil, pimply ass,” she snarled.

  “Yeah, sounds good,” Jax turned back to Tierney. “I’ll call you when I get there.”

  Tierney nodded.

  “I’m going with,” Genna snarled, heading towards the mudroom.

  “No, you’re not.” Catching up to Genna, Jax grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.

  “Let me go.
You may be my brother, but don’t touch me.” She glared at him, ready to attack.

  “Whoa, just chill.” Jax backed off a step and held his hands up. “Look, I appreciate you offering to go with me but I’d really rather you stayed here. Help Tierney protect everyone, you know, in case the Ilyium or more Were-wolves show up. You have some wicked skills and I’d feel much better knowing Tierney had you here.”

  At his words, Genna calmed down and finally nodded her head. “I s’pose you’re right, I am a Genesis Dracones. Hey, we can call us GD’s!” she said with a big grin. “And I do have wicked awesomey-powers. I’ve decided. I’ll stay, but you better find my sister, or whatever she is, and bring her back in one girly piece, or I’ll be pissy.” With that, Genna turned and walked back through the kitchen. Jax looked at Tierney and shook his head. “Yeah, she is one scary-fucked up chick.”

  “She’s your sister.” Tierney grinned and pulled his lips down for another kiss. “I love you, Jax, come back to me in one manly piece, you hear me?” Jax snorted then moaned at her taste. A moment later, he pulled away and nodded.

  “Yes boss, or should I say, my Queen?” He chuckled when Tierney rolled her eyes, then groaned as her hand slid down the front of his jeans, feeling how hard he was for her.

  “Come back soon so you can pleasure your queen, my love.” She teased, her eyes lighting with glee as he swallowed hard.

  “Ah-hum,” Genna, having returned to the kitchen, cleared her throat loudly.

  Jax turned to her with a glare. “What?”

  “Just checking, have you flown during the day before?”

  Genna’s question startled Jax into realizing he hadn’t thought about flying during the day. He also thought about what Brimstone had said about getting into trouble with humans while flying during the day.