Dracones Boxset Books 1-5

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

  “No! This is my home. I’m not going anywhere, I have school, and ah…friends here,” Bastien griped moving away from them in a sudden panic.

  “Bastien, we need to go, it’s not safe here anymore,” Goldy said.

  “No! I’m not going,” he snapped at her.

  ***

  JAX SHIFTED INTO his dragon as soon as he exited the building. He circled around and quickly caught Marcius’s scent. He caught up to the bastard three blocks away and silently swooped down from the sky to land mere feet from him. Marcius was cursing as he tried to break into a car. Then, as if sensing Jax, Marcius stiffened up and slowly turned around. If he’d been in human form, Jax would have grinned at how big Marcius’s eyes got. He began to shake and turned really pale at the sight of Jax in dragon form, only five feet from him.

  With a swipe of his deadly talons, Jax could remove Marcius’s head, but that was too easy. Jax wanted revenge. The fucker deserved to suffer for all he’d done. His original intention was to quickly kill Marcius but now, Jax was having second thoughts. His hatred, like poison rushing through his veins, was so strong Jax had to hold himself back. Finally, he leaped forward, grabbed Marcius in his talons, and shot into the sky while Marcius screamed his anger at Jax. Up, and up, Jax flew higher than he’d ever flown. Finally, he was up so high the air was thin and frost began to coat Marcius. Jax, with no problem breathing or flying, grinned to himself. At least the fucker was quiet now. Marcius had passed out.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Home

  SAMI STARTED TO GET ANGRY about the kid’s attitude towards his sister until he looked down at him and realized that Bastien was scared. Shit. “Look, your sister is right. It’s no longer safe here.”

  Bastien shook his head, backed another step away from them and looked around, ready to bolt.

  “Hey kid, it’s okay. I promise,” Sami said in a soft voice. He glanced over at Goldy who looked ready to cry and looked back at Bastien. “Look, I know you’re upset and scared. It’s been a long day and a lot of horrible stuff has happened, but no one else is going to hurt you. You will be safe with us.” At his words, Bastien bit his lip and glanced at Goldy who nodded with eyes bright with unshed tears.

  Bastien looked away from them and Sami heard him sniffle. Finally, he drew in a deep breath, wiped his face and turning back, he stepped up to Sami. “Okay, but you carry me. Not her,” he said, indicating Goldy with his thumb.

  Sami pursed his lips, knowing Bastien’s words hurt Goldy but she hid the pain, and gave Sami a nod.

  “All right, I’ll carry you,” he said, then seeing fear flash in Bastien’s eyes again, he gave the kid a gentle smile and patted his shoulder. “You’ll be fine, I promise.”

  Bastien nodded. “I-I’m ah, a-afraid of heights,” he whispered and Sami’s heart went out to the kid.

  “What if I get tired or need to stop, how will I let you know?” Goldy asked, looking somewhat worried as well. Sami took in her ragged appearance. She looked so very tired.

  “Maybe we should find somewhere to spend the night, rest up and leave tomorrow,” he suggested.

  Goldy shivered and shook her head. “No, I’d rather we get out of here before more of these guys come after us.”

  “Right.” Sami nodded and thought about how they would communicate while in the air. He’d always been able to communicate telepathically with Tierney and Jax, but with Goldy … “Let’s try to communicate again,” he said, thinking about how Tierney got Thaniel to lower his shields when he was in Leopard form.

  Goldy nodded. “I know I couldn’t do it at the cabin when we practiced, but I did hear you in my head earlier.”

  “I know, and that’s good.” Sami put his hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “Let yourself relax and imagine a wall inside your head, then imagine lowering the wall.”

  “Ah, yeah, okay.”

  “Can you hear me?” he asked.

  “I can hear you! How? What are you doing? How’d you do that?” Bastien asked, staring at Sami with wide eyes.

  Sami glanced at him and lifted a brow with curiosity. “We’re trying to communicate telepathically. You just heard me?”

  Bastien stumbled back a step and stared at him. “Tele—how?” Then silently he said. “How did you do that?”

  Sami grinned. “Dracones are able to communicate telepathically and apparently, you can as well.”

  “Cool,” he said to Sami, and then Sami caught the rest of his thought. This might not be so bad after all. I know Dad loved me and I already miss him, but I’ve always felt so alone, like there was supposed to be so much more. Now …

  Knowing he wasn’t meant to hear that last part, Sami strengthened his shields and didn’t let on to Bastien that he’d overheard.

  “That is so sad, my mother would have been horrified. Oh my God, I’m doing it! Sami, can you hear me?” Goldy shouted her thoughts so loud that Sami winced as he looked at her.

  “Yeah, you don’t have to yell.” Then he grinned at her smile of embarrassment.

  “Sorry.”

  “So, you heard all that?” Sami asked, talking about Bastien’s internal dialog with himself, being careful only to direct his thoughts to Goldy.

  “Yeah, it’s so sad,” she replied.

  “Yes, it is but wow, the kid has literally no shields,” Sami commented.

  “Can you help him with that?” Goldy asked and Sami gave her a tiny nod. “Tierney or Kyrian can probably help him,” he told her.

  Goldy grinned at him. “This is kinda cool!”

  Sami snorted and grinned. “Yeah, I guess it is. I’ve been able to communicate like this most of my life, so it seems normal to me.”

  “So, how do I do this?” Goldy asked, referring to shifting into her dragon.

  “Try to draw on your power,” he said and stepped back, pulling Bastien with him.

  They waited but nothing happened.

  “Argh! I can’t do it,” she growled, getting frustrated.

  Sami smiled. “What did you do to change earlier?” he asked.

  Goldy tilted her head and thought about his question. Finally, she shrugged. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even think. I was just furious and terrified. I was so scared that the guy was going to kill you, and suddenly I was a dragon.”

  “Do you remember how it felt?” Sami asked.

  “Well, maybe. I guess,” she said and a moment later, they shivered at the golden magic that filled the air.

  Sami grinned. “You are beautiful,” he told her.

  Goldy, being a Genesis Dracones baby, was different from the rest of the Dracones he’d ever seen. She was a golden dragon with swirls of glowing red all over her, unlike the rest of them whose glow matched the color of their scales. Right now, the red glow swirling over Goldy was very faint, almost non-existent but he’d noticed when she was angry earlier, that the red was much brighter. Obviously, magic mixed with the blood of an original dragon shifter created a different dragon. For the first time, Sami wondered what Genna would look like in her dragon form, and he wondered where the last GD baby was—the one born of Solaristhorn’s blood.

  “I did it! I did it,” Goldy exclaimed in his head.

  “You did,” Sami said with a smile at her excitement.

  Sami let Goldy take off first and get used to her wings then he looked at Bastien. “You will be okay, I promise. I will keep you safe.”

  Bastien bit his lip and nodded, naturally nervous.

  “I’m going to shift into my dragon then I will hold you very carefully in my talons. All right?”

  Bastien swallowed hard and gave a little tentative nod, then said, “C-can’t I ride on your back? Like a dragon rider in the movies?”

  Sami snorted. “Yeah, well that would be fine until you get tired and fall off. No, I think for this trip you’ll be safer if I hold you.”

  “Fine,” Bastien reluctantly nodded, scared once again.

  Sami shifted into his dragon. Then after securing Bast
ien so he was comfortable and wouldn’t fall, he shot into the air. He did as Jax suggested and pulled his power around him, cocooning Bastien in warmth. Bastien clung to Sami’s front legs and talons where they wrapped firmly around him, but Sami could still feel the boy’s terror.

  “It’s all right, I got ya, you’ll be fine,” Sami reassured him, letting some of his compulsion out to soothe him. A moment later, he felt Bastien relax a tiny bit. Sami felt bad that he couldn’t do more. While he was able to use compulsion, he was nowhere near as good at it as his brother was.

  As he leveled off and glided through the air, Sami told himself to relax as well, which was hard considering he’d just left his brother behind with the monster that was his father.

  Still, the feeling of soaring through the night air was soothing and he had to grin at Goldy who was swooping and diving all over the place. Earlier, during his first flight he’d been too worried about trying to find Goldy to enjoy himself. Now though, he finally let himself revel in the feel and power of being a dragon and soaring on the wind. Goldy’s excitement was infectious. They flew for a few hours, found a place to land, and rested for an hour before taking off again. An hour after that, Goldy’s voice filled his head.

  “Do you want me to carry him for a while?”

  Sami thought about it. He was getting a little tired, but then he glanced down at Bastien. The boy was sound asleep. Sami smiled. ”I’m good. He’s asleep, I think we should leave him be.”

  “Well, let me know if you change your mind,” she said.

  “I will, how are you doing?” he asked.

  “I’m a little tired, but I think I’m okay. This is pretty amazing,” she said soaring up and away then back down to glide beside him.

  “Yeah, it’s better than I had ever imagined it would be. Even when Jax told me how it felt, I just didn’t quite get it.” Anxiety for his brother filled him once again, because he had called Jax repeatedly since they left, but hadn’t received an answer back.

  Hours later and filled with a sickening fear for Jax, Sami landed in a small clearing surrounded by forest not too far from his home. It was a clearing with no cameras installed. Even though Thaniel had seen Jax’s scales, they hadn’t gotten around to telling him what exactly they were, and the Were-leopard hadn’t asked. Jax thought they should show him and Tierney thought they should tell him. They’d been so pre-occupied that they hadn’t done either yet. They all agreed though, that they wanted him to get used to them first so that he wouldn’t be frightened. They were all afraid he’d bolt.

  Sami waited for Goldy to land beside him. Tierney, who had been pacing the clearing started towards them. Pulling in his wings, Sami set Bastien, who he’d woken a couple minutes earlier, on his feet and then shifted back into human form.

  “Where’s Jax?” Were Tierney’s first words as she marched up to them.

  “I don’t know. He’s not answering me,” Sami told her, and then introduced Bastien to her. Tierney glanced at Bastien who looked scared. Sami could see the softening in her eyes and knew the boy would be pulling at her heartstrings.

  “Hi Bastien, I’m sorry about all that has happened to you. You will be safe here.” Bastien just sighed and Tierney glanced back up at Sami. Sadness and fear shone in her eyes and Sami knew she was terrified of losing her mate once again.

  “He said he’d be right behind me. Fuck Tiern, I need to go back. I just needed to get Goldy and Bastien here first.” He swallowed, feeling guilty and worried. “He hasn’t contacted you?”

  Tierney snorted and her eyes flashed with sudden anger. “He did. He said not to worry and that he’d be back in a couple days. When I asked why, what was he doing, he wouldn’t answer me.”

  Sami swore. “A couple days? Shit! I’ll go find him.” What the hell was his brother up too?

  “Sami?” Goldy stepped up beside him, a concerned look in her eyes. “You need to rest.”

  Sami looked at Tierney. “Tiern, can you get Goldy and Bastien some food, and then show them to some rooms?”

  “Of course I can, but you aren’t going anywhere. She’s right, you need to rest first. You’ve been flying for hours,” Tierney said, and then with unarguable resolve in her gait, she started down the trail towards the house.

  “Tiern,” Sami called as they exited the woods.

  Tierney held up her hand, silencing him as she continued to walk across the yard.

  Sami hurried to catch up to her, Goldy and Bastien right behind him. “Tiern, I need to find Jax—”

  “Inside Sami,” Tierney ordered.

  “Tiern,” Sami called out again a moment later, filled with frustration. He needed to find his brother.

  “Sami.” Tierney looked at him as she stepped up onto the porch and opened the door for Goldy and Bastien. Tierney glared up at him with raised eyebrows. With a growl of annoyance, Sami followed Goldy and Bastien inside. As they made their way through the mudroom into the kitchen, Thaniel stopped what he was doing at the sink. Tierney smiled at him then turned to the newcomers. “I’m sorry, I’m Tierney and that’s Thaniel,” she said, indicating the watchful Were-leopard.

  “Nice to meet you,” Goldy said with sadness in her voice. “I’m Goldy, and this is my brother, Bastien.”

  Tierney nodded. “Yes, I met Bastien.” She said, giving the boy a little smile. Then she glanced at Goldy. “I’m sorry about what happened to your mom and—” Tierney glanced back at Bastien. “And to your father. Ah, are both you hungry?”

  “You’d think after everything I wouldn’t be, but yeah. I am,” Goldy said with an exhausted sigh. Bastien nodded as well.

  Tierney turned to Thaniel. “Can you get them some of that wonderful lasagna you baked?”

  Thaniel gave a nod and lowered his head as he hurried around the kitchen getting plates out. A moment later, he set them on the counter.

  “Sit, eat. Please make yourselves at home,” Tierney said, indicating the stools.

  “This smells wonderful,” Goldy exclaimed as she and Bastien both sat down and began to eat.

  Sami continued to worry about Jax. He shook his head when Thaniel offered him a plate, and looked at Tierney. “I need to go find him. He went after Marcius. I thought he’d either lose him, or find and kill him then head back, but this, what is he doing?”

  Tierney’s apprehension bubbled over. “Fuck. I’m going to kick his ass,” she exclaimed with a growl and began to pace just as Genna walked into the kitchen. Then she turned back to Sami and shook her head. “You need to eat then go to sleep. We’ll talk about you going to find Jax tomorrow.”

  Knowing not to argue with her, Sami gave a resigned sigh and making sure Goldy and Bastien each had drinks and didn’t need anything else, he finally sat down to eat. He ignored the surprise on Tierney’s face at his attentiveness.

  Genna had been staring at the newcomers, curiosity in her glowing eyes. Finally, she moved. “I’m happy you got here in one girly piece, now I don’t have to fry my new brother, but you look nothing like I do.” Genna frowned as she circled around behind Goldy to stop and stare at her. Then she slowly reached out and lifted a strand of Goldy’s long golden curls.

  “Ahm, no. I guess I don’t. Should I?” Goldy asked, eyeing the petite black haired girl with a raised eyebrow.

  “Well, yeah. You should. I’m your new sister. Or, maybe I’m your cousin—” Genna dropped the strand of hair and moved away with a confused frown on her face.

  Sami grinned at Goldy and shrugged. “Sorry. I never got around to telling you about Genna. She’s another Genesis Dracones baby—”

  “I am magic-born, just like you. Me and my brother Jax’s father is Adariasthorn—you mother’s dragon-brother. But Adarias, Summer, and Solaris combined their blood and magics to make us. So that makes us …? Whatever.” Genna shrugged then suddenly turned her attention to Bastien. “Who are you?” she asked pointedly.

  Bastien glanced up and glared at her. “I’m her brother,” he said possessively, drawing everyone�
��s stare.

  “Humph! Yeah? Well, you better watch yourself little not-dragon-brother!” Genna glared right back at him and bared her teeth, which grew into fangs right before their eyes.

  “Genna,” Sami growled.

  “Enough,” Tierney snapped at the same time. Some of her power slipped out and a faint breeze blew through the room. Startled, Bastien glanced up at Tierney with wide eyes before lowering them to his lasagna. With a peeved growl, Genna’s fangs returned to normal but she didn’t take her eyes off the boy.

  “Genna?” Tierney raised her eyebrows.

  “Fine,” Genna growled, then in a lighter happier tone she spun away and said, “Laters!” While giving them a wave over her shoulder as she stalked out of the room.

  “Demons! That girl is the devil,” Tierney growled, lowering her head into her hands.

  “I heard you,” Genna called out from the other room.

  Sami snickered when he was sure Genna was far enough away that she wouldn’t hear him. “I see she hasn’t gotten any better.”

  Tierney growled again. “No, she’s like a weird, but wild demon savage.”

  “Demon?” Bastien questioned with a flicker of fear in his eyes.

  Tierney let out a breath. “No, sorry, she just gets on my nerves.”

  “She gets on everyone’s nerves.” Sami explained. “She’s a little on the wacky side, but she knows not to hurt anyone here.”

  Bastien nodded, but didn’t look real convinced while Goldy just looked amused, which surprised him.

  After they got Bastien and Goldy settled into rooms, Sami went into his. He’d just finished checking all his computers when someone knocked timidly at his door.