Dracones Boxset Books 1-5

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

  “Honestly Helly, have you learned nothing yet? These wolves are people, and they’ve been unfairly locked into a form that is their secondary form, as well as enslaved under the rule of a tyrant for five-hundred years. I’m all the hope they have. I can’t just leave them. Besides, this is my life,” Nix said, eyes flashing silver.

  “Nix, please,” Hellfire began, but her sister waved her words away.

  “No, you listen. This is my life to do with as I want. You are not my parent. You are my sister. I am twenty years old. I am no longer a child. I get to make my own decisions and I have decided this is what I am doing. This is my destiny. I’ve been dreaming about this moment ever since Mom and Dad died.”

  The mention of her parents’ death was like a dagger to Hellfire’s heart. Would Nix be doing this if they were still alive? Not likely. Surely their parents would stop her.

  “Nix, please. Don’t do this,” Hellfire pleaded but Nix shook her head.

  “I’m sorry you came all this way and went to so much trouble, but don’t you get it? I have to do this. I couldn’t live with myself if I let all those wolves suffer for one minute longer. Not if I can do something to change their lives, to free them.” Tears ran down all their faces.

  “I don’t want to lose you,” Hellfire finally whispered, feeling like that was exactly what was happening.

  Nix’s anger dissolved and she took Hellfire’s hands in her own. “I don’t want to lose you either, but you need to understand, please.”

  Hellfire sucked back her tears and nodded. “Fine,” she whispered.

  Nix hugged her, and then pulled Brimstone in for a hug as well. “And if I don’t make it out of this, I’m going to need you to explain this to Angel and Damnation. Tell them that I love them and that I’m sorry,” she said.

  Oh damn, Hellfire had forgotten about her older siblings. They were going to kill her when they found out about what she let Nix do. “You damn well better make it through this,” Hellfire snapped, glaring at her sister.

  “Yeah, ’cause I ain’t telling them,” Brimstone said, stepping back and waving his hands in front of him as he shook his head.

  Hellfire turned her glare on him, wiping her tears away, disgusted at how emotional she’d been lately. “Get out. I need to talk to Nix,” Hellfire said to her brother.

  With a pout, Brimstone nodded. “Fine. I’m going to go eat,” he said and started out of the room. “Oh, Hinah has some food out here for you too,” he added over his shoulder.

  Hellfire nodded then turned to her sister. She was feeling the need for some private female conversation. A few minutes later, they stepped out of the little bedroom.

  “You need to eat,” Nix said, guiding her into a chair.

  “Glad to see you up,” Hinah said as she set a plate of what looked like venison steak and veggies in front of Hellfire.

  Nix sat down beside her at the table.

  “Are you eating too?” Hellfire asked, but Nix shook her head.

  “No, I’ve eaten, just thought I’d sit with you,” she said with a secretive smile at her big sister.

  Drakayeh sat at the end of the table while Brimstone and Sami sat on the couch. The man Nix had rescued, her friend Dawson, lay on a pallet by the hearth, bandaged, and asleep. Hellfire ate the food in front of her, savoring the rich smoky flavor of the meat and the buttery veggies. For some reason, everything tasted much better than she would have thought. She also realized how famished she was.

  As Hinah re-filled her plate, she continued to eat while listening to Brimstone and Drakayeh talk about the fight, the Ilyium, and the events to come. But at the mention of the eclipse her heart grew heavy. She couldn’t lose her sister but didn’t know how to stop Nix from doing what she wanted. Every now and then, Nix or Hinah would pipe up with a comment. Only Sami remained silent.

  Hellfire frowned, watching him as he stared into the fire. She wondered what was on his mind, but he never once looked at her. Somehow, as if connected to him, Hellfire sensed his confusion and felt an overwhelming sadness fill her. Only they weren’t her emotions she was feeling, they belonged to Sami.

  “It was a massacre,” Brimstone commented.

  Hellfire watched Sami blink then turned his gaze from the fire to focus on Brimstone. Though judging by the agony that filled her, and the glazed look in his eyes, she was pretty sure he wasn’t seeing her brother. Now a frown marred his handsome features. Hellfire knew her brother was talking about the recent fight but she also knew Sami’s village was on his mind as well. She couldn’t blame him, really. After all these years, to finally be here once again must stir up a lot of painful memories. She watched as a moment later Sami stood up, and went into the little bedroom.

  Hellfire glanced down at her empty plate.

  “Can I get you some more?” Hinah asked.

  Hellfire shook her head. “No, thank you Hinah, I’m good,” she said as she pushed her chair back. She needed to see Sami, talk to him. There was something she needed to tell him.

  Nervous, she followed Sami into the bedroom. Her heart began to race at the sight of him sitting on the side of the bed with his head in his hands. “Hey are you okay?”

  Sami glanced up and nodded. “Yeah. You?” There was a weary look in his eyes.

  Worried, Hellfire sat down beside him. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m just tired, ready to get home,” he said and Hellfire’s stomach lurched at what he left unsaid. He wanted to get home to his pregnant girlfriend.

  Hellfire swallowed back the pain. She had so much she wanted to say to Sami, but the words stuck in her throat. The one time she’d trusted her heart to someone, it had turned into a disaster of epic proportions. No, better to guard against getting hurt, because she knew that’s what would happen.

  “So, you’ve decided to let Nix go through with it?” Sami asked.

  Hellfire’s stomach churned at the thought, but she nodded her head. “Other than knocking her out, hog-tying and carrying her home, I don’t have much of a choice,” she said bitterly.

  Sami gave her a little smile. “She is twenty. A grown up, you know.”

  Hellfire sighed. “She’s my sister, my responsibility.”

  Sami shook his head. “I know you’re protective of her, Tierney is the same way with Jax and me, but why do you think you’re responsible for her?”

  Hellfire bit her lip. “Because I am. For all of them,” she said, referring to her siblings.

  “Aren’t two older than you and Brimstone?” Sami asked.

  “Yes.”

  Sami frowned. “You feel responsible for them as well?”

  Guilt rose up inside of her. “Yeah, I do.” After all, it was her fault her parents were murdered.

  “I’d have thought they’d be the ones looking out for all of you,” he said and she felt sick as memories she’d prefer not being reminded of, rose to the surface.

  “Angel and Damnation tried to look out for all of us at the beginning, but …” she shrugged.

  “But you ended up being the one to watch out for everyone,” Sami said with a knowing smirk.

  Hellfire nodded.

  “That has to be hard.”

  “Someone had to, and since I was the one who had caused it all—" She froze. She hadn’t meant say that last bit.

  But Sami wouldn’t let it go. “Caused what?”

  Hellfire shook her head. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

  “Hellfire, what happened to you?” Sami asked.

  Hellfire swallowed deeply. “Nothing.”

  “It’s obviously not nothing,” he said.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said and changed the topic. “So, you ah, looked deep in thought out there, what were you thinking about?” She indicated the dining slash living area of the cabin.

  Now it was Sami’s turn to be evasive. “Not much, just this place, the past …”

  “Your old village?” she asked.

  Sami nodded. “Yeah. I guess.”

&nbs
p; Hellfire waited for him to go on.

  Finally, Sami sighed. “It’s just, there’s always been so many unanswered questions,” he said but then stopped when they heard a knock at the front door.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Information

  SAMI MET HELLFIRE’S GAZE as they both wondered who was at the door. The rest of their conversation would have to wait. They emerged from the bedroom to see Hinah opening the door. She exchanged words with the visitor and a moment later, Isoul walked inside.

  “How is your brother?” Hinah asked, her attitude a whole lot friendlier than a few days before.

  “He’s getting better. Needed mostly food and rest,” Isoul said, then he nodded at Sami. “Can I speak to you for a moment, outside?”

  “Sure.” Sami shrugged at everyone’s curious expressions and followed Isoul outside.

  Isoul closed the door behind them. “I have some information.”

  “You do? What?” Sami asked.

  Isoul sighed. “Well, it’s not what you were looking for but, remember I told you that no one goes to Razukeen?”

  Sami nodded and Isoul scowled at him. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

  “What was me?” Sami asked.

  Isoul shook his head. “You went there, didn’t you?”

  Sami frowned. “I did. Why?” he asked suspiciously, remembering the five Ilyium he’d seen.

  “They must have trip wards,” Isoul said thoughtfully.

  Since it was no longer inhabited, Sami hadn’t even considered that Razukeen might be warded. Still, Zander put up wards at home, and though they weren’t very strong and had fallen when Zander had been captured and tortured, Sami should have at least considered it. “Why? What’s happened?”

  “Well somehow it’s become known that someone entered Razukeen. I overheard a couple guys at an all Ilyium bar say that whoever it was, got away. They seemed worried and said they needed to let the High priest know. That Razukeen needed to be razed to ash.”

  Sami frowned, wondering what they were trying to hide. He hadn’t seen anything important. Could he have missed something? Even if he did, what would it matter? It wasn’t like it would change anything.

  “I’m sorry. I flew here straight away, but,” Isoul paused, drawing Sami’s gaze.

  “Sorry for what?” Sami asked.

  “I didn’t find out anything about the children,” he said sadly. “I will keep trying though.”

  Sami shook his head. “I didn’t really expect you to, but thanks for trying.” Then he frowned. “You haven’t been compromised, have you?” The last thing Sami wanted was for Isoul to get hurt.

  Isoul shook his head. “No, I made sure no one saw me shift.”

  Suddenly Sami had a bad feeling. If the Ilyium even suspected Isoul wasn’t who he said he was, or if they thought he’d betrayed them it wouldn’t go well for his friend.

  “I appreciate you trying to get me that information, but I don’t want you to look into it anymore,” Sami said.

  Isoul frowned. “No, I can see it’s important to you.”

  “No,” Sami said. “It’s too dangerous and you need to keep your cover safe.” When it looked like Isoul was going to argue, Sami shook his head. “I’m serious, I don’t want you doing anymore digging, leave it alone.” He waited, but Isoul just sighed.

  Sami glanced back at the cabin. He ached to go back inside and talk to Hellfire some more. It had been nice to converse with her without fighting, but he really needed to go back and take a closer look at his village. He was obviously missing something.

  “You’re going to Razukeen, aren’t you?” Isoul asked as if reading his mind.

  Sami nodded. “I have to.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Isoul offered.

  Sami shook his head. “No, that’s not a good idea.”

  “I won’t let you go alone—” Isoul began.

  Sami cut him off. “Look, I’ll be in and out, but if you get caught your cover will be blown, so as much as I appreciate the offer, no. What you are doing here is important. I’ll be fine.”

  “You going to tell them?” Isoul asked, indicating everyone in the cabin.

  With a sigh, Sami ran a hand through his hair. “I need to get going. Can you tell them I needed to take care of something? I’ll be back soon.”

  “Sure,” Isoul said but didn’t look too happy about it.

  Sami shifted into his dragon and took to the air, on his way to the place of his birth.

  HELLFIRE STARED OUT THE WINDOW. “Where is he going?” she asked Isoul when he came back inside and closed the door.

  “He wanted me to tell you he had something to take care of.”

  Dread filled Hellfire and she remembered how Sami had been unable to get his village off his mind earlier. “What did you talk to him about?”

  Isoul hesitated. “He asked me to find some information for him,” he finally said.

  “Information about what?” Hellfire asked.

  Isoul shifted to his other foot. “Before he gave himself up to the Ilyium, Sami had asked me what they’ve been saying about the massacre all these years. I told him that besides gloating, they say one of Lord Zander J’arzan’s elite guards lowered the wards and opened the gates, letting over three hundred Ilyium fighters in.” Isoul’s expression was grim.

  Hellfire felt sick. “That’s awful.”

  Isoul nodded. “It is. It was devastating. I remember my father telling me about it after it happened. Anyway, Sami seemed pretty upset when I told him.”

  “What information is he looking for?” she asked, wondering what Sami was after.

  Isoul shook his head. “He wanted to know where a couple of children had been taken.”

  Hinah and Drakayeh both inhaled sharply and glanced at each other.

  Hellfire ignored them. “Did you find out?”

  Isoul shook his head. “No. I didn’t. But somehow, the Ilyium are aware that someone recently visited Razukeen. They don’t know who, but are worried.”

  Hellfire sighed. “He went back there, didn’t he?”

  Isoul nodded and Hellfire bit her lip. She didn’t know if she should leave Sami alone or go after him. What was so important about the place that he had to go back and risk the Ilyium ambushing him?

  “Why?” she asked no one in particular. “What could he possibly hope to find after all this time? Surely Tierney’s father and others must’ve investigated, searched the place, don’t you think?”

  “They did,” Drakayeh said, though Hellfire could see the worry on his, Hinah, and Isoul’s faces.

  Brimstone and Nix looked perplexed about what was going on.

  “Think he’ll make it back in time?” Nix asked.

  Shit. She’d forgotten about the super eclipse. The reason they were all here in the first place. Still, a feeling of dread wouldn’t leave her alone. She didn’t like knowing Sami was out there all alone.

  “Why didn’t you go with him?” she asked Isoul.

  “He wouldn’t let me. Said he’d be right back, that he’d be okay,” Isoul answered.

  Hellfire studied him. “Why wouldn’t he let you go with him?”

  “He was afraid if we were caught, I would compromise my cover,” he said and Hellfire could see how it bothered him that he hadn’t gone.

  “So, it could be dangerous?” she asked.

  Isoul swallowed hard. “Yes. I overheard the Ilyium talk about razing the place to ash.”

  Ash! Shit. Hellfire thought about how nice it had been just talking to Sami for once without being afraid of what she was doing. Without fighting. Even if she couldn’t be with him, she could at least have explained why, told him about Deacon. Told him how she felt. He deserved to know the truth, if nothing else. But no, she’d been too chicken to get the words out.

  She should at least have thanked him for saving her and Nix. The guy had given himself up so that she could get Nix back for crying out loud.

  If something happened to him … and even if it
didn’t, soon they’d be heading back to Earth. Then when would she get the opportunity to tell him? On a plane surrounded by strangers, in his truck with Brimstone sitting beside them? In his home, surrounded by his family who hated her, and with the pretty amazon nearby? Not bloody likely.

  Panic seized her. What if she never got the chance to tell him her feelings? Unwanted and unchecked, a tear slid down her cheek. Hellfire growled and wiped it away. She had to tell him. Now, before it was too late.

  As she considered where he was going, a shiver of dread rushed through her.

  “Helly?” Brimstone asked as she started for the door.

  “I have to go after him.” She’d been channeling some of Sami’s emotions earlier, but now she didn’t feel a thing and that terrified her. He had to be blocking her. Maybe he was fine, but if not … Yesterday she’d quick figured out that if something happened to Sami, she wouldn’t be able to go on.

  Drakayeh stood and put his arm around Hinah. The worry on their faces made Hellfire’s gut churn.

  “Sami needs you,” Hinah said in her cryptic way that only made Hellfire’s fear grow.

  Hellfire nodded.

  “Wait, what about the eclipse?” Nix asked.

  “I’ll be back, don’t worry, I’m not letting you do this without me being there,” she told her sister.

  Nix rolled her eyes. “Okay, go.”

  Brimstone grabbed her arm as she opened the door. “Maybe I should go with you. I don’t like the idea of you going alone.”

  Hellfire shook her head, then seeing the worry in his eyes she pulled him into a hug. “You can be a major pain in the ass, but I love you. I’ll be fine and I’d rather you stay here with Nix, just in case I don’t get back in time.”

  She looked at Nix. “I love you too. Don’t do anything stupid. Wait until I get back, please?”

  Nix nodded. “Sure.”

  Hellfire shook her head. “No, promise me. You won’t do anything until I get back.”

  Nix glared at her. “I promise, not until you get back.”

  Hellfire smiled. “Good, thank you.”

  “Go, find your dragon man,” Nix said, shooing her out the door.