Dracones Boxset Books 1-5

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

  “Go wait at the door, and don’t look back this way,” she instructed the boy harshly, not willing to pay him until she knew there really was something in the old plant.

  Blue eyes flashing, he started to protest, but she just raised her eyebrows and waited. A second passed then he shrugged, turned, and walked away.

  Raven waited until he was out of sight around the corner of the building, then lowered her head. Although she was pretty certain the three on the ground were going down, she didn’t want to take any chances with Win being struck by lightning if she was wrong and any went up.

  Closing her eyes, she summoned her power. Breathing in the damp, ash-laden air, she gathered the three souls into her, sighing at the sizzle of renewed energy that filled her before she released them to hades.

  When she was done, she left the bodies where they lay and hurried around the building where she found Win trying to pick the lock on the door.

  “Here, this might work,” she said and held up the key. Win moved away and waited while she inserted it into the lock.

  She breathed a silent thanks when the door opened without a sound, telling her the hinges had been oiled. In this city no one cared what was going on, so why would they bother trying to hide the fact they were utilizing the old plant? Whatever it was, it had to be something big.

  Win had mentioned that the group working here had left hours earlier, but he had no idea what was inside. Just that he’d seen shiny, long, curved pieces of golden metal being carried from the portal to this location. Raven quickly slipped inside so she wouldn’t be silhouetted in the doorway. Turning to face the interior, she waited for her eyes to adjust and inhaled the scent of mold and rot. She wrinkled her nose. Then her eyes widened at the contraption in front of them. What the hell?

  “What is that?” Win asked in wonder behind her.

  A breeze blew in behind them and Raven caught the vague scent of wolf and glanced at Win. She’d assumed the teen was human, but now she wondered. Then the scent was gone as quickly as it arrived, leaving the stale decay of the building along with stinky tunnel rat. With a frown, she turned back to the interior. “Not sure.”

  Then she reached into her pocket and pulled a handful of coins out and handed them, along with what the last guy had, to the tunnel rat. “Well, your intel was correct,” she said, directing Win back outside. She’d had her doubts that the teen was telling the truth.

  “A’course. Always is, I’d never lie to you,” he said, inspecting the coins.

  Raven snorted. She knew the kid would lie while cutting her throat if it suited him. “Go, before you freeze to death up here,” she said, feeling the cold herself.

  The tunnel rat slunk away, using the shadows and the eerie giant weeds that looked like they could eat a person for dinner, as cover.

  Raven narrowed her eyes and searched the derelict, weed-infested city, glad the rain had stopped. Moonlight shone off of blackened, crumbling buildings, giving the place an empty, ghostly aura.

  She needed to figure out what the Ilyium were up to. Glancing around, she didn’t see anyone about, though that didn’t mean anything. While the city wasn’t over-run with inhabitants, she also knew it was anything but empty. In fact, most who lived here were scavengers, selling or trading the stuff they found to the off-worlders who arrived at the market daily with food and other supplies.

  Satisfied no one was watching, she turned and went back inside.

  She carefully picked her way through the place, not sure what it was she was looking at. The old, rundown machinery had been pushed to the sides to make room for a fourteen-foot-tall golden spherical contraption. “Well, it’s definitely shiny,” she mumbled, circling the thing.

  She reached out and ran her hands over the smooth arches, not picking up any lingering signs of magic. She did make note of the symbols about five feet up each curved piece of metal. They matched the ones on the slip of paper she’d found on the dead Ilyium. Symbols that weren’t even remotely familiar, and she knew all the different languages of each realm. Or so she had thought. Apparently, she was wrong.

  Shivering, she had just made it back outside and shut the door, when a shout from the back of the building made her pause. Carefully, she eased along the wall and peeked around at where she’d left the bodies. Great! A group of ten armed men surrounded the dead. What are they doing here at this time?

  Turning away, she quickly retraced her steps around the plant. It was time to get out of this realm. As she drew close to the crumbling rock wall and the entrance to the portal, she heard the sounds of a scuffle. What now?

  Inching around the corner of a blackened, hollowed-out cement building, she saw two men dragging Win between them toward the gate. Shit! She didn’t need this. She needed to get through that gate. As her breath frosted in front of her face, she whistled. “Hey!”

  The men turned to face her. “Who are you? What is your business here?” they asked as she pulled her sword.

  “Let the kid go,” she commanded as she advanced on them. One guy released his hold on Win and pulled his sword, while the other backed toward the portal, dragging Win with him.

  Raven knew it wouldn’t matter if they let Win go or not. She couldn’t let them go. Not after they’d seen her face, and knowing the other group would be reporting their dead guards any minute.

  Counting silently in her head, she made quick work of the men in about sixty seconds. They didn’t put up much of a fight. Disgusted, she re-sheathed her weapon. “Go, get out of here—” she began to tell Win when the portal came to life.

  Hades! “C’mon,” she said. Grabbing the teen’s arm, she ran to an old, broken-down supply wagon about two hundred feet away on the edge of an overgrown field.

  Once they were hidden, she turned and studied the portal through a crack in the rotted wooden slats.

  “You saved me,” Win whispered, a scowl on his face. Raven waved him to be quiet. Just then, sixteen armed men in black robes exited the blinding white light of magic. A cry immediately went up when they spotted the men on the ground.

  What are they doing here, and at this time of night? It didn’t make sense. A moment later, the sound of running feet squelching in the mud came from the direction of the plant. Really, what else could go wrong tonight? This was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance mission. As the runner grew closer, she and Win pressed up against the wagon and held still.

  When the Ilyium hurried past them, she let out the breath she’d been holding. They watched the guy halt and stare at the two dead men. Raven strained to hear.

  “There’s someone here. The plant’s security are all dead as well,” the guy said, pointing back toward the plant. Angry voices began to talk over each other before the leader of the group sent six men along with the messenger back to the plant, leaving ten fully armed men behind to guard the portal.

  Demon spawn! What was she going to do now? She was running out of time and the temperature was steadily dropping.

  “Win, how did they catch you?” she asked.

  The tunnel rat’s eyes shone blue. “I heard something and went to investigate. I didn’t think they’d bother with me, but …” He shrugged, and she could tell he was shaken.

  After being on her own for so long she wasn’t good with people, and had no idea how to comfort the kid. She looked back at the portal. “I’m sure they’ll leave soon.” The words barely left her mouth when the portal lit up again. A second later, another group emerged, carrying a pile of equipment.

  “No, no, no!” she muttered as they began to set up a large, heavy-duty tent and some kind of heating system.

  “I can help you,” Win said, and indicated the portal. “Looks like they’re here to stay,” he said, stating the obvious.

  “Why do you want to help?” Raven asked, suspicious.

  Win stared at her, his blue eyes wide. “You just saved my life.”

  “I’m sure they’d have let you go,” she said.

  “No, one guy said they shou
ld take me to their boss and the other agreed,” Win said.

  “Maybe they just wanted your services,” she said, doubting that herself. Win shook his head and Raven sighed. “Fine, how do you think you can help me?”

  If she just walked out and tried to get through the portal, they’d know it was her who killed their men, even if she put on her robe, disguising herself as one of them. Then her cover would be blown for sure.

  Her other option was to release the beast and go psycho on their asses and take them all out, though she wasn’t sure what might await her on the other side and she didn’t trust her control.

  She studied Win, not sure how he could stand being out here in the rags he wore. She still didn’t quite trust the tunnel rat, but he seemed like the best option. Maybe the men at the gate would be gone by morning.

  As if sensing her compliance, he motioned behind them. “Come with me.” Turning, he slipped between the goliath red-and-purple razor-edged, people-eating weeds.

  Raven shivered again and took a last look at the Ilyium before turning away. Not like I have much choice in the matter. Sighing, she followed the teen into the creepy foliage. Even though she was tall, they covered her head and she shivered not from the cold this time.

  For a half-mile they zig-zagged through the overgrowth and piles of rebar, cement, and other debris that made up the decrepit city. Finally, Win stopped at a partial cement staircase that led up to nowhere, and a huge rotting tree. Between the two was a red rusted-iron door propped open.

  Win bit his lip, suddenly unsure. “Look, I … there are others down here, my sisters and friends, and I’m not supposed to bring strangers in, but you saved my life.”

  Raven nodded. It was getting too cold to stand out here and she didn’t have much choice. “I understand.”

  “A’right, just … don’t kill anyone, please?” he asked, face pale in the moonlight as he shivered. His lips looked like they were turning blue.

  “Go on,” she snapped, but Win didn’t move. “As long as no one tries to kill me, I promise not to kill anyone,” she said.

  With a hesitant nod, Win finally turned and led her down into the network of tunnels that ran beneath the city and parts of the countryside.

  When they reached the bottom, he opened another metal door and then shut it behind them. Raven inhaled the stagnant air. She knew he stayed warm by living down here, but hadn’t expected it to be this warm, or cloying.

  “There is another portal, a forgotten one. It’s a day’s walk through the tunnels,” he said as they passed little curtained off alcoves. Although most of them were empty, she still caught a few curious eyes peering at her before ducking away at the sight of her. Not all the inhabitants of the tunnels ducked away though.

  “What are you doing, Win?” asked an older boy as he blocked their path.

  “This is Raven. She needs a place to stay tonight,” Win said, standing his ground against the much larger boy.

  “So? You know the rules.” The other boy sneered.

  “She pays good and can be trusted, Mason,” Win bit out.

  “I don’t know that,” Mason said, standing his ground.

  Win gave a little snarl, which surprised Raven, but didn’t reply to Mason’s comment. “Out of the way,” he said instead, and pushed past the bigger boy. Raven felt Mason’s eyes on her back as she followed Win down the tunnel.

  “I pay good and can be trusted?” she muttered wryly.

  He stopped and turned to her. “Look, you do pay better than anyone, and you’ve never tried to cheat me.”

  She shrugged. “I just uphold my end of any bargain.”

  Win licked his cracked lips. “Yeah, and gave me all those dead guys’ coin. Most people, they’d have kept that, or used it to pay me, but you still gave me your money on top of it. No one does that. Besides, you saved my life.” He studied her for a moment before turning and continuing down the tunnel.

  Raven hurried to catch up. “Where is everyone? I thought there were more of you down here,” she said, eyeing all the empty alcoves.

  Win didn’t say anything, and a moment later he slowed and Raven sighed. Sleep never came easy, but she’d been going non-stop for the last three days and hadn’t even started on her journey to Earth and her brother.

  Unfortunately, before she could start, she needed to give her superior an excuse of why she had to leave. And, of course the nosey bastard would want to know where she was going as well. So, she planned to tell him the truth, that her brother was in trouble and she had to go help. Then she needed to contact Zales and let him know she’d be away for a while, as well as tell him what she’d found here.

  She hated all the delays and for the millionth time, wondered what had happened to her brother, why she was feeling such overwhelming pain through their sibling bond.

  Finally, Win stopped in front of one curtained alcove. “This is mine and my two sisters’ space,” he said, then indicated an empty alcove beside them. “You can stay in that one for tonight.”

  Chapter Seven

  Tunnel Rats

  Raven came awake with a start, heart pounding. She wasn’t alone. Holding still, she cracked her eyes and saw one of the tunnel rats––a small child with long, scraggly brown hair––in her alcove playing in the dirt. A glimpse of soft golden eyes and a delicate, dirt-streaked face couldn’t hide the fact that it was a little girl. Raven began to relax until she realized the little shit wasn’t playing in the dirt, but rather digging in her pack!

  Suddenly the girl tensed up and swung around to meet Raven’s eyes.

  “Boo!” Raven sat up as the little girl squealed and ran into the next alcove that she shared with her brother and sister.

  A moment later, the curtain was flung aside and an older girl of maybe sixteen or seventeen stomped out and glared at Raven. “You didn’t have to scare her,” she said while the little one crept out and hid behind her legs.

  “She should keep her hands out of other people’s stuff,” Raven retorted, eyeing Win’s two sisters as she stood and stretched. Sleeping on a cold stone floor didn’t help and now she ached, feeling her years.

  The older girl sneered at her. “She was only looking for something to eat.”

  Raven clenched her jaw and took a deep breath. “I have weapons … dangerous stuff in there,” she said. Then she dug around in her pack and pulled three wrapped bundles out. “Here,” she said and held them out.

  “We don’t want anything you have.” The girl crossed her arms defiantly.

  Raven didn’t have time for this. “Where’s Win?” she asked as she set the bundles down near them, but neither girl answered.

  With a sigh, Raven walked away and began to retrace her steps of the night before, hoping she remembered the correct path. She was just about to turn the corner, when two voices reached her.

  “It was only for the night,” Win said.

  “So, makes no difference, we have rules for a reason,” Mason said and Win snorted.

  “Yeah, and like you don’t break any of them yourself!”

  As she approached, Mason scowled at her. “She needs to go,” he said before walking away and leaving Win glaring at his back. Raven saw him swallow deeply and attempt to hide the sword behind his back for a moment, but seeing her gaze on it, he didn’t bother. “You’re awake,” he said, recovering quickly.

  She nodded and while she was curious about why he’d gone back for the Ilyium sword that had cut her, she didn’t have time to worry about it. “I need to get back through the portal.”

  Fourteen years, she thought guiltily, hating how long it had been since she’d seen her brother. The sudden need to get moving wouldn’t let her rest. The amount of physical pain she sensed from Zander through their sibling bond scared her more with every passing moment and fear wasn’t something she had felt in twenty long years. When she first felt Zander’s agonizing pain, she hadn’t been overly worried. They were immortal and even if hurt, they healed, usually very fast.

&nb
sp; Except the pain continued, and as days passed, she began to worry. Because the reality was, though it wouldn’t be easy to kill either of them, she supposed it was possible. What worried her even more was the fact that he obviously hadn’t healed. If he’d been injured in any way, he should have healed already. She couldn’t understand what could be causing this and intended to find out.

  Even if it meant blowing her cover with this latest group of Ilyium. Raven hated to do that and would try to avoid it at all costs. Though she’d worked too hard to infiltrate this branch, she could no longer ignore what was happening to her brother.

  This pain was physical, unlike the familiar soul-crushing agony she’d felt the day Zander’s mate and village had been attacked.

  Hell’s fucking demons! That had been brutal. And so horribly needless. It still amazed her that the Ilyium could think everyone else were the evil ones, when it was they themselves who mercilessly murdered innocent women, children, and elderly.

  “Yeah, about the portal,” Win said.

  “What?” she asked, dread curling through her stomach.

  “Well, there’s an army camped out there now,” he said.

  “Fucking demons,” she swore, hating the idea of wasting the time it would take to get to the other portal. Although, it was lucky there was another portal to access. “Fine, can you show me the way to the other gate?”

  “Yes.” Win turned away and began to lead her back to his and his sisters’ sleeping quarters.

  “So, I see you went back for the Ilyium’s sword. Why?” she asked.

  Win’s shoulders tensed up for a moment before he shrugged. “I wanted it.”

  Raven grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. “Why, with all the Ilyium crawling around there, would you attempt something so risky?”

  Win pulled his arm away and continued to walk. “I told you, I wanted it.”