by Mikayla Lane
Drago grinned shyly and looked around the kitchen. “Maybe somewhere more public next time, so you will feel safer?”
Devon just stared at him. Her mind was barely registering his words as her eyes traveled his delicious body in the clear light of the kitchen.
The tightly interwoven material of his long sleeved shirt, clung to his heavily muscled torso. The black only accentuated the aura of danger and intensity that surrounded him. The black cargo pants looked looser at his waist than they did at his thighs, all of him looked much larger in her small, well-lit kitchen than he had in the darkness outside.
But that face. Damn, she thought as she tried to swallow the dry lump that formed in her mouth. The hard, sharp planes of his face contrasted so distinctly with his kind, blue eyes and sensuous mouth that he looked like a dark angel that had descended to her kitchen. A very dangerous angel, she thought as she remembered the ease with which he had leveled the thief outside earlier.
Drago sighed and put his drink on the closest counter and turned to leave when he heard Devon’s small shout behind him. He was getting ready to turn when she was already beside him, her hands fluttering in the air around him as if she wanted to touch him but was afraid of the shock that she would get from the contact.
“Don’t go! Look…,” Devon said, pausing to collect her thoughts as she put her hands behind her back to keep from touching him or looking like she was having a seizure. She couldn’t believe she was acting like such a fool and she felt like kicking herself. She never did have the best social skills, but this was ridiculous, even for her, she thought with a shake of her head.
Devon looked up into dark blue eyes with strange swirls and smiled shyly before looking down at the floor. “I’m Devon Sinclair. I am thirty two years old. My parents were killed when I was very young and I was raised by my uncle and boarding schools until I was old enough to take over the family business.”
She paused and grinned up at Drago, who was staring at her as if he was hanging on every word she spoke. She ignored the slight tremble that ran through her at the intensity of his stare and continued.
“I have never been married and have no children. And although I have a home here, I am rarely in town and prefer to run my business from several other locations. In fact, I can honestly say I hate this city and can’t wait to leave again. Although, this particular trip has turned out to be the best experience I’ve had in this hellhole yet,” Devon said shyly and looked away from Drago, wondering if he could feel how weird she felt.
Drago couldn’t help but notice how shy and nervous Devon seemed as she spoke of herself. He could tell that it was not something she was comfortable doing and couldn’t help but wonder why. She was such a beautiful woman, he couldn’t imagine her being anything less than confident.
He picked up both of their glasses from the counter and held hers out to her in such a way that she could grab it without touching him. Which was quite a feat considering his large hands and the small size of the glass. He smiled when she gingerly grabbed the glass from his hand without touching him.
He gently clinked their glasses together. “I have never been to this city before and I must say, I am not fond of the way this place feels and I don’t like it here either. But right here, right now, it couldn’t feel more perfect.”
Devon blushed a bright crimson and looked away from him as she took a large sip of the liquor. She cleared her throat from the burn of the alcohol and motioned with her glass back towards the living room where they both had been sitting earlier. “Would you like to sit and talk?”
She almost choked as soon as the words left her mouth. She could not believe she was letting him stay! She needed to be pushing his ass out of the door. He was a complication she didn’t need right now. Definitely, not now, she thought, as she sat back down in the chair and grinned at Drago as he sat on the couch. She was an idiot, she thought.
Chapter Three
Drago closed the door quietly behind him as he entered the house in the early morning light. He was hoping that no one would notice his arrival, but those hopes were dashed before he could get the door locked behind him.
“Where the hell have you been? And where is your jacket? It’s freezing out there! What the hell is going on Drago?” Dread demanded from behind him as Viper walked into the entryway.
Drago sighed and turned as he tried to rub the chill out of his arms. The walk from Devon’s home hadn’t been a long one, but even with his accelerated metabolism and increased body heat, the cold had managed to overtake him.
He smiled at the memory of Devon still wearing his coat as he left her minutes ago. He enjoyed knowing she was wearing something that belonged to him and hadn’t bothered to ask for his coat back when he left.
They had talked for hours about everything and nothing. Sharing small pieces of their lives with one another as they became more confident and trusting of each other with each passing minute. By the time they had parted, neither had looked at the other quite so shyly anymore and Drago had felt confident enough to kiss her cheek before he headed down the sidewalk.
He pulled himself from his thoughts of his human mate and stared at the concerned look on Dread and Viper’s faces and knew he was going to have to tell them about Devon. He couldn’t have been happier when Lara walked in speaking.
“I’m just as curious as you guys about where he’s been, but we have intel and we need to discuss this,” Lara said as she smiled at Drago before heading back towards the kitchen.
Dread stared at his brother for a moment. “We will finish this discussion later,” he said before he and Viper turned to follow Lara.
Breathing out a sigh of relief for the slight reprieve, Drago followed his brothers into the kitchen. He was only slightly surprised to see the table covered in papers and files and Lara staring intently at her comm. When he and his brothers were seated, Lara began to explain the situation to them.
“Ok guys, this is where we’re at. The animal that tried to kill Jax is not only a Prime, but an ancient one. His name is Satalis and we are going to need more than a laustio to hunt him.” Lara paused, knowing that the guys were going to be pissed.
Dread was the first to prove her right. “What the fuck? I thought the Prime were here to help? And who the hell do you expect to help us after pissing off Grai like that?”
Lara sighed. “We are here to help. All of us except for Satalis. And if it wasn’t for his abilities and the danger he represents to everyone, I would handle this on our own. But I had to call on those I knew could assist us in this particular situation. They should be here this afternoon.”
The three brothers looked at her warily, each of them noticing her hesitance to tell them who was coming and what they were facing with this ancient Prime, Satalis.
Viper shot a rare, angry look at his mate and said, “Tell them everything. Now.”
Lara muttered under her breath before blurting it out. “I called the fle’ te’ Brazar.”
Dread was the first to react and he stood from the table so fast the chair was knocked out from under him and turned over on the floor.
He leaned over the table at Lara. “What the fuck were you thinking? What could the House of Illusion possibly do to assist us? Between the Relian’s and this killer Prime friend of yours, they will end up dead!”
Drago cleared his throat, his thoughts in turmoil. “I have to agree. I cannot see any possible reason to bring in the young ones.”
Lara stood and faced down all of them. “Those ‘young ones’ are no longer so young. They are all over three hundred years old and if you had kept in touch with them over the years, you would know that each of them have excelled at defense and their abilities with energy are incredible.”
Lara softened her tone and continued. “Satalis is a master of illusions and we will need the fle’ te’ Brazar to unravel those illusions to find him. And to defeat him. We have no other choice.”
Lara looked directly at Dread and said softly,
“I remember them clearly and the last thing I would ever want to do is cause one of them to be harmed. If we had another choice, I would be happy to take it. But we don’t. If you let me explain, I think you’ll understand.”
Dread turned his chair upright and sat down heavily in it, before giving her a quick, sharp nod. “Explain this Satalis to me.” His tone of voice told them all that he was unconvinced that the young fle’ te’ Brazar family would be needed and he was giving Lara a chance to convince him otherwise.
Drago had to admit he was with Dread on this. If this Satalis, was indeed as dangerous and skilled as Lara was telling them, then the last thing that they needed was to worry about the younger… and much more fickle Tezarian’s being included.
Lara followed Dread’s lead and sat back down and began to explain. “Satalis is as old as time. He was created at the same time as the other ancients and Abexis. For the first dozen or so millennia, he was content, and he assisted us in our mission of helping other planets through the conversion process. He was even there with us on Valendra and Tezaria.”
Lara folded her hands on the table and smiled tenderly at Viper when he squeezed her hands in support. “We had known the fate of our world for thousands of years and the closer we came to the time of the destruction of our world, the more Satalis became… unstable. We noticed it first in his energy and we tried to work with him, although we couldn’t understand the reason for his discontent.”
“It wasn’t until we had taken him to another planet for conversion that we were able to learn the extent of the darkness residing inside of him. We had left him with the elders of the world, assuming that he was assisting them in the conversion. Another ancient had gone to check on him and had discovered him using his energy to do something similar to what he had done to Jax. Only with the elders, he didn’t just destroy their minds, he raped them of all of their knowledge and history as he killed them.”
“We lost fourteen of our Prime, mostly laustio’s, trying to subdue him and it still took all twelve of us ancient ones to assist. We placed him in an energy cage created by weaving the twelve strands of the remaining ancient’s energy together. We later discovered that while we were assuming he was helping us on other worlds, he was choosing his victims very carefully.”
“He was going after only those that had ancient knowledge of prophecies and magic that he could learn. He left a trail of death and destruction on several worlds before he was caught and had learned much that we were never meant to know.”
Lara could tell that the brothers were reeling from the information and continued, to make sure they fully understood what they were dealing with.
“Using the knowledge that he stole from the elders, Satalis learned to call and use dark energy. We found out that he had been trying to find a way to prevent the destruction of our world and to find physical immortality. He was tired of helping others who would live long, wonderful lives while he was forced to help them, then devolve, before being reborn in another host to do it again.”
“Once he had allowed the dark energy to consume him, he was lost and there was no way that we could save him. We assumed that leaving him in the energy cage when the planet was destroyed, would cause the destruction of his Prime beast and effectively end his existence.”
“This is the first proof I have of his survival and I still have no idea what went wrong and how he came to be here. However, he is the most dangerous thing on the planet and he has to be stopped. He is incredibly powerful, beyond anything you can imagine because of the dark knowledge that he has taken and the dark power he wields.”
Lara paused, letting them absorb what she was telling them before giving them the really bad news. “He is also the ancient guardian of a Relic of Grascad. The relic of life force. And I can assure you that he has already found it and unlocked its power.”
Dread was overwhelmed and he blurted out his first thought. “It’s what he used on Jax. That was when you knew.”
Lara nodded her head, waiting for an angry outburst that never came. She remained silent, allowing the brothers to try and comprehend the information in their own way. She was grateful when Viper grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it.
Drago understood the situation much more clearly now. Lara’s actions and the events of the last few weeks, now made a lot more sense to him. There was still one thing that he felt needed to be clarified for his own peace of mind.
“How is it that the young fle’ te’ Brazar can be of help if he is so powerful and dangerous? Why can’t Grai and his extensive resources help?”
Drago’s mind was still running through what Lara had said and he stood and went into the kitchen and began to make coffee while he listened to Lara answer his questions.
“The dark energy that he uses allows him to create elaborate illusions that he can utilize to conceal himself and his location. It’s why he was able to get away with what he was doing on the other worlds for so long. He can make you think that he’s just standing there by the door, but in reality he’s sucking the life force from someone right in front of your eyes.”
“The level of ability he has with the dark energy makes it almost impossible to unravel the illusions in time to find him before he’s long gone. The fle’ te’ Brazar can not only unravel them much faster, but I believe the energy of this planet will magnify their abilities,” Lara said, looking worriedly at Drago as he watched the coffee brew.
She did a quick sifting of his energy and easily noticed that his intelligent mind was already understanding the magnitude of the situation they were in. There was something else too. Something she would speak to him about later. When they were alone. For now she would let it go. They had much to speak of before the arrival of the fle’ te’ Brazar’s.
Drago poured four cups of coffee and carried them all in his large hands to the table, handing them out before retaking his seat. Lara waited until he sat down before continuing.
“I think what we need to do is go to the east side of the city tonight. We’ll try a different call for a laustio and we’ll see if the Brazar’s can detect the use of the dark illusions.”
Dread shook his head. “How the hell do you expect the young ones to even know what a dark anything is? They have never been off the planet and have never been subjected to anything more frightening than their parent’s wrath over their antics!”
Dread was frustrated, as they all were, about the coming arrival of the Brazar’s. They had a reason to be. It wasn’t that they didn’t like the two brothers and sister, on the contrary, they, like most people, really liked the siblings.
They were always happy and made you laugh. They never took anything seriously and were the worst pranksters around. Their strength being illusion they were always using it to play an endless string of pranks and jokes on those around them. And since the bond between the siblings was so strong, like with all Tezarian families, they worked their pranks in perfect synchronicity so you ended up being screwed times three.
Lara sighed, she was a lot happier about the arrival of the Brazar’s than they were. But she knew they had no choice of finding Satalis without them.
She turned to Dread. “They will have no doubt that it is dark energy when they find it. It will be like nothing they have ever felt before and will know immediately that something is wrong about it. If it is an illusory energy they will be able to deconstruct it and follow it to its origin.”
Drago had been considering what Lara had been saying and had begun understanding until she spoke the last. Confused, he asked about the discrepancy he found in what she had said.
“If this energy is so different and easily perceived, then why can we not see it and more than that, as a Prime, why can’t you see it?” He asked, still trying to fathom why they needed their planet’s pranksters for this.
Lara got up suddenly and grabbed the coffee pot and came back to refill their glasses. She was impressed that Drago had picked up on the problem in her plan and was not thrilled a
bout explaining it.
“As an ancient, my energy signature is very unique, as is every Prime. If I make any attempt to find the energy, it will let him know where we are and he will come for us, which will give him an advantage. One we cannot afford for him to have.”
Drago now understood and he cursed loudly before flashing angry eyes to Lara. “You don’t know if the planet’s energy will modify their signature enough to conceal them. You could bring this Satalis right to them!”
When Lara silently nodded her head, Drago got up and went into the kitchen and started cleaning. Even though it was already immaculate. Knowing he preferred to stay busy when he was dealing with his emotions, everyone left him alone and just hoped he wouldn’t clean out the refrigerator and throw out all their food again.
Dread turned furious eyes to Lara. “You plan on using them as bait?”
Lara rushed to reassure them and explain. “No! Of course not! I plan on seeing if they can see it and if they can manipulate it, using the planet’s energy to mask their efforts. If they can’t do it then I won’t put them at risk! If we don’t try to find him, we will end up staying ten steps behind him and cleaning up the bodies he leaves in the wake of destruction. We can’t afford to do that and you all know it.”
Drago cleared his throat. “I want your word that if they cannot do it without being detected that we will send them back home.”
Lara surprised them by chuckling. “That will be hard to do since they arrived on the first ship of volunteer Tezarian’s and have been working with Grai’s people in Europe for months now.”
The brothers were stunned. They had heard nothing about the Brazar’s being on the planet and looked at each other questioningly to see if any of them had known and not mentioned it. They each shook their head that they had not known and wondered at how that was possible.
A sharp knock at the front door caused all of them to look at one another questioningly, before Lara held out her hand, sent out her energy and sighed in relief.