Wyoming Dynasty (American Dragons Book 10)

by Aaron Crash

  “Is this real?” Steven asked.

  Wayne’s smile pulled at his lips. His eyes were lost in wrinkles. “Now, real is a point of view. Let’s just say this is a footnote. Collidium saw we forgot something important back when we first talked. We didn’t talk about why I was scared.”

  “Why were you scared?”

  The Ronin sighed. “Joe knew that poker game in Guam was a bad idea. It was about six months ago. I went because you only live once, partner. But yeah, Joe was right. It was a mistake. We played poker for body parts.”

  Steven wasn’t sure he’d heard that right. “What did you say?”

  Wayne set his coffee down. He nodded. Any kind of humor was gone from the Dragonsoul’s eyes. “We played for body parts. Some of us dragons did. We bet fingers, toes, arms, legs.” He lifted his hands to show the stumps of his pinkie fingers. “I got real lucky that night.”

  “Why in the hell did you do that?” Steven asked.

  “Because of Collidium.” The Texan Ronin closed his eyes and tilted his head like he was trying to escape a bad memory. “He made us. Like I said, reality can get funny when you can create it. That’s how you killed Zothora, right?”

  Steven nodded. “Yeah. I used RealityFire to create a pocket universe out of sagebrush.”

  Wayne didn’t even chuckle. He swallowed hard. “So you know. At that poker game in Guam, in that bad back room, we tried to shift. We tried to leave. Hell, we begged him to let us be. He wouldn’t, though. He made us play. I got out of there alive, only lost a couple of fingers. No one else got that lucky.”

  “Luck or skill?” Steven murmured. He didn’t expect an answer.

  He didn’t get one.

  Steven jerked awake, in a hotel room, with the air-conditioning turned on way too high. He had to laugh. Or maybe they were on one of the moons of Saturn. The room was your typical high-end double, not the exotic suites he was used to. He wondered why he was there, but figured he’d learn in time. He was so empty of Animus it wasn’t even funny.

  He was on one bed, lying on top of the comforter, in his jeans but shirtless. He heard weeping. He turned. Quinnestri sat on the floor against the other bed, crying softly. She wore his white Battle Beast T-shirt and nothing else.

  “Quinn, I don’t know why you’re crying, but it’s going to be okay.” He slid down to join her on the floor. They faced one another. He took her hand.

  She raised her eyes. “I know who Collidium is. And once again, I am to blame. For so many deaths, for so much sorrow and torment and madness, Steven. Such madness.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  STEVEN MOVED TO SIT next to Quinnestri. He pulled her to him and held her close. The AC kicked on. The hotel room smelled like countless hotel rooms across the Stair, he was sure of it. Yes, even on the Creator Destructor’s hell world, there was probably a hotel room there, drenched with blood and gore, but still smelling the same.

  Quinn pushed herself off his chest. She peered into his eyes with tears staining her cheeks. “How can you hold me when I’m a monster?”

  “We’ve been through this,” he said. “You’re not a monster. You were afraid. You made mistakes. I would say you were human, but you’re not.” He grinned.

  She didn’t.

  He kissed her cheek. “Tell me about Collidium, Quinn.”

  “That is a new name for him,” she said. “I saw him, in one of the buildings, before another of the bombs hit. He has the Day Glaive, and most likely the other magic items as well from Lyran legends.”

  “But not the Night Lance.” Steven thought there was a clue there, but he wasn’t sure what it was.

  “No, not that spear.” Worry showed on the elf’s face.

  Steven remembered at least two of the weapons. “The Day Glaive brought victory to anyone who wielded it. And the Night Lance could cut open the world to reveal its secrets. What does that mean?”

  “I do not know for sure.” Quinn shook her head sadly. “So much was lost in the Burning Truth. But we remembered a few things. You know the wanderer has been referred to as the lost king, but he is also known as the first king. His name was Foris Foranna, which can be translated as the lucky one. He is the Lyran version of you, Steven. He came from a powerful family at the very dawn of time. In some stories, he was the farmer, then the fisherman, then the soldier, then the scholar, and then? King of them all, back when the Four Protectors used their artifacts to keep Aqualyra safe and peaceful.”

  She closed her eyes.

  They both heard a card slide in the lock, and the door creaked open. Heridan, Nefri, and Uchiko came in, laughing and talking loudly. They stopped in the entryway when they saw Steven and Quinn on the floor.

  Uchiko’s face grew concerned. Heridan continued to laugh. Nefri smirked.

  It was terrible timing. Quinn stood. “Where are my clothes? You stuck me with this tease shirt, and I want my clothes.”

  “I apologize, Quinnestri. They were very dirty after your ordeal,” Uchiko explained. She bowed. “We came back to see if you were awake and what you want us to buy for your dress.”

  “It’s called a T-shirt, not a tease shirt,” Heridan sneered. “And yeah, you both were in no shape to travel. We got a room here, so you can rest, and then we’ll contact the rest of the Escort. They are back at the Infinity Ranch. Also, Tessa wanted me to let you know that the Bobs are on their way to Blackhawk. It seems like Bob Stains likes poker as well.”

  “Tomorrow night’s game is still on?” he asked in wonder. Then he had to wonder why Bob Stains would be Rhakshor Khat’s guest. Were the two working together? Did they know about Collidium?

  The Prosha nodded. “Yes, and you’ll get to see your foster father. Tessa did her crystal ball thing, and she said it’s important that you go.”

  Steven pulled himself up and went to the window. Twilight should’ve painted the hot dusty street with shadows, but there were too many lights from the casinos across the way. They must be in Wendover, a town on the Nevada border. People from Salt Lake City trekked down I-80 across the Great Salt Flats to gamble. A million colors, a bright clash of brilliance, offering riches to the lucky.

  What of the skilled?

  He turned. “Heridan, could you give us a minute? Quinn knows who Collidium is. Maybe come back later.”

  “No, we’ll stay. I want to hear about this asshole. I think he needs a Morta spear up his ass.” The Prosha sat on the bed, and Nefri plopped down next to her. Heridan wore shorts that showed off her shapely pale legs and a white top with the buttons undone to show cleavage. Nefri wore black slacks and a sleeveless blouse that had a hood. The black made her blue skin seem darker and her hair whiter.

  Uchiko, in a simple white dress, stood by the door. “If Quinnestri is afraid to talk in front of us—”

  “I do not fear you three!” the elf queen burst out. She went to Nefri and got in the dark elf’s face. “You, most of all, do not scare me. I have thought of trying to heal your voice, despite the Morta, but I decided I do not want to hear you speak. You would only spout hate at me.”

  Nefri laughed at the Lyra and then glanced at Steven with her amused purple eyes. The Shadow Archer smacked her own temple and then pointed a finger at him.

  Heridan barked mean laughter. “Don’t bother him, Nefri. I can take care of that. Maybe we should go. It’s not like Quinnestri wants to be friends with dark creatures like us.”

  Connexra linked Steven’s mind to the Prosha and the Shadow Archer. Nefri’s voice was in his head. She has never liked me. I am everything she hates. I remind her of her greatest failures.

  Heridan agreed with the Shadow Archer. And me? For Quinnestri, I’ll always be her enemy because I was a part of the Zothoric Myriad.

  Uchiko stood by awkwardly.

  Steven didn’t respond to the Connexra messages. He watched to see the elf queen’s reaction.

  Quinn stepped back to lean against the dresser. “No, you might have Morta, but what I have done, what I have failed to do, tha
t makes me dark.”

  The Prosha grinned at that. Her eyes went black, and she opened her lips to reveal smoky-glass fangs. “Dark can be good, Quinnie. Tell us how dark you can get.”

  “I have forgotten so much... so many dark deeds... but for this one, I was trying to do the right thing. Reading from the ancient texts we found in the Mont-Saint-Michel library brought back the memory.” Quinn closed her eyes. “I was asleep, and it was the Ohkreela, ruling Aqualyra, and their Morta hid us. That was when the wanderer returned, the first king and the lost one. Foris Foranna.”

  “The lucky one,” Steven said. “The unlucky number.”

  Everyone listened to the elf queen. “He enjoyed the wars of the seven dark elf kings. He fought on every side for a time, and then he wanted to go and play his games with Zothora. We couldn’t have that. Vandrus Dree managed to poison the ancient being, not enough to kill him but enough to subdue him. While Foris Foranna lay unconscious, Vandrus came to me in my dream, the sleep that hid my people. Vandrus wanted to kill this legend. Because once the lucky one woke, he would bring the Zothoric to our world. I told Vandrus we should not kill Foris Foranna—he was an honored elf king—and so Vandrus cast the magic to keep the first king, the lost king, asleep. That spell must have broken with Vandrus’s death. And now, he is here, on Gaia Alpha, calling himself Collidium and playing his games.”

  “How is Collidium like me?” Steven asked.

  Quinn walked over and held his hand. “While the actual histories were destroyed in the Burning Truth, the legends remained. He learned magic in months, and he did in years what it took others centuries to do. He brought order to the world, brought peace and justice, and then he left. Why? We do not know.”

  Her face lost all expression. Fear haunted her downcast eyes. “The lost king. To have him come back... and how he is... I am afraid, Steven. This might be a foe we cannot defeat.”

  Uchiko spoke. “If Tessa were here, she would say something to give us hope and reference a story. Aren’t there any number of stories about overcoming impossible odds?”

  “Like every story ever,” Heridan agreed. Her voice was softer, and she was more thoughtful than she’d been when she’d first arrived. “Quinn, I don’t see why you blame yourself for any of this. I’ve killed people... Stefan.” She shook away the bad memories. “I’ve done terrible things. But you? You only ever thought about saving your people.”

  “And myself,” the Lyran queen murmured. “I didn’t want the murder of Foris Foranna on my mind. I thought to keep him asleep, and then, after the war with the demons ended, I forgot about him. Vandrus did the work, and memories of our conversation were like fragile dreams, like morning dew on grass that faded in the sunlight. We might have escaped the shadows and teeth and talon only to be in the grip of an insane legend obsessed with games, ancient and powerful.”

  Quinn’s voice fell away. She shook her head. So much fear and sadness filled her blue eyes. “And really, the truth of Foris Foranna has been lost to time. Is he a simple Lyran king? Or is he something more? An Alpheros, maybe? A Dragonskin? Some whispered he delved into forbidden magics, dangerous to all who value their sanity.”

  “Void magic,” Steven said.

  Quinn didn’t react. She seemed shattered. And she’d come such a long way. “Over and over, I have failed.”

  Uchiko went and took the elf queen’s hand. “As have I, Quinnestri. For most of my life, my failure marked both my face and my body. Nefri, too, knows failure.”

  At her name, the dark elf nodded. There wasn’t bitterness or sarcasm in her purple eyes. Only understanding.

  Their minds were still connected through Connexra. This poor queen, Steven, Nefri sent. This poor woman. She might hate us, but she hates herself far more.

  Heridan spoke her thoughts out loud. “You know, Quinnestri, why I spend most of my time with Nefri and Uchiko?”

  Quinn shook her head. “I do not know.”

  “Because we are the broken wives. We are the outsiders. We are different, and while Aria likes to pretend she’s bad like us now, with her Morta core and her Angel Knife heart, she’s not. Nefri and Uchiko were professional assassins. I was a handmaiden of evil, though I kinda sucked at the evil business. I want to be evil now, but Steven and the girls keep me in check.”

  “Haru helps as well,” the elf queen whispered. “He gives you the quick food.”

  Heridan laughed at that. “Fast food. But yes. I guess my point is, we all made mistakes. We all have darkness in us. But we can get along. We should get along.”

  We must get along, Nefri added, or we will fucking die.

  The Prosha rose and went to Quinn. She took the hand Uchiko wasn’t holding. The demon woman looked into the Lyran queen’s eyes. “Nefri just pointed out that we have to get along, or we’ll fucking die.”

  Nefri sent more of her thoughts. We shall be better, Steven. I see, now, that our little clique is a poor thing. We are sisters and should be sisters.

  No, Steven countered. You should be my wives.

  The dark elf gave him her best smirk. You already proposed to me and made me cry. When are we going to seal the deal?

  Once I kill this fucking elf king thing, Steven sent back. Though that’s going to be rough since he can manipulate reality.

  Well, Stevie, so can you. Nefri’s lips split to show her white teeth. She liked teasing him.

  Quinnestri and Heridan looked at each other for a long time.

  The Prosha’s thoughts hit Steven. I think this elf is getting turned on. I know I am.

  From Nefri: That does not surprise me. She looks at us when she thinks we are not looking. You probably remember our play from before. Bring her to me.

  Steven watched as Heridan led Quinnestri between the beds. The bright elf stood in front of the dark elf. Nefri stroked the backs of Quinn’s thighs.

  The Shadow Archer’s whole face had changed, becoming softer. Tell her that we all are a mixture of the light and the dark. Tell her that there is beauty when a candle flickers in the cold night. And there is beauty when the day ends, and the shadows creep in to kill the light.

  Steven went to talk, but his mouth had gone dry.

  Heridan repeated her words. She sat on the bed behind Quinn. The elf queen stood with the dark elf in front of her and the Prosha behind.

  Heridan lifted Steven’s T-shirt to reveal the perfect twin cheeks of the elf queen’s ass.

  Nefri reached under the shirt to cup Quinn’s breasts. I would like her to kiss me. We can find joy in one another. We can find peace.

  Heridan bent and kissed the pliant flesh of the elf queen’s buttocks. “Nefri would like you to kiss her, Quinnestri. And I would like to kiss you. Would you like to make love with us Morta creatures?”

  “No,” Quinn said in a husky voice. She was radiating lust. “You are not Morta creatures. You are so much more than that. And I want to be more than who I have been. Yes, I want to make love to you. I want to make sex. I want to fuck.”

  And then Quinn arched her back, revealing her delicate dewy petals to Heridan, who leaned forward to lick the elf.

  At the same time, the queen was kissing Nefri. Pink lips met dark blue lips. Then their tongues touched, and the pair went from a simple kiss to something more passionate. The dark elf reached up to glide her fingers over the scars on Quinn’s face.

  The Lyran queen broke the kiss to gaze into the eyes of the dark elf. “Your friend is going to make me come.”

  Heridan was working on doing just that.

  Nefri stood and pulled the shirt off the elf queen. Quinn caressed the scars on the dark elf’s neck, where she’d had her throat cut. NecroMend had saved her, but it hadn’t given back her voice. Then the queen guided Nefri to her chest so the dark elf could suck on her nipples. Quinn clutched Nefri’s white-haired head to her chest, and then she was choking, moaning, sobbing as the orgasm took her. A wave of energy erupted out of her, and Steven felt it strike his Animus.

  Uchiko felt it to
o. She gasped. “Oh, her coming, the energy can’t go into Nefri or Heridan, so we get it, Steven. We get it, and it’s so powerful.”

  Uchiko shed her dress. Her breathing was ragged and the skin on her chest was flushed. She fell to her knees in front of Steven. He helped her work the pants off him, and he was grateful to be free of the denim. His erection felt like it would rip through the crotch.

  Then his sex found a warm, wet heaven in Uchiko’s mouth. He bent and cupped Uchiko’s little breasts as he watched the passion unfold in front of him on the bed.

  Nefri had stripped, and she lay back, pulling her meaty lips open to reveal her big pearl for Quinn to suck on.

  And the elf queen did just that. She knelt down on the floor to service the dark elf.

  As for Heridan, she had cast off her clothes, and she stood over Quinnestri, stroking her blonde hair. “My turn, my queen.” Heridan laughed at her words. “Should I call you my queen? Or my slut?” She pulled the elf away from Nefri and then rubbed her sex on Quinnestri’s face. The bright elf found another pearl to suck on between the Prosha’s legs.

  Steven succumbed to Uchiko’s insistent sucking. He let himself fall into the first of many orgasms. Animus exploded out from him even as more rushed in. After his reality jumping, his Animus core had been so empty.

  When the Prosha orgasmed, licked to the heights of ecstasy by the elf queen, Steven felt his Morta core filling.

  Quinn let out a surprised breath. “I fell the shift of Morta inside her, but I do not feel it affect my core.”

  “I’m sure you find it fascinating,” Heridan spat, “but don’t you forget about Nefri.”

  Quinn didn’t pause. She went back to the dark elf, who gasped and took her pleasure. That also added to Steven’s supply of dark energy.

  Heridan fell back across the bed. She was leaking Morta, her eyes were obsidian, and her horns were showing. Her lips and tongue had turned black. Her thoughts reached out to Steven. Bring Uchiko over and put her on my face. I want to see you go in her. I hope our ninja is feeling horny because I would love to have her lick me as well.