“What is this?” he asked looking down at her.
“When I was a teenager,” she said, coming up for air. “They said it was a good way to keep from getting pregnant.”
“Huh?” he asked.
“Be quiet nerd boy and let me blow you.” She laughed and sucked him back into her mouth.
“Penelope,” he moaned. “By the gods, Penelope!”
The pleasure built so intensely as his dragon thrashed about inside his mind, ready for release. He was coiled like a snake preparing to strike. Cato desperately resisted the demanding urge to turn her over, sink his hungry cock inside her pussy, release his seed, and plant dragonkin in her womb. He held back, exerting every ounce of control at his disposal. His beautiful mate sucked his dick and stroked him until he was ready to explode. He didn’t know what to do. He would come at any moment, soaking her throat with his seed. Was that what she wanted?
“Penelope. I’m going to…”
His words only made her suck and stroke more vigorously as if forcing him to explode inside her mouth. He could not hold back a second longer. That deep well of need clamped his testicles and blasted through his shaft into the back of her throat. She groaned, swallowing his semen greedily as if that was exactly what she’d wanted. His tensed body relaxed as the last echoes of pleasure throbbed through him. Holding his softening dick in her hand, she licked the last of his come and then climbed up the bed beside him, wrapping her hand over his chest.
“I didn’t mean to… In your mouth.”
“Of course you did,” she said. “Let’s not talk about it anymore.” Her voice was lazy and tired. She closed her eyes as she laid beside him. He leaned in and kissed her forehead before quickly drifting off to the most pleasant sleep of his life.
Chapter 14
Penelope stared down at her coffee and bagel, feeling slightly embarrassed about the night before. She didn’t feel guilty or ashamed of herself, but she had been swept up in her emotions about her sister. She hadn’t really been thinking straight. She liked Cato, a lot, and under normal circumstances getting down and dirty with him would have been perfect. But she was in the middle of the search for her sister and a coven of vampires, which made it a bit inappropriate.
Screw that.
She didn’t regret it at all, she decided. Being with Cato had taken her mind off of everything. He’d given her pleasure without expecting anything in return, and when she had him in her hands, she’d never felt so much power or lust. She couldn’t wait to be with him again. But right now, she had to set it aside and focus on finding Flora.
“Have you heard anything from your AI?” she asked Cato as he took a bite of bagel from the hotel’s continental breakfast buffet downstairs.
“I’m getting something right now,” he said.
She waited for several moments and then he nodded.
“Bethi informs me that a large estate not far from here was purchased by a man named Marco Morelli just yesterday. Marco is the name of one of the coven leaders. He’s gone by multiple surnames, including Morelli, as far as I know,” Cato said. “It isn’t definitive, but it is a very good lead.”
“That sounds like an excellent lead,” Penelope said.
“Definitely worth checking out. I’m informing the others now.”
Penelope shoved the rest of her bagel in her mouth and downed her coffee just as Aiden and Dax entered Cato’s hotel room.
“Aren’t you ready?” Dax asked.
“We’re leaving now,” Cato said.
Penelope wiped her hands on her napkin as she stood, following the guys to the door.
“Where are we going to do the whole shift thing?” Penelope asked.
“Let’s put up our stealth shields now and go half shift,” Cato said. “I’ll carry you to the compound.”
They all went outside, already under stealth with the dragons in half shift form. Cato held her hand and scooped her up in his arms. He launched into the sky. The city fell away below them is he gained altitude and flew through the big puffy clouds.
She could see the ocean in the distance and the mountains on the other side. Even being completely invisible, the flight through the sky was magnificent and she drank in the beauty of the landscape all around. She would never get used to the sensation of flying invisibly through the air. But there was something deeply moving about it.
The dragons headed east, flying inland away from the coast. After an hour of flying, they began to descend into a vast stretch of forest. When Cato’s feet met the ground and he crouched on his belly, she slid from his arms and let out the deep breath she’d been holding.
The men remained invisible, but she could hear them whispering using their voices.
“The compound is right through these trees,” Cato whispered. “We will stay in stealth to investigate.”
He took her hand in his and they crept forward. The dragons were all silent as they walked, but Penelope was not quite as graceful as they. Her feet crunched over the underbrush, broke sticks and shuffled through the dried leaves. Finally, they stopped at the edge of the clearing and peered out over the grounds of a Gothic mansion with dying landscaping and moss-covered statues. Penelope couldn’t help but think how fitting it was for a coven of vampires. She couldn’t see a living soul moving about the grounds or inside the house.
“Their magical wards are weak,” Cato whispered.
“They just arrived yesterday. Probably a low priority,” Aiden said under his breath.
“We need to get closer,” Dax said.
“I’m analyzing their wards, Dax,” Cato hissed. “Don’t go rushing in.”
Dax grumbled.
They waited for several long moments as Cato analyzed the vampires’ wards. She had the time to let it sink in that she was now living in a world where things like vampires, magical wards, and advanced technology were real things. If she hadn’t been desperate to find her sister, she may have been losing her mind. Maybe she was losing her mind, she mused.
“I believe we can get through these wards without being noticed,” Cato said. “Just give me one more moment.”
Penelope held her breath as Cato broke the wards with his wrist device.
“Okay,” he said. “We can get through safely now.”
They crept out of the forest, Penelope’s fingers threaded through Cato’s. The four of them stalked silently over the dead grass of the back lawn, stepped over dried bushes and broken flowerpots until they were standing on the back patio of the old mansion. A wave of emotion hit Penelope. And she gasped, clutching her neck. It was fear. Terror. But then the terror was slowly interwoven with a feeling of… desire?
Penelope was so confused she ran forward and looked through the window of the mansion. All she could see was a dark shadowy hallway. There was movement within. Several men and women laughed as they passed from one room to the next. She felt Cato’s hand find hers, feeling warm and reassuring.
She knew the guys could speak to each other inside their minds, but she couldn’t hear a thing they said. She felt lost and blind and was truly invisible. She reached down and activated her weapon, ready to fight. Cato whispered in her ear.
“Follow me. Stay invisible.”
He led her around the building to what looked like a storm door. The door opened, and they quickly slipped inside. The door closed above her and they found themselves in a basement, illuminated only by the thin stream of light coming from between the storm doors. Dusty old furniture, broken pots, ancient canned goods lined rickety shelves. The smell of dust and mold hit her nose and she held back a sneeze.
Cato led her deeper into the basement to a staircase. She followed him up the stairs to a narrow door where they stopped. They remained there for several moments. Cato’s hand squeezed hers reassuringly. She gripped her laser gun in her other hand, ready to fire if she needed to. She had been empowered by Aria’s song, just like the others. She knew that she could defend herself if she had to.
The door creaked op
en, and they swiftly stepped through. On the other side, they found themselves in the hallway she’d seen through the window. After moving quickly down the hall, they started up a staircase to the second floor. She gritted her teeth, trying to remain silent as they moved over the rickety wooden floorboards. Stopping at a pair of double doors, she waited for the dragons to make their move.
A group of vampires walked past, dressed in skinny jeans and hoodies.
“This place is a dump,” one of them said.
“It’s true,” said another. “It smells like mold. Marco and Victor aren’t living up to their promises.”
“I would advise you not to speak ill of Marco or Victor,” said another.
“So, what if I do?”
“You owe your life and your allegiance to the coven. Besides, I’ve heard they have something very special planned.”
“What—with that Dragon Soul?”
“Her? She’s only a temporary diversion. They’ll get bored of her soon enough and finally eat her like they should have the first day.”
Penelope gritted her teeth and fisted her hands. She knew they were talking about Flora.
“So, there’s something else?”
“Yes. Something much bigger. Bigger than any of us have ever seen.”
The two men in hoodies sauntered down the hall and disappeared beyond another door. Penelope shook her head, blinking back the tears of rage that had formed in the corners her eyes. She had wanted to shoot the bastards right then and there.
Almost as soon as the other vampires disappeared, the doors burst open and the dragons appeared, standing in their brutal half shift forms, holding their weapons at the ready as they faced their opponents on the other side of the doors.
“Ah,” said a man in a slick suit standing in the room beyond. “It’s about time you arrived. What did I tell you, Flora? They came for you after all.”
Chapter 15
Penelope’s mouth fell when she saw her sister standing beside a man seated in what could only be described as a throne. She was dressed in a skimpy red slip dress, hand on her hips and her long brown hair spiraling in curls that cascaded around her shoulders.
“You were right, Marco,” she said.
Cato had told her to stay invisible. And even if he hadn’t, she was too stunned to even move. What was her sister doing? Why wasn’t she fighting? Penelope noticed two red marks on her sister’s neck and droplets of blood streaming down her throat. Had she been bitten? Had she been turned? Could these alien vampires do that?
“We’ve come for the girl,” Cato said, pointing his laser sword at the man in the chair.
“And she doesn’t want to go with you,” Marco said.
“Flora,” he said. “We are here for your sister, Penelope. We’ve come to save you. Come with me now.”
“Hmmm,” Flora said, pressing a red painted finger to her chin. “No. I don’t think I will.”
What had happened to her? Why was she acting this way?
“What have you done to her?” Dax bellowed, raising his two-handed sword.
“What haven’t I done to her?” Marco said. “That would be a better question.”
They both laughed, gazing at each other, as if sharing some kind of sick insight joke.
“This is just one of the many surprises I have in store for you today,” Marco said. “You’ve arrived just in time.”
Panic thumped in Penelope’s chest. She did everything she could to keep herself in stealth, but her love of her sister won out. She dropped her shield.
“Flora? What happened to you?” she asked frantically.
Flora threw her head back and laughed maniacally then looked directly into Penelope’s eyes. Flora’s eyes were shining with a supernatural light that terrified Penelope. She took a step back, gripping her laser gun in fear. This couldn’t be happening. Her sister couldn’t be one of them.
“I finally decided to stop being weak. After a week of Marco offering me the opportunity to transform into something greater, I finally accepted. Now, I don’t know what took me so long. I’m stronger, faster, more intelligent. I’ve never felt better. We can offer the same to you, Penelope, if you’ll join us.”
“Flora, this isn’t you,” Penelope begged. “We have to change her back.”
Penelope knew it was an empty plea. She had just learned about dragons and vampires recently, but from what she knew from the myths of vampires was that once someone was changed, they couldn’t change back. The final step was death.
“That’s not going to happen,” Flora said. “I’m staying here, Marco has taken me as his mate.”
She lifted her wrist to Marco’s mouth, and he sank his teeth into her veins. Flora threw back her head and opened her mouth, her eyes rolling as if she were in pure ecstasy.
“Flora…” Penelope whispered.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Cato said. “We should go.”
“We have to save her,” Penelope pleaded as Cato wrapped his arm around her and pulled her away.
“Leaving so fast?” Marco asked? “You’re going to miss my next surprise.”
Out of the shadows, three men and two women appeared, wearing the clothing of various time periods in the past. They smiled and laughed at the dragons, lunging forward as Cato grabbed her and went invisible.
He pulled her out of the room, taking her away from the bloody scene that transpired beyond the double doors. Swiftly moving under the cloak of invisibility, slung over Cato shoulder, she stayed silent, knowing her protests would not change his mind.
Tears streamed from her eyes. She was too late. Her Flora was gone. But deep in her heart, she knew that her sister was still inside her, somehow. Cato held her tight and launched into the air outside the mansion, flying away with her cradled in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I couldn’t allow you to remain in danger.”
“There must be a way to save her, Cato. You have to go back.”
“I can’t leave you alone. You are almost completely defenseless. And those vampires were elders. Without the blood of a mated Dragon Soul, we cannot defeat them.”
“Just drop me off in the woods. I’ll stay under my shields. We need to try to save her. I’m begging you.”
“Penelope. I can’t.”
“If you love me Cato, you will. You’ll go back for her. I can’t imagine my life without my sister. I don’t want to.”
He growled loudly as if completely conflicted by her words. Finally, he descended, landing in the middle of the deep forest. She slipped from his arms, and they dropped their invisibility shields, looking at each other in the shadows of the forest.
“Please go get my sister.”
“She is a vampire. I don’t know what can be done for her.”
“We have to try.”
“There could be a solution. Flora was just turned. So, there is a slim chance it can be reversed. I can’t promise you anything.”
“Please, just go get her. She wouldn’t want to remain like this.”
“For you, I will do anything.”
Penelope activated her strongest shields and went invisible, watching Cato launch into the air and disappear as he broke through the canopy of the forest. She sat and closed her eyes, connecting to her sister in that place where twins feel each other closer than any other bond.
“I’m not giving up on you, Flora,” Penelope said. “I’m not giving up.”
Chapter 16
Cato flew back to the dragon’s compound, keeping tabs with the rest of the crew as they fought.
“We should leave,” Aiden said. “The elders are too strong for us.”
“We can’t go without the girl,” Cato said.
“She’s lost,” Aiden said.
“There is always hope,” Dax said, contradicting Aiden. It was their usual competitive game. For once, Cato appreciated it. He needed to help Flora, if only for Penelope’s sake.
Cato arrived back at the scene and dropped his invisibility c
loak. Aiden and Dax were fighting desperately against a mob of young vampires and five elders. The fight had spilled out of Marco’s office and onto the grounds outside the mansion. Wave after wave of young vampires jumped on them as Aiden and Dax dispatched them two and three at a time. Cato entered the fray, in his half shift form, shooting dual laser guns at the oncoming mob.
It wasn’t the young vampires who gave them the problem. Strengthened by Aria’s song, they were able to make contact and kill the young ones. But the elders? That was a different story. They could cause injury, but as soon as they did, the ancient vampires would heal themselves almost instantaneously, jump back to their feet, and attack again.
Aiden danced in his half shift form, laser swords whirling as he sliced through the mob. He jumped into the air, ready to attack one of the ancient vampires. He sliced his swords in a scissoring motion across the neck of a vampire in an Edwardian ball gown and a high white wig. His swords made contact and her head fell from her neck with the shriek. But almost as soon as her head hit the ground, it ascended in the air and attached itself back to her neck. She smiled maniacally and lunged at him, mouth open and teeth bared.
She sank her teeth into his neck and bit like a ravenous dog. Aiden screamed, at his wings pumping as he took to the air. He flew up into the sky and tossed her off. Her body went crashing toward the ground, but she disappeared into shadows before connecting with the earth.
Two male vampires dressed in decorative medieval tunics and britches ran at Dax in his full dragon form. They jumped on his back, biting through his scales. A younger vampire would never be able to pierce the scales of a dragon. But these ancients could. Dax roared and rolled over on his back, rubbing and writhing over the Earth in an effort to remove them. He smashed them under the weight of his massive dragon, but they disappeared into smoke with psychotic laughter ringing in the air behind them.
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