by Maya Daniels
“That is deserved as well,” Soren allows. “I didn’t end my existence, as you all know already. I chose to wait instead.”
“For the Titan?” Astara chirps, receiving a glare of her own from Myst.
That female really is very temperamental. An hour ago she hated Soren, now this. Go figure.
“No.” A chill rushes up my spine when Soren’s eyes lock on mine, intense and brimming with power. “For my mate.”
“Oh, fuck to the no.” Jumping up, I startle Tenebris, who has chosen to ignore us all. The panther hisses angrily jumping to his feet, too. “First you force Fenrir into a fake bond. Then you tell me my bond with Zoltan is a true mate bond, and now I’m your mate? You are crazy, old one.”
“You are not my mate,” Soren says calmly.
“Now you don’t even know what you are talking about.”
“Oh, dear fates.” Astara breathes, pressing both hands over her mouth as her eyes brim with tears.
“Huh?” Confused, I look around at all the faces in various degrees of shock, and in Zoltan’s case anger.
“An offspring from the last female dragon blood and a royal, a couple of millennia away. That is what the seer said,” Soren says softly, his own eyes shimmering. “I mistook which royal was the true mate.”
My knees buckle but Zoltan stops me from dropping on the sofa, gently lowering me in his lap. Lost for words, all I can do is stare at Soren. The ancient Fae stares back unblinking, allowing me to see all that he has suffered in hopes of seeing whatever story that seer told him come true.
“That’s why you agreed to tie your life to Sienna? To feed an entire land with your own lifeforce?” My chest is so tight I feel like my ribs will snap in half.
“It’s a small price to pay, young dragon.”
“You really are crazy,” I blurt out.
“Just honest.” The corner of his lips curls up for a second. “A small price indeed if the alternative is loneliness for all of eternity.” Those old, knowing eyes turn to Zoltan. “Wouldn’t you agree, Zoltan?”
The vampire nods, tightening his hold on me.
I have a lump the size of my fist stuck in my throat.
“You could’ve told us the truth from the start.” I have to clear my throat twice before I can talk.
“Would you have believed me?” Cocking his head to the side, he looks honestly curious.
“Probably not.” My shrug is more of a jerk of the shoulder. “Even now it sounds like a sci fi movie.”
“A what?”
“Never mind.” Scrubbing a hand over my face, I blow out a breath. “Let’s deal with the clusterfuck first. We can talk about mates later.”
“I will help,” Myst chirps, scratching at her arm. I watch her for a second longer to see that she’s not scratching but tugging gently on a bracelet I’ve never noticed before.
“We. We will help,” Fenrir corrects her, and she rolls her eyes.
“Do we know how to defeat a Titan?” Just saying it pools dread in the pit of my stomach. “I’d like to get my hands on Roberti, but I have no desire to deal with that crap.”
“I’m sure between all of us, we can come up with a good strategy.” Soren turns to the others for confirmation, which he gets. Especially from the males.
“We just need to find Roberti,” I remind them, because we have absolutely no clue where he is.
“Not necessarily.” Leo shuffles his feet uncomfortably.
“Meaning?”
“I think he will be trying to get across the portal sooner than we think.” The Alpha locks gazes with me, chilling my blood. “There was a message for you left inside the book.”
“What kind of message.” Ice is freezing my insides. Not even the heat from Zoltan’s body next to mine can warm me.
Leo pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and hands it out to me. With trembling hands, I unfold it and the breath gets stuck in my lungs. The words Roberti said to me when he tricked me into taking the mission for investigating Daywalker Academy stare back at me in his cursive writing, all sharp lines and angry loops.
Drake,
I told you if you screw this up, you won’t be getting out of there alive.
You screwed up.
Chapter Twenty
I’m not sure how to feel anymore.
Everyone is in a rush preparing for the inevitable. It’s almost like they think if they run around enough they’ll somehow prevent it. Zoltan and Fenrir have joined forces, and they are barking orders left and right in preparation of a war. My friends have their heads close together in what I assume is a meeting of the Order members, their heated debate being done in hushed, sharp tones and exchanged, meaningful looks. Only Tenebris and Soren don’t look like they are in a hurry. The panther stays stretched out, his head pressed on his folded front paws as he pays attention to everything happening with a watchful gaze, while the ancient Fae does his best to pretend he is not keeping an eye on me.
“I do not envy you, Chicca.” Myst bumps her shoulder on my arm.
“You stopped me from going after, Soren.” Sighing, I give her a sideways glance. “If I fought him, no one would’ve said anything. You wouldn’t have dropped the bomb, either, out of fear that you’d be next. Who wants to anger a female with blood on her hands?”
“True.” I see her rubbing her fingers over the bracelet around her wrist. “How was I to know that none of the idiots put two and two together and figured out that you were preggo? One look at you and I knew, and that was before I got a whiff of your scent or your magic.”
“You think they knew?” I narrow my eyes at Zoltan, who is listening to everything we are saying but is pretending he is paying attention to Fenrir. I know he hears me because his shoulders stiffen and his jaw tilts up stubbornly.
“Who knows about the rest of them? Soren and your hot piece of ass hunk, however … I would bet my life on it.” Myst gives the vampire, who is now glaring at her, a wide grin.
Now that she mentions it, Zoltan has been clingier than his usual stalkerish self lately. It’s not like he doesn’t know that I act rash and do stupid things that endanger my life, but he normally grumbles or tries to put me in an invisible cage claiming it’s for my own good. Now, however, he has been more hands on, frustrated to no end with everything I do. Like claiming he will kill me himself if I run into situations like the one with the lashing magic coming from the portal. Or threatening everyone in the infirmary until they allow him to drag me to his room to recover there. I’ve woken up in his bed after being injured more times than after having sex with him. When the vampire is content it’s easy to sneak out for a few hours, at least until he finds me.
He always finds me.
“I can’t worry about it now.” I look pointedly at Zoltan to make sure he knows I’ll get back to it after this clusterfuck is over. If we are still alive, that is. “If anyone has a clue on how to kill anything around here, it’s you.” Turning my attention to Myst, I lock eyes with her. “You said it yourself that the humans are getting worse. We need to stop this now before it’s too late.” Taking a deep breath, I blow it out slowly. “How do you kill a Titan?”
“Chicca—” Myst starts, but the vampire speaks over her.
“You will not be killing anything.” In his right mind, Zoltan slices his hand and chops the air, indicating there’s no room for arguments.
Myst groans, slapping her forehead.
“And who is going to stop me?” Giving him a sweet smile, I blink my lashes innocently at the jerk. “You?”
“Francesca.” That one word is said in such a condescending tone that it makes me want to scream.
“If you say think of the babe, I am going to kill you right here, right now.” The growl coming from me shocks everyone in the room.
Soren snickers like an idiot before full-on laughing when Zoltan turns all his anger at him.
“You are old, Zoltan.” The Dragon Blood grins as if he just told us the best joke ever. “Yet, you are so foolish
.” Shoulders shaking, Soren smooths a hand over his hair, eyeing the vampire shrewdly. “Have you no knowledge of dragons at all? As she is right now, not even I stand a chance against her. Females especially, even with distant bloodlines like ours, are the most aggressive when they are carrying offspring. She will rip us all apart if we stand between her and whatever she has set her sights on. Be it a sparkling jewel … or a Titan.”
“She.” Jabbing a finger at my chest, I scowl at him. “Is right here. How about we don’t talk about she while she can hear us, huh?”
“You have lost your ever-loving mind if you think I will allow my mate to face a Titan while carrying my youngling.” Snarling, Zoltan takes a step forward, but Fenrir grabs him by the upper arm to hold him back.
Peals of laughter burst out of me, bringing tears to my eyes. “I’m sorry.” Gasping for air and unable to stop laughing, I swipe the moisture from my eyelashes. “I thought you said allow.”
Fenrir’s grin grows while he tries, and miserably fails, not to look at Zoltan.
“Watch and learn.” Myst swings a finger between me and the vampire.
Fenrir frowns, his face darkening.
“Anyway …” Unwilling to listen to drama between Myst and Fenrir, I puff up my cheeks, blowing the air out slowly as a few more giggles escape. “Let’s focus less on Francesca and what she is doing, because she will be kicking some ass, and concentrate more on how the said ass is going to be kicked, shall we?”
“You will not stop her,” Soren chirps, unfazed by the growing tension in the room. “You might as well have her as ready as she will ever be.” Sucking in a breath, his nostrils flare and he keeps the sly look trained on a furious Zoltan. “For what it’s worth, I have a vested interest to keep her alive, too. She will not go unprotected. I’d like to think that between the two of us she’ll be as safe as can be.”
Whatever Zoltan is about to say, which seems like a lot judging by the amount of air expanding his chest, is left unsaid when Myst stiffens, and after exchanging a fast look with Fenrir, they both run to the front door. Twisting around, I crane my neck to see what they are doing when Myst yanks the door open, closing it in the same breath. Turning, she leans her back on it, her eyes flicking between all of us.
“You might not want Franky in this fight, Zoltan. Unfortunately, Roberti has other plans.” Her gaze falls on me and stays there. “You really are a lot of trouble, Chicca.”
“I’m not trouble. Trouble just finds me,” I mumble under my breath, which earns me one of her rare, genuine smiles. “What? It’s true.”
“Simple is boring, never forget that.” With a wink, her gentle expression changes into a determined one. “We have a crapload of hunters surrounding the house.” Looking around the room, her lips twist in a grimace before she turns a calculating gaze on Fenrir. “It was about time for this place to go. The neighborhood was getting sketchy anyway.”
“I bought the house across the street,” Fenrir explains when he notices my confusion.
“Why?” As if that’s important right now, but I can’t help myself. These two really are entertaining. More so than Zoltan and me.
“She wouldn’t talk to me.” Shrugging as if he bought her flowers and not the house across from hers, he smirks. “Hard to ignore me when you have to see me all day, every day.”
The daylight started disappearing a few hours ago, changing the bright rays to shades of burnt orange and pinks streaming through the windows. Even the darkening skies can’t hide the shadows we see moving through the sheer curtains draped over the glass. Pushing off the sofa, I climb to my feet and move closer to the center of the room. Knowing these idiots, they’ll start throwing the damn weapons when we least expect it. I wondered why when I stayed here not long ago, but I can see why Myst doesn’t have a coffee table. The female is always prepared for an attack.
Tenebris uncurls from the floor lazily, his jaw opening impossibly wide in a yawn. Keeping one eye open on me at all times, I think his lack of sleep is finally catching up with him. Softly padding on the floor, he comes to my side, his tail snaking the only indication that he is agitated about being surrounded. Zoltan and Soren are on either side of me at the same time.
“This really is going to get old fast.” Breathing the words gets the panther’s attention, and he narrows his gaze at the two males. “You can bite them later,” I inform him, and he perks. The shifter is a good friend like that.
The door bursts open, wooden shards flying like shrapnel all around us. Fenrir tackles Myst a second before Zoltan snatches me around the waist and spins me away from being impaled. That would’ve seriously sucked. The tickle of warmth in my bely blasts my insides like an inferno, and the view changes the same instant. It comes alive as colors dance and swirl, bright and dark cords leading my eyes to every living thing in and out of the house.
Grinning like an idiot, I jab Zoltan in the ribs.
“I know where all of them are.” I’m practically bouncing in my excitement, but he watches me like I’ve finally lost it. Twirling my hand to indicate my eyes, which I know have changed, I keep poking him. My actions earn me a glare. “What if I burn them to ash…—”
The widow explodes inside, tiny pieces of it slicing my face and arms. With a hiss I duck, pulling Zoltan down with me as the rest drop on their knees and scatter like bugs to take cover. I don’t think I’ve gotten braver because I still worry about the abominations trying to kill us. But it’s strange to feel excitement instead of fear in a situation like this. The hunters always make me uneasy.
Well, they used to anyway.
Myst and Fenrir disappear through the broken door, and that’s when the screams start. It’s fortunate that the human city is insane from the magic Roberti released. Good luck explaining this if it happens at normal times. Another Purge waiting to happen to be sure.
“I see them as well,” Soren calls out from behind me, and that’s all the encouragement I need.
Crawling on hands and knees, I head straight for the entrance where I can unleash the building fire inside me. Zoltan and Tenebris are close enough behind me that they bump my ass with each forward movement. The panther slinks around me fast and is first out the door. Jumping to my feet, I’m next to him in an instant.
A hand grabs my braid and I’m yanked back just in time to avoid a dagger passing an inch from my nose. My eyes cross to see it, but it hurls so fast it imbeds the inside wall. I feel a hunter approaching behind Zoltan, so turning my shoulders, I duck under his arm, sidestepping to protect his back. The hunter’s eyes widen a second before my claws burst out and slash at his throat. Deep red blood drenches his white uniform, making it look brown in the dying light.
With a ferocious roar, Tenebris pounces on the hunters coming at us from around the house. Releasing my braid, Zoltan joins him but doesn’t move too far away from me. That’s when Soren comes outside exiting the house like a tornado of a half-naked male and a waterfall of platinum hair.
The ancient Fae really needs a shirt.
Screams continue reaching my ears from the back of the house where I guess Myst and Fenrir are fighting. Astara, Leo in his wolf form, and Daren rush to help, each of them wielding their powers much better than before. Bodies start piling up like broken dolls on the lawn, creating a macabre display ready for the day of the dead the humans love to celebrate.
We are making good progress, and just as the thought occurs to me that I won’t need to release the burning magic inside me, the screeching of tires snaps my head to the right. Down the street I see them coming, dozens of SUV’s approaching so fast they’ll be on us in a second.
“This doesn’t feel right.” Tensing, I turn to face them just as Myst dashes from around the house, her hair wild and the silver crown gleaming eerily on top of her head.
“It’s a distraction.” Skidding to a stop next to me, she grabs my arm. “I could be talking out of my ass, but I know. I just know this is all to keep you here.”
“Yeah, it does fee
l fishy, doesn’t it?” The cars are almost upon us. “Roberti never sends a second wave of minions like this.”
“You need to get back to Sienna.”
A shiver passes up and down my spine, her words sounding more like a premonition than advice. A purr gets louder until the bike Zoltan used to bait me to come back home squeals to a stop with Fenrir straddling it.
“Go.” Myst shoves my shoulder, and it makes me stumble. “Go!” she shouts in my face. “The two of us can handle this.”
I want to argue, but something tells me that she is right. I do need to get back to Sienna, especially with both Soren and me on the other side of the portal. This is bad.
Really, really bad.
“We got this, cousin.” With a firm nod, the cocky female is replaced by a formidable one who’s ready to level the worlds. “Let us show them what we are made of. Bathe the earth with their blood.”
Ignoring the goosebumps that sprout over my skin, I turn and run to the bike. Fenrir steps away when I jump on it, Zoltan making the metal groan when he settles behind me. Revving the engine, I glance at Soren and Tenebris, but they bolt down the street zooming past the incoming cars. Astara, Daren, and Leo are right on their heels on foot.
“I will see you later, Myst.” Yelling at her back, I make her stop and look over her shoulder.
“If the Fates will it, you will.” Her lips curl at the corners, and her expression tightens my chest. “Now go fuck them up.” And she is gone in an instant right along with Fenrir.
“Fuck them up.” Blowing out a breath, I get a good grip on the bike. “Right.”
Throttling the machine between my thighs spikes up my heartbeat, and I bolt down the street past the hunters spilling from the cars like an arrow with Zoltan’s arms wrapped around my waist.
Chapter Twenty-One
Wind blasts across my face hard, forcing me to keep my eyes narrowed to slits. The city zooms by in a blur as I weave through the streets, leaning down so low with each turn that my knee brushes the asphalt. It’s been a while since I’ve had a bike. Mine was turned into scraps of metal somewhere between the gates of the Academy and their front doors.