by Aidy Award
“If you dickheads have something that can stop a non-photonic being, you’d better use it now, or we’re all dead.” His mate’s voice was nothing more than a mere whisper. She raised her hand and moved her lips in words only she could hear.
Dark Shadows
Ace
Shit, it was here, and while they could all sense it's presence, she couldn’t see it. Ace grabbed for the darkness within himself and opened a portal into hell. Swirls of pure black light flashed up and over the top of him, revealing the deadly face of the shadow demon inches from his face.
It dove for Ace and narrowly missed him as he opened another portal at the very last second, sending it into a maze of shadow pathways. It wouldn't be caught in that trap for long.
“Whoa. That looks like…what did you throw? Has your organization mastered Einstein-Bose condensate? What particles are you using? Is this metal based?”
His mate approached the sparks and embers burning where the shadow portal had formed and then closed, reaching out to touch the barrier. The shadow demon screeched again and slammed itself against the portal somewhere very nearby.
Damn.
No more Mr. Nice Dragon. Ace picked her up and threw her and her bag over his shoulder and jumped up into the hole she’d been climbing into before. Kurjerkwad was right behind them.
“Put me down. Help, somebody help. I’m being kidnapped by terrorists, shape-shifters, dragons…sexy muscle men.”
As much as Ace wanted to bask in the knowledge that his mate thought he was sexy, they needed to get the fuck out of there. Now. “The shadow maze will not hold that demon warrior for long. Did you see how big it was?”
His brother jerked his head. “Yes. Go. Quickly.”
Apollo’s schematics hadn’t included the inside of the walls, but up ahead there was a shaft that went vertical. Any way they could get back to the surface and into the night sky where they could shift and fly away, was fine.
Kurjerkwad climbed into the metal box first and the sound of his claws penetrating the sides reverberated in the small space. His feet disappeared, and Ace shoved the woman inside after him.
She kicked and screamed and screamed some more when Kurjerkwad grabbed her from above and yanked her up. She dropped her bag, and a yowl came from it.
“Flerkie, no, please.” There was heartbreak in those words.
Whatever kind of animal she had in the bag it was important to her. Ace grabbed the satchel and threw it over his shoulder, then followed them up to the next level.
A cold shiver spread across his skin. The shadow realm to Hell was open again, and the demon warrior had a direct path to them. “Go, go, go.”
In another three or four meters up light shined into the shaft from an open grate. It was nowhere near big enough for any of them to fit through. There was no other alternative. They were going out or they were getting their souls stolen.
Kurjerkwad released the girl and she fell a meter into Ace’s waiting arm. Just the one, he needed the other to keep his claws in the metal, so they didn’t both fall back down the shaft. This confined space was worse than Hell. At least there he could shift and fight. This metal shaft had him squashed and boxed in like a cage.
She wriggled in his grasp until she slipped a little and almost fell again. With a squeak she encircled her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
Oh, yeah. “This will not be the last time your legs will be wrapped around me, love. But the next time I will be buried deep inside of you and you will be screaming in pleasure instead of fear.”
She closed her eyes and cringed. That was not the reaction he was hoping for. Was it possible his pretty plump mate was a virgin?
He’d find out soon enough. If she was, he would take every care and precaution to make her feel safe with him.
The sound of creaking metal and the crunch of rocks and earth came from above. Kurjerkwad had slammed his way through the grate and used his dragon to smash an opening wide enough for them all to get through.
He handed his whimpering mate up to his brother, and then crawled out behind them.
Why wasn't Jerkwad shifting and flying the woman off to safety?
Ace stood and found a rocket launcher pointed right at his forehead. Okay, that was a good reason not to run.
His body could heal itself from a lot of injuries but an explosive shot into his face would be hard to come back from.
“Thank God. I’ve never been so happy to see you Men in Black in my life.”
Fuck. His mate stepped forward, moving to the cult bastards. She thought they were here to save her. She still didn’t understand that they were the bad guys. Apollo had called it.
“Shut the hell up, you dumb bitch. You’ve allowed yourself to be compromised.” The nearest cultist raised a gun to her chest.
Fuck no. She might not realize who was on the side fighting against the shadow demons, but this asshole was ready to kill her. Not gonna happen.
Ace glanced over at Kurjerkwad and simultaneously they shifted into their dragons and attacked. They both threw their bodies in front of the girl. Their protective scales could take the brunt of the explosion or gunfire. The cultists stood there in shock, so Ace tore the head right off the nearest guy's body.
Kurjerkwad’s roar shattered through the air, creating more distraction. Every human, including his mate, dropped to the ground. They all scrambled back when the telltale screech of the shadow demon warriors burst through the wall of the building.
Time to get the fuck out of here. Ace scooped her up with his tail, throwing her onto his back and flapped his wings with everything he had to lift off up into the sky. Screams from the men left on the ground rang through the air behind him, but it was the screech of newly born shadow warriors that pushed him to fly higher and faster.
He heard the crash of another shadow portal open below and the air beside him whooshed as Kurjerkwad shot his black dragon fire at the approaching enemy. No, not the shadow warriors, but the bodies of those whose souls had been corrupted.
More screams were cut off as Kurjerkwad killed all in his path, stopping the shadow warriors from following.
“They were going to shoot me.” His pretty girl’s voice shook, burning into Ace's heart.
He flew hard, and took them all the way back to Rogue, landing near Neo's tiny house. His mate pushed off his shoulders and only when he shifted did he turn to see Jerkwad with his arms wrapped around her, giving her the comfort she so badly needed.
Ace stumbled back, forcing himself not to attack Kurjerkwad. Inside his dragon whispered “Mine.”
He watched stunned as she brushed her lips across the other man's and the power of her need rushed through Ace as if he were the one kissing her. Swirls of red magic sparkled off of her and through night air. It was both the most beautiful and terrifying thing Ace had ever seen.
Because in that magic, she called up the shadow, and disappeared.
Sparkles and Grumpybutts
Ash
This. Was. Not. Happening.
Nope. Ash refused to believe that all of sudden her life had gotten flipped, turned upside down. She’d like to take a minute and sit right there, but right there didn’t exist at the moment.
Nothing did. Her magic had never gone this haywire before. She’d somehow broken the space-time continuum.
All she’d ever done before was a few bursts of electricity every once in a while. She’d been able to heat her coffee with a thought instead of boiling water or using the microwave for years, but she’d never stopped time.
At least she didn’t think she had. No. That wasn’t possible. It was against every law of physics, at least the ones she knew. This must be some sort of illusion. The question was, what it coming from her or the crazy dragon terrorist dudes?
Dang it, she really should have stuck out that whole witchcraft phase she’d been through last year. All Ash really wanted to know who she was and where these powers came from. Casting spells and lighting c
andles simply never felt right. She hated anything she couldn't explain. She wanted scientific proof, dammit. Although, she had gotten Flerken out of it.
Science was always the answer, she knew it was. Everything could eventually be puzzled out with hard science. That knowledge was what sent her on the long road to get her doctorate in the first place, and not hanging around crystal shops and saying stuff like 'so mote it be'.
Then the Organization came knocking and she’d set aside any thoughts of finding herself on that mystical path. She’s pushed the magic back inside, tried to forget about it. Screw her past, she had a future to worry about. And school loans.
Now her long suppressed magic was out of control.
She reached out and poked the still form of the man who she'd accidentally been softly, fabulously kissing only moment before. He didn’t move, or flinch, or even acknowledge her touch.
A kiss with one of them had been strange enough. But, both? What was wrong with her?
Ash was not the kind of girl sexy men went around randomly kissing. She wasn’t even the kind of girl nerdy men went around kissing. Guys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses and have really big asses.
Sure, she’d tried to have the odd relationship, and by odd, she meant three, in college. She wasn’t a virgin, but she’d never experienced anything like the fire igniting in her belly and between her legs. All from a few sensual smooches.
It had to be because they were mythical creatures. They had some extra pheromones or something. It was the only logical explanation for why she’d let one kiss her socks off and then tried kissing another one. Pheromones and adrenaline.
Enough of that. If her magic was throwing a fit and creating this altered reality, she needed to take advantage of it and figure out how to escape. Not go around looking for more sexy muscle men to kiss.
She slipped out of the grasp those big, muscled arms had on her and stepped away. There. That helped. Not touching him let her brain reboot.
Now, if she simply assessed the situation, and applied her mind, she’d come up with a perfectly logical solution to her problem. At least they hadn’t taken her to some kind of Guantanamo Bay secret lair or something. She could see grass and trees, and was that a tiny house made from a shipping container?
Ash could work with this. She’d science the shit out of it until she knew what to do. Surely there were materials she could use to MacGyver her way out of this situation.
The weird vortex of time and space Ash was in felt frenetic until a wave of fog rolled in and surrounded her in soft billows of white fluff. She knew her magic had the properties of electricity, but she'd never created any other weather patterns before. This was a first.
“Oh, that wasn't you, dear. That was me. I thought we needed a bit of a barrier from all the goings on out there. Can I offer you a cup of calming chamomile?” The most beautiful garden gnome Ash had ever seen sat at a picnic table that definitely hadn't been there a moment before.
But to be honest, a cup of tea and a minute to breath sounded great. Nothing else about this day was normal, why shouldn't she sit and have a chat with the supermodel of the gnome world? “Yeah, thanks. That sounds great.”
The woman poured the tea and held out a plate of yummy looking cookies too. “I thought so. What a wild ride you're having meeting your fated mate so far. This one's been fun to watch.”
Watch? What was this woman, a magic perv? Was that a thing? Clearly, she had some magic of her own. If she had been watching Ash, it would have been nice to offer her help or guidance on using these powers. But she did seem to be here to help now, so it probably wasn't smart to start accusing her of being a weirdo.
Ash took a sip of her tea, like this was any other ordinary afternoon and none of this was freaking her the hell out. “Oh, yes, quite.”
That sounded like something someone who drinks tea in fog banks with garden gnomes would say. “Jolly good.”
Wait. Gnomes weren't British. She was making a giant fool of herself. “Sorry, I don't really know what to say or do right now. I don't even understand why I'm here or what's happening.”
The gnome woman smiled and patted her hand. “You know.”
No, she didn't know diddly squat. “I do?”
“Of course,” the gnome smiled, “you just haven't figured it out yet.”
This conversation was harder than her first-year particle physics final. “Umm, I don't think that means what you think it means.”
“I know.” The gnome woman shrugged like it was the most natural thing to say in the world. Physics was natural, chemistry was natural, they followed rules. Whatever was happening to her right now had no basis in hard science. More like psychology and she'd never been good in that subject.
“I understand you're confused Ashmiza, that's clear since you're going around kissing Dragon Warriors who are not your mate.” The gnome looked at her sideways and took a slightly violent bite of her cookie.
Oh geez. She really had seen everything. “I didn't exactly mean to kiss that second guy. There was just something that drew me to him and...”
“You have to listen very closely to that fire inside of you. Don't let the shadow take you astray. When in doubt, use the gift I bequeathed to you.” The gnome nodded toward Ash's chest.
Her heart. Aww, this woman wasn't a perv, she was a romantic. Ash placed her hand over her heart and got poked in the finger by the necklace she wore. She didn't recognize it although it was familiar like she'd seen it somewhere before, recently. Although, at the same time, she felt as though this was the one item she'd had her entire life. She had the sense it was from her birth mother.
Holy Dr. Spock. Was this woman her mother? Did that mean Ash was psychic too?
“No, no, dear. I am a goddess and the mother of many dragons and dragon daughters, like your mother, who was a very powerful red witch. She's who you get your magic from. And that necklace, which of course, I bestowed upon her on the night you all were--”
Poof. In a second the fog, the tea, and the gnome were all gone. Whatever magic she’d been doing collapsed on her and the freeze frame of time returned to normal. Poop on a proton. She had no more control over it going than manifesting. She'd been having such and interesting conversation about.... huh, she couldn't remember.
She was standing about ten feet away from the others and had the odd sense that there should be a picnic table right here.
The grumpier guy who’d held her in his arms lifted them up, clearly surprised she wasn’t in them anymore. He scowled and spotted her right away, not like she had anywhere to hide.
“That is an interesting power you have.” Mr. Grumpybutt stalked closer. “I can see how it would come in handy. But, come back and let me finish our kiss, sweet one, see if you light up my soul shard.”
“Or don't and lay another one on me. I already know you light up my soul.” The first one who'd kissed her back at the lab had a very tantalizing twinkle in his eye. They were both so wholly focused on her and it was completely disconcerting.
Her chest buzzed like she was having a heart attack or least a panic attack. Being kidnapped by dragon shifters was enough to do her head in, but this ridiculous attraction she had to them was overwhelming.
“No.” She lifted her hand, like she could halt their advances with a flick of her wrist. “You keep your pheromones to yourself there, you sexy shifter terrorists. I do not intend to become your sex slave, or whatever you do to kidnapped scientists.”
The sparkly-eyed one laughed out loud at her. “I think I’ll be the one who is going to be your sex slave. If I you hold still for a minute, I'll happily worship your body as it was meant to be.”
Ash wasn’t sure which part of his statement was more alarming, the bit about her magic, the wanting to be her sex slave, or the worshipping. She backed away until she ran into the wall, or rather the side of a big shipping container painted with vines and flowers. She didn’t have anywhere to run now. “What do you want with me?”
<
br /> Ash noticed the amulets they each wore around their necks. One glowed with a beautiful red light and the other was filled with a black flame. They reminded her of... something. With each step closer, those dangling charms got brighter.
The black flamed one tilted his head sideways and looked her up and down. “A lot of things, but to start, your help with the shadow demons, the non-photonic beings as you called them. Unless you’d rather I claim you first.”
And there it was. She didn’t know what claiming meant, but she wasn’t about to be dominated and manipulated by the forces of evil. “Your mind control won’t work on me. I won’t be party to the destruction of everyone on Earth.”
So there.
Her two captors exchanged a look with each other. Did their mind control include mental telepathy? Maybe it was a brothers thing.
“You already have been.” Grumpybutt said.
Ex-squeeze me? “No. I’m trying to help save people from those monsters. You’re the ones who unleashed them on poor innocent people.”
That heated look he’d been giving her turned serious. “We’re Dragon Warriors. We’re sworn to defend the world from evil. We need to learn how to stop or destroy them.”
Sounded like the dragon warriors weren’t any smarter than humans when it came to weapons of mass destruction. “Created a monster you can’t contain, huh?”
He narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head. “We don’t know where they came from, only that they have decimated the supernatural community with their wrath. One of our warriors and his... fated mate, girlfriend, whatever, believe you have the knowledge to stop them.”
That had to be some bullshit. They obviously had advanced use of magic. She'd ridden on a friggin dragon's back and saw them breath fire. But they had run from the shadow beings just as she had. “Then why did you attack the Organizations' compound? We should be working together.”