Tiny Treasure (Eternal Flames Maddox Book 4)

by Cree Storm

  Justice jumped in, saying, "That savior of the two took the lovers to a cave high in the mountains and cared for them. It didn't take long for the man to heal, but the woman was fighting for her life. The savior had been friends with a great shaman and remembered healing plants the shaman had used on other humans. It took weeks and things were touch and go for a long time, but he was able to save the woman and child's life as well."

  "Oh──Oh──" Timmy sniffled and cuddled closer to York.

  York kissed the top of his mate's head and comforted him as Timmy dabbed a napkin to his watery eyes.

  "That is a happy story and very sweet, but what does this have to do with the jewel Orion says the king has?" Zev asked.

  Jett turned to his mate, dabbing his eyes with his napkin. "You know we really need to work on that romantic side of you."

  Shrugging, Zev replied, "Baby, romance is always on my mind when I look at you."

  Jett snorted, "Trust me, romance is not what is on your mind when you look at me."

  Sighing, Justice replied, "It was the act of the savior that brought the jewel into play, Zev. The story goes on to say that the lover to the young Indian woman was the grandson to a God. Because his grandson was human, he had wanted him safe from the paranormal and magic of the world and had gifted him with a large stone. He broke the stone in half and shared the piece with the man who saved his future wife and child."

  York was confused. "Wouldn't breaking the stone have broken the power it held?"

  Shrugging, Justice replied, "Not according to the story I was told."

  "I was told the same as Justice," Illan confirmed.

  "What was the paranormal that saved them?" Timmy asked softly.

  King Suneth smiled, saying, "It was a great and powerful gargoyle, Timmy."

  Justice snorted, "My mother said it was a phoenix."

  Illan shook his head. "Nope, sorry, you're both wrong. It was a dragon."

  Shaking his head, King Suneth replied, "You are both wrong. It was a gargoyle and I know this for a fact. He was my father."

  CHAPTER 12

  "Holy shit! I so did not see that coming! Did you see that one coming, because I seriously didn't," Jett asked Zev in shock.

  "My father had been scouting for his chimera when he had come across the situation and when he was given the gem he had it placed within the crown. The chimera has been protected by the gem ever since. I'm just grateful we now have it back in our possession," King Suneth replied.

  "Seems to me that putting it on a crown was pretty stupid. I mean, it's such a large target," Ollie stated.

  "In those days, it blended in. However, not many know that it is more than just a fable told at bedtime," the king explained.

  Zev asked, "Tell me, Orion, how did you recognize the stone within the crown, when no one else ever has?"

  Shrugging, the vampire replied, "Rare gems have been a hobby of mine for centuries. I got lucky a few years ago to obtain one of the only pictures ever made of the gem itself. The distinct formation of the rainbow crystal makes it undeniably fascinating. Then there is the fact I can feel it's power."

  Jett's brows furrowed together. "Feel it's power? I don't feel anything."

  "Maybe because you are not granted the gift. I have always been blessed with the ability to feel the power from a person. It has saved my coven many times against threats to my people," Orion explained.

  Illan looked at Orion with interest. "So, what you’re saying is that you can feel who is the strongest man sitting in this room?"

  Nodding, Orion replied, "Yes, I can."

  Snorting, Jett replied, "That would be easy, Illan is the dragon leader. We all know he is the strongest."

  Orion raised a brow and looked down the table, directly at Manny, shaking his head. "No, he is not the strongest in the room."

  "Okay everyone, we can arm wrestle later. Right now we need to talk about the threat Fallon has brought to Crystal. What are we going to do? If Fallon wants that crown, he will stop at nothing to get it. We need a plan of action," Dain stated firmly.

  Timmy sat up. "Hide it. I did and Fallon never found it."

  "I wish we could Timmy, but this jewel is imperative to our chimera's survival. For three years we have been lucky enough to be out of Fallon's sights. I don't want to tempt fate another moment," King Suneth replied.

  Rune sat forward. "Timmy's idea is a good one. I have an idea, but it will take King Suneth's approval."

  Dain turned to his mate, asking, "What is it, my sweet pea?"

  Jett laughed hysterically, slapping the table and making the glasses and silverware bounce. "Sweet pea? Oh, my fucking Gods, that is a good one! Damn, I should have thought of that."

  Ollie laughed with Jett, until Kerrick hissed, "Keep laughing, Jett, and I will cast a spell that will leave you with a limp dick for a month and Ollie unable to speak for two."

  Jett quickly cleared his throat and coughed. "Sorry."

  Ollie snorted, "You don't have much of a sense of humor, do you, Kerrick?"

  "Not when it comes to my mates──no," Kerrick said gruffly.

  "Maybe you would enjoy life more if you pulled that stick out of your ass. I'm sure it makes it difficult to sit," Ollie said with a sigh.

  "What is this idea, Rune?" King Suneth asked before Kerrick could respond.

  "I can take the jewel and make it into something a little less transparent," Rune stated.

  "How so?" Illan asked.

  Rune quickly answered, "The crown may have worked back in the times of Kings and Queens, but in today's society it sticks out like a──"

  "Rectal thermometer?" Jett called out.

  "Stupid people at a Mensa convention?" Ollie quickly said.

  Jett snickered, "A butt at a twerk off?"

  Ollie laughed harder. "That stick in Kerrick's ass."

  "Enough! You two will not speak another word. Rune, explain what you want to do," Illan growled.

  Jett leaned closer to Ollie. "Or the stick up──Ouch! Damn it, Zev."

  Zev didn't show any indication that he had done anything or heard his mate's outburst.

  Rune let out a deep breath, saying, "Look, we need to make it more difficult to obtain the jewel. What I want to do is take it off the crown and make a pendant out of it. This way, it is smaller and closer to the body. However, I also want to make a replica for each of the gargoyles."

  "What would that accomplish?" King Suneth asked.

  Rune shrugged. "Within those fake pendants will be a spell."

  Kerrick smiled wide. "Take the wrong pendant and find yourself set on fire."

  Nodding, Rune replied, "Or turned to stone permanently, impotent for life──whatever we choose."

  "You can do that?" King Suneth asked in shock.

  "But wouldn't they know that the king would be wearing it? I mean, what is the big surprise there?" Ollie asked.

  Rune looked at King Suneth. "Not if he isn't the one wearing it."

  King Suneth shook his head. "I don't know. The jewel has been in my family for centuries."

  "But the Chimera is your family, Sunny. With all of the Chimera and Lonny's people and I'm sure Destrain's, too, I have no doubt it will be safe," Timmy said quickly.

  "But what if someone leaks who has it?" King Suneth asked in concern.

  Shaking his head, Illan replied, "Not if you decide who is to know who has it. I think it should be a need to know basis. My men don't need to know which of you is wearing it. We are extra protection and will treat you all as if you are the ones carrying the pendant."

  King Suneth thought for a moment, saying, "It could work. I know exactly who will carry the jewel. Okay, Rune, let's do this."

  "Well, you better do it quick! A great power is almost here," Orion snarled, standing quickly.

  "What the fuck? I thought the attack was happening at eleven this evening? It's almost eleven in the morning, not the evening," Dain hissed.

  Angelo stood with Morgan. "I told you I was st
ill practicing the time thing."

  Day stood quickly, saying, "It makes sense. If Fallon is going to attack and he does it in day light, it takes the vampires out of the equation."

  Illan sighed. "How close are they, Orion?"

  "We have maybe ten minutes," Orion replied.

  "How do you know it's Fallon and his men?" Zev asked.

  Shrugging, Orion replied, "The energy is different and gets stronger the closer I am to it. Evil makes my body feel bruised and good energy kind of tingles, and right now I feel like I was hit by a car."

  Illan looked around. "Dain, take Orion, Ollie, the king, and his men to your home."

  "Wait! We are here to protect Crystal and that is what we are going to do," King Suneth stated firmly.

  "Fallon is after that jewel and we need it safeguarded. Going to Maddox is the best plan. Once we have that jewel secured, then you can join us. For now, the dragons, phoenix, pixies, and Griffions will handle this threat," Illan stated firmly.

  Ollie shook his head. "You need me and my brothers, Illan. We can help with increasing your powers."

  Illan looked at Ollie in frustration. The little fox didn't lose eye contact once. Finally, Illan nodded. "Fine, but you stay here unless we need you."

  "Agreed. We want to help, not die," Ollie stated.

  Twix struggled in his mate's arms. "I am not going to my uncle’s home. I am staying here and fighting by your sides. Now stop pushing me."

  Finn snapped, "Stop being difficult, Twix. You need to be safe for our child."

  "I am staying because of our child. The more fighting against Fallon, the less likely the asshole will succeed. You need to stop shoving me, damn it. I have a right to protect our home and people just as you do. I am not a weak man, Finn, and I'm damn well tired of you and Marco treating me like I'm porcelain, ready to break. I have powers──strong powers and they will come in handy. Now back the fuck off before I show you what I can do with them!" Twix argued.

  Marco let Twix go. "Fine, but you stay with either myself or Finn at all times. If you get even a scratch, Twixie, I swear, I will spank your ass."

  Dain opened a portal. Rune, Kerrick, and the gargoyles walked through. Timmy held onto York tightly, crying, "Don't leave me, Yorkie. Please don't leave me."

  "Nugget, I love you and I wish I could stay by your side, but I must protect our people," York rasped, pulling Timmy's arms from around his neck and handing him to Orion. "Please, keep my mate safe. He is my life."

  Orion's eyes went huge as Timmy wrapped his little arms around Orion's neck. York could see the gruff vampire's interior breaking down for his Timmy. His mate had a way of making the strongest of men weak at the knees. Orion nodded and held Timmy close. "With my life."

  Grabbing the nest from the table, York handed it to Orion. "Thank you."

  York hated watching his mate walk through the portal, but knew it was the safest place for him to be. Orion turned at the last moment, his fangs elongated, hissing, "They're here!"

  Illan rushed to the door, yelling, "Everyone find cover now! Do not step out of this building. We are under attack."

  York rushed out after Illan. A large army marched out of one of the largest portals he had ever seen on foot, others were on horses, all carrying either swords, spears, bows with arrows, and maces.

  "How the hell are they breaching our wards?" Destrain shouted as he watched what York and the others were watching.

  "They're not using a Fairy portal, they're using the pixie portal," Ollie shouted.

  "We need to close that fucking thing before more of them come through," Destrain snapped.

  "But if we do that, anyone inside the portal will die, Destrain. Including anyone from your shimmer," Pascal said in concern.

  Destrain looked torn, then replied, "We can't allow this situation to get worse than it is. It must be closed, Pascal. You and your brothers can do that, correct?"

  Nodding, Pascal replied, "Yes, but it's going to take time."

  Illan snarled, "We'll give you the time, Pascal, but you and your brothers need to collapse this fucking portal as fast as possible."

  Looking around, Illan shouted, "Let's show these fuckers what happens when they mess with our town!"

  Immediately, York shifted into his large green dragon. His wings were not as large as the other dragons, but they were broad with slots. He might not be as fast at flying as the others, but his wings allowed York to not just take off faster than most, but to soar and glide easier. With the large spear-like talons at the ends and large sharp claws on his four large dragon feet, York could cause a great deal of damage. However, it was his gift that York loved. He had an ability many were often surprised to see.

  Illan and Justice flew past him. The seven-headed dragon and three-headed phoenix were a force to be reckoned with, and right now they were hovering around their mate, Avery. He was a phoenix as well, but rarely shifted. York had been told Avery had strong powers that were of better use in his human form. York hoped those stories were correct, considering the large army of men they were getting ready to take on.

  Morgan's purple, spiked headed dragon flew past York, with Jett and Finn joined in their two-headed dragon, and Angelo and Marco's sea green and golden phoenixes close behind.

  Fire balls started flying towards York, but he dodged left, allowing them to pass by him. The loud, warning roar of Illan's dragon had York turning and he felt his blood run cold when a massive black mass exited the portal.

  "Not the vambats again! Son of a bitch!" Destrain shouted and started shooting fire blasts in their direction.

  York could see that there were too many of the bats attacking Destrain and his men, causing him to draw in a deep breath and then focused on his target as he blew out. The large mass of vambats immediately became a mass of ice, falling to the ground and shattering into a million pieces.

  A searing pain hit York's back, causing him to lose focus and start to fall. A wind tunnel stopped him from hitting the ground and lifted him back into the air. Seeing Jett and Finn, he knew they had just saved him from possible death. He'd have to buy them a beer later.

  Ignoring the pain, York turned to go to where Illan and Justice were fighting a large army. Arrows flew, lodging in Illan's side, as Justice moved left then right to avoid others. Avery screamed, and clapped his hands together, then pointed them at the men attacking his mates. York could feel a ripple around him, almost like an earthquake but in the air instead of the ground. The men attacking his mates fell to the ground as their bodies exploded.

  Seeing large green warriors heading to Pascal, Ollie, and Toby, York raced to stop them before they could harm the Santorini foxes. Shit, if anything happened to Pascal, Timmy would never forgive him. Before he could get to them, loud bellowing screams were heard as people ran in their direction. Some shooting guns, some with shovels and rakes or whatever other weapon they could get their hands on, all going for the intruders. It was the humans! Holy shit, they were fighting with the Paranormals to save their town. "Illan, the humans are fighting the fairies!"

  "Shit! York, you Finn, Jett, and Zev go help them. We'll continue fighting those trying to get out of the portal."

  York and the others raced to do as their leader ordered. York swooped down, using his massive claws, he picked up two men up at once and tossed them through the air, imbedding them in through the chest on the Twixie sign.

  "You are so paying to get that cleaned, York!" Twix yelled as he fired laser bolts at some of the men trying to get to the foxes.

  York snorted as Zev picked up another enemy and using his claws ripped the man in half, dropping him in the dumpster in the back of the diner. York could have sworn the mountain meadow green shit was smiling at him when Zev said, "See, no mess to clean up."

  "Except for the guts that hit the top of the pixie prince’s business," York replied with a snort.

  "Son of a bitch! We need to help the humans!" Finn yelled within their clutch link.

  Looking in the
direction Jett and Finn headed, he could see the humans were in combat with the much more skilled Fairy warriors. Soaring down to one of the humans using what looked like a sickle on a fae with a sword, York quickly shifted and dropped onto the warrior. The fairy's sword hit the ground and York found himself in hand to hand combat. Using a round house kick, the fairy caught York's foot to the face and fell to the ground. The human raced over before the fairy could get up and sliced the fairy from stem to stern. Blood and guts oozing from the fatal wound. The human looked at York panting, "Now that was just nasty."

  York was about to answer when large winged beasts flew over his head and started ripping one fairy to shreds after another. The gargoyles were here and they were out for blood.

  "Yorkie! Yorkie! Where are you?" Timmy shouted from the diner door.

  York looked in the direction of his tiny mate's voice and his blood ran cold. "Timmy, get out of here!"

  Timmy opened his mouth to say something then something caught his attention. Turning in the direction his mate was looking at, York could see three men fighting their way towards Pascal and his brother.

  Timmy screamed, "Leave my friend alone!" Then to York's horror his little nugget ran out the door, rushing towards Pascal.

  Timmy was almost right on one of the men when he gasped, "Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!" Then tossed the glasses to the ground screaming, "Go away!"

  The man about to grab Timmy immediately turned to stone. Timmy then ran to Pascal and one of the men grabbed him, ready to toss his little man to the side, but as he lifted his arms he turned to stone, leaving Timmy hanging in the man's arms.