by G. K. DeRosa
“We warned him not to, but Talon’s like a dog with a bone. Once he found out Thax was behind this, he had to have answers.”
Another wave of guilt hit like a tsunami punch to the gut, and I buckled over. This was all my fault. My eyes skimmed over Talon’s ravaged torso, gruesome gashes criss-crossing his perfect form. I could feel his pain radiating in my core, and all at once I knew there had been nothing phantom about the intense pang I’d experienced earlier. Nausea clawed up my throat, but I swallowed hard forcing it down. “What can we do to help him?”
“Let the angel work his magic, precious.” Dallas ticked his head at his buddy.
Hayden closed his eyes, and his lips began to flutter. He positioned himself over Talon’s bloodied chest and splayed his hands over his brother. A brilliant golden glow burst from his palms, and a heavenly warmth filled the room.
The terrible twist of Talon’s lips softened, the hard clench of his jaw releasing. Even his furrowed brow relaxed as Hayden’s hands moved over his body. With every pass of healing light, the tension radiating from the dragon waned, and the unrelenting knot in my stomach loosened.
“Are you feeling better now?” Dallas appeared beside me and offered his hand.
I glanced up at him, confusion clouding my thoughts. I was curled into a ball, the cold cement digging into my side. How had I ended up on the floor? “Yeah,” I finally mumbled as he helped me to my feet.
“Are you still sticking with your no-side-effects story?” He shot me a teasing smile.
“I’m sticking to it.” Because any other option would be way too embarrassing. “Is he going to be okay?”
“T’s a tough bastard. He might be a little sore for a while, but he’ll be fine.” A pleased grin split the vampire’s full lips. “You should see the other guys.”
“He beat up Delacroix?”
“He only got a few hits on the demon before his crew showed up. T took down about a half dozen of them before we got there.”
“Did he find out anything?” I hated asking, but if he went through all that trouble…
“I’m not sure yet, T was in pretty bad shape when we got there. Luckily, we can just check the surveillance footage.”
“Oh, right.”
Hayden padded over, and my eyes shot to my dragon bodyguard sprawled across my bed. “Is he okay?”
“He needs to rest, pumpkin. He lost a lot of blood. Unfortunately, my angel healing power isn’t as strong as my non-fallen brethren.”
I jerked my arm out and offered my wrist. “I can give him some of mine.”
“That would not be a good idea, given your current blood sharing situation,” said Hayden.
I opened my mouth to ask what that meant, but Dallas cut me off. “I’d be happy to have a taste if you’re offering.” He licked his lips, and icy fingers danced up my spine. Eew.
“I was not offering, vamp boy.”
A deep chuckle burst from his lips, and Hayden clapped his hand over his friend’s mouth. “Come on, man. Let’s keep it professional, huh? The last thing we need is both of you in love with the girl.”
My breath caught at the L word. Talon had made it seem like the blood exchange thing was sexual, not romantic. All the blood leached from my face, and my head started to spin.
“Relax, Azara. I’m not going to bite you.” Dallas squeezed my shoulder, and I gave him the best smile I could muster, relieved he’d misunderstood the reason for my freak out.
If Talon wasn’t being completely honest with me about the dragon blood bond, I would have to get answers myself.
“I should get back to my cell before one of the guards notices I’m missing.” Dallas strutted toward the door.
“And I’m going to sneak out for a bite to eat,” said Hayden, following him. “I gotta power up after that.” He motioned to Talon, and my gaze flickered to his pale form. “You’ll keep an eye on him, pumpkin?”
“Of course.” Not like I could go anywhere by myself anyway.
“You want me to bring you anything?”
I shook my head. My stomach was still doing cartwheels. The pain had passed, but the anxiety and guilt seemed to have bored a permanent hole.
When the guys were gone, I crept toward my bed. Hovering over Talon’s still form, I held my breath. Without those intimidating silver irises boring into me, it was the first time I’d gotten a chance to really look at him. My gaze skimmed over his handsome face, his dark brows and sooty lashes. With his eyes closed and the sharp angles of his jaw relaxed, he seemed younger, even with the blood splatter. I’d always assumed he was at least in his thirties, but looking at him now, he was probably closer to my age, mid-twenties at most.
I bent down and pulled the dingy towel from under my bed and soaked it in the small basin. Apparently, angel healing power didn’t remove dried blood. Folding down beside Talon, I sat on the very edge of the mattress. The big guy dwarfed my tiny bed, his arms and legs hanging over the ends. Gently, I ran the cloth over his forehead and cheeks, then moved down to the scruffy line of his jaw.
He exhaled softly, and I froze. I waited for an excruciating second, but when his eyelids remained closed, I continued. Dipping the towel in the basin once again, I moved down his neck to his bulging pectorals. Gingerly, I skimmed the cloth over his skin, avoiding the already healing gashes and bruises.
I swept the rag over his torso, my fingers light over each ridge and valley of his perfectly cut abs. A swirl of heat unfurled in my core, flooding my insides. Stop that, Azara! I bit down on my lower lip to squash the lusty sensations. He was unconscious and covered in blood, now was not the right time.
A faint moan rumbled his chest and again, I jerked my hand up. Waiting, I barely breathed, my eyes glued to his. His lids fluttered, but they stayed closed. Glancing down at his bare torso, I decided to continue. Only a small smattering of blood remained along the waistband of his shorts.
As I reached for him, my fingers trembled and I nearly dropped the towel. Geez, get a grip, Azara. Drawing in a breath, I ran the cloth across his lower abdomen. The sharp V dipped down beneath his shorts, setting off another burst of heat in my lower half. I quickly finished my ministrations and raced to the basin to wash the blood from the towel.
The last thing I needed was more of his blood on me.
“Thank you.” The unexpected low, raspy voice sent my heart leaping to my throat. I twirled around. Talon’s eyes were open a crack, the silver peering between the slit in his lids.
I rushed to his side, barely restraining myself from wrapping my arms around him. He hates you, Azara. You killed his best friend. I repeated the words over and over until my traitorous body understood. “Are you okay?”
His lips pressed tighter together, a barely perceptible nod dipping his head.
“You better rest. Hayden said you’d need it after... after what happened.”
“He’s a worrier.” Talon’s voice was a faint echo of its normal husky timbre.
“You almost died, Talon.” Unexpected tears burned my eyes, and a thick lump tightened my throat. “Why would you confront Delacroix by yourself like that?”
He averted his gaze and stared at a corner of our cell.
I inched closer until I reached the side of the bed, standing over him. “I’ve hurt you so much. Why would you do that for me?”
“Because that’s what I do,” he muttered.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “Well, thank you.” Wrapping my arms around my middle, I turned away. I wasn’t sure where I was going since he was on my bed and there weren’t any chairs. That only left one of the guys’ bunks. I waffled by the sink for a minute before pivoting, having decided on Hayden’s bottom bunk. Pausing in front of the mattress, I scanned the sheets, my eyes zooming in on the tower of girly mags under the bed. Eew.
“Just take mine.” Talon’s rough voice spun my head in his direction. His weary eyes were trained on me. An embarrassing thought streaked through my mind—if I could feel what he was feeling, did it go the other w
ay too? Chasing away the horrifying idea, I climbed up the rickety metal ladder.
As soon as I was up there, I cursed myself for not bringing a book with me. Now what was I going to do? I’d spent the entire morning in bed, and now I was wide awake. I swung my legs back and forth, hanging off the edge of the mattress. Every once in a while I hazarded a quick glance at Talon. His eyes were closed, the steady rise and fall of his chest oddly soothing. I didn’t want to look like a total stalker, so I leaned back and forced myself to relax.
The minute my head hit Talon’s pillow, his crisp, mountain-fresh scent enveloped me. I inhaled deeply, reveling in the musky male fragrance. Oh man, this is bad. It was like he’d deposited his dragon pheromones all over the bed, and I was completely defenseless against them. I had the weirdest urge to nuzzle his pillow and rub his sheets all over my body.
Damn, I definitely needed to look into this dragon blood thing before I lost my mind.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Talon going commando on Delacroix had been a bust. After reviewing the surveillance footage, the guys found diddley-squat. Besides confirming that Thax was his designated warlord, the demon hadn’t spilled a thing despite the dragon secret agent’s best spy techniques. Which made for one very pissed off bunkmate.
It had only been three days since Talon took on half of Delacroix’s inner circle, and somehow, he was completely healed. Not sure if it was Hayden’s healing powers or his own hardcore dragon nature.
So here we were back in the training room again. Which I found kind of pointless. My mercurial magical powers hadn’t made a cameo since the day Delacroix attacked me in his cell. Talon was convinced he could coax it out of me, and I wasn’t sure spending more time with my reluctant bodyguard was good for anyone. I hadn’t found much about the dragon blood sharing thing in the prison library, only that it existed and was a secretive thing among the brotherhood of dragons. Too bad I was stuck in jail, otherwise I could’ve asked my uncle who was the Alpha of all dragon prides in Azar. He could certainly enlighten me on the topic.
“Break’s over.” Talon snatched the water bottle from my hand and tossed it into the recycle bin.
“Hey, I wasn’t done with that.”
“Too bad. Time’s up.”
Things between Talon and I had returned to their subarctic temps, which gave me hope that this blood bond was wearing off—on his end anyway. And we’d never talked about Vander again.
The only good thing about all of this was with all the commotion, I hadn’t had any time to worry about my evil soul-sucking ways. And I hadn’t had a single murderous urge. Yay, me!
“Focus, Azara!” Talon’s fist connected with my gut, and I reeled back.
“That’s not fair,” I hissed. “I wasn’t ready.”
“You think Thax, or Delacroix, or any of their goons are going to wait to attack while you get into your fighting stance?”
“No,” I growled.
“So neither will I.”
Dragon douche canoe. I pulled my arm back and totally faked him out, sweeping my leg out instead. I almost succeeded in getting his feet out from under him. His enormous body wobbled a bit, so I’d take it as a win.
“I’m more than twice your size, inmate. As are most of the assailants you’ll encounter. You can’t count on your strength to save you, especially when you’re wearing that cuff.”
I rolled my eyes at him. I’d heard this speech about a thousand times already. “Then I’ll just have to be smarter and faster.” I shot between his tree-trunk legs and jumped up behind him. With a quick kick to the back of his thigh, I had him down on one knee. I leapt onto his back and wrapped my arm around his neck, holding him in a pretty decent headlock. “How’s that?”
“Not bad. Just don’t get cocky.” He whipped his head forward and sank his teeth into my forearm.
I squealed and released my hold, and the bastard flung me over his shoulders. I hit the floor with an oomph, the pitiless cement smacking all the air out of me.
Son of a succubus! Pushing myself up, I lunged at him as red-hot fury surged through my veins. A purple glow caught my attention from the corner of my eye, but I was too ramped up to stop. I barreled into Talon, a battle cry tearing from my lips.
His eyes widened as a blast of lavender energy shot from my fisted hand. Hitting him square in the abs, purple light exploded across his body and sent him flying across the room. The big dragon crashed against the far wall and slid down the sleek obsidian with an insanely satisfying thud.
I couldn’t help the ginormous smile from splitting my lips.
Until he didn’t move. Shitzu.
I raced across the training room, fear crushing my insides. I slid to the floor when I reached him, practically running into the wall before I came to a full stop. “Talon, are you okay?”
I lifted his head and cradled it in my lap and gently smacked his cheek. That eerie purple glow still emanated from my tattoo, lighting up my whole arm. “Talon, Talon, wake up!”
His lids fluttered and slowly cracked open. I waited for the slew of curses to erupt from his mouth, but instead, it curled into a grin. “I told you I could get it out of you.”
I dropped his head, and it lolled back for a second before he sat up. “You jerk! You scared the crap out of me. I thought I’d really hurt you.”
He leaned against the wall and rubbed the back of his head. “I already told you, it takes a lot more than that to hurt me. I’m glad my little experiment worked though.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Azara, both you and Logan have been very hush hush about your parentage, and I’ve been okay with that until now. But that hit I just felt, packed more punch than some of my magical colleagues at the SIA. Are your parents in the Coven?”
I shook my head, chomping down on my lip.
“Azara…”
I wasn’t lying. Mom had never been part of the Coven Council because of her warlock powers. When she was young, they’d forced her into a trial of her abilities. She’d fudged the test so no one would find out what she was. “They’re not.”
“Well, you’re obviously part demon, but it’s the other half I’m more concerned with and I don’t care what you say, it’s not human.”
“Why does it matter anyway?”
The door to the training room whipped open, and Logan strode in. “She’s right, Talon. It doesn’t matter. All you need to know is she’s a demon-human half-blood.”
“With magical abilities that knocked not only a handful of Delacroix’s best men out but also a fully trained, badass SIA agent?”
Logan puckered his lips and huffed out a breath. “I came here to give you an update on Thax.” My ears perked up at the mention of the Underworld dark lord with the balls to pull one over on Luci. “I spoke to our friend and after a bit of incredulity on his part, he reluctantly confirmed Delacroix and Thax have been in contact on numerous occasions since you arrived at Darkblood.”
I sucked in a breath, forcing my racing heart to settle. The whole thing had been a set-up.
“I’ve enlisted a team from the Gargoyle Guardian Council to tail Thax, and we’ll continue to surveil Delacroix in here. We’ll find out whatever’s going on, Azara. I promise.” His lips pinched together again, and I could almost see the gears grinding as the creases along his forehead deepened. “There’s one more thing I discovered…” He eyed Talon, then his gaze darted back to me. “Thax is Luxora’s son—do you know who that is?”
An ominous pang streaked through my insides at the name, but I couldn’t quite place it. I finally shook my head.
“Luxora was the daughter of Lucifer and Eve—and my dad’s half-sister. She ruled the Underworld in her father’s place for many years until she was killed by the first supernatural slayer squad about twenty years ago.”
Ice froze my veins as bits and pieces of old hushed conversations I’d caught between my parents flitted across my mind. Luxora had almost killed my mom, but she and Dad with the help of her squ
ad had taken her out instead. This was her son? How could Luci not tell me that Thax was his grandson and my half cousin?
“Damn, how many children does Lucifer have wandering the human and supernatural worlds?” Talon quipped.
He had no idea how right he was. That was one of the reasons Dad barely associated with his own father. He had more half-siblings scattered through the realms than he’d ever know.
My face must have paled because Talon turned his steely gaze to me then back to Logan when I didn’t offer any info. “Logan, if you expect me to continue protecting Azara, I need the whole story. I’m pretty sure I’m missing a big chunk of it.”
I met Logan’s stony face, my eyes pleading. I didn’t want to lose Talon as a bodyguard because I’d probably be dead ten times over by now, but I couldn’t risk Mom’s secret getting out either.
Logan’s lips thinned. Then as if he’d come to a conclusion, his eyes lifted to mine. “I trust Talon, Azara, but just to be sure, I’ll invoke the blood oath.”
Again, I had no idea what he was talking about, but Logan had gotten me this far and I trusted him.
“I already gave her my blood, Warden. I’m bound to her whether I like it or not. What more do you want from me?”
“Say the words, Talon.”
He hissed out a frustrated sigh before finally nodding.
Logan pulled a dagger from his inner jacket and sliced into his palm. Blood trickled from the gash, and a hint of nausea crept up on me. Handing it to Talon, he wiped the blade and repeated the procedure. Then the two fisted their hands and their blood dribbled to the floor.
Logan nodded to Talon and he began, “Blood to blood, ashes to ashes. Upon the solemn brotherhood of dragons and as protector of the realm, I vow to maintain this conversation in the strictest of confidences or may I return to the ashes from which the fire gods created.”
The small pool of red fizzled and hissed. A dark cloud encompassed the liquid before it vanished into thin air.
Whoa, cool.
“Now speak,” Talon bit out.
Logan filled him in on our family history with Luxora, along with the identity of my grandfather, Lucifer. But he glazed over my mom’s warlockness. Thankfully.