In a Dragon's Mind (Dragons of Mount Teres Book 1)

by Riley Storm

  In A Dragon’s Mind

  Dragons of Mount Teres (Book One)

  A Five Peaks Novel

  Riley Storm

  In A Dragon’s Mind

  Copyright© 2020 Riley Storm

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, without written permission from the author. The sole exception is for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.

  All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood-related.

  Edited by Trevor Mendham – thecaringeditor.com

  Cover Designs by Kasmit Covers

  Table of Contents

  In A Dragon’s Mind

  Table of Contents

  Note from the Author

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Other Books by Riley Storm

  About the Author

  Note from the Author

  Hi there!

  Thank you so much for picking up In A Dragon’s Mind. While this book and series are self-contained and can be read alone, if you want to get the full experience of the Five Peaks world, you would be best off starting with the Dragons of Mount Aterna series and book one, A Mate to Treasure which is linked below.

  Either way, I hope you enjoy!

  -Riley Storm

  Dragons of Mount Aterna

  A Mate to Treasure

  A Mate to Believe In

  A Mate to Protect

  A Mate to Embrace

  Chapter One

  Vlad

  “Make sure if you find something, you holler real loud. I want to be there to see them squirm.”

  “Whatever you say Liroi,” Vlad Teres responded, rolling his eyes as they headed out into the dark to relieve the watch and take up their own patrol of the property.

  The shorter shifter sneered at him. “You always were a coward, Teres. Probably why you’re still on patrol duty.”

  Vlad resisted pointing out that Liroi was also on patrol duty, and he had also been a member of the organization for much longer than Vlad, who was only a few weeks in. Doing that would have meant a longer conversation, and that was the last thing Vlad wanted.

  He walked his route in silence, arriving at the stated position and taking over from the previous guard. It irked him how Liroi had used his last name, his clan name, as an insult, but he wasn’t going to let it show.

  The Cado didn’t deal with weakness very kindly.

  The night sky rumbled faintly overhead. Vlad cursed. It was going to rain. Just what he needed to dump on an already miserable mood. Foul weather, foul mood, what the heck else was going to happen tonight?

  Although Liroi had stoked his irritation, he wasn’t the source of Vlad’s frustrations. Those ran much deeper than the low ranking, nasty excuse for a dragon shifter.

  At least you’re out in nature. Outside, fresh air, trees and grass. Take pleasure in that, if nothing else.

  And so he was. Walking the grounds in an endless circle, hoping that he didn’t have to encounter anyone until his shift was done.

  It was going to be a long four hours.

  Nothing ever happened as he patrolled his route: the ten-foot high wrought-iron fence set into a concrete base on his left, a constantly changing mix of trees, manicured grass or rocky hills on his right.

  The mansion that they were based out of was set on about eighty acres of property in the middle of nowhere in the southeastern part of the continent. It was so unlike where he had grown up in Five Peaks that it still took him some time to realize that the soft bumps of darkness set against the moonlight in the distance were actually considered ‘mountains’ by some.

  Reaching out, he dragged his fingers along the fence for a few feet, feeling the bars ripple past. Patrolling was boring, but it was easy. Walk in a circle for four hours, look for signs of humans, and then go inside after not finding any.

  Nobody had ever bothered to say why any humans would show up, but Vlad understood the precautions. They couldn’t have random humans snooping around, seeing proof that dragon shifters existed. That would be…sloppy.

  So, useless shifters like Liroi, and newcomers like Vlad and his friend Sache, were delegated to walk the walls, ensuring nobody dropped in on the Cado.

  The Cado. It still bothered him that this is where he and Sache had ended up, but the group had taken them in when none of the others would. The Cado had provided them shelter and a place to call, well, maybe not home, but a place to be, where they weren’t ostracized for past failures.

  A fresh start.

  Almost as fresh as that bootprint.

  Vlad came to an immediate halt. It took his brain a few seconds to parse that he really was seeing it. A print in the soft grass. It hadn’t rained in some time, so the ground was hard and the print shallow, but it was impossible to miss.

  He looked up at the top of the fence. They must have jumped down, the impact compacting the grass.

  Crouching low, Vlad followed the direction the print was pointed in, opening his senses, letting light flow into his eyes and testing the wind. A faint hint of something unidentifiable tickled his nose. A moment later, he got a firm sniff of human.

  As if the world meant to make his life even more difficult, the wind picked up then, bringing with it the warning of rain, blasting the scent away.

  Fine. He would just have to track whoever it was the old fashioned way. Creeping along, he saw signs of passage. His quarry wasn’t a master at moving in the outdoors. They weren’t just walking through the grass, but for someone like Vlad who had grown up tracking in the mountains, the trail was easy to follow.

  Who are you? he wondered to himself. And, even more curiously, why are you here?

  The Cado jumped bases fairly frequently. It was how they stayed ahead of the other dragons who were constantly hunting them. It seemed unlikely that the humans had developed any sort of grudge against the new neighbors.

  Creeping through the grass, Vlad slowed. He was getting close now, he could sense it. Whoever it was, they were just up ahead. A few hundred feet away was the house, dimly lit at this hour.

 
A shadow moved, and Vlad’s lips pulled back in a smile.

  I have you now, he thought, wondering what the intruder would say when Vlad apprehended him.

  Moving in near utter silence, Vlad got to within ten feet of the intruder. He was ready to pounce when he saw the figure go still.

  They were on to him. Somehow they knew he was there.

  Time to abandon silence then.

  “I don’t know what you think you’re going to accomplish,” he growled, knowing Liroi would hear him. “But you’re done.”

  He lunged forward as the black-clad figure rolled to the side and out of his grasp. Vlad blinked in surprise at the speed of the reflexes to accomplish such a feat. He turned to go after them, but paused.

  “Getting slow, Teres,” Liroi sneered haughtily, holding up a squirming figure by the scruff of their neck. “Now, what do we have here?”

  Vlad’s irritation disappeared as Liroi pulled the hood and mask away.

  Long, blonde hair cascaded down their quarry’s shoulders, clearly visible in the moonlight against the black outfit. Dark eyes glared at him, their slightly upturned nature giving the intruder an almost catlike appearance.

  “It’s a woman,” Vlad said dumbly.

  “No shit,” the figure snapped. “Now put me down and let me go. I haven’t done anything.”

  “You’re trespassing,” Vlad pointed out.

  “I got lost, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to get home.” The woman continued to squirm and try to break free, but Liroi barely noticed.

  Something fell to the ground during the movements, however, and as Vlad picked it up, the reason for their intruder became clear.

  “Lockpicks. An auto-tumbler. Stethoscope—old school, interesting. A few other gadgets I don’t know the names of, but unless I miss my guess,” he said, casually dangling the fallen little bag in front of her. “You’re here to rob us.”

  The woman just glared at him.

  “To the cells with you,” Liroi snickered, turning to head for the house.

  “What do you mean?” Vlad asked. “Let’s just toss her out the front gate and be done with her. I don’t think she’s dumb enough to come back.”

  Liroi gave him another of his patented derogatory sneers. “Really Teres, you pathetic sack of shit? She’s been out here, with a clear view of the house, for who knows how long.”

  “Maybe five minutes,” the woman said dully, still occasionally trying to work herself free.

  “Who knows what she saw,” Liroi said, starting off toward the house, dragging the woman along with her. “We can’t chance that.”

  “Saw? What are you talking about?” the would-be thief snapped. “I didn’t see anything. Except the house. I didn’t even see you two out here. Obviously.”

  Despite her predicament, the woman was still feeling feisty. Vlad wished he could respect that, but unfortunately he knew that would change soon enough. She didn’t realize what Liroi and the others would have in store for her.

  The Cado did not treat intruders well, and they especially hated thieves. The Cado, the criminal element in the dragon world, felt they had been robbed of a place among their kin. So when someone tried to rob them of the only thing they felt they had left—their wealth—it often provoked some nasty reactions.

  Word must have reached the house, because by the time they arrived a small crowd had gathered, including Sache, Vlad’s clanmate from back in Five Peaks.

  It made him feel nauseous to see the big grin on Sache’s face as the thief was hauled away to the dungeons. A place she would, in all likelihood, never leave. Not alive, at least.

  This wasn’t where Vlad had wanted to end up. But his former home had rejected him. He had nowhere else to go, and he wasn’t going to leave the younger Sache to fend for himself. Even so, his stomach sank as he watched Sache view the proceedings with joy, and not the distress that Vlad felt.

  He wanted to leave, but he couldn’t. Not without Sache.

  Vlad was trapped, and he had no idea what to do.

  Chapter Two

  Ellyn

  She was trapped.

  And you thought nothing could go worse than the last job. Ha!

  Reaching out a hand, she banged her knuckles against the thick steel bars that formed one side of her cell. The bars were thicker than any of the cells she’d found herself in before. And they didn’t ring with a hollow thong either. These were solid metal.

  Built for something much worse than her, it seemed. Or these people were very, very paranoid.

  She tapped a pattern out on the bars, bouncing her head to the imaginary tune. The police would be along soon—maybe she could get them to investigate into why the owner of this house had a literal dungeon installed in it—and then she would be free. Either the police would screw up and she could get away from them, or her boss would bail her out.

  The first option would be preferable. Ellyn Pearson preferred to owe favors to nobody, and she was already in deep with the boss. If he had to fix another messed up situation for her, then she would be in big, big trouble.

  Who are you kidding? You’re already in big trouble. You owe him. A lot. This job was supposed to pay that all off, and now you’re sitting here with nothing to show for it.

  Ellyn’s teeth ground together in frustration. It was supposed to be an easy job! Some reclusive patsy with lots of wealth. Nobody had warned her about the veritable army of muscled armed guards that guarded it.

  Still, the presence of so many security guards confirmed that whatever was in the house was extremely valuable. For a brief moment she considered trying to come back another time, to complete the job.

  Just as quickly she discarded that idea. Ellyn was a pro. She’d been breaking into places and stealing things since she was fourteen. If two decades of experience had taught her anything, it’s that she should know when to walk away. The goal wasn’t to pull off the biggest job, but to not get caught, so that she could move on to the next job.

  This one was just too big for her. A team would be needed, and Ellyn didn’t do teamwork. Not anymore.

  Footsteps coming down the stairs caught her attention. She was below ground, but just how far was anyone’s guess. The stone walls that made up the other three sides of her cell had no windows, and neither did the short hallway that ran to the left and right.

  Standing up, she leaned against the bars, watching to her right, curious who it was coming down to see her. At least, she assumed it was her. There were two more cells to her left, but she’d not been able to glimpse if anyone was in them. If they were, they hadn’t said anything yet.

  The figure that came into view was yet another of the tall, broad-shoulders brutes. Either everyone here looked like that, or only the guards were going to interact with her.

  At least this one was pleasing to the eye, unlike the one who had caught her and thrown her in here in the first place.

  Tall, he had a very powerful jaw, accented by the thick, short goatee that tapered down to a point. His head was completely hairless, though in the light she could see it was by choice, not necessity. His scalp was still full of a dark shadow of hair.

  He was thickly muscled, but also leaner than some of the others she’d encountered. There was something about him that seemed almost familiar as his eyes made contact with hers.

  Damn. Someone’s not happy.

  The distress on his face was visible. The tiny bunched up lines around the corners of those cold blue orbs, the set of his jaw. Even his shoulders screamed of tension.

  “I brought you food.”

  When he spoke Ellyn realized where she knew him from.

  “You’re the other guard,” she said, ignoring his sentence. “The one who snuck up on me.”

  No response.

  “Not many people can sneak up on me,” she said, watching him. There was something different about this one.

  “You left a path anyone could follow, and you breathe loudly,” he said. It wasn’t snarky, nor a brag. Just th
e facts as he saw them.

  “Well…I…” Ellyn was at a loss for words. How did she respond to something like that?

  “But you move fast,” he continued. “Very fast for a hu—you move fast.”

  Ellyn wondered what he had been about to say before correcting himself.

  “Not fast enough,” she said with a shrug.

  “Don’t take it personally. You didn’t stand a chance even if you evaded me the first time.”

  She snorted. “I doubt that.”

  “You’re hungry. Eat.” He placed the tray on the little opening of the cell door that was made for just that purpose.

  “I’m fine,” she said, eyeing the food suspiciously.

  “If we wanted to harm you, you’d be dead already,” the man said with a harsh bluntness.

  Ellyn looked back up at him. There was something about the way he’d said that, about the emotions he’d tried to hold back. He was serious.

  “So why didn’t you?” she asked quietly, wondering if that would be the first time they had killed someone who trespassed.

  “They have other plans for you first.”

  Oh. That didn’t sound…promising. Not once had he mentioned the police, she noticed, starting to wonder if they were coming at all.

  What sort of situation have I gotten myself into?

  “Why feed me then, if they’re going to kill me?” she asked.

  The response was blunt, and simple, and provided more insight than she suspected he wished to give. “I’m feeding you.”

  A division then. She’d heard it in his voice when her not-so-tender captor had hauled her up by the neck. He didn’t like it. This one had suggested letting her go, she remembered now, arguing that they should just throw her back over the fence.

  Could she make use of that split, perhaps maneuvering this one against the others?

  “Thank you,” she said, changing her tone to something softer and ideally more receptive, picking up a piece of bread and taking some bites of it. “So, what’s your name?”

  There was no response.

  “Um, okay.” She wolfed down the rest of the bread. It was good, fresh and nicely buttered too. There was some chicken slathered in barbecue sauce, some fresh green veggies and a paper cup of water to wash it all down with. All in all, probably the best prison food she’d ever had.