by Aidy Award
One by one, the women filed forward and chose their prizes, and Dax couldn't do a damn thing about it. Neo also continued to fight against his bonds and Dax even saw him try to flicker in and out of the shadow, but with no luck. Gestianna's hold on them was too much. Shit. There had to be a way out of this fucked up scene. Maybe if he pretended to give in, she'd release her hold on him a little and he could get the jump on her. Even the thought of pretending sexual attraction to this evil woman was enough to send bile up the back of his throat.
What other choice did he have?
There were only two succubae left to choose. When the second-to-last made her choice and left the chamber, the last woman stepped out of the shadows. He instantly recognized her and her warrior slave. He was Zon, the captain of the elite guard of the Gold Dragon Wyr. She was the bitch who'd started this war in the first place.
"Come now, Portia. Don't leave your new slave waiting. Although it's not like you can slip any lower in the ranks, you worthless whore." Gestianna raked her nails over Zon's shoulder and fingered his chain. "But I can punish you by taking away your precious blood source."
Zon didn't flinch at the Succubus Queen's touch or threat, but Dax was sure he saw the warrior's eyes narrow just a little. Yes. Yes, he had seen it. Zon blinked, glanced over at Dax and raised one eyebrow. It was a signal asking if Dax was ready.
"Do it," he grunted.
In one quick motion, Zon grabbed his own chain from Portia's hands and swung it up and over Gestianna's head, encircling her neck as if she were Jabba the Hut. Her lust magic went from level eleventy-hundred to about a three just like that Dax burst into his dragon form. He swiped the piece of gooey web from his back with his tail and threw it at the oncoming group of incubi who had been left behind.
grabbed at the chain and screeched, but Zon held it tight. "Go. Tell Cage where we are and what we're fighting against. Now."
We're not leaving you and the others behind.
"I can't hold her off much longer and both Portia and I will be punished and put in isolation after this. Tell Cage to bring the mates. He'll understand."
Dax, we can not leave my brethren to be enslaved again. It will kill them. Neo had also gotten free with the use of his dragon form.
Portia stepped between the warriors and gave a death glare. "Zon. She's pushing back too hard. I can't block her much longer. We need to run now. I can't lose you, too."
Zon nodded and his soul shard sparked. He gave the succubus another yank of the chain and let her drop to the floor. "Live to fight another day, Dragon Warriors. We'll do what we can to protect the new men as best as we can. I swear to you."
"Portia--" 's strangled voice pierced the air.
"Please. Go or we're all doomed." Portia fell to her knees and tore the chain from around her neck. Zon backhanded the Succubus Queen, sending her flailing halfway across the room. He scooped up Portia and held her in his arms like only a lover would.
We'll be back. I swear it. Dax shot a burst of flame at and the incubi under the net. Neo, time to show me that shadow trick.
Neo roared so hard and loud that sand and stone fell from the ceiling, but in the next breath Dax was surrounded in a cool blackness and the sensation of falling had him close to puking his guts out, even in dragon form. In the next breath he and Neo were back at the entrance to hell, in the underground parking garage of the Burj Al Arab.
Neo grabbed a silver Bentley Bentayga and threw it across the deck. The mangled body of the luxury SUV looked exactly like what Dax was going to look like when he reported what they'd found to Cage. He shifted back into his human form and his phone rang right away.
Yeah, of course it was Cage, the Alpha of all Dragonkind. It couldn't be anyone else. Fine. Great. Awesome. Dax answered.
"What happened down there, Daxton? You were just supposed to get some intel on this entrance into hell. Make us a God-damned map. Where is the rest of your unit?" Cage voice came through at decibel level 4002.
Dax slumped against the nearest car. Cage had the best surveillance in the world so there was no doubt he was looking right at Dax and Neo. "I think it's safe to say, they're all now sex slaves and not in the fun way."
"Get up to the royal suite and give us a debriefing. Now." Dax shoved his phone back in his pocket and motioned for Neo to follow. He spent the ride up to the twenty-fifth floor trying to figure out how his mission had gone so wrong. When he got to the opulent suite that only a gold dragon could afford he was escorted into the hotel room's personal movie theater.
The screen was filled with hundreds of views of places all around the world, including the parking garage of the Burj all projected by some state of the art control center fully equipped with two warriors typing away on computers. This was how Cage knew about every single little thing going on in Dragonkind. He had a whole freaking spy network.
Hey. That screen showed the view from behind the Sleepy Folk bar the Troika Wolf Pack owned in Rogue, New York. He'd spent a lot of good times making the moves on the ladies. That and watching baseball. But mostly the ladies.
"Daxton, Neo. Talk." Baseball and the ladies would have to wait. A good long time, if Cage's narrowed eyes were any indication.
Dax spent the next hour alternating between dodging Cage's tiny tornadoes of rage and retelling him how their entire unit had gotten ambushed and the men they were trying to rescue had helped take the prisoners away. Neo didn't help one bit. He was just as flipped out as Cage.
"Cage, sir. Send us back in, give me some red dragons to demolish the whole place and we'll get those men back."
Cage stopped his pacing and wind whipping. He glanced over at his spy team and one handed him a tablet. He tapped at it and handed it back. "I know you would. We will be going back in, but you're going to the States."
Now was no the time to learn more about the fine art of apple pie. "Sir. I can do this. Don't take me out now because the last mission went FUBAR. I can--"
Cage held up his hand silencing Dax. "Gentlemen, I need the room. Take five. There are steaks waiting for you up front."
Everyone but Neo immediately stood up and walked out of the theater. "You too, Demon Dragon. Dax and I need to work things out one on one."
Oh, shit. Dax knew he'd fucked the mission up, but was Cage going to murder him for it? No. Cage wasn't like that. Match, the Red Dragon Wyvern, might have eaten him alive, but Cage was cool. He hoped.
Neo shook his head like he thought Dax was dead, but apparently the promise of steak was too good to pass up. Dax hoped he was going to get one and not be served up as dinner.
"After today, I'm wary of giving you this mission. I need to know you can do what you're told and not go off trying to save the entire world. I get that you're anxious to turn any demon wyrm you find into a pile of ash, but we need some strategy to win this war, not just muscle. You hear me?" The full weight of Cage's alpha voice pressed down on Dax like an anvil filled with some real heavy shit.
Brains over brawn? Not exactly his strong suit. He'd always been the muscle. He should have known better than to try to lead a team nobody else wanted on a mission they weren't supposed to take on. Good thing he wasn't the alpha. They'd all be demon dragon fodder. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Then listen close. I have another mission for you. This information stays in this room between the two of us. Do you understand, Daxton Cervony?"
Despite the pressure of Cage's expectations of obedience, and the parental use of his full name, Dax stood up as straight as he could. He was a proud Red Dragon Warrior and would do everything in his power to redeem himself and save those dragons. "Yes, sir."
Cage stared him down, but Dax didn't break eye contact for a second. That must have been what Cage was testing because the tiniest of grins wiggled at the corner of his mouth and he leaned back against the desk. "Nikolai Troika contacted me through a private channel. One of his people is having visions of the Black Dragon."
"Okay?" That word came out sounding more like a question tha
n anything else. What did that have to do with him?
Cage folded his arms and stared down at them. "They've requested assistance in investigating. We've already brought trouble to their area and I won't put their new wolf pups in danger because of our war."
Cage glanced at a framed picture sitting on one of the command desks of his mate, Azynsa the gorgeous mermaid, and their babies. Who looked a hell of a lot older than Dax remembered three-month olds to be. But what did he know about kids?
They had to be a motivating factor in sending dragons in to America. There were very few stationed there, but his old pal Steele from the Green Dragon Wyr was in the area. Somewhere along the coast, if Dax remembered right. Steele seemed like a better choice for this mission. He knew the wolves just as well. Better even than Dax. He'd mated a resident of the town who was friends with all the wolf alpha's mates.
No, Dax would better serve the war by staying here and digging out those tunnels and finding the demon wyrms. Dax would do his best to convince Cage that Steele could help the wolves out just fine and that he should stay. If Cage still insisted on sending him, he would go rogue, and take out as many demons as he could. He'd seen which way the warriors had been taken; he could ferret them out.
"They've requested you specifically."
"What?"
"I was surprised, too. Steele will be available for backup, but I can't spare a whole lot of resources. I'm counting on you to figure out what's going on and if it poses a credible threat."
Shit. Guess he was going to America.
You Are My Sunshine
Jules hummed the last bar of the lullaby for the four-hundred and seventeenth time tonight. She didn't mind. If it helped the babies stay asleep, she'd sit here and quietly sing to them all night. She loved them both as if they were hers. They were as close as she'd ever have anyway.
Galyna whispered from the open doorway. "Jules, let them be and come have a glass of wine with me."
"Just a second. Tristan is going to wake up and if I'm here to give him his stuffed bear he won't wake Ellie.”
Right on cue, Tristan rolled over, reached his hands up in the air and whimpered adorably. Jules placed the soft fluffy bear into his arms and he grasped it tight, burying his cheek against the fluffy tufts of fur. Ellie didn't even peek open an eye.
“It’s like you’re clairvoyant or something,” Galyna gasped and threw her hands over her mouth and whispered through them. “I’m so sorry. Ignore my stupid mouth. I didn’t mean to bring that up. Sorry, sorry.”
She wished the hair on the back of her neck didn't stand on end and her stomach would stop roiling with tsunamis of fear at the mere mention of that vision. Jules swallowed two or three times and then again. Everything was okay, there were no dragons trying to eat her from toes to nose. She was here in the nursery with a warm loving family who appreciated her. Everything was okay.
"It's fine, Gal." Her hands only shook a little when she pulled the cover up over the twins. "They should be good until morning."
Their mother crossed her arms and shot Jules a sidelong glance. "Good, because by then I can make Max get up with them. It's my turn to sleep in for once."
Jules knew she wasn't fooling anyone, but she appreciated how her friend pretended she had. It was silly of her to get so worked up about something that wasn't even real anyway. Still, if she never saw another dragon in her life, or her mind, she'd be happy enough.
Gal motioned Jules out of the nursery and into the cozy kitchen where two glasses of red wine were already poured. They sat, and Jules cupped her glass in her hands. She stretched her neck, rotating her head from side to side and then took a long swig of the fruity blend. "Ahh. That's the ticket."
The two of them settled into the plush couches. Gal tuckertucked her feet underneath her in a move reminiscent of a dog curling up on a bed. Or rather a wolf. "They weren't too much of little monsters tonight, were they? I really appreciate you coming over on short notice to watch them. Again."
Shifter children were almost always little terrors, especially wolves. Throw in that these two were the children of the pack alpha and very few people in town wanted to babysit. Jules didn't mind a bit. "They were fine. They only chewed through two blankets and six or seven stuffed animals before they wore themselves out."
"I should have stock in Build-A-Bear with as many of those things as we go through. Max thinks it’s hilarious. I'm slightly horrified every time I find a stuffed animal's head ripped from its body and buried in the blankets in their crib."
Max walked into the great room and ran a hand along his wife's shoulder and followed his touch with a kiss to the same spot, right where her mark from him lie under her shirt. "They are wolves, my love. It's in their nature."
"I know. It's still strange to see Ellie carry her shredded bear around in her mouth like a fresh kill." Gal shivered. "It's going to be really strange when they shift in a few years and actually bring home what they hunt."
"You'll love every minute of it and be a very proud mama."
"Yeah, I will." Gal winked at Jules, her bubbly happiness overflowing in her eyes.
Jules wasn't jealous. Not even a little bit. Nope. Not her. "Okay, I should be going, I guess."
"Wait. I'm glad you're still here. Please, sit back down." Max held out his hand politely indicating the couch.
Jules knew better than to think that was a request. When the alpha of the Grimm pack asked you to sit, you sat. "Is there something wrong?"
"We all know there is. I know you'd rather ignore your vision, but I can't take that chance." Max perched himself on the edge of the couch, blocking Jules from going anywhere.
"I'm sure it's nothing. It hasn't happened again. Maybe I just dreamed it." Except dreams didn't usually happen when in the waking hours. Nor did they leave a person with scars. Inside and out. She touched her neck where the last of the bite marks were healing.
"I can't take that chance. I've called in someone who I hope can help us. If what you saw was the Black Dragon, then we need reinforcements."
Gal put her hand over Jules's. She hadn't even realized she'd been picking at her cuticles until Gal stopped her. "We won't let anything happen to you. There's no way we can ignore a premonition like what you've had. Heli and Zara have taught us better. Please trust us."
Jules didn't have a choice. She wasn't anything special like the other seers in town. She didn't have special witchy powers over the elements, and she couldn't change herself into a beast. She was just a human. No one knew why the vision had come to her, only that what she'd seen was a warning of danger to them all.
"I do. You know I'll do whatever I can to keep those little ones safe." She almost added on that she loved them, but it would be weird because she wasn't even related to them. She was just their babysitter.
"Good. Our reinforcements will be here any minute. I'd like you to work closely with him to understand what your vision meant and if he can help us fight and destroy any threat to my children."
"Our children, dear."
"Sorry, sweetheart. I get a little extra possessive of my family when someone tells me the King of Hell wants to kidnap them."
A flash of her vision popped into Jules’s head. A huge black dragon had the babies clutched in its great claws and was flying away with them while burning the city to the ground in its wake. She'd do anything to prevent that from happening. Anything.
A knock sounded on the door, three sharp raps that made her jump. God, she hated being scared all the time like this.
"That's him." Max got up to answer the door and she heard another deep male voice.
The Troika wolves had a lot of connection in this area and throughout the magical world. Whoever they called in to help could be anything from a mage to an alien bear-shifter star ranger for all she knew. She was hoping for someone more on the mage side. While she did trust the wolves in Rogue, New York, knowing that they had a beast hiding inside that could take over at any point still made her a little uneasy. A
t least none of them were dragons.
"Dax, you remember Galyna." Max escorted a supermodel, like underwear sports star cover of Men's Health and GQ hottie McHotsalot into the room.
Wow. Had the temperature in here just gone up like a hundred and seventy-two degrees? If it wasn't completely embarrassing, she'd fan herself. As it was she snuck her hands under the outside of her thighs to wipe any sweat off her palms. Not like a super good-looking guy like this would even think twice about meeting her, but she didn't want to completely embarrass herself by making him shake a squashy hand when they were introduced.
"And this is our babysitter with the vision, Jules." The guy turned his dark eyes with the glow around the edges on her.
Gulp. Definitely a supernatural being of some sort. Maybe a god? The God of lust if her girly parts were any indication. Holy cow, she'd never had a reaction to a man like this in her life. "Hi."
At least she'd gotten that one word out. That was about all her addled brain was capable of at the moment. It was a good thing Max had introduced her by name because she wasn't sure she knew what it was right about now.
"Well hello there, Jules. It's very nice to meet you." Dax took her hand and kissed the back of it. Kissed. Her. Hand.
Swoon.
Or shock. Whew boy, when his lips touched her skin a surge of something like electricity but better shot through her. At the same time the red crystal pendant he wore around his neck flashed and a red glow filled the room. He stared at her like she was both the love of his life and a threat to it.
"Who are you?" He clasped the pendant and shoved it inside of his shirt, blocking the light it was emitting.
Max answered for them both. "Jules, meet Daxton Cervony, the Red Dragon Warrior who is here to help us."
Dragon?
Shit, shit, shit. She yanked her hand out of his and took two giant leaps away from him. Her heart and lungs went into overdrive preparing her to either fight or flight far, far from the alluring danger of this predator who was ready to eat her.
