Dirty Dragon: Breath of Air Collection (Dragons Love Curves Book 7)

by Aidy Award

  They were gonna need a bigger boat.

  Or an escape plan. Her vision had said if they got the kids out of there, the demon wyrms would go. But did that mean because they were going to be following the kids? She didn't have enough information. She also didn't see another choice.

  "Dax, we have to get the kids out of here."

  We can't leave the wolf pack to fend for themselves. You and Galyna go. We'll cover you.

  No way. She searched the area again for anything or anyone that could help them. "We need a distraction. Then we can all get away."

  There. The Gold Dragon was a hundred yards away and moving toward the beach. It too had a woman hiding herself behind a black cloak and hood on its back who was holding onto some sort of collar around its neck and harness holding its wings down. She pointed at Jules and the dragon blew a huge gust of wind, knocking all the demon dragons in their path down.

  Jules crouched and prepared herself to get hit by the blast, but it died into nothing more than a strong breeze whipping her hair across her face. The woman yelled something and smacked the dragon on its head. It turned and growled at her.

  "I don't think she has full control of him. He pulled that punch. We can free him and get our distraction in the process."

  I agree she doesn't have control. She's caged his wings and I bet if we can sever those bonds, he can fly and be free of her.

  "Right. You two take to the air. That's the distraction. I got it. Be right back." She slid down off Dax's back and over to Gal. "Can you communicate with Max and the other wolves? We need to free that Gold Dragon. Can they go claw or bite the leather straps holding his wings down?"

  Gal nodded and was silent for a moment. Then she yipped which clearly meant yes.

  "Okay, good. When he's free and takes to the air, Dax will do the same, which will cause a huge ole distraction. We all need to run then. Retreat to..."

  Too late to finish the plan. The wolves used the opening in the line of demons and ran toward the Gold Dragon as if he were the enemy. God, she hoped they understood he was one of the good guys. They jumped at him, two going for his back and wings. The smaller wolf who was Serena attacked the woman on the dragon’s back.

  Whoa. She was going straight for the jugular for real. The woman and wolf went down to the ground and the Gold Dragon lurched back. He shook to get the wolves off his back and Max went flying. Dax bellowed, getting the other dragon's attention and must have said something to him because he settled down and held still. In moments, Niko and Kosta had the bindings broken and the Gold dragon spread huge wings, roaring so loud it sounded like a bomb exploded.

  That was the signal to retreat if she'd ever heard one. Jules cupped her hands and shouted to Gal and the pups. "Go, run, run, run."

  Dax and the Gold both lifted up into the air and the wolves bolted down the beach away from the battle.

  Please, please, please let and Max be okay. Jules watched and waited for them to appear. The children were soon flanked by Niko and Kosta, who had very little trouble protecting their sides from stray demons. One or two flew at them in their weird hopping bat-like way and were eviscerated almost instantly.

  Still no Max or , but the plan was working. The two dragons above her head were working together, Dax shooting fire and the Gold one spreading it across the masses with gusts of wind. Demons were exploding into ash in droves.

  And still more came. Where were they all coming from? Out of the shadows, of course, there were unending droves of them. Those two dragons were not going to be enough the stem the tide. Two demons stalked toward her. Crud. She'd sent all of her defenses running or flying away. She backed up toward the water. Dax had said these things didn't like it. The waves washed over her feet and still they came at her.

  The baseball bat she'd dropped early brushed against her leg, bobbing in the water. She reached for it and one of the demons attacked. There was no way she'd swing the bat in time to avoid getting her face bitten off. She was going to die. She screamed, crying out for the one thing she was going to miss most when she was dead. "Dax!"

  He swooped down and the world went into slow motion. The demon wyrm reached out its claws and opened it's jaw wide. She could see each and every one of its big black teeth dripping with disgusting demon slobber. Behind it, the big Red Dragon with fire in his eyes tucked his wings flying at her so fast, and yet so slow.

  Jules turned her head and she saw everything. Like everything. But through a lens, like she wasn't really there. The succubus had pinned to the ground with wisps of red magic. Max was struggling to get out of a pile of demons biting and tearing at his fur. The Gold Dragon's mind was dark and shattered, only barely holding onto reality. The Troika twins were pups and babies, and fierce warriors all at the same time. The demons were nothing more than empty husks with dark magic inside of them.

  A huge black dragon, or was it red, who was very, very old lay beneath their feet with that same emptiness in the place where his soul should be. A goddess, who loved death, held him with strings like a puppet and he screamed, trying to scratch at them.

  Dax's chest burned with a fire brighter than the sun. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen and she wanted nothing more than to touch it, wrap herself up inside of the fire and live there with him. A light inside of her own soul reached out for his fire, but he couldn't see her.

  Either she was already dead or she needed to face up to the fact that she had a drug problem. She didn't even like mushrooms.

  "I did say we should have given her the necklace last night. Now she's all confused and doesn't even have her dragon to help her make sense of it all." A melodic voice she sort of recognized sounded from someplace behind her.

  She didn't see anyone else. There was a blinding white light blocking her vision though. The only thing she could see now was a dragon, easily twice the size of either Dax or the Gold. This one had scales that were every color of the rainbow.

  Fine, fine, my love. You were right.The dragon licked a woman's face. Wait. Maybe he was kissing her? The voice was definitely coming from him. It didn't seem intended for her mind like Dax's did. Give it to her now and I'll take care of these Galla demons for them. They could use a break.

  The woman turned to Jules and tilted her head to the side. "She's much more powerful than we thought. That's what we get for not finding a father to protect her all these years."

  Oh no. The succubus was a powerful one. Jules sent up a silent prayer that wasn't irrevocably harmed by her. The wolf pack had fought so long and hard to make Rogue a safe place. It would seriously suck if they lost their mother now. It would make Jules incredibly sad too. had welcomed her into the pack when she was feeling low and alone. She didn't know her own parents and had always thought of the pack matriarch as a sort of surrogate mother.

  The dragon lifted up into the air and shot flame after flame at the masses of demons surrounding them. He made a weird sound that might have been a giggle.

  The woman stepped in front of Jules and looked her up and down, then patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, dear. Those Gallas aren't going to hurt anyone else. Kur will take care of them. Now, let's talk about you."

  "Me?" Whoa. She couldn't move and talk again. The dreamlike state still surrounded them, but Jules could now operate independently, unlike her other visions. She had a hard time focusing on anything other than the woman. She had beautiful tawny skin and huge almond-shaped eyes, similar to Gal's gorgeous Middle Eastern looks. Her long hair flowed around them in waves as if it had a mind of its own. The goddess of love couldn't be any more beautiful. There was also a fierceness about her, too. She was no gentle grandmother.

  "Yes. You and your destiny."

  "I have a destiny? I'm just a plain old human. We don't have destinies." She'd never really believed in fate. She didn't want to because it was too scary to think hers might be to never have a family of her own. Even if that was what she believed somewhere in the deepest recesses of her heart. That place she didn't
share with anyone.

  "Of course you do. Humans have all kinds of fabulous fates. I should know. But you're not a plain old human. Not if you don't want to be."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You're something very special. I've suppressed your powers for a long time. They seem to have started to leak through. Someone has awakened them." She waggled her eyebrows like that was supposed to mean something to Jules.

  Powers. She had powers. "You mean the visions? I thought someone else was sending those to me."

  The woman's face was clearly an expression of duh. "Yes and no. Someone very naughty is sending those your way. You're a witch, with a touch of second sight. I gave that ability out a little too freely at the beginning. I've learned my lesson since then."

  Yeah, right. "No way. I tried a little witchcraft. I couldn't even make fake spells from the magic emporium work. I can't do a magic trick to save my life."

  The woman smiled, not in a patronizing way, but with understanding and empathy. She touched a lock of Jules's hair and stroked it like a mother would. The adoration in her eyes had Jules almost falling over with how beautiful the woman made her feel. "You're not that kind of witch. Humans are funny with their notions of black cats and pointed hats. Your magic is that of the elements, passed down from gods and goddesses of my time."

  "Like earth, wind, and fire?" She thought of the fire in Dax's eyes and hoped that was her element.

  "No, that's a band. Your friend Fleur is an earth witch, the mermaid you'll meet soon is a water witch, when the four elements are combined you get something new, a white witch whose true power is love and emotions. Ciara is still working on that. She'll get it eventually. She has to." The woman, or goddess, or witch looked a bit pensive when she mentioned the last woman.

  "Are there red witches?"

  "Mmm." She stared into the distance for a minute, but at nothing that Jules could see. She sighed and then snapped back into a smile and looked at Jules again. "You're a Gold witch, which means you can use the power of the sun and the wind. Try it."

  Sun and wind. So not fire. She sounded like a witch who liked to hang out at the beach. Which was exactly what she was doing right now. She did love a good warm summer day with a breeze blowing through her hair. "How?"

  "I'm a fan of the swish and flick." The woman held out her hand and swirled her hand about in a sort of figure eight.

  "Don't I need a magic spell or a word?" Like wingardium leviosa or something.

  "The sun and wind are already a part of you and you don't need to do anything but look inside yourself and find them. Then use the elements like you'd use your arms or legs or brain."

  Jules closed her eyes and didn't see anything different than she normally did. Just the inside of her eyelids. She sighed and thought about how to tell the woman there was nothing there. She was mistaken and Jules wasn't anything special. She knew it.

  The goddess whispered in her ear. "Look deeper."

  "I am. There's nothing...." A tiny flicker, like a candle being lit very far away, formed in her mind's eye. She stared as it got bigger and bigger. The flicker wasn't random either. It pulsed, like the beat of a heart. Like the rhythm Dax had tapped against her leg and used when he'd squeezed her hand. Jules wanted to hold the light, wrap it up in a hug, and tell it that she loved it.

  "There it is. Easy peasy." She lifted Jules's arm so it was held straight out from her body. "Open your eyes."

  Jules opened her eyes and found a huge ball of light in the palm of her hand and the wind whipping through her hair. An incredible rush warmed her from the inside out as if the sun were shining inside of her.

  "You've found your true self in there. Good job. Now pull on that and give the power a shove at that Galla demon." She pointed to a group of gross mouth-breather demons in front of her.

  Jules swished her fingers and the light burst from her fingers and smacked the demon in the chest. There was no explosion, not even a pile of oil and ash. It simply disappeared. "Where did it go?"

  The goddess made a hilarious ugly face. "They are born of black magic, hatred, and shadows. The best way to destroy them is the light."

  The colorful dragon did a loopty-loop over them. "Then why is your dragon shooting fireballs at them?"

  "He likes to." She shrugged and grinned with a whole lot of love in her eyes. "Yours does too. The hatred for the Black Dragon isn't seated as deeply in his heart as his brothers. That's because of you and your light, you know?

  Jules snapped her head back and forth between the goddess and the slow-mo movements of Dax half frozen in the air. "Me? What do I have to do with it?"

  You didn't tell her yet? Come on. I'm gonna call him spoiler alert. The rainbow dragon came in for a landing next to the goddess.

  She patted his snout. "Silly dragon."

  Maybe it will finally get a fire lit under the redling’s ass. He needs his mate.

  "And she needs him." The goddess got that same far away wistful sad look from before.

  So then get on with it already. Give her the necklace and let's be on our way. Jara is a little to close for comfort on this one and he's gonna throw a fit after all his Galla Demons go missing. He always was a drama llama.

  "I know. It won't take long for him to find out. That succubus is here. Stupid girl."

  Where? I'll eat her up and spit out her bones.

  "That's sweet, my love. Maybe next time." She turned back to Jules and a placed her hands on her shoulders. "Jules Heulwen, I restore and unveil your true powers and dub thee a dragon daughter. Make us proud."

  The goddess slipped a shining gold necklace over Jules's head with a pendant shaped like the sun that rested right over her heart. A flash of gold and red light sparkled and the world snapped back to life.

  Jules, lass. I thought I lost you. Dax swooped down and surrounded Jules with his wings. In a breath he shifted back into his human form and was holding her in his arms. A bright light shined from his chest underneath his shirt.

  Jules blinked and swallowed. She had no idea what had just happened to her, but she felt different on the inside. Warmer. Stronger. Like she could do anything. The wind whipped through her hair and even in the dark of night rays of sunshine poured down from the sky like spotlights. The demon wyrms nearest them disappeared into nothingness.

  Dax looked around and together they watched the entire horde disintegrate in the light of Jules's sunshine. The entire army of demons was there, and then gone as the light spread across the land. In its wake the only life was Serena, standing over the prone body of Max on one side of them, and the hulking body of a severely injured Gold Dragon on the other.

  Gal and the wolf pups must have been hiding nearby because they and the other alpha wolves rushed toward Max and Serena. A pickup truck skidded onto the beach not a moment later. Heli and Zara jumped out, one with a bag of blankets and clothes, and the other with a huge shotgun cocked and ready to rock.

  Jules wanted to go to them, but she needed a minute to breathe and figure out what had just happened. She wavered on her feet and the light around them faded. Dax caught her before she could fall and held her tight. She laid her head on his chest, but something hot poked against her face.

  Dax looked down at his chest, then into Jules's eyes. He pulled out the crystal pendant hanging around his neck and the glow surrounded them in heat and light. The golden necklace matched with its own powerful beams like sunshine. The light mingled and danced together all around them. "How can this be? You're the one. My mate."

  From somewhere behind the Gold Dragon they heard a woman's scream. "Noooo."

  Mine

  Mark.

  Claim.

  Mate.

  Something very strange had happened on this beach. He didn't just mean how Jules had called on the sun and eviscerated an entire horde of demon wyrms, saving them all. That was some serious crazy power. She'd pulled so much light down from the sky and thrown it around like confetti. Killer confetti.

  The battle had
lasted all night and not the early light of morning was touching the world.

  While he'd been fighting off the horde, wondering how in the hell they were going to escape with their lives with the odds stacked against them so severely, Jules had gone from hot chick, to literally hot. She had been glowing.

  At first he'd thought it had been another vision, but then he'd started hearing voices too. She was talking to another woman. One that Dax couldn't see through the white light surrounding her. What he did see was the biggest, most powerful dragon, with scales every color of the rainbow doing aerial acrobatics and destroying chunks of the demons like it was fun.

  In between each shot, he looked straight at Dax and laughed. At least Dax thought that's what the dragon had done. But why would it do that? It wasn't laughing at him, more like talking but without words.

  Words had stuck in his head though and he had no doubt as to their meaning.

  Mark. Claim. Mate.

  Make Jules his.

  How could he? Match, the Red Dragon Wyvern, didn't have his mate yet and until he did, the rest of the reds were shit out of luck. Weren't they?

  Dax held Jules tight in his arms. She was his mate. He knew it. He didn't understand how it could possibly be, but he knew all the way down to the very core of his soul she was his and he was hers.

  That scared the holy bejeesus out of him. Dax held Jules tight in his arms, never wanting to let her go. She melted into him, but then jerked her head away and stared at the light coming from underneath his shirt.

  He looked down at his chest, then into her eyes. The soul shard hanging around his neck that contained a sliver of his soul mixed with that of the first dragon glowed, surrounding them in heat and light. It was every dragon's most precious possession. It gave them the ability to shift between dragon and man and was a gift directly from the White Witch. It was part of how every dragon knew who and what he was, why he was here. It was a physical manifestation of his own inherent value in the world. It was also how a dragon knew he was in the presence of his true mate. The true love the First Dragon and the White Witch shared was contained in every dragon's soul and it recognized the one being in the world who was perfect to be a compliment and boon to their own soul.