by Riley Storm
The trio stalked forward, straight toward the wall. Jax reached down into the earth and called out to the stone. It rippled and flowed, and then parted for his brothers like water. Aaric led the way with a shield of fire spreading out to protect his brothers.
A shout went up from the vampires, and through the haze of fire, Jax saw them prepare to charge. Although he doubted any of them was strong enough to take a dragon one on one, there had to be thirty of them. That many would tear his brothers limb from limb if they got close enough.
Shadows swirled around several of the vampires. Nothing like what their leader was capable of, but enough to show they were a century old and beginning to learn to control the powers of dark.
Not content to let his brothers have all the fun, Jax darted through the hole in the stone wall as well, willing it to close behind him, the surface as smooth as before. Then he stopped, knelt, pressing one hand flat against the earth. A trench dropped out of the ground in front of the charging vampires, and the first ranks dropped into it unexpectedly, forming a pile.
Then the earth swallowed them up, cutting the numbers by a quarter.
Jax smiled and rose to his feet, the metal armor flowing out to cover his body once more as he stalked toward the remaining vampires, many of whom had ridden shadows across the trench like a magic carpet.
He greeted one as it descended with a mailed fist to the fast, caving in the young vampire’s skull. It wasn’t pleasant, the slaughter he and his brothers delivered that night, but these weren’t Thralls. They were full-fledged vampires. There was no saving them.
Flames rose and a ball of fire shot out to slam into a descending vampire, engulfing it in flames. The shrieks echoed out into the darkness for several seconds before the fire consumed the creature.
“Jax!” Valla bellowed, pointing across the distance.
Flexing, Jax twisted his arms violently, snapping the neck of his victim before following his brother’s shout. Downfield, the leader of the attack was backing away, getting ready to leave.
“No, you don’t,” Jax snarled, and yet again the ground responded to him. The older vampire sank in to his waist before the ground solidified around him.
Before it had even stopped, however, shadows swirled and darted downward, taking great gouges out of the earth as the vampire dug himself free with ease.
“We’ll take these,” Victor snarled, clenching his fist and yanking it back over his shoulder. A nearby vampire instantly withered and dropped as Victor ripped every ounce of water from his body at the same time, turning him into a deflated sack. “You get him.”
Grinning evilly, Jax raced forward, the earth pushing against him as he ran, lending him incredible speed. The older vampire had just finished lifting himself free of the hole when Jax slammed into his side. The two went down, rolling over and over as they slammed blows into each other.
Metal fists connected with cold vampire flesh, while shadow-enhanced blows rained down on his head. Pain filled his brain, but Jax didn’t let up. Hauling back his head, he slammed it forward into the vampire’s nose. Bone broke and the creature hissed in pain.
Shadows engulfed Jax and lifted him from the ground, depriving him of his powers. The metal faded from his skin, leaving him vulnerable. Exposed. This vampire knew how to deal with an earth dragon.
“Not the first time I’ve killed one of your kind,” he hissed happily. “Without the earth, you are barely more than human.”
Jax nodded thoughtfully, one hand slipping into a pocket. “Yeah, you know, you’re right. But then, I’m never truly without the earth, now, am I?”
The vampire frowned, but Jax’s fingers closed around the lump of raw ore he kept on him at all times. It lengthened into a spike, and then refined itself into an ultra-thin, razor-sharp blade. He twisted, swinging the sword up and around, slicing through the shadows, dropping him back to the ground, where he landed with a bounce, his knees absorbing the fall easily.
Jax gestured and the earth rumbled. A moment later, two massive hands surged free of the ground and wrapped themselves around the vampire’s legs. He swung wildly, using the shadows to chip away, but he was outclassed now. Jax was mad, more at himself for nearly being trapped, but also at the vampire for threatening his brothers and their mates.
The earth elemental tore itself free from the ground, twenty-feet tall and possessed of more strength than the vampire could handle.
“You should have left my family alone,” Jax whispered, and a second later the elemental ripped the vampire in half.
The fight was over then. Between his three brothers, the other vampires were either dead or fleeing, barely a handful having made it out alive in the confusion.
“This was not meant to hurt us,” Aaric pronounced as they walked back through the opening in the stone, the ground behind them devoid of any sign of the battle as the earth swallowed up the bodies. “It was just a test. To see how we would respond.”
“And to let us know that they feel confident enough to attack us. That this was but a tiny fraction of their strength,” Jax pointed out, his thoughts turning outward, to the town itself.
To someone far more valuable than himself. He was going to have to get Sarah to safety, and soon.
And her grandmother. Though you cannot bring her here, she must be taken care of as well.
The vampires wouldn’t know of her. Yet. But it wouldn’t take much longer, he was certain of that.
Jax had a lot of work to do because now it was clearer than ever that the alliance of shifters was needed. And everyone was counting on him to make it happen.
It was going to be a busy few days ahead, that was for sure.
19
“Are you carpooling to work today dear?”
Sarah frowned, her shirt halfway over her head. “No Grandma, why?” she called through the material.
She settled the shirt into place while she waited for a reply.
“Well, there’s a very nice car sitting at the end of the driveway. I think whoever is in it is going to come in here.”
“Like. How nice, Grandma?” she called, tugging on her pants and looking in the full-length mirror to confirm she looked workplace appropriate.
“Nicer than a Cadillac.”
Sarah sighed. That could mean anything from a Mercedes to some sort of exotic sports car. To her grandmother, Cadillacs were still the gold standard of fancy. Everything after that was ‘nicer than a Cadillac’ with no distinction.
“I’m coming,” she called, heading out into the hallway toward the front door, where she could peep through the little window on either side to see what it was.
But she didn’t have to, because she recognized the person getting out of the car before her brain even noticed what it was he was driving.
“It’s your boss,” her grandmother observed from the living room where she was peeking through the translucent drapes.
“You’re such a creep, G-Nance,” Sarah teased. “Spying on everyone who comes here.”
“The only person who has come by besides you is him,” her grandmother said. “Twice now, in fact, he’s come, and I don’t think he’s here to talk to me.”
Sarah frowned at the truth of the answer. She went for the door, trying to go outside and talk to him there, but by the time she got the lock undone, he was already knocking politely.
“Well, let him in,” her grandmother said when she didn’t immediately open it. “Be polite.”
That was the last thing Sarah wanted to do. The door shook again slightly as Jax knocked on it a second time.
“Sarah!” her grandmother hissed, not impressed with her lack of manners. “Open the door and see what he has to say.”
Open the door and talk to him. Right there. Where her grandmother could hear everything. Sarah hadn’t told her about anything, including the lunch date where he’d kissed her, or how she’d felt about that, or the way she’d reacted.
There was no escaping it though, she was trapped. Risking G-N
ance’s wrath for being rude was not something she was prepared to do, so with a helpless sigh, Sarah pulled open the door.
“Hi.” Jax stood there after speaking and just waited.
“Hi.” She wasn’t about to make this easy on him.
“Thank you for opening the door and talking to me,” he said, his voice strong and clear.
She narrowed her eyes at him, knowing why he wasn’t mumbling. He knew her grandmother was there, and that for some unbelievable reason, her grandmother had taken a liking to him.
“You’re welcome.”
Jax winced at her less-than-happy tone, but he forged ahead. “First off, I want you to know I’m sorry for yesterday. For the way things went, at least. I’m not sorry for asking you out. But I am sorry for what I did, for my actions at the end. I let my desires guide my actions, instead of my brain.”
“Yeah. Wrong head,” she muttered sarcastically.
“It just means he thinks you’re pretty, dear. Don’t be such a bitch to him about that. You know men can’t always control their penises.” Her grandmother’s comments wafted in from the other room.
Sarah went beet red and Jax was forced to stifle a laugh, coughing abruptly into his elbow as he turned away, but not before she saw the massive smile on his face.
“Grandmother,” she said formally, tilting her head back and into the house. “Don’t use that sort of language.”
“Dear, how do you think your mother and uncles came around? Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I forget what it’s like to be lost in the passionate throes of a lovers’ embrace. Why—”
“No. Nope. Noooo,” Sarah shouted. “We are not having this talk right here and right now, Grandma. Not happening.”
To her relief, her grandmother just shrugged but didn’t say anything more. Breathing out her relief, Sarah turned her attention back to Jax, keeping her voice low.
“You’re just interested in me for physical fun,” she accused.
“That’s not true, and you know it,” Jax replied, this time keeping his voice low. “You’re judging me because of your past experiences, without giving me a fair shake. You kissed me back, Sarah. Don’t act like you feel nothing for me, because you’d be lying to yourself as well as me. I wasn’t right to kiss you like that, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something here. Do me the favor of at least not lying about that.”
She bit her lip, keeping her mouth shut. He was right, of course. The rest of the afternoon and evening Sarah had analyzed that moment over and over again. She’d come to realize her reaction had been one of fear. Not because she thought Jax truly was another rich asshole come to hurt her, but because he was the opposite.
She’d reacted strongly because she didn’t want to let herself open up to him, to explore things with him. Now he was here calling her out on everything, and yet again she didn’t know how to respond to him.
“What is it you want, then?” she asked, throwing the onus back on him while she tried to gather her thoughts into some semblance of order. “Why are you here?”
“I’d like to do things right,” he said, drawing himself up to his full height. “If it’s alright by you, then I would like to take you on a proper date this afternoon. Not just having lunch but knowing that this is a date. No surprises.”
Sarah bit her lip even harder. She needed a reason, a reason to say no. Anything.
“She would love to,” her grandmother called, still eavesdropping.
Jax’s eyebrows went up with obvious hope, but Sarah wasn’t about to let her grandmother dictate her actions.
“I can’t,” she said, leaving off a reason, stalling for time.
“Why not?” Jax challenged immediately, not giving her any time to think.
“Because.” She frowned. “Because you’re my boss.”
“I could fire you?” Jax offered with a shrug. “If that would help make it easier for you.”
“I…” Sarah was caught off guard, not sure at all what to say. She was running out of reasons to say no, and Jax seemed to have the answers to all her objections.
“Although technically, I’m not actually your boss. Nobody in your department reports to me.”
“What? How did you get me a job in the first place then?” she wanted to know.
“I’m a Drakon. That lends itself a lot of pull around the Outreach Center,” he said. “If I say hire someone, they usually do. Just because I’m not officially in your chain of command, doesn’t mean I can’t get stuff done.”
“Just say yes already, dear. You’re shifting around so nervously it’s painful for both of us. Stop being scared.” Sarah stared straight ahead as her grandmother came over to the door, wishing the old woman would just disappear, or develop sudden and immediate laryngitis. Anything to stop the embarrassment.
“I am not scared, Grandma. Thank you for your advice. I can handle this from here,” she said, turning her back on Jax to shoo G-Nance away from the door.
“She would love to get out of the house and go on a date with you,” Nancy called as she wandered down the hallway. “Please, get her out of the house for the evening. I could use a night to myself to just relax.”
Sarah drooped.
“This isn’t fair,” she muttered to nobody in particular.
“Neither is the way you’ve judged me from the start,” Jax said quietly.
Shit. He had a point.
“Fine,” she said, whirling on him, index finger upraised. “But you have to leave me alone all day. No randomly passing through my floor, no calls, no emails. Nothing. You can pick me up when I’m done with my shift and we can do whatever you had in mind. If you do that, then I—” she hesitated, but the words eventually came. “Then I will do my best to give you a blank slate to work with. No more judging. You’ll have a chance to make a new impression on me. But if I still don’t like it, then you leave me alone. For good. Got it?”
She stuck out her hand.
Jax nodded. “I got it. I can handle that deal.” He slipped his hand over hers, engulfing it, and squeezing firmly but not hard.
Sarah shivered as her skin tingled at his touch. He was warm and so very soft, yet hard of muscle as well. She pulled her hand back, unable to stop another shudder from running down her spine. Why was it that everything about him seemed to react to her?
“I’ll meet you in the lobby at five,” Jax said quietly. “I look forward to seeing you again Sarah.”
Before she could say anything more, he was gone, leaving her at the doorway, staring at his taut ass while he walked back down the driveway to his car.
It really is a nice ass.
She was in trouble. A lot of trouble.
20
Jax cast a long gaze out the front windows of the Outreach Center, his eyes tracking the sun as it headed down over the western horizon.
She watched him shift uneasily from one foot to the other. Was he nervous about this too?
Okay, that’s kind of cute, and a little endearing. Crap. No. Don’t think those kinds of thoughts about him.
Instead of coming up the stairs he’d expected, she’d walked the long way and come up on the far side of the lobby. This allowed her to approach him from behind, and pick up on some of his body language, see what he was like when he wasn’t aware she was watching.
He looked at his watch and then shook his arm out to drop the sleeve of his suit over it, giving his head a shake.
“Be patient, Jax. Be patient. She said she’d be here.”
Oh, my God. He’s afraid I’m going to stand him up. He’s nervous!
She’d never seen this side of him before, and a part of her wanted to keep standing there, waiting for him to react, to see what else he would do.
Abruptly, he stiffened. She saw his head turn slightly, nose lifted a little upward. Then he spun around to stare right at her.
“How did you know I was here?” she asked, shocked.
“Just a lucky guess,” he said with a helpless shrug.
&nb
sp; That was a load of bullshit, and she knew it, but he didn’t seem willing to give away his secret, so she let it slide. Maybe it was that weird sixth sense people sometimes had about being watched that had clued him in to her approach.
“Are you still okay to go out with me?” he asked, his eyes darting outside then back to her.
“Yes,” she said. “You kept up your end of the deal, so I’ll do the same. I won’t have you thinking I’m not a woman of my word.”
“Wonderful,” Jax said, pointing to the front doors. Again, his eyes darted to the sky, then back to her as they started walking.
“Is everything okay, Jax?” she asked, realizing it might have been the first time she’d said his name out loud.
“Hmm? Yes, yes of course. Everything is fine,” he said, holding open the door for her as they emerged into the parking lot. “Better than fine, actually, if I’m completely honest with you.”
It took Sarah a moment to realize he was talking about her presence, at which point she promptly blushed. He was making a habit of making her do that, and she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about it.
Remember. Judge him for what you’ve seen him do, not what you think he’s doing. You said you would.
She followed him across the parking lot, only belatedly realizing that she would have to be dropped off back here to get her car later.
That will give me the car ride home to think about tonight I suppose, which isn’t too bad.
“Thank you,” she said as he pulled open the door to his luxury sedan for her. She didn’t recognize the brand, but it was very nice, full of comfortable leather and slick black interior.
“My pleasure,” Jax all but purred, closing the door once she was comfortably inside.
She smiled as he raced around to his side. The drive into town was filled with small talk, which she was grateful for because it allowed her brain to properly wind down from work without immediately jumping into anything deeper.
Jax did ask if she was comfortable heading to a nicer restaurant. He’d taken her to something not-fancy the day before, so she decided it was fine to go where he wished this time. After all, she was letting him take her on a date, and if she was going to properly do that, she couldn’t object to his choice of dinner location.
