by Riley Storm
“I understand,” he said softly, managing to hide most of his pain, though some of it slipped through. “I have to go, anyway. I have some planning to do. In the morning I have somewhere I must go, and I can’t afford to screw it up. I’ll let you be.”
She almost protested, but he was up and gone before she could find the words, leaving Sarah with her thoughts, and with a whole lot more information about the world around her than she’d ever expected to possess.
“Okay, brain. Time to sort this mess out.”
Maybe then I can figure out what it is I feel toward Jax.
Because it was certainly more than nothing.
What scared Sarah the most was how much more than nothing she suspected it was.
Chapter 30
The big SUV rumbled along, its path along the road not distracted by the constant wandering thoughts of its driver.
Jax maintained enough awareness to ensure he stayed on the road, a portion of his brain keeping him safe, but the rest of it kept wandering back to a beautiful brunette currently imprisoned in Drakon Keep.
He hated using that word, but there was no other way to phrase it. Her room had no way out, no handle on the door. She was trapped there for as long as he deemed it necessary. Francis would give her food, and she would live in luxury at least, but that was small comfort to the earth dragon.
This was his mate, and he was treating her terribly. Yet this was the duty of a dragon, to protect the secret of his species, and put that over his own personal discomfort.
Besides, she’s going to come around. She cares for you too; she can feel the connection. It just scares her.
Jax had been telling himself that all night, hoping that if he believed it, it would eventually come true. There was little he wanted to do more than set her free and live with Sarah happily and freely.
Except perhaps defeat the vampire menace once and for all, so that his brothers and their mates could live in peace, without fear for themselves and those they cared for.
Early that morning, he had received word that Grandma Mingott was safely on her way down south, to a tropical, sun-filled destination where the vampires would never find her, and where she would have boatloads of fun. He hoped. It wouldn’t be the first of his plans to go horribly, horribly awry lately.
So wrapped up in his thoughts was he, that Jax never even saw the other car as it sped out from the side road.
The silver pickup slammed into the rear end of his SUV, spinning the big vehicle around. The tires caught on the pavement, and abruptly he was crashing end over end. The interior filled with glass as windows shattered and the entire frame crumpled in around him, trapping Jax inside. The airbag had deployed at some point, but he couldn’t recall when.
His SUV tumbled off the side of the road, down the embankment and wrapped itself roughly around a thick tree, crumpling the roof in far enough it smashed against his head, leaving him woozy.
Once the vehicle stilled, Jax’s head filled with ringing, the noise of the crash stunning him, the sudden ferocity of it catching him entirely unaware. He lolled about in the seat for several seconds, body not responding to his brain. His blood dribbled out from hundreds of tiny cuts where glass had sliced his skin.
“Ow.”
Sudden fear for the driver of the other car filled him. Jax would survive such a crash. In fact, he was already recovering his senses, taking stock of his body. Shaken, but not stirred would be an appropriate label for how he felt just then. But he was already settling down.
His seatbelt came loose with a savage jerk, and he felt to his left side as gravity took over. More glass sliced into his palms as he got to his feet inside the crumpled interior of his SUV. It lay on its side. Calling upon his powers, Jax let his metal armor flow over his body. Only then did he push his way out of the front windshield, ignoring the sound of glass scratching metal.
Once clear, he dismissed his armor. If there were humans about, he did not want to be seen as anything but his human form.
Gathering his senses, he oriented himself with the crash and realized he was down below road level. The other car would be on the road still. He had to get up there, to make sure everyone was okay. And call police. And an ambulance. It would take them a while to get out there. He wasn’t anywhere near Plymouth Falls.
The snap of a twig in the forest behind him was the only giveaway. But it was enough.
Jax dove to the side as a black-clad shape sliced through the space he had just occupied. It bounced awkwardly, having expected to hit him, rolled once, then came to its feet.
“So, you’re out during daylight now, are you?” he growled. “You shouldn’t have come alone.”
The vampire—that was what Jax assumed it was—tilted its head. That was the only warning Jax received before he was hit twice more, once in the legs, once in the upper body, by two more creatures.
The trio went down in a heap. Jax rolled to his feet, while the earth itself reached up at his call and took a hold of his two attackers, vine-like tendrils of rock clutching at their limbs.
In response, shadows flowed, slicing through the earth, releasing the vampires to spring to their feet.
Jax stared wide-eyed. Shadows in the middle of the day. He swallowed nervously, backing up the embankment as the three vampires came at him. These were no younglings. To call upon shadows while the sun was directly overhead…
You thought you’d be safe enough, travelling to High House Ursa at noon. You took no precautions because of it. Now look where you are. What you’ve gotten yourself into, you fool! They anticipated that and laid the perfect ambush.
Even now as he crested the top of the road, Jax saw two more shapes standing by the wrecked silver pickup, simply waiting. He could make out no details about the features of the vampires. They all wore flowing black clothing and prosthetic masks with UV-resistant eye-coverings to ensure the sun didn’t touch them.
All Jax would have to do was rip a large enough hole in their clothing, or tear the mask off, and the vampire would be out of the fight.
But five on one against vampires strong enough to use shadows, was not a recipe for success, even against an earth dragon as powerful as he.
Still. He was an earth dragon, and Jax wasn’t about to lose. During the daytime, they would be weakened. Slower. Not as strong. If he could reduce the odds quickly, then perhaps he stood a chance.
Turning, without thinking it through any further, he charged at the duo near the car. Two on one sounded far better than five, or even three. None of the vampires expected his attack, and they reacted slowly. Too slowly.
Jax straight up linebacker-tackled the more hesitant of the two, hoping he would be the weakest.
The extra padding as he hit the vampire in the chest told him it was a she, but he forced that thought out of his mind. It had been a she, until the vampires killed her, centuries ago.
That was another worrying thought. In just a matter of twenty-four hours, the vampires had revealed the existence of a number of their kind all over the century mark, who could call upon the strength of the shadows. That spoke of a strength of numbers the dragons had never known existed.
He had to get that information back to the others as well as spread it out across the other shifter Houses. Everyone needed to know what they were up against, to know how bad things were.
Jax’s flying tackle sent the pair of them into the pickup, further crumpling the exterior of it. As they hit, his hands grabbed fistfuls of clothing and yanked as hard as they could. Fabric tore but he heard no screams of pain, smelt no sizzling of dead flesh.
Angrily, he flung himself clear of the car, putting it between himself and the remaining vampires. His victim lay dazed on the hood, head dangling back onto his side.
Jax’s leg whipped up and then out before descending directly onto the vampire’s skull. Vertebrae cracked and the form went limp as he crushed the spinal column. His anger still rising, he stomped forward, reared back and kicked the truck as hard as
he could.
The silver pickup shot across the pavement, smacking into the nearest vampire. The other three had more time to react and dodged out of the way, one taking the simple expedient of leaping over the moving vehicle and landing on its feet, still charging right at Jax.
“I’ll take you all on!” he roared, reaching down into the asphalt and pulling forth a gleaming black blade.
He whirled and swung it at the nearest foe, narrowly missing opening the creature from shoulder to hip. A narrow line sliced across the vampire’s chest, exposing a small amount of skin to the sunlight. The creature screamed as flesh burned immediately and the vampire frantically pulled its clothing tight.
Jax just continued onward, not bothering to slow down. He couldn’t, otherwise the vampires would mob him, and even his prodigious strength might not be enough to save him.
Shadow blades came at him, shorter blades that moved like a blur, the three unharmed vampires flowing past him. He took two cuts to his back, but in return lopped off the hand of one. Again, flesh erupted into flame, only going out when the vampire pulled its sleeve down to hide the wound.
Spinning as he passed the last of his enemies, Jax planted a foot and shot forward again, his blade leading the way. This fight was over now, he knew it. The ambush had failed. They had timed it wrong, waiting to hit him after he’d exited his vehicle.
Unless they’d hoped the impact itself would render me unconscious for a time.
Either way, all he had to do now was drive them off and he could head for home. Their bold stroke had almost worked. Almost. But now, the enraged earth dragon was on the hunt, and the vampires couldn’t hope to stop him.
He spun in a low circle, nearly taking the legs out from one of the vampires. As he spun, he dragged forth a second greatsword in his free hand, the blade simply emerging as if the asphalt itself were a sheath.
The blades danced in his hands. Jax had trained for many centuries to master the art of the sword, and he put those deadly skills to use now.
Another vampire fell down, instantly dead as his blade plunged through its neck. A second later, the body ignited, quickly burning down to ash as the sun penetrated the wound and burnt it to the core.
Three remained alive now, one missing a hand, the other forced to be careful because of the rip in its clothing.
Only one was unharmed. Jax turned his attention to this one. A gesture with one hand sent ripples through the road, the unexpected action flinging the wounded vampires to the ground.
He closed on his sole foe and their blades clashed together over and over again. Shadows fizzled out into nothingness and earthen onyx metal chipped and littered the ground around them, neither gaining an immediate advantage.
This one was good. Very good.
Jax thrust with his left hand, and a second later, his right. The vampire batted the first strike far out to the side, but the delay meant it wasn’t ready for the second strike. This time, Jax’s sword missed the creature’s neck by mere inches.
The vampire barked a laugh because Jax was fully exposed on his left. A killing blow could be struck. The vampire pulled back its arm to strike at the same time Jax pulled back both arms.
There was no way he would get a parry ready in time. But then again, he wasn’t trying to parry. As the blade in his right hand slipped by the vampire’s neck by the slimmest margin, the blade changed. It curved around into a wicked hook.
When Jax yanked his arm back in a fake parry, the hook sliced into, and through, the vampire’s neck.
Head went one way, body went the other, and flame consumed them both.
He turned immediately to face the others.
“You may have beaten us,” one of them spat. “But you will never reach Ursa alive!”
He took a step toward them, challenging the duo, but they were already beating a hasty retreat down the slope at the side of the road and deep into the forest. Jax went to pursue them further, but a sharp pain in his side stopped him.
Looking down, he saw blood falling from his side, soaking his clothes.
“Ow,” he said, slumping down to one knee as the shadow sword sticking out from his side evaporated under the sun’s rays as well, joining its owner in oblivion.
Apparently, he hadn’t been as fast as he’d thought.
Despair overcame him then. The wound wasn’t mortal, but it seemed to be an omen of his actions. No matter how much he did right, he never managed to avoid doing something wrong.
It begged a question of him. What was the point, then? What else was he going to screw up?
Jax knew then that it was time someone else took over the negotiations. He was not the right dragon for the job, no matter what the others thought. This wound was just a sign of what would come later, he recognized.
He dragged himself slowly back to the truck and yanked the dead vampire’s mask free so that its body would burn. He couldn’t let the humans find out about his world.
Then he slumped back against the silver pickup and closed his eyes for a moment before hauling himself to his feet and beginning the long trek back home—to report his failure to the others.
For Jax had no doubt that another ambush lay closer to House Ursa, and he no longer had the strength to fight it off. His mission was done. His only priority now was getting back to Drakon Keep in one piece.
Chapter 31
“It is pointless!” he exploded, wincing as he sat upright in his chair, moving to get to his feet.
“Sit down,” Aaric bellowed from nearby, moving to stand in front of Jax. “Or you’re going to tear your side open again. You need to let it heal.”
Jax glared up at the fire dragon, but his anger was born not at the other shifter’s words, but at the fact that he was correct. The wound on his side had refused to close on his way back to Drakon Keep, and only after he’d been forced to lie down and let it heal for an hour had it begun to heal.
“I’m not the right one to talk to them,” he continued, ignoring Aaric’s outburst. “You know this. You all do,” he said, letting his gaze run over everyone in the room, which included the trio of dragons, their mates, as well as Sarah, whom he had brought along as well, not wanting to keep her imprisoned any longer.
“You’re an earth dragon,” Valla pointed out.
“Right. An earth dragon who got into a fight with the first House he went to, and nearly got himself killed like an idiot on his way to the second. I know when it’s time to call it quits, and I’m saying that now is that time. Aaric would be far better off doing this instead of me.”
Aaric shook his head. “I don’t have your way with words, my brother. Nor do I have your patience with the others. I would not be able to bring them together. You know that. As do they.”
Jax just lay back into the couch, looking up at the roof high above them, wondering if anything was going to go his way anytime soon.
“Once you are healed, you must try again. We will escort you there if need be,” Victor said. “They can’t hope to stop the four of us.”
“Do we know that for sure?” Jax challenged. “They’re watching us. At night, we suspected. But not during the day. They struck with five shadow-wielders, Victor. Five. In the middle of the day. If they have that strength at their disposal, and the threat of more even closer, then let us not pretend that we aren’t in trouble. If they see all four of us leave, they will send their strongest after us. The shape-changers.”
Silence ran around the table.
The shape-changers were perhaps the most feared of the vampires. They could take the shape of giant, grotesque bat-looking things. They could fly, and they were fast. Not only that, they were also strong. None of the dragons had yet taken on one of the creatures in a true attack, but Jax knew they all feared what the outcome would be.
And they knew that the vampires had at least nine of the creatures. The dragons refused to call them shifters because that would lend them credibility. They weren’t shifters. They were abominations that should nev
er exist.
“Going to one of the Houses is off the table,” he said softly. “You know that. They will put whatever it takes in our path, to prevent us from reaching them.”
The others were nodding slowly, and Jax knew they understood the dangers of such a test. The dragons were outnumbered, and they just didn’t have the strength to take on the mass of vampires that seemed to be invading Plymouth Falls.
Things looked very dire indeed.
“If I may,” a voice said into the silence.
Jax turned to look at Francis as the steward cleared his throat. It was unusual for the human to participate in a conclave of the dragons, but this was as informal as it got. On top of that, Jax would take any suggestions they may not have been thinking of.
“There is one other place. A place that the vampires might not expect you to go. That they may not even know of yet, considering they are new to Plymouth Falls.”
Jax frowned, sitting up a little straighter, ignoring the pain in his side.
“And the time grows near for it to work, as well,” Francis continued, looking around the room.
“What do you mean?” Valla asked, holding Liz tight to his side while she rocked baby Melina gently in her arms.
Jax noticed their closeness and fought back his jealousy. There was almost an entire seat between him and Sarah, though he wished so very much for her presence next to him. He could use her strength now, her brain. Her support.
Her touch.
It gnawed at him, knowing Sarah was just another thing he’d screwed up. He’d rushed into it like everything else he’d done since waking up, and he wondered if the damage done was reparable or not. Would she ever be able to care enough for him, to tell him that she loved him?
Jax knew it was his own fault she wasn’t comfortable with him anymore. He knew that it would take much longer for the human to feel comfortable saying she loved him.
