Dragons: Death by Reaper MC #4

by Esther E. Schmidt

  The threat of our dying clan concerns all of us, this means women included. It’s the reason I showed the elderly the program Wella made to upgrade our security. The older Dragons were finally impressed and quick to accept her as an exception to the rule. Even if it’s small, it’s progress; a tiny step forward.

  You can see that being the president of the Dragons charter—combined with the function of clan leader—brings complications. I have more people to handle than just my brothers, and a large variety of problems to solve. In addition to keeping us safe from any harm, I’m trying to find a way to move forward while the elderly Dragons are stuck in an ancient state of mind.

  I’m trying to make them see our future is now and instead of standing still, we need to evolve. The security program Wella created in mind made me think of a way to map out the reasons our females are infertile. Or hell, maybe it’s the males. Talk about non-spoken topics, their fucking manlihood and pride are at stake. Yeah, I have my jobs all laid out for sure. But, first things first.

  “I have a situation I need to handle,” I grunt and Lucio raises his eyebrow as a silent request for more information.

  I contemplate giving him some more, but if I do, I can’t sweep this under the rug. The more people know, the more likely it’s bound to get out in the open. Except, it’s too big to keep quiet and I might need him.

  The reminder of Vike’s old lady is still vivid in my mind—three strong Paranormals combined—and it makes me wonder if this Dragon half-blood is stronger due to the fact it’s half Guardian, or maybe it has some Phoenix, or Fae…I have no clue about anything until I find her.

  A Guardian is the ultimate protector of the humans, like a guardian angel swooping in to guide humans through life and protect those who need it. They have blue fire and you can compare them a bit to a Hellhound since their outer appearances are basically the same and yet they are the opposite of each other. A Guardian is a large, serene white beast, somewhat like a mega size wolf with blue flames crackling around them where the Hellhounds are black surrounded by normal looking flames. A Guardian is top of the line purity, though.

  A Phoenix is also a powerful combination while mixed with another Supernatural seeing it has the fire element and the burn through and regenerate ability. But if a Fae is mixed with Dragon blood, there’s no telling what will happen seeing a Fae’s magic would be an angle that boosts the magic a Dragon already possess. I did mention a half breed would be an abomination, right? Dammit, I need to get a handle on this and soon.

  Wait. Vike mentioned the ex President of the Heaven Charter was the one who went rogue and put daughters on this earth who are all combined with strong Paranormals. This would indicate it’s a Dragon combined with a Guardian. Unless something else is thrown into the mix but even the mere thought is insane.

  I can’t wrap my head around the fact this…creation…has been roaming the world for fuck knows how long without us being aware. And that alone is a scary thought because if I have a map and if I concentrate, I can pinpoint every Dragon that belongs to my clan. This creation has been flying under the radar so to say.

  Not so weird because I only take out the map and mentally pinpoint every Dragon when needed and seeing we keep to ourselves, there was no need to see if a Dragon was missing or hell, one added.

  All of this running through my mind allows me to make my decision. “I was told there is a Dragon half-blood roaming this earth.”

  Lucio’s eyes widen. “No,” he grunts in astonishment but quickly recovers and switches to work mode. “Is it just a rumor to stir trouble or something we need to fully focus on to retrieve and handle?”

  “Retrieve and handle,” I rumble and grab the map from a drawer of a large closet in my office. I place it on the table in front of me and connect my gaze with Lucio. “Vike, the president of the Demon charter, informed me about this. Standing beside him was his old lady. She was a crossbreed of Fae, Guardian, and a Phoenix. This fact leads me to believe it’s not a rumor but in fact a harsh reality.”

  Lucio rubs a hand over his mouth and jaw before hard eyes penetrate mine. “This is a huge threat, Vaughn. If this is true…this…this…thing would be stronger than a regular Dragon and can attack us. We’re a rare breed as it is, not only our clan but you know damn well why the other clan accepted our exchange program; they need it as much as we do. We need to eliminate this threat.”

  I give him a curt nod and focus on the map in front of me. “Let’s see if I can get a hint of its location. Then we’ll discuss how to handle it because if we can’t find it, we don’t know where to start looking.”

  Lucio leans over the map and waits for me to tell him what I see. Lucio cannot see anything other than the normal map because the location of every Dragon is only visible to the clan leader. I can see several green dots light up for my vision only. Strong. Bright. Most are all huddled together seeing we all live close together in this small village. I do a mental headcount and process the list of every Dragon in our clan.

  “One is missing,” I grumble and try to focus. “Nothing. I can’t seem to locate Camilla.”

  “Camilla,” Lucio muses. “Isn’t she the Dragon who completely distanced herself from the clan and lives on the edge of our land? She was proven infertile and shunned by the men.”

  She was the first Dragon who worked with our doctor to find out if she would be able to bear children. This because the doctor suggested a process to check all Dragons and to find out why Dragons weren’t able to reproduce.

  Needless to say, after the first result of Camilla came in—resulting in all the male Dragons shunning her—no other female wanted to be tested. Ancient rules. Ancient state of mind. Shame. Pride. You can call it anything you want but the result stays the same; Dragons are a rare breed.

  “Yes,” I reply and when I fully focus on locating Camilla, there’s suddenly a faint dot appearing and it’s popping up in the city. “That can’t be.”

  “What? What’s wrong, Pres? Did you locate Camilla?”

  “Teal blue,” I grumble. “I see a faint fucking dot popping up when I concentrate on Camilla, and it’s teal blue, not green.”

  “Holy fuck,” Lucio snaps. “Dragons always pop up green, right? So, it’s true?”

  “It seems that way, but I still can’t locate Camilla.” I close my eyes and visualize Camilla to send out a message but it instantly backfires. My skin prickles and it only happens if I try to reach out to a Dragon who is no longer alive.

  “Are you okay?” Lucio asks with slight concern in his voice and I now realize I’m panting.

  Trying to contact a deceased Dragon is impossible and obviously I’ve never done it, and I also didn’t expect a blowback in return.

  “I’m fine,” I snarl and push myself away from the table, anger now freely flowing through my veins. “This little interaction tells me Camilla is dead and the teal blue dot is connected to her somehow. But she was fucking infertile, how the hell can this be possible?”

  Lucio shakes his head in disbelief. “We have a hard time reproducing as it is, Pres. Combining other blood with a Dragon? There’s no way possible. You know as well as I do our blood is dominant and laced with powerful magic, it will overtake DNA of any kind.”

  “Vike mentioned the ex-president of the Heaven Charter—he’s dead by the way—managed to put daughters on this earth who are all combined with strong Paranormals. He did so with help of hexbags.”

  My VP is staring at me and is clearly processing the details before he says, “Now that makes more sense. But, long term? How did that evolve and what effect does the extra magic have? Our blood—”

  “Has a mind of its own,” I cut him off because he doesn’t need to tell me again. “It has the ability to affect DNA, though Dragon DNA is dominant. Maybe it has eliminated the Guardian side.”

  “Or adapted and turned it into an abomination,” Lucio grumbles. “The teal blue light lets you know it’s not damn green like all other Dragons, it’s tainted.”
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br />   I rip the map off the table and stash it back into the drawer. “I’m heading out, this needs to be handled. Now.”

  “I’m coming too. Did you want to take a few more brothers? Emery, Orion, or maybe Cyril? They were heading for the training room right before you came in.”

  “No,” I tell him. “We’re doing this together first. We have to know what we’re dealing with before we can bring it to the table. This also means we’re not going to act, it’s just a recon mission for now, understood?”

  “Understood, Pres,” Lucio grunts.

  The both of us head out and hit the road. I find a hint of calmness by the feel of the roaring of the bike underneath me and the wind in my face while the scenery flashes by. It’s a fragment of what flows through me when I’m in the air in my Dragon form as I feel the air underneath my wings. But, for now I relish in the way my bike consumes the road underneath me. I need it to keep focus for what’s to come.

  I know I mentioned to Lucio how it’s only a recon mission—to gather information through observation—but the Dragon kind is known to have quite the temper. Add this to the fact I have no idea what we’re up against and it puts me on edge more than I am willing to admit.

  We’re riding down a crowded street and it’s where I pinpointed the half-breed about ten minutes ago. I put one foot on the ground and inhale deep, letting the air filter through my nose and lungs in an effort to pick up the scent of a nearby Dragon, easily filtering out Lucio. My body starts to burn and electricity dances over my skin. It’s the kind of awareness that jolts me right into full-blown lust and it’s something that’s never happened.

  “Pres?” Lucio’s voice is a faint background static I’m ignoring because I hit the throttle and speed off.

  There’s a fire station on my left and that’s where my bike comes to an abrupt stop. I contemplate going inside the building but a woman barges out followed closely by a man.

  “Can you stop and think for a moment, Enya?” the man says, his voice laced with frustration.

  The woman pivots and snaps, “No, Porter. You just basically accused me of being a brainless broad. So, according to you, I’m incapable of thinking. And you’re right, I won’t think about anything you said. And this means I won’t be starting any time soon either.”

  “Don’t be like that, Enya,” the man named Porter says and plows a hand through his hair. “You know this is about safety. Rules. Regulations. All of those you go against and reject at every turn. We’ve had this discussion countless times. You can’t run into a building that’s on fire without thinking things through. Even if there are lives at stake, you have to follow protocol. You leave me little choice how to handle this.”

  “I’m not ashamed to admit I go above and beyond when it comes to saving lives,” Enya growls.

  “What about your life, or any of your colleagues, Enya? You were swallowed by flames. The damn roof was about to come down. Don’t think you’re invincible with your track record because it also indicates how many times you went against protocol and put lives in the balance without thinking about the consequences. You’re lucky nothing happened again but I can’t keep saving you either.”

  “Saving me?” Enya sneers. “Sounds more like you’re trying to get into my pants. But I have news for you. Well, old news since I keep repeating myself so I’m going to flat-out tell it to you straight this time. Your little warning isn’t going to magically let my legs fall open so you can fuck me.”

  “That’s it, you’re suspended,” Porter growls.

  Enya snickers. “No need, I quit.”

  “Enya, you can’t quit. And this is not about getting into your pants, and you know it. You’re just lashing out in an effort to anger me. You know I care for you, but it’s more about the qualities I see in you that you’re throwing away by acting irresponsible. And if you could calm that temper of yours for one damn moment you will realize the fact that you’re being irrational.” Porter tries to reach out but Enya steps back and before I realize it, I’ve moved forward but Lucio is holding me back.

  Fuck. What the hell am I thinking? This is a recon mission, we can’t interfere.

  “I’m not being irrational, Porter.” Her hand turns into a fist at her side and I can clearly see blue fire starting to crackle around it. “I’m being realistic and I’m more than done working under you. And this might have given you the impression somewhere along the line that this meant it was a way to get close enough to fuck me, but I’ll be damned if you’re going to screw me over.”

  “You’re not hearing me, it’s not like that.” Porter’s face morphs to anger and with the woman clearly consumed with anger and openly showing her powers, it’s bound to go wrong. I rip away from Lucio’s grip and in two long strides I’m in front of Porter.

  I look him dead in the eyes and let my Dragon side shimmer through, allowing me to hypnotize humans. “You shall forget about the last few minutes. Turn around and head back inside.”

  The man instantly turns on his heels and disappears into the fire station. When I spin around, I’m facing the kind of beauty that rushes the air right out of me. Or maybe it’s the punch in the fucking gut I’m not expecting.

  Chapter Two

  ***Enya***

  I’m so angry and the punch I just gave the guy in front of me does nothing to calm me down. In fact, when my fist connected to his body, an electrical current flowed straight through my fingers and up my arm. Not to mention he didn’t even move or so much as twitch. And believe me, when I hit something—no matter what it is—there will be a massive impact.

  I absolutely hate myself for letting my control slip. Not to mention I just punched a random stranger for interfering because the one who I really wanted to hurt was that slimeball Porter. Though my temper might have gotten the best of me and I threw things at him I really didn’t mean, but I’m so damn pissed off to get shit thrown in my face while all I did was save lives.

  And I don’t even have the time to let my mind wonder why this guy didn’t react to my punch in the gut because his eyes are piercing mine. Silver. This man has the brightest silver pupils I’ve ever seen. I blink to sharpen my gaze as his eyes flash to slits and back. Holy shit. A Dragon? How’s that possible? I swallow hard and take a step back. I’ve never met a Dragon. Other than staring in the mirror. Shit. I’m never scared and now isn’t a good time to start either.

  It’s probably because I know nothing about Dragons. Absolutely nothing. Other than being one myself, obviously. Though, I have no recollection where I came from or who my parents are. And for real, gathering information about Dragons is as unreliable as checking to see if Vampires exist; the research is limited, contradicting, and it’s either about them being extinct or they never existed.

  I do have to admit the information I found was all written by humans and I know for a fact I might look like a human, but I’m not. I’ve only ever shifted into a Dragon once as far as I know. It hurt like a mothertrucker, but that’s not the only reason why I haven’t shifted since. Because, hello, a massive Dragon draws attention. Besides, it’s not like I remember how I managed to shift. It’s most definitely not a button I can press.

  “Enya.” My name tumbling from his sexy lips makes it sound like a husky rumble that prickles my skin to full awareness.

  The way his gorgeous hair is all dark and groomed to perfection is a stark contrast to the rough scruff tainting his face. Underneath his leather jacket and white wife beater peeks some chest hair and my mind wanders to how it would feel if I let my fingers slide over his muscled chest. I catch a glimpse of myself in his sunglasses that are hooked in his wife beater and it makes me aware I’m gawking.

  My gaze shoots to his face. I can feel the way his eyes lazily roam over my body. He takes in my crazy hair which is a mixture of pale white and dark brown stripes. I can never get it one color because the white stays white, it refuses to take any color so I just keep it the way it is. His gaze slams into mine and his silver ones are shiny against m
y flaming blue ones. They flash to slits again and I can feel mine doing the same in return, as if we’re doing some secret Dragon handshake to let each other know what we are.

  Except, I don’t really know what I am and this is turning out to be one hell of a shitty day, because I’m suddenly insanely attracted to the stranger standing in front of me. Confusion hits hard and it flares to anger because it has been coursing through my veins ever since I rescued a little girl from a burning house two hours ago and received a long reprimand from Porter, my superior, right after.

  It’s not like I really had a choice. I wasn’t going to stand there and watch the house burn down knowing there was a little girl inside. I’ve discovered years ago how fire can’t hurt me, it’s the Dragon angle, I’m sure.

  I have no clue what this Dragon in front of me wants, but I’m not sticking around to find out. I spin on my heels but there’s another guy standing there. This one doesn’t have silver eyes, his are a deep black. They flash to slits and back.

  Shit. I force myself not to blink, because, really? Another Dragon? I go from never meeting another one—and not knowing how the hell I can even be one—to meeting two in the blink of a freaking Dragon’s eye?

  I take a step back but his arm rises as if he’s about to grab me. There’s a low growl coming from behind me and the dark eyed Dragon instantly lets his arm drop. His eyebrows skyrocket and I get a glimpse of his eyes threatening to fall out before I’m roughly shoved behind the back of the Dragon with the silver eyes.

  The silver-eyed Dragon still has his fingers wrapped around my wrist and it’s as if heat is seeping out and leaking onto my skin. Electricity swirls where he’s touching me and tingles start to spread through my veins. Another growl rips from his throat before his hand leaves my wrist because he uses both his hands to push the other guy away from him.

  They are going head-to-head as if they’re about to fight for a bone they both want. What the heck is going on here? Deciding it’s none of my business—and the fact I just quit the job I love and all the frustrations of the events leading up to it—I grab my chance with this distraction and slip away from the scene.