Dragons: Death by Reaper MC #4

by Esther E. Schmidt

  “There,” Polina’s voice comes up from my right. “I can see something coming, look.” She points at a faint dot in the sky. “Enya always likes to be dramatic, you know. It’s the reason Porter always cursed her out when she took her time leaving a burning building, having everyone on her team hold their breath until they saw she’s safe and sound. And see? She’s flapping her wings. She’s okay. She’s—”

  “Motherfucker,” Lucio growls as we all watch something red shoot up and knock right into Enya.

  Red and white tangle as they roll through the sky and fall down into the trees. I try to get to my feet and move forward.

  Cyril curses again and says, “You need to put in a good word for me if she kills that bastard and becomes clan leader, because I promised her to look out for you and you’re not fucking helping by preventing your body from healing.”

  A snicker leaves my body and I realize what he just said is true. If Enya defeats Dorn, it’s not me who fought to uphold my place. She will earn the right to be clan leader as it damn well should be. It was what my father wanted to push through but never could because of traditions. Fucking traditions working against us at every angle while they should be in place to help us.

  A string of people head for the trees and loud roars ring out. My heart is beating out of control; I can’t lose her. I need her, this clan needs her. She’s the change all of us have been waiting for and I don’t even dare to think what will happen if Dorn manages to still be alive somehow. The scene before me makes that thought extinguish from my brain.

  The serene white Dragon is hovering over the red one. Her talons are wrapped around the red Dragon’s throat while she’s ripping through it and by the looks of it, she’s been going at it for a while as his head is finally being ripped from his body.

  Loud cheers ring out and Enya jumps away from the red headless body as if she’s only now becoming aware of what she’s done. She instantly shifts back and there’s anger flowing through me, making my chest rumble.

  “Oh, please. Would you just try to contain yourself a little bit? It’s a naked body, everyone has one, Vaughn,” Polina says as she rushes to her friend and shrugs out of her jacket to wrap Enya in it to cover up her nakedness.

  I know Polina is right but I’m just a jealous fuck and I can’t help but notice the way blood is trickling down her legs.

  “Go help her,” I tell Cyril who dashes forward.

  It takes me twice as long to drag my body over to them but when I finally do, I’m smacked back on my ass the way Enya launches herself at me. I grunt due to the impact and pain shoots through my body but it’s a sweet reminder we’re both alive and right here. I try to hug her closer but my back is killing me.

  “We need to get the both of them back to the infirmary so I can check out their injuries,” Cyril says.

  I nuzzle Enya’s neck and even if I know the both of us need to let our bodies heal, I can’t help but ignore everyone and relish in the way I’m holding onto my mate, my old lady, the first female leader of the clan, the woman I love, and the mother of my unborn child.

  Fuck. My head rears back. “She’s pregnant and she fucking fought. She fell. She’s hurt. Quick.”

  Enya chuckles and pats my chest. “I’m fine, Vaughn. As far as I can feel my injuries are superficial. And it’s not like I have a full-blown baby inside my belly. I’m sure he or she is fine.”

  “Come on, let’s see if you’re right so we can soothe the Dragon,” Cyril chuckles. “Besides, we need to check on Zahra and Porter.”

  “Porter?” I question.

  Cyril grabs my arm and throws it over his shoulder to support me. People start to step aside to let us through. They all incline their head out of respect for Enya.

  “Our new clan leader here not only fought for honor to save the clan but she also played matchmaker. Porter is the new addition to the clan and is Zahra’s mate, though I don’t think Porter is aware of this little fact, hence the reason we need to head over to check,” Cyril casually says, making my steps falter.

  “What?” I warily ask in an effort to process everything.

  “Dorn took me out with a syringe. Zahra later told me it might have been something to knock out my Dragon part along with anesthetics. I was missing for two days? Maybe he added something else, hell if I know. Anyway, when I came to, I saw Porter sagged against the wall with a large wound across his belly. I managed to escape and brought him here and told Zahra we didn’t have a choice, that I had to give him a blood transfusion like how I saved Polina. The same thing happened so it wasn’t like I planned it.” She tries to shoot a glare at Cyril.

  “Hey, I’m not pointing any fingers or throwing any blame your way. You have my respect and like I said, you fought for honor to save the clan,” Cyril tells her with a fierce voice. “Even more when you think about the fact Porter was missing and Dorn wanted to get rid of Vaughn one way or another. Either to have him take the fall in the human world, with Porter going missing or turning up dead, or by challenging him the way he eventually did. And there was no damn way any of us could have faced him if it wasn’t for Enya, and you know it.”

  “Is…is Typhon gone now too?” Enya’s voice is a mere whisper.

  “Yes,” I tell her. “We will never know if they both planned this or if Typhon was too weak to fight his son when he demanded the merge into one Dragon. In the past it’s only been done a few times and only if there was a threat that would take out the clan. And it’s normal for the father to give his life to his son so he will obtain the strength he needs. But it’s never done out of vengeance or selfishness.”

  Enya reaches out and laces her fingers with mine as we enter the building. She gives a little squeeze. “It’s all behind us now,” she whispers.

  I have no words to offer her in return because she’s right. It is behind us, leaving the future wide open along with new possibilities. All because she took action and set a course that was founded by my parents. My throat clogs with emotions.

  “Enough you two,” Cyril interrupts. “You have all the time in the world to get warm and fuzzy with one another but right now I’m going to split you guys up to examine your injuries.

  “No way,” I growl. “I’m fine. Check the baby first.”

  Enya rolls her eyes and points at her belly. “Look, all skin and no injuries. Now check your back in the mirror, I can practically see your bones sticking out. Lie down and let him help you or I’m going to bind you to the bed with magic.” Her eyes light up and a big smile starts to tug at her lips. “And that’s an order from your clan leader.”

  “For fuck’s sake,” I grumble. “You’re going to throw that one in my face at every turn from now on, aren’t you?”

  There’s mischief dancing in her eyes as she says, “You know it.”

  Needless to say, I give in and follow her order with a huge smile on my face.

  Chapter Twelve

  ***Enya***

  I stalk toward Vaughn and I can’t help myself when I say, “Should you be riding? It’s only been a day.”

  Even if it’s damn sexy to watch Vaughn straddle his bike and see the back of his leather cut with the large Death by Reaper patch stitched on it. Though, I remember very vividly how badly he was sliced open yesterday. I know we have healing abilities but the image of him being hurt isn’t fading from my mind.

  Vaughn gives me a sly smile. “I didn’t hear the same complaint when you were riding me early this morning. I’d say that gives me enough strength to hold onto my bike.”

  My cheeks heat at the mention of us having sex. He’s right. I didn’t think about how badly we were hurt; all I could think about was connecting in every way possible. And I can still feel him between my legs.

  His husky chuckle rips me from my memory and it makes me grumble, “Fine, but if you hurt yourself, I’m going to be pissed.”

  “Woman,” Vaughn growls. “Before you walked into my life there wasn’t one damn moment I was hurt the way I was injured yest
erday. And I don’t intend to face danger again any time soon. Other than your wrath so it seems.”

  I place my hands on my hips and hear Lucio chuckle. “Now you’re gonna get it.”

  My eyes slide to Vaughn’s VP and I raise my eyebrow.

  “Sorry, oh fearless clan leader.” The corner of his mouth twitches but his gaze turns serious. “Can you keep an eye on Polina?”

  “Sure,” I instantly tell him. “I’ll check up on her once I’m done with my meeting. But she’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.”

  “We’ll be back in about three hours,” Vaughn states and reaches out to cup the back of my neck, pulling me close to take my mouth.

  The kiss is sweet and quick and when he pulls back, he murmurs, “Don’t get into too much trouble.”

  “I wish I could go with you.” I sigh, envious at the fact he’s heading out to visit Alastair knowing Tria and Dio are at the clubhouse and I want to meet them so bad.

  Though I know very well now is not the time. With the turn of events yesterday, I need to face everyone today and explain everything that happened and the changes I have in mind to move forward.

  Vaughn might have informed his brothers about me but most others in the clan are oblivious about why Dorn challenged Vaughn and what went down. They deserve answers. Even if they know very well a challenge ends when there’s one winner and that winner is the appointed clan leader. Which for the first time happens to be a female Dragon.

  But first I have a small meeting with a few men and women I picked along with the help of Vaughn. They are going to be my inner circle. I might have been appointed as clan leader but that doesn’t mean I will carry all the responsibilities.

  The one person who isn’t worried about all the changes up ahead is Vaughn. When I glance at him there’s only pride aimed right at me. I can’t believe how this man spent all this time leading both the MC and the clan.

  His mouth slides right next to my ear. “You got this, Enya. Don’t ever doubt your own abilities.”

  I clear my throat, emotions getting the best of me. “Right. Well. Go kick ass and say hello to my sisters. Next time I’ll join you.”

  “Next time.” He shoots me a wink and I watch as the bike picks up speed.

  I hear footsteps coming up behind me before I hear Cyril’s voice. “Are you ready?”

  Don’t ever doubt your own abilities. Vaughn’s words flow on repeat through my brain as I spin around and face Cyril. “As I’ll ever be. Walk with me?”

  Cyril is one of the people I’ve asked to be part of my inner circle. Emery too and Zahra. There are three other people Vaughn suggested and I haven’t met them yet but I’m about to. I guess it’s like any other new job, right? Nervous, wanting to do everything right and impress others. Well, my old job required running into burning buildings. Walking into a building facing a table filled with Dragons can’t be too bad, right? Besides, I happen to be a Dragon myself and I know exactly what I’m capable of and where I belong; right here.

  My life took a turn for the better days ago and even if I’ve been living for decades, I’ve never actually lived until I walked among those of my own kind. Saving humans was my old job, and now I am part of a group of people whose first priority is the safety of humans while there are underlying issues to solve among our own kind.

  Though it seems with both Typhon and Dorn out of the picture, things have taken a turn for the better, seeing Cyril just told me the fact that Orion visited him early this morning with the joyous fact he recognized Nessie’s scent changed allowing him to know she’s now fertile.

  It’s a harsh reality to know one of their own wanted to end this clan. Though it’s all behind us and we need to move forward. Together. Like I mentioned, there’s a lot to talk about seeing we also have a new Dragon in our midst. Porter. He and Zahra bonded late last night and this too is a joyous fact.

  There’s still some doubt burning low in my belly because some of the elders will also be present at the clan meeting later on. Not to mention the fact Vaughn won’t be able to come to the meeting due to MC responsibilities. Even if he isn’t clan leader anymore, I would have expected him to be here with me. And I do understand he needs to meet with Alastair but why couldn’t it wait one more day?

  “Everyone is waiting for us in your new office.” Cyril points in the direction of the building I’ve been told functions as some sort of city hall.

  “I thought the meeting wasn’t for another twenty minutes?” I mutter to myself, double checking the time to see if I’m running late.

  Cyril gives me a radiant smile. “They’re all anxious to start. It’s a good thing, Enya, don’t worry so much. The hard part was kicking Dorn’s ass and you did so brilliantly.”

  I can only nod in thanks since I don’t trust my voice and I don’t want to sound shaky. His words mean a lot and the support around me is intense. Where I previously only had Polina as my friend, I now have so many people around me who support every step I take.

  This is such a turnaround. Also knowing my mother was shunned by this clan. All while it was due to Typhon’s magic preventing fertility among this clan. And now her daughter is the first female to be clan leader. Okay. I need to stop overthinking everything because my nerves are threatening to shatter at any moment.

  I take a deep breath and step inside the room where a full table of people awaits. They all stand as soon as Cyril and I enter. They start to clap their hands and yet again I’m swallowing back emotions.

  Cyril gives me a little push and I stalk forward to take a seat at the head of the table. “Okay, you guys. Let’s get to work so there’s actually reason to give me an applause instead of cheering about the fact I showed up, huh?”

  Chuckles fill the room as they all sit down. I reach for my back pocket and take out the note I scribbled several things on that I would like to discuss with them. We quickly fall into a discussion and this is actually something I’m happy about. Hitting things off smoothly instead of any awkwardness.

  After a while Zahra places her pen and notepad down and gives me a smile. “I’m going to type out my notes and send them to you first. You can glance them over and if they’re okay, we can send them to everyone else here in this room so we can build some kind of archives with notes if we need to check up on things and do follow-ups and such.”

  “Thank you. I can’t believe I didn’t think of doing that.” I frown at myself.

  “No worries. Cyril and I have meetings where we discuss things and need to remember every little detail so it’s kind of a routine for me. Besides, we discussed a lot and there were some good suggestions for everyone we need to follow up on. This way everyone does something and knows what to do, right?”

  “Right,” I tell her and give her a grateful smile. “I really want to have more people involved when it comes to clan business. This shouldn’t be on one pair of shoulders; it should be divided and more opinions should be given until one final decision is made.”

  Cyril glances at his watch and the look on his face tells me it’s time.

  “Okay, if we’re done here, I think it’s time to speak to everyone else, the clan meeting is at one, right?”

  “Yes,” Cyril answers. “And that’s three minutes away so we need to leave now.”

  We all leave the room, and it’s a good thing we decided to have the meeting in the large room in this building so we’re already close to where we need to be. I wipe my palms on my thighs. Dammit, why am I nervous? Everything went well with this meeting and the things we discussed were about the future of this clan and the drastic changes we all know we need.

  All noses are pointing in the same direction and there wasn’t a single person who had any objections about bringing new people into our clan. Not to mention, and this is something Vaughn suggested, that it should be allowed for Dragons to have a job outside of the clan.

  With Porter now mated with Zahra and him having a high function at the fire station, it’s insane for him to cut off all huma
n ties and not do the job he loves to do. It’s the same with Polina. Besides, she can help the clan if she finishes her fellowship in pediatric surgery. Every single decision we made in the other room was for the benefit of the clan.

  From the corner of my eye I see Vaughn strolling inside the building. He made it. I take a step in his direction but freeze when I see another biker enter and he’s heavily inked and muscled, though I don’t recognize him. Two females enter and even if I have never seen them, I know who they are.

  “Eliana. Velma!” I squeal and run toward them.

  The both of them rush toward me and we meet in the middle and hug tight. We’ve talked over the phone and I feel like every time I talk to my sisters we get closer and closer. My eyes and nose start to sting and I have to pull back.

  “Okay, that’s enough,” I chuckle. “I have to stand before all these people and can’t have red eyes and be a blubbering mess.”

  Velma squeezes my arm while Eliana rubs my back. “No worries, Enya, you got this.”

  “That’s what Vaughn keeps saying too,” I tell her and glance over Velma’s shoulder to see him standing next to Lucio and who I’m now guessing is Alastair and his VP, Osias. Alastair is mated with Eliana and Velma is Osias’ mate.

  “I have to admit,” Eliana whispers. “I never expected Vaughn to reach out to Alastair and have him sit in during your clan meeting. I don’t know what’s going on, but they had some kind of meeting in church and the way they all smacked each other’s backs when they stalked out…I’d say the meeting went well. That’s when he asked them to come back with him. Us too so we could support our sister. Duh, as if there was any question we’d say no to that. We weren’t allowed to call our other sisters, though.”

  Velma smiles. “Baby steps. We’re here, and that’s what’s important. We will get our meeting with all sisters in one room soon enough. For now, Enya…you have a meeting to go to.”

  “Right,” Vaughn states from behind them. “Enya, can I have a word? Velma, Eliana, your mates requested you.”