The Water Dragons Box Set: Books 1 - 4 (Complete)

by Charlene Hartnady

  Chapter 8

  Five days later…

  Fuck!

  Why the hell was he being summoned? Things had been going better. His sleep had improved some since getting an herb draught from the healers. His mind still wandered to the vampire often, but he’d been able to clear his head, to remain more focused, at least during work hours. Alone, at home, was another story entirely but when it had counted, he had been attentive. There had been no more major screw-ups. At least, none that he knew of.

  Bay continued to walk towards Torrent’s office. His mind raced, going through each scenario. What could it be?

  He sucked in a deep breath as he arrived at the large double doors that led to his king’s chamber. He knocked, waiting until he was called upon to enter.

  Bay walked in, stopping in his tracks when he saw who was in attendance. “Good morning,” he choked out when he finally found his faculties.

  “Morning.” Torrent nodded once.

  “I’m not sure if you have met Blaze yet.” Torrent motioned to the male in question. King of all four dragon species.

  Bay inclined his head. “I have never officially met you, my sire, no.” He shook his head. “It is good to do so now, an honor.”

  Blaze held out his hand and Bay clasped it at the wrist. “Let’s make it official then since we will be traveling together.”

  Bay’s eyes widened and he nodded once. He had no idea what Blaze was talking about, only that it must be that mission Torrent had referred to the other day. “I am glad I can be of service,” he stated simply, meaning it.

  “This is Inferno, my younger brother, Prince of Fire. He will be accompanying us.”

  “You are going in Tide’s place.” Torrent didn’t look happy about that fact. “We leave on Monday. The Water dragons were lucky enough to have been selected to accompany Blaze and Inferno on this mission.”

  “I am most honored,” he addressed Torrent, turning to Blaze as he finished the sentence.

  “We leave on Monday, giving us the weekend to prepare,” Blaze stated.

  “You will need to pack for three days,” Torrent all but growled, still frowning heavily. “We are meeting with representatives of the other species to discuss the slayers. We feel that all the species are in danger.”

  His heart beat faster and his mouth suddenly felt dry. “All of the species?”

  “That’s what I said.” Torrent narrowed his eyes.

  “Yes, sire.” Bay inclined his head. “Where are we meeting?” It was like he already knew the answer. Knew without a doubt where they were headed before anyone could say anything. His heart pounded in his chest anyway.

  “To Sweetwater,” Blaze said. “We are meeting on vampire territory. It is the most central. They have the most suitable accommodations as well.”

  Sweetwater.

  Shit!

  He was going to vampire territory. To her. To the female with the green eyes. Holy fucking shit!

  “Bay!” Torrent snapped. “Are you listening?”

  He swallowed thickly. “Yes, apologies!”

  “Is there a problem?” Torrent asked. “Do you have something against vampires? If so, I can take Beck in your place.”

  “No!” he practically yelled. “No problem. I will be packed and ready. I look forward to attending the meeting. I’m sure the other species will be a big help in eradicating the hunters.”

  “A help,” Blaze scoffed. “More like a hindrance. We don’t need help from any of the others. We thought they needed to be informed. If they wish to aid us, then that is their decision and their right, but we don’t need them. We are perfectly capable of dealing with this ourselves.”

  “Of course, my lord.” He was screwing this up at every turn. He needed to keep his mouth shut and his ears open. Needed to stay focused!

  “You have all the details,” Blaze spoke to Torrent, who nodded. “We’ll see you Monday first light?”

  Torrent nodded again. “Good.” Blaze gestured for Inferno to follow him. “Then we’ll head out.”

  Once they were gone, Torrent turned to him. “Don’t make me regret taking you on this mission. It is an honor that we were selected to accompany the Fire dragons. The other two tribes were not impressed, I can say that much.” The male finally hinted at a smile. It didn’t last. “Don’t fuck this up. Stay close, keep your mouth shut and do as you are told.”

  Bay nodded. “Yes, sire. Understood.” He bristled with excitement. He shouldn’t, but he did. He had already made up his mind, he was going to find the female and find out everything he needed to know. On his off time, of course. There was no way this would interfere with the mission. He’d make sure of that. No-one even needed to know about any of it.

  Chapter 9

  Three days later…

  No way. There was no way he was there. Ceri stood in one of the break rooms on the east side of the castle. It gave her the perfect view of the conference center. Her kings had built the facilities when they had started The Program. A plan geared up to pair the top vampire males with human females, in the hopes they would mate and have young. So far, The Program had been a great success.

  She forced herself to concentrate because the delegates attending the meeting between the species were going to file out at any minute.

  She shouldn’t be there. This was stupid and silly and made no sense. Out of all the dragon shifters out there, only four were on vampire soil at the moment. There was just no way he was one of the four, and if he was, she couldn’t do anything about it. She needed to stay far away. It didn’t matter, because he wasn’t there, which would make staying away easy. She just needed to see that with her own eyes, so that she could stop wondering.

  Ceri glanced at her watch, the second hand counted down to one o’clock. As the hand hit twelve, the door opened. Ceri shook her head. Brant was running the event, so it stood to reason that the whole thing would run this smoothly.

  Brant’s PA came out, standing next to the open door, she held a clipboard in her hand. Three males filed out shortly after. They wore jeans and button-down shirts. They were followed by Zane who wore his standard leathers. Then two really large males appeared. They were wearing cotton pants. Their chests were golden. Her heart beat faster.

  Dragon shifters. If the accounts had been correct, this was the standard attire of a dragon shifter. A tall light-haired male followed closely behind. His marking was also golden but with green flecks. Also a royal. That made three. One more to—

  No!

  Come on!

  She squealed and clasped a hand over her mouth. It was him. It was Bay. Of all the males, it was him. What a bizarre twist of fate. She noticed how he looked around, his eyes flashing to the castle, where they stayed for a few moments. It almost felt like he was looking directly at her. Her eyes felt wide. Her skin prickled. Then he looked away and moved off. Several other males had walked out, they followed behind Bay. Heading towards the restaurant where they would serve lunch.

  Everything in her told her to go. To find a way to grab his attention. Maybe get a server to hand him a note.

  No!

  She’d made up her mind. There would be no fraternizing with the dragon shifters. Most especially, no fraternizing with him. She turned away from the window, even though she could still see his retreating form. She clenched her hands into fists and forced herself to walk the other way.

  Chapter 10

  They were being housed in a hotel, separate from the vampire castle. There were a few vampires around. They worked as staff in the hotel and conference area. Servers, receptionists and housekeepers. Bay kept hoping he would see her. So far, no luck. Chances were good he wasn’t going to have much luck either.

  He was tempted to ask, maybe someone knew her, but he didn’t want to draw attention to himself and definitely not to her. He had no idea what her name was or what she did. Who she was.

  No idea.

  No clue.

  It was frustrating. The castle was big, with more th
an one entrance. It had four huge towers and an enormous central section. According to the vampire server he had questioned, it even had several floors underground. He shuddered at the thought. Dragons weren’t partial to confined spaces. Point being, his mystery female could be anywhere. In any one of the many rooms.

  Bay forced his attention back to what was happening around him. He took a final bite of his steak and pushed the half-eaten meal aside. His stomach churned.

  So far, the species meeting had gone well. After the initial introductions, Blaze had explained the history between the dragons and the hunters, as well as all the background information about the hunters. All fairly boring.

  Inferno bumped the side of his arm. “Aren’t you going to eat that?” He pointed his fork at Bay’s plate.

  Bay shook his head. “No, it’s beef.” He made a face, “I much prefer deer steak. Not as tender but far tastier.” It was true, he did prefer deer meat, but that wasn’t the reason he didn’t want the food.

  “Mind if I…?” The male raised his brows. He looked down at Bay’s steak, his fork already in the meat.

  Bay nodded once. “Take it,” he mumbled.

  Inferno grinned, taking the meat and dumping it on his own plate. He sliced a large piece. “I can’t believe both of those males rule.” He gestured to where Brant and Zane were standing. The vampire kings.

  Bay shrugged. “We have four kings.”

  “Yes, but Blaze is the ultimate decision maker. The vampires rule equally. Not only that,” his voice dropped a few octaves, “they share a female.”

  Bay raised his brows. “Now that is strange.” He couldn’t imagine. He scrutinized the males. They were very different. Brant was tall and although built, he didn’t come across as a warrior. He wore fancy human clothing. Gold glinted on his cuffs. The male was what females would consider to be good-looking.

  Zane was the opposite. Not as tall but extremely honed. The male looked ready for battle in his leather clothing. There was a curved sword slung across his back. His hair was cut close to his scalp. Nothing fancy about him. Hard and rugged. So different and yet they had made it work. Sharing a female. Bay couldn’t imagine it. Dragons didn’t share. Forget it!

  Two more vampires sat at the end of the table. They had been introduced as York and Gideon. They were the leaders of the vampire warriors. He hadn’t figured out yet who outranked whom. They wore the same clothing as Zane.

  The elves sat to one side, dressed in silk attire. Their heritage evident by their pointy ears and long hair. The king wore a simple, gold crown. They ate large bowls of sliced fruit and kept to themselves. So far, they hadn’t interacted much, and they spoke in hushed tones.

  To Inferno’s left were the shifters. All alphas. They wore human attire. Jeans and button-down shirts. Only two of the males talked together. The other two kept their distance. One even sat away from the rest. It was clear that there was no love lost between them. Right then, he was thankful that the dragon kingdoms had put aside their differences. It was vital if they were to stand against the hunters.

  “So next, Blaze is going to talk everyone through the interactions with the hunters to date.”

  Bay nodded. There had been a number of incidents over the last year. “Yeah, then there’ll be a Q & A session before breaking for the day.”

  “Tomorrow, we discuss the way forward and how we can work together to stop the slayers.”

  The shifter next to them snorted. Bay couldn’t remember his name. Inferno tensed, his eyes narrowing for a moment before slicing off another piece of meat and eating it.

  “I’m not too sure about team-building activities.” Bay raised his brows. “What kind of activities? Who decided on the program?”

  “The bloodsuckers,” the shifter grumbled. “It’s stupid! I will be leaving long before then.”

  “We’re here to unite against a common enemy,” Bay said.

  “Bullshit.” The shifter sat back in his chair. “These hunters are your enemy. Not mine!”

  “They potentially—” Inferno started.

  “You call them slayers. Dragonslayers…dragon being the operative word. You dragons are trying to get the other species to do your bidding.”

  Inferno’s whole frame tightened. He shoved his plate to the side even though he hadn’t finished what was left of the meal.

  Bay didn’t like where this was going. “We thought it pertinent that the rest of the species were aware of the hunters,” he interjected.

  “Well, isn’t that nice of you.”

  Inferno nodded. “Yes, actually I do think—”

  “Bull! You want us to fight your battles for you. It’s clear from the few interactions we have had with your species that you think yourselves far superior to the rest of us. I thought the bloodsuckers were bad, I—”

  “Stop calling the vampires that!” Bay spoke softly. “I’m not sure why you’re so angry but—”

  “Don’t tell me what to do, dragon. You don’t call the shots, even if you think you do. Let me ask you something, where were the dragons when we were being stalked by the Feral? When our people were being abducted? Where were you then?” Bay had heard of the Feral. They were griffin shifters. They were an elusive species who kept strictly to themselves. They were strong, fast and deadly.

  “We only heard about the abductions after—” Inferno began.

  “I don’t want to hear excuses,” the male snapped, pushing his chair back. “When we needed help, there was no-one to be seen. Now that you are the ones in trouble, we’re all expected to drop everything. It’s typical!” he spat, looking royally pissed off. “I had to leave my mate and my cub for this.” He snorted.

  “If you feel so strongly about it, why are you even here?” Inferno growled. The male was bristling.

  Bay needed to stop this before one of them lost their temper. “Maybe we should all calm down.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do!” The shifter’s face was red, his shoulders were tense. His hands curled into fists.

  Inferno’s jaw was tight, his eyes were bright with anger as well.

  The shifter locked eyes with Inferno. “Why I am here is none of your damned business.” The shifter spoke under his breath. Why was he so angry? “All you need to know is that I wish I wasn’t. I knew it would be a waste of time, and it is. You scaly assholes can fight your own damned—”

  “What the fuck did you call me?” Inferno yelled as he pushed his own chair back, jumping to his feet.

  The shifter did the same.

  Inferno was a hothead. “Wait!” Bay tried.

  “You heard me.” The shifter was also on his feet, bumping chests with Inferno.

  The other males in the room stopped what they were doing and silence befell the room.

  “Don’t,” Inferno snarled.

  “I called you a scaly assh—” the shifter didn’t get to finish. A white-hot blast left Inferno’s mouth. The flames engulfed the area. Bay fell backwards to avoid being burned, landing flat on his back.

  The ceiling was scorched. No longer a pristine white, it had streaks of black. One section smoldered. Smoke filled the room. He coughed as he moved to his feet. Then it started. The screaming. Loud shrieks of agony.

  The shifter was rolling around on the ground. His hands clutched to his face. His shirt was burned off around the neck and chest. His skin red and blistered. His long hair burned. His scalp, red and flaking.

  His face.

  More screaming.

  “What the fuck?” one of the shifters snarled as he rushed over to the downed shifter.

  “I told you bringing Cooper was a bad idea,” the bear shifter announced, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I heard the last part of the exchange and he had it coming.”

  “Yes, but,” Blaze looked pissed, “was that level of retaliation completely necessary?” He spoke to Inferno.

  “Yes, that fucker needed to be brought down a rung or two,” Inferno snarled. “For a moment he forgot who he was talk
ing to.”

  “That was one of the highest-ranking alphas,” one of the shifters announced. “Many seasons your senior.”

  “Leave it, Ward.” The bear shifter put a hand on Ward’s chest.

  Inferno snorted. “I am Prince of Fire. I outrank an alpha by a long shot.” He said alpha like it was an insult.

  The shifter on the ground continued to writhe and scream, his hands still plastered over what was left of his face. It looked melted. His eyes were gone, a hole in the place of his nose.

  “We need to help…him.” Bay pointed at the shifter. Trying to redirect the male’s attention. This whole situation could become ugly and fast. Inferno still looked angry. So did the wolf alpha, Ward.

  “Yes, you are right,” Brant said, moving forward. “He needs to see the healers. They can mix him something for the pain and dress those wounds. Make it bearable for him during the healing process.”

  Bearable.

  Bay doubted anything a healer could do would make that bearable. Torrent looked on, a look of distaste on his face.

  “He should be left to suffer,” Inferno barked. “He deserves it.”

  “Stop!” Blaze commanded, his eyes on Inferno.

  Inferno narrowed his eyes as well. “I am well—”

  “I said to stop.” More evenly delivered this time. Somehow more forceful.

  “You take his feet,” Ward instructed the bear shifter.

  “I’ll take him.” Bay stepped forward. He picked up the still screaming male, trying not to cause further damage.

  “Follow me.” Brant looked indifferent. Completely calm. “I’ll show you the way.”

  Bay nodded, having to hold on tight as the male continued to twist and turn in his hold.