Felix

by Terry Bolryder

  She slumped back in the booth, defeated. If anyone else knew the situation, they would surely tell Felix to leave.

  “Look, whatever it is, we can help you,” Tasha said. “None of us at the club has had anything like a normal life. We’re all coming from some kind of difficult situation. Most of us, that is.”

  “But your life was fairly normal,” Diana said. “Felix ensured that.”

  Tasha raised a blond eyebrow. “Normal? Is having no past and no family and being put in the foster system normal? Is suddenly having a bunch of wolves after you normal? Is not knowing you’re a shifter normal?”

  Diana laughed, though she still felt oddly nervous. “I guess not.”

  “Don’t even get me started on Lock’s past,” Tasha said. “He was a total mess after he lost his parents.”

  “I guess we all have a history,” Diana said, beginning to wonder if she should move to another location so that whatever was making her uneasy didn’t make Tasha uneasy as well.

  “Yeah,” Tasha said. Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out, grinning down as she looked at it. “Sounds like Felix and Lock are done shopping. You want to head back?”

  Diana bit the inside of her cheek. “You know what? You go on without me. I need some time to think.”

  Tasha looked disappointed, but Diana wanted to figure things out without risking the person Felix had sacrificed so much to protect.

  Besides, she still couldn’t pinpoint the source of her unease. Perhaps she’d just been around Felix so much the past few days that she was nervous without him.

  But she didn’t think so.

  “Um, well, I don’t want to get in trouble for leaving you here,” Tasha said. “Why don’t I just wait here for them both to pick us up?”

  Diana shook her head, waving a hand. “It’s fine. I could use some alone time.”

  Tasha looked a bit hurt, but she quickly recovered. “All right. Tell you what. I’ll call the guys. Tell them you want to stay here. And I’ll just wait for you over…” She trailed off, looking up as a tall shadow fell over their table.

  Diana knew who it was without even looking up, though she didn’t know how he’d gotten there without her seeing him. “Hello, Byron.”

  “Well, isn’t this a nice lunch, ladies?” he said, almost caustically charming as he slid into the booth beside Tasha.

  Lock was going to kill Diana if Tasha was so much as touched.

  “Hey, Byron, can you get out for a moment and let Tasha go? She was just leaving.”

  Byron’s eyes narrowed, glittering in shades of gold. His blond hair was cropped short, but it too was multidimensional.

  Diana had her suspicions about what he was, but she kept it to herself.

  He put an arm around the back of the booth, right over where Tasha sat. “I don’t think so. I think we should all just talk together.”

  Tasha looked at Diana nervously. “Um…”

  “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation,” Byron said, signaling a waitress and motioning for coffee to be brought over. As always, he was wearing an impeccably styled outfit. Today, it was a silvery-blue suit that was tailored to his tall, muscular build, combined with a light-pink shirt and silver tie. “Did I hear something about you being with Fifi?”

  Tasha scooted slightly away from him, and Diana hated that she’d brought Felix’s sister into this mess.

  But she didn’t want to bring Lock or Felix into it as well.

  “This involves us, not Tasha,” Diana said, glaring at Byron. “Let her leave, and we’ll talk.”

  “Afraid not,” Byron said, sipping his coffee. “I think we’ll all have to leave together or not at all.”

  Tasha gasped, and Diana realized Byron was holding something against her side.

  God knew what.

  “Okay, okay, we’ll go,” Diana said, getting up and trying to look subtle to the diners around them.

  “Nothing funny,” Byron said. “Or Tasha here won’t get out of this alive.”

  Diana quickly paid the bill just in time for Byron to get his coffee to go. He sipped it with one hand as the other kept hold of Tasha’s arm, guiding her outside gently.

  “This is all your fault, you know, Diana. If you had just taken care of this instead of sleeping with the enemy, I wouldn’t have to get innocent people involved.”

  “You still don’t,” Diana said bitterly. “Why can’t you just give up on hunting Felix? He isn’t bad anymore.”

  “Oh, come on,” Byron said. “You think the rabble I control would listen to me if I did? No, I need leverage. I was able to rally them all around a singular cause: killing Darkness. What would happen if I let them down now?”

  It all made sense now, why everyone contributed to the cause and did whatever Byron said. He used their anger to unite them.

  “But don’t worry. Now that I have you two as hostages, your lover is sure to show up. And when I kill him, I’ll have everyone’s gratitude and money and labor, forever.”

  “You’re evil,” Diana said bitterly. “I should have seen it before.”

  “When you’re hoping no one else sees your dark side, you’re incapable of paying enough attention to see anyone else’s. But I’m not evil. I was born to rule. I was born special. Unlike anyone else.”

  They were walking toward a large black town car parked up a ways on the road.

  “As I was saying…” Byron continued. “The only way to have people around you when you’re as special as I am is to control them. To do that, you need fear or respect. Now I’m not opposed to…” He trailed off as a blue convertible squealed onto their road, peeling toward them.

  It screeched to a halt a few yards past them, and Diana was relieved when Felix and Lock stepped out, hands clenched into fists.

  “Stop right there,” Felix said, looking from Diana to Tasha. “Who are you?”

  Byron sighed, shoving both hands in his pockets. “Well, this is inconvenient. You see, we really shouldn’t do this around humans.”

  Lock took a step forward, brushing back his dark-cherry hair. “Unless you get the fuck away from our mates, we are definitely going to do this around humans.”

  Byron grabbed Tasha by the arm and yanked her toward him. “I wouldn’t come any closer, unless you want her to die.”

  Lock froze, but Felix moved forward. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and rolled the sleeves up angrily.

  “I don’t need to be any closer than this to kill you,” Felix said. “Make your choice. Release our mates or die.” His eyes met Diana’s, and he seemed to be trying to reassure her that everything was fine.

  Diana wasn’t sure about that because she’d never seen Byron shift or fight. He had other people do his dirty work.

  “Try it,” Byron said, stepping in front of Diana, who didn’t dare move as long as Byron was threatening Tasha.

  She’d been so naive, thinking Byron would trust her just because she’d lived at the compound for years. She’d really thought no one would suspect her time with Felix just yet.

  Felix slowly reached his hand out, and the scent of lavender filled the air.

  Diana held her breath to see if it worked as expected but gasped as a blinding flash of gold moved up in front of her like a wall, blocking her view.

  It was transparent, shimmering as if made up by gold dust, but when she reached out to touch it, her hand met a solid wall.

  She looked up to see a dome around her, Byron, and Tasha and saw Felix stepping back, muttering a curse.

  “It’s too bad,” Byron said condescendingly. “I had heard a lot about Darkness. Too bad he doesn’t live up to the hype. Then again, you aren’t used to going up against dragons.” Byron flashed a fang, and Diana felt her courage wither.

  Felix had fought the strongest of other shifters, but what he could do about one that could put up an impenetrable dome?

  Byron grabbed her and Tasha by the arm and pulled them toward his town car, the golden dome following them as they went.


  Felix ran toward them, trying to break through the shield, but he only bounced off it, looking burned. Lock pulled something out of his pocket to shoot at it, but Felix grabbed his hand, jerking it down.

  “We don’t know what will penetrate the shield and hit the women,” he said fiercely.

  Lock paced helplessly as Tasha was loaded into the car.

  “Goddammit, we can’t let them do this!” Diana heard Lock’s desperate shout as she was loaded into the car as well.

  “Dammit, fight them!” Felix shouted. “Diana, you’re stronger than this! Embrace who you are!”

  Diana shook her head. What could a lowly wyvern do against a powerful dragon? For all she knew, shifting into her form would kill her.

  No, the scientists had never been able to provoke her into her true form, and Byron couldn’t either.

  But Diana knew he wasn’t as evil as he was appearing. He didn’t do anything that didn’t serve him, so he probably had no intent to hurt Tasha, at least for now.

  She couldn’t shift. There had to be another way.

  Byron locked the door and stood up to face Felix and Lock again, pointing specifically to Felix.

  “You come face me. Alone. Or they both die.”

  “Why?” Felix asked imperiously. “You’re just going to cheat again.”

  “It’s not cheating,” Byron said with a tsk. “And anyway, I need my men to see me beat you. As soon as you’re dead, Diana and Tasha are free to go.”

  Felix and Lock were both silent.

  “So what will it be, infamous assassin? Lose your final fight or lose your mate?” Byron shrugged. “I guess we’ll see tonight at six thirty.”

  Diana’s heart began to race as she realized what that meant.

  If she didn’t do something, Felix was sure to show up to save them.

  He’d said he would never stop coming for her, and she believed him when he said he would die to keep her safe.

  As the town car pulled away, she kept her eyes on Felix’s frustrated face.

  Somehow, she had to figure a way to get them all out of this mess, since she was the one who had gotten them there in the first place.

  Chapter 23

  “Fuck!” Lock slammed his hand into the concrete wall next to them, making it shake violently. “They took our mates, and we just let them.”

  Felix felt frozen in time. That asshole had taken Diana right in front of him.

  In all of his efforts for the Tribunal, he’d never had to go up against a dragon like that. The ones he’d faced had weaknesses, not impenetrable, moveable walls.

  “What are we going to do?” Lock tore at his hair as he paced. “What if he hurts them.”

  “He won’t,” Felix said, rolling his sleeves up farther. “Dragons have an odd sense of honor. I believe he will do what he says.”

  “Then why did you try to put him to sleep?” Lock asked caustically.

  Felix sighed. “Obviously, having our mates back right away is the preferable option. But I believe Tasha and Diana will have each other’s backs.”

  “That’s not how it’s supposed to be,” Lock said, slamming his fist into the wall again, causing pieces of concrete to litter the sidewalk. “We are supposed to protect them.”

  Felix caught Lock by the shoulders, forcing him to look in his eyes. He understood the other man’s panic, but it wouldn’t serve them at all. “You need to calm down. And we are going to protect them. I’m going to go there and offer my life, as he wants.”

  Lock relaxed, but his face was contorted by a scowl. “You can’t be serious. You face that guy and he’ll kill you. You have to accept help.”

  “I believe him when he says come alone or he’ll hurt them,” Felix said. “But I have to go. I promised Diana I wouldn’t leave her alone.”

  “You’re crazy if you think I’m not coming,” Lock said. “Tasha is my mate. She is my life.”

  “He wants me and maybe Diana,” Felix said. “He has no reason to hurt Tasha at all. Besides, remember she is my sister. I gave up too much to protect her to let her get hurt now.”

  Lock finally sighed, relaxing slightly. “Look, I don’t want you to get hurt either.” He put a hand on Felix’s shoulder. “You’re family. I mean, we just went engagement ring shopping. I wanted to see you propose.”

  “Me too,” Felix said. “But you’ll still get to see that. I’m going to get our mates back. I promise.”

  Lock raised an eyebrow. “But will you be there? Can you promise you’ll survive?”

  Felix straightened, releasing a pent-up breath. “I can’t promise anything. But at least I know what I’m dealing with. My guess is he can’t hold up that shield forever. The second it drops, I’ll be there.”

  “How can you be so overconfident?” Lock asked. “We should be calling Benny and Max. Anyone.”

  “No,” Felix said. “I need all of you to stay back. The compound can’t even know you’re coming. I’m a pretty good judge of people. I believe Byron will do as he says.”

  “Fuck.” Lock threw his hands up. “So you expect me to just do nothing while they hold my mate?”

  “I expect you to trust that I will protect her,” Felix said. “That we’re going to get Diana back and Tasha as well.”

  “How?” Lock asked, exasperated. “I know you’re like the Darkness, but he just singlehandedly shut us down.”

  “I don’t know,” Felix said. “I just know I have to do as he says.” He rubbed his chest. “But I have a feeling it’s going to work out.”

  Lock looked at his watch. “Fuck. Six thirty. That’s hours from now. What are we going to do?”

  Felix sighed. “I guess go back to the club and see what research we can do on dragons who can make gold shields. I mean… it should only be a power of the double dragons, but they work in pairs. And they would never be facing us…”

  “Yeah, well, one is running loose. Wait, do you remember that purple one that tried to pull Benny’s bear out?”

  Felix froze. “Holy shit, yes. I think I have a plan.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Felix usually hated that he even knew what had happened to that dragon. Hated having knowledge of such a dark part of their world. But at this moment…

  “Okay, we need to go prepare some things. It’ll keep us busy until we can go get the girls.”

  “I thought you said I couldn’t come with you,” Lock said.

  “You can’t. You’ll have to stay at a distance. But if things go right, I’ll want the rest of you standing by to help out once he’s down.”

  Felix got back into the car, and Lock swung down into the passenger’s seat.

  “You really think you can take him?” Lock looked doubtful.

  Felix grinned. “I think he’s going down one way or the other.”

  It had to work. It had to.

  The dragon might think he had one over on Felix, but he took dark delight in knowing the dragon was wrong.

  For once, it would benefit Felix that he had been in the innermost circle of the Tribunal, privy to their most forbidden, locked-up secrets.

  Like the one that would help him take this dragon down.

  * * *

  “Stop worrying,” Tasha said as Diana paced around her small cell, checking out the window every so often to see if Felix had come.

  “I can’t help it,” Diana said. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t been obsessed with revenge…”

  “What did Felix do to you anyway?” Tasha asked. “It must have been something bad for you to want to kill him.”

  Diana leaned a hand on the wall, letting her head fall forward. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I just don’t want Byron to hurt him.”

  Tasha raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t know he was a dragon?”

  “No, and he’s probably going to kill Felix, so I don’t know how you can be so calm.”

  “I believe in my brother,” Tasha said. “And my mate. Besides, despite Byron’s big talk, he hasn’t tried t
o hurt us. I don’t think he’s actually that bad.”

  “I do,” Diana said. “Look, the gang at this compound is into some bad business, and Byron is at the top. Don’t romanticize him.”

  Tasha put her hands up in surrender. “You know him better than I do. I’m just trying to keep up a good face.”

  “I know,” Diana said, walking over to the door and banging on it again. Dammit, she wasn’t strong enough. She turned to Tasha. “Even in your wolf form, you can’t break it down?”

  Tasha shook her head. “I can claw things, but the steel is too thick for that. I could headbutt, but not much else. My invisibility is useless if I can’t get out.”

  “I know,” Diana said, scanning the small room around her. It was so cramped she could barely stand. A room for wild animals. But it did give her a view of the courtyard where Byron was standing in the center, waiting for his prey.

  The rest of the shifters had gathered at outside tables, bringing chairs from inside to watch the show. Almost all of them had a vested interest in watching Byron take down Felix. Almost all of them would help kill him if Byron failed.

  She paced in her cell, trying to figure out what Felix could do against them. The wolves he could put to sleep, unless Byron put a shield around them.

  If Felix moved fast enough with his sword…

  No, no matter how she tried to put it together, it didn’t make sense.

  The crowd grew louder, clamoring amongst themselves as the clock ticked closer to six thirty.

  Was he really going to come?

  “It’s going to be okay,” Tasha said, putting her hand reassuringly on Diana’s forearm. “Trust me.”

  Diana yanked out of her grasp, then shook her head apologetically. “I’m sorry, Tasha. Life hasn’t… worked out in some ways for me. It’s not easy for me to be optimistic.”

  Tasha sat down on the bed, looking unfazed as she folded her arms. “I think it’s time for you to tell me what you are. What happened to you.”

  Diana sighed as she walked over to the window, staring out. “What do you know about wyverns?”

  Tasha gasped. “Not those things…”