by JL Madore
I smile up at the military men and then nudge him. When our communication link opens up, I wink at him. Are you flirting with me? Because if you are, I’m free after we get the hell outta here.
Looking forward to it. Now, let’s get what we came for and get home.
The two of us strike off toward Rhylan and Keyla and I’m struck, yet again by the bonds that have formed.
This is right.
This will work.
I genuinely care about Rhy and Creed and I’m head over heels in love with Keyla. All we need is for the world to slow down for a bit so we can catch our breath.
Creed launches up the steps onto the platform and drops to his knees. “Imagine finding you two here.” He pauses with his hands out, seemingly unsure of where to touch our dragon mate. “Fuck, Rhy, you’re a mess.”
“Wasn’t me. I like rough but he was like this when I found him,” Keyla jokes, her voice clogged with tears.
I shift back and take my time, assessing the dragon’s injuries and then clock his pulse and track his pupils. “He’s a little out of it and his adrenaline is keeping him from going into shock, but his injuries are primarily surface damage and likely psychological.”
“You mean from being sold out and beaten by his own family and friends?” Creed snaps. “Imagine that.”
Alrighty then, Creed’s having some psychological difficulties of his own. “He’s good for us to move. Let’s get him back to that hole in the mountain. Hawk and Lukas will send down a rescue litter to get him up into the helicopter.”
Keyla scoots back to give us room. “The most recent damage is on the back of his body. Maybe a shoulder carry would be the least painful?”
“Yeah, I can do that. It’s going to hurt like hell, Rhy, and I’m sorry about that.”
Rhylan is upset and mumbling something incoherent. I pull back and look at Creed and Keyla. “Are either of you getting that? What’s he trying to say?”
Keyla frowns and then I feel her presence on our mental channel. Rhy? Can you tell us what’s wrong, sweetie? Are you hurting?
Blood Witch. She’s here. She was here.
Creed stiffens and searches the courtyard. Where, Rhy? Where did she go?
Don’t know… Couldn’t see.
Okay, Keyla says, scanning the chaos. It’s fine. The boys will look once we get you secured. Let’s focus on you first.
I straighten, press my fingers under my tongue, and let off a whistle. “Jaxx, we need you.”
The jaguar races forward, his tail swinging behind him as he runs. He shifts on the fly as he reaches us and I lean in close when he bends to assess Rhy. “Tell your mates the Blood Witch was here during Rhylan’s torture. I don’t know if she’s still here, but if she is, let’s not waste our chance.”
Jaxx nods and his gaze softens as it does when they speak telepathically. A moment later, he blinks and focuses on us. “Hawk is sending Lukas down and I will tend to Rhy in the helicopter. The rest of you are on witch duty.”
I help lift Rhylan onto Jaxx’s shoulder and brush the bloody matt of his hair away from his face. “You’ll be fine, mate,” I say, pausing an extra moment to reassure myself that I’m right. “Jaxx is a paramedic and we’ve got phoenix tears waiting for you on that bird. Don’t worry about a thing. We’ve got you.”
Keyla cups his face and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and then Creed does the same.
As Jaxx strides off toward the helicopter, I fight to draw a deep breath. “I just want a few days of us settling in and fooling around. No curses. No murder. No one trying to kill us.”
Creed meets my gaze and the purple circles beneath his eyes stand out in stark relief from his pale, ivory skin. “Me too, Bear. Me too. Let’s end this and get home.”
That thought seems to settle some of Creed’s more violent impulses and the next few minutes signal the change from a direct offensive and rescue to us regrouping and getting strategic.
The fight is winding down.
I think it was a blow to the dragons’ egos that not only have we invaded their super-secret home base, but we did it easily. Many of the males started off in offense but when Calli torched a couple, they switched to defense and ushered their females and young to safety.
Not that females and young would ever be in danger from us, but hey, it worked to our advantage.
Calli lets off an all-clear, flaps her wings, and flies into the helicopter. Shifting as she goes, she boards the chopper on a run in her human form.
“Hot damn, that was impressive,” I say to Brant.
He grins. “She’s come a long way since plowing ruts in fields with her face.”
“True story,” Keyla says.
A tall, fancy-pants guy with dark green hair and golden eyes steps up to the group.
Everyone tenses and Creed holds out his hands. “It’s fine. Satune is the Prince of Travon and helped me get here. He’s on our side.”
Satune presses a fisted hand to his heart as a sign of respect and bows. “It is a pleasure to see you again King Northwood. My men and I are at your service.”
Lukas doesn’t seem to care. The mage doesn’t like fresh blood on our teams and has made no secret about it in the past. “Thanks, that’s great. Now, let’s track down the Blood Witch and end this. We capture her, we break her curses. Creed and Keyla, are your beacons telling you anything?”
They take a moment to reach into themselves.
Keyla frowns and shakes her head. “My mind’s gone quiet.”
“Mine as well,” Creed says.
Lukas pulls a plastic baggie out of the thigh pocket of his military pants. “Keyla and Kotah are likely more reliable anyway. I borrowed this from the witch’s condo. Track her scent Northwoods. We’ll do the rest.”
Keyla and Kotah grin and a moment later, they have taken wolf form. They lift their noses and take a long whiff of the lady’s scarf in the bag.
Give us a sec, Keyla says on our private channel. The witch has been here a few days and there are overlapping trails.
Creed relays that to the others and we wait while the two of them zig-zag, nose down.
“There are two distinct trails,” Keyla says, shifting back and standing tall. “Both used within the last hour.”
Lukas frowns. “I’d rather not split up but I don’t see any other option. I’ll go with Kotah and Brant and follow this passage. Creed, Keyla, and Doc, you take that one. If it comes to a standoff, holler and I’ll come running.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Creed
My need for vengeance can’t take much more. I never considered myself a violent man before Laryssa invaded my home and my life. I thought killing her, or standing there while Lukas killed her because I couldn’t, would put out this burning darkness in me.
It hasn’t.
If anything, finding Bloom and Honor the way we did has made me more angry.
I actively want to hurt, maim, and kill the people who have wronged me and the people I love.
First there’s Rhylan and Vikarus’s alpha, Shadowcaster, who forced them to betray not only their instincts but also each other in an effort to bankrupt them of any family pride they might still hold. Then, when Rhylan stands his ground, he exiles him and sentences him to death by flaying.
Then, there’s the Blood Witch, who apparently is Shadowcaster’s ally?
How twisted is that? Did she portal here when Lukas shot her and she threw herself out the window? Is she fully recovered because he offered her refuge from the world she torments? That female sucked Bloom dry of her essence, trapped Honor in some kind of coma, and cursed me with a soul-consuming beast.
She must die.
“Creed? We’re here, my prince,” Keyla says, her hand resting on my shoulder. “We all understand what’s at stake. You aren’t alone in your fury but emotion in battle breeds mistakes. Focus on what needs to happen and it will happen. We will win the day. You’ll see.”
Honestly, if it was anyone else offering me tha
t kind of reassurance, I might punch them in the face, but it’s not. It’s Keyla.
And for some reason, when she says it, I believe her… or at least, I want to believe her.
“I love you, Little Wolf. I’m so sorry about before… with Bloom.”
She shakes her head. “Not here. Not now, my love. I understand completely. I always did. Now, focus and we’ll kiss and make up when we leave this place.”
How did I ever deserve her? “I understand what you’re saying but I need to hold you, if only to stabilize my world for a moment.”
Doc flashes me an impatient look but I can’t help that. I need to connect with her. Pulling Keyla into my arms I squeeze her tight to my body and breathe her into my lungs. Her calming effect works on me almost instantly.
Easing back, I kiss her forehead and send up a prayer of thanks. “All right. Thank you.”
Her wolf’s playful growl soothes my soul. “A couple who slays together stays together.”
I chuckle and fall in behind her. “Track us a witch, my love. Let’s end this.”
Keyla
In my wolf form, I track the scent of the Blood Witch, and now that I understand her scent more, there’s no way I’ll ever forget it. At first, it puzzled me because I thought it was maybe a combining spell or something to throw me off. There are no less than eight significant separate species woven into the one scent and now I understand why.
Bloom wasn’t the first fae she desiccated for power.
I have no idea how old this witch is but it doesn’t matter. Her siphoning of life essence, whether it be for power or longevity, is over.
Her bonus time is over.
Her violence is over.
We jog along the ribbon of passageways, and I think about what it would’ve been like for Rhylan to grow up here. As a child, he probably loved playing in these seemingly endless passageways with the other children.
Before his alpha claimed his mother, at least.
He said after that, he and Vik were regarded as the unwanteds of the brood—the begotten of the traitor.
Never again. Once we take him home and heal him. He’ll never again feel like a second-class citizen.
We come to a crossroads of two passageways and meet up with a woman and her daughter. The woman pulls the girl behind her and I shake my head.
“We’re not here for you,” Creed says, gesturing for her to stand back as he, Doc, and three of Prince Satune’s men follow me deeper into the mountain.
As we go, the scent gets fainter and fainter and I stop and shift back. “No. The scent is dying out not getting stronger. The witch bitch is not this way.”
Creed curses and we turn around to leave.
The moment we do, I catch a surge of triumph in the air and raise my hand. “Hold.”
There is someone here. I smelled the smug confidence when I suggested we leave. I think it’s a glamor.
I’ll call Lukas, Dillan says, raising his FCO watch to send a message.
Creed, can you reach through it and find the mental signature?
Creed
I consider Keyla’s question and close myself off from the anticipation and distractions of hunting down the Blood Witch. I calm my mind as much as I can, but it’s only when Keyla slides her hand against mine and closes her fingers around my hand that I make any progress.
I’ve got you, my prince.
I draw a deep breath and let Keyla’s calming nature wash over me. Touching her is the balm my soul needs. With her at my side, I can achieve anything.
Closing my eyes, I block out the world: my anxiety about Rhylan and the people who hurt him, the sounds of this strange place, and the knowledge that strangers are watching me, waiting to see if I can do this.
You can, Keyla says.
When she speaks the words, I believe her.
Searching the air around us, it’s not so much what I find that’s interesting, but what I don’t find. In a rocky, natural space, there’s an area of nothingness that I wouldn’t have noticed if Keyla wasn’t so in tune with her surroundings.
Facing the odd void, I strip away what I can, and then Lukas is there with the other half of our team.
The human mage steps in beside me and raises his palms. “Well done. You almost got it. Weapon’s up, people. Ready for anything.”
Brant and Doc move in with the strange weapons I saw them use in the Human Realm. Keyla called them Glocks but I’m not sure if that’s what they are or a brand of what they are.
It takes Lukas little time to remove the final layers of the glamor and then it’s wavering before us. At last we’re facing the Blood Witch and an arrogant male I assume is the dragon alpha.
“We meet again bitch,” I say.
When she lifts her hands to strike out, Lukas steps in and counters her attack. Before she gets anywhere or has the chance to portal out of here like she’s done twice already, I brace myself and focus on ending her.
The safeguards forced upon me to keep me from killing her trip and I feel my intentions powering down like before.
But this isn’t like before.
Lukas worked with me all week peeling away the layers of her cursed spell. Keyla squeezes my hand and I’m filled with a rush of magic. We still aren’t sure what her powers are or where they’re coming from, but she’s a force to be sure.
With the infusion of her power, my cells ignite. My blood boils. All I can see is the witch’s death.
It builds in me like hot magma forcing its way up the core of a volcano. It feels like I’m breaking apart, my mind and body unable to contain the overload of power.
Die. For what you did to me. For what you did to Bloom. And for what you’ve done and plan to do to others. You. Must. Die.
“She’s gonna blow,” Lukas shouts, signaling for Rhylan to step back.
And she does.
With a hideous scream, she drops her attack and grasps her head. Her skull is unable to withstand the pressure of my attack and her cranium explodes. Blood and chunks of brain and bone detonate like a bomb.
Then, her body falls to the ground in a bloody heap.
It is done.
Shadowcaster’s shock morphs into worry and then fury. “How dare you kill a guest in my lair. You’ll hang for this, Creed. You might be a king in your quadrant but you’re nothing here.”
The dragon growls and steps forward to strike.
Satune’s men tense and raise their blasters.
“Stop,” Satune says from the back of the group. “You won’t take your grievances out on Creed.”
“Says who?” Shadowcaster growls.
“Says the Prince of Travon.” Satune steps out from behind the shield of men and grins. “You’ve been hiding behind powerful women too long, Dragon. It’s not very kingly of you.”
“Or smart,” Lukas says, grinning. “When your friends dominate with violence and brute force, you have to expect there will come those who oppose them.”
“He thought himself safe, tucked away in his mountain,” Keyla says. “The secret sanctum of the wildling dragons has kept you and your ancestors free from retribution for too long.”
His gaze narrows on Keyla and everything in me wants him to pay for whatever unkindness he’s thinking. “My alliance with the witch and Queen Laryssa broke no laws. I saw an opportunity and took it.”
“That’s not true,” Vikarus says, sidling in from the shadows. “The secrecy of our home is the number one tenet in our lives. Allowing an outsider into our sanctum is punishable by immediate death. A non-negotiable offense written into our laws. By offering the Blood Witch safe harbor here, he condemned himself to die.”
“Good to know,” I say. “Then the only question is, who gets to exact the sentence?”
Shadowcaster’s gaze narrows. “You can’t kill me. You’re not from Travon. You’ve invaded my sanctum and therefore are terrorists. Satune, you know I’m right.”
“Do I?” Satune says, lifting his shoulders. “You captured and tortured
a king’s beloved mate and were in the process of killing him. The way I see it if I allow that to go unpunished, what’s to stop someone from Rames or Dornte coming to Travon and seizing my future wife? Would I expect the man who did something so heinous to be punished? Yes, I would.”
“And he would be,” Creed says, dipping his chin. “Such a man would be executed on the spot. Made an example to send a message to all who think to use royals as leverage.”
Satune nods. “Agreed.”
“Let me do it,” a woman says, stepping in behind Vikarus. The physical resemblance is unmistakable and I realize this must be Rhy and Vik’s mother. “Shadowcaster has wronged me more than any of you. Let me be the one to put him down.”
The dragon alpha turns a furious gaze on the woman. As he does, she arches back and windmills her arms releasing two daggers.
End over end they fly with incredible speed and accuracy. One sinks into the center of his forehead and snaps his head back, so the other can pierce his throat.
There’s a gruesome crack as his massive frame hits the rock wall and then he drops to the ground.
Vikarus grins and takes a knee. “All hail, Queen of the Dragon Clans, Aerial Silverwing.”
Rhylan
I wake on my stomach with no idea where I am or what happened. Drawing a deep breath, my dragon surges to the fore and lets off a long growl. Sex. My mates’ scents are all around me and considering how comfy I am, I’m in their mating bed.
“Finally, our sleeping dragon wakes.” The mattress dips beneath me as Keyla’s scent grows stronger in my lungs. “Welcome home, Dragon. You’ve had us worried for a few hours.”
A few hours?
I open my eyes, surprised the swelling has gone down enough to see her clearly. She’s lying on her side next to me, her hair long and loose from the braid she normally wears, her expression soft and sweet.
“Slecking hell, you’re beautiful.”
She smiles, shifts closer, and runs a gentle touch across my cheek to move my hair out of my face. “Thank you.”
“Are we good? Is it over? What did I miss?” I move to roll over and wince.
