Fight for Her (Ice Age Dragon Brotherhood Book 4)

by Milana Jacks

  “We don’t know if it’s polluted,” a woman said.

  “It’s not. Do you have a cup?”

  She wore her brown hair in a braid, and her soft brown eyes smiled. “I’m Maisy, the pack’s healer. How do you know it’s not polluted?”

  “I just know.” I kept drinking.

  Everyone stared. I spotted a canteen near one of the cots. It lifted and flew at me. I caught it just before it hit the water. “That answers that.” My telekinesis came from my elemental power and not because I was a supercyborg woman destined for greatness. Dad would die inside a little if I ever told him that. I filled the canteen and strolled toward the exit, knowing full well Dodger stalked me in his wolf form. Though I couldn’t see much in the dark tunnel, I felt my way around. The walls pulsed as if alive, and the ground under my feet softened as I walked. I let the wolf believe I couldn’t tell he was following me. But I could. My senses were heightened, and I was attuned to every living and nonliving thing around me. Outside, I stepped barefoot onto the frozen ground.

  Under my feet, the ice melted and dirt warmed my soles. The snow slowly started dissipating. Water pooled and flowed behind me as if drawn into the lake. The wolf came and stood to my right. He brushed his flank on my thigh, then sat down and stared at me. I crouched and petted him. With my implant hand. His eyes stayed locked with mine as he gave me a side-eye. “Yes, I could’ve used my human hand to pet you. But I’m such an asshole when people aren’t nice to me. I get that from my brother. I’m sure you like him just fine, and so you’ll like me just fine too.”

  A snort.

  “See? We can get along.”

  An eagle screeched.

  I looked up and intuitively knew it was Seven. She soared low and I felt… I felt her distress. The wolf whined and turned into a man. He stood in front of me. “Get back inside, Rose.”

  “Yeah, okay.” I ejected my gun and palmed it.

  “Now, Rose.”

  “I’m on the way back. What’s going on?”

  He sighed. “Something.” He lifted his nose. “Something is coming.”

  Seven screeched again and circled back around. “What is she doing?” I asked.

  Behind the ruined buildings on the horizon, the Cy mother ship appeared as a large mass of doom. It peeled back its walls and exposed thousands of pods. It was as if the entire cyborg military had come here. What if they have?

  They flew toward us and settled on hovering above. One ship lowered until it floated about ten feet from the ground. The weapons didn’t lift, so it wasn’t here to fire on us. The back door slid open, and three broken Cy bodies tumbled out and fell at my feet. I stared at their slit throats. An act of passion and rage, Daddy would say. I knew he must’ve done this.

  Dad’s voice came from the pod. “You are surrounded.”

  I pointed my gun at the pod. “Hey, Dad. Been busy?”

  “Looking for my daughter. As any good father would.”

  “How did you find me?”

  Laughter, then, “After your little stunt in Pittsburgh, did you really think I would let you wander around? You’re Knight’s sister. Was his sister, I should say.”

  I gulped. Dad had put a tracker on my implant and hidden it. Great. I frowned. “What do you mean was?”

  “Your brother is dead.”

  Pain cut through my heart, and I pulled the trigger. Laser fire bounced right off the pod, and I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  Dad laughed. “Where’s your boyfriend?”

  “None of your business.”

  “Oh, but he is my business. The Cy were going to leave us to deal with dragons on our own. I didn’t think so.”

  “So you killed them?”

  “They were weak and stupid. It was only a matter of time before they got what they deserved.”

  “Dad, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be alive today. Not just me. All of us.”

  “Yes, but now our time has come. Only a few more problems to deal with, and the world will be mine.”

  Okay. Clearly, Dad’s delusions ruled him. “The dragons are elementals. You don’t stand a chance.”

  “Knight is dead. And yet I still breathe. Call your boyfriend, and let’s end this now.”

  “He will not surrender.”

  “Then he will die.” Dad spun the pod and rejoined the massive army.

  I would love to say my knees didn’t shake or that fear didn’t make me back away slowly and run into the cave and straight into Arthur’s hard chest. I looked up. “Oh my God, Arthur, he’s mobilized the entire military. They’re here. Knight is dead. He killed my brother.”

  Arthur rubbed his sleepy eyes. “What time is it?”

  “Who cares?”

  “I’m gonna grab a cup of coffee.”

  I stared. “Have you lost your hearing? Hello, hello. Earth to Earth dragon. We are surrounded by the enemy.”

  “Knight isn’t dead.”

  Tears clouded my vision. My lip trembled. I wanted to believe him. “How do you know?”

  “I know. The colonel’s bluffing.”

  “What about the army?”

  Arthur extended his hand, and I took it. He dragged me from the tunnel back inside the cave, where he searched for coffee. “Nobody brought coffee?”

  The wolves stared at him. I watched what they’d done during the time I’d spent outside, and the pack alpha had run inside the cave. The pack organized. Those in human form carried weapons, and those in wolf form peeled back their lips. They all stared at Arthur, awaiting his command.

  He put on a pair of black sweatpants and sat down. “They can’t get in here. Where’s my bird?”

  “Right here,” Seven said.

  “Report.”

  “Where do I start? Okay, let’s see. The Cy released Arthur and called in the colonel and several…generals inside the ship, maybe for a meet, I don’t know. It lasted a good few hours. After, only the colonel came out and dropped the bridge to let the Elite unit inside the ship. They slaughtered the Cy.”

  “Oh my God.” I sat with Arthur.

  He threw a hand over my shoulder and squeezed. “What about the other cyborg generals inside the ship?”

  “Nobody else came out.”

  Arthur rubbed his jaw. “I presume he killed off his competition. That’s how he has the military units with him. I guess…” He lifted a finger and put it over his lips.

  The wolves’ ears twitched, and their tails tucked under their bodies. I backed myself against the wall and pointed a gun at the entrance. I couldn’t hear a thing. I glanced at Arthur, who sat there as if nothing was happening. “Come to Daddy,” he whispered.

  “I’m happy you find this comical,” I said.

  “They can’t touch me underground.”

  “Don’t underestimate them.”

  “Pfft.”

  Silence stretched, as deadly as ever. My forehead sweated, and I wiped it on my sleeve. Nobody in the room found cover. If I were in charge here, I’d have ordered everyone to hide, then lure the cyborgs inside the cave and kill them off. Clearly, Arthur had other plans, though I didn’t believe they were wise. I counted forty-nine people trapped and surrounded by tens of thousands of cyborgs. There was no help, and a pack of fifty or so wolves, a dragon, and a level-one cyborg weren’t a match for the cyborg military. I scooted toward the entrance.

  “Rose, return,” Arthur said.

  I kept walking. They wouldn’t shoot me. Dad wouldn’t let them, and I knew he gave them orders.

  “Rose,” Arthur bit out.

  I sprinted inside the tunnel and came to the first fork in the maze. I paused and listened. My heart thudded in my ears. It was difficult to focus. I worked to steady my breathing.

  A warm body came up behind me. “I’ll have a field day with your ass.”

  “If we make it, you can do what you want.”

  “Rose, get back inside.”

  “Shhh.”

  Arthur picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I
wanted to protest but couldn’t give away our position. I pinched his ass. Something rolled onto the floor. It clinked like metal. “Take cover!”

  Arthur kept strolling.

  Nothing happened. No bombs went off, no shots got fired. “Put me down.”

  “I will put you in the cage is what I’m gonna do.”

  “I dare you.”

  A slap on my ass.

  “Hey.”

  Another slap, then Arthur put me down and hugged me. “Rose, cyborgs need to touch ground. All of them. They’re now airborne. I don’t stand a chance while they’re in the air.”

  “Oh God. You’ll sit here until they come in.”

  “I don’t have a choice. How did they find us?”

  “They tracked my implant.” I stared at the floor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

  Arthur lifted my chin. His eyes were bright, his pupils shrinking. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Stay with me.”

  18

  Arthur

  With Rose next to me and deep underground, I found myself surrounded by everything that mattered. Power cruised through my veins as if it were its own entity, my dragon alert and brimming with anticipation. I closed my eyes and allowed my senses to connect with nature. Outside, I found several pigeons hiding in the holes between bricks. I connected with one of them and watched through his eyes. An endless sea of black pods stretched out on all sides of the cave. They didn’t just surround us, they vastly outnumbered us. I needed to figure out how to get those fucking pods on the ground. Once they were on the ground, I’d be good to go.

  “Arthur, what are you doing?” Rose whispered.

  “I’m watching.” I disconnected from the pigeon’s mind and opened my eyes. “How can I bring those pods down?”

  Rose shrugged. “It’s hard. They’re durable. We… I mean the cyborgs are trained to fight inside them for safety.”

  I sighed and got up.

  “What happened to the cyborgs inside the tunnel?” Rose asked.

  “The ground ate them.”

  “That’s convenient,” Seven pitched in.

  Next to me, the water rippled. Wolves whined and backed off. Leave it to Rose to step closer and peek into the rippling river. I moved her body behind mine as the water took on speed, the current impossible in a cave such as this one. Rose sidestepped me and pulled out her gun.

  “You gonna shoot the water?” I asked.

  “If need be.”

  “Get behind me, Rose.”

  “Maybe next time.”

  Gah, she was stubborn. A shape formed under the water, and the wolves snarled. I lifted my hand. “Wait.”

  Rose crouched. “What the hell is it?”

  A man rose from the water, followed by a woman. The water spilled onto the ground and Lance stood there with his spirit. Naked, he looked every bit the indigo-scale-covered monster I remembered him to be. Blue dragon eyes scanned the room. His spirit wrung out her long brown hair and stepped behind him.

  I pointed. “Rose, my love, note how the spirit shields behind the dragon.”

  “Duly noted.”

  Lance grinned, showing me his teeth. “Arthur, buddy. Long time no see.”

  We man-hugged, slapping each other’s backs. “You’re as ugly as ever,” I said.

  “Not as ugly as you.”

  I turned to his spirit, a pretty, short, curvy woman. “And you must be Selena.”

  She shook my hand while I sensed life in her belly. She wasn’t showing yet, but I knew she carried, and I opted not to tell Lance, certainly not at this moment. The stakes were higher now. I protected all life on this planet, especially new life that would—I hoped—not remember the Ice Age. And yet, the cyborgs were airborne and therefore unreachable for me. I sure wished for my buddy Knight. I’d burned that bridge, and yet I didn’t regret it. Mother Nature had returned my spirit, and this time, the woman loved the dragon and the man. I felt Rose’s heart beat with my own. She would die for me. It was the most frightening thought I’d ever had.

  “Have a seat, Lance.” I pointed at the ground and cleared my throat. “Anywhere.”

  Lance sat by the water and put his feet inside. Selena sat next to him.

  “How’s California treating you?” I asked.

  He looked at me like I’d grown horns. “It’s fine, brother, fine. Have you noticed the cyborgs outside?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  “So what’s the plan?” he asked, his indigo scales reflecting the water. Lance had gotten burned, and after he’d allowed his dragon to surface, the dragon had healed him and covered his body in scales.

  “I need the pods down on the ground.”

  Lance pursed his lips. “I could raise the lake and sweep the pods. But that’s only gonna work on part of the brigade.” He pointed. “The one near the lake, at your back.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  “Well, we can’t just sit here,” Rose said. “Dad is a military strategist with other military strategists around him. Waiting’s gonna give them time to strategize. And trust me, they’ll come up with something. They have the Cy ship loaded with God knows what tech. They’ll quickly figure out how to use it.”

  Lance raised an eyebrow. “I’m stuck on Dad. Who is Dad?”

  Rose sighed. “My dad, Colonel Strain. I’m Rose.”

  Lance’s eyes widened. “I remember you when you were”—he lifted his hand to show the distance of a couple of feet from the ground—“this big. And now you’re…you’re a cyborg.”

  “Rose is my spirit,” I said firmly.

  Lance looked between us, then clapped me on the shoulder. “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Great. So where’s Knight?”

  Nobody answered him.

  “Excellent.” Lance rolled his eyes. “Should we expect Knight to come at all?”

  I shrugged. “Don’t know. He may’ve sensed something and chosen to ignore it.”

  “Sucks to be us, then,” Seven pitched in from the peanut gallery.

  A roar pierced the silence. Lance and I stood up and listened.

  My wolves snarled and whined. I didn’t know how long they could be kept in here.

  “Who is it?” Rose asked, hope evident in her eyes.

  “Nentres,” Lance said. “Fucking A. I told him to come in for the sweep. A surprise, you know? But no, that one’s gotta be the first.”

  “How did you get here so fast?” Rose asked.

  “We were on our way to rescue Arthur from the Cy.”

  Lance took his spirit’s hand. “Come on, baby. Gotta go save Nentres.”

  I snarled and took Rose’s hand. Fucking Nentres.

  Rose walked alongside me. “We gonna storm out musketeer style?”

  Selena chuckled.

  “Yeah, baby, that’s what we’re gonna do.”

  The walls groaned and shook. The ground under my feet trembled, the water rose, the wolves snarled, and the fire dragon outside roared. We shouted a battle cry and sprinted down the tunnels. It unfolded as a dream, as if this was happening to someone else. One minute, I was a man, the next, I became the dragon, my beast strong and taking over my mind. He roared. Buildings shook. Behind me, the lake emptied and dumped the water on the pods. Laser fire marred my body as my spirit climbed aboard, and while I circled the pods on the ground, I opened holes, and they fell through. The boiling lava inside the Earth’s core stroked my senses like a lover, tempted me.

  “He’s taking lot of fire.” Rose projected a thought from her nest between my horns.

  “Nothing I can do about it. I’m a big target.”

  “I hear you!”

  “Yes.”

  “Fuck. We’re exposed,” she said.

  “I told you so.”

  I landed with a snarl. The red dragon landed near me, spitting fire all around us. It formed a circle, and we folded our wings. Fuck, it was too hot for me here. I couldn’t stay long. I looked up at the pods as they tried to appr
oach. The metal melted, and cyborgs fell out. The Earth swallowed them.

  Nentres nudged me with his tail. I whipped my head back to see him peel back his lips in a smile. “I came to rescue you, tree boy.”

  “You’re gonna get us all killed with your stunts.”

  “Not if I kill them first.” He staggered to the side, then roared in pain. Fire exploded outward. Pods burned and fell to the ground. The earth crawled up my legs. I lifted the dirt, the bricks, the concrete from nearby construction sites and battered the pods with it.

  Under my feet, the ground trembled, but I wasn’t doing it. I looked in the distance and blinked the dust out of my eyes.

  “Oh my God, what are those things?” Rose asked.

  An army of giant mechanical men, probably as tall as two hundred feet, ran toward me. I opened the ground and secured one or two, but there were so many, and they caught me by surprise. One machine man leapt. He swung and got me. My jaw snapped back, and my spirit lost her footing. I roared in pain and searched for her. The dirt rose everywhere.

  A hit on my flank made my body fly and hit a building.

  The building crumbled and fell on top of me. Fucking ironic that I’d get buried under rocks. I snarled and swiped my tail to clear the concrete from my back, but I didn’t have to. Everything lifted, and Rose stood there, her eyes an eerie hazel color, her jaw hard. She limped toward me, hooked her implant hand on the top of my nose, hopped on, and straddled my muzzle.

  The mechanical giants pounded my nest, trying to get inside the cave. Nentres flew close to them. Man, that dude was crazy.

  “He’s gonna get himself killed,” I concluded.

  Rocks fell in a pile before us, stacking one on top of the other to make legs, a torso, long huge hands, and a head.

  “You made a golem,” I said.

  “I did.”

  “You’re brilliant, Rose. Has anyone told you that? Are you hurt?” I asked, fearing the answer.

  “A little. Arthur?”

  “Hm?”

  “The earth is shaking.”

  “I know.”

  “Are we doing it?”