He’d been searching for any sign, any clue that his mother or brothers lived, and now, for the first time, he had a lead. He hated losing that lead. But still …
Cass ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. Maya was right, she was always right. For the last month, he’d stuck by her side, driving her crazy with his protectiveness, and yet nothing had happened. Could it all just be his fear of losing her?
Since the moment they’d bonded, he’d felt an intense terror that it wouldn’t last, which was ridiculous. They were bonded. They’d go to the afterlife together, so he’d never lose her. He knew the trauma of losing his family and watching his father die, while the warrior saved him, left some scars, but hadn’t realized how bad it was until he’d mated the female who saved him and made him whole.
Then the feeling grew worse when Maya had Skye, and again when she bore him a son. Yet, as much as he loved his Young, the trepidation didn’t encompass them as strongly. Yes, he agonized over anything happening to them as well, but not to the degree he did with Maya.
Hellfire, I need to get my head screwed on right. This is crazy. He was lucky Maya hadn’t taken a month off and gone to visit her sisters. She sure would have had reason. He was just lucky that she loved his stupid ass.
Just then his four-year-old daughter rushed from their home and flew into his arms. “Pepaw.”
Happiness and love flooded Cass as he held his precious and very precocious little daughter in his arms. “Skye, what are you doing out of bed?” he asked just as the youth charged with watching his children hurried over to him.
“I wanna go with you,” Skye said, a pout on her sweet face.
“I’m so sorry. I should have caught her before she left.” The young female looked guilty and more than a little exasperated.
Cass laughed and held his daughter close, reveling in how lucky he really was. Not only did he have a mate who was the other half of his soul, but they’d been blessed with not one, but two sweet little Young. Tears lit his eyes as he realized that he didn’t need more than this.
Still, Maya was constantly telling him he had to be firmer with Skye, so he drew in a deep breath and then let it out. “Skye, I would love to take you with me, but I’m just going with your mother, and I need you to go back to bed now.”
Skye scowled up at him. “No. Mata said you are going to find your family, then I will have a grandmata and more uncles.”
Cass blinked back the moisture prickling his eyes. “Well … I may not be able to find them this time.”
“Why not?” Skye asked, concern in her light-blue eyes. Then her little hand landed on his cheek.
Cass felt like his heart was going to burst with his love for his sweet little girl. He swallowed deeply. “I will do my best to bring your grandmata and uncles to you.”
“I love you, Pepaw.” Then Skye snuggled into his neck.
“Love you, too, sweetheart,” he whispered and then with the babysitter following him, he carried Skye back to her bed and tucked her in, laying a kiss on her cheek.
Back outside, Cass gave a last glance in the direction Maya had gone. Feeling more torn than ever and praying he made the right choice, he shifted into his dragon, and flew to his meeting with Ziri.
Yet as soon as the striking, short, black-haired female, who was part Hell demon and part dragon, gave him a location of the last sighting of his family, a wave of horror washed over him.
Chapter Six
Heaven’s Tears
Saber let his responsibilities as a hunter and protector of all dragonkind go and grinned at the curvy Elvren female in his arms. Most were stick-thin with little nubs for breasts and definitely not to his tastes. But tonight, he’d lucked out when this busty female with pale-pink eyes met his gaze across the bustling bar, and indicated they meet outside. Then with a swish of hips, she turned and sauntered out.
He hadn’t wasted any time going after her, and she hadn’t wasted a second shedding her top to reveal two plump handfuls.
With a moan of pleasure, she leaned back against the wall of the building, gripped chunks of Saber’s dark hair, and pulled him close. Bright-pink lips trailed sensually from his ear to his throat. Then the Elvren female’s tongue began to work its magic on his body while long silver hair tickled his skin.
It was a perfect evening for a quick tussle, with Tartaria’s three suns nearing the end of their descent. Her hands fumbled at the buttons on his pants. She finally managed to undo the top one when he tensed up. A call of distress sounded in his head. It was Adarias.
“Dair?” Saber moved away, ignoring the Elvren female. “Adarias? What’s wrong?” He’d seen his brother an hour earlier and all had been fine. Adarias didn’t scare easily, so the waves of terror thrumming through their connection set Saber’s heart pounding.
Long ago, after the deaths of so many family members and friends, Adarias had fallen into a dark, twisted bubble of rage. He’d ended up on a rampage that scorched the realms. Then thirty years ago, he held his dying twin in his arms. Saber would never forget the sound of Adarias begging Jaxsaronthorn not to leave him.
Saber thought Adarias was finally going to be okay when he mated. Yet the female wasn’t a soul mate. The relationship quickly turned into a disaster that ended with her taking their two Young and slipping away one night. Adarias hadn’t seen them since, and Saber knew it broke his brother’s heart.
“The Ilyium have ambushed Maya,” Adarias answered in such a frigid tone that a shiver of dread rushed through Saber at the news of their niece. The niece Adarias had sworn to Jaxsaron he’d protect with his life. Raising and watching over Maya had given Adarias a reason to live.
“I’m on my way,” Saber responded. He prayed for Maya’s safety, for he didn’t know if his oldest brother would survive her death as well, and as a bonded mate, Cass definitely wouldn’t.
Adarias didn’t answer.
Saber had spent his share of time watching over their niece until she and Cass mated. Then four years ago, the couple had their first Young. He never thought being an uncle would be a big deal, but he found himself offering to watch Maya and Cass’s Young when they needed some time alone. He loved the time he spent with Skye and Aries. It kept him from thinking too much about life.
Though all dragonkind hunted their enemy, as one of the most powerful clans, it was up to Saber and his brothers to patrol the realms and put down any dragon on the verge of turning rogue. There was no greater threat to any living, breathing being than a rogue dragon. Their father had been tasked with the deed, and with him gone, it fell to them. It was a calling he detested with his whole being, especially since he knew one day he would need to be put down.
“We were just getting started, you can’t leave me like this.” The female he’d been about to fuck waved her arms in frustration. Her pointed ears burned red with anger and while he normally liked them feisty, Saber ignored her.
“Don’t you dare leave. Wait. Where are you going?” she cried out.
“Honey, I’m sure you can go back inside and find any number of males willing to scratch that itch for you.” He chuckled at her furious howl as he walked away.
Then he turned serious and ducked into the shadows of the next building. He drew on his power and used his senses to ensure that no one was around. Then he shifted into his dragon.
Saber activated a cloak of invisibility and shot into the quickly darkening sky. His gut clenched as Adarias’s terror combined with a deep, dangerous anger. It threatened to consume them both as it held them in its clutches.
“I’m on my way, brother,” Saber repeated as he homed in on Adarias and Maya’s location.
“She was lured into a trap,” Adarias said furiously, then sent Saber a telepathic image of a protective druid witch circle.
Shit. Though she was a Thorn dragon, Maya had no experience fighting. She knew very little of how Ilyium’s druid magic worked, so there was no doubt that she wouldn’t have seen or sensed the magic until it was act
ivated.
But both Adarias and Saber were very aware that the Ilyium magic would prevent her from holding her dragon form or leaving the circle once she entered. Saber wanted to scream to the heavens at the injustice of it all. Maya was doomed. Maya was a healer, not a fighter. It just wasn’t in her sweet nature.
Within minutes he crested the horizon and with the faint glow left from the setting suns, he spotted a massive midnight-black dragon. Adarias. Saber groaned inwardly as the black behemoth dove recklessly toward a rocky outcropping. Below there was a perfectly rounded depression within the ground.
Adarias roared, and a fleeting premonition of the horror to come shot through Saber.
Although Adarias was only ten years older, Saber never failed to be awed. His brother reminded him so much of their sire who disappeared almost a thousand years ago. After that, Adarias had taken up the role of not only eldest brother, but of father as well. Saber tried to help, though he’d never had the command that Adarias did.
Adarias screamed and showered their enemy with great streams of sizzling hot dragonfire. Screams rang out on the ground, as some of the cowards fled for cover, while others dropped and writhed, howling as they burned. Still Adarias didn’t stop.
Flames consumed the land all around the protective circle, and the stench of burning flesh drifted along the air currents to fill Saber’s nostrils. Even after a thousand years of war, he had never gotten used to it. It was a smell that foretold death, and usually that of his kind.
He hissed as Maya, no longer in dragon-form, stumbled and fell to her knees within the witch circle. Even as far away as he was, Saber caught the scent of her blood. No! He silently screamed. Unbearable agony ripped through him at the knowledge that he was completely helpless to stop another senseless death of a loved one.
Too many times in his life he’d felt this way. It always tore at his soul and shredded him. One of the sweetest, kindest females he’s ever had the honor to know, finally collapsed.
Get up! He screamed as he quickly descended, yet no matter how hard he willed it, Maya lay unmoving.
Saber faltered in the air and began to plummet to the ground and didn’t know if he had the will to pull up and carry on.
Then he thought of Cass and misery pierced his soul. Not only would Saber lose Maya, but since Cass was her bonded mate, Saber would lose him as well.
Before they mated, Casstiel had been an ancient warrior. Born of the lightning dragon clan, he was one of the last few remaining sentinels to follow Saber’s father. Cass had also been clinging to his sanity and on the verge of turning rogue, until Maya accepted the fierce warrior. She had saved Cass. Now, she would be the end of him.
Saber cursed the gods above as he thought of what the couple would be leaving behind. Two innocent beings who wouldn’t understand what had happened to their parents. Both Skye and Aries would need more love and care than ever, and he had a feeling it would be up to him and Adarias to be there for them.
Shit. It wasn’t like he had much family left either. Heartache and anger thrummed through him furiously. Saber turned his uncontrolled dive into a direct shot toward the enemy. Yet no matter how fast he flew, it wasn’t enough. Saber watched helplessly as Adarias landed and shifted into his human-form.
“No. Don’t do it. Adarias!” Saber yelled, his words useless. His brother practically raised Maya, no way would he stay out of the circle. Dread made the blood in Saber’s veins turn to ice as Adarias rushed headlong into the trap. Demon spawn.
Adarias dropped to his knees beside Maya’s body, raised his head to the heavens, and roared even louder than before. The anguished cry sent daggers shivering through Saber. A song of such intense grief and desolation reverberated throughout the land and brought tears of ice pelting down on them from the heavens above.
Saber’s own soul wept in response. It was beyond unbearable and it immediately swept to all dragonkind far and wide.
Saber tried to steel himself for what was to come, but he never could. Or maybe he just didn’t want to? A fraction of a second later, he caught the blowback—desolation, born of a thousand years of sorrow, as every dragon in Tartaria sobbed helplessly over the loss of yet another.
Beyond furious, Saber’s own roar tore from the throat of his dragon, adding to his brother’s. Full of heartache and distress, it was also a warning of death to the enemy still alive. Determined to save Adarias, and kill every Ilyium in sight, Saber spread his wings to land.
More of the enemy rushed into the circle where Adarias crouched protectively over the shell that was Maya.
“Adarias!” Saber yelled again, but his brother didn’t hear, or didn’t care.
Saber swept the enemy outside the circle with dragonfire and touched down. He drew his wings in and faced the circle as the Ilyium within inched closer to Adarias.
“Behind you,” he warned, fear for his brother strong.
Adarias didn’t respond.
Saber shifted into his half-form and felt the Ilyium magic slither over his skin. “Damn it, Adarias, get up,” he shouted.
“She’s gone,” Adarias said, finally raising his tearstained face. Lightly glowing, midnight-blue eyes met and held Saber’s.
“I know. Now you need to fight.” Saber ducked as a sword swung at his head.
Chapter Seven
Tirah
Tirah stood frozen, gut clenched in horror, while the magic from the circle prickled like thousands of little needles all over her. She’d been told they were going to capture one of their feared enemies. Instead, her fellow soldiers had tricked her. They used her to lure an innocent dragon shifter to her death.
The image of Captayen running the poor female through with his sword kept playing out in her mind. How could I have let this happen? This is really what we do? Anyone with a set of eyes knew the slight female wasn’t a threat, dragon or not.
If that wasn’t enough, now Captayen was urging Tirah to cut the female’s head from her body. Tirah couldn’t do it. Why they even needed to was beyond her.
Oh, she knew that the dragon shifters were immortal, and that they normally had to take the head and heart to prevent them from rising again. But this particular witch circle stripped away all the magic that let shifters change form. It prevented them from drawing on the power they needed in order to defend themselves.
Disgusted at what they’d done, Tirah knew there was no way she could do as Captayen demanded. It didn’t matter that he was her superior. Their prey was dead, and it wasn’t like she’d rise from the grave.
A furious roar sounded, then a massive black dragon landed just beyond the circle. Tirah’s heart began to race in alarm. Now that was a dragon they should watch out for.
She inched back as the dragon shifted into a striking, dark-haired male with blue eyes blazing in fury. In fact, he appeared half crazed as he rushed into the circle. Then, ignoring them all, roared again. Tirah sucked in a breath. She raised her hand to her mouth at the soul-wrenching cry as he crouched protectively over the dead female.
If she had any doubt what they had done was wrong, she no longer did. A gaping sadness consumed her, and she blinked back the tears that threatened. Still one escaped.
“What the fuck?” Captayen snarled at the sight of her.
Tirah wiped at the stray tear, and though she never had a choice in the matter, this was the very reason she never wanted to be a soldier.
“Oh no you don’t.” Captayen grabbed her arm, stopping her when she tried to move away. “You will do this.”
“No.” Tirah tried to pull free, but he tightened his hold on her.
Then he pointed to the dragon male and shouted to the other soldiers. “Kill him.”
As the soldiers jumped to do his bidding, another dragon call thundered through the night. Another song resonated like a fierce vibration inside of her. Tirah’s heart stuttered and she fought to take a breath. A feeling of unreality washed through her, and Tirah lifted her gaze to the sky, instinctively knowing where the dr
agon was. She stared into the night, seeing the shape of a large black dragon, just like the first, but this one set her pulse racing and made it a struggle to breath.
It’s him. It’s the dragon I used to draw as a small child. Deep inside, a vast hunger awakened and she bit back a moan. Intense need unfurled inside of her, which she’d never in her life felt before.
Eyes riveted on the second dragon, Tirah stumbled when Captayen yanked her closer to him.
“Now!” Captayen screamed at his soldiers.
A group of soldiers seemed to reluctantly peel their attention from the dragon above, and slowly converged on the one inside the circle, while the men outside prepared for attack.
Ignoring Captayen’s painful hold, Tirah’s gaze was riveted on the second dragon as he scorched the ground. Fellow soldiers screamed and collapsed as they burned. Then the dragon landed and bellowed. His anguish and fury resonated deep inside and would have dropped Tirah to her knees, if Captayen wasn’t holding onto her.
Her superior’s grin was evil. “Good, another one to kill.”
As the second dragon shifted into a half-form, Tirah’s mouth went dry. Oh my. He was extremely handsome. With wild dreads for hair, dark-blue eyes, a faint beard, and a body that made her mouth water, she wanted to drizzle syrup all over him. Stop it. This is hardly the time or place, and what in all the realms am I thinking?
“Get up!” Dreads shouted at the dragon male in the circle. The dark one ignored him. With a snarl, Dreads faced his attackers, and Tirah sucked in a breath at how fast he moved.
Then suddenly the dragon shifter in the circle erupted in a violent storm of fury.
Tirah let out the breath she’d been holding and took in the fighting. Demons. She was ashamed to be called Ilyium. Did all Ilyium do such horrible things? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t imagine Mihel doing this.
Saberthorn (A Paranormal/Fantasy Dragonshifter Romance): Dragonkind ~ 52 Realms Page 4
