Jace fisted his hands but didn’t let the others know anything was amiss other than the fact that they were about to go into battle.
The time had come, and he’d damned if he’d lose. He was a grizzly and would fight by tooth and claw until the end.
Jace growled once they made it outside. The phone calls had been made, messages sent, and the Conclave was on the other side of the trees. Waiting.
“Ready?” Dante asked, his hair undone so the wind blew it behind him.
“As I’ll ever be,” Jace answered.
Nadie moved to his other side. He felt the tension wafting off her, but she didn’t look scared. No, she looked determined, a far cry from the woman he’d met in the bar those months ago with the broken-down car.
“It’s time.”
At Dante’s words, Jace moved off to the side and shifted. The warm feeling of home and an inner rage spread over his body, and soon he stood on four legs as a six-hundred-pound grizzly. It didn’t hurt to shift. It felt as if he was in his second skin.
He’d be able to fight as a bear easier than as a human, able to cause more damage with his claws than hands. The ground shifted beneath his paws as Dante shifted to his dragon form. Soon he and Jace dwarfed the two women between them, ready to fight for all they loved, all they needed.
Dante led them, prowling toward the clearing, his head high. The path to the area where the Conclave stood wasn’t hindered by trees, so Dante could move without destroying anything, but the trail wove around so it wasn’t a straight line.
Nadie and Faith walked side by side. Faith had strapped knives to her body, ready to fight that way if needed, and Jace was so fucking happy Nadie had friends like hers. The other women in their group either had not learned their powers yet or were mothers to very young children. Jace had a feeling their mates would not let them come to this fight.
There was only so much loss one could take before it became too much to bear and all hope diminished into a nothingness that left them alone, fragmented, and ready for death.
“Have you made your decision, Dante Bell?” the dragon who looked so old he had to be Alexander asked.
Dante stood in front of their entourage, Nadie and Faith not quite hidden but standing as off to the side as possible. Jace stood behind them all, his eyes moving over the crowd of Conclave members that had come for Dante’s death.
There had to be at least forty paranormals in front of him and only a couple pairs of paranormals from the same realm. The diversity of realms made Jace want to scream at the injustice of it all. So many wanted his mate dead. Wanted the power in the hands of the few rather than the people they governed in secret.
Jace’s family and the rest of their people would come soon, but by the looks on the members of the Conclave’s faces, they wouldn’t be fast enough.
Jace risked a glance at Nadie, who had come to his side, her hand in his fur, petting him. He couldn’t speak to her in this form, but he leaned into her touch, letting her know he was there—would always be there for her as long as he still breathed.
“Your silence doesn’t bode well,” a male pixie said from beside the dragon, and his eyes narrowed.
“You come to my land and dare threaten me?” Dante asked. “I asked for time, not to contemplate my decision of whether to join your ranks but how to live with the decision I have made. I will not be put in a corner and forced to fight like a dragon with no honor. I choose to live with my mates.”
The crowd rumbled, and Jace kept his attention on the masses, his senses going out to find the greatest threat but not ignoring even the weakest of ones.
“Don’t act surprised at my words. You knew from the start I didn’t want this. I want to choose my own life, but no, you’ve decided for me. I will not let that stand.”
“You’re just a dragon,” a witch sneered.
“Just?” Dante bellowed. “Just? You’ve forgotten your place. All of you. You were supposed to protect your people, not rule them from afar and treat them like ants.”
“Enough!” Alexander shouted, and Jace’s hackles rose. He pawed at the dirt, ready to fight. Words were useless now, and they all knew it.
“You don’t say no to the Conclave,” the witch yelled.
“I bow to no one,” Dante growled.
“So be it,” Alexander rumbled. “We tried to give you time to come to your senses. We even tried to take the woman you think you care for from you so you would have an easier path to take to us. Instead, she lived and you won’t come to us like you should. It is an honor to be part of the Conclave, and yet you deny it. You are worthless and not the dragon we thought you were.”
Jace stood on two legs, towering over Nadie and Faith, throwing his head back, letting out a roar that would be heard for miles.
They’d thought they could attack Nadie when she was on her own? He’d never been as scared as he’d been when he’d thought he’d lost her.
He wouldn’t be that scared again.
Dante roared with him then calmed—at least it looked that way to others. Smoke escaped from his nostrils. “You go too far.”
Alexander snorted, smoke surrounding his face as he blew small fires—a dragon in waiting. “We clearly haven’t gone far enough with you, blue dragon. We are the Conclave. We are gods. We changed fate because we could. We alone have the power to do all in our grasp. We are the ones who brought the lightning to Dante’s Circle. We are the ones who turned these women into who they are today. And what are they? Failures. They are nothing but abominations that must be destroyed. We wanted to see how they would fit in with their realms, how the lighting would change their DNA. We know now that the women were weak. Are weak. They are worthless. Much like you.”
At his side, Nadie and Faith gasped, and Jace lifted a lip, baring a fang. These fucking crazy lunatics had played with the lives of seven women just to see what would happen? Dear gods, the Conclave was crazy. It wasn’t just that they wanted Dante for themselves, but they’d forced the lightning-struck to learn about a new world that was far more dangerous than anything they’d ever lived before.
Nadie could have died because of the selfishness and curiosity of a group of people Jace couldn’t even respect or care for.
He’s spent his entire life acting as Mediator on orders from the Conclave. He’d thought he’d been doing something worth living for, something needed. But what if all of that had been a lie? What if he’d only acted because the Conclave had a vendetta?
His bear growled, ready for blood, for redemption.
If they lived through this, things would change.
They had to.
Dante let out another roar, and Jace’s attention fell on the two newcomers to the area.
Well, fuck, talking about shitty timing.
Stacia and Rock stood beside the Conclave, menacing grins on their faces.
“Rock? What the hell are you doing here?” Alexander asked, clueless idiot that he was.
“What you should have done long before this,” Rock answered.
“Yes, it’s time to kill the dragon and his little mates,” Stacia sneered.
Dante opened his mouth, a stream of fire encircling Jace and the girls, holding anger so potent that Jace could taste it on his tongue.
The fight was on, and Jace would not back down.
It was time for them to see what an angry bear could do.
Chapter Eighteen
Dante stood on his back legs, rearing up as he spewed fire at the centaur who’d dared try to pierce his scales with a long blade. He knocked the bastard with his claw, sending the other man across the clearing, knocked out in a jumble of limbs.
He lowered his body, stalking toward his prey.
Rock stood on the other end of the clearing, the usual smirk on his face as he waited for Dante to come to him.
Others fought around him as he moved, the battle in full force. As soon as Stacia and Rock had shown up, so had Dante’s cavalry. Jace’s parents and siblings had come first,
all in bear form. They were off to the side, fighting against Conclave members. Some were using magic, others fangs and claws.
At the moment, it looked to be an even match.
Torrent, alone, however, stayed in human form. He stood by Faith and Nadie, fighting with knives. It eased the worry in Dante’s heart to know that Torrent would fight by Nadie’s side. The other man was a master in blade work and at his side, Faith was doing well. Nadie was not only using her powers to shock others with lightning before Faith attacked them with her knives, but his mate was also using her succubus powers to create a small shield around Faith and herself. It wouldn’t last forever, but she was doing her best, and Dante was damned proud of her and how far she’d come.
Balin also fought at Faith’s side. The demon was a master with the sword and, with his immense strength, would ensure that the human woman would be as safe as possible.
Ambrose and Shade were high above them, fighting with the other winged Conclave members. As warrior angels, they were stonger than most, but their enemy was stronger.
Something that Dante couldn’t think about. No, his prey was waiting.
Hunter was in wolf form fighting the wolf member of the Conclave. Dante didn’t think that the wolf was part of Hunter’s Nocturne Pack, but it didn’t matter. Hunter was one strong Alpha and had come when called.
They all had.
Even the succubi.
The usually distant realm had come when Nadie called them for help. Corena and Dresden were in the front of the masses, using their own lightning and other powers to fight off the horde of members.
The dragons had also come to his side. The five warrior women with royal blood fought against five members at a time, their strength unfettered, though Dante knew this would not be the end.
No, the Conclave’s powers were unmatched, and they all knew it. Dante just prayed that his family and those he called friends had the strength to overcome their own weaknesses. Though they did not have the power their enemy had, they had the perseverance and inability to give up behind them.
It had to be enough.
The Conclave could not go on in this matter, and the other realms would know it. Even if Dante lost this day, the Conclave would not win in the end. They could not go against all the realms in their universe.
And their enemy knew it.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the wizard Conclave member fight against his own people. The act shocked Dante, though it shouldn’t have. It seemed the wizard had chosen a side that might lose this day, but if they won, Dante would want this man in a position of power. It seemed that the tides were turning.
It was about damn time.
“The seat is mine,” Rock shouted.
“Fuck you and just die already, you little shit,” Dante yelled back then opened his mouth, fire from deep within his belly shooting out toward the other man.
Rock spewed fire at the same time, their streams hitting halfway between the distance that separated them. Dante put his full force behind it, knocking the other man back. He rose up into the air, Rock following, and they slammed into each other, attacking one another with their claws and teeth as they fought in the air.
For every shot Dante managed, Rock would counter. He slammed the other man into the ground, using his own weight to hurt him as much as possible. Rock threw him off, shaking with rage before nipping at Dante’s neck, trying to sever an artery.
They kicked, bit, and clawed at each other. Soon Dante’s blood splattered the ground, mixing with Rock’s, but neither was through yet. In the corner of his mind, he knew his mother was around as well, but he couldn’t see her.
That alone scared him, but he needed to focus on Rock and keeping alive.
He slammed Rock into the ground again, this time near where Jace’s family fought. They were covered in blood, but were tearing large gashes into their opponents.
Dante flicked a merman in human form away with his tail as it tried to pounce on Jace’s mother’s back, before flying into the sky again, dragging Rock with him. He passed Shade and Ambrose in the air who were fighting the others, blood dripping from deep wounds, but still alive.
As Rock slashed his side, Dante roared, looking down at the female dragons who had backed up against the succubi and incubi, fighting alongside as equals. Hunter pounced on a mountain lion shifter in the center of the dragon circle, tearing into it’s neck with bloody fangs.
Dante pummeled Rock again, turning so he could find Jace in the fray. His mate and lover fought Alexander, the old dragon powerful with age, but Jace had a bone to pick with the bastard. It was not lost on any of them that Jace had been Mediator for too long without knowing the full ramifications of what he’d been forced to do.
That would be something to contemplate later.
Now, the fact that Jace was alive would have to be enough.
Rock slammed into Dante’s side, and they plummeted to the ground, dirt and rocks spraying into the air at the force of their hit. Dante rolled to his feet, slashing at Rock as he did so. The fall had put him near where Faith fought alongside Balin, who in turn stood by Torrent and Nadie.
All four seemed unharmed, Nadie’s shield doing more work and offering more protection than Dante had ever thought possible. Dante bit into Rock again, the other man’s blood filling his mouth. He pulled away and roared, ready to kill the dragon.
He had Rock on the ground, his claw over the man’s neck, when Nadie screamed.
He turned his head to watch Nadie push her hands forward, her power dwindling but still useful. A djinn passed through her shield, his arms raised to kill with his magic. Torrent shouted at her to move, but Dante didn’t think she’d be fast enough.
Nadie moved her hands again, a shot of lightning arching across her palms and hitting the djinn square in the chest. The djinn looked down at the gaping hole then fell to the ground.
Dante roared in triumph then screamed.
Torrent looked over his shoulder at Nadie, the ever-present smile on his face at Nadie’s kill, that lock of hair that always made him seem younger than he looked falling over his forehead. Then, in the next breath, fire surrounded the bear he called brother, friend.
Nadie screamed, tears running down her face as Torrent went up in flames, surprise on his face for a moment before he fell to the ground.
Dead.
Stacia stood behind the body, smoke curling from her mouth, a smirk on her dragon face.
For a moment, Dante couldn’t hear anything. It was like the silence of a vacuum, the idea that one of their own no longer lived was not even in the realm of what he could comprehend.
That it was Torrent…the one who never failed to smile, to laugh, to love.
Dante roared, one of his eardrums bursting at the sheer force of the sound.
Jace’s bellow echoed his own, his pain so fierce Dante could feel it across the battlefield. In the far corner of his brain, he knew there were others around him, fighting, dying, bleeding.
Right then, though, the only thing that mattered were his mates. His family.
With one last bout of strength, he wrapped his claw around Rock’s neck and squeezed. The other dragon’s eyes bulged, blood pouring out of his mouth.
“You are nothing,” Dante growled. “You were never worth this. Never.”
With that, he wrenched his hand, pulling Rock’s head from his body. He threw the bastard’s head into the clearing, the others around them slowly falling silent as they watched what was happening.
Dante prowled toward Nadie, needing to be by her now more than ever.
Jace growled on the other side of where Nadie stood, blood seeping from a wound in his side, and Dante knew if they didn’t win this now, they would never win it. Jace jumped onto the back of Alexander’s long neck and bit down. The other dragon gasped in surprise, throwing his head around, trying to knock the bear lose, but Dante knew his mate wouldn’t budge.
Alexander had started this.
The triad would
finish it.
Jace bit down harder, and Dante watched the light go out of Alexander’s eyes.
Jace jumped to the ground before the dragon could even fall to its final resting place. He shifted to human, running toward Nadie. Dante stayed as a dragon, throwing himself in front of them so he could face his mother. He knew Jace raged and grieved behind him with Nadie. The others came toward him, their fights postponed or done after the death of such a high-up leader in all of this mess.
Dante would grieve later. He would deal with the ramifications and everything that surrounded him when he wasn’t covered in blood, wasn’t facing his mother as she looked too pleased at her kill.
He would deal with this bitch in a moment.
“What have we become?” Dante bellowed. “You kill and kill, demand penance for what? For the sake of being right? You are not my Conclave. You are not my leaders. You are just petty children with too much power. You might decide to kill us all after you catch your breath, and you can try. But no matter what happens on this field today, know this, others will find out what took place. Others will know who you are and what you’ve become. Is that what you want your legacy to be? To be the terror in a child’s dream? To be the ones that others rise against in the name of freedom? Think of who you are and what you think you represent because, right now, I don’t fucking know what that is.”
The wizard limped toward him. “It’s over, Dante. They will fall back.”
“Who are you?” Dante asked.
The wizard raised his head. “I am Levi. The Conclave once served a needed purpose. Now, though, now it’s nothing like it was. We will change that. If you do decide to come back as a dragon for us,”—he looked over at Alexander’s body—“there’s a spot opened. You wouldn’t need to leave your mates.”
Dante growled, not wanting to think about that with the cold-blooded woman in front of him and his pained mates behind him.
Levi held up his hands. “It’s over,” he declared, and the members of the Conclave who were still living nodded in agreement. “I apologize for my brethren.”
Tangled Innocence Page 19
