by Honor James
“I’m very good with that.” She was exhausted. She saw the look on her guards’ faces and shook her head. “When I run open as I did, allowing all sensations of the dead and dying in, it takes a toll on me,” she explained before her guards did. “I need sleep, but I need sleep on our side of the Veil. It doesn’t matter where, just away from this side. There is so much destruction, so much…so much everything.” It all pressed in on her and was damaging to her, which was why her father had refused for so long to allow her to come to this side. Instead, she had worked from her side to ensure that all of the Raythe bodies made it home without the AEDA’s help.
“We’ll head for the Veil as soon as we leave here,” Drake said, stroking her hair gently. He pulled her into his arms again and turned them toward the elevator. “Let’s get up top and check in with the team real quick, and then we’ll go to the Veil. We’ll be across within the hour. Will you be okay that long?” he asked her.
“I will.” One way or another, she would be okay. She did, however, lean heavily against Drake. She had her arm around his waist and walked with her eyes closed. She trusted him to keep her safe and from bumping into walls while they walked. “Will Volos be coming with us as well?”
“Of course,” he said, giving her a squeeze. “No way would he let me wander off with you all by my lonesome.” He chuckled. They stopped and then she felt them moving upward, the slight change in pressure on her eardrums telling her how far up they were getting.
“Hopefully the AEDA won’t have questions for us. I think that what we have done needs to remain between us. I know that none of the Races, save for the first two we saved, will know that I was even there.” It was all part of being who she was. “So hopefully the AEDA won’t question who I am and why I’m with you.”
“They won’t,” he said, his tone confident. When they came to a stop, he squeezed her slightly and led her away from the elevator. “If they need anything from us, they will let us know. It will just have to wait until we return. But they will have their hands full for a few days getting everyone looked after.” He came to a stop again and she heard a door opening. “In you get, sweetheart.”
Azure opened her eyes sleepily and climbed into the back of the SUV that they had brought with them. Leaning her head back against the seat, she smiled when she felt the heat of Drake against her side and shivered. “Hopefully Volos will be here soon and he will let someone else drive. I have a need to have both of you cuddling me.” She was mostly, a little, teasing.
“He’ll be here soon. Unfortunately, one of us will be driving since we’ll be leaving the vehicle at the outpost at the Veil where we cross. Unless you want Maurice and Graven to join us, in which case we can have one of them drive,” he told her quietly.
“I’ve never been without them,” she said suddenly. “I think that not only will they appreciate having a night alone, but I think we would all appreciate it. I would appreciate the time alone with the two of you, and I know that the two of you would appreciate it as well.”
“Not having chaperones along would be a plus,” he agreed. “It will give us time to get to know you better for who you are and not your abilities, though, they are pretty spectacular, I must say. We can just cuddle, dozing when we need to and talking when we want. A nice, lazy evening in a very large, comfortable bed.”
“That sounds like heaven to me,” Azy said without question, a smile on her lips. “I look forward to it.”
She saw the pair of Draygons with their human mate between them. “I will have to eventually get my cloak back. For now, it’s in good hands.” That had her recalling what happened. She looked up at Drake and asked, “Were you going to tell me that you were a Royal?”
He shrugged and pressed a kiss to the end of her nose. “It never came up,” he said softly. “But, yes, eventually I would have told you about my lineage. Since I’m not even supposed to exist, it really doesn’t come up a lot in conversation. Though, with them being found”—he turned his head to look out the window—“I have a feeling everyone will know that the Draygons are not just myth and a Race past, but still alive and breathing fire.”
“We could always bring them home with us. My people have kept far more secrets than the Draygons in our lifetime. We have facilities that would be able to help them heal, and be able to give them the space that they need in order to form their bond with their mate.”
“Actually, I think we should have Graven and Maurice get them to the Draygon sanctuary,” he said. Leaning away from her slightly, he dug out his phone and hit a couple of buttons. “Graven, see about getting the Draygons and their mate to the sanctuary in our realm. Before the AEDA decides to log them in and start running tests. No, we’ll take her somewhere to give her some respite. Yes, you have the night off. What? Fine,” he muttered. Handing her the phone, he rolled his eyes. “He wants to hear it from you so he knows I’m not kidnapping you to take you back to my cave and doing horrific things to your body. Direct quote, by the way.”
Azure snickered. “Graven, I want and I need to have this time with my mates. They will keep me safe, Graven, as you well know.” She listened for a moment. “Yes, they are taking me to our Realm. I will be safe there. Just don’t say anything about me so that no one recalls me.”
“Yes, Majesty,” he grumbled. “Be well and contact us if you need us. We will see you in two days’ time in the Realm, or here, if we don’t find you there where you should be.”
“Tell him we’ll still be in the Realm in two days,” Drake said softly. He could obviously hear both ends of the conversation. “It may or may not be yours,” he added with a smirk.
Azure laughed. “We will be in contact with you in two days to tell you which Realm we will be in. Ours, Drake’s or Volos’s.” She listened again and took a deep breath. “Don’t worry, guys. I will be fine. I have full confidence with my mates in their abilities to keep me safe.”
“Fine, two days, you contact us,” he said before sighing. “Be careful, Majesty. Take all the time you need and let us know if you need us to return or not.”
Drake slipped the phone from her fingers and put it to his ear. “She’ll be fine. Quit being such a mother hen, Graven. Take care of the Draygons and ensure that the AEDA knows nothing about our species. We can’t risk letting the world know we’re still alive and kicking. Not yet, anyway. Bye,” he added in a cheerful tone before he hung up.
When Drake hung up on Graven, she grinned. Shaking her head, she looked up at him. “That’s too funny. I don’t think that Graven has ever had anyone hang up on him before. He’s also never left my side, him and Maurice both. My father assigned them as my guards when I was born and since that moment, they have been at my side. Well, except when I sleep and have personal time, that is.”
“Well, this will be personal time again, so they are not needed. Besides all that, you have two very large mates who are very protective and will ensure nothing happens to you, princess.” He smiled. Slipping the phone into a pocket, he pulled her close again and rubbed his hands over her back and an arm. “Not now, not ever.”
“Good,” she said with a yawn and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m very happy that I have the two of you as my mates. The two of you are very large, and the fact that you recall me is even more of a bonus. Hopefully when we complete our mating and bond, Volos would recall just what I am as well without having to be told time and again.”
“That would be a plus, and is very likely, as he’s a Vhampire and will take blood to cement the bond,” Drake said. She felt him rest his face on the top of her head. “But we aren’t going to rush you into anything, Azy. The mating will come when the time is right and when you are ready for it, not a moment sooner.”
“I think that I’ve been waiting for you all my life,” Azure said simply. “When you are touching me, I feel at peace. When you touch me, I feel calm, and when you both touch me, I no longer feel the press of all of the dead around me demanding my attention. It’s peaceful,
and I truly hope that it gets better with time.” She knew that was very selfish of her, but it was a hope, at least.
“One can only hope,” he said softly. Hugging her closer, he kept stroking her slowly and gently, soothing her as they waited.
Chapter Five
About twenty minutes later, Volos came jogging over to their vehicle and slid into the driver’s seat. “Sorry that took so long. I got cornered and then conned into helping get the victims out. Not that they had to ask all that hard,” he said with a smile. “It’s looking good for most of them. There are several, though, that will be touch-and-go for a good long while, but the AEDA agent I spoke with says that they have programs designed to help victims like these. Hopefully she was right and they can help them all find happy and normal lives one day.”
“We can certainly hope so,” Azure said with a sigh. “It’s terrible what these people have lived through, it truly is. They are strong, however. They will be able to get over this hurdle, but I don’t see them trusting humanity all too soon.” Except for the Dragyons that had a mate in a human.
“Don’t exactly blame them,” Volos said, shaking his head. Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face and looked at them. “So, where are we going?”
“Head for the Veil, the station near the river,” Drake told him.
“Got it.” He nodded. He focused on her and smiled slightly. “How are you holding up, sweetheart?” he asked softly.
“I’m holding up,” she said with a smile, watching him as she did so. “Thank you for asking, however. I’m ready to get to the other side of the Veil,” she said simply. “I’m ready to go home.”
“Which Realm are we going to?” Volos asked. “Just so I know at what end to park.”
Drake looked down at her, stroking a finger over her cheek. “Up to you, Azy. Do you want to return to your Realm or would you like to come and see mine?” he asked softly. He didn’t give her any other information and he didn’t pressure her. He just stroked his finger over her cheek slowly and waited with amazing patience.
“Let’s go to yours, then. That way my Guard will be even more up in arms.” She was teasing, mostly. “Besides, it’s been a very long time since I’ve been in any other Realm.” She stayed in her Realm because it was safest for her, something that they all knew. “Take me to your home?”
Nodding, he pressed a kiss to her temple. “Far east end,” Drake said. Volos nodded and started the engine. “I should warn you, it’s not like any of the other Realms,” he said softly as Volos got them moving out into traffic.
That piqued her interest. “Okay, how so? Talk to me. What’s so different in your Realm? You keep your people secret for a reason, just as my people keep me secret for a reason. Is that why it’s so different?”
“No.” He chuckled. “No, that’s not why it’s so different. But we are rather large beasts. Unlike the Luhpynes, when we shift, our size increases, whereas Luhpynes are pretty much the same size. They also don’t tend to fully shift, not that they can before mating, but that’s all beside the point. Our Realm is…” he paused and frowned.
“Not quite sure how to put this, but”—he sighed—“I guess you could say that everything’s sized accordingly. When you walk through in humanoid form, you feel quite small. It’s an interesting feeling to say the least.”
“Ah, gotcha. So I should be very happy that I don’t feel intimidated by size?” She was not exactly a massive person, but she had never once allowed her height to rein her in. “Don’t worry, I like large spaces, so I think I will be okay.”
“Yes, definitely.” He nodded. “There are a few other things, but they are much harder to explain without seeing it at the same time. One thing I will add, though—colors are different and more vibrant there,” he said. “The few visitors we’ve had are sometimes overwhelmed, especially in full daylight.”
“I can’t wait to see it, then. I love color, all sorts of colors, and to be able to view them in their vibrancy will be even better.” She was happy that she had made the choice to go to his realm now, very much so. “What about Volos? Will we journey to his Realm and home eventually?”
“Whenever you’d like, princess,” Volos said with a grin in the mirror. “It’s not as impressive as Drake’s, but it’s actually very nice. Not exactly where you’d imagine a bunch of assassins are born and bred. Though, once you meet my mother, you’ll likely change your mind.”
“Why would your mother make me change my mind?” she asked with a frown. “I guess that I just don’t understand that. Would you please enlighten me?” She didn’t like going into places that were unknown to her, at all.
“My mother is a rather unique woman. She and my fathers are all Vhampire, save one who’s an Ahnjel. She is not the sort that baked cookies when I was growing up. She is the sort that had me out in the backyard throwing blades for hours on end until I could take the wings off a fly one by one before nailing it to a tree or the side of a building in the same spot it was in from the start of the exercise. Like I said, unique.”
“I like her,” Drake said with a grin.
“Yes, and she adores you. Me, I think, she puts up with most days,” Volos said, rolling his eyes so she could see it in the mirror.
“She loves you, though she really has been hoping you’d pick a field where you were killing of people instead of what we’ve been doing. Family tradition and all that,” Drake said to her with a chuckle.
“Oh lord, your family are assassins? Mercy,” Azy whispered with a pale face. “I know that my father has called upon the Assassin Guild far more than once in his reign, when he was alive, that was.” She took a deep breath. “I would rather try to work things out with words instead of by eliminating the people that opposed me.”
“Most Vhampires are trained as assassins,” Volos said with a grin. “Not all go into the profession, though. Some of us just don’t want to do that for the rest of our lives. Others have the stomach for it and can do it without even blinking.”
“That’s the whole idea of it, isn’t it? To be able to use the skills that were honed? But I’m very happy that you aren’t able to turn off the conscience that keeps you from being an assassin,” she told Volos. “The Vhampires that I’ve met that are assassins are cold. It’s as if they are robotic.”
“They can be, at least while on a mission. Those same Vhampires, at home, very different people. Night-and-day different,” he said. Slowing the vehicle, he leaned forward before he turned them into a parking lot. “There are a few that work for the AEDA that are the most loving of beings around, unless they have to do what’s needed, and then you can get a chill from being too close.”
“I think that for the most part for some of them I tend to stay from because the souls of those that they have killed linger around them. Only if the person was innocent in life, though. Sadly, I’ve met some Vhampires who have taken the lives of innocents and relished the fact. It’s not a good feeling to feel that soul begging for justice.”
“True, but that’s not all,” Drake said. “Just as not all humans are bad inside, not all of the Races are. There are, unfortunately, enough, though, no matter where they come from.” He gave her a squeeze as Volos found them a parking spot and turned off the engine.
“Oh, I know that. Believe me, I know that one,” Azure said with a smile. “So far, the only humans I’ve came into contact with, I don’t necessarily trust. I know that’s terrible, but there it is. The ones at the AEDA, I’m very happy that they will never recall me or just what I am.”
“It’s best they don’t, for everyone concerned,” he said. Pushing open his door, he slid out and then held a hand out to her. “Come on, princess. Let’s get going so you can get some sleep sooner rather than later. You have to be exhausted.”
“I am. Very,” Azure admitted to them. “What I did today took quite a bit out of me, all of those souls that needed to be pushed into the next phase of their being. There was so much pain in the dead, and it had to be pulled fr
om them before they could go on without that burden upon their souls.”
He gave her hand a squeeze as he shut the door. Volos locked the vehicle and then took her other hand. “Well, we’ll get across and then we’ll get you to my home. Uh, you don’t get airsick, do you?” Drake asked as Volos snickered.
“No. I am good in air or under water. Well, as long as there is a breather on me, that is,” she teased with a smile. “So whatever it is that we have to do, I will do it.” She slipped her hands into their hands. “Now, take me to your home?”
“She’ll scream,” Volos said, nodding. “A hundred says she deafens us both on takeoff.” He grinned at her and squeezed her hand gently. “Don’t be ashamed if you do. Most do the first time they get to ride one of them.”
“You sure did,” Drake muttered. “I still am missing part of my hearing range because you wouldn’t stop shrieking. And the lung capacity, I swear to the Gods, no one should be able to scream that long.”
“Hey, as long as you are holding me close, I think I will survive,” Azure teased with a grin. “So, get us to where we need to go. If I feel like I’m going to scream, I will press my face against your chest so that I don’t deafen you.” Now she was thinking that Drake would fly them to where they would be going.
“Which should work well, since Volos will likely be screaming, too.” Drake rolled his eyes. Shaking his head, he shot her a grin and tugged her toward the portal. They had to provide ID to the sentries, and then they went through to the Veil. Heavy security and, if she didn’t miss her guess, it was only Draygons in that particular security detail.
Once they were waiting before the Veil, Azure smiled up at Drake. “Okay, let’s go through, shall we?” she asked with a smile. Once more, she slid her hand into both men’s hands and gave them squeezes. “I’m not afraid, I promise.”
