Dragos: The Complete Bundle (Books 1, 1.5, 2, 3 and 4)

by Amber Kallyn

  “No,” Isa called. “Do not shift.”

  Wings slid from his scales, smoothly hugging his sides. His tail, tipped with spikes, twitched behind him.

  Pete opened his mouth, showing the mage sharp rows of teeth. He didn’t dare use his fire… yet. But he would stomp this man into the ground.

  The mage jumped back, hitting the stone wall.

  With a furious yell, Pete charged. He would kill this man, free his Isa.

  A bright bolt of light flew from the mage, striking Pete on his shoulder. He bellowed, roaring and shooting flames at the evil magician.

  The hooded figure deftly whirled, spinning around, then disappeared.

  Pete swung his horned head left, right, trying to find him. His tail swished through the air, barely missing the stone walls.

  A sharp pain drove into Pete’s belly. He reared up as much as he could, staring down at the floor. Nothing.

  A laugh grew, building, echoing, until it pulsed in Pete’s ears, making him half-crazed.

  He spun, bellowing again, trying to drown out the mage’s laughter, trying to reveal the man.

  Something hit his front legs, knocking Pete off his feet. His great bulk crashed to the ground, one wing pinned between his side and the stone floor.

  He struggled, unsure what was happening. His mind spun in confusion as the air once more whipped around him, a small tornado full of debris he could not see through.

  Objects pummeled his body.

  Still, he tried to get back to his feet.

  Pain slammed into the side of his head and the world became gray, fading to black.

  * * *

  Isa stared at the gorgeous orange dragon as the master hit Pete on the head. Her lover’s body shimmered, seeming to shine as he shifted, lying curled in a ball on the floor, human once more, and unconscious. She jerked on the remaining cuff keeping her chained. If she could get free, she could try to battle the master’s powers.

  The mage laughed, the sound full of menacing glee as he picked Pete up. As if he weighed nothing, the man dropped him on the bed beside Isa.

  She glared at the master, wanting nothing more than to check Pete, but she daren’t show such concern. Not in front of this man.

  “So, your lover sought to free you, my dear. How… sweet. Did you tell him I would be waiting? Did you warn him not to come? Or did you beg prettily as you will soon do for me?”

  Isa bit her tongue. She would not allow him to goad her into giving anything away.

  The mage slid on his gloves, made of something thick and oily her magic couldn’t penetrate. He grasped her arm and rechained her wrist, then summoned a new set of shackles and secured Pete.

  Only bare inches separated her from his prone form. She had to resist touching him while her control was shaky.

  From deeper in the castle dungeons, a woman screamed and a dragon bellowed. The master cocked his head, glancing toward the door. He grinned. “I’ll be back, my dear. Try not to kill him yet.” He strode to the hall, mumbling, “Dragos, one. Dragos, two. Soon I will have them all.”

  Isa stretched herself as far from Pete as she could. She daren’t get close. It didn’t matter she needed strength, felt weak and cold. She would not take this man’s life for power.

  Yet staring at him, it was all she could do not to reach over and touch him. Exactly as he looked in their dreams, his aura was confident and commanding, even while unconscious. His scent, musk and brimstone, filled the air, wrapping around her.

  Her breath stuttered. This was not a dream, but real life. This man had actually come to find her. It amazed her on some level that he would put himself in danger for her.

  And it touched something inside her she tried hard to ignore, for nothing could come from such feelings.

  Laying her head down, she closed her eyes and tried to find Pete in his dreams.

  * * *

  “Pete? Where are you?” Isa could sense him, but he was far, so far, away. Slowly, she drifted through the dream realm. Finally, she found his glowing form.

  In a gladiator arena, Pete stood in his lovely orangish dragon form, snarling at a row of men with long, metal tipped pikes. A heavy collar around his neck led to a chain holding him in the center of a dirt arena.

  The men poked at him with their pikes, He growled, snorting smoke as the coppery scent of blood filled the air.

  Isa drifted into the stadium, waving at the men and their weapons. As if ghosts, they disappeared. She strode to Pete, unmindful as his anger kept hold and he snarled at her. Laying a hand on his shoulder, Isa touched the chain and collar. They drifted away as the men had.

  “Pete. Come to me,” she whispered, rubbing his horned snout.

  His eyes finally cleared, shining a pure, deep blue. He shook himself and shifted, standing before her as human.

  “Isa?”

  “Don’t worry about the nightmares. Those I can keep from you.”

  He grabbed her to him, his arms comforting as she moved into his embrace.

  “What happened?” He rubbed his chin on her temple.

  “The mage. His magic is strong. When you shifted, you fell into his trap. You are now chained to the bed, beside me.”

  “Great. Wonderful rescuer I turned out to be.”

  Isa drew back to meet his gaze. “You are. This is just a setback. But we will both get free.”

  “How?”

  She shrugged since she didn’t exactly know. But she hadn’t been able to stop from joining him in his dream. As he ran his hands over her shoulders, his palms rough with calluses, her desire grew as it always did.

  She could control it, to a point. Yet she was so hungry. Though she feared losing control and hurting this man, she also knew something about him was different from any other she’d known. They loved so sweetly, and he’d never shown any signs of being drained.

  She took them away from the stadium and the scents of blood and war. They landed on a white, sandy beach. The ocean roared, soft, green-blue waves lapping at the beach.

  The sun shone warmly on her skin and made Pete’s tanned chest and shoulders glisten. His eyes cleared fully as he glanced around. A slight smile touched his lips.

  “We need to talk,” Isa began.

  “Not yet.” Pete cupped the back of her head as his mouth crushed hers, his tongue slipped between her lips to explore.

  She moaned, trying to tug away. He held her tight. The power of lust filled her head until she could not resist.

  Pushing her breasts against his muscled chest, she slid her hands over his shoulders, up his neck, ran her fingers through his short hair.

  She felt his power. The raw strength hidden inside his human body. His lust was so great it inflamed her senses, filling her with shared power. Strength flowed into her, reaching places long dormant during the dark times she’d been enslaved.

  His tongue thrust hard and fast into her mouth, his lips pressed to hers deliciously painfully. Isa tugged on his hair until he hissed, their kiss turning frenzied.

  Though it took all her strength, Isa stepped back. “We must leave this place before the master returns.”

  Pete shook his head as if clearing a fog. “All right. So how do I wake up?”

  She smiled, drawing closer and running her hands along his arms. Nuzzling his neck, she blew softly over his ear, then took his lobe between her teeth and bit hard.

  The pain made his cock throb harder against her belly.

  The next second, they were back in the dungeon room, stretched out, chained to the bed.

  Chapter Four

  Though weakness slipped into his limbs and the shackles around his wrists blocked his magic, Pete furiously struggled against the chains.

  He was pathetic—attempting rescue only to get captured.

  Anger battled the weakness, fueling his strength. But no matter how he tried, the chains refused to break.

  Panting heavily, he slowed and glanced at the woman he was failing. Her doe eyes flashed with pleasure as her gaze s
kimmed down his body.

  “It kills me to have you looking at me like that.” His voice came out husky.

  Isa met his gaze and a sly smile drew over her lips. “Well, we don’t want that. But dreaming of you, in chains, at my mercy… that is a very enjoyable thought. If only I could take advantage of it.”

  The door slammed open and a burly shadow filled the opening before striding inside. Pete stared at Garreth, whose scowl far surpassed Isa’s.

  “Pup.” He shook his head as he strode to the bed and took the chains in his massive hands. Then he yanked.

  “Ha.” Pete almost smiled at the thunderous expression on Garreth’s face as nothing happened.

  Whispers drew closer to the room. Calla and Anna slipped inside, closing and latching the door behind them. Anna’s dark eyes lit as she hurried to Isa’s side.

  “How are you, darling?” Anna asked, smoothing Isa’s hair.

  “Better now that you’ve come.”

  Garreth grunted, still uselessly tugging at the chains. Calla pushed him aside and began to pick the locks open.

  As soon as Pete was free, he rolled to Isa’s side and started work on her handcuffs. Once she’d been released, he tried to pull her into his arms.

  Isa inhaled sharply, jumping back from his touch.

  Hurt at her avoidance, though from the pain and terror in her eyes he knew she feared for his own safety, Pete clenched his teeth and turned away.

  “Let’s go.” He headed for the door, refusing the urge to grab Isa and pick her up, hold her close.

  Isa hurried out of the room, making sure to keep distance between them as she passed. Pete held back a snarl.

  Calla gave him a slight grin, while Garreth crossed his arms and glowered at his wife.

  “Por favor,” she whispered. “We can not just leave the rest behind.”

  Garreth sighed as if suffering. “I know. But we must hurry.”

  They snuck down the long tunnel. At the next room, they slipped inside, firmly securing the door shut behind them.

  Pete couldn’t believe his eyes at the condition of those locked inside. He’d thought the mage evil enough for the tortures brought upon Isa, but those in this room were much, much worse.

  “Hurry. We must get them free,” Isa said as she began to work on opening one creature’s shackles.

  Pete followed her to the left side of the room, as Calla, Garreth and Anna took the right.

  A voice boomed out into the air. “Gotcha.”

  Someone screamed. The door to the room shattered into sharp needles of wood, blowing inside.

  Splinters dug into Pete’s skin as he spun Isa against the wall, covering her body with his own. She huddled against him, their skin on skin.

  Agony racing up his chest. Gritting his teeth, hard, Pete contained the fiery pain from both her touch, and the wood piercing his back and arms.

  Creatures entered, soldiers of the master sent to retrieve them and return them to the chains. Their bodies were sinuous and scaly, like a dragon or a snake, yet these things moved stiffly beneath armor of the purest black.

  His mouth dried and his heart thumped loudly in his chest. Beings such as this screamed their abnormalities. For they were not natural, but more like Frankenstein monsters—creatures pieced together from other things.

  The first scuttled in like a crab, two enormous pincers snapping at the air. Its head was more of a hell hound, and the tail a scorpion.

  A bright green slime oozed from the dagger tip of that tail.

  It screamed, if such sound could be called any humanly word. The sound drove deep into Pete’s head, and inside, his dragon roared in shared agony.

  Calla, Garreth and Anna all clutched at their ears, as if trying to stop the unbearable noise.

  Isabella pushed Pete to the wall and stood in front of the disabled dragons, facing the monsters. Pete tried to reach for her, to pull her back to safety, but his arm barely moved as weakness flushed through him, draining his strength.

  Isa straightened, gave him a quick glance back, winked, then strode forward to meet the monsters.

  Chapter Five

  Isa held steady, though her blood surged, raging at the sight of the abominations created by the master. His pets, as he called them.

  She did not quite feel fear, at least not for herself. But there was a great, urgent worry for Pete and Anna, and their entire family.

  Isa could not let these creatures reach them. The poison dripping from the tails of the three things would kill a weaker being. Dragons, perhaps they would survive. But living would not be better. Not once the poison destroyed their bodies, released their souls.

  They would be unthinking zombies in crippled and sickly forms.

  Probably exactly what the master wished, to add to his collection of dragons without normal powers who’d become Other—dark creatures full of evil magic, all under his control.

  As if hearing some silent command, the three creatures sped forward, racing for Isa and those behind her.

  She slammed a fist against her palm, concentrating on the hellfire she’d not been able to call in centuries due to the magical shackles she’d been kept in.

  Hopefully she remembered how. Slowly, she found the link. It had become small, fractured. She pushed harder, refusing defeat.

  Sparks flew from her hands, light bluish-purple. In the center of each flame was a circle of black, darker than the evilest night.

  Her head snapped back, and a cry rushed from her. Flames sprung up in a semi-circle in front of her, stopping two of the creatures. Their horrendous noise fell quiet.

  The third was caught, the flames slicing through its abdomen and carving the monster in two. Its lifeless body fell to the ground, not even a twitch remaining.

  Behind her, the dragons slowly came back to themselves. Pete reached her side.

  Though she would love to hold him, to kiss him, not just to replenish her rapidly waning power, but to take comfort in his very presence, Isa concentrated on the dwindling semi-circle of black flames, pushing them toward the two remaining creatures.

  Mindless, and without a command from the master, the stupid things allowed the hellfire to flow over them, leaving only dust and ash in its wake. Isa turned to Pete, the world wavering, darkening.

  Then all became blackness.

  * * *

  Pete jumped to Isa’s side as her body limply fell toward the stone floor. He grabbed her into his arms, pulling her close. Agony shot up his hands, into his chest. Clenching his teeth, Pete ignored the fiery pain as he held onto her. Beside him, Calla, Garreth and Anna stared from the unconscious woman to the burnt husks of the nightmarish creatures.

  “What now?” Garreth asked.

  A scream pierced the air, coming from outside the room, not too far away.

  Ty.

  Pete dashed from the room on Calla’s heels, Anna and Garreth following. They raced down the hall as another hoarse voice cried out.

  Scott.

  Bree’s shouts mingled with the others.

  Garreth sped up, slamming his bulk into a wooden door. It splintered and flew open. Pete ran in behind him. Anna crashed into his back.

  On the far side of the room, his brother and their mates stood, barely moving. But nothing was amiss. They acted as if they hadn’t heard the crashing.

  In front of the door they’d come through, a stone wall slid down, blocking the hall. They were trapped in the room, with no way out other than to break through one of the walls.

  “You guys okay?” Pete called.

  No one responded.

  Garreth barreled forward, but just steps away from the others, he hit an invisible barrier that stopped him short. “What the frack is going on here?”

  Pete stepped forward, turning sideways because he didn’t know if there was danger. But he didn’t want Isa hurt. His shoulder bumped against something coldly solid. Anna reached forward, hitting her fists against the barrier, but the others still didn’t notice.

  I
sa stirred in Pete’s arms. Her eyes fluttered open and as understanding of how she was being held flashed over her face, the comprehension turned to horror. She wiggled, almost making him lose his hold.

  Slowly, he lowered her feet to the ground.

  “How…” she whispered.

  “Does it matter?” Pete replied, his voice a bit husky. All that mattered to him was the fact that he had continued to hold her in his embrace and the pain was nothing he couldn’t handle.

  Isa’s eyes lightened. Then she looked around. “Where are we?”

  “There’s a barrier between us and the others. They can’t see or hear us,” Calla commented as she knocked on the air. There was no sound, just her hand moving until it suddenly stopped.

  Isa pulled from Pete’s arms and cautiously approached it. She raised her hands, pressing forward, then ran her fingers down as if she could feel something they could not. Closing her eyes, Isa leaned forward, until her forehead pressed against the unseen thing.

  A loud pop echoed in the stone walled room.

  “How’d that break?” Calla demanded, blinking.

  The others suddenly turned, surprise filling their eyes.

  Ty faced them dumbfounded. “Where’d y’all come from?”

  “We’ve been here for a while trying to get to you.” Pete hurried to the other side of the room. He didn’t know if the barrier would come back, but wasn’t about to take any chances. Everyone else seemed to feel the same, for they huddled together against the back wall.

  “Why were you all screaming?” Garreth demanded, running his hand through his dark hair.

  “Screaming?” Ty started blankly at Bree and Scott, then shook his head. “We came in here because we heard you guys yelling.”

  “Illusion?” Scott asked, pulling Calla back against his chest and wrapping his arms around her middle.

  “Trap.” She laid her hands over his.

  “Obviously.” Pete looked over all four walls. There wasn’t even a crack. If he didn’t know where the door had been, he’d never have guessed. Each stone seamlessly integrated with the rest.

  But there had to be a way out.