Roses and Emeralds: A High School NA Reverse Harem Dark Fantasy Bully Romance (Cruel Princes of Wyvern All-Boys Academy Book 2)

by Rachel Angel

  The princes exchanged wary glances, then nodded.

  “Okay, then,” Razor said. “Let’s go.”

  “I’ll come, too,” William offered.

  “No!” Tar said.

  Ally glared at him for being so rude to William.

  “It’s too dangerous,” Tar explained, softening his voice somewhat. “It’s enough that we’ll have to watch out for one human.”

  The guys marched out.

  “One human?” William repeated, dumbfounded by statement. “What does he mean, one human?”

  “He’s just kidding,” Ally said as she made her way to the door. “Look out for Kate and Bilbo, will you?”

  “Sure,” William said.

  Ally got on her horse’s back and urged her into a gallop to catch up with the guys who were already on their way to the western border.

  “How far is the western border?” Razor said when she caught up.

  “About five miles,” Ally said.

  With that, Razor nudged his horse into a quicker gait, and soon they were crossing the border where the wall had been partially destroyed.

  “This doesn’t look good,” Tar said.

  “All that separates us from those monsters is that five mile stretch of desert, and I hardly think it’ll be enough,” Jasper said.

  “We’ll have to send a team out here to repair this,” Razor said under his breath. “In fact, why isn’t there a team out here working on it now? Will seemed to know there was a breach. Why didn’t he warn us?”

  “Don’t blame him,” Ally said, sensing the growing tension in the four princes. “And don’t blame the townspeople. They’ll all doing everything they can.”

  Razor grunted. “Fine. Now where’s this Morrison house?”

  “Just on the other side of that rise,” Ally said, pointing to a shallow hill.

  “I’ll take the lead,” Flint said. “You guys stay a few paces behind me. If everything’s clear, I’ll signal you.”

  Flint rode up to the shallow hill and disappeared for a moment beyond it. The princes and Ally were silent as they waited for him to return.

  “Come on, Flint,” Tar muttered under his breath after a long moment.

  “What’s taking him so long?” Razor added.

  “Something’s gone wrong,” Ally said, taking the reins of her horse. “We have to go…”

  “You’re not going anywhere,” Jasper said, grabbing the reins of her horse.

  Then Flint reappeared over the hill and whistled.

  Jasper and Ally held each other’s gaze a moment longer then made their way to join Flint.

  “There’s one human in there,” Flint said when they met him on the hill. “He’s just sitting at the kitchen table, drooling, his eyes vacant and bloodshot.”

  “He’s infected,” Tar said.

  “Looks that way,” Flint confirmed.

  Ally muttered a quick prayer for Mr. Morrison, then said, “Looks like we have our test subject.”

  “Okay,” Flint said. “I’ll storm the place first, surprise him and pin him to the floor. You guys come in, collar him like an animal and bring him out into the corral and tie him to a post.”

  “I think that we should hogtie him as well,” Jasper said.

  “Hogtie?” Tar said. “When have you ever hogtied anything?”

  “How hard can it be? You bring his wrists together and bind them, then do the same with his ankles.”

  “Stop arguing and let’s get this thing done,” Ally said. “Tie him up any way you like, but let’s go.”

  They followed Flint to the door and watched him disappear inside the small cabin. There was a muffled cry and then a loud thud.

  “All right, guys,” Flint called out.

  Tar led the way, hurrying to the back of the house and into the kitchen. The house was a mess, ransacked by the monsters.

  “He sure put up a fight,” Tar said, looking at the toppled chairs and tossed furniture.

  He looked at the man lying on the floor with Flint’s knee in his back.

  “Sorry to have to do this.” Tar grabbed Mr. Morrison’s wrists and brought them behind his back. Meanwhile, Jasper tightly bound the poor man’s ankles.

  “I’m so sorry about this, Mr. Morrison,” Ally said, her heart breaking for the poor old man who didn’t deserve to be treated in such a manner.

  “Let’s bring him outside,” Razor said.

  “Wait,” Ally said. “How far gone is he?”

  “Too far.”

  Ally stooped down to the older man’s face. “Mr. Morrison. Do you remember me?”

  He snarled, spat, sneered, then nodded.

  “Mr. Morrison. Where is the rest of your family? Where are the children?”

  Again, he repeated the sequence of snarling, spitting, sneering then tilting his head toward the barn outside.

  “They’re in the barn?”

  Snarl, spit, sneer, nod.

  “Are they okay?”

  Snarl, spit, sneer, nod.

  “I’m so sorry about all this, Mr. Morrison,” Ally said. “So terribly sorry. But we’re going to make sure your family is safe.”

  He snarled, spat, but his sneer was replaced with a sad smile, and he nodded as tears ran down his cheeks.

  Ally fought back her own tears as the princes dragged the old man outside.

  “Not that way,” Ally said as they headed in the direction of the barn. “If his children are in there, I don’t want them to see this. Bring him over there, behind the shed.

  They followed her orders and tied him to a strong fence post behind the shed.

  Ally pulled out the vile.

  “How are you going to administer it?” Jasper said.

  “I’m not sure.” She looked at the old man. “I don’t know how we ensure the solution gets into his system.”

  She considered her options then took a step closer to the old man and simply poured a drop on his skin.

  He snarled and hissed as his skin burned.

  Ally examined the reaction of his skin and was disappointed. Other than a small circle of burnt skin, he was fine.

  “I’ll have to find a way of getting it inside him.”

  “We can’t afford to take the time to feed them this stuff,” Razor lamented.

  Ally pulled a small dagger from inside her boot. “Maybe we won’t have to.” She poured a few drops of the clear liquid onto the tip of her blade, then opened the collar of Mr. Morrison’s shirt and made a small slit along his neck.

  He snarled more ferociously than before and Ally quickly backed away.

  “I don’t think he liked that,” Tar said.

  They watched Mr. Morrison as his snarling turned to growling then to massive drooling, he fought the ties that bound him.

  “I think he’s going to break loose,” Flint said, drawing his sword and wielding it, ready.

  “It can’t be,” Ally said in dismay. “It’s only making him stronger.” She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream.

  Lunging forward, Mr. Morrison broke the post that held him in two and tore away the rope that bound his ankles.

  “Shit!” Razor said, also drawing his sword.

  Mr. Morrison took a few more steps, but stopped suddenly, his eyes bulging. He grabbed his throat and coughed, then choked and fell to his knees.

  The parasite that had occupied his body leapt out, shriveled up and died, dissolving into black dust.

  “Mr. Morrison,” Ally said, running to him, but he was dead as well.

  “You did it,” Razor said in disbelief. “You actually did it.”

  “I must have put too much of the potion on the end of my blade. I had hoped to save him,” Ally said, now allowing tears to streak her cheeks.

  Jasper came to her and helped her to her feet. “He would have died had we not come out here, Ally. You did the best that you could. And now that you know, you can adjust the dose so that the infected humans can survive.”

  She looked at him and knew he was right. �
�Let’s go see in the barn.”

  “Hold on,” Flint said. “They might be infected after all. Let me go first to check it out.”

  Again, they followed far behind him and waited for his signal. It took just a moment for him to wave them over.

  “No need to fear,” Flint said. “They look fine.”

  Ally headed for the door and hurried to where Mrs. Morrison and her two young children huddled. They were safe and looked healthy.

  “Did they get to you?” Ally said, avoiding the term monster in front of the young girls.

  “No.”

  “And the girls?”

  Mrs. Morrison shook her head. “Paul sent us running back here the second he saw those things coming.”

  “Good.”

  Mrs. Morrison looked at Ally, her eyes pleading. “Paul?” was all she managed to croak out.

  “I’m sorry. They got to him.”

  Mrs. Morrison choked back tears, but remained strong in front of her girls.

  “I’m sorry we have to do this,” Ally said as she picked up a discarded length of cord from a bale of hay. “We’ll have to…” she whispered.

  Nodding, Mrs. Morrison looked at her girls.

  “Hey, girls,” Tar said in a cheerful voice. “Have you guys ever played twenty questions?”

  “Twenty questions?” the older one said. “What’s that?”

  He found another length of cord. “I tie your hands together. You have to try to wiggle your hands free, while you ask me twenty questions. If you make it free before I answer all your questions, you win.”

  Flint, Razor and Jasper shot him a questionable glare, while Ally smiled at his clumsy attempt to make a game out of the sad situation.

  “Okay,” the older girl said, holding her hands up to be tied.

  “Me, too! Me, too!” the little girl shouted excitedly.

  “Wow,” Flint said. “It worked.”

  They kept the threesome in front of them and kept a close eye on them.

  “I’m afraid we’ll have to put you in quarantine when we get into town… just until we’re sure you’re not infected,” Ally said to Mrs. Morrison as they led them out to their horses.

  Flint grabbed Mrs. Morrison and pulled her up on his horse.

  “I want to ride with you,” the older girl said to Tar.

  He grinned, an uncharacteristically shy grin, and picked her up to set her on his horse then got up behind her.

  “I’ll take the little one,” Jasper said.

  It was a long, bittersweet ride as they headed toward town. Ally’s potion had worked. It had killed the parasite, but she’d lost Mr. Morrison in the process.

  Chapter 18

  The sound of loud horns split the dry desert air.

  “It’s the alarm signal,” Tar said. “Someone has spotted the monsters.”

  “Yes, but how far away?”

  The horn sounded again.

  “They’re in this quadrant,” Flint said. “They’re probably just behind us.”

  Ally looked to the princes and then to Mrs. Morrison and the children. “What do we do?”

  As she spoke those words, dozens of armed men and women ran towards them, and continued past them, running on towards certain danger.

  “They’re the first line of defense,” Razor said. “We’ll have to join them.”

  “We need more of the potion I concocted,” Ally said. “My little vile will never be enough.”

  Tar jumped off his horse and shifted into dragon form, startling the little girl still astride his horse. After a fearful moment, she smiled, instantly enamored with Tar.

  Mrs. Morrison, however, let out a shrill cry and fainted.

  “Damn,” Ally muttered.

  “Take the woman and the children and get on board,” Tar told Ally and he bowed down to allow them access to his back. “We’ll hurry into town, drop them off and get more of your potion and come back to beat the hell out of those monsters.”

  Ally helped the children aboard, then carried Mrs. Morrison’s limp form onto Tar’s back and slipped in behind them all. “Okay. We’re set.”

  Tar spread his wings.

  “Wait! Hold on a minute,” Ally called out.

  Tar shot her an annoyed glance. “What now?”

  She pulled the small vile from her pocket. “Razor! Here!” She tossed him the vile. “It’s not much, but it should be a good start. I saw archers pass by. Dip the tip of their arrows in the solution. Hopefully that will be enough to slow those beasts down… at least until we get back.”

  “Ready now?” Tar said.

  “Ready! Hang on, kids,” Ally said.

  The little girls gripped Tar’s neck as he flew toward the town.

  “You’re choking me, kid,” Tar joked to the younger girl who giggled and squeezed him tighter.

  Ally laughed at the little girl’s obvious adoration of the beautiful dragon Tar had shifted to. But her smile faded when she saw movement on the ground. “Tar! Down at two o’clock.”

  Tar looked slightly to his right.

  “Is that one of the. One of the…?”

  “I’m afraid it is.”

  “We have to kill it before it makes its way to the village.”

  “Draw your sword!”

  Ally pulled her diamond and dragon silver sword out.

  “Remember. You have to decapitate them.” He swooped down. “Hang on, girls!” Banking to the right, he flew in close to the monster.

  “Got him,” Ally shouted when her blade made a clean cut and sliced the beast’s head off.

  “There’s another one,” the younger girl screamed.

  “Shit,” Ally muttered.

  Again they swooped down and Ally made a clean cut.

  “Over there,” the older girl said looking behind them.

  Ally looked back over her shoulder. “Damn,” she whispered. “Seven o’clock, Tar.”

  “Seriously?” he said.

  He banked sharply to the left and turned around to face the oncoming monster.

  “Why are you telling him the time?” the little girl said to Ally.

  Ally smiled as they swooped down and she swung her sword to kill yet another beast. “It’s not the time, sweetie. It’s the position of the monster. You know, like on the face of a clock. Noon is straight up ahead, and six o’clock is straight behind us.”

  The little girl shrugged. “I don’t know how to tell time yet.”

  “I know how to tell time,” t

  he older one said. “Nine o’clock!” she shouted.

  They swooped down toward their left and killed the beast, and the little girls cheered.

  “I want to kill a monster, too,” the older one said.

  Hopefully, you’ll never have to, Ally thought.

  They swooped down again, and again, and again, killing one beast after another, and yet, they kept coming.

  Soon the monsters seemed to be everywhere, and were just too numerous to point out.

  The horn sounded again, adding to the sense of urgency. “Does that mean there’s been another breach of the protective wall somewhere?” Ally said, praying she was wrong.

  “Sounds like it,” Tar said.

  “Shit,” Ally muttered.

  “That’s not a good sign,” Tar said. “Damn, that’s not a good sign.”

  Chapter 19

  Below, in the distance Ally saw an army of hundreds of men and women heading to the border wall, all armored and armed.

  They hollered their anger and determination, pumping their fists in the air, fists holding swords, and shields, and spears and axes. Some of them even carried clubs and hammers. Anything that would give them an edge.

  There was also a surprising number of very young people, people far too young to be going to war. They should be in school, and falling in love, and planning for a future. Instead they were heading to the battle of their lives.

  “Reinforcements are on the way,” Ally shouted, praying for them all. She let out a reluctant si
gh of relief. “Hurry into town, Tar. Let’s head to the headquarters, drop the Morrisons off and come back with a gallon of that potion.”

  Tar flapped his wings and they jetted forward, flying over the army of townspeople eager to protect their village and way of life. Arriving at the village in a matter of minutes, they landed behind the shed.

  “What are you doing, Tar? We need to get to headquarters.”

  “No use scaring the people here more than they already are.” He lowered his head to let them all off.

  “But so many people have already seen you out on that battlefield,” Ally said as she jumped off his back.

  “I think they quickly realize what we are and what we’re up to when we fry a monster to a crisp. Here in town, people might not realize what I’m here for.”

  Ally nodded her understanding as she helped the two little girls down, then picked up their mother and set her on the ground, patting her face gently.

  “Can’t I stay with you and fight the monsters?” the older girl asked Tar with adoration in her bright young eyes.

  Ally chuckled.

  Tar shifted back to human form, and the little girl’s adoration seemed to instantly diminish.

  “Afraid not,” he said, patting her sweetly on the head.

  The little girl made a face. “I liked you better as a dragon.”

  “Now that’s a first.” Tar laughed.

  “We have to bring them to the shelter,” Ally said, still trying to revive Mrs. Morrison. “There are nurses there that can take care of them.” Ally gave up on Mrs. Morrison, stood and picked up the younger girl then put her arm around the shoulders of the older girl while Tar picked up their mother.

  They left the obscurity of the shed and headed to the nearby shelter. At the door, Ally stopped, stunned. The shelter was already filled with dozens of injured people, some with just cuts and scrapes, others with deep wounds on their arms and legs, and others still who had little chance of surviving. Large gaping wounds covered their chest while pools of blood surrounded their cot.

  The one commonality to all the patients were the ropes that bound their wrist. Regardless of the injury, they were tied up.

  “At least they understood that part of the message,” Tar said.