Stealing Tranquility: Reverse Harem (Dragon Descendants Book 1)

by J. L. Weil

  “Are you okay?” Issik finally asked after what felt like hours, his cool breath blowing over my hair.

  “What was that?” I breathed in choppy pants.

  Issik unfolded his arms from around me, a troubling expression in his eyes. “A warning from Tianna.”

  Fear trembled on my lips. “Well, that wasn’t very welcoming.”

  Chapter Nine

  The ten days were up.

  I woke knowing today was going to be a pivotal moment in my life. It would determine what happened next. If by some ridiculous odds, like winning the lottery, I was the one to break the curse, would they let me go home? And if I didn’t release them from the spell binding them to the island, the same questioned remained. I knew I’d probably never get off this island, and as if the land had sensed my somber mood, the sky was blanketed in dark clouds, hiding any sunshine.

  Doomsday.

  That was what today felt like.

  The four dragon descendants waited for me in the hall, pacing back and forth outside my door. I was surprised they hadn’t just busted in, demanding for me to be ready. I understood their eagerness, but I was nervous as hell.

  Soaking in a hot bath for thirty minutes had done nothing to soothe the tension in my muscles. What I needed was a Valium. Stalling wasn’t helping my situation, so I gave up and headed to the door, taking one last look at the room that had become my sanctuary for the last ten days.

  The descendants might have needed me, but I also had grown to need them… more than I’d anticipated. It made me realize how much I didn’t want to go back to my old life. I wasn’t positive that I belonged in the Veil, but I knew for a fact that the streets were no place for me either. After today, they were probably going to discard me like all the others. I wouldn’t be special, and a part of me was more worried about being cast aside and alone, than not being able to break the curse.

  With a sigh, I opened the door. The dragons’ eyes swung toward me with a hopefulness that broke my heart.

  Within minutes, I found myself outside the front gate of Jase’s keep, boxed in on all sides by brooding dragon shifters. Well, this is going to be a fun adventure.

  A gust of wind whipped across my face, and I gasped. Stretched out in front of us was an endless forest of towering pines, maples, and weeping willows that seemed to canopy the entire land.

  Jase grabbed my hand and pulled me along while the others followed us down a dirt path that snaked into the woods. Pebbles scattered when our footsteps fell. We entered the vast woods, surrounded by tall trees and thorny thicket patches. Rocks lined the dirt pathway, which led us deeper and deeper into the forest, and I found myself drawing closer to Jase. I couldn’t seem to help it. There was a malevolent ambiance among the trees that made me want to crawl under my bed. Jase’s arms would have to do.

  As if Jase sensed my uneasiness, he pulled me fully against him, twining his fingers around mine. All things considered, it really wasn’t a bad place to be.

  “Why do you get to hold her hand?” Kieran pouted.

  “Seriously? Does it matter?” I argued. Each step farther in, felt like one step closer to my doom.

  “Maybe,” the green-eyed shifter replied.

  Jase’s smug smile grew, only irritating Kieran more. “I’m just ensuring she doesn’t trip or fall. No blood spilled until we get to the cave.”

  How freaking considerate.

  “We should take turns,” Zade suggested.

  Oh my god. Not him too. I rolled my eyes. “We’re so not fighting about my hand right now.” I snatched my fingers out from underneath Jase’s, and a surge of anxiety rushed inside me. I stumbled. Holy crap. What was happening? My feet were suddenly paralyzed and refused to move.

  “Olivia,” Kieran called.

  “She’s scared,” Issik groused. “Jase, take her hand again.”

  Once Jase’s fingers touched mine, it was like a switch had been flipped inside me, taking away all my fear and reservations. I tilted my head up, glancing sideways at him. “You’re using your ability on me, aren’t you?”

  His brows drew together. “Not intentionally.” The others had stopped, and stared at us. “Let’s go. We need to get there and back before nightfall,” Jase grumbled.

  I didn’t bother to ask why the rush, because I knew I wouldn’t like the answer. Nor did I ask why we weren’t flying. The density of the woods would have made it difficult for a dragon, but the sky above seemed like a fast route.

  “Here.” I offered Kieran my other hand. “I’ve only got two.”

  Kieran happily took ahold of my fingers, interlacing ours together, and now I walked sandwiched between two dragon shifters. Joy. No escaping now—not that I actually thought I had a chance of doing so.

  The five of us continued to hike through the jungle, and I couldn’t help but notice how at ease Kieran seemed to be. I tried once to wiggle my fingers free from the two dragons, but neither of them budged, and I really didn’t want them to start fighting again over who got to hold my hand. Things had finally settled down… for the moment.

  After what felt like forever, I was about to demand one of them give me a piggyback ride when we came to a tree. Not just any tree. The biggest I’d ever seen in my life. I was talking Jack-and-the-Beanstalk huge.

  My breath hitched as I paused to gawk.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Jase’s voice was husky, sending a stream of comfort through me.

  Damn tranquility dragon.

  I just nodded, not bothering to scold him for screwing with my emotions, and leaned my weight against him, my legs weak from the trek. I’d never seen anything like the plant in front of me. The very old tree with a trunk the size of a house—probably bigger—had large exposed roots at its base that were interwoven with each other into a maze. They arched upward, forming an entrance over a round dark hole that dissolved into a musty cave.

  “It’s magnificent. Is it safe to go inside?” I asked. I wanted to explore, and it was too dark from outside to see the interior of the cave. Whereas the woods felt spooky and ominous, something about the cave called to me.

  “Yes. It’s safe. This cave has been here longer than the dragons,” Zade explained in a voice like molten lava.

  Peeling my eyes from the tree, I looked left and right to see that the descendants seemed as enchanted as I was. “What are we waiting for?” It wasn’t that I was looking forward to what came next, but more so that I wanted to get it over with.

  Kieran’s lips twitched before he tightened his fingers, laced with mine, and drew me inside the cave, toward a pinprick of light flickering deep within.

  The moment we stepped in its depths, I wanted back out, but I found myself rooted to the ground.

  “What’s wrong?” Kieran asked me, his green, luminous gaze falling on me when he felt my resistance.

  Tugging my hands free, I wrapped them around myself. “Take your pick.”

  “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Zade reassured beside me.

  I snorted. Was he kidding? I could think of a dozen reasons off the top of my head, including the anger in their eyes when they figured out I wouldn’t be able to release them from this curse. Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

  We kept on a straight path, following the light, until it finally opened up to a clearing. I could see that the light was actually a torch embedded in a stone pillar—one of many that outlined the space. I stood on the outskirts, mouth hanging open. Five statues of men with beards, wrinkled faces, and hoods that draped to the floor were assembled near the center. Roots wove over our heads in an intricate network, and twinkling gold lights shimmered softly on the ceiling, like a million tiny stars. At the center was a rectangular altar with ancient marks carved into the stone, and on the ground surrounding it.

  “What is this place?” My voice echoed through the open space, bouncing off the rock walls.

  “It’s the temple of our ancestors,” Jase offered, his chest rising in pride, “and the one place on the islan
d that generates mystic energy.”

  “Do you guys come here often?” I asked, curious who had lit the torches. My eyes were drawn to them.

  Kieran stepped into the middle, the flickering lanterns illuminating only half his face. “No, only twice a year.” He must have noticed my focus on the lights because he continued. “The flames are imbued with the curse. They will burn until it’s broken.”

  “So, what now?” They’d gotten me here. That had to be the hardest part, or so I hoped.

  Jase turned to face me. “We bite you.”

  I blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

  The four dragon descendants stood in a circle around me, and silence greeted my question.

  Shaking my head, I backed up. “Uh. No. I didn’t sign up for being bitten. Let alone multiple times.”

  Fingers lightly touched my waist. It was Zade. “Your blood is the key.”

  “Yeah, I got that part, but can’t you just—I don’t know—take a vile and drink it or some crap?”

  Kieran’s lips twitched. Issik folded his arms. Zade examined his nails. And Jase sighed. “We must be in our dragon form. It will only be a drop,” Jase assured me.

  “I must be freaking insane to even contemplate letting four grown-ass dragons bite me,” I grumbled to myself, and then I looked each of them in the eye. “Where?”

  Four sets of brows rose.

  “Where are you going to bite me?”

  The room filled with deep chuckles. “Anywhere you like,” Kieran responded.

  I blinked, ignoring the flush that stole over my body. “Fine. But make it quick.” I held out my wrist. It seemed the safest part on me.

  Their broad shoulders relaxed. “Up on the altar. Lie down,” Jase instructed me.

  All those visions I’d had ten days ago about being sacrificed to some dragon god came rushing back. I nibbled on my lower lip, uncertainty spiraling within me as I stood staring at the stone slab.

  Jase cleared his throat behind me and touched the small of my back, immediately filling me with calmness. I spun, looking him directly in the eyes. “There’s no need to fear us. We won’t hurt you. I give you my word.”

  I nodded, keeping my gaze steadily on Jase as he helped me up onto the cold block. While he was coaxing me out of a mild anxiety attack, the other three had stripped, and suddenly the last thing on my mind was dying. There were four naked men surrounding me. My eyes didn’t know where to look… or not look.

  Each man was so different in his own way—from the tone of his skin to his unique personality. I didn’t dare torture myself, so I closed my eyes and waited. The sounds were enough to keep my active imagination going. Bones, muscle, and skin stretched, grew, and adapted. The cavern was saturated with heavy breathing.

  I felt the first sting of a bite on my arm as the first dragon sunk his incisors into my flesh, and with it a jolt of power surged in my body, causing me to suck in a sharp gulp of air. I tried to gather up every particle of bravery inside me. I had worked up about a tablespoon when all five of my senses were suddenly supercharged.

  The musky air became more pungent, and I shivered as another pair of sharp fangs pierced my flesh lightly. Then another. And another. A groan escaped from my lips, and I bit down, tasting my own blood. It was then that my lashes fluttered open. Four dragons encompassed me, each of them with their radiant eyes locked on me.

  A light flashed behind my eyes, momentarily blinding me, and my head fell back. This couldn’t be normal.

  What is happening?

  Am I actually breaking the curse?

  No fucking way.

  When the light faded, I stared at a witch with flaming red hair and alabaster skin. She posed on the edge of a cliff—her hands raised to the sky, bolts of angry lightning crackling around her, five dragons circled above her head. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Or how.

  No one had to tell me that the figure I beheld was Tianna, the witch who had cursed the descendants. I was being given a glimpse of the past.

  Her raven black dress unfurled behind her as the wind howled and raged. Even from a distance, I could see the pure, unadulterated hate in her eyes. She held a scepter in her outstretched arms, casting the curse and striking each of the dragons with magical light.

  “No!” I screamed, but it was useless. The vision was of the past, and there was nothing I could do to change it.

  Why I was being shown this moment? Did this mean I had something to do with breaking the curse? Or did all the girls before me see the same apparition?

  As quickly as the vision had appeared, it faded, leaving me shaken while the effects wore off, and my vision cleared. I gritted my teeth. Jase, Kieran, Zade, and Issik were all huddled over me, no longer dragons. Worry creased their brows. “Was that it? Is the spell broken?” I croaked, my throat dry.

  The four shared an equal look of dread and disappointment. “No,” Jase finally spoke.

  My stomach sank like the cave had collapsed. “Then what the hell was that? All the flashing lights and…stuff?”

  “I don’t know,” Jase admitted, looking at the others for answers.

  No one had any, but it was clear from their somber expressions, they had experienced the vision as I had.

  Just freaking dandy.

  “You mean to tell me that I’m not the one?” I said, sitting up.

  “It doesn’t appear so, blondie,” Kieran said flatly.

  If they hadn’t looked like I just kicked their puppy, I would have said, “I told you so,” but I wisely kept my mouth shut, remembering I had been their final chance at salvation. All of this was for nothing: my being kidnapped, trapped on a strange island, and doomed to spend my life as the girl who failed. I’d been their last hope; now they had none. They would die. And as I gazed into four pairs of very different eyes, a heaviness landed on my chest. I didn’t want them to die. I’d only been with the descendants for a short time, but somehow they had weaseled their way into my life. I cared about them.

  “I’m sorry. I-I don’t know what to say,” I mumbled, my emotions a tangled mess inside of me.

  “It isn’t your fault,” Jase offered, trying to soothe my guilt, but it wasn’t working, and when he reached for me, I pulled away because I didn’t want him to take the dread I felt. If they were all suffering, why shouldn’t I? He grunted, clearly displeased I wouldn’t let him touch me.

  “Dammit,” Zade growled, and a moment later, his fist punched the side of the cave.

  His display of self-pity—no matter how justified—only made me feel crappier. It also caused an avalanche within the cave. Pebbles and dirt rained down from the ceiling, flowing faster with each passing second. I lifted my hands over my head, but it offered little protection.

  “We need to get out of here,” Issik said, glowering at Zade.

  Kieran slipped a hand around my waist, lifting me off the stone altar, and instead of setting me on my feet, he tucked me into his arms, shielding me from the destruction thundering down on us.

  Even knowing I hadn’t broken the curse, they still protected me. A lump of gratitude joined the fear inside me. Kieran hustled us into the dark corridor, and as we left the temple of dragons, I swore I heard a female voice laughing.

  I twisted in Kieran’s arms, glancing over his shoulders, but there was no one there—no witch with devious eyes. Great. Now I’m hearing shit.

  “What is it?” Kieran murmured in my ear as he picked up his pace.

  Behind us a cloud of thick dust kicked up, and I hid my face in the space between his neck and shoulder. “I thought I heard someone,” I admitted as the earth slowly settled as we moved closer to the exit.

  “A female?” he asked.

  I nodded, staring at his face. My eyes were drawn to his lips and the silver hoop. “How did you know?”

  “Tianna taunts us often, but never the girls we’ve brought here.”

  I didn’t want to think about the others who’d been here before me, not when he held me in his arms. He had
a way of making me feel as if I was the only girl in the world. “She was laughing,” I murmured.

  His eyes slid to mine, and the usual mischievous gleam was missing from them. “I heard her too. We all did, but after a hundred years, you learn to ignore her. Reacting only gives Tianna what she wants, so we’ve learned.”

  We had reached the exit of the cave, but Kieran kept ahold of me, trailing just behind the other three guys. “You can put me down now,” I urged, even as my fingers twirled the hair at the base of his neck. The truth was I was comfortable in his embrace.

  His emerald eyes twinkled. “And if I’d rather not?”

  “Kieran,” Zade scolded him, spinning around and glaring at the other shifter with dark, narrowed eyes.

  Kieran stopped and slowly dropped me to my feet, letting my body glide down his.

  Damn.

  The last thing I should be thinking about was his ripped stomach or how I missed the feel of him against me. As it turned out, I didn’t get the chance to dwell for long on the way my body responded.

  Zade flashed in front of Kieran’s face, and I was shuffled to the side. “Will you stop pawing at her every chance you get?”

  Kieran’s answer was a cocky grin filled with trouble, just like him, which Zade retaliated by shoving Kieran in the shoulder. This was going to get ugly, fast, if someone didn’t do something. My eyes sought out the other two dragons for help.

  Jase and Issik had been walking shoulder to shoulder. They stopped to turn and see what the ruckus was now. Neither seemed surprised it involved me. “Should have known,” Jase mumbled, crossing his arms, but did nothing to stop the hotheaded Zade or the troublemaker Kieran.

  That left me. “Mother-freaking dragons,” I muttered, stomping to put myself between them. Not exactly a safe place for a seventeen-year-old, who was only five feet five inches tall.

  Kieran no longer grinned. The change in his eyes was like a viper, lethal and swift, as was his fist when it connected with Zade’s face.

  “Jesus,” I breathed out for two reasons. One, if I had been any faster—thank God I wasn’t—I might have been on the receiving end of that blow. And two, I couldn’t believe punches were being thrown over me!