by Jaymin Eve
Friggin’ dimples. They were weapons.
When he let me go, I wiggled my way in between him and Jacob, leaning against the wall. Both brothers reached out and draped their huge arms across me. Somehow it worked without completely crushing me under their bulk. I caught the green-eyed wink the fey flashed at me. So far the Braxton-and-me-thing hadn’t changed our pack dynamics. Which was a massive freaking relief.
I felt eyes on me and turned to find Louis’ keen stare. “What do you think we should do first, Jessa?” he asked.
I leaned forward a little, more than ready to give my thoughts. “If we are going to do this, we have to unlock Mischa’s mark. She’s vulnerable with only half of herself free, and we need to know if she can shift to dragon.” Jonathon wouldn’t like it, but it had to be done.
Mischa almost bounced from her place on the couch. “Yes! I’m sick of being the weak one with no knowledge of my abilities. I choose to no longer be the victim.”
I flashed her a broad smile. Finally. I was so proud of her for making the choice.
“Will you unlock her powers?” I asked the sorcerer.
He again rested those unusual violet eyes on me. “For you, little sister, I would do anything.”
I snorted, and I wasn’t the only one. The Compasses turned as one and leveled a single glare in his direction. Of all the things Louis had ever done, his use of the word “sister” seemed to have set them off.
“What did you say?” Tyson was the closest in terms of distance, and as he straightened he blocked my view of Louis. I wasn’t tall enough to see over him and he was far too broad to see around. “Jess is not your anything, you need to learn your place.”
“Hey!” I muscled my way out of the men. “I think I can speak for myself, Tyson Compass, and I can also kick your ass if you need a reminder.”
He arched one of his well-shaped brows at me. “I think I’d enjoy a good ass-kicking, if it was you delivering it.” His eyes flicked across to his brothers. Even Maximus had finally stopped pacing and was now standing on the other side of Jacob. “But seriously, Louis needs to take a step back. You’re our sister, our pack, and he is not a part of that.”
I sighed. “I’m not a possession, I belong to no one.”
The clearing of a throat had my lips twitching. I couldn’t help but tilt my chin and meet Braxton’s stare.
“Okay, I maybe … sort of … a very tiny, little, minute amount belong to Braxton Compass.” The other quads faces fell. Oh shit balls, they were tugging on my heart.
“Fine, I belong to all of you, as long as you know you belong to me also. And … Louis is part of that. He is my brother from another mother. We are cool in that way.”
Braxton placed his huge, warm hand on the center of my back, his thumb ever so gently rubbing up and down my spine. “I like brother much better than when he was trying to date you, which could only end one way: blood, guts, and magic splattered all over the floor.”
I snorted, surprised Louis didn’t call Braxton on that statement. The sorcerer must have noticed my expression. He gave a nod, his demeanor content. “I will not argue with his possessiveness. I would not have accepted any less strength from your mate. Braxton is a good fit, he is worthy.”
“I concur,” said my father, and my heart warmed that Jonathon was happy with my mate.
He wasn’t actually that over-protective most of the time. Really, he had spent a lot of my life grieving for Lienda, or absent running his packs and council. But he was a wonderful father, and I would never ask for anything more. And speaking of wolf-mother, in a smooth motion mine stood and walked over to me.
Seeing the look in her eyes, I started to protest, but she swooped in before I could. I was pulled into the warmth of Lienda. And it was kind of nice. I let myself have a real mother-moment for just a few seconds.
I pulled away when I reached the limit of my hug-time; Lienda looked really happy.
Mischa was practically bouncing in her seat now. “Can we unlock the dragon mark? I’m so ready.”
I growled as my thoughts were dragged to that moment my mark was released, to that vampire who’d had his hands all over me. The emotions were dulled now. I was mentally healthier, and thought myself lucky I had been saved before anything worse had happened. As a shifter, I was naturally resilient, my wolf stepping in when I needed a break from human emotions.
“You might want to take her outside,” Braxton said. He curved an arm around my waist and lifted me back into him, his expression shuttered. “There was a veritable explosion of energy when Jess … when I found her in that room.” That explained the expression, he was having the same dark thoughts as me.
“That is a sound idea,” Louis said in his I’m-an-ancient-supe dialect.
My dark thoughts continued further along the path. “Did Kristoff go to prison?” We’d left Stratford before his trial.
Scents of unease trickled through the room. I stepped forward, Braxton’s arm sliding off my waist. “What happened?”
Jonathon rose off the couch and met me halfway, face to chest. Even though he wasn’t tall for a supernatural, he was still taller than me. “Don’t panic, sweet wolf, but there was a bit of a mess-up with the Kristoff trial.”
A mess up? What the hell did that even mean?
“The reason it was so easy for Vlad and his cohorts to knock you out and move you around Vanguard was because they had help … help from Kristo–”
“No shitting way.”
“Fuck off.”
“What?”
The roars came from the Compasses. I was too pissed to speak. We’d all thought Kristoff’s plan to imprison the quads had been a separate incident to the attack-crap which had happened to me inside Vanguard. But now it seemed they had been connected. Jonathon’s eye’s shifted across the snarling quads and his growl reverberated around the room. He did not like them interrupting, so his wolf popped up to let them know who was boss.
Maximus was clenching and unclenching his fists at his side. “Tell me that you killed that slimy dickbag sorcerer.”
Jonathon’s words flowed from him in a gale. “We were on our way to do that. Louis, Lienda, and I gained entry to Vanguard, but he wasn’t there. No one had noticed yet, but upon investigation he’d been gone for about twelve hours. And … he managed to free Vlad and Scarface.”
“I thought they were dead!” I finally found my voice, it was hard enough to shatter glass.
Jonathon’s resonance matched mine. “I thought so too, but there is corruption in Vanguard. We need to have a mass turnover of the guards again. It’s generally required every few hundred years, and is the most effective way to break the cycle.”
I rubbed at my nose. “So you’re saying the motherfuckers who tried to rape and torture me, along with the sorcerer who schemed and murdered other supes to frame my boys, are out there running around free. And this is because someone on the inside helped them a second time?” The sort of rage which quite frankly scared the shit out of me rose up through my body. My dragon and wolf were straining with the need to kill, fight, maim.
“They won’t be free for long, Jessa babe,” Jacob said, the fey’s voice less musical than usual. “As soon as we deal with this dragon mark thing and the rise of the king, we will make it our mission to hunt them down.”
Some of my red-hot rage subsided, Jacob’s words reminding me that I needed to focus on our current problems. Kristoff would just have to take a back seat. But I would not be forgetting. Giselda was going to be minus a father very soon, and if I found out that bitch had anything to do with his scheming, well, she would be in the shallow grave next to him.
Grace rose from where she’d been sitting in the corner of the room. “Why do I get the feeling that I’m the only one here missing a vital piece of evidence?” Clearly she’d had enough of being the quiet mouse in the corner. “Why am I even here, Louis?” She turned her delicate ire toward the sorcerer, who was hovering between the living room and the front door. “
You said they would need a healer.”
Louis steadied himself. He’d been halfway out of the room, preparing for us to leave and unlock Mischa’s dragon mark. His purple eyes focused on her. “They will need a healer. I don’t see the future, but I sense paths that should be taken. I have an idea of what is to come.” He glided closer to her. “Your destiny is here, Grace, you just need to be patient.”
Grace’s eyes flicked to Tyson. It was one of the first times I’d seen her even glance in his direction since we’d boarded the plane from Stratford. The wizard lurched forward from his place against the wall. It was like the moment they locked gazes they were connected. He strode the five steps to reach her and she looked helpless, unable to tear herself away.
“What are you talking about, Louis?” asked Maximus.
His question wasn’t necessary. All of us could see and scent that something had shifted in the room. Tyson paused, his arm extended as if he was going to pull her toward him.
Grace’s face fell, and her eyes crinkled like she was about to cry. “Please don’t. I can’t take this from you anymore.”
She turned away, finally strong enough to tear her eyes from the handsome wizard. The energy between them shattered as she dashed from our apartment, disappearing out of the door. Tyson hesitated for a second, caught by surprise.
“Shit,” he finally cursed, before taking off along the same path.
I fought the urge to follow, I hated to see any members of my pack hurting, but I knew this was something they had to work out between themselves. Tyson and Grace’s fight had been a long time coming. Plus, we had bigger things to deal with. It was time to unlock Mischa’s mark.
I was consumed by many hectic thoughts as we crossed the town center heading toward the forest, so I wasn’t the first to notice the large gathering of mystics on the edge of the green tree line. Twelve of them. Which if I remembered correctly, was the entire bunch. They were cloaked, hoods up, and the feeling of something eerie, ominous even, was strong. I recognized Gerard and Quale, plus a few others whose names I didn’t know.
Earlier in the day Louis’ brother had informed us that he wouldn’t be around much. The mystics were balls deep in rituals and cleansings for the rise of the king. Brainless dickbags, couldn’t care less about the damage they might be causing.
“What do you want?”
Louis’ power laden voice was directed at the line of cloaked ones.
Quale, still near the middle, Gerard to his left. The majority were nameless, faceless members.
One of them spoke: “You need to train with us, the twins must learn of their mark powers.” There was the slightest hesitation before he continued. “And we have decided that if the quads want to continue residing in the sanctuary, they must join their powers together. Our people demand to know if they’re a threat.”
I bared my teeth. “We don’t have time for this. Plus, you have no jurisdiction over us.”
Quale stepped forward. “If you don’t have the basic instruction, the same as all the others who enter the sanctuary, then you will no longer be welcome here.”
Okay, great, maybe they did have some authority. We stared them down, but they didn’t seem worried.
“In one hour, we’ll meet you in the largest of buildings toward the sea side. It is the only one in yellow, you can’t miss it.” Gerard pointed. All of us could see the building. It towered high and shiny into the air, the color a very pale version of sunflower. “Do not be late. You will still be free to accompany the twins to the prison tomorrow, but today you must train.”
As one they turned and marched away. Only Quale looked back with an expression of unease. I could tell that Louis’ brother wasn’t always cool with what the mystics stood for, but it was his fate to serve the dragon king. It was hard to fight against one’s fate.
I pushed back a few strands of free hair, hooking it behind my ears. “So, not to state the obvious, but clearly the twins and the mystics are all in this together.”
Louis nodded. “Yes, they all have the same end goal: achieve the prophesy and raise the king. And while they understand that what they’re doing could bring about the next world-war of the supernaturals, they don’t care. It seems to be programmed into their DNA, as if they’re no longer capable of individual thought.” His wise eyes rested on Mischa. “Even you have fallen prey to the schematics of this entire endeavor. The only one who doesn’t seem affected is … Jessa. I wonder why that is…”
Awesome. Now I was the sole focus of everyone, like a freak-show creature.
“No one controls, Jess,” Jacob said, giving me a reprieve from the inspection. The fey was standing off to the side with his hands pressed to the tree, communing with nature. “Except maybe Braxton, but he uses good old fashioned charm and animal magnetism.”
I flipped Jacob off, which pretty much said everything I was thinking. Besides, if I denied it, many here would scent the lie. Braxton was close to my back now. I could feel him both there and in my chest, those ghostly ties between us, a sense of connection, more than we’d ever previously shared. And yet still not enough. I wanted the bond complete.
“Stalker much?” I teased in a low voice as his body pressed against the length of mine. I could feel every powerful muscle as they flexed behind me.
His voice was close to my ear. “Until we figure out what is happening to you in regards to the jinn, dragon king, and your mark, well, get used to it. My one and only priority is to keep you safe.”
I snaked my hand back and Braxton linked his fingers through mine.
“It has to have something to do with Jessa’s mark,” said Mischa, interrupting us. “The twins speak as if she’s the golden child … always calling her ‘north.’ Plus, we all know she’s a dual shifter … one of a kind.”
I snorted. “Hey, we don’t know that yet. Maybe you’re a dual as well.”
All I knew was that being unique or different when it came to the dragon king … well, that was not a good thing. I was starting to get that sick-in-the-gut feeling when I thought about the next few days. So much was going to happen and so much could go wrong. I just wanted to crawl into bed and ignore the next week.
Louis crossed the space to stand before my twin. “Only one way to see if Jessa and Mischa have even more in common than the fact that they are twins. Let’s unlock the dragon mark.”
Freeing myself from Braxton I crossed the space to stand before Mischa. I took her hands. “Are you sure about this? If you unlock the mark you will be a target for the Four, and they’re here in Romania searching for me.”
She stared into my eyes, her green tinged with blue today, which she’d definitely inherited from Lienda. Our mother had eyes the color of the ocean, shifting and changing. “I’m not afraid, Jess. I don’t want to be half a supernatural anymore, I want to be everything that I was born to be.”
I gave her a nod, before stepping back and letting the sorcerer capture her full attention again. I wasn’t going to argue. Besides, hopefully in the next few days when the king either rose or didn’t, the Four would have no more reason to hunt dragon marked. The whole point was to prevent the rise of the king.
Although … since the marked were supposed to be his personal army, probably the Four would never stop hunting us. Oh well, we’d just have to kill them. It was on my to-do list anyway.
Louis placed both hands on Mischa’s chest, over her heart, the same as he’d done to cloak my energy back in Stratford.
“You’re power is still very much locked away,” he said as he lifted one hand. He seemed to be pulling something, lowering and raising that free hand, almost like he was unthreading energy which was wrapped around Mischa. “It’s different than Jessa’s. Even when you were babies I felt the difference, but it’s still very strong.”
I was worried about Mischa, my insides crawling at the thought of something going wrong for her. To distract myself, while Louis did his sorcerer thing, I dug a little deeper into what he’d just noted.
“Only my brother’s, and I think the mystics are different again.”
Maximus turned his head as if he scented something. I focused on the direction he was facing and straight away I was hit with vampire. Cardia, his female was moving toward us. Maximus’ eyes started to glow, her presence was awakening him. He paused for a second to wink at me, then he marched away. No male worthy of the title of mate would make his female come all the way to him, he was going to meet her halfway. He disappeared behind a few buildings, but within moments was back, vampiress tucked snugly under his arm. He looked happy, relaxed; his mate had a calming effect on the beast inside.
“Do you look that blissed-out around me?” I said, wiggling my eyebrows at Braxton.
He reached out and traced a single fingertip from the top of my cheekbone all the way down to rest against my bottom lip.
“Blissed out doesn’t even begin to describe it.” He then replaced that finger with his lips, and I was lost in his kiss for … who the hell knows how long. Supe males were not afraid to show emotion to their mates, no matter who was around. This sort of love was seen as a strength.
Jacob muttered close by, “Jessa is the Pied Piper of dragons, that’s for sure.” And I knew he was not just referring to Braxton, but also that strange encounter when we first entered the sanctuary. I’d been steadfast in ignoring the red-dragon incident. I wondered how long I could hide from all the peculiar in my life.
I pulled back from Braxton, although some of my body was reluctant to part ways – wait, how did my leg get around his waist? Shit, I really needed to pay attention. He was dangerous for my concentration and awareness. While untangling myself I noticed Jacob had moved even closer, he was watching me and Braxton. Not in a creepy way, almost wistful.
