Aries

by Kim Faulks

  I drifted to my daughter. She was real. I knew she was real, still my fingers never stopped, starting from the top and sliding over her flattened frill and talons, all the way to her tail. “And now there’s thirteen. Now there’s thirteen. I just can’t leave.”

  Until he knew we were safe.

  “No one knows we’re here, Zadoc.” I focused on the bassinet and on the soft fur against my fingers. “We’re safer here than at yours or Alpha’s home…or any of them.”

  He gripped the end of the bed, and swayed.

  “There’s nothing connecting us to the Doc. And they trust we’re safe here. They don’t like her, but still, that’s for them to worry about. All we have to worry about is ourselves, just for a while.”

  Dark eyes shone with happiness. He lowered his head until our lips met. His mouth was possessive, hungry, desperate to convey everything inside of him in one breathtaking kiss.

  “We need to deal with these two. They're gonna be a handful, so we need a system, when one sleeps the other tends to the babies.”

  He pulled back and stared at our children. “A system? That’ll work. We can do that.”

  “I was hoping you’d be for that.” Doc Angel stepped into the room, I caught her gaze drift to the bassinet. “So I’m taking the first shift. Me and the Doc here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I smiled. “Yes I’m sure. You need to sleep and eat. Go.” I pushed him toward the door. “A couple of hours and they’re all yours.”

  “That sounds scary as Hell,” he muttered and gave me his back. “Lock the doors, Doc. Lock everything and don’t open them, unless it’s one of us. Got it? I'm gonna get Gunny to send one of her men over. Just to be safe. I won’t take any chances, not with my family.”

  He pulled his phone from his pocket as he headed out into the hall. Outside had a thick sofa, a small table filled with books and neon pink murals on the walls.

  This place didn’t feel like a hospital, more like an eccentric motel equipped with monitors, scalpels, and I stopped…glass cabinets filled with drugs. “What is this place?”

  “I called it Angel Home. It’s a place for sick children to come and receive their treatment. I help them. I give them something they need, something they wouldn’t have at home.”

  Kids. My gaze drifted across the room as Zadoc’s growl slipped into the room. “And what do you give them?”

  “Friends, I give them friends,” she answered and neared the bassinet. “I never set out to hurt them. That’s why I was there, at the compound. I was destroying everything.”

  She looked away and dropped her gaze. “I found someone on the internet. A kid who said he could hack into NASA, or the CIA. So I bought a virus, and followed the directions. He said it could infect a server in a matter of minutes, minutes was all it’d take to destroy everything I gave them. I’d be free.”

  She lifted her head, and found my gaze. Pain etched into her hazel eyes. “I’d be free, and they’d be destroyed. I thought I was done for when the bombs started. I thought I’d spend the rest of my life in a Federal prison.”

  I glanced at the bassinet. “Looks like it worked out for all of us.”

  Zadoc strode back inside, shaking the snow from the collar of his thick jacket. “Gunny’s sending one of her rookies over. He’s a good kid, she said. So I’m going to hang around out front until he gets here, okay?” He jerked his gaze to the Doc. “Let no one else in but the kid, Doc. Understand? No one. You have Gunny’s and Alpha’s number, and you have mine. If someone comes to the front of the building you don’t know, you call.” That hardness left his gaze as he lifted his head. “And I’ll come running.”

  Something in the center of my chest fluttered. Heat melted every ache, and love licked my wounds. I reached for him, sliding my arm around his waist. He’d protect me until the end of days, even in Hell. “Sleep well.”

  With a nod to the Doc, he left, closing the door behind him. Angel rushed out to the front door and hit the lock, returning with a look of defeat. “I’ve met some overprotective fathers in my time, but they were nothing compared to him.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Imagine what he’s going to be like when she has her first tumble, or gets picked on by a boy, or God forbid, falls in love.”

  Doc pulled out a chair and sat. “An overprotective Dragon.”

  “An overprotective Aries Dragon who’s also a Guardian.”

  She lifted her gaze. There was a second of silence where we let that sink in. Both of us spoke the words in perfect harmony. “How will we survive?”

  Her lips curled, I couldn't fight the smile, not anymore. Laughter filled the room. I liked her. She was strong and kind and the kind of person who admitted she was wrong, and did something about it.

  She wiped a tear from her eye as the laughter died. “Why don’t I pull that curtain around you?” She rose from the chair. “That way our young rookie won’t get too much of a fright when he sees what’s he’s protecting.”

  She eased the curtain closed, yanking it around the length of the bed and all the way to the wall. A hard knock on the door sounded.

  “Looks like that’s our guy. Close your eyes, Joslyn. Try to get some sleep, honey. I’m just out here.”

  I rolled my head on the pillow. My baby Dragon had her eyes closed. Her nostrils flared with each draw of breath. Just the sight pushed me over the edge. I let exhaustion take me as the front door opened and then closed, and I drifted off.

  “Thank you.”

  The cold, elegant tone dragged me to the surface. I cracked open my eyes, and closed them once more. Sleep called with a seductive whisper and I was easily led.

  But there was something else. A warning that wore at me like a stone in my shoe. I blinked and the room sharpened. Steel rails boxed me in on either side of the bed. Medical equipment lined the wall…just like a hospital.

  The day came back in a rush. The Christmas tree, the fire, the pain…of labor… I wrenched my head to the side and found the bassinet. My pulse picked up pace, roaring in my ears.

  A grunt echoed from somewhere behind the curtain, the sound barely registered as I leaned in close. The bassinet was quiet. A tiny black and white bundle lay curled against his sister, asleep. A pang of love filled me as I reached through the bars. I skimmed my daughter's wings. They were the biggest part of her. Long bones lay flat on either side of her spine. Scales glistened like polished stones. Her eyes were closed, head resting on the top of her hands tucked under her brother’s belly.

  Even asleep, they nuzzled into each other. My babies. My beautiful babies.

  A towering shadow cut across the bed and sharpened as he reached for the curtain. A slow smile spread across my lips. “See, Zadoc we’re fine. I told you not to worry.”

  Long tapered nails curled around the edge of the curtain and yanked.

  “I never worry," the cold voice echoed as the stranger shoved the curtain all the way to the wall. His eyes drifted to the bassinet and lingered. “I knew everything was going to be fine.”

  He lifted his gaze to me and smiled. Long white fangs peeked out from under bloodless lips. That warning came alive—screaming inside my head like a blaring horn.

  “Now, Joslyn. Be a good Momma and try not to scream,” he said and reached for the bassinet.

  I fumbled, crawling and falling over the steel bedrails to snatch the cradle from his grasp. “What the Hell are you doing? Get away. Get away from my babies.”

  His pale skin shone almost silver under the lights. Silver eyes darkened, turning to cold steel as he stared into the bassinet. “So it really is true. A Dragon and a wolf. How…exciting.”

  I shot a panicked gaze to the doorway.

  “I wouldn’t bother,” the creature said without taking his eyes off the crib. “No one is coming to save you, or your babies.”

  My knees trembled as I stumbled. The room a blur. A vase filled with pink roses. A stuffed Dragon, and a wolf. A weapon. I needed a weapon.

&nb
sp; “I thought I told you to sleep? Two hours is barely more than a nap.”

  Doc Angel rounded the corner, her head down, staring at a clipboard in her hand. She raised her head with a budding smile ready to bloom.

  Her steps slowed at the doorway, head flinched as she frowned. Recognition detonated. Her eyes widened. She jerked her gaze toward the front door and let out a gasp.

  “Doctor Leigh, how nice to finally meet you,” the dead thing murmured.

  I focused on the room. On the glass in the cabinets and the lotions bordering the sink. I focused on the charts, on the pens, on the machines…on anything. Anything I could use.

  “We have nothing you need here. All our drugs are held at an offsite chemist’s,” she snapped, taking one panicked gaze at the babies, the ice in her tone melted. “I can take you there. We have all kinds of drugs, morphine, barbiturates—anything you need.”

  A glint of steel caught my eye. The handle of a scalpel sat wedged against the sink and a folded towel. I wrenched my head to the Doctor. She jerked her gaze to mine. A second. A second was all I needed. My knees locked and collapsed. My boy let out a tiny cry of hunger.

  Need roared through me. My breast ached with need, desperate to comfort, and ease his hunger.

  “I’m not here for drugs, Doctor. You know what I’m here for.”

  “You can’t have them,” she growled and cut across the room to stand in front of the bassinet. “You can’t touch them, look at them. You can’t be in the same room as them, so I want you to leave.”

  The wheels squealed as she hit the trolley with her ass, shoving all three of us backwards. My boy let out a shriek, waking his sister. She answered with a snap of her jaws.

  I jerked my head left, the scalpel just out of reach.

  “You have some balls, I’ll give you that,” the thing hissed.

  My heart thrashed inside my ears. I lunged, dragging the cradle with me. My fingers hit soft cotton. Steel scraped the counter. I clenched, driving my body against the counter and spun. The scalpel glinted under the fluorescent lights.

  “You can’t have them,” I growled, pulling my babies behind me. “You can’t have them. They're not yours.”

  “I'll let you live.” The creature murmured, moving closer, crowding in. “That's what you want, isn't it? A chance to survive, to find them?”

  I shook my head. Those words…they haunted me. Only in my nightmare they were whispered by another…a blonde bitch with no heart, and no fucking soul.

  He moved without warning, grasping the doctor by the back of her neck and squeezing.

  Her eyes bulged, veins popped along her neck. She opened her mouth to breathe…but there was silence.

  “Stay away.” I waved the scalpel in the air. “Let her go and stay the fuck away!”

  I wanted Zadoc. I wanted Finn. I wanted anyone…anyone. I wrenched my gaze to the foyer and caught the puddle of red. A splayed body lay in the middle. Khaki green sat in the middle of a bloody ocean.

  He was just a kid…just a kid. Tears brimmed my eyes as I turned to this beast, this fucking corpse. It wasn’t alive. It’s wasn’t a man.

  I clenched the blade with one hand and dropped my other hand into the cradle. The tips of my fingers sank into soft fur as I took a step, and then danced over hard scales. My daughter let out a sharp cry that pierced my heart.

  It was a cry for love. A cry for comfort.

  In this moment, I could give only one.

  I took a step, moving in front of my babies.

  There was a split second where this played out inside my head, where Zadoc shoved open the door and charged in, a second where everything was okay…

  And then it was gone, just like a breath in the breeze, leaving behind this cruel reality, this knowing in my bones, just like the warning in my head.

  I raised my hand, palm out. “Okay, I’ll put down the blade. I won’t fight. Just let her go.”

  The creature grinned, and the sight made me sick. “See, I told her you’d come around. She didn’t believe me, said you’d fight to the death.” He stilled, and that smile grew wider. “Yours…not mine.”

  I took a step to the center of the room. “I’m moving away…see?”

  Dark eyes sparkled. He relaxed his grip. Doc let out a gasp, and then a wheeze. She sucked in long breaths until the red in her face turned pale.

  “Get the fuck off me,” she screamed and flailed her arms.

  The creature opened his hand. She gripped hold of the railing and stumbled along the bed. I took one look at her, one quick look was all I needed.

  My legs felt like jelly, but inside I was steel.

  I was cold anger, and hard rage.

  I was everything Zadoc was and more.

  I was a mother.

  I strangled the scalpel and drove my heels into the floor. One strike. One strike. The impact was brutal. I drove my fist in deep, carving flesh.

  Steel wrapped around me. Pain lashed my neck. A sickening pop filled my ears before I was shoved. I stumbled, warmth ran down my neck.

  A voice crowded me, a scream I couldn’t quite hear. The blade stuck out from his body, like it had always been part of him. White lights danced with the blur of movement.

  My pulse drowned out everything. The bassinet…gone…the Doctor…gone. My bare feet slapped the floor as I stumbled after them. Cold seeped around my toes. I slipped and hit the ground. Blood splattered my arms…my hands.

  The door was my salvation…my one last fight. I climbed to my knees, and pushed with my hands. Screams called me…a cry of terror, of hunger of need.

  My babies…my babies.

  19

  Zadoc

  Purple aster flowers and white Queen Anne’s Lace peeked through a fine dusting of snow. For some reason they reminded me of Joslyn, resilient and wildly beautiful.

  A thought bloomed. I eased the car onto the shoulder of the road. I’d never hear the end of her wrath, but I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t rest, not until they were home with me.

  I shouldered open the door. A daughter…a daughter. I shook my head, even the strange one, Odessa never saw this coming. The old woman was gone, disappeared without a trace. For some strange reason I wanted her to know.

  Ice crunched under my boots as I crossed the field and back again. I made zigzag patterns in the snow, running around like some love-sick fool to steal purple and white, until my fist was thick with grass.

  The past had no hold on me…for me there was only the future.

  I looked at the flowers, were they good enough?

  Could she see past the anguish and the pain?

  Could she see not just a man…and not just a Dragon?

  Could she see a father and…a husband?

  My hand trembled with the thought, my heart waited, wide open, ready for whatever anger, whatever need, whatever desire.

  We were hers, mind, body, and Dragon. We would try—I lifted my gaze to the dimming sun—dear God we would try. And we would never give up, never tire, never wane. We would never take for granted and hold every sweet and sorrow filled second like the perfect jewel it was.

  A growl filled me, echoing deep from the Wretched—a warning growl.

  My excitement wavered. I stared at the flowers in my hand, and made for the car.

  What is it?

  Zadoc…

  A second. A breath, and then I was hit with a blast of rage.

  Get away from her! Get away from my mate!

  Zadoc…Zadoc…Run!

  The flowers slipped from my fingers. Boots skidded on ice. The thud of the door was a blast of a gun. I shoved the car into gear. What is it…Wretched? Wretched what is it!

  Vampires. Vampires come to take what is MINE!

  No, you’re wrong. The sun was still out. It was still out and they couldn’t come—not before night, not until we’d be long gone, surrounded by silver and armed to the teeth.

  The car shot forward. My damn hands shook, slipping on the wheel.

  They we
re protected. They were protected!

  Get to them. Get to them. Familiar streets shot past. I jerked the wheel and hit the brakes. A black blur slipped from the corner of my eye.

  All I saw was Joslyn…all I saw was blood.

  I barged through the door. My boots punched the pavement.

  She wobbled for a second, staring off into the distance—and then collapsed.

  I dropped to my knees. “Joslyn! Joslyn…baby.”

  My fingers slipped in her blood. Her neck was punctured. Blood pulsed. I slapped my hand over the wound.

  “My babies,” she cried and clawed the air.

  A scream of pain and rage took flight. Joslyn shook in my hands, giving her all…giving everything.

  “They took my babies!”

  Her nails raked my skin, stinging, shredding…mirroring my heart.

  She thrashed in my arms, trying to get away—trying to get to them. “They took my babies!”

  I speared slick fingers into my pocket and left smears on the screen. “We’ll get them back. Joslyn, hang in there, we’ll get them back.”

  I traced a line of bloody footprints to the open door. The kid’s thick black soles faced out. “The Doc…”

  “Took her,” she whispered. “Took them all.”

  “Hold on, baby. We’re going to get them back. You just hold on.”

  She raised her head.

  Her eyes glistened like cold, hard stone.

  Gone was the human. Gone was the weak as she whispered. “I’m going to find, and I’m going to kill…every last one of them.”

  Alpha

  Book 5 Zodiac Dragon Series

  I hope you enjoyed Aries as much as I did writing it. I cannot wait to show you what’s in store for the next book….