Opening his eyes, he saw her stride towards him. She was dressed for seduction in the floaty scarves that tantalized with glimpses of skin. She came and leaned against his chair. She rested her hand on his shoulder. Smiling, he tumbled her into his lap. She laughed and snuggled into him. Her bottle green eyes glowed.
Shaking his head, he looked at her. "Who have you been bothering now?"
Xio laughed. "No one. I’ve been missing you my lord. Why are you sitting here by yourself?"
"Waiting for you," Quinlan teased. Leaning over, he kissed her.
Xio rolled her eyes and kissed him in return. Giving himself over to her ministrations his mind still thought of Sanjay.
* * * *
Sitting in her breakfast nook at her kitchen table Tashana did as she usually did when she was home. She watched the sun rise outside her floor to ceiling windows. It was a breathtaking sight. The weight of the necklace around her neck reminded her it wasn’t a normal day. She felt like the clock was ticking down. Tashana watched a wolf lope across the ground outside. It stopped and looked at her, then continued on. Raising her cup of tea to her mouth, she blew on it and took a sip. Setting it on the table, she clenched her fist.
Her talk last night with Zaila had netted her nothing. Zaila didn’t know anything more than Sanjay had told Tashana however Zaila was working on finding out. She remembered Zaila’s fury when she found out the Onyx Moon was more than they had been told. Yawning, Tashana felt tiredness seep into her. Zaila and Jaynat had gotten stubborn, refusing to give up trying to remove the Onyx Moon. Each time they tried to remove it, they had been singed for their trouble. They had kept trying and kept her up until after three with their attempts. After her heart had almost stopped, she had finally said enough and walked out. Zaila had vowed to keep working on it.
Tashana hadn’t gone to bed. Everyone thought she was impetuous but she knew at all times what she was doing. She had come home to think and plan. The night had made clear what she had to do. Stiffening, she sensed him before she saw him. He came and sat across from her. Raising her cup to her lips, she watched him over the rim. Lowering the cup, she put it back on the table.
Casually she shifted and bared her breast. “Why did you mark me?”
Chapter Five
Tashana watched the shock on his face. Earlier when she had gotten home she had been tired of thinking of everything that was going on, and had went to take a shower instead. Striding past the mirror, she had sworn she had seen something out of the corner of her eye. Yet, when she turned to the mirror, there was nothing. Following some instinct, she touched where she had felt the sting. The Onyx Moon had let out a hum and she had seen the mark he had left on her. It was a small dragon with wings extended. There were markings around it she couldn’t interpret, although she was an expert in languages.
“Be calm, Tashana,” Sanjay said in his tightly controlled voice.
Smiling, she held her cup in her right hand as she watched him. She had been furious at first, but had decided to reserve judgment until he explained.
“I am. Why?”
His look was suspicious. She almost laughed. He should be. She wasn’t known for her patience.
“For your protection.”
She nodded. She had figured it was something like that.
Sanjay looked at her. “Why do you hate dragons?”
The cup shattered as her fist clenched. Looking down, she saw blood dripping and mixing with the tea. Releasing the shards, without looking at him she healed her hand and waved it to clean the mess. Another cup of tea appeared before her. Picking it up, she took another sip.
Finally looking at him, she answered, “Dragons killed my mother.”
The look on his face was contained.
Continuing, Tashana felt the pain she always did when she thought of her mother. “We were at the Tlian River for my water training when we were attacked. My mom called the others for help and tried to hold it off. She shielded me. I was confused. I had always been told Dragons were our allies. Yet the dragon came and attacked us. I watched as the Dragon sucked the life out of my mother. I couldn’t break her shield. The Dragon looked at me when he was done, grinned and left before the others came.”
Tears burned her eyes but did not fall.
Sanjay looked at her and took her hands. “Describe the dragon to me.”
“It was all blood red, almost black with slashes of gray. The scales glowed and its eyes were red.” Tashana would never forget how it looked.
Sanjay’s look was speculative.
Tashana gripped his hands. “What?”
“You’re not ready to hear it yet.”
Furious, she jerked away. “If you know who it is, tell me.”
“So you can kill?”
She stood abruptly. “Yes. It killed my mother. It needs to die.”
“Like all dragons need to die.”
She narrowed her eyes. “If you had asked me that yesterday, I would have said yes.”
“What changed?”
She shook her head, unwilling to go into it. “It doesn’t matter. All my dragon kills were justified.”
Sanjay stood to match her. “How many?”
Tashana didn’t want to admit it even to herself. “Too many. I am an assassin Sanjay that is what I do. I don’t doubt what I do. So if you are looking for remorse you have come to the wrong place.”
He shook his head. “No. I know about what you must do in battle. There must be no hesitation.”
She nodded, glad he understood. “I will find the dragon who killed my mother and deal with it. Don’t get in my way and we’ll have no problems.” Looking out the window, she saw the sun was high in the sky. “Come on. We’re wasting daylight.” Turning, she strode across her kitchen, down the hall and grabbed her coat out of the closet.
“Where are we going?” Sanjay asked.
Turning swiftly, Tashana hit him in his shoulder. She felt her hand heat, then burn. Drawing away, she saw him glance down.
He looked back at her, his expression curious. “What is that for?”
Smiling, Tashana looked at the symbol she had put on his shoulder and shrugged. “For your protection.”
His lips twitched.
She laid out her plan for him. “Someone knows who took the Onyx Moon and I’m going to find them. We’re going underground.”
“Why are you going to the underworld?”
“No, we’re going to the underbelly of New York.” Striding out the door, she put on her shades and went down the stairs.
* * * *
"Damn it." Tashana watched as the containment people she had called in took away another set of prisoners.
Touching the necklace, she felt it pulse. Dropping her hand, she clenched it in a fist. Turning, she strode away letting the containment teams handle it. Sanjay fell into step beside her. Striding rapidly down the tunnels of the New York Underground, she ignored the stares, slithering sounds, and stench. The hostility and fear bombarded her from all sides.
In the last two days, she and Sanjay had spent all their time below ground searching for a lead on who took the Onyx Moon. They had come up with nothing to help them. Stepping outside, Tashana took a deep breath of clean air. Seeing the other agents there, she nodded to them as they passed and disappeared below ground.
"Thanks, Shana." A voice said.
Looking over at Barachus K'rluis, a fellow agent, Tashana nodded.
"You keep clearing our cases like this you'll make us look bad." Barachus stated.
From someone else she would have thought they were trying to be funny. From Barachus she knew he was serious. He didn't have sense of humor. She knew what he was getting at. Although her searches underground had netted her nothing to help with the Onyx Moon, she had steadily been clearing the open backlog of cases. It was strange that cases that had been open for years were being wrapped up. Since they swept the underground regularly for suspects, it was rare to find any wanted suspects there. Yet the last few
days they had all been there.
Also strange, was the normally easygoing supernaturals had put up a hell of a fight. Even now, she could hear the screams. They didn’t want to be brought above ground. They had to stun them to get them out from the underground. She put it out of her mind. It wasn't her problem. As she found any wanted super, she called the Agent assigned to the case.
She shrugged, "What can I say, I'm lucky."
Barachus eyes dropped to the chain around her neck. "Or have guidance."
Raising an eyebrow, she looked at him. Barachus returned her stare, his amber gaze bland.
Turning, he put out his hand to Sanjay. "Barachus K'rluis."
Sanjay took his hand and shook it. "Sanjay Callens."
Barachus watched him, released his hand, nodded at her and walked away.
"I'll meet you at the car." Tashana said and followed Barachus.
Stepping into the darkened area, she stopped, seeing he was waiting for her.
"What did you see?" Tashana demanded.
Barachus was a powerful touch telepath and rarely touched anyone without a reason.
"Nothing. He's hiding something deep." Barachus’s voice was pissed.
Tashana almost laughed. No one had stumped Barachus before. Turning she looked back towards the doorway. For Sanjay to be able to do so was uncommon.
"Be careful, Shana." Barachus’s caution caught her attention.
"I always am." She turned, his hand on her arm stopped her,
A glance back at him showed the concern in his gaze. That alone made her taste fear.
"He smells of death, Shana. It's in all his pores." Barachus tone was eerie.
Looking at him, she saw his eyes had changed to black pools with silver swirling within.
Jerking her hand away, Tashana put her hand on her weapon.” Control yourself, Barachus."
He shuddered and shut his eyes. After a moment, he opened them and his eyes were normal.
"What the hell are you?" Tashana asked, as she had numerous times before.
Barachus smiled a bitter twist of his lips. "Everything and nothing."
It was his standard answer. She still couldn’t figure out what he was. Only Zaila seemed to know and she wouldn’t tell any of them. Tashana didn't fully trust him and a few other agents who had recently joined the agency. She couldn't get a read on what they were. Each time she thought she had them pegged something changed her opinion.
"You don't have time to be worried about me. There are only five days left."
Tashana hand flew to the necklace. "How do you know?"
Barachus smiled a genuine grin. "I know everything."
Turning, he walked away and disappeared down the dark tunnel. Going back through the door and out to her car, Tashana opened the door. Sliding in, she turned on the engine, put the car in gear and sped out from the parking space. Sanjay was silent next to her. With a thought, she teleported them to her house. Turning off the engine, she got out of the car, slammed the door and, with quick angry strides, went up the stairs to her house. Pushing open the door, she strode down the hall to her living room, took off her coat, and flung it across the room. Turning, she looked at Sanjay who stood behind her silently.
"You can leave now. I'm home." Tashana said although she knew it was unnecessary.
It had been the same everyday. He had been by her side during her search then when she went home, he left for where ever it was he disappeared to.
"I'm not going anywhere."
His answer set her off. "You're wasting my fucking time. We're getting nowhere. What are you hiding?"
Sanjay looked at her and said nothing.
Weary beyond imagining, Tashana turned away from him. "Leave, Sanjay. Just leave."
Watching her, Sanjay battled with his orders and his feelings for her. After their kiss, he had fully expected to have to battle his lust for her. That, he could have handled, but working and with her, he had came up against something he had never expected. Respect. He had grown to respect her. Respect her quick fire temper, impetuous nature, dogged determination and humor. She blew away all the assumptions he had made about her. He now knew that behind that supposed impetuousness was a warrior who did what needed to be done. As a warrior himself, he found it admirable. As a man, he found it intoxicatingly sexy.
He shifted his body to relive some of the pressure on his erection pressed against the zipper of his pants, as it had been for the last few days. From the first day he had spent with her, he had known that his need for her would not go away until quenched. Before this was done, he would seduce her and make her burn. He could wait; he was a patient man. Pushing aside the desires he was feeling as a man, Sanjay went with his instincts as a warrior.
“What I told you about the Onyx Moon was all true, but there’s more. I don’t know how much your people have found on the history of the Onyx Moon?” When she turned to face him, he could see he had surprised her. “Yes, we know you have been trying to find out more. Dragons are secretive for a reason. We separate ourselves from other supernaturals. In the wrong hands, the necklace you wear can unleash our greatest weapon and worst curse. It’s Armageddon for dragons.”
He could see her thoughts racing.
After a few moments, she looked at him and said in her blunt way, “So what does that mean to the rest of us?”
“There are checks and balances in the super communities for a reason. Merlin himself gifted Dragons with Onyx Moon. Over one hundred million years ago, Merlin spread ultimate power equally among the various shifter clans. You must remember during this time we lived in harmony and usually kept to ourselves. But as time went on, greed spread in some of the shifter clans and then the thirst for power. Merlin could not let this happen. He joined with your ancestors to retrieve the power from those who had forsaken it. The birth mother of the Nefer Guardians already had her warriors, although at the time no one thought they were needed. She must have known what was coming. “ Sanjay stopped to collect his thoughts.
“That correlates with what we have been taught, but it still does not explain what is going on.” Tashana walked over and took a seat.
“I’m coming to that. To understand, you must know the history that has been told to me and every dragon warrior. There was a great battle and the earth was almost eradicated. There were two sides: the shifters, or Merlin and the Nefer Guardians. No in between, you had to choose. Those were dark days. Some shifter races were taken almost to extinction. Nefer Guardians took no prisoners. Resisters were dealt with swiftly. The other beings did not want to get involved and since the dragons and a few other shifter races choose the side of justice, we were with Merlin and the Nefers. They sent us to the four corners of the earth to protect the various beings. I cannot tell you who the other shifter races are. It is an oath all of us take never to reveal each other.”
Closing his eyes, he dropped beside her on the couch. “None of the shifter races that still held the power expected to have to use it. The battle continued to rage and got closer to the other beings. Dragons were in Olympus when the call came through that the shifter clans sent to Atlantis were being attacked. They could not let Atlantis or the clan fall. The leader of the Dragons decided to use the Onyx Moon. He donned it and became the Onyx Dragon. Invincible and Indestructible.
Following him, the other dragon warriors, and the gods and goddesses of Olympus went to save Atlantis. He didn’t need them. The Onyx Dragon cleared out the enemy. They were all happy that he did. Then he turned and cut a path across all those there. His fellow dragons, and the gods and goddesses and leveled Atlantis. Then he set out to conquer Earth and other realms. By the time word reached Merlin and the Nefers, it was too late. When they arrived in Atlantis, the only gods left were Trident and Zeus. One dragon was alive to tell what happened. It was touch and go if any of them would survive, but they did.”
Opening his eyes, he looked at her. “Knowing the locations of all the powers, the Onyx Dragon set off and conquered each, taking th
em and becoming more powerful. Merlin and the Nefers were always too late. They saved who they could and kept going after him. When they finally caught up with him, he was in the Nefer Guardian’s fortress in Egypt. The Nefers who had been left behind in the fortress had him trapped, but he escaped into the City of the Dead. Merlin, Nefertiti, the Nefer Guardian mother, and Shantos, the one dragon who survived, went in alone. The sounds of battle could be heard over all the corners of the earth. Then an eerie silence and Merlin, Nefertiti, and Shantos came out. Merlin held up the Onyx Moon and the other powers that had been taken by the Onyx Dragon. Merlin returned the powers to the other clans. Shantos, knowing that after the misuse of the Onyx Moon it would not return it to the dragons he turned to leave. Merlin stopped him and gave the Onyx Moon to him for safekeeping. Shantos, knowing the temptation that the Onyx Moon would bring to his people, beseeched Nefertiti to strip it of its power. She granted him his request and took the power. Shantos took the Onyx Moon pendant and hid it deep in Zalakar, the dragon home world. He created a scroll in the long forgotten ancient language and in it was the location of the power. He told no one where he buried it. He even had Nefertiti wipe it from his mind. From then on, the Onyx Moon stone was nothing but a pretty piece of jewelry but it was still kept under guard.”
“How did it get here, Sanjay?”
He smiled bitterly. “I don’t know. We don’t know. It was as I told you; it disappeared from Zalakar. The scroll disappeared along with the Onyx Moon and we need it back before anyone can figure it out.”
“What does it matter if the scroll is read if they don’t have the Onyx Moon?”
Sanjay reached over and gripped her hands. “Don’t you understand? If the person who has the scroll releases the power you will become the Onyx Dragon and under their control. Even if the power is not released you will become the Onyx Dragon but with no one to control you. No matter which one, the power will consume you. You will hunt and kill all dragons, then the other supernaturals, and eventually eradicate the earth. The other powers still held by the other shifter clans cannot stand up against it. Nothing can.”
Onyx Moon Rising Page 4
