by Ava Mason
Denver hated a lot of things, especially wolves. It really wasn’t anything against them personally, he hated anything that wasn’t pureblood. He didn’t hang out or even associate with anything less, unless he had to for his job. He wouldn’t even look at someone who wasn’t pureblood; I was the only exception he ever made when it came to that in his life. And that’s why I was surprised he’d even invited the wolf to kiss him.
I laughed. “At least Hunter and Easton didn’t go dancing with her.”
Blaze joined in, chuckling. “Sawyer should’ve known better anyways.”
It was true. Everyone knew that only purebloods hung out at Crosby’s; the only reason I was allowed in was because I was a member of The Elite.
We’d gotten that nickname when we were kids. I’d moved into this neighborhood to work for Denver’s father, my dad and I being the best horse breeders in the industry. We’d produced several prize winning ones for Denver’s family.
We became fast friends because Denver used to hide out in the stalls I used to have to clean. He did it to hide away from his dad, who never came in except if one of his horses was up for a competition. Then he took me under his wing, forcing everyone else to accept me even though I didn’t have the things that they did. Plus, I also had a natural talent for sports and people, and that eventually opened a lot more doors for me than you’d ever think it would. People loved charismatic athletes.
When we were a bit older, Blaze’s family moved into the neighborhood. His sullen nature suited Denver well, and so Denver accepted him into our group. We became known for Denver and Blaze’s piss poor attitude as snobs and my champion skills in sports. Thus, The Elite nickname was given, and we claimed it with pride.
I glanced at Denver; he was still fuming. “If you think that’s a reason to get pissy, I guess you don’t want to know about the baby.” He was going to lose his shit when I told him what I’d overheard.
Denver glared at me. “What baby?”
“The wolf is pregnant. With a dragon baby.” I put my hands in my pockets, looking out across the grounds nonchalantly, even though I felt tense.
Now that the dragons were ‘out’, my job had gotten a hell of a lot more dangerous. We had problems before, as the Queen was already under attack from the wolves that had already known about our existence, plus other violent groups. And now that she was inviting the world in, she was under some serious scrutiny, not only from the outside world but also from within. There were a lot of dragons who were happy with the old status quo and didn’t want things to change. Dragons like Denver and Blaze, rich assholes who always got what they wanted and never had to work for anything.
Add a dragon-wolf baby to the mix, and things were about to get explosive.
“This world is going under.” Denver shook his head at the same time Blaze did.
“I hear you,” I said, looking away and halfway tuning them out. They didn’t need to know how I really felt. Personally, I was okay with us opening up a little bit, even if it did make my job harder.
“This is absolute crap.” Denver was getting louder, his anger taking over. I shifted my focus from him to my job, which is what I should’ve been doing anyways. We were guards for the Queen, although not in her inner circle, we still were pretty high up there. It was our job to make sure the outside perimeter stayed safe so that the guards inside had it easy.
I liked it; it gave me a purpose in life and allowed me to do something I was good at. A job I wouldn’t have had an opportunity at if it hadn’t been for Denver. I loved the guy, would give my life for him. He was an ass, but a loyal one. He’d given me a chance to make something of myself when the rest of the world turned its back on me.
But sometimes, he didn’t know when to stop. He thought he ruled the world and that nothing could touch him. I knew better.
We’d sworn absolute loyalty to our Queen, and talking bad about her in the open was going to bring nothing but trouble.
He didn’t usually talk bad about her - something must’ve really gotten under his skin because he kept at it.
“The dragon race was pure and good. Now they’re going to bring the trash in, and Aerwyna is going to go to the shits. They don’t belong here. What’s wrong with their country? Why do they want to come here?”
“Exactly. What are they doing here, anyway?” Blaze asked, his voice bitter. Blaze hated wolves just as much as Denver did, but for a much different reason. “Did they come back for the birth?”
I knew what Blaze was thinking. If they did, the child would have some kind of legal right to be here.
“Who knows,” I hesitated, thinking. “Although I’ve heard rumors about other stuff.”
“Of what?”
“An alliance, between the races.”
“You gotta be shitting me,” Denver growled out. “As if the balance isn’t already fucked five days to Sunday with the Queen allowing the wolves to stay. And now they want to make it a permanent thing? Is she trying to turn us against her?”
“Shut the hell up.” Stopping, I gave him a hard look, then looked around to make sure no one was listening. He was crossing over the line now. “Don’t talk like that, man. You’re a guard.”
Not in public like this. Because talking shit – the wrong kind of shit – about the Queen was treason.
It could cost him, and all of us, our heads.
Queen Aria didn’t fuck around. She was powerful and she knew exactly how to keep her servants on their knees.
And even though we were the best of the best, and our nickname fit us now more than ever, she still wouldn’t hesitate to take us down if it got back to her that he was talking like that. Even one whiff, and we were out.
He quieted down and my thoughts wandered back to the wolf, still keeping my eyes peeled for anything out of place. After a few minutes I realized that they were back to talking about the wolf also.
“She had a nice body, I’ll give her that,” Blaze said.
Denver hooted. “Fuck, yeah. I’m telling you, man, Crosby’s is the best place to go if you want to pick up some ass. The girls there are red hot and willing.” Denver sighed, content. “A willing woman is a wonderful thing.” Denver never got turned down, ever. Until that night. That’s probably why he wouldn’t lay off about the wolf.
It was kind of ironic that the only woman to turn Denver down was a wolf. Kinda funny too.
I laughed. “You’re an ass, Denver, but you’re not wrong.”
The tension melted away as they started talking about women again. Not that the topic was much of an improvement, but I guess it was better than being pissed off about politics.
“Why were you so quiet the other night?” Denver asked Blaze. “For a while there, I thought you’d grown a pussy. You were over there nursing your beer like it was a woman.”
Blaze eyed him. “I was there when you needed it, wasn’t I?”
Denver scoffed. “I didn’t need your help handling the wolf.”
“You sure about that?”
“You know I didn’t,” Denver huffed. “Besides, didn’t you have fun, after the wolf?”
“Sure,” Blaze turned away. “I like to get pissed as much as the next person.”
“But?”
He pulled up his shoulder. “There’s no but. Fun was had by all. Truth be told, I can barely remember how I got home.”
Denver laughed. “Yeah, you were smashed by the end of the night.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Are you coming over for poker tonight?
“Sure, whatever.”
Denver droned on about the poker game and the women who were likely to show up and I tuned him out again, deciding that I needed to do my fucking job. Bringing them along was a mistake; they were only a distraction. Well, Denver was anyways. Blaze was mostly quiet, per his usual broody self.
We headed towards the outer edge of the property that backed up towards the woods. This part of my patrol was always the hardest; there were less lights, more places for intruders to hide. Tonight something f
elt off, my instincts perking up. I honed in my dragon senses, taking in the smells and sounds of the forest.
Dread churned in my stomach; something was definitely wrong. I could feel it.
“What’s that?” Denver said it first. He pointed to a dark form lying just off the path some distance ahead of us and I immediately felt the remnants of rage and despair.
“It feels like trouble.” I choked on the sensation, my empath powers overwhelming me. I pushed them down; I had a job to do. We fell quiet, our guard instincts taking over.
Even though I wanted to run towards the form, we all stopped and turned, forming a triangle. I scoured every inch of the space, looking for any remaining enemies. The woods were unnaturally silent, as well as the castle grounds behind me.
“Clear,” Denver said first, then Blaze. I took one last moment, peering into the darkness, then nodded. “Clear.”
Then we all rushed towards the form, Denver holding back a little to watch our six.
As we drew closer, I felt no sign of live emotion but you never knew; I held on to a shred of hope. When we were close enough, I could smell death. If you were sensitive to smells, you realized everything had a smell, even emotions. Everything in life had a scent. Even the lack of it.
“This isn’t good,” Blaze said, his face pale; we were almost there.
“Shit,” I said when we reached the dark form, and Blaze fell to his knees beside me. “It’s a woman.”
4
Blaze
I swallowed hard, my heart beating so fast I thought it would explode. I couldn’t stop myself from looking, my eyes traveling to her throat. It was a mangled mess of skin, blood, muscle, and fat. The sharp, white edges of her trachea poked out. I squeezed my eyes shut, turning away. My sister, Hannah’s frail form flashed before me, her glassy eyes, the dead stare in her eyes.
There was something familiar about this, some kind of smell that I recognized. Bile edged up my throat and I gagged, its acid burning my tongue. Gritting my teeth, trying to keep it from spouting out, I pushed away the images forcefully. I needed to be professional, for fucks sake.
I opened my eyes. Denver was squatting beside her, touching her carefully as if the woman could still feel something. He was more respectful with this woman than any woman in his life, except maybe his sister.
“Was she?” I leaned over him eagerly.
He stood up to meet my eyes, shaking his head. “No. She wasn’t pregnant.”
I let out a breath, relieved.
“What happened?” Tallon asked and I glanced at him.
Tallon was an empath and he was trying to keep it together. His face was unusually pale and sweat drained down the side of his face and pooled under his arms.
I didn’t envy his gift. He could feel everything everyone felt around him, and even said that he could feel the remnants after death. It sounded like my personal version of hell.
“There’s only one kind of creature that does this.” Denver indicated the torn out throat.
“Wolves.” My voice came out a growl. I bit my lower lip so hard I tasted blood.
“Motherfucker!” Tallon exclaimed, jumping to his feet, even though he likely already knew it.
I agreed. Fury and guilt ran through my veins, burning my chest like a furnace. How many were we going to lose like this? When was this going to end? Wolves were no good pieces of shit. They were only here to make life worse for us. I felt helpless as guilt tore at me. We were guards; we were supposed to protect our kind.
“Fuck!” I shouted and turned around, stomping away. I had to get my shit under control. I couldn’t afford to lose my cool. Not even if this looked too much like… like… shit. Hannah’s face flashed through my mind, this time she was alive and laughing. I swallowed hard and switched off my thoughts. I couldn’t go there.
“Hey, get it together.” Tallon’s voice was right behind me. I turned my head; he looked at me with concern on his face. “Denver needs us.”
“Damn right I do. How many times do I need to ask you to call this in?”
“Sorry,” I pulled out my phone, feeling bad, my fingers dialing Max’s number while I walked towards the woman.
“Do you think it was her?” Denver’s voice trembled, looking up at us, a strange look in his eyes. Hatred, anger, or worry, I wasn’t certain. We all knew who he was talking about. The wolf from the other night.
Taking a deep breath, I bent down, forcing myself to look at the dead body. There wasn’t a lot of blood in the area, someone brought her here on purpose. They wanted the Queen’s attention. But she’d been dead for a while. “Doubt it. We should investigate to make sure, but the wolf has probably been with Hunter’s clan the whole time, or with Sawyer. As lax as the Queen is about letting the wolves in, I doubt she’d let them roam around without an escort.”
Both Denver and Tallon nodded and I turned back away when Max answered the phone.
I reported the incident and then the three of us waited for the Authority to arrive, along with a van that would take the body away. After they arrived, I stood to the side, waiting, watching. I didn’t want to get too close if I could help it. I felt like shit already.
Guilt was a horrible thing. It gnawed at you, making you come undone at the seams slowly, while you weren’t looking. And then something awful happened and you suddenly realized you were no longer whole. You’re in little pieces all over the place, so fucked up you couldn’t even put yourself back together again.
I looked toward the trees, felt the wind caress my skin, trying to distance myself. I just had to keep it together a little while longer. I avoided watching the team as they took care of the body.
I wanted to be anywhere but here.
Suddenly, Max was in my face; I hadn’t even noticed he’d walked up to me. I swallowed the lump in my throat at the hard look on his face. “Find it.”
“The trail?”
“What else?” he snapped. He was in a bad mood. No one could blame him.
When a dragon woman was killed, everyone was upset. A dragon woman was precious. A pregnant one even more so. And dragon young were scarce. When a race was dying out because it was hard to produce heirs, the death of a dragon female was a damn tragedy.
“On it,” I said, grateful to get the hell out of here. I walked towards a clearing, shedding my clothes into a pile at my feet. Closing my eyes, I called my dragon and the creature answered with a huff. It was so close to the surface, it ripped out of me without ceremony. One moment, I was human. The next, I was a dragon.
I flapped my wings, feeling my body rise into the air, leaving everything behind. The dead woman. Hannah and what had happened to her. Denver and his stupid antics. The wolf woman from the bar. The one I wanted to hate and fuck at the same time.
Up here, the air was fresher, and I didn’t feel so fucking claustrophobic. One of these days, I was going to fly away and never come back. If you stayed as a dragon long enough, you’d forget your humanity. There were some who’d opted for that route, and they lived in the caves along the border of Aerwyna, staying just inside the country’s border so that they wouldn’t be discovered by the outside world.
That rule was enforced strictly.
After taking a moment, I circled back, finding the group on the ground, then looked for traces of magic. It was one of my gifts. I could see magic the way other people could see color.
It didn’t take me very long to find a trail. The wolf had headed to the woods, just as we’d suspected. It didn’t go in a straight path but rather, it zig-zagged. Cocking my head to the side I followed it.
You’d think the wolf would’ve wanted to get out as fast as possible but instead it acted as if it had been followed. Wondering if another guard had seen something, I flew over the forest, following the trail.
It suddenly disappeared.
That was odd. I was incredibly useful at my job because magic almost always left a trail, and my dragon senses could sniff it out religiously. Sometimes it got mixed up wh
en the user intermingled in the city, or among a bunch of magic users, but out here there were only animals and trees.
Frowning, I circled around, doubling back to the beginning and followed it again.
The same thing happened; it just stopped abruptly, as if the wolf had died.
After making sure one more time that I couldn’t follow the trail, I flew back towards Max and the team; we would have to follow on foot. I was too big to land in between the trees. They were too dense, and my body was too big. Shifting quickly, I pulled on my clothes and ran back to the scene of the crime. The van had left, the body was gone, and only The Elite and Max stood talking, presumably waiting for me.
“Did you find anything?” Denver turned towards me, an expectant look on his face. Tallon stood next to him, thick arms folded over his chest and a frown on his face.
I shook my head. “Towards the woods. A trail that dies,” I said. “Nothing more.”
“A trail that dies?” Max asked.
“It just disappeared.”
“We’ll have to go on foot.” Denver turned towards Max, who nodded his agreement.
I shook my head. “I don’t think there’s anything there.”
Why had I just said that? A moment ago, I thought we should go trail them on foot. But considering it further, there wasn’t really a good reason. The trail was dead, there was nothing left we could do.
And yet, there was something down there. No, someone. Right? Someone was… the thought slipped away.
No, the trail was dead. There was nothing to find. I’d just thought I’d found something, but it hadn’t been anything concrete. I was probably wrong; it had happened before.
“Are you sure?” Max studied me, his eyes intent on mine. There was a reason he was the big boss; he was hella smart.
“No.” I shook my head, positive, now. I had been mistaken, completely.
There was nothing there.
5
Chapter 5
Carrie
I’d witnessed council meetings before, but nothing this big. Lizzy was in there with everyone else. And when I say everyone, I meant everyone. Queen Aria, a few of the dragon council leaders, Harry. Plus all kinds of magical creatures from all over the world. A panther shifter from the Indias, two powerful witches that had traveled all the way from Africa. A necromancer walked by and my whole body shuddered as her magic passed over me like a lingering hand.
