Wings of Spirit: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Protected by Dragons Book 3)

by G. Bailey

  “Mother, don’t do this,” Thorne says from behind me, and I turn, seeing him walking to my side with Kor and Dagan next to him. Thorne and his mother stare at each other, and a flood of pain enters my body from Thorne’s emotions, not that I would have expected any less.

  “Where is Elias?” I hiss at Dagan as he gets to my side.

  “During the fight with those other dragons, we got separated. I’m sure he will find us soon,” Dagan whispers back, and I try to swallow the worry and guilt that floods me. I know he isn’t dead, with our blood bond I would feel it. So, he must be okay.

  “Do you really choose her? I’m your mother, and I can give you the throne! All I ask is that you kill her!” Tatarina gets more and more frustrated with every word, and I swear there is actually some kind of emotion coming from her.

  “This isn’t a choice,” Thorne replies, glancing at me. “It never was. You have lost your mind, do you really want to lose your son, too? Is the throne worth it?”

  “It’s me or her,” Tatarina growls, never taking her eyes off Thorne.

  “Is that what you asked my father? I mean, when he chose my mother over you,” I ask, and she growls, black ice dripping from her hands as she steps closer, focusing her attention on me instead of Thorne.

  “No!” she spits out.

  “It was, wasn’t it? All of this because my father was an asshole and didn’t choose you. You don’t have to do this, you don’t have to lose your son and make him choose,” I say, and she laughs.

  “I can smell your mating, he has already chosen,” Tatarina says.

  “Mating?” Dagan hisses, and I can’t look away from Tatarina and Esmeralda as they step forward together to answer him.

  “It’s time you ran, little girl. Change is coming, and there is no room for the light on Dragca anymore,” Tatarina says, and a dark spirit flies out of the trees, landing on her outstretched hand. The dark spirit looks so much like Bee, but with dark-blue skin and black hair. She is still beautiful, even if she is dark. Her dark eyes meet mine, and there’s a shock that flitters through me as we stare at each other. I almost step forward, but Kor grabs my arm to stop me.

  “There is always a place for light and the true queen,” Melody says, just as I feel Bee land on my shoulder. I glance over to see her stop next to Dagan, nodding at me, even as she is covered in blood, missing her cloak and holding her orb under her arm.

  “Good, you are all in one place. It will make this so much easier,” Tatarina says, and I see her smile widely.

  “There is a portal to our left, we run,” Bee whispers in my ear as I look back at Tatarina. We need a distraction.

  “Are you really so bitter over one man turning you down that you will destroy the whole world?” I ask her, and she growls loud.

  “Once I’ve destroyed your love, let me know if you feel like destroying the world in revenge,” she counters and clicks her fingers. Two guards walk out, carrying an unconscious Elias who hangs between them, his hair covered in blood. I scream, going to run forward, but both Thorne and Dagan hold my arms, stopping me. I swallow the panic in my throat and force my eyes away from Elias as Tatarina smirks at me.

  “No,” Dagan growls out, fire feeling like it is burning my arm where he holds me, but it doesn’t actually burn me. I honestly don’t really notice as I stare at Tatarina’s every movement. Tatarina walks over to Elias, and I clench my fists, trying to hold myself back. She lifts his head by grabbing a fistful of his hair, showing me his bruise-covered face before letting his head drop back down.

  “This one is pretty, such a shame he has such bad taste in women,” she says, twirling a piece of his hair around her finger.

  “Let him go,” I demand, my hands shaking as ice drips onto the floor, mixing with the blood on my arms from the cuts. My dragon roars in my mind, and I have to push her away to stop the shift.

  “Why?” she asks, laughing deeply, still touching my Elias. I’m going to kill her for this. Slowly.

  “You can have me if you let him and my friends go,” I say, starting to panic as I spot the thirty or maybe more guards surrounding us, hiding in the trees.

  “No,” Kor growls, pulling me back by my arm.

  “Best listen, you cannot beat me,” she laughs. “But you can watch as I destroy all the light. Nane?” she asks, looking at Nane who flies towards her hand once again.

  “What are you doing?” I ask, just as Nane touches her hand, and she kneels down, digging her hand into the dirt. Her whole body glows black, and thick smoke flows from her body, spreading quickly.

  “This place, it’s the source of all of Dragca’s magic. What do you think happens when I flood it with darkness?” Tatarina asks, and my eyes widen as I realise what she is going to do.

  “Stop!” Bee shouts and falls off my shoulder as Tatarina slowly destroys all the light, and I can’t stop her. I catch Bee, and Melody takes her off me.

  “Protect me, sister, and the light will soon be gone,” Tatarina says, a black orb of smoke surrounding her body as dozens of guards appear out the shadows, walking towards us. Esmeralda pulls out two swords and runs towards us suddenly. I growl, stepping closer and ready to fight when Dagan grabs me. He throws me over his shoulder and takes off running the other way. I look back, pushing against Dagan as I see the guards drag Elias away into the shadows. My heart shatters and panic floods me.

  “Let me go, what are you doing?” I demand, fighting him, but he is too strong. My dragon fights me, too, trying to make me shift, and my arms still burn from the cuts, knowing I couldn’t fly even if I let her. I can’t save him.

  “Saving you. It is what Elias would want and what has to happen. Tatarina is destroying the light, and you are all that is left,” Dagan says harshly, and I turn in time to see Thorne slam his hands on the floor, making a large ice wall stretch up between us. The circular wall completely covers us, only leaving a small gap behind us to escape as we see Esmeralda slam her sword against the ice on the other side. Dagan holds me tightly as he darts through the gap, and I fight him, desperate to get back.

  “Stop! Let me go! We can’t leave him with her! She will kill him!” I cry as we run through the forest, following Melody.

  “Doll, we don’t have a choice! Do you think we want to leave him with her? No,” Kor says from my left, and I growl at him. I catch Thorne’s eyes for only a second, feeling his sorrow through our bond, but he still runs.

  “I will hate you all if he dies, let me go!” I plead, my words turning into sobs.

  “We are nearly at the portal,” Melody shouts over her shoulder. Thorne and Kor shoot balls of ice and fire at guards that get near us. Dagan finally drops me and lets me go as we come to a stop, and Melody whispers to the portal we are at. I push him away as he tries to hold my hand, and he grabs my shoulders firmly, making me look at him.

  “You would have frozen me if you truly believed you could save him. You can’t, and you know it,” Dagan says, wiping my tears away as he takes my hand. “She won’t kill him, not when she can use him against you. If I thought there was any way to save my brother, I would be back there. We need to make a rescue plan, and we can do that on Earth. Okay?” he says, and I finally give up, even as it makes me sick to do so. One day on Earth to make a plan, that’s it. She can’t do too much to him in a day.

  “Okay,” I agree shakily, still hating that I can’t run back now. I follow Melody through the portal back to Earth, knowing we will be back soon to get my dragon.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Isola

  “A supermarket, great,” Kor mutters as he comes through the portal last, and we stare around the empty place. Melody grabs a bottle of water off a shelf, opening it and drinking some before passing it to Kor.

  “We should run, they could follow us,” Kor says, accepting the drink. I just turn and stare at the portal, wishing Elias would run through it, escaping somehow.

  “Is Bee okay?” I ask, glancing at her in Melody’s arms. She looks less brigh
t, less like Bee, and something isn’t right.

  “Earth isn’t good for light spirits, and I don’t know what Tatarina did back there,” Melody says, looking both confused and worried at the same time. I have an idea, but not a good one.

  “We will go back after we make a plan and clean up. Oh, and we need to get weapons,” Dagan says, and I nod, walking through the aisle we have come out at.

  “Is-o-la,” Thorne strangles out my name, and I turn, seeing him holding his neck where a dart is sticking out of it. He falls to the floor as Dagan shouts out in a pain-filled grunt and drops to his knees. I grab him as he falls, pulling out the dart that is stuck in his neck and looking at it. What the crap is that?

  “Run!” Kor demands, and I turn, only to stop as a figure walks down the aisle. I hear Kor and Melody fall behind me as Hallie steps into the light, holding a gun at me. She looks so different from the last time I saw her that I almost don’t recognise her. Hallie’s hair is up in a ponytail, the tips dyed a green colour that doesn’t match her brown eyes that are narrowed on me. I look over her clothes, or outfit rather, that is black army gear or something. She is covered in guns, daggers, and there is even a sword on her back. What happened to my friend?

  “Shoot her!” a man demands behind Hallie, and she holds a hand up as she focuses on me, and everything goes deadly silent. I can’t help the brief smile I give her as I missed my friend, but I know something is wrong. They have done something to my dragons and sister.

  “Isola,” Hallie says coldly, and I hold my own hands up in surrender as she raises the gun higher.

  “I don’t understand. What are you doing? Hallie?” I ask her, and she shakes her head, holding the gun firm.

  “My father told me what you are, but I didn’t believe him! I didn’t believe that monsters were real, and my best friend was one!” she shouts, locking her eyes with mine.

  “I’m not a monster,” I explain gently, seeing the five guys stepping behind her, wearing masks and holding their own guns up.

  “My father hunts monsters like you, keeps us safe. You are a dragon, much like the monsters that took over Paris and destroyed it while you were gone! Thousands of people are dead or missing because of your people!” she spits out. “My mother was in Paris. My mother is gone, and it’s all your fault!”

  “I don’t know anything about Paris!” I shout at her, getting frustrated. “I only want to save my own world. That is it.”

  “Same, and this is why I have to capture you and take you to my father. To the hunters’ organisation,” she says, her voice cracking as her hand shakes.

  “You don’t have to do this. You could let us go. I have to go back to Dragca for Elias, and I’m no threat to you. I’m your best friend, Hallie!” I plead, and I spot tears streaming down her face as she pulls the trigger, shooting a dart into my stomach. I hold my hands over it as I fall to my knees. She kneels down, too, looking straight into my eyes, and I can see nothing but hate reflecting back in them.

  “You burnt down Michael’s house and killed five teenagers. You are a monster and not my best friend. I clearly don’t know you at all,” she says, walking away. Everything gets blurry as I try to speak. I can only hear her footsteps on the floor as the world goes dark and one word leaves my lips.

  “Eli.”

  Epilogue

  Elias

  “Elias Fire . . . you are so, so lucky,” Tatarina taunts, grabbing my shoulder with her cold hand and digging her nails in as she smiles widely. I smirk before spitting in her face. She slams me back into a wall of the dungeon, my chains slamming against it as I stand up again.

  “Kill me and get it over with, you bitch!” I shout. I close my eyes and picture only Isola. I feel content in the knowledge the others would have her safe on Earth by now.

  “Death is not my plan for you. No. Isola will come for you, and when she does, I want her to know the pain of having the man she loves choose darkness over her,” Tatarina says, chuckling to herself.

  “I will never choose anything or anyone over Isola,” I growl, opening my eyes again. Tatarina just smiles widely at my response.

  “Darling, when I’m done, you won’t even remember who she is,” Tatarina laughs, holding her hand in the air, and a black cloud of smoke spreads from her hand.

  “Isola,” I shout as the smoke smothers me, and everything blurs away.

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  Thank you so much for reading Wings of Spirit!! There are two more books left in this series, and the next one, Wings of Fate, is up on pre-order. If you have a little time to leave a review, that would be amazing and I love to read them! A big shout out to Meagan, Michelle, Christian, Taylor, Amanda, the girls from RBP and DWM, my awesome readers group, and everyone that supported me!!

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