Dracones Boxset Books 1-5

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

  The girl, who looked to be about fifteen, stared at them with fright in her strange turquoise eyes. Instead of a rounded pupil, hers were catlike slits. Then, while they watched, her fear disappeared and resignation set in, and her eyes changed to a normal rounded pupil.

  “We’re not here to hurt you,” Sami said, taking a cautious step forward, swallowed, and nodded in Jax’s direction. “I’m Sami, he’s my brother—Jax.”

  The girl stared at them without a word. Sami glanced at Jax.

  “Marcius is a fucking serial rapist. He needs to die for this,” he said, daring his brother to disagree with him.

  Jax swallowed and nodded in agreement.

  Sami turned back to the girl whose eyes had grown wider at his words. “What’s your name?” he asked her. She blinked but still didn’t answer.

  “We came to take you away from here,” Jax added, his voice gruff with emotion. ”Maybe she doesn’t speak English,” Jax said inside Sami’s head.

  Sami didn’t answer him, instead he studied the girl. “I’m so sorry Marcius did this to you,” he whispered, wiping the wetness from his face.

  “Did Marcius send you?” The girl finally asked in a whispery soft voice.

  “Hell no,” Jax spit out, his anger making her flinch.

  Sami shook his head. “No, but when we find him … we will kill him,” he said, knowing his anger was shining bright in his eyes. “I’m sorry. We don’t mean to scare you.”

  “D-did Daryell send you?” she asked hopefully.

  “No, we don’t know anyone named Daryell,” Sami said.

  “Daryell’s my brother,” she whispered and tears filled her eyes. “I-I miss him…”

  Sami looked back at Jax with startled eyes. Was it possible he had another brother? Jax shrugged. “Is Marcius your father?” Sami asked her.

  The girl pursed her lips for a moment before giving a tiny nod. Sami swallowed. If she really was his sister, that meant she was at least part Fallen, but he couldn’t help wondering what the other part was, since she was obviously not Dracones. Rage and guilt pumped through him. Rage at what Marcius had done to his family and guilt over never knowing he had a sister.

  “Is Marcius…Daryell’s father too?” he asked her.

  The girl nodded. Sami turned away and ran a hand through his hair. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and then froze when he glanced at what was on the table. Shit!

  “Ah, Jax?” he said, a moment later. His brother turned in response, and Sami held up Marcius’s soul stone choker. “You think he left this here so we couldn’t track him?”

  “Damn! No clue, maybe—probably.” Jax’s gaze shifted from the choker to meet Sami’s eyes. “Fuck!”

  Finding Marcius had just gotten harder.

  Sami lowered his head into his hands, feeling the familiar pain, guilt, and now a dark anger beginning to rise in him. He closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths as he concentrated on pushing it back and trying to act like nothing was wrong.

  “You need a moment?” Jax asked, his hand on Sami’s shoulder.

  Sami opened his eyes and looked up at his brother. Panic began to fill him and this time, Jax either didn’t or couldn’t stop it. Sami shook his head. He couldn’t do this in front of Jax or his…his sister. Shit, he had a sister…a sister his own father just finished, oh gods, he couldn’t even think it, much less say it…and he has another brother—somewhere. Suddenly, he could hardly breathe. Damn. He’d been so much better for the last few days, until today.

  “Sami,” Jax’s voice snapped him out of it and shame filled him at the understanding he saw in his brother’s eyes as Jax nodded towards the bathroom. Without a word, Sami got up and hurried into the little room, pulling his knife from its sheath as soon as he was inside.

  “You okay?” Jax asked when he came out a few minutes later. Without meeting his gaze, Sami nodded, ashamed of what he just did. Jax stared at him a moment then turned to Sami’s sister.

  “So, ah…where is Daryell now?” Jax asked her.

  Sami knew Jax was worried about what Marcius might have done to him, just like Sami was. Tears began to trickle down the girl’s cheeks and she gave a little shrug. Sami began to choke.

  “Shit,” Jax swore and turning to Sami, he put an arm around his shoulders and squeezed. “Hey, you gonna be okay?” he asked.

  Sami sucked in a deep breath and stiffening his back, he nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

  Jax stared at him. “You need to forgive yourself bro. I forgive you, not that I think there’s anything to forgive, but now you need to forgive yourself,” Jax said before he turned back to the girl.

  Sami stared at Jax’s back thinking about his words. Then he tucked them away to think about later. His brother had been through much worse, and he was holding up so Sami could too. He had to.

  “We need to get her home,” Jax said, and Sami knew he wasn’t sure how to approach the girl because of the way his brother was studying her. “So ah, we know that you are part Fallen, but what else are you?”

  She didn’t answer. Jax glanced briefly at Sami before looking back at her.

  “Look, have you heard of the Dracones?” She gave a slight nod, and both Jax and Sami let out a sigh of relief. Neither of them liked the idea of trying to explain what they were if she didn’t know. “Well, Sami and I are both Dracones, and we are going to take you somewhere safe, okay?”

  The girl shook her head. “Just leave me, if he finds me gone,” she whispered, shaking her head. Her air of resignation sent shivers through both Sami and Jax.

  “We are not leaving you here,” Sami said and something in his voice had her looking at him with what might have been hope.

  Finally, she nodded. “All right,” she said and clutched the comforter around her tighter.

  “Can I pick you up?” Jax asked, probably thinking she was going to freak but she surprised both of them by nodding her assent.

  Jax wrapped the comforter closer around her then picked her up, and carried her outside. With a feeling of being spied on, Sami glanced around uneasily. He didn’t see anyone and with a shrug, dismissed it as being paranoid.

  They had all just taken to the sky when Sami’s senses began to prickle, making him glance down at the tiny house and yard. What the…? A figure with long dark hair streaming out behind her darted out of the trees and was running across the yard towards Marcius’s home, lugging some kind of red bag or case with her.

  “Jax, there’s someone down there,” he said and began to circle back for a closer look.

  “Who is it?” Jax asked as he followed behind Sami.

  “Don’t know, looks female, but whoever she is, she just ran inside.”

  They circled around a few more times until they noticed smoke beginning to rise from the little house.

  “What the hell?” Jax said.

  Then they watched as the female dashed back outside minus whatever she’d been carrying, and began to dance and twirl around the yard with her arms held above her head. Within seconds, the place was an inferno.

  “Is that…it looks like—” Jax’s thought trailed off as they circled again and hovered closer to the ground for a better view.

  “It looks like Serena,” Sami said, wondering what the hell she was up to.

  They watched for a few more seconds as the woman who had tried to seduce Jax the evening he was going through his Awakening, danced, and howled gleefully on Marcius’s front lawn while his home went up in flames. Sami chuckled at the sight.

  “As much as I hate that bitch, good on her,” Jax said, his laugh filling Sami’s head.

  “Yeah, I wonder what the bastard did to piss her off,” Sami replied chuckling along with his brother.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Choices

  TIERNEY PACED HER ROOM. “Where are you Jax? Sami?”

  Neither of them answered and it was now dark. She was worried and impatient to see them home, and in one piece. She turned to stare at her reflection in the French doo
rs only to jump in surprise when Kyrian’s voice sounded in her head right as Thaniel silently drifted into her room.

  “Tierney, you have company.” Kyrian said at the same time that Thaniel, his eyes wide, said, “Brimstone is here with someone.”

  “I’ll be right out,” she told Kyrian and with a tense smile, she nodded at Thaniel as she hurried out of her room. “Thanks.”

  Tierney walked outside to see Brimstone and the woman that they had all witnessed thrown into the fire thirteen days ago—alive and waiting for her.

  “Brimstone,” Tierney said coldly as she took in the woman, sensing who she was.

  “Hi Tierney, this is my sister—Hellfire,” Brimstone said.

  Without taking her eyes off Hellfire, Tierney nodded. “I know who she is.”

  At her cold angry tone, Brimstone glanced at Hellfire who just shrugged. “Ah, we need to talk to you,” he said, looking confused by Tierney’s anger.

  Finally, Tierney turned to him. “You, I will talk with. Her, no,” she said and started toward the picnic table.

  Anger was coursing through her. That combined with her anxiety over Jax and Sami and lack of sleep, she was afraid if she spoke to the woman who was responsible for Sami trying to take his life, she might kill the phoenix shifter herself. A second later, Brimstone caught up to walk at her side. Tierney sensed Hellfire following behind them.

  “I’m sorry, did I do something to piss you off?” Brimstone asked her.

  Tierney shook her head. After all, it wasn’t his fault that his sister was a major bitch. “No, not you.”

  “Oh, okay.” Brimstone glanced back at Hellfire, probably wondering what she had done now. “So, it turns out it was our sister, Nix that night at Club Purgatori. We finally talked with Sin. She said she heard something about a portal and a place called…Tartaria.”

  At his mention of her home world, Tierney tensed up. “Yeah, so why are you here?”

  “Well, I heard you mention Tartaria when I was here before, and I was hoping you could tell me about the place and how to get there.”

  Tierney silently cursed a blue streak in her head. Damnit, I need to be more careful of what I say. She started to shake her head when Brimstone interrupted her. “Please, I know you know where it is. We need to find our sister.”

  Tierney could feel his panic and fear for his sibling, and her anger softened. She glanced at Hellfire.

  “Do you know where it is?” Hellfire asked.

  Tierney nodded.

  “Where?” Brimstone asked at the same time that Hellfire said, “How do we get there?”

  With a shake of her head, Tierney looked back at Brimstone. “It’s a whole other world, accessed only through a dimensional portal in Ireland.”

  Brimstone stared at her in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

  Tierney just stared at him, part of her mind on Jax and Sami, the other part trying to think of how much to say to the two in front of her.

  “So, can you tell us how to find it?” Hellfire asked, stepping closer.

  Tierney’s anger flared back up. “I could but my telling you won’t help. From what my father told me when I was younger, only a few types of supes can find and access that portal.”

  Hellfire frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Tierney took a deep breath. “Only our enemy—the Ilyium, a Fallen, a Dracones, or the Portal Guardian himself has the magic that can access that portal.”

  At her words, Hellfire let out a frustrated growl.

  “Dracones?” Brimstone said, frowning at Tierney. “Are they dragons?”

  “Yeah, they are.”

  “I never heard of any of them existing on Earth.”

  Tierney shrugged. “They are from Tartaria and most still live there.”

  Hellfire kicked at the ground, and then looked at Tierney, “But you know where it is?”

  Tierney slowly nodded, hating where this conversation was headed. “I do.”

  “Can you open it?” Hellfire asked.

  “I can.”

  “Well then, you need to come with us,” Hellfire said, staring at her.

  Tierney snorted and started back towards the house. “Not a chance.”

  Brimstone grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Wait, please.”

  Tierney glared at him, and he quickly let her go.

  “Sorry…please, we need to find Nix and you’re our only chance. I don’t know what Hellfire did to piss you off but please help us, for Nix and me. She’s an innocent in all this.”

  Once again, Tierney felt herself thawing in the face of his worry for his sister. Then Kyrian’s voice filled her head again. “Tierney, whatever you do, do not agree to go with them.”

  “Why not?” she asked feeling suddenly perplexed and suspicious.

  “I’ve seen something and while it isn’t clear, all I know is Sami needs to be the one to lead them to the portal.”

  “Shit.” Tierney pursed her lips, hating what that meant for her friend. “Thanks Kyrian.” She studied the two Phoenix in front of her still waiting for an answer. “Look, even if I wanted to go, I can’t.”

  Hellfire narrowed her eyes on Tierney and sneered. “You can’t, or you won’t?”

  Tierney studied Hellfire. Sami’s soul mate or not, she still hated the woman and knowing Sami had a nice, sweet female waiting inside for him didn’t help change her mind.

  “Won’t. Now, you need to go. I want you off my property.” She glanced at Brimstone, feeling guilty at letting him down. “Sorry Brimstone,” Tierney said and started to turn away when Hellfire turned to Brimstone in anger.

  “You told me she was nice, that she’d help us. Guess you were duped by a pretty face, brother.”

  Swinging back around, Tierney knew her eyes were flashing a deep purple but didn’t care. Rage swept over her and she stepped up close to Hellfire. She had to stop herself from throttling the phoenix. Instead she poked her in the chest. “Even if I could go, I’d never go with you. You hurt a member of my family, someone I love most in all the universes. Now, I need you off my property—so go.”

  Hellfire didn’t move and then with a shake of her head, she glared at Tierney.

  Tierney couldn’t believe the audacity. “I don’t know why or how you could hurt someone as sweet and lovable as Sami but what you did, nearly destroyed him,” Tierney said, her heart heavy as she watched Hellfire struggle to think of something to say but after a moment, the woman simply shrugged her shoulders and stepped back.

  “Fine. Brim.” An instant later, flames engulfed her entire body and with one last arrogant glare at Tierney, Hellfire shot into the night sky.

  “I don’t know what she did to Sami, but I’m really sorry,” Brimstone said. Then he changed into his Phoenix form and shot into the sky as well.

  ***

  SAMI FLAPPED HIS WINGS and glided through the air, anxious to be home. He knew they were very close, and suddenly, he just wanted to see Goldy. But a moment later he glanced around. He didn’t see anything, but the sense that there was something or someone else in the sky with them, was overwhelming.

  You are just tired, he thought, until a familiar scent drifted to him on the breeze. A sudden and fierce longing for Hellfire consumed him, making him dip lower in the sky, faltering. Damn, I’m losing it here! With a couple powerful strokes of his wings, he shot back up to glide beside Jax who carried his sister. Sami searched the starry sky but he couldn’t see anything other than Jax flying beside him, but what he was sensing wasn’t Jax.

  “Do you feel that” he asked his brother.

  “What the hell is that? It feels like we aren’t alone up here,” Jax said also looking around. Though they could sense someone, neither of them had Tierney’s power to search around with their mind like she did.

  A wave of longing, of need, hit him and Sami shivered again. The ache in his soul almost paralyzed him for a moment. Then it began slowly fading away.

  “Well that was just weird,” Jax said.

  Wh
en it came back, Sami suddenly faltered again, and began to drop out of the sky.

  “Sami, what the hell?” Jax asked him, pulling him back to the present.

  “I’m all right,” Sami answered and quickly righted himself so that he was flying beside Jax once again.

  Jax turned his head and studied him. Sami nodded. He didn’t want his brother to worry over him anymore than he did. Steeling himself, Sami strengthened his shields and hardened his heart. Get a grip man!

  They landed in the same tiny clearing Sami had used a few days ago to see Tierney standing impatiently, waiting for them.

  “It’s not what you think,” Jax told her when they both saw the anger and jealousy in her eyes.

  “And what is it you think I think?” she asked, making Sami want to laugh. He knew how she could be.

  “Better answer carefully,” Sami warned Jax.

  “Yeah,” Jax said. At the sight of the strangers, Sami’s sister tensed up and began to tremble in Jax’s arms. “We found her at Marcius’s home. I don’t know how long he’s had her, but he ... he’s been—” Jax didn’t say anymore.

  Tierney’s eyes went wide with understanding and she was suddenly rushing towards her mate. Sami shifted forms and reached for his sister so Jax could shift back into his human form.

  “It’s all right, I got you,” he told the girl in a quiet tone. Heart pounding, he lifted her out of Jax’s large dragon talons. He’d been too upset earlier to object when Jax offered to carry her but now, he just wanted to see her safe in their home.

  “Jax?” Tierney’s arms went around her mate and she pulled him close. “Babe, I’m sorry,” Tierney whispered.

  Sami knew that Jax had kept their connection closed for the last few days so he didn’t worry Tierney any more than she was, but now that he was here…now that she had her arms around him, the bond they shared ensured she felt everything he did.

  “You silly man,” she chided Jax for blocking her. “We are in this together and we will get through this together.” She gave him a squeeze and even Sami could feel her love for his brother.