Bk 1 Dracones Awakening

by Sheri-Lynn Marean

  Serena, nose healing and no longer bleeding, leered at them. “Ah, is she dying?”

  Jax glare in rage at her. “You better hope she doesn’t.”

  Serena snorted. “She will. My venom is poison.”

  Jax’s darkness began to seep out of him like a living entity. “I’m going to kill you, you bitch,” he snapped, eyes beginning to glow.

  “I don’t think so. I’m the only one who can heal her,” she said smugly.

  “Thaniel,” Jax called, and trembling, holding onto his rage by sheer will, he motioned the Were-leopard over. “Put your hands here,” he instructed, and when Thaniel did as he said, Jax pulled his hands away.

  “Jax,” Tierney’s voice came out a squeak.

  “I need you to fight, Tiern. I’ll be right back. I’m going to make her heal you,” he whispered close to her ear. Then he rose to his feet. His darkness tingled over her skin and Tierney soaked it in, loving it.

  Her eyes followed him as he went to Serena and ran his finger up and down the blade of his dagger. Suddenly not so brave anymore, the bitch cowered in fear as Jax let more of his darkness out. A thick cloud, similar to the one Tierney had waded through a week ago, surrounded him.

  “Heal her,” he growled.

  Serena cringed. “Why should I help you? You’ll just kill me after.” Serena’s voice shook as her earlier bravado fled.

  “If she dies, nothing will stop me from going nuclear on your ass, and it won’t be quick, either,” Jax threatened, eyes darkening to black, as he reached for her neck and started to squeeze.

  “Jax!” Sami grabbed his brother’s arm. “Stop. We need her to heal Tierney.”

  Sami’s words finally penetrated Jax’s brain, and he slowly loosened his grip, then he dragged Serena over to Tierney on her knees like a rag doll. “Fix her,” he demanded, shaking the woman.

  “N-no.” Serena attempted to pull away.

  Jax shook her again. “I. Said. Fix. Her!” Rage pulsed from him, making Serena yelp in pain.

  “Okay—fine.” Serena trembled as she bit into her palm, drawing blood, and while Jax gripped her neck, she laid her hand over Tierney’s wound and pressed.

  Tierney moaned in agony as Serena’s venom hit her bloodstream again. She tried to jerk away, but Thaniel held her tight. Pain seared her from the inside out, turning to frigid ice, as her wound began to knit back together. Tierney frowned. It felt as though she had just been injected with an odd strength. When she was done, Serena pulled her hand away.

  “Don’t stop, what are you doing?” Jax yelled.

  Serena twisted in his grasp, trying to pull free. “She’s fixed, now let me go!”

  Jax ignored Serena as he stared down at her. “Tierney?” His eyes shone a dark midnight blue and Tierney thought she glimpsed a faint ring of red surrounding the blue, but then it disappeared.

  “Jax.” She took a deep breath, and Thaniel helped her to sit up.

  “Come on, let me go,” Serena whined, pulling at Jax’s arm and trying to free herself.

  Once Tierney was on her feet, Jax turned his attention back to Serena. “Where’s Zander?” He squeezed her neck once again.

  “I-I have no idea who you’re talking about,” she choked out.

  “Zander. Where is he?” Jax repeated his question.

  “I told you. I don’t know who that is, now let me go!” she wheezed, kicking at him and trying to break free of his grip.

  “Let you go? So you can try to kill us, or seduce one of us again?” he asked, through gritted teeth.

  “I-I won’t” she said.

  Jax shook his head. “You’re right, you won’t—you conniving bitch,” With a growl, and rage as strong as ever, he raised his dagger. “Tell me where Zander is!”

  “Ta—” Serena gasped for air, and thinking she was trying to tell him something, Jax eased up a bit.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Taraven!” she screeched. “Taraven!”

  “Where the hell is Taraven?” Jax asked, frowning at her.

  “I am Taraven,” a very young voice said, making them all jump as a small, blond ten-year-old boy appeared behind Serena. Taking advantage of the situation, Serena yanked away from Jax and stumbled into the boy.

  “You! You’re the raven I saw—” Tierney yelled, remembering the strange episode back home. She moved toward the boy. The boy frowned at Tierney, as Serena grabbed his hand.

  “Go,” Serena hissed at him.

  “Wait!” Tierney shouted as Jax lunged for Serena, but both she and the boy disappeared into thin air.

  “What the fuck?” Jax growled and they all stared wide-eyed at the empty spot.

  “I saw a hologram of that boy a week ago. The raven—” Tierney said, and they all looked at her like she was crazy. Shaking her head, she grimaced. “Sorry, I’ll explain later.” Then she squeaked when Jax grabbed her and pulled her to his chest, hugging her tight.

  “You’re okay.” His voice broke as he squeezed her.

  Tierney, surprised but happy to be pressed up against him, hugged him back. “Yeah, thanks to you.”

  “I almost lost you,” he whispered, and Tierney sensed a void of despair in him as he clung to her. Finally, he pulled back. “You are okay, right?”

  She nodded. “Yes, thank you. But what’s with everyone appearing and disappearing?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dream-Nightmare

  TIERNEY AND JAX tensed up when they heard someone clearing their throat.

  “Ah, I hate to interrupt but—” a strange voice said.

  Thaniel jumped and Tierney started to pull out of Jax’s embrace, but his arm tightened around her protectively. Sami moved to the other side of Jax as they turned towards the voice.

  A tall male with short matted hair and tattoos all over his upper torso, leaned against one of the cells not ten feet from them. Tierney wondered how long he’d been there.

  “Who are you?” Jax growled, ready to attack, even though the guy looked pale and starved.

  Tierney scanned all around them, before looking back at the tattooed guy. Most of the captives had taken off, but some were still helping others.

  Beside her, Thaniel trembled. “He’s Mark.”

  Ah, yes. The wolf Toren hung out with.

  Surprised, Marks came closer. “Thaniel?” He stopped at the fear on the Were-leopards face. “Shit, sorry kid.” Mark cursed and grabbed the bars of the cell beside him. “Fucking Arlow.”

  Tierney frowned and tried to pull Thaniel in behind her, but he took a cautious step forward. “It’s okay.” Thaniel stared at Mark. “He brought me food.”

  “Shit. I’m sorry I didn’t do more,” Mark said, clearly upset.

  “H-have you seen Real?” Thaniel asked instead.

  Mark pursed his lips and shook his head. “Not for days. They took him down the hall. He never came back. Sorry.”

  As they all thought of the torture room, Thaniel’s shoulders suddenly sagged with defeat, making Tierney ache for him. Then he turned away with tears in his eyes.

  Mark studied them. “That’s some crazy shit,” he said, referring to Serena. Still, none of them said a word and finally, Mark sighed. “I heard you calling for Real and Toren a few minutes ago. I know Thaniel, but who are the rest of you?”

  “I’m Tierney, he’s Jax.” Then before she could introduce Sami, he did it himself.

  Tierney glanced around for Genna, before remembering the fear on the girl’s face right before she disappeared. Something about Serena had scared her. She turned back to Mark. “Kyrian, the leader of Toren’s pack, sent us to find him.”

  “Ah yes, King Kyrian, Toren’s father.” Mark nodded, weary.

  Tierney frowned at his white-knuckled grip on the bars of the cell. She glanced at Jax. Kyrian, leader of the Okami, was Toren’s father and also a King? “Seems Kyrian forgot to tell us some things,” Jax said, but Tierney didn’t reply.

  “I’m going to go look around outside while you guys talk,
” Sami said, and Tierney thought he looked nervous and pale as he slipped out the double doors.

  With a frown, she turned back to Mark. “Any idea where Toren is?”

  Mark shook his head. “Sorry, they took him somewhere else.”

  “How did you end up here?” she asked.

  Mark’s lips tightened in anger. “When Toren showed up looking for Zeveride, Arlow claimed he didn’t know where the guy went, but promised to find out. Then he directed me to show Toren the city. But a couple days later, Arlow texted, said he had information for Toren, and for us to meet him back at the house.” Mark closed his eyes and shook his head, and Tierney caught the tremble as he tried to steady himself.

  “Mark, you look like you’re about to fall down,” she said, worried. He seemed like a decent guy and she could usually sense when someone wasn’t.

  “I’m fine.” Mark scowled, but his trembling continued to worsen, and a sheen of sweat rose up on his brow.

  “No, you’re not.” She rushed forward to help, but Jax reached the guy first.

  “I got ya, man.” Jax slipped an arm around Mark’s waist for support.

  “So, what happened?” Tierney asked as Jax helped Mark down the row of cells to the hallway door.

  “Seconds after we got to the house, Arlow’s buddies appeared and tranq’d us while Arlow, the asshole, sat back and watched the show,” Mark explained.

  “Yeah, that seems to be their MO,” Jax said grimly.

  Mark grinned. “Well, Toren showed them. In a split second the guy shifted from human to wolf. I was going down, but I saw him leap across the room and heard a lot of yelling. I do believe he got some bites in before they knocked him out. Then everything went dark, and I woke up in the back of a large van with eight of the pack crammed in with me.”

  “That’s messed up.” Jax shook his head.

  Mark nodded. “I drifted in and out of consciousness, but I remember the truck stopping. They unloaded Toren and three others into another vehicle, before they brought us here.”

  “Shit!” Tierney swore. How do we find Toren now?

  “Sorry I’m not much help. I do appreciate you freeing us, though,” Mark said, and Tierney nodded.

  “No problem, man. This shit is fucked up,” Jax said, as they made their way to the steel door.

  “Where are you going to go?” Thaniel asked Mark.

  Mark shrugged. “I’ll find somewhere. Arlow needs to die, but I need to get my strength back first.”

  “Well, you can come with us,” Tierney offered without looking at Jax.

  “You want to bring him home?” Jax asked.

  Tierney smiled at the hint of jealousy. “Well, we have lots of space. He can stay in one of the empty cabins.”

  “Sure, okay,” Jax agreed, though he didn’t sound certain.

  “Nah, I’ll figure shit out.” Mark attempted to stand on his own, but when he began to stagger, Jax caught him.

  “Thanks,” he said, embarrassed.

  “I’m sure Kyrian would like to talk to you about Toren, and we have some empty cabins you can stay in while you recover,” Tierney said.

  Mark studied them, trying to decide whether to trust them. Finally, he nodded. “Maybe I will, thanks.”

  “Hey, Thaniel, can you help Mark back to the car? We need to find Sami and we’ll be right behind you,” Jax said, surprising Tierney when he offered Thaniel his precious car keys.

  Thaniel stared at the keys a moment, before peering up at Jax. “All right.” He nodded and took them as if they were a treasure.

  “I like Thaniel, and Mark seems decent,” Tierney said as the pair made their way down the hallway.

  “Yeah,” Jax reluctantly agreed.

  Tierney grinned, knowing he was worried about Mark stealing her affections, but she could have told him he had no reason to worry. She was his and always would be. Instead, she turned away so he wouldn’t see her grin and scanned the cells. Then a sudden wave of nausea swept through her, making her groan.

  “What’s wrong?” Jax asked.

  “It’s Sami,” she whispered. “Sami?” she called, switching to telepathy, but he didn’t answer.

  “Jax, we need to find him—now.” She turned and began to run for the double doors with him right beside her.

  “Sami, where are you?” she called again, and again, received no answer. They hurried outside and across to the other barn where they cautiously peered inside. Not seeing anyone, Tierney lowered her shields and confirmed with she suspected. “No one’s here.” She glanced at the old junk that filled the building, before turning away. “Where the hell is he, and why isn’t he answering?”

  “Sami?” Jax called this time and she could hear and feel his worry for his brother.

  Back outside, Tierney shivered at the ominous shadows cast by the setting sun, and glanced toward the front of the property. Nothing. She looked the other way and spotted a large, dark silhouette falling past the corner at the end of the barn. “Sami.” Tierney sprinted along the barn with Jax following her.

  She rounded the corner and found Sami standing immobile, horror pulsing from him. “Sami?” she whispered, then choking, sucked in a lungful of smoke as her stunned mind tried to make sense of the massive smoldering grave in front of her.

  “Sami, we need to get—what the hell?” Jax stopped and stared. A pit of about fifty feet across, and the same wide, smoldered with thick, black smoke, from hundreds of burning bodies, bones and ash.

  Oh hell, this really is Sami’s dream—wait, scratch that, it’s a fucking nightmare!

  The crackle, popping, and roar of fire, along with movement out of the corner of her eye, drew their attention to another pit about two hundred yards away where an inferno blazed high into the air. Over the noise, they caught the sound of someone screeching and swearing.

  “No,” Sami whispered when two men, armed with automatic weapons rounded the corner from one of the other outbuildings, mere feet from the pit. They were dragging a pale-skinned, dark, short-haired female who cursed as she kicked and bit at them. They saw one of the men taser her, but still she fought them with all she had.

  “No!” the anguished cry tore from Sami’s throat as he bolted towards them.

  “Shit!” Tierney swore. She and Jax took off after him. “Sami!” they both called him telepathically, but he didn’t stop.

  “It’s her. I need to help her,” he said, running towards the men.

  Tierney’s heart thundered in fear as she chased her best friend, keeping an eye on the men with the girl. There was no way would they get to her in time.

  Oblivious to their audience, the two men shoved the girl, who let out an ear shattering scream of outrage, as she flew into the fiery pit of flames.

  With a stumble, Sami fell to his knees. “No!” The fire whooshed higher, engulfing the girl whose screech lingered for a few seconds longer.

  Oh Gods, no. Tierney couldn’t believe what those men had just done. These people are monsters. She’d grown up knowing it, but seeing their handy work up close, reinforced everything. She and Jax stopped beside Sami at the same time the men spotted them and let out a yell.

  “Shit. C’mon Sami. We need to go,” Tierney hissed, as the men began to run toward them.

  “I’m going to kill them!” Sami howled, suddenly furious as he climbed shakily to his feet.

  “No Sami,” Tierney and Jax each grabbed an arm and tried to pull him away. “Now’s not the time, we gotta go.”

  Sami started to fight them. “No, they need to pay!”

  “Sami, I get it, but please—” Tierney pleaded with him, as the first bullet whizzed by. “Aw—fuck,” she yelled as it grazed her arm. Seeing the blood and hole in her sleeve, she swore again. Damn, I liked this shirt!

  “Tiern,” Jax called, drawing her attention to him, then she watched as he used his power for a protection spell. “This better work this time.”

  “C’mon, Sami.” Tierney held onto him as she tried to pull him away. Luck
ily, he went willingly, but as they ran, automatic gunfire sprayed behind them, bullets bouncing off Jax’s shield. They almost made it around the corner of the barn, when another bullet flew a little too close past her head.

  “Fuck—I’m done!” Jax gasped, as his power ran out. They spun around the corner and were momentarily safe. Behind them, the gunfire ceased and Tierney drew in a relieved breath, even though she knew they didn’t have long. The men wouldn’t give up.

  But when she heard a shout of surprise, followed by a bloodcurdling scream, she halted.

  “Keep going,” she said to Jax, as she let Sami’s arm go.

  “Tierney, no—what are you doing?” Jax and Sami both stopped as well.

  “I’ll be okay. Keep going, please—get Sami out of here, I’ll be right behind you,” she said and turned back.

  “No, Tiern!” Jax growled.

  Ignoring him, she peeked around the corner and grinned.

  One man writhed on the ground, holding a bloody arm, while a massive black wolf knocked the second man down, and proceeded to rip his throat out.

  “Tierney!” Jax hissed, but she waved at him to be quiet.

  “One sec.” She continued to watch Soroyan, in wolf form, tear the men apart, when a loud screech startled her. She glanced up to see a large, flaming rocket shoot from the far pit, straight into the air. It whizzed into the sky so fast that Tierney only caught a flash of flame, as it streaked through the evening light and disappeared. What the hell?

  Okay. Weird. Tierney glanced back at the men and wolf. The first man Soroyan had put down cradled his hurt arm against his chest and was inching over to grab his gun with his good arm. “Soroyan—behind you!” she shouted, catching the wolf’s attention right before the man took aim and began to squeeze the trigger.

  A ferocious growl rang out as Soroyan spun and leaped, knocking the gun from the man’s hand. Blood flew everywhere. Heart racing, Tierney and ran to Jax and Sami, who waited a few feet away.