by R. E. Butler
Relief twined through her. Brone would protect the dragon because it was important to her, and that made it important to him.
Chapter 12
Brone tossed vampires out of the way as he made his way to the couch where the small creature was fighting with Restik and several others. Brone snagged Restik around the neck with one hand and threw him against the far wall, and then he kicked out, nailing another vampire in the stomach and shoving him away.
The dragon cowered, his whole body twitching as Brone loomed over him. Brone snapped the chain and unwound it from his neck. He lifted the dragon into his arms. “If you hurt my mate, I will rip you apart, understand?” He growled the words at the creature.
The dragon calmed immediately and flicked out his tongue, grazing Brone’s cheek. Stepping around the fighting vampires — both his coven and Restik’s — he handed the dragon to Arissa and said to Vex and Cella, “Get her to my chamber.”
Vex nodded and ushered Arissa and Cella out of the room quickly. Arissa cast her gaze to Brone and smiled in spite of her tears, but Brone wasn’t feeling much like smiling right then. Restik wasn’t an old vampire, but he did have a large coven that tended to strike first and ask questions later.
The family and several guards were fighting against Restik’s coven. Restik stood behind two of his people, angrily rubbing at the mark on his neck caused by Brone’s grip. Mishka stepped from behind a guard and Brone joined him. Clapping his hands loudly, Mishka called for peace, and while the family stopped fighting immediately, Restik’s coven was not listening and continued to attack.
Brone bellowed, “Cease!” Everyone else froze.
Restik shoved his guards aside and stomped to the center of the room, looking like a pissed off toddler.
“You stole my pet!”
Brone snarled. “That is no pet. It’s a shifter and it called to my mate for help. As a Wiccan, she is bound to help those who ask it of her.” Brone didn’t know exactly what the little creature had said to his mate, but he was certain that it had communicated to her. Aside from Arissa’s tears, Brone had felt her anguish for the dragon through their bond. He didn’t particularly care about the shifter, but he did care about Arissa and would do anything to keep her from being in pain.
Mishka raised a hand toward Brone and said, “Let us adjourn to my office where calmer heads will prevail.”
Restik gnashed his teeth, but gave a jerky nod of his head. Mishka instructed Temple to handle the food who were cowering in the corner. Mishka led the way to his office with Restik and his coven following, as the rest of the family and guards brought up the rear. When the room was empty, Brone walked over to the couch and picked up the chain that had held the young dragon captive.
Were-serpents held an alliance with the vampire coven. Their king, Tosh, and Mishka had been allies for many years. The serpents were, in reality, dragon shifters, but had always gone by the moniker of serpent-shifters. Some of the shifters in Tosh’s small group looked more like big alligators than dragons, but Tosh himself looked like a dragon from the days of knights and castles. The young boy who had been held captive by Restik was one of Tosh’s, Brone was certain. Mishka had alliances with every shifter leader in Northern Ohio and took all of them very seriously. He would not look too kindly on Restik bringing a shifter child into the club and using some kind of power to hide it.
He turned his head and looked at the doorway where Bellamin stood. “Mishka is asking for you.”
Brone nodded, gathering the chain in his hands.
As he passed Bellamin, the young male said, “Arissa asked for you, too.”
“Tell my mate I will be with her as soon as possible.”
Bellamin nodded and strode away as Brone made his way downstairs to the offices. As far as he was concerned, there was no explanation worthy of keeping a child captive, especially one who had touched his mate so deeply.
* * * * *
Arissa tried to put down the dragon in the center of Brone’s bed, but it tightened its grip on her with its little clawed hands, refusing to let go of her.
“All right, little one,” she cooed, climbing up onto the bed and settling him in her lap. He snuggled against her, burrowing closer, and sighed. The dragon had rose red scales, not quite pink but not entirely red either. The brow ridges were red and reached the back of his head where a single row of spikes flowed down his back.
“I think his wings are broken,” she said softly as she ran a fingertip gently along one wing.
Vex, who stood in the doorway of Brone’s chamber, made a sound of disgust. “They probably broke them to keep him from flying and escaping.”
“Does that mean his arms are broken, too?”
“No, his front dragon legs are his human arms and they appear to be fine.”
Cella sat on the edge of the bed and touched the dragon’s long tail that was curled around Arissa’s knee. “I could just kill Restik for hurting a child like this.”
Arissa nodded, feeling the same rage toward the vampire who thought nothing of harming a young shifter. She wanted to storm up to wherever that bastard was and chain him up and see how he liked being held captive, beaten, starved, and forced to fight for others’ amusement.
She cupped the small head and gently lifted his chin, looking into his golden eyes. “Are you hungry, little one?”
He purred softly, and she saw an image in her mind of raw meat. Chuckling, she leaned down and rubbed her nose against his snout. “You got it.” She looked up at Vex and said, “Would you ask the cafeteria to send some raw steaks down here? He’s hungry.”
Vex smiled and pulled his phone from his pocket.
While he called the cafeteria, Cella said, “Mishka will call the serpent king and set up a meeting. If ‘little one’ doesn’t belong to Tosh’s nest, then I’m certain he will be able to find who he belongs to.”
“I’ve met some of the serpent shifters on the full moons with the coven, but I don’t think Tosh was among them.”
“I believe he used to privately guard one of the corners, but he sends his guards now. They’re very impressive warriors, you know. The serpents begin their training as young children, which is probably why ‘little one’ was held captive.”
“When I heard them called were-serpents, I always pictured them turning into giant snakes.”
Cella laughed. “I think most people think of that as well. They’re beautiful, though. Majestic.”
Little One took that moment to sneeze, his body twitching and his tail snapping.
“Mostly majestic,” Cella amended.
“How do you suppose he was able to communicate his thoughts to me?”
Vex said, “Probably because you’re Wiccan. Serpents are the only ones who can communicate in their shifted form.”
Within a few minutes, a tray of raw steaks was delivered to the chamber, and Cella used a knife to slice the meat into thin strips, which she handed to Arissa. The strips were hungrily gobbled up as quickly as she offered them to him, and he went through two steaks before he finally made a satisfied sound and closed his eyes, leaning his head against her shoulder.
“It’s like holding a big, scaly baby,” Arissa said with a chuckle. “I didn’t know that shifters could shift as children.”
“Most can’t,” Vex said, “but serpents are unique. They can shift as youngsters, although they don’t really gain control of their shifted forms until they’re older. I’ve never seen a child serpent before. They are guarded zealously by the nest.”
“His mom is dead, maybe by Restik’s hands or whoever took him from her. I hope they can find his family.”
As she said the word family, the boy’s eyes flashed open and he moved so quickly that she saw nothing but a blur of reddish scales before he sank his teeth into her bicep. She gasped in pain, but just as quickly as he struck, he released her flesh and settled back against her.
“What the hell?” she said as she looked at her arm. Where the bite marks had been, a pattern
emerged on her skin. It looked like a tattoo made of black swirls and dips, with the image of a dragon in the center.
“Oh, wow,” Vex said, leaving his post at the doorway and walking toward her. “He just claimed you.”
“Excuse me? He’s a kid and I already have a mate.”
Vex laughed. “No, not mate-claimed, protective-claimed. That mark is super rare, Arissa. It means that he pledged himself to protect you forever because you saved his life. Serpents take life-debts very seriously.”
She smiled down at the dragon, and his eyes closed. He sighed and soon fell asleep.
For as long as she could remember, nothing very exciting had ever happened to her, outside of the occasional spell going wrong. In the span of two weeks, she had found her beloved mate, been welcomed into the family, and now she had a little dragon protector.
She had an immortal family now and could count this young one as part of it. He might have claimed her in a life-debt, but she was claiming him with her heart.
* * * * *
“Threaten my mate again,” Brone snarled, “and I’ll send you to the afterlife in pieces.”
Restik smiled behind his guards and then looked at Mishka. “If your beast advances any further, I’ll take it as an act of war against my coven.”
Mishka stood between Brone and Restik. “Restik, you brought a stolen shifter child into my club, hidden behind some sort of magic that prevented him from being found. I have an alliance with were-serpents, and I must report the young one to the serpent king or I risk their wrath on my people, and I will not do that. You violated my goodwill by bringing a captive here and then attacking my guards to try to get to Brone’s mate. You are lucky that I do not allow Brone to handle things his way. He’s very good at making bad vampires disappear.”
“My father sits on the European council, Mishka.”
Mishka sighed loudly. “Your father cannot help you now, Restik. You’re not old enough to sway me with your threats, and you’re not male enough to beat Brone in a fight. Leave now and don’t return to my territory again.”
Brone gnashed his teeth. He didn’t want to let the male go unharmed.
“I demand restitution. By our laws, you owe me.”
Brone stepped closer, but Mishka raised a hand, pressing it against Brone’s chest. “What laws would those be?”
“I bought the creature legally. How was I to know what he was?” Restik looked at Mishka imploringly, but Brone was not fooled by the act. Restik had been changed as a young man which made him appear harmless. Although not as deadly as Brone, he was dangerous.
“You knew exactly what he was,” Brone snarled.
“Prove it. And it’s moot at any rate, because according to our laws, you have taken what is rightfully mine. Return the dragon to me, or give me something of equal value.”
Mishka’s head tilted ever so slightly. “You’re not getting the child. What would you have in exchange?”
Restik’s eyes brightened and he smiled. “I’ll take the witch.”
Brone roared and charged at the male, but the family surrounded him and pushed him back.
Temple shouted, “Calm the fuck down!”
Brone snapped his teeth. “I’ll tear your heart out!”
Restik chuckled darkly. “I only need her for a night or two. Just long enough to get good use out of her. She’s a little old for my taste, but she’ll do.”
“I cannot give you a mate, you know that. None of our laws would allow it. But I do have something you might find of equal value to the shifter.”
“What’s more valuable than the mate of your assassin, the last member of The Plague?”
“I have the Book of Aramnapor,” Mishka said and Restik went very still, his eyes wide with surprise.
“That book was rumored lost millennia ago.”
Brone ceased struggling against the family and relaxed fractionally. Mishka was an antiquities collector and prided himself on his large collection of ancient texts and artifacts. That he was willing to part with something as valuable as the Book of Aramnapor told Brone just how much Mishka valued the alliance with the dragons.
Glancing at Temple, Brone said, “I’m going to check on my mate.”
The family released Brone as Mishka and Restik hashed out the details. Brone would have killed that entire coven before he let a hair on Arissa’s head be harmed. Striding quickly through the club and down to the family chambers, Brone found Vex standing guard outside of his chamber.
Brone glanced inside and saw Arissa asleep on the bed with the dragon cuddled in her arms. Cella was looking down at them, her face marred with a frown. She lifted her head and whispered, “What’s going to happen to him?”
“Mishka is trading the Book of Aramnapor in exchange for not returning the child, and Restik is banned from our territory.”
“According to Arissa, the boy told her that he was used in fights against other shifters for sport. What book has more value than Restik fulfilling some sick perversion letting kids fight each other?”
Vex said, “The book contains detailed information about one of the oldest and wealthiest covens in the history of our people. If someone could translate the texts, they might be able to uncover unimaginable wealth.”
“I hope they never translate it then,” she said, sniffing with derision.
“I doubt they will. Mishka’s had the book for only a year, but the people who owned it before him had been trying for centuries to figure out what language it’s written in.”
Brone thanked his family for protecting his mate.
Cella said, “I’ll let you know when the meeting with the serpents is set up. Arissa will be sad to see him go I think. He marked her in a life-debt.”
Brone shut and locked his door and then turned to his mate. Tugging the blanket down slightly, he uncovered her arm and found the mark that Cella mentioned. His mate was now tied to the serpents forever. A life-debt could not be broken outside of the death of the one who was supposed to be protected.
“You are a wonder, my mate,” he said, pulling up the blanket. He settled on the bed and waited for dawn to call him to sleep.
Chapter 13
Arissa woke to something tickling her cheek. She brushed at it, trying to reclaim sleep, when it tickled her again.
“Wake up, my lady,” a soft voice whispered.
Her eyes popped open, and she found herself staring into the eyes of a young child.
“Little One?” she asked in awe, touching the cheek of the boy lying in front of her. He was wrapped in a blanket. His hair was black and shaggy, but his eyes were the same golden color of the dragon she had cuddled up to the night before.
“My name is Sang. You are my kore.”
“Hmm?”
“Savior,” Brone’s deep voice rumbled behind her. She rolled to her back and smiled up at him.
“Yeah?”
“Yes, beloved,” he said and leaned down to brush a kiss to her lips. “You are Sang’s savior, and he is forever in your debt.”
“Aw, that’s cool.” She turned back to Sang and said, “I’m Arissa. You’ve met my mate, Brone.”
Sang’s gaze flitted past her to Brone and then settled on her again. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, kiddo.” Tears pricked her eyes and she hugged him. “I’m glad you called to me.”
“We’re meeting with the serpents at ten o’clock, beloved. Cella brought clothes for him.” He gestured to a chair with a pile of clothes on it.
“Come on, Sang,” she said, sitting up and stretching. “Let me show you where the bathroom is and then we can have breakfast.”
He slipped off the bed with her, clutching the blanket around his thin body. “It’s nighttime, though, right? Why do you eat breakfast at night?”
“It’s part of being a vampire’s mate. My eating schedule is all screwy.” She winked at Brone, and he half-smiled in that way she loved.
After turning on the shower for Sang, she left him to get cl
eaned up and then went into the closet to change her clothes. Brone leaned against the doorway, his arms folded and his presence imposing. If she wasn’t crazy about him, she would be afraid. But she was crazy about him.
Stepping to him, she hugged him tightly. “Thank you for standing up for me.”
He let out a growling sigh. “If it’s important to you, it’s important to me, beloved. Did you think I would allow you to be harmed while you tried to protect a child? You are full of light and love. It’s my honor and duty to see you safe.”
“What’s going to happen to him? What happened to Restik?”
Brone told her that the serpents were coming to see the child, and that Mishka had traded the child for a valuable book. She had a feeling that Restik hadn’t been easy to bargain with, but whatever else had happened in the meeting, Brone kept to himself.
Sang skipped into the closet as Arissa was buttoning a pair of leather pants. “I love the Ninja Turtles,” he said, pointing to his T-shirt with the four turtles emblazoned on it. “My dad’s a ninja.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Sure, but he’s not a turtle. We’re serpents.”
She chuckled and ruffled his damp hair. Slipping into a pair of heels, she led him back to the bathroom and brushed his hair. “How long were you gone from your family?”
“I saw four moons pass by from my cage. Sometimes the vampire master would chain me up outside. He kept me in my shift a lot, and a lady with long, gray hair cast a spell on me to keep me hidden when he would take me places.” He cocked his head. “But you knew I was there.”
“It was the chain.”
“I’m glad you saw it. No one else ever did.”
When his hair was tangle-free, she took his hand and they reentered the chamber where Brone waited. He escorted them to the break room where a table was set for two and domed platters filled the counter.
Sang settled in a chair next to Arissa as Brone brought the platters over to the table and lifted the domes. “Oh wow, that smells awesome,” Arissa said as her stomach rumbled.
