Drago (Second Wave Book 2)

by Mikayla Lane

  “They are much earlier than I expected,” she said with a sheepish smile before heading to the front door. The three brothers followed on her heels, each of them leery of the appearance of the Brazar’s but drawn to the door as if waiting for a train wreck to occur and wanting to see it up close.

  Viper placed Lara slightly behind him and looked through the peephole on the door and after verifying it was the Brazar’s he slowly opened the door, half expecting a prank to be played. He was surprised by the serious looks on the faces of the fle’ te’ Brazar as they stood warily on the doorstep.

  Mirage, who preferred to be called Mir and was the middle brother, stood on the doorstep, with an arm loosely behind him, keeping his sister protected from the door. Trick, the oldest brother was on the bottom step and looking around the area as if he expected danger at any moment.

  Their sister, Dream, who preferred to be called Dree could barely be seen, sandwiched between her brothers the way she was. The three siblings were much more subdued than any of them remembered and their visible relief at seeing the fle’ te’ Trugh brothers and Lara was more than obvious.

  Lara could feel the tension in the Brazar’s and gently pushed Viper aside. “Trick, Mir and Dree, welcome and thank you for coming to help. Come inside, out of the cold,” she said as everyone moved out of the way so the three Brazar could enter the house.

  Once the door was closed behind them, Trick was the first to step forward and speak. “We are honored that you asked for our assistance,” he said with a slight bow to the fle’ te’ Trugh before continuing.

  “It wasn’t until we were just down the road from here before we realized why you have called us. We admit to being a little surprised at your close proximity to the darkness. It is a little unnerving to experience.”

  Lara and the others looked a little stunned and she needed to know what they had felt or seen. “What is it that you have felt and where?”

  Dree’s green eyes with gray beast swirls, looked curiously at the fle’ te’ Trugh brothers and Lara. “You didn’t know?”

  Dread could feel the fear skitter up his spine and was desperately hoping that this was one of the Brazar’s famous pranks. Hoping to stop it right now if it was, he turned angry eyes on the trio of white-blonde haired, green-eyed siblings.

  “If this is a joke, I can assure you, this is not the time for it,” Dread warned, hoping that the dangerous tone of his voice would put an end to it.

  Trick stepped in front of his siblings. “This is not a joke. Nor is it something we would ever take lightly,” The oldest of the Brazar siblings said, defensively.

  Lara stepped in front of her mate and his brothers. “They are telling the truth. You can see and feel the dark energy? Close by?” She asked the elder brother, already knowing the answer from the look on their faces.

  Trick, the eldest of the fle’ te’ Brazar, looked at Lara directly, his eyes meeting hers. “We have never seen it before and don’t know what it is called, but darkness describes it very well. It wasn’t until we turned onto this street, a few blocks away that we first felt it,” he said, looking to Lara to explain to them what they were experiencing.

  Drago could feel the confused and nervous energy of the Brazar’s and curious to understand what was going on he cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.

  “Let us sit in the dining room. I have some coffee on if you would like some?” He asked as he led everyone into the room and waited for them to take a seat.

  “I will have some, thank you Drago,” Dree said as her tall, willowy frame folded itself into one of the chairs. Her brother’s muttered their agreement as Drago grabbed three more cups and brought them to the table. Draining the coffee pot he set about making more while Lara turned to the Brazar’s.

  “I need to know exactly what you felt or saw,” she said, trying to ignore the uneasiness that was creeping into her mind.

  Mir was the first to answer. “There wasn’t too much of a change, then all of a sudden it was like we were driving through a dream state. There were images that began morphing and contorting around us and the fear… you could almost cut it, it was so thick.”

  Dree broke in, “It was the illusions cascading around us as we drove. I would break one and another would pop right back up in its place.”

  Trick added, “We finally had to slide them to the side so we could get here. What the hell is it? And why are you this close to it?” He asked, cocking his head at Lara and the fle’ te’ Trugh brothers.

  Lara was incredibly happy that she had been right that the Earth’s energy would magnify their abilities. What they were describing was beyond what she had imagined and she was amazed at how much they had grown their power. In her wildest dreams, she would have never thought that they would get this close this easily and she had to clarify for them, what they were talking about.

  “Can you tell where it’s coming from? Or who is doing it?” Lara asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

  Mir snorted. “Yeah, it’s a house right down the street. Didn’t you know that?”

  “Or were you just testing us?” Trick asked, sounding a little hurt.

  Lara could feel the disappointment in the Brazar’s and rushed to assure them. “I wasn’t testing you. In fact, your talent is exceeding my expectations. Can you tell who is doing it?” She asked, hoping that they could find Satalis.

  Three white-blonde heads shook and Dree spoke. “We couldn’t slide enough of the illusions aside while we were driving. But, if we had more time, I think we could figure out how to unravel them.”

  “Is that why we’re here? To unravel the illusions?” Mir asked, his excitement level rising at the thought. Which caused his brother and sister to get excited as well.

  “That must be why you are right down the street from it! It makes sense now!” Trick added.

  “It’ll make it easier to be so close. We could probably get started now,” Mir suggested before the three siblings descended into their own conversation about how to unravel the illusions.

  Drago felt like he had been punched in the stomach. His mate lived on this street. Right in the middle of the most dangerous energy, created by the dangerous enemy they had ever faced. He clenched his fists as the irritating chatter of the Brazar caused him to snap.

  Drago stood slowly, his fear and anger barely in check. “Show me this house. Now!”

  When everyone at the table just stared at him for a minute in stunned silence, Drago grabbed Trick up by his collar and carried him to the front door.

  “What the fuck…,” Trick sputtered as he was put on his feet outside and shoved down the walkway towards the sidewalk.

  “Drago, have you lost your fucking mind? What the hell is wrong with you?” Dread growled, ready to take down his brother if he had to. With help of course, he thought as he looked to Lara to make sure she’d have his back. His brother was huge and stronger than he and Viper, so he felt no shame in acknowledging that he’d gratefully accept help to control his brother, if necessary.

  Drago ignored everyone behind him and nudged Trick towards the sidewalk. “Show me now,” he said.

  Lara immediately began sifting Drago’s energy and was a little stunned at what she found. Putting her hand up she sent the energy to stop the others from following Drago and Trick as they headed down the sidewalk.

  “Let them go first. Trick is in no danger. Besides, it would look odd if we all walked down the sidewalk together. We’d look like a gang and people would call the cops. Do you guys forget how damn big you are? How easily you stand out?” Lara asked, still surprised that the aliens really never felt out of place on this distant world so different and dangerous than their own.

  Once the two had gone a little way down the side walk, she grabbed Dree’s arm and headed down the sidewalk after Drago and Trick. She called out to them all through the Shengari’, telling Mir, Viper and Dread to follow at a distance on the opposite side of the road.

  Lara also sent a private
message to Drago that they needed to keep their distance from the home in case they were seen by any occupants. When she didn’t get a response, she cursed under her breath.

  “Would you like to tell me what is going on and why Drago has become unstable?” Dree asked calmly, so unlike the young girl that Lara remembered from her past.

  Lara was getting ready to answer when Trick and Drago stopped up ahead and Trick pointed out a house not far down the road. She could feel Drago’s pain and rage and knew that something was terribly wrong.

  She turned to Dree. “Can you mask his presence from the humans?” When Dree nodded, Lara took off down the sidewalk towards Drago and Trick, with Dree close on her heels.

  They slid to a stop in front of the two men as Drago turned to Lara and roared. “What does it mean?” His mind was chaos and his rage were so thick, that Lara feared for him and she sent him a heavy blast of calming energy.

  As his tense body slumped a little, Lara moved to his side and began leading him back down the sidewalk. Trick moved to his other side and allowed the large man to lean heavily on him, while the others ran down the opposite side of the street so they could meet them back at the house.

  Drago was cold, and it wasn’t from the snow and crisp air around him and his lack of a coat. When he had first heard that the dark house was on this street he had feared for his mate. But, the moment Trick pointed out the house, he felt as if his stomach had dropped from his body and his usually sharp mind had blanked for a moment.

  The illusions and dark energy were originating from Devon’s home. Drago’s mind reeled. He’d been in that home. He hadn’t felt anything. Nothing dark anyway, only the fascination and tenderness he had felt for his mate. Had any of it been real? Had she been an illusion? He wondered, as Dread and Viper took him from Trick and led him into the house.

  The Brazar’s followed Lara towards the house slowly, allowing the brothers time with Drago.

  “The Trugh’s are certainly never boring,” Mir said, as he headed back down the sidewalk towards the dark home.

  “We’re going to run some recon and check out the energy. I think some of them were older illusions and could be unraveled easily,” Trick said, taking off after Mir.

  Dree stopped and turned to Lara, nodding towards their borrowed house. “I think you have plenty to deal with right now. I’m going to go with my brothers and see if we can figure out this energy and get some answers.”

  Not waiting for a response, Lara watched as the beautiful girl walked down the sidewalk towards her equally beautiful brothers. They looked like triplets, even though there were decades between their births, Lara thought.

  They had the typical light tan skin of the Tezarian people, with long white blond hair and eerie green cat-like eyes. The only thing they were missing were the pointy ears and they would be the epitome of every fairy picture she had ever seen.

  As if they had heard her thoughts, Lara watched in amazement as the image of the three siblings blurred and she stared in shock at the three small children running down the sidewalk in their place.

  It took several moments before Lara could see the true image of the siblings through the illusion they were projecting. Lara smiled to herself, yeah, those kids had really gotten good. Shaking her head at them, she headed into the house. To help her brother.

  Chapter Four

  Angel T’Alq put down the binoculars and noted the new arrivals to the Prime party going on a few houses down from her. She ran her hand over her face and brushed her hair back in frustration. Damn, if those idiots didn’t make things more complicated for her. Not only did she already have enough going on, but her father had finally asked for her help. And she would die before she let him down.

  The Tezarian’s would have to be secondary to her other missions at the moment, Angel thought to herself as she stood. Luckily, she was staying not far from both Devon’s place and the Tezarian’s, so it would be easier for her to keep everyone under surveillance. Otherwise, she would never be able to sleep, she thought with a tired sigh.

  Throwing herself on her bed, Angel rolled around until she worked her way under the covers and snuggled into the warmth of the blankets. She hated the cold. Snow was even worse, so she felt true gratitude towards the inventor of the electric blanket, she thought as she felt the heat penetrate her frozen feet.

  There was a sharp knock on her door and before she could answer, it was flung wide open. Her brother Chris, looked down and saw her in bed and breathed out a sigh of relief. “It’s about time you’re hitting the sheets,” he said as he leaned down and tucked her in before sitting next to her on the bed.

  Chris looked down at his sister’s dark head peeking out over the covers and he sighed. “I noticed the Prime decided to call in some back up. I really think we need to consider doing that as well. Or at least let Dad know what’s really going on here.”

  Chris didn’t even flinch when Angel sat up quickly and dumped her blankets in his lap. “No! Absolutely not! We’ve worked too damn hard to take down that bitch’s network and I’m not giving up now. Not when we’re so damn close to her boss and ending everything for good.”

  Chris rolled his eyes. It was the same argument she gave every time and it still didn’t make sense to him. “Why do you think that Dad would have a problem with this? It may not be the primary reason we are here, but it’s for the right reasons and he would understand,” Chris argued, hoping to convince his sister to call in reinforcements before she found out he already had. He felt like shaking some sense in her when she shook her head no.

  “This isn’t taking any time from our primary objective. Besides, for some reason, it appears our Prime and Tezarian friends are also interested in that bitch. So maybe she’s mixed up in a lot more than we thought. Which makes it even more important that we allow this to play out in case they know something that we don’t that could help us,” Angel said in a pleading tone that always got to Chris and her other brothers.

  “Besides,” she said with a smile. “I bugged the Tezarian’s place while they were out last night. We’ll find out soon enough what they know about Devon Sinclair that we don’t.”

  Chris smacked his palm on his forehead and shook his head. Angel was taking far too many risky chances and was going to get herself hurt or killed. Neither was an option that he wanted to explain to their father or brothers.

  Making up his mind, Chris stood and rubbed her straight, dark hair with his hand, knowing she hated it. “Get some sleep. We can talk about this later,” he said before walking to the door.

  He was almost out of the room when he heard her whisper. “Love you Chris. Thank you for helping me with this. It means a lot to me.”

  Chris rested his head on the door for a moment and closed his eyes. “I love you too, little pain. Get some sleep,” he said as he closed the door then headed down the stairs. He had some plans of his own to make, he thought as he put on his jacket and slipped out of the house.

  Angel snuggled back under her blankets and tried to still her mind so she could sleep. Thoughts of that evil bitch swirled through her mind and solidified for her that she needed to stay on track and finish this. She would make sure that nothing Devon Sinclair cared about survived her wrath. It was nothing less than the ruthless sociopath deserved, Angel thought as she finally drifted off to sleep.

  *****

  Drago’s head felt like it was going to pop. The questions, suspicions and fear running through him was barely in check and he struggled to maintain balance so he could think it through clearly.

  He couldn’t believe that Devon was a part of anything dark. He just couldn’t. The sweet, caring woman that he had spent so many hours with the night before could not be dark. Or an illusion. He couldn’t believe that he could sit in the midst of the center of the darkness and not even realize it.

  Dread sat beside Drago on the couch and demanded, “Explain to me what the hell is going on. And don’t even think about lying or ignoring me this time.”
>
  No one was quite sure who was more stunned when Drago said, “I met my mate last night. And we spent hours talking together in that house.”

  The only part that surprised Lara was the last and she sat on the floor in front of Drago and took one of his hands in her own.

  Sending him calming energy, she smiled up at him and asked, “Tell me about your mate. What is her name?” Drago looked at Lara with such sad eyes that it broke her heart.

  Drago knew they wanted Devon’s name to begin a check on her and he couldn’t blame them. He wanted answers as well so he didn’t hesitate to answer what he could so they would find out the truth.

  “Her name is Devon Sinclair. Her parents were killed when she was a child. Her uncle, Stephen Sinclair, took over guardianship and sent her to a series of boarding schools until she reached her majority.”

  Drago glanced sadly at Viper as he pulled out his comm and began entering in the information on Devon. “How could I not have felt the darkness in the house?” He asked Lara, trying to understand.

  Lara patted Drago’s hand, hoping to comfort him as she answered his question. “It’s the illusions. Satalis can layer the illusions, and with enough of them, he can completely mask the dark energy even from your heightened senses. Your mate may not even know it’s there. Is Devon a hybrid?”

  Drago felt his hopes rise as Lara’s question dawned on him. “No! No, she’s not. In fact, Devon is a full human. Humans aren’t as sensitive to energy until the conversion takes place. She may not even realize what she is living in the midst of.”

  Everyone became silent and looked away from him and Drago realized that they were speaking among themselves through the Shengari’, and whatever they were saying, it wasn’t good.

  He choked on the dry lump in his throat and croaked out, “Tell me.”

  Lara formed a small ball of energy in her mind. She manipulated it slightly, then sent it into Drago before nodding to her mate to tell his brother what they had found out about Devon Sinclair.

  Viper hesitated, knowing the pain it would cause his brother, until Dread nodded his head and spoke to him through the Shengari’. “It’s already hurting him. Tell him and end this so we can figure it out.”