by Mikayla Lane
Drago sucked in a horrified breath and didn’t realize he spoke out loud. “You’re sending Beast Killers? How the fuck did you find Dranovian’s? More than one? What the fuck?”
When Grai didn’t immediately answer, Drago looked around at the silent and horrified faces of his family and friends and stopped to breathe through his shock. And fear. A Dranovian was the only thing that any beast bonded species feared and he was no exception. He could almost feel his own beast, Jinba shrinking away in terror at the very name.
Their kind did not kill each other. Even when a beast bonding went wrong or one of their kind went rogue, they never chose to kill. Most chose, with their families to perform a ritual suicide or they were kept contained and cared for until they finally passed away. At the families expense.
A Dranovian was born with the innate ability to detect a defective beast or beast bonding and could kill the beast within the host’s brain but leave the host alive. To anyone who had ever been beast bonded, it was a fate worse than death. The legends spoke of how the emptiness left behind in the mind of the host almost always resulted in ritual suicide. If not, the host was only shadow of who they were before and led a broken existence until they willed themselves into death.
A Dranovian was a guaranteed death sentence. One way or another. They were extremely rare on the beast worlds and obviously shunned and feared by all. It was said they held no souls, an empty shell created by the one God to keep the balance among the beast nations.
And there was no escaping them. They would hunt an anomaly to the ends of space and time, uniquely attuned to the faulty energy connections between the host and beast. They were rarely seen and kept to their own, for obvious reasons.
The legends stated they were given unique gifts that would enable them in their task and in all his life, Drago couldn’t remember ever seeing or hearing of one in the area where they grew up. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t heard the legends. All beast children did. They were the beast nation version of the human boogeyman.
Drago couldn’t help but wonder how many Grai had and were sending. Still trying to recover from his shock, he returned to his conversation with Grai through the Shengari’.
“How many do you have?” Drago asked a little shakily.
Grai paused and Drago wondered for a minute if he was going to lie to him. “Twenty three. And a half. Don’t ask,” Grai said warningly before continuing.
“I will not be sending them all. But if this Satalis has a beast in him, this team may be your only chance to take him down. Or at least give you enough of an edge to get your mate to safety. They will not harm you or the others, I promise you that. Give them a chance to assist you and then you will never see or hear of them again. And you will never speak of ever seeing them. Are we clear?” Grai asked harshly, unwilling to take any chances with this particular team.
Drago drew an image of Devon into his mind and he stiffened his resolve. He would align with a Hell Beast if it would get his mate safely away from Satalis.
“I will ensure their safety from the others with my life. That I promise you. As a warrior and a friend. If they mean that much to you, then I will treat them with the same respect. As family,” Drago said, meaning every word.
Beast killers or not, they would be risking their lives to save his mate from the clutches of a brutal killer. He could respect that and would ensure his own team did not turn on them or fail to assist them, because of fear of who they were.
Grai sighed gratefully, knowing that of everyone, Drago’s honor would hold him to his word. “They will be there shortly,” Grai said before he disconnected from the conversation.
Drago turned to the deadly quiet room and his stunned family and friends. “They will be here soon. For obvious reasons Grai has requested that we keep their existence a secret and I have promised him that we would,” Drago said, expecting them to agree.
Dree whistled low and looked wide-eyed at her brothers, who were looking at one another intently. It wasn’t often that a legend was going to arrive at your door. Especially not the kind you had nightmares about as a child. Dree wasn’t sure what she expected a Dranovian to look like, no one else did either, having never seen one before.
But what was coming was nothing that any of them would have ever expected. Because with Grai T’Alq nothing is ever as it seems. And he took that pretty seriously.
Chapter Fifteen
Chris got off the vid with his father and threw the comm into the wall. The thunk as it went through the drywall did not satisfy his concern and anger at all and he walked over and ripped out the drywall around it with his bare hands so that he could retrieve it.
He was tempted to call Angel and rip her a new one, instead of the wall and demand she comply with his wishes and end this now. But he knew that he would be wasting his damn breath and he had no doubt that she’d already gone to her bolt hole, to prevent him from finding her until she was ready to be found.
Every damn plot and scheme she had going on was collapsing around her and yet he knew his stubborn sister would still claim there was a silver lining and continue along the same destructive route she was on.
He had been through this same exact situation with her many times before and knew how it would play out. Done with trying to talk sense into his careless sister, he contacted the one person he knew could control her.
The response was instant and Chris smiled when he found out their protective brother was already tracking down their sister. He caught his brother up on what was going on with the Tezarian’s and the Prime and wasn’t the least surprised when he laughed.
Chris had to admit that the situation was funny. In a weird kind of way. But didn’t have the time or inclination to look for the humor. Not when everything they had been doing for years was getting ready to blow up in their faces. With their baby sister right in the middle of it.
Although he had told his father that he would not be a part of helping the Tezarian’s, Chris called his brothers and began to get dressed in his gear. He reasoned that his father had told them to stand down, before he told the Tezarian’s about their existence. Now that the Tezarian’s knew he was a Dranovian, Chris saw no reason not to help.
Besides, his baby sister was going into that house on the same night to try and save the captive hybrids that remained in the basement. The crazy little twit was probably already inside, he thought with a worried sigh. There was no way he was standing down with Angel smack in the middle of danger. Again.
He was securing his boots when the front door opened and several of his brothers came inside. All five of them geared for war. Without a word between them, they gathered their weapons and equipment and began loading the vans and SVU’s that were gathering in front of the house.
Chris smiled as his brothers began lining the street. All twenty one of them, minus the brother who was already hunting for their errant sister. His smile faltered for a moment when he thought of their missing half. Their baby sister Angel was affectionately relegated to being called their half.
When she was little, Angel had been so small that her much larger brothers had joked that she wasn’t big enough to make their family a full two dozen. They had called her their missing link, half pint, half dollar, half bit – anything to tease their beloved baby sister.
As Chris spoke to his brothers through the Shengari’ and explained the danger they were facing and the mission ahead of them, he and his brothers vowed to bring their half bit back safely. No matter who had to die in order to make it happen.
*****
"A Dranovian? More than one? He has a pack of Beast Killers on standby? For what?” Dread asked with concern as he stared at his eerily calm brother.
Drago went over to the bags of gear they had brought with them and began pulling on his tact gear, unconcerned with who or what was coming. And he made sure the others knew it.
“I don’t give a damn if they are God killers. I have nothing to fear and neither does my beast. We are not
defective. As the humans would say, why bring a knife to a gun fight? If the beast in this Satalis is what helps give him power and control the dark energy, then I think that having an army of beast killers around is a fantastic damn idea. One the Prime should have considered,” Drago said, shrugging at Lara so she’d know he meant no offense.
Lara laughed. “I have to agree with Drago. As shocking as it may seem to have a nightmare come to life in front of us, Drago is right, it might be wise to see if the Dranovian’s can help us get rid of Satalis. In all honesty, we’ve never thought of trying to kill the beast in him and it may actually work. Besides, if they’re teamed up with Grai, how bad could they be?” Lara said with a wink at Drago as she joined him in gearing up.
Dree slapped Drago on the back and grinned. “This is going to be pretty damn cool if you ask me. I’m going to be the awesome warrior who fought beside the Beast killers and lived to tell about it!”
Trick slapped her on her ass hard until she yelped and turned to glare up at him. When he had her attention he chastised her. “I think you need to take this more seriously,” he warned, worried about whether or not any of them were safe with the Dranovian’s coming. And more than one. One was dangerous enough, there was no telling what more than one could do.
Viper added, “I’m thinking if Grai is still alive and his beast safe, then we should be fine. If anyone could be considered potentially defective it would probably be him.”
The nervous laughter stopped completely when they heard the knock on the front door. When no one moved to answer it, Drago huffed and strode confidently to open it. He refused to be afraid of anyone who was willing to help him get his mate back safely.
He jerked the front door open with a flourish and stood in open mouthed amazement at the sight that greeted him. When he didn’t speak or move, Dread and Trick held the others back while they moved to see what had left Drago stricken immobile.
Looking around Drago’s large frame, Dread sucked in a sharp breath while Trick muttered, “Fuck me…”
One of the heavily armed, large men standing on the front lawn geared for a world war laughed heartily and said, “Sorry man, I’ll kill whatever you point at, but I don’t swing that way.”
The other twenty men on the lawn laughed with him, while the six foot six inch, dark haired man who had knocked on the door remained stone faced, his dark eyes staring intently at Drago.
Chris could sense only a small undercurrent of fear running through the Tezarian’s. Everyone but the Prime, the small female Tezarian and Drago. He watched Drago curiously, wondering why he didn’t seem to strike the fear in the large Tezarian that his beast brethren normally felt in his presence. He hid his shock when Drago placed his right fist to his shoulder and bowed in respect.
“I am Drago fle’ te’ Trugh. I am grateful that you are willing to help,” he said, pausing to nod with respect to the others on the lawn. Dread and Trick looked surprised when all of the men returned the greeting of respect while the one on the doorstep spoke.
“We are glad to be of assistance. I am Chris…,” Chris began before Dree flew in between the men and stood in front of Chris to stare at him and the others with wide green eyes.
Chris started to feel uncomfortable when Dree said in an awestruck voice, “It’s true! You all bear the mark of Dranan…,”
Drago and the others looked and saw that Dree was right. Each of the men bore the unique triangular mark on their neck, beneath their left ear lobe. It looked like it was burned into their skin, but it wasn’t. It was a birth mark that was given only to those chosen by the One God to police the powerful beast species. It marked them as Dranovian, Beast killers. An honor and a curse.
It was a social death sentence that led to forced solitude and millennia of isolation. Feared and shunned by their own because of a destiny chosen for them before birth. They were abandoned at birth at the spiritual temples and raised by the spiritual leaders because no one else would do it. Drago didn’t fear them, he felt sorry for them. As far as he was concerned, they were warriors and he would treat them as such.
“We don’t have much room inside and I doubt the neighbors want us having a briefing on the front lawn. Do you guys have a place we can go to discuss this?” Drago asked, hoping Dree would shut up and not embarrass them.
Chris shook off Dree’s unsettling stare and nodded his head. “We have a warehouse that isn’t far from here that we can go to. If you are all ready, you can follow us there. We also have some new gear that you may want to try out,” Chris said, wanting to get moving as well. Their brother still hadn’t found Angel and he was getting more worried by the second.
Lara grinned. “New gear! Let’s go,” she said as she moved passed the men and grabbed Dree, pulling her along to one of the SUV’s they had left in the driveway.
Viper shook his head at his mate as he passed Chris. “I’m Viper and that was Lara and Dream. Thanks for your help,” he said as he nodded at the young man with respect.
Chris and the others nodded at Viper and the girls as Dread, Trick and Mir came out next, giving their names and nodding. When only Drago and Chris remained at the doorway, Chris lowered his head and his voice so that only Drago could hear him.
“I hate that this is necessary,” Chris said as he grabbed Drago on both sides of his head and squeezed tightly as he threw bolts of energy into his head.
Just as everyone began to panic and thought about moving towards Drago to help, Chris let go and stepped back. Drago shook his head several times and looked at Chris in confusion. He saw Chris smile at him at the same time that Drago heard his words in his mind.
“It was necessary to establish communication through the Shengari’. As you can imagine, as Dranovian’s, we cannot use the regular energy paths used by the beast nations. The path I have given to you is the one used by my Dranovian brethren.”
“You will be allowed access to the team path so that we can better coordinate our joint operation. I apologize for not warning you, but I think it would have only caused your family to fear for you unnecessarily,” Chris said, surprised that he still felt no fear in the strong warrior.
Drago nodded his head. “I can relay information to my people. Good thinking. Ready?” He asked, unsure if he only imagined the flash of surprise in the eyes of the Dranovian’s still on the lawn.
Chris nodded his head, his respect for the Tezarian increasing by the second. He waited until Drago got in one of the SUV’s before he and his brothers got into their own. They surrounded the Tezarian vehicles and led them to their closest warehouse location a few miles down the road.
The second Dree got out of the vehicle, she ignored her brothers and ran right up to the closest Dranovian. “Is it true that you have abilities that no one else has?” Dree asked, her eyes alight with curiosity and excitement.
Trick rushed to the large Dranovian. “She’s young and stupid…,” he said before turning to Dree and adding, “Show some damn manners.”
Dree shot an irritated look at her older brother before turning back to the Dranovian. “Sorry, I’m Dree. What’s your name? Do you guys have cool abilities?” She asked, completely undeterred.
One of the guys close to Dree slapped Dree’s target on the shoulder and laughed while another turned to Dree and answered, “His name is Liam and he likes to pretend to be the quiet one. And yes, we do have unique abilities, not unlike every other member of the beast nations. I am Dane and happy to meet you,” he said with a friendly smile before using his longer stride to pass them and enter the warehouse.
Dree grinned up at Liam. “Nice name. So what is your ability? Are you even allowed to tell anyone? Do you guys have beasts too? Are they super beasts or something?” Dree asked, wondering if the Dranovian’s had abilities similar to the Earth superheroes.
Drago strode beside Chris and grinned at Dree and the large man who smiled gently at her as he spoke in a surprisingly soft voice. “I believe my brother,” Liam said nodding to Chris. “Will answer
some of those questions when we get inside. Where it’s warm. I promise that if he does not answer all of your questions, I will be glad to try, after the briefing.”
Dree slapped him on the lower back, unable to reach his shoulder as his brothers had. “That sounds awesome!” Dree said as she skipped excitedly around the Dranovians and into the warehouse as if they were long lost playmates.
Chris and a few of his brothers shook their heads in confusion. They never expected the Prime to show the fear that the other beast species showed them because of its power. Even the hybrids showed fear, although most had never heard of the legends of the Dranovians. Their beasts knew instinctively what they were and shook in fear. Another reason they were extremely glad to have Angel to help comfort the girls when they were rescued.
But the lack of fear in Dree and Drago in particular were fascinating to the Dranovian’s. Even the others showed no fear of them, only of the situation and for Drago, which they could well understand.
They easily herded the Tezarians and the Prime into the warehouse and watched as their faces lit up at the new gear and weapons that were stacked in crates around the warehouse. Chris and the others grinned, understanding the excitement they felt in the new arrival’s energy.
Chris and his brothers still felt like kids at Christmas every time their father sent them new gear and technology, which was fairly regularly. What was currently laid out was more of the excess items that they didn’t need or had too many of. Their father didn’t believe in letting his kids run out of anything.
Chris cleared his throat to get their attention. “If we go into the conference room we can show you what we have on the estate plans, penetration points and the ruse we had intended to use to get inside.”
Liam chuckled as Dree hung three new pulse rifles around her neck while stuffing her tact pant pockets with throwing daggers designed with heat seeking technology and boxes of ammunition that she had no idea what they did, but figured if these guys had them, then she needed them.
