Black Ruins Forest (The Elder Series Book 1)

by Karen DuBose

  He laughs and kisses me before putting me down.

  “I can’t make any promises, but I will try to keep your virtue intact until we become a mated pair.”

  “How do you know I’m going to mate with you?” I joke.

  He comes after me, and I run away from him. He could catch me easily if I wasn’t running very fast. I start to giggle when he throws me over his shoulder and smacks my ass.

  “Are you saying you don’t want to be with me?”

  “I never said I didn’t want to be with you. I just said, ‘who said I was going to mate with you?’”

  “There’s a difference?”

  “Yes, there’s a difference,” I laugh.

  He knows I’m joking. He puts me down and gives me a kiss before we head back. As we turn the corner of the PH I spot my mom.

  She rushes over to me. “Where have you guys been? We’ve been looking for you.”

  “We took a walk; our legs were numb.”

  “Next time let someone know,” she says

  Didn’t they see us walk away? I know all this crap we’re going through is stressful, but we can’t all be together twenty-four-seven. We’ll drive each other crazy.

  Bruno walks over to us before I speak my mind. “Let’s find some food.”

  We all climb back into the sardine can. Yes, that’s my nickname for this thing. I’ll be glad to get rid of it. We drive down the road to a twenty-four-hour diner. All I care about right now is food.

  Bruno pulls up to the diner and we climb out and walk into the diner. The waitress asks, “How many?” Bruno tells her there is 6 of us. She takes us to a table near the window. We all sit down. Mom is next to Nessa and Bruno. Kira is across from Bruno, next to me and Kiernan. The waitress lays our menus out and asks for our drink orders. Bruno and Kira get coffee, Mom and I get white fuzzies, and Kiernan orders some kind of caffeine-infused beverage. Nessa gets water.

  “I will be right back.” I get up to go to the bathroom. Kira and Mom follow me. I don’t mind. I kind of want to talk to them alone anyway.

  “Is it just me, or is this trip taking longer than it should?” Kira asks.

  I look at her sideways. “What do you mean?”

  “I looked at the map yesterday, and we should be a lot further then we are.”

  “We did have to lose those goons. We went off the beaten path a little.”

  She stares straight ahead before speaking again. “I think it’s more than that.”

  “How so?”

  “I think the guys are trying to figure out how those goons keep finding us,” she says.

  “Are you saying that Nessa is telling them somehow?”

  “Has she changed clothes or been left alone at all for any sustained period of time?” She asks.

  I think back to the last twenty-four hours. She was in the bathroom and didn’t answer when I knocked. When we got the door open, she walked out naked but wasn’t wet. Then she put the same clothes back on. She has a bag with her that I know contains clothes. I saw them when she opened it earlier.

  “You know, I think you’re on to something.”

  Mom stops us before we enter the bathroom and spoke in a hushed voice. “We need to fully check her and burn her bag⸻with all her clothes in it. I’ll buy her new clothes when we leave here.”

  I look at her with my brows raised. The person who has been telling me to be nice to Nessa is now going to burn everything she owns. I can’t wait to see her face when this happens. I smile so wide, my cheeks hurt.

  I knew she was lying! My gut has been telling me not to trust her. What do the Elders have over her? Or, is she doing this on her own to destroy me? I have a feeling it’s just to destroy me. She is so going down. We go into the bathroom and use the facilities.

  I hear mom from the other stall. “Do not give away we know something. She will either run or deny it again. I want proof to show her.”

  We walk back to the table, and by the look on his face, Kiernan knows something’s up. I guess I’m having trouble keeping my game face on. At this point, I couldn’t care less. She’s put the people I love in danger, and I’m not ok with that.

  “Is everything ok?” he asks as I sit down next to him.

  “We’ll discuss this when we get to our room, but no, things are not ok,” I whisper to him, glaring at Nessa.

  She squirms in her seat. Yep, she’s guilty about something. We are going to find out soon.

  “Does everyone know what they want to eat?” I ask, picking up my menu to see what I want.

  “I do. I want the fattest steak they have,” Bruno says.

  Kira moans. “Mmm, that sounds so good! I think I’ll have one too, with a baked potato and green beans.”

  You can almost see the drool coming out of her mouth. She does love steak and it has to have pink in the middle.

  “I’m going to have the chicken fried chicken with mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and a big slice of apple pie with ice cream,” I say.

  Kiernan has a big smile on his face.

  “That’s sounds good to me. I think I’ll have the same. I love a woman who can eat,” he says. I laugh.

  “Get used to it, because I can eat. We’ll probably go broke from all the food I can eat. I’m surprised Mom isn’t broke.”

  Mom laughs. “I have come close a few times. But, yes, she can eat you out of house and home. I’ve never seen a girl eat so much and not gain a pound.”

  “I think I’m going to get the hamburger steak with mashed potatoes and sweet corn,” Nessa says.

  I’d rather her not even speak. It was peaceful when she wasn’t saying anything.

  “I’m going to get the grilled chicken salad,” Mom says.

  The waitress comes over and takes our orders. Then she refills our drinks. I tap on my DC to wake it up and group text the guys.

  Nessa is the reason those goons keep finding us.

  I tell them what we think, and I send that text and immediately start on another.

  The plan is to burn all her stuff, even what she’s wearing. Before you ask, Mom is going to take them off her first. I disagreed, but she outranks me. I chuckle a little bit as I hit ‘send.’

  What do you want to do with her? Kiernan writes.

  We need to get rid of her, Bruno answers.

  I have a plan. We talk about a plan and get her to tell them the wrong plan. They will be going in the wrong direction, I type.

  That is a great plan, love.

  I think that will work Bruno replies

  I text the girls next.

  Play along with what’s about to happen.

  “So, what is the plan now?” I ask more loudly than I wanted.

  “We need to go North. We’ll find somewhere there to stay again,” Bruno says.

  “After that, we should be getting into the Black Ruins Forest?” I ask.

  Kiernan nods his head.

  “We should be there the day after tomorrow. From there, we’ll see what we can find and hope to get answers,” Bruno says.

  “That’s great to know. I really want to hurry and get there before the Elders find us,” I say.

  “We need to go to the store. We need supplies. We’re running low on a lot of things,” Mom adds.

  “I don’t know about you, but I need new clothes. I’m throwing mine away. We won’t be able to wash them, and they’ll start to stink,” Kira says.

  Nessa doesn’t say anything. She’s just sitting there with a gleam in her eye. It takes everything in me to not jump across this table and end her where she sits.

  I look at Mom, and she shakes her head. She knows I’m on the verge of ending Nessa. How dare she act like the victim? Who does she think she is? Kira has her hand on my leg, so I won’t go anywhere. She knows me too well. I look at her and she nods, letting me know she sees the same thing. Lucky for Nessa, our food shows up. She’s not going to make me starve to death.

  We all dig into our food in silence. The food is to die for. That might be b
ecause I’m starving and don’t care. As I eat, I’m lost in thought⸻mostly different ways to kill Nessa. How dare she try to make people feel sorry for her? She’s putting my loved ones in more danger. I know that if she wasn’t with us, we wouldn’t be having all this trouble. I will make her pay for all of this. She is beyond help. How do we even know her mother was killed? It could all be a lie. I really hate liars with a passion. Kiernan pulls me from my thoughts.

  “Love, the look on your face is starting to make me worry.” I turn to look at him and give him my best innocent look.

  “Why, love, what look would that be?”

  “The look that says there will be a lot of pain in someone’s future.”

  “That could be possible, love,” I say, turning back to my food and finishing my apple pie.

  We all finished our food and are getting ready to head to the shopping center. Bruno throws down money to pay for our meals and a tip. We left the diner and head to the sardine can. I’ll be glad to get rid of this thing. As we piled back into the blaster I notice a huge blaster like the goons were driving.

  “Am I the only one who sees that huge blaster across the street from us?” I ask.

  Bruno shakes his head. “I’ve been watching them since we got to the diner. That’s why I’ve been taking my time from leaving. I want to know what they are up to.”

  Great. Just what we need. It’s time to end this now before we all end up dead.

  Bruno pulls out of the diner. He drives for a little while seeing if they would follow us. It takes no time for them to follow us.

  “It is time to end this once and for all,” Bruno says

  He pulls over out of sight of any onlookers. Kiernan gets out, and I follow. Everyone but Nessa gets out of the blaster. We stand there waiting. It doesn’t take long before we see the blaster pull up. The goons realized we have been waiting for them. All they see is the blaster we just left. We all have our weapons out and ready, but still out of sight of the approaching goons. Squealing tires is all it takes for us to know that this is it. It’s now or never. The blaster is headed right for our blaster. We dive out of the way, and their blaster smashes into ours. I guess Nessa picked a crap time to stay behind. We run toward the wreck, but before we can get there, the goons get out of their vehicle, weapons ready.

  “What do you want?” I demand.

  The tall, skinny guy with the dragon mark on his neck laughs. The short, bulky guy elbows the taller one. Great! the Elders sent dragons after us? We don’t have a chance with them. We only have one dragon on our side. I don’t think he can take on them both. They will divide up to get to me. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me.

  “You don’t get to ask us questions, seer,” he says with a sneer. “All you need to know is, you either come with us now, or we kill all of you.”

  I look at Kiernan and Bruno. They’re doing that thing that guys do in battle. With one look at each other, they know what the plan is. I really need to learn that. It will help me know what I need to do. But since they have been training together it does make sense.

  “Do you really think you can take us on?” Bruno asks with a smirk on his face.

  What in the world is he doing? We can’t take them on. I’m about to say just that when I hear more blasters approach us. Five of the biggest dragons I have ever seen get out of two huge Blasters. Well, that changes everything. The two dragons that were there to take us, looked at the newcomers, and their eyes bug out. Well, well, well. It looks like Bruno has a lot up his sleeves that we didn’t know about. I am so not going to complain. Hell, I would kiss him right now if I could.

  “Like I was saying. What you do want?” I ask again, arms crossed over my chest, smirking.

  “We were told to grab you and take you to Niko. We were not told why, and we were instructed to kill you if you put up a fight,” the bulky guy said.

  “Get rid of them, and come find me when you’re done. We have a lot of planning to do. We do keep traitors alive,” Bruno tells his men.

  We look at the blaster. Nessa’s sitting there with a cut on her forehead, looking dazed. The blaster isn’t totaled, but it’s pretty banged up. All of us pile in the even more cramped sardine can. Mom gives Nessa a few wet napkins to wipe her forehead off, and then she puts a bandage on it.

  Driving to the shopping center, there’s nothing out of the ordinary. No more goons are looking for us. Once we arrive, we all get out, including Nessa this time. There are a lot of stores. We all go to different stores to get what we need. Mom, Nessa, and Bruno go to the grocery store, and Kiernan, Kira, and I head to the clothing stores.

  “You know, if the Elders sent their weakest dragons, then they’re underestimating us. What do they know that we don’t?” Kiernan asks.

  “Knowing the Elders, they’re just playing with us⸻trying to find a weak link somewhere. I don’t think they’re underestimating us. They want us to underestimate them,” I say.

  “You may be right, but why go through all that trouble? We already know what they’re capable of. So, why are they downgrading themselves to make it look like we have the upper hand when we know we don’t?” he says.

  “Think about it, love. Wouldn’t you do the same thing? Make people think you’ve gotten weak over the cycles? It makes perfect sense.”

  “When did you become mastermind, chic?” Kira asks.

  “I’m not. I’m just trying to think like them. It’s not hard once you realize the mistakes they’ve made. One is Nessa. If they knew anything, they would know we don’t trust her. They’re trying to make us do their dirty work by getting rid of her. Two: they send only two dragons after us. They would have never done that if they wanted us dead. There’s just something I can’t figure out. Why have us followed in the first place? Why are they not coming after us themselves?

  “Your guess is as good as mine, love.”

  Kira shrugs her shoulders. “I have no clue, either. If they know where we are, why not stop us?”

  I’m mulling through my thoughts and looking at clothes. I give up on looking at clothes. This is Kira’s passion. She can pick my clothes out. I need to figure out what the plan is. That way I could stop it from happening.

  About two hours later, we’re all back at the blaster Mom’s group is hauling lots of food and drinks and a big electric cooler. We have our hands full with bags of clothes. I think we’ve gone overboard, but with the way things are going, we’re going to need them. I even got everyone a hiking pack. They can carry a lot in them. They’ll be heavy once packed, but we’ll need a lot of food since we have five more dragons to feed. I’m sure Bruno isn’t going to make them leave. We need them if we’re going to make it there safe. I don’t know when he had time to call them, but hey, I am so not complaining. I’m glad they’re here.

  “We headed to the PH now?” I ask.

  Bruno nods his head. I can’t wait to get a shower and some much-needed sleep.

  When we get to the PH, we’re greeted by the five dragons. If they’re this big in human form, I would love to see their dragon form, not that I want to do anything with them. I just love the sight of beautiful dragons⸻watching them fly and train. They are a sight to see. Ok, enough daydreaming⸻and it’s not the vision kind. I laugh out loud. Everyone turns to looks at me.

  “What are you looking at?” I say. I turn to the five dragons, and I start walking over to them. “Hi, I’m Dariya. This is my mom, Eimear, my best friend, Kira, and I’m sure you all know Kiernan.

  They nod their heads in agreement. The tall, dark one speaks. “I’m Almus. This is Cicero, Desean, Errol, and Hiram.” Almus is dark and handsome. He stands six-foot-eight-inches. He has dark hazel eyes and is built with lots of muscles. I’ve never seen a black man with hazel eyes before. They’re mesmerizing.

  Cicero is tall and built like Bruno⸻stocky. He stands a few inches taller than Alums. He has messy, short, light brown hair and has blue colored eyes.

  Desean is tall and built too. H
e has black curly hair and light green eyes. He has a cocky look on his face.

  Errol is the shortest of the five, but he’s at least six-foot-six. He has dark blonde hair and deep brown eyes. His skin is an olive color. His hair is short on the sides and back and a little long on top, which makes him look sexy and not so intimidating.

  Hiram is over six-foot as well, with purple hair and black eyes. He’s built like Almus.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” I say, looking at Bruno. He gives a short nod.

  “I need to get the rooms. Stay here, and don’t talk about our plans yet,” Bruno instructs.

  He walks away, and I stand there looking at the floor. I feel arms come around me from behind. I look over my shoulder and give Kiernan a kiss, wishing it could last longer. I pull away from his lips and lean on him, with my back against his chest.

  Kira’s trying to get my attention without getting everyone else’s attention. I look at her and see that she has this gleam in her eyes. You would think she’s a dragon in heat. Yes, that does happen. Female dragons do go into heat. I just shake my head and give her a playful smile.

  “I got three rooms, so we need to figure out who will go where. I would suggest the same arrangement. It seemed to work out last time. The additional five guys can share the third room,” Bruno says.

  We all nod our heads in agreement. I’m happy that I get to be in Kiernan’s arms again tonight. I need the sleep more then I need air right now. I’m dead tired, and cat napping in the sardine can today hasn’t helped.

  Bruno hands us our electronic cards and we head off to our rooms. Before we get too far Bruno says something.

  “Meet me in my room in twenty minutes. We have things to discuss.”

  We turn back around and walk the twenty steps to get to our room, but right now it feels like a thousand miles away. Opening the door to our room, I notice that there’s no door adjoining the rooms. I do a mental happy dance. I don’t have to worry about my mom sneaking in on me. I’m going to give Bruno a big hug for this. I go over to the bed next to the window and draw back the curtains. Since we’ve been driving at night, it’s light out now. I can see the view outside and it’s breathtaking. How did I not see that mountain as we were driving in? It’s beautiful. It still has snow caps merging with the green trees on the bottom. The sky is a light shade of purple, with light blue in the mix. We don’t get this kind of view in our town. Can’t I just move here, wherever I am? This is peaceful.