Tangled: A Curvy Girl and Dragon Shifter Romance (Black Dragon Brotherhood Book 2)

by Aidy Award

Together he and Jerkwad flew and flew, until they’d both exhausted themselves and their dragons. It only made the pain finally cut through the numbness and begin to burn with the hurt and guilt, and desolation.

  His life was destroyed. He needed to destroy something else.

  He and Jerkwad glanced at each other. They didn’t need words to know they were thinking the same thing.

  Three Mile Island. The Cult of the Dead's base was going to burn.

  Obliterating it would not bring Ash back to him or turn Jerkwad's mate from evil, but it would wipe a blackness from this Hell on Earth they both existed in. Losing Ash’s light in his life made everything seem dark.

  Maybe it wouldn’t make a difference at all. But it gave Ace an outlet for the rage burning through him. Taking out the very people that had taken advantage of her, used her, yes, that was fitting.

  Or it was an easy target in broad daylight, in a densely populated human area. The Wolf Tzar and probably the AllWyr council would kill them for exposing their existence in this way. Ace didn’t care.

  He’d lost his soul today. It was either destroy or be destroyed now.

  The seething inside of him took over, fueled by the dark demon part of him that he normally kept corralled. They flew back the way they came, giving one last look to the carnage around the garden in Rogue, then pushed well beyond the exhaustion he’d sought and headed back to Three Mile Island.

  Apollo and Ellie had filled the rest of the Brotherhood in about the nuclear accident at the powerplant decades ago. It had the potential to take out half the United States with its meltdown. Now it was nothing more than a monument to potential death from a bad case of hubris.

  This time, there would be no goodbyes. A tiny twinge of guilt over leaving Neo, Trip, and Apollo behind to deal with the fallout of their Brotherhood's failure and subsequent dissolution, twinged at the edge of Ace’s consciousness.

  Neo had Kady. His soul mate. Together they would start a new family to replace the one the Black Dragons had lost. They would be wonderful parents.

  As they approached the cement tower of Three Mile Island, they could see another Dragon Warrior circling above, in and out of the clouds. Fuck. Apollo.

  Ace hated to see him here, but he needed the schematics Apollo had on the compound, so they could find the most vulnerable spot to destroy it all.

  He also wanted to send him away. He was young, still had a potential mate, and was heir to the Wyr of the Gold Dragons. Their little prince didn’t know what it meant to find and lose his mate. He'd never fallen in love, given his soul, and had it all taken away. He shouldn't be here. But then again, he'd been the first Dragon Warrior to step up and admit he worried for his own soul. He was the first brother of the Brotherhood.

  As they approached the tower of the power plant, they saw Neo there waiting for them too. Shit.

  Maybe Neo would have good news that the Wyverns were sending in more Dragon Warriors. Not that it mattered. If all they had was the four of them, they could still destroy this compound. Where the hell was Trip during all of this?

  Apollo landed first and didn't shift. As they got closer, they saw that the Gold dragon had taken damage on one of his wings and it hadn't healed as it should have. So, while Ace and Neo were on the ground frozen in Ash's spell, Jerkwad and Apollo had been fighting for them.

  That should make Ace feel better. But it didn't.

  Ace and Jerkwad landed and felt the compulsion from Neo to shift. They all did, and Neo glared at them. But he didn't say anything.

  Apollo took a deep breath. “I know you all are here bent on revenge, and well deserved, but shit it about to go down and we’re going to need both of you.”

  Jerkwad's dragon growled, still near to the surface, so Ace spoke for them both. “Sorry. We have plans of our own. The Cult of the Dead will pay for what they have wrought on this world today.”

  Neo snarled. “They have Trip.”

  Fucking Hell. “Then you should do your best to get him out before we destroy this building and everyone in it.”

  Ace didn't like the words coming out of his mouth, but this was his reality now. Demon born, he'd never truly believed he was one of the good guys.

  “No, you don’t understand. It’s not just the Cult. Someone or something else is working with them. We've got evidence that Hell has joined forces with them and gave them the first shadow demons.”

  Sweet First Dragon. The world was going to shit right before their eyes. Jerkwad stated the obvious that was on their minds. “Ereshkigal was sent back to her realm and her only path back up from Hell sealed. She cannot be behind this.”

  Ace didn’t care who was using the humans and their cult. His world had ended with Ash. “I've been to Hell and I'll go there again if that's what it takes to destroy the bastards who took my mate from me.”

  Apollo’s eyes went wide with the declaration of Ace's suicide mission, because that's what going back to Hell would mean for any of them. The stalwart look on Neo’s face showed that their leader understood. He might be the only one who could since he was the only other Black Dragon Warrior with a mate.

  He spoke up anyway. “I’m not going to try and stop you. But before you do, there’s something I want you to see.”

  Ace couldn’t look at his mentor. “You can’t stop me.”

  Neo put a hand on Ace’s shoulder. “I know. I said I wouldn’t try. But if you’re bent on ending everything, I think this will help your soul rest in peace.”

  Without Ash nothing could do that. Neo was about to lose the team he'd put together so he could give his brother a moment first.

  Ace nodded, and Neo pulled out his phone. He called Kady on Facetime. The video appeared and they could see her sitting at a table in the garden. She was talking to a woman who was off camera that they couldn't see. But any Black Dragon would recognize her voice. A rush of disbelief tore over Ace. His skin prickled and the tingaling of a tinny ring blocked up his hearing.

  Kady turned the phone. It couldn’t be.

  “Yvaine?”

  DumbAsps

  Ace

  Her face was haggard, her skin hung off of her like she’d been starved for years. But it was Yvaine. Alive, her soul restored.

  She waved and smiled like it hadn't been months but only hours since she'd seen them. “Hey Ace, Not-KurJara. 'Sup?”

  Ace wanted nothing more than to fly directly to Rogue and haul Yvaine the into his arms. Although Jett, who had her in his lap, holding her tight, probably wouldn't like that too much.

  Miraculously she was returned to them, and because of it, so was their Wyvern. The Black Dragon Wyr was whole once again.

  Ace had never been closer to tears in his life. Because if Yvaine had come back, maybe Ash could too.

  A laugh he never thought he’d hear again washed over him. “Jett, you’re squishing me.”

  She leaned against her mate and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She smiled up at Jett, glowing with life, a sparkle to her eyes that Ace hadn’t realized until now how much he’d missed. Yvaine was the heart of the Black Dragons. She'd saved them all from Hell because of her love for their Wyvern.

  In return they all loved her fiercely and protected her secret with their lives. If anyone, like the Cult of the Dead or any other evil beings, supernatural or human found out she was a unicorn, she'd be hunted forever. Every Black Dragon Warrior swore an oath to keep her safe and they' all felt the pain of that failure and loss when the shadow had taken her from them.

  She pointed to them through the camera. “Have you boys chosen your names yet?”

  “Yvaine.” He couldn't admit to her that he didn't want to choose because he'd wanted her approval. He'd started to consider his choices again when Ash came along. He wanted her to be proud to call him by his chosen name.

  “That's going to get confusing.” Yvaine giggled, just like old times. “I just hope your mate approves of you stealing my name.”

  The short-lived moment of joy crashed down around t
hem. She knew he’d been mated. A Wyvern's mate could tell. What she didn’t know was that the Hell had stolen her away.

  “She’s gone, Yvaine. Her poor little soul was overwhelmed by my darkness within hours. She’s…dead.” The words creaked out, cracking his voice as he said them.

  She stood up and took the phone from Kady. “I’m sorry you had to go through all this pain. But I'm calling bullshirt. Darkness schmarkness. You think any old woman can be the mate of a Black Dragon? Don't be a dumbasp. Of course, she could handle your darkness. She probably thought it was sexy. Isn't that right my dirty dragon?”

  Yvaine grabbed Jett's cheek and squeezed it like a grandmother would a favorite chubby cheeked child. Jett didn't even flinch. “Yes. Yes, it's entirely true. Especially the part where you called them stupid snakes.”

  “Right? That was a good one, huh? Now, you listen to me, Ace. I don't think I don't see you too, Not Kur-Jara who needs to pick a name already.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He replied with a renewed sense of purpose and Jerkwad actually straightened his spine a little and the dragon in his eyes receded.

  She reached into the pocket on her shirt and pulled out a necklace. Not any necklace, but the one the magic of his soul combined with Ash's had created when they'd truly claimed each other. His shard with the dragon of her mark imprinted on the surface of the crystal glowed bright with a fiery light inside.

  “Your mate is not dead. In fact, she and another witch are the ones who restored my soul and saved my life. That was the explosion of power you saw, not her demise. And that other witch? Yeah, she's someone's mate too.”

  If anything exploded, it was Ace's heart.

  She was alive.

  He knew it.

  He fucking knew it.

  “What are you standing around for. Go. She’s going to need your help getting out of that H-E-Double L-hole. Shoo.” Yvaine waved them off and gave the phone back to Kady.

  Ace returned Neo's phone and shifted, jumping back into the sky. Apollo covered them, as Jerkwad and even Neo joined them. Ace hadn’t noticed before that Neo was back in fighting form, strong and healed, with the power of life and the shadow flowing through him. The first time since he’d found his mate, had his soul stolen and then restored.

  I still stay we blow up this facility. Ace's destructive intent was completely washed away. But this was no longer a seek and destroy mission. His duty once again was rescue and protect.

  Neo's voice resounded in all of their heads. You're not the only one with plans. Jett is opening a shadow portal now using Fallyn's spell. He's sending us a whole army to rescue the mates and Trip.

  Apollo did a flip in the air. Show off. Yeehaw then let’s blow the place to shit.

  Another dragon with his mate riding in his talons joined them in the clouds. Match, the Red Wyvern. The alpha of alphas. Holy shit. When Jett sent back up, he fucking sent back up.

  Fallyn, Match's badass mate, had a load of ropes dangling from her arms with bottles of multi-colored liquids hanging from them. “The other Wyverns' mates and I have been working to make these wards and spells for you, since Zara told us you'd need them.” She tossed them each a cord. “The red ones are my wards that should hold the shadow demons back for a few second, the green ones will turn bullets into flowers. Gold, well, gold turns things into actual gold, like statues so be careful not to get that one on you. The blue ones will freeze whatever it touches in place. I have no idea what the purple ones Ninsy made do, but she said you’d know when to use it.”

  Neo flew hovered over their target, waiting for something. Ah, there, the shadow portal that sparkled with Fallyn's wards opened up right at the base of the tower. Let’s get this show on the road. I’ve got my own revenge to seek.

  The battle plan was all laid out, ready to roll. This was no spontaneous thing either. Planning like this took weeks. Neither Neo nor Jett could have done it with their own battles against the shadow demons to fight

  Ace glanced over at Apollo, who stayed silent. Sneaky fucking Gold Dragon. He was his father's son alright but with just enough badassery that no one would doubt his mother was the mermaid who'd blown up Hell. Good thing he was on their side.

  Black dragons streamed out of the portal below and Ace thought he spied two tiny garden gnomes in their midst.

  Let’s lock and load, boys. Neo called. We’ve got a rescue-revenge mission to complete before sundown. Kady says tonight we're watching some movie called The Last Unicorn in honor of Yvaine’s return. Wouldn’t want to disappoint our Wyvern and his mate by missing it.

  Although, Ace was ecstatic about Yvaine's return, he had other plans for their mate tonight. Just as soon as he rescued her.

  Betrayal

  Ash

  “Did you hear that?” The pain and agony in the dragon’s roar tore at Ash’s heart. She knew down to her heart and soul it wasn't Ace, but what if had been her mate. Whoever he was, he was someone's mate, or would be someday.

  Tia had thrown up what she called a ward to avoid being seen by any of the shadow demons. She yanked on the door to the stairwell, but it didn’t budge. The cry of that dragon really had her on edge, and she wanted to get the hell out of there. “This is my one chance to escape OWL. Come on.”

  She let out a short scream of frustration, pulled up a ball of magic and tossed it at the door, disintegrating it.

  “We have to help him,” Ash said. “Tia, wait.”

  Too late, Tia was already scurrying up the stairs. The dragon roared again, and Ash was sure it was on the floor just below them. Aha, she was right, and they saw the dragon in the stairwell, panting and injured, and surrounded by shadow demon warriors. One dove for him and he swiped his big tail with razor looking spikes at it.

  Ash and Tia both gasped as it shuttered into his body. It should have emerged with a second newly born spectral from the dragon’s soul. Instead, the dragon roared in pain as just the one dark soul re-emerged from his body. That’s was not how Ash had learned that worked.

  Tia stood frozen, her face flushed and tears streaking her face. “Ash, I don’t know where these soul stealers are from or where their bodies are, I can’t do anything to stop them by myself.”

  Now they were talking. “We can try to replicate what we did back at Rogue, with that explosion. I put some of Kady’s magic into that too.”

  “Yes, please, Ashmiza. I…he’s…” Tia trembled like she was on the verge of collapse and this was everything she could do to hold herself together.

  “Okay, get ready then, we’ll hit them with everything we’ve got.” The dragon roared as another spectral attacked it. Ash wanted to end this, to get back to Ace. If he would have her back.

  If she had to destroy every demon in the place get to him, she would.

  Tia grabbed Ash's hand and a clap of energy surged through the two of them. Ash closed her eyes and focused on pulling up the faces of the people she loved, who were her family, and from which she got her true powers. Ace with his big heart, so much more tender and fragile than he wanted her to know. The one person in the world that she wanted to protect from getting hurt ever again.

  Her magic shimmered across her skin, joining Tia’s in a ball of light.

  “Now,” Tia whispered.

  The pushed the light forward through the hallway like a blockade in front of them. Several shadow demons screeched and dove for them. The first one to hit the magic froze in mid-flight and then disintegrated into a million little pieces. Another took a stab at them and the same thing happened to it.

  So far so good. Two others attacked the dragon again and Tia shot a burst at them, not injuring either, but making them miss their mark. One of those turned its attention on them. It didn’t mindlessly attack like the others. It tested their defense, poking and prodding it, looking for a weakness.

  In another few steps they reached the dragon and absorbed him into their shield. Tia fell to her knees beside him, letting her magic fade.

  That’s when the smart sha
dow demon attacked. Ash pushed her magic out, but it swooped and circled avoiding her attempts to block it. A millisecond before it struck her, the ceiling exploded above them, and a scarlet light shot down into the debris.

  Kady’s magic.

  Ash looked up and saw a shadow portal open and a black dragon flew out and hovered above them. Kady hung down from its talons capturing all the shadow demons in her magic. Ash added her power and just like they practiced, the bastards froze in time in the cages.

  Tia had tears streaming down her face and screamed into the sky. “You killed him, you monsters.”

  She threw bolts of her magic at the frozen shadow demons. Two, three, five, seven, exploded. But two turned from the silvery black to a dusty white. The traps fell away, but they didn’t attack. They drifted down, like snow and over to Tia and the dragon. Tia struck out, but her magic had no effect.

  One of the grey shadows reached through her, dragging a bit of magic from inside of Tia and into the dragon. He gasped, taking in a deep breath.

  Had their magic done that? Taken the darkness from a shadow warrior?

  A second shadow portal opened overhead, and a flash of red darted into it and then it closed in and instant. Scarlet. She'd escaped. Dammit.

  Ash wanted to go after her, until another black dragon appeared out of Kady's portal and dropped down into the stairwell on the landing just above her. He shifted and Ace, looking like the warrior he was, stood at the ready. She ran to him hoping against hope he would forgive her.

  “Ashmiza. Stop.” Ace held out his hand, a ball of flame in his hand, poised and pointed a weapon directly at her.

  That answered that question.

  The look on his face wasn’t anger though. It was fear.

  Of her?

  Ash caught a flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye. Red. Scarlet. So, she hadn't escaped. Whoa. Wait. That wasn't the red hair of Scarlet, it was the russet fur of a big ass wolf.

  “Don’t move.” A woman’s voice stopped Ash dead in her tracks. A weapon pressed against her temple. “I'm sorry about this, but you and your dragon are my ride out of here, Ash. I am not going down for this.”