Dragons of Cadia - The Complete Dragon Shifter Series

by Amelia Jade

  She nodded.

  “Well, there were a number of them before then. I’ve lived through many. At first I fought in them because I wanted to. It was fun, exhilarating. I was young, powerful, and of course thought of myself as invincible.” He snorted. “It seems so incredibly stupid now. We killed so many of our own kind you wouldn’t believe. But that was considered normal, so we didn’t think twice about it.”

  Miranda pursed her lips, but still she simply stayed silent, letting him speak.

  “Eventually, I grew out of it. I would defend myself, or my good friends, if they came under attack. But no longer did I go to war. I simply protected my being. It was a good life.” He paused, his eyes closing slowly for a moment before opening once more. “It became even better when I met her.”

  There was no doubt what sort of her he was talking about. Miranda cursed herself. He had a mate, and she’d slept with him! Anger welled up within her, self-loathing and guilt as well. She was a terrible person.

  “Her name was Kyra, a human. She was my mate,” he said dully. “Life was perfect with her around. Nothing bothered us as long as we had each other.”

  Miranda noted the past tense there. She was his mate. Her stomach began to fill with ice as she realized where the story was going.

  No. Oh no. Please. I’d rather have seduced him from her for a night…

  “Everything was going great. I hadn’t had to go fight in decades, and we had our own farm near the mountains.” He sniffled. “There was even a little one on the way.”

  Tears sprung to her eyes at the emotion and heartbreak in his words.

  “Oh Daxxton,” she whispered, longing to reach out, to touch him. To tell him she was so sorry. But instinct told her now was not the right time. He needed to get this off his chest without being interrupted, or be reminded of what they’d done.

  “Then one day, the fighting came again. They had found me.”

  “They?” she asked, confused.

  “A group of shifters, intent on claiming the area I lived in. They didn’t care that I only wanted peace. That I didn’t wish to fight them. I talked to them, bribed them to leave us alone. And they said they would.”

  His eyes darkened dangerously. “I trusted them, and I was wrong.”

  She shuddered at the emotion in his voice.

  “We awoke one night to the house burning down around us. There was no clear escape for Kyra. She saw the window though, and went for it.”

  Daxxton’s voice gave out as he shuddered with a sob.

  “The Dragonfire hit the glass at the same time she got there.”

  “Oh no,” Miranda gasped, hands flying to her mouth in horror. She knew what Dragonfire could do to a normal human.

  Daxxton shook his head. “She didn’t stand a chance. The blast was a strong one. It knocked me out of the house and into the river from the force of it. When I got back…” he closed his eyes. “When I got back, Kyra was gone.”

  “Daxxton, I’m so sorry,” she said, but he shook her off, not finished with his story.

  “I was distraught,” he said, his voice hardening. “I didn’t know what to do.”

  “It’s okay,” she started to say, but he cut her off with a chop of his hand.

  “No,” he snarled. “No, it’s not okay. You don’t understand.”

  She frowned. “Understand what?”

  “What I did,” he growled in anger, though she knew it wasn’t directed at her. “They left me for dead. But I wasn’t. I was barely hurt. I tracked them down. Followed them to the village they called home.”

  His eyes lifted at last to meet hers, and she stared in horror at the golden flames that burned deep within his eyes, so bright they practically glowed.

  “I murdered them all. Slaughtered them,” he spat. “Every one of them. Man. Woman. Children. Livestock even. I burned them. Froze them. Tore their bodies to shreds like some sort of beast out of a nightmare. I was berserk. Not myself, not the person I had thought I was.”

  He shuddered. “I still hear the screams. Every night, I wake from my dreams, haunted by what I did. I wasn’t human. I wasn’t a dragon. I was just death, and I visited everyone. They cried out for mercy, to spare them, and all I did was laugh.”

  “That was a long time ago,” she said, hoping those were the right words. “I don’t believe you to be that person anymore. The Daxxton I’ve met, that I’ve seen, he isn’t like that. He doesn’t attack indiscriminately. He defends those who can’t defend themselves, and helps those who need it.” Miranda reached across the table and took his hand. “The Daxxton I know is a good man. You are a good man,” she said, knowing somehow that she was right, that he was that person.

  The young, brash Daxxton might have killed all those people. Yet as horrific as she knew that was, part of Miranda agreed with his actions. He’d not done anything to them, and they’d sought him out, and killed his mate and unborn child. That called for blood. She felt her own dragon stir in anger.

  Offspring were more precious to a dragon than just about anything. They came rarely, and often dragon mates only had one or two children, despite their long lives. They were a gift worth protecting. And when that gift was taken…they were worth avenging.

  It was a different time, she knew. Such a thing would never happen now. She needed him to see that, to see that he wasn’t a monster. That he had changed as well.

  “I don’t know,” he said, but there was doubt in his voice.

  “I do,” she said quietly.

  Tears flowed down his cheeks. The sobs returned, but his voice was still clear.

  “Every time I’m with a woman, I get revisited by the memories though. By the guilt for betraying Kyra by lying with another.” He inhaled sharply. “And it’s worse with you.”

  Miranda rocked back, stunned by everything he’d just disclosed to her. “Why? What did I do?”

  “You didn’t do anything. I did something.”

  “What?” she asked frantically. “What did you do?”

  His eyes looked levelly at her. The flames were gone, replaced with something else. Something…stronger. “I started to care for you.”

  Miranda opened her mouth to reply, but Daxxton’s hand snapped up, covering her lips. His body stiffened and she saw his eyes focus behind her, toward the entrance of the unlit bar.

  Chapter Nine

  Daxxton

  He stared into the dark room, his night vision rendering the deep gloom as best it could. There were still shadows, but he could look into them now, ensuring that nobody was hiding from him.

  His nose twitched as the scent of unfamiliar wood tickled his nostrils once again. It was a minor thing, a very faint scent.

  But it wasn’t of Cadia, and that was what gave it away.

  Miranda had caught on that something was wrong now, and he removed his hand, trusting her not to speak as he examined every nook and cranny of the bar. His eyes looked into every shadow.

  But none of them contained anything.

  The princess. He mouthed the words to Miranda, hoping she’d follow along with his mindset.

  The sharp glint that came to her eyes told him she understood perfectly. Her liege was in danger, and they need to get to her now.

  Daxxton slid silently from the booth. The weakened, vulnerable man was gone, and in his place was the trained killer. Someone had managed to get into the Nova Estates, but they would get no further on his watch.

  Behind him Miranda came along, her movements matching his.

  He was headed for the door with such focus that he barely noticed the inky shadow to his left, reacting a split second before it detached itself from the wall and leapt at him.

  The wily Aurum Dragon used his time wisely however, and he summoned his scales. Across his body burnished gold scales the size of silver dollars sprung to the surface, armoring his body in a nearly impenetrable armor. Blades and projectiles would bounce away from him now. The only thing that could hurt him was—

  Daxxton roare
d as a Dragonscale knife penetrated his scales and sunk deep, but he’d twisted away from the blow enough that it wasn’t fatal. His action carried his body away from the outthrust arm of his attacker, and pain flooded his brain as the knife ripped through his skin, fiery agony threatening to overwhelm him as it pulled free of his side.

  Combat training took over, and even as he moved Daxxton’s left arm shot out and grabbed onto his attacker’s wrist like a vise. He heaved, the tattered remnants of his left obliques hammering him with blinding pain as he twisted, the motion hurling his attacker clear across the bar, through several tables until he hit the wall.

  Behind him Miranda grunted as a second attacker attacked her.

  “Careful of the blade, it’s Dragonscale,” he hissed through clenched teeth, unable to help her as his own attacker shook himself free and charged.

  Daxxton went to meet him. Knowing his scales would be useless, he channeled that energy into his healing system. It wasn’t something he had told others he could do, because it wasn’t something Daxxton could teach to anyone. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do it. And that should come as a very rude shock to his attacker.

  Funneling the energy he normally felt upon shifting, Daxxton sent it all into his human body. Nearly instantly his body began to heal. Punctured organs sealed themselves, muscles reknit themselves, and his flesh began to stitch itself back together.

  It took a lot of energy, but in the three seconds it took him and his opponent to collide, Daxxton went from being hampered by an injury, to practically whole once more.

  The would-be assassin blinked in surprise as Daxxton smiled at him, the Aurum Dragon going on the offensive. His opponent was good, better than any that he’d fought over the past two days. But it was just as clear that Daxxton was better. Fists flew and were blocked; they ducked under kicks or spun out of the way.

  Behind him he heard Miranda cry out in pain, and his next blow blew right through his opponent’s defenses, powered as it was by anger and concern for her well-being. The shifter took the blow right on the chin. He was already backing away though, and Daxxton grimaced as he pursued, not wanting to give his opponent time to recover.

  But the other shifter’s foot came down awkwardly on a piece of splintered table, and he stumbled. It wasn’t much. Just a slight wobble. But it was all Daxxton needed. He exploited the opening ruthlessly. His foe had raised his arms slightly to balance himself, and Daxxton simply dove low, delivering a hammerblow to the man’s knee, snapping it sideways with a sickening crunch.

  As he rose, Daxxton grabbed the man’s good leg in his left hand and lifted, while his right snatched something from the ground. As the full weight came down on the injured limb, the assassin shrieked and fell to the floor. Daxxton dropped back on one knee and his right hand plunged the shattered piece of table through his attacker’s eye socket and into his brain.

  The attacker jerked once and then lay still, his left eye staring sightlessly at the ceiling.

  “Daxxton!” Miranda shouted, wrenching his attention away from the lifeless body in front of him.

  He spun and darted back across the bar.

  Miranda was backing away from not one, but two attackers, both of which had blades in their hands.

  “HEY!” he shouted, his voice hammering through the silence at the attackers.

  One turned to face him, but the other didn’t flinch as he closed in on Miranda.

  Shit. These guys are good.

  Daxxton’s hand darted out as he closed, snatching a table from the ground as if it were a feather. He hurled it across the bar.

  “You missed,” his opponent said before it had even gone halfway to its destination.

  “Did I?” he replied as the table crashed into the back of the attacker near Miranda.

  She took advantage of the man’s distraction and her hands whipped around. The sonic blast hurled her attacker backward, through the door and into the hallway beyond.

  “Still want to—”

  Daxxton didn’t even get a chance to finish his taunt before another blast took his foe and blasted him forward.

  Right at Daxxton.

  He grinned mid-sentence, stepping forward.

  The last attacker’s flight stopped with bone-jarring swiftness as his head impacted Daxxton’s outstretched fist. He felt the attacker’s spine snap as the body tried to continue forward. Bone gave way and the second assassin dropped like a rock.

  He and Miranda exchanged glances and then darted toward the doorway, not wanting to let the man she’d stunned get away. They needed answers. Daxxton had an idea who these men were, but he wasn’t sure, other than they were mercenaries.

  “Careful,” he said as they approached the shattered remains of the doors. He peered outside. Instead of stepping through, he dove out into the hallway, hoping to catch his opponent by surprise.

  But nobody attacked him, and he stood up, looking around.

  “He’s hurt,” Miranda said, pointing at the ground. Red marks led his eyes to a jagged piece of wood covered in blood. They then led away down the hall.

  “He’s fleeing.”

  Miranda moved to go after him, but Daxxton took her arm.

  “The princess,” he reminded her.

  “Right,” she said after a brief hesitation.

  Something flashed behind her eyes at the mention of the princess, but she didn’t argue with him, so Daxxton didn’t pursue it. Not yet. He was going to get to the bottom of that little mystery as soon as he had time, but right then, they needed to ensure that the princess was safe.

  The pair charged through the hallways as fast as their supernatural speed would allow them, skidding around corners and hurling themselves up the staircase in one bound.

  His fist hammered against the steel door so hard it shook the entire wall.

  “It’s Daxxton!” he roared. “Open up.”

  The door swung open a moment later.

  Arrayed in front of him were Nolan, Vogel, and Dak, already in combat positions in case he wasn’t telling the truth.

  They relaxed slightly upon seeing him, but as Miranda entered the room they all breathed heavy sighs of relief.

  Very odd, he thought.

  “Everyone is okay?” he asked, surveying the room as the occupants nodded or vocalized their status.

  Only when they did, did he relax.

  Footsteps came down the hall again and he spun to face the door just as Jeremiah, one of the Guardians assigned to estate security, poked his head around the corner.

  “It’s okay,” Daxxton said as the head disappeared as quickly as it had come. “I think it’s over.”

  The shifter moved into the archway of the door and nodded at him. “We heard the fighting and raised the alarm. Patrols are sweeping the grounds now and Asher and his team are in the air. I don’t know how they got in, but we’ll find them.”

  Miranda stepped up to his side. “Alert those patrols. One of them is injured and left a trail of blood starting just outside the bar. Have some people trail it, but do not engage. Track him as far as they can. We need more information. Understood? There are also two bodies in the bar. Have them searched for anything identifying them.”

  Jeremiah nodded and disappeared as quickly as he’d come, barking orders to others out in the hallway.

  Daxxton watched him go, then turned back to those in the room.

  ***

  Miranda

  She spoke before he could.

  “Don’t.”

  The single word whipped across the room and Daxxton jerked as if it had been a physical object that hit him.

  “What?”

  “Don’t apologize. They didn’t come through your security.”

  He frowned. “How did you…”

  She snorted. “You’re kind of transparent like that,” she teased, but then resumed her serious expression. “Three dragon shifters don’t just waltz through the security you put in place around here. Even members of the Iron Scales B Company.”r />
  The golden-tanned man’s eyes narrowed.

  “I’m not a mind reader,” she continued. “But you know as well as I do that’s probably who they were. They were damn good, but they also used the same fighting style as the men we fought the other day. They were just better at it. Logic would indicate that they’re from the same place.”

  Daxxton’s look of confusion turned into one of respect. “But they weren’t good enough to be A Company either,” he finished for her.

  Now it was Miranda’s turn to smile. “Exactly. So now that we’ve established that, I think the next order of business is to call Klara and ask about any hidden rooms in the house that she might not have disclosed the location of to you. Or to her security team. I doubt she wants to tell you now, but we need to search them. For all we know, there’s a hidden entrance into the house that they know of and could keep using.”

  “You might be correct,” Daxxton said. “But I don’t like the implications of that.”

  “What implications?” the princess asked from where she sat on the edge of the bed.

  Miranda turned, having been so wrapped up in her conversation with Daxxton that she’d forgotten about everyone else standing in the room with them.

  Well that’s embarrassing.

  “I don’t know of any hidden passages or rooms in the house,” Daxxton said. “Now, Klara and I are not particularly close, but at the same time, I am a Senior Guardian, and did spend fifty years as the High Guardian of Cadia. If such places do exist, how is it that these men know of them, when I do not? More importantly, how is it that they knew to be here when we first came here, and had done so much research onto the house that they knew where the hiding places were ahead of time?”

  Miranda watched the princess’s eyes glow as her eyebrows furrowed together, and knew her own were doing the same. She hadn’t bothered to follow the full implication of all that Daxxton had just explained.

  “It means one of two things,” she said into the silence for the benefit of anyone who didn’t follow along. “Either Klara is a traitor to Cadia—”

  “Which, despite her being a colossal bitch, I believe is actually unlikely,” Daxxton said, before gesturing for her to continue.