Ancient Enforcer

by Reus, Katie

  “Mikael?” Avery whispered and he snapped to attention.

  He moved quickly, putting himself between her and Zephyr, though he knew his brother would not hurt her. Or the brother he had known long ago would not. But the mating instinct was a powerful thing. It was the only reason he hadn’t hugged his brother, hadn’t reached for him. He needed to be sure this male was truly his brother.

  He reached behind himself, clutched onto her hip just to reassure himself that she was there. “Everything’s okay,” he said as he watched his brother carefully. “Are you okay? Injured?”

  “Everything’s okay? You disappeared into thin air, came out breathing fire, and now there is a dragon who looks a lot like you standing in front of us and you seem surprised to see him. He also called you brother. So everything is totally fine. Just peachy!” Her voice trembled and he hated the sharp scent of her fear punctuating the air.

  In front of him, Zephyr snorted softly, clearly amused by Avery. “Did you kill him?” Zephyr asked.

  “No. I weakened him, but he escaped.” Mikael had a lot of questions, like who him referred to—though he had a sinking sensation he already knew. “We need to get out of here. Get back to town. You’re coming with us.”

  His brother looked as if he wanted to argue but then nodded.

  “You can follow us,” Mikael said as he stepped back, keeping Avery behind him. He knew she would have questions, but he needed to get her somewhere not so exposed.

  “For the record, I have a lot of questions,” Avery murmured.

  “We’ll get all your questions answered.” He paused and turned to look at her, but kept Zephyr in his periphery. “I don’t scent any blood. Are you sure you’re not injured?”

  To his surprise, she cupped his cheek and shook her head. He leaned into her gentle touch, savoring it for a millisecond. But that was all he would allow himself. They needed to move.

  “I’m fine, but are you okay?” She scanned him in a much too clinical fashion for his taste. He only wanted pleasure in her gaze when she looked at his naked body. And he really didn’t like the fact that his brother was naked so close to her.

  He looked back at his brother, frowned. “Shift so my female does not see you naked anymore,” he growled.

  His brother blinked, then strode away, muttering under his breath before he shifted into a dragon.

  A beautiful form that Mikael had never thought to see again. This was truly his brother, not an illusion created by dark magic. He rubbed the center of his chest, unable to believe that his older brother was here. Alive.

  “I didn’t know you had another brother,” she whispered, drawing his gaze back to her.

  “I thought he was dead. We have a lot to figure out and I promise we will once we get back to the house.” He cupped her cheek gently, allowing himself only one more moment of this as he placed his forehead against hers. She was okay. Avery was alive and unharmed.

  The rest of the tension slid away as she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face against his bare chest. She trembled, as if she’d been worried about him. A dragon.

  * * *

  In the front yard of their house, Mikael pulled his brother into a tight hug. He didn’t care that they didn’t have clothing yet—it had been thousands of years and his big brother had found them.

  Zephyr held him tight, thumping him twice on the back, hard. “I can’t believe you’re here,” Mikael said, voice thick with emotion.

  “You guys.” Avery’s tone was tentative. “Maybe we should get inside.”

  Mikael turned to find Avery waving politely at two of their human neighbors standing catty-corner across the street.

  “Because if you guys plan on hanging out naked in the front yard, it’s going to cause a stir.”

  Her dry tone dispelled the tight lump of emotion lodged in his throat and he let out a laugh as he spotted the two women watching him. Both had whitish-gray hair and were staring, open-mouthed, at him and Zephyr.

  Zephyr gave them a salute and a grin before turning away.

  Inside, Mikael raced upstairs to grab clothing for both himself and Zephyr, who was only slightly larger.

  When he came back downstairs, Avery and his brother were still standing in the foyer, Avery looking uncomfortable, glancing away from him. Zephyr was studiously ignoring her as well. That pleased Mikael a ridiculous amount because he didn’t want her looking at anyone else naked except him.

  Once his brother was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, Mikael motioned toward the kitchen. “Come on. Are you hungry? Where have you been? How did you find us?” he asked, even though it felt weird to just blurt the questions out.

  “We have so much to discuss,” Zephyr said, sliding a curious gaze at Avery as they all strode into the kitchen.

  “Keep your distance from her,” he grumbled as he pulled open the refrigerator.

  Avery blinked at Mikael. “Why are you ordering your brother to keep his distance from me?”

  He lifted a shoulder.

  A tiny spike of fear rolled off her. “Why? Is he dangerous?” She took a small step backward.

  “Yes,” Zephyr said. “But not to you.”

  “Oh.” She frowned at Mikael. “You’re being weird.”

  He pulled out a jug of water and lifted it. Zephyr nodded so he poured all of them glasses. Maybe he was being weird. He did not care.

  “So…where have you been for however long you’ve been missing?” she asked before Mikael could. “And who were you talking about when you asked if Mikael had killed ‘him’?”

  Before Zephyr could respond the front door flew open, and moments later Cas and Ivyn barreled into the kitchen. They swarmed their oldest brother and he hugged them back tight. It was clear Zephyr was fighting emotion as he gripped the back of his brothers’ necks in a tight embrace.

  “My baby brothers,” he rasped out.

  Both males wiped away tears as they stepped back, looking at Zephyr.

  “I can’t believe you’re really here.” Cas stared in awe. “Mikael texted us and I thought maybe he was mistaken or…” He hugged his brother again tight.

  “I have missed you both. All three of you,” he said, looking at Mikael again with a warm smile. “So much.”

  “Well our family has gotten even bigger,” Ivyn said, wrapping an arm around Avery’s shoulders. “We have a bossy little sister who keeps us in line, and two little human brothers.”

  Warmth spread through Avery at Ivyn’s sweet words. She’d started thinking of all of them as family too, and it made her so happy that he felt the same.

  “I think little sisters are supposed to be bossy,” Zephyr said. He and Mikael looked the most similar, except for the beard he was sporting. And he had a few scars on his face and neck that looked as if they’d once been deep.

  Mikael nudged Ivyn out of the way and pulled Avery close. He really didn’t want anyone else touching her right now, something she could appreciate. She was still feeling out of sorts after what had happened. “Maybe we could go sit on the back patio and talk? It’s clear a lot is going on, and after what happened… We need to figure some things out.” And they definitely needed to tell King about it.

  Once everyone was settled outside, Mikael said to Zephyr, “Talk. Tell us everything.”

  “When he came for us…” He cleared his throat. “I think he waited until the three of you were on that mission to attack the clan. He came right after you’d left. It had been maybe two full days.”

  Avery wanted to know who he referred to but it was clear the rest of them all knew, so she decided to save her question for later.

  “He slaughtered most of us—”

  “Most?” Mikael demanded.

  “He tossed me into a Hell realm and he might have done the same to some of our cousins. I honestly don’t know. One moment I was battling and…” He shook his head. “The next I was in another realm.”

  “Hell realm?” Okay, she couldn’t resist asking just o
ne question.

  Mikael nodded slightly. “There are different realms throughout the entire universe. Different…I don’t want to call them planets, because they exist simultaneously alongside this reality. Most humans and supernaturals can live in them, though I don’t see how most humans would survive. Some are hellish but many are not.”

  That sounded a little bit like the multiverse theory. Avery kept the thought to herself though.

  “They are all rough to an extent, filled with predators.” Zephyr’s tone was flat. “There is no room for weakness in them.”

  “I felt…the deaths of our parents,” Mikael said. “I felt their life force snap. I felt so many others as well. I just assumed I felt yours too.” Avery must have looked confused because Mikael took her hand and explained. “When related dragons or members of a clan are born or die, we feel it. It’s subtle, but it’s a sort of knowing.”

  “I felt their lives snuff out too,” Zephyr said. “It was a waterfall of loss, all at the same time. That was when I woke up in another realm. I’ve only been gone for forty years. Or at least that was what I had thought until I escaped a few months ago.”

  Mikael shook his head. “It has been much longer, my brother.”

  “I realized that once I escaped.”

  “So how did you finally escape?” Mikael asked.

  A dark smile spread across his brother’s face. “Technically Ozias was the one who escaped. I just followed him out.”

  “He was in the Hell realm with you?”

  “Yes. He followed me in not long after. My perception of time is skewed so I can’t even guess how long after it was, based on this reality. It had been a month maybe—so I assumed. He thought I had the key and wanted it.” He cleared his throat and glanced at Avery before giving a meaningful look at his brothers.

  What key are they talking about? And who is Ozias? That guy Mikael fought? She bit the questions back.

  “He was very mistaken. And he couldn’t figure out how to escape.” Zephyr’s jaw went tight. “Unfortunately neither could I.”

  Mikael looked at her then. “Hell realms have specific entrances and exits. Some of them are terrible, vile places. Others…well, according to human ideals they wouldn’t be pleasant, but for supernaturals they are more than livable. The downside to some of them is that there is always a very specific way to leave. Sometimes you may only leave at a certain hour of the day and you might have to climb a mountain infested with scorpion-like creatures to do it. And if you miss the opening of the, ah, portal I think I would call it, then you have to wait for it to open again. And that’s if it’s not being guarded. In some cases, there’s no specific time they open, but once they’ve been opened by an individual, they won’t open again for another twenty-four hours. That’s just an example. There are different rules for different realms.”

  When supernaturals had torn apart the world, Avery had handled things much better than most of her human friends. Mainly because she’d known about vampires, witches and shifters already. But…this was a lot to digest. “I might have questions later.” Yeah, there was no might about it.

  Mikael linked his fingers with hers and held tight as he nodded.

  “I’ve been tracking Ozias for months,” Zephyr said. “I lost his scent when those crazy dragons ripped the world apart. I finally picked up his scent again weeks ago, and here I am.”

  She had questions about this Ozias, but it was pretty clear from their conversation that he was a bad guy and that he’d killed their parents. She’d ask Mikael more later.

  “Did you ever battle him in the Hell realm?” Cas asked quietly.

  Zephyr nodded. “We did a few times. We were fairly evenly matched and… My concern was escaping. It was a very vast realm and for the last decade I managed to avoid him almost entirely. Then I started to hear whispers that he was making his escape. That he’d figured out a way. No one can keep a secret like that. At least not in a place like that. So I tracked him down and watched him.”

  “What is this key that he wants?” Avery asked, looking at all of them. “Is it in New Orleans?” There had to be a reason this Ozias was here.

  The men all looked at each other.

  “It’s not something we really talk about,” Mikael finally said.

  “Oh.” For some reason she felt weirdly hurt. She’d made it pretty clear that they weren’t romantically involved, not like boyfriend and girlfriend or whatever. That they were just having fun. Still…it kind of hurt that he wasn’t telling her something this important, and that had affected her too.

  She stood. “Well we should probably call King and tell him—”

  All of the males stood abruptly, their bodies vibrating with tension.

  “No.” There was no give in Mikael’s voice.

  She blinked. “You said that there’s a ‘Big Bad’ in King’s territory. A being who can throw people into Hell realms. King needs to know. I’m not a supernatural but even I understand that is a very basic rule.”

  The brothers all looked at each other and sat back down, Mikael tugging her with him. “I’m not going to tell him just yet.”

  She bit her bottom lip, conflicted. “You’re putting me in a bad position. I don’t want to lie to him.”

  “If King asks you directly about Ozias, obviously do not lie. But we’re not going to offer up the information yet.”

  She didn’t like this at all. Especially since she had no idea what this key referred to, or who Ozias was. What if it was like the key to the underworld? Which sounded kind of ridiculous, but Hell realms sounded ridiculous to her too. “He’s the Alpha,” she said quietly.

  Mikael’s eyes went pure dragon as he looked at her and he definitely did not like her saying that.

  She squeezed his hand. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she whispered. Not that it should matter to Mikael anyway. They were just friends…with benefits.

  Her words seem to calm him as his eyes returned to human.

  Feeling out of sorts, she gently tugged her hand out of his. “I’m going upstairs. I need to check in with my crew and I need to at least let King know that we were delayed. I’ll just text him that we had a family emergency.” She really didn’t like lying. Her brothers would always tease her about it but she practically broke out in hives if she had to. She didn’t want anything to shake King’s trust in her.

  Mikael nodded. “If you want, you can tell him we were delayed by my brother. It’s the truth and he will need to introduce himself to King, regardless.”

  A tight ball settled in her stomach but she nodded. She wanted to call her brothers to check on them even though she knew they were perfectly fine at the jobsite. But after the day she’d had, she needed to hear their voices. She would hold off on contacting King as long as possible, but would have to text him within the next hour no matter what.

  She was also way too confused. She’d only wanted fun with Mikael. But now that he was withholding information from her, blocking her out of their family secrets, she felt…loss.

  Maybe simple fun wasn’t going to be enough for her.

  Chapter 25

  Mikael knocked on Avery’s door, unsure what his reception would be. He knew he’d upset her, and every fiber of him hated that.

  The door opened and he found Avery in a set of pajamas he’d seen her wearing in the past. Blue lounge pants with little dogs on them and a light blue tank top that hugged her breasts. For the last few hours he’d heard her working quietly upstairs, making phone calls, checking in with her brothers, and handling other job-related things.

  Her expression was carefully neutral. “Hey,” she said quietly.

  “Hey. Are you hungry? Ivyn cooked before he left.” His brother had gone to go see his human female, Mikael thought, though he hadn’t actually said so.

  Avery shook her head. “I’m good. I have a protein bar and a couple apples stashed away.”

  He frowned. That wasn’t good enough. “I didn’t mean to upset you before.” She hadn’
t been downstairs in hours and he could feel the chasm opening up between them. He needed to fix it.

  “It’s fine. You had a big shock finding out your brother is alive after all these years. I still don’t like not telling King about what happened.”

  “We’re going to tell him.” Mikael just wanted more time with Zephyr.

  “Really?”

  “Just give me a couple days.” He had to help Zephyr locate Ozias, because the male was a threat to all of them. He would always be one—but Mikael couldn’t leave Avery.

  As if she read his mind, she said, “Look, I understand you’re going to have to hunt this guy down. He killed your family and he attacked you today. I know enough about how supernatural law works. If you need to go, then go. If you’re worried that I can’t function without you,” she said, her mouth curving up slightly, “I’m good. Promise.”

  “I know you can function just fine without me. You are one of the most capable people I know. But I don’t like being separated from you,” he said bluntly, basically baring his soul. Because it was true. “I will not be separated from you.” Never from his mate.

  She blinked as if he had surprised her. “Oh.” She wrapped her arms around herself, the little dogs on her pajamas shifting with the movement. She needed pajamas with dragons—or she should just be naked.

  “I’ll figure things out with my brothers and how we’re going to hunt him down.” He knew he should ask if she wanted company tonight, but it was clear she didn’t want him with her. He tried not to let that hurt when he was desperate to touch her, hold her, kiss her.

  “I have to meet with that supplier tomorrow. King was understanding about us missing the meeting. I just told him we had a family issue to deal with and he didn’t ask questions.” Again she gave a half-smile. “He has enough on his plate to worry about questioning and micromanaging me, I think. But this guy came all the way from Montana and he’s friends with King. We need to meet up and I need to see what he’s got for my projects.”