Dragons of Cinderhollow Bundle

by Hawke Oakley

  It was the first time I ever saw him with my own eyes.

  The clouds seemed to part for him alone. Bright sun, bright sky. A smile danced on the omega’s lips, drawing me to him inexplicably, like a moth to a flame. Like the fire burning effortlessly in his palm.

  Fire-Eater. That was his name.

  When he strutted through the streets of Cinderhollow, everybody watched. He was like a living burst of fire - dangerous, powerful, enchanting and absolutely beautiful.

  Little did I know that soon he would become a wanted man.

  He stood in the center of the square, holding the flicker of fire in his hand like it was nothing. People gave him a wide berth, wanting to watch but not wanting to get too close. Not wanting to be burned. Even the other shifters with magic in their blood watched on in awe, like Halo was a god among them, a symbol of deep pride and strange unease at the same time. The ones most enamored with him were the other omegas. While they stood meekly by their alphas’ sides, Halo stood free, unclaimed and unattached, no alpha to control him. He was the ultimate representation of freedom.

  The fire grew in Halo’s hands. He never got burned.

  “Omega Fire-Eater,” a stern voice came from behind me.

  A Knight. Keepers of justice and safety throughout Cinderhollow. Everything I aspired to be. My own Knight’s initiation was coming up soon - the thing I waited my whole life to become. My heart raced with excitement.

  The older Knight carefully knit his way through the crowd towards Halo, but it was clear by the way he stopped a great distance away that he was cautious of the fire.

  “Please put the magic away,” the Knight ordered.

  Halo tilted his head in that coy, cocky way, the same way he did everything. “Why?”

  “Because I am a member of the Knights, and I order you to do so.”

  Halo’s eyes never left his. They burned like shards of amber, unflinching. “No.”

  The crowd seemed to let out a soft collective gasp. Disobeying a Knight was obscenely rude, but was it even allowed? The people of Cinderhollow had never encountered such a defiant young omega before, and it was clear the Knight had no idea how to handle him. He sputtered, made a grumbling noise, and backed off.

  Halo threw his head back with an airy laugh - like he was the king of the world.

  As the crowd slowly dispersed, he remained in the center of the square, playing with the fire in his palm. I couldn’t stop myself. I needed to be closer to him. I took a step forward, then another, until I breached the safety of the invisible line separating Halo from the rest of the crowd, like his very presence exuded an aura that kept others away. The line no one else dared to cross.

  Except, in that moment, me.

  My throat tightened as Halo’s eyes met mine. His dark honey-colored brows raised as he continued to roll the flame in his palm.

  He was smaller up close, but his presence was no less grand.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Hello,” he replied sweetly, a smile on his lips. “You’re awfully close to me.”

  I glanced down at the distance between us - mere inches. Flustered, I backed away, hoping desperately I hadn’t insulted him or made him uncomfortable, but he just laughed again, the sound like bells in my ear.

  “I’m just surprised,” Halo went on. “No one else has dared to come so close.”

  He cocked his head, gesturing for me to return to close proximity. I did so. Going closer to him seemed easy. Natural.

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  “Kassius Pax,” I replied.

  He raised his palm and the flame suddenly burst upwards, in a tight spiral. I flinched and nearly leapt back, but for some reason I was frozen in place. I didn’t want to back away - not again. I wanted to be close to him.

  “Are you afraid of being burned?” Halo asked.

  “Yes,” I replied honestly.

  “You’re smart. You should be.” Halo smiled again, but it seemed different than before. Less cocky. More melancholy. “Brave, too. I think the last people to stand so close to me were my own parents.”

  With a curious glance, I said, “Why didn’t you put the fire away when the Knight asked?”

  The melancholy disappeared, and his expression was defiant and coy again. “Why should I? Just because he told me to? Just because I have something that he doesn’t?”

  “None of the Knights have magic,” I said. “Otherwise they don’t let you in.”

  Halo watched me warily. “Let me guess. You want to become one?”

  “Yes.”

  I couldn’t read his expression. He continued to watch me, like a cat, until his interest faded. He extinguished the fire in his hand. I watched it disappear into a puff of smoke.

  “I like you, Kass. Meet me here tonight at midnight. Okay?”

  The shortening of my name made my cheeks flush pink, and I hoped desperately that he didn’t notice. But the smirk on his lips proved otherwise.

  * * *

  “Kass. Wake up.”

  The familiarity of the voice melting together with the last remaining scraps of my dream made me groan. When I opened my eyes, I saw the face of the omega in my dream again - only a few years older, and definitely not as happy to see me.

  Great, I thought bitterly. I can’t even escape Halo when I’m asleep.

  I brought a hand to my spinning head as I sat up. Above us was a canopy of evergreen trees, and the scent of pine needles was thick in the air. A chilly wind whistled through the trees, and Halo shivered. I realized he was still wearing half a shirt, for whatever reason.

  Without thinking too much about it, I slipped the jacket off my shoulders and handed it to him without eye contact. “Wear this.” Before he could argue, I asked, “Why’s your shirt ripped, anyway?”

  Halo muttered, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

  “Yes, I would, actually,” I said. “I know you’re angry with me - and I’m angry with you, too - but I still would like to know why you’re prancing around half-dressed.”

  Halo frowned and moved his shoulder away, like the conversation was entering uncomfortable territory. “If you won’t shut up about it, then it’s because I ripped it myself. Angel needed a change. Didn’t have anything else with me.”

  Suddenly I felt bad for pestering him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  Halo set his jaw, not looking at me. “It’s fine. It’s not the first time you’ve been a dick about something when you didn’t know the whole story.”

  My sympathy quickly transformed into annoyance. “If you’re talking about your atrocity, then - ”

  “Yes, I am,” he snapped. “And it’d be great if you stopped calling it that, after four hundred fucking years. You’re still so hung up on it.”

  “Halo,” I said slowly, “you killed someone.”

  The words seemed to sink heavily into the air around us. The birds in the trees went silent, and the wind stilled.

  “Just let it go already,” Halo muttered. He stood and began walking. I had no choice but to follow him.

  “Because that’s something you can really forget about,” I said sarcastically.

  Halo whirled on me, his eyes furious as he jabbed a finger into my chest. “Stop. I’m serious. I don’t want to talk about this.”

  I didn’t flinch. I met his gaze. “You never did.”

  He roared in exasperation, throwing his hands in the air and storming off. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I can’t be around you. I never wanted to see you again in my life, but here you are, showing up out of gods know where, out of the fucking blue!”

  I followed him. “Halo - ”

  “Don’t Halo me. Why can’t you just leave me alone?” he snapped. “What is it? What do you really want? Do you want something from me?”

  “No.”

  “Then why - ”

  I grabbed his wrist. That made him even angrier, but I needed him to calm down. “Because I’m afraid that if I’m not with you, something ba
d will happen. To you.”

  His face twisted up in a sarcastic scowl. “And? You care because?”

  “You’re the omega-father of my child,” I said neutrally.

  He refused to look at me, rolling his eyes.

  “And because I don’t know what Silas is up to. Him and whoever wrote that note.”

  “Again, you have no reason to care,” Halo muttered. “You gave up the right to care about me when you betrayed me to the Knights.”

  My grip tightened on his wrist. Still sensitive from the handcuffs, he flinched. I let go of him.

  “I don’t - I don’t want you dead, Halo, what part of that don’t you understand?” I said desperately.

  In a quiet voice, Halo said, “I don’t understand because you left me to die.”

  “I did not,” I insisted. “The Knights only wanted your capture.”

  He crossed his arms. “Because a life under lock and key is better than dying, right?”

  It took every ounce of willpower not to shift into my dragon and fly up into the sky with a frustrated roar.

  “Whatever you claim, the Knights didn’t mean to kill you. I swear it. They only wanted you safe and under control, for your own good, and for the good of Cinderhollow. Please believe me.”

  “Oh, I believe you,” Halo said. “It’s just disgusting and wrong. Oh, and by the way?” He gestured in a sweeping motion to the dark cluster of buildings in the distance - the town itself. “Cinderhollow? Still standing. Has been all this time. Thanks to who, I wonder? Oh, right - the omega who made the giant fucking barrier that’s been protecting everyone all this time!”

  “Not the man you killed,” I said coldly.

  “You’re impossible,” Halo spat. “Screw this. I’m leaving. Goodbye, Kass.” As he stormed off, I heard him mutter, “Fucking stupid goody-goody.”

  In the moment, I didn’t care. I was enraged, upset, horrified and simply pissed off at Halo’s immature behavior. I didn’t bother watching him walk away like a petulant child.

  Four hundred years pass and we still can’t talk to each other without fighting, I thought. Fine by me.

  But a nagging frustration gnawed at me. If Halo wanted to leave, that was his own choice - but what about our daughter? Angel was out there somewhere, and even if Halo was acting like she was fine, how could a young girl be fine without her fathers?

  I was angry - angry at Halo, but also at myself. I should have been there with her. I shouldn’t have let Halo take her. But he was a fiercely determined father - I knew the only way to pry Angel away from him at the time would be from his cold, dead hands.

  The weight of my spinning thoughts forced me to sit down. I gripped the rocky ledge beneath me so hard that it scraped my fingers.

  Halo’s venomous words seeped back into my mind.

  A life under lock and key is better than dying, right?

  Guilt clawed at my chest. Was that really what was best for my daughter? Locked up with her father, alone, without me? At the time, all I could think about was doing the best thing for our tribe - and that meant turning Halo in. He was a danger to everyone.

  Maybe even to Angel.

  I shook the horrible thought from my mind. No, as wretched as Halo was, he would never hurt Angel. He would die a thousand deaths before he let that happen. That was the one respectable thing about him.

  But he committed a crime. A terrible one. And for that, I could not forgive him.

  A headache throbbed against my skull. I was sick and tired of these thoughts, this same reel of images and memories played over and over again for the past four centuries. I was exhausted.

  I faced the facts. Halo and I would never work out. We would never love each other again.

  But Angel needed me. She needed both of her fathers. And to help her, and to stop whatever Silas and his suspicious contact had in mind for my ex-mate and my daughter, I needed Halo.

  Swallowing my pride, I stood back up. Halo was weak from being chained up right now, on top of his magic being drained. He couldn’t shift, and couldn’t have gone far.

  A shriek ripped through the air. Birds scattered from the treetops in a dark cloud.

  It was Halo’s voice.

  Instantly I bolted towards the sound of the noise, scrambling over rocks and dry shrubs. My heart clenched with fear as I barely stopped myself from hurtling over the edge of a small crest.

  “Halo?” I called anxiously.

  “Down here,” the miserable reply came.

  I glanced down the drop. At the bottom of it lay Halo, his golden hair covered in dirt and twigs but otherwise appearing unharmed. With an exasperated sigh, I carefully climbed down the side of the drop to his side.

  “Didn’t watch where you were going?” I remarked as I helped him to his feet.

  “Shut the hell up,” he muttered listlessly. “I swear to the gods this was not here four hundred years ago.”

  He winced as he tested out his foot and I automatically put my arm around him to help him stand. “Plates shift. Things erode. Landscapes change.”

  Halo continued to frown at me but the blinding rage in his expression from earlier had fizzled away. He carefully placed his foot down, winced again, and sighed as he let it hover above the ground. “I guess so. I hope the people have changed, too.”

  “You’re injured?” I asked, then after a moment asked again, “Do you mean the people of Cinderhollow?”

  “Yeah. To both. My foot’s fine. It’s my ankle that hurts more. I’ll probably be fine after a rest,” he mumbled. Sighing heavily again, he added, “It’s been a long time. There’s no way it’s the same way we left it. It can’t be.”

  I frowned. Halo didn’t sigh that often unless he was injured. I remembered the time he tripped on one of our dates, fully embarrassing himself. He laughed it off, but his breath soon grew short and he continued to sigh as if he was upset. I realized later, when he shed his clothes for the night, that a painful and bloody scrape manifested on his knee when he fell. He had kept it hidden and ignored it so as not to ruin our evening.

  “Kass?” Halo said, prompting me out of my thoughts.

  “Sorry. What were talking about?”

  He groaned now. “Nothing, forget it.” There was none of the previous edge to his voice. Now he only sounded tired.

  “Can you walk, with my help?” I asked.

  “I think so.”

  Nearby was a shallow alcove underneath the sudden drop. It was out of the elements, and a decent place to rest. I half-walked, half-carried Halo towards the alcove and sat him down on a fallen log.

  “Weird,” he said, brow furrowed. “Kass, look at that.”

  I followed his gaze to a pile of charred wood a few feet away. The burnt flakes still smelled like fire and smoke.

  “That looks recent,” I remarked. “Someone must have been here.”

  “Silas?” Halo said, and I heard the faintest edge of anxiety in his voice.

  “No. Silas went in the other direction. Besides, he was never the most… in-tune with nature. I doubt he could light a fire if his life depended on it.”

  Halo snorted a laugh. “He seems pretty incompetent.”

  I shrugged. “There were some things he was good at, back when I knew him in the Knights. I mean, he was the highest ranking member besides me and the Commander.”

  “No kidding?” Halo asked, leaning forward to rest his elbow on his knee. “I thought he was just some grunt.”

  “No. Every member of the Knights was a strong and noble alpha,” I told him. Pensively, I added, “I really did trust Silas before this. I’ve never seen him act so strangely.”

  Halo frowned. “You knew him better than I did. Do you think someone’s controlling his mind or something?”

  “No. His gestures, way of speaking, and mannerisms are all the same. I believe he’s acting of his own free will. But it’s suspicious. He doesn’t trust me. Like he’s keeping secrets.”

  Halo’s gaze turned to the charred remains of the fire
, but his eyes were distant. “Maybe we should follow Silas. The note mentioned where he was supposed to be going, right?”

  The thought filled me with more anxiety than I cared to mention. Centuries living depressed and alone in a cave had weakened me, and I didn’t know if Halo realized just how much. I wasn’t nearly at my full strength yet. The name Death’s Peak also didn’t inspire much confidence. Whatever awaited us there would have to wait until I was strong enough to deal with it.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea to barge in,” I said.

  “But what if whoever Silas is working for is there?” Halo countered.

  “They very might well be. But look at us, Halo. We’re tired, injured - you’re still only wearing half a shirt. Do we look like we’re in any state to go looking for a fight?”

  To my surprise, Halo didn’t bother arguing. He sighed again, testing his wounded ankle and finding it just as painful as it was two minutes earlier. “No.”

  “Good. I’m glad to see you thinking with some sense,” I said.

  “Don’t condescend me,” he muttered.

  “I’m not. I mean it.”

  He huffed.

  At the same time, a strange, high-pitched noise came from beyond the shrubs. I turned instantly, on guard.

  “Who’s there?” I called.

  The noises went quiet. A moment later, an autumn-colored shape emerged from the brush, its head low and its pointed ears pricked.

  “A fox?” Halo said.

  Immediately I knew from its behavior that it was a fox shifter, not just an animal. I waited for it to emerge fully, and when it did, others followed. A few of them held prey in their mouths. They must have been returning from a hunting trip.

  Soon six foxes stood in front of us, watching us with a mix of curiosity and reverence.

  “It’s okay,” I encouraged them, raising my hands in a peaceful gesture, “we won’t hurt you.”

  The first fox glanced back at the others before shifting to human form. The others followed suit. All wore expressions of caution, but didn’t seem interested in running away.

  “Hello there,” I said. “My name is Kassius Pax, Captain of the Knights.”

  “Uh, Kass? They probably don’t know what the hell that means,” Halo offered unhelpfully.