by J. Kearston
“Hadeon may be boring, but it sounds like I’ve taken that for granted. Other cities are really that bad?”
My clothes are much more distinguishable, so he sits down to help me this time. “Not all of them, but you don’t need to worry about those things, little dragon. Tell me,” he chirps happier, clearly changing the subject, “you said you’ll be training with your brothers tomorrow. Does that mean you won’t need me?”
I try to hide my disappointment. “I suppose you’re right, I’ll just be hanging out in the back yard with them for most of the day. I’m sure you have plenty of things you need to do, I can’t expect you to just stop having your own life to follow me around.”
He’s quiet for so long I turn to look at him, only to find him smirking. Unlike Vince, the look is a good one on Soren; not smug, just devilishly amused.
“I have an errand to run, but after that perhaps I’ll stop by and see just what sort of training they put you through? As you pointed out, someone needs to show me the ropes if I want any hope of beating you in the next race,” he teases.
I try to hide my excitement, but I’m pretty sure he already saw my eyes light up at the prospect. “It’s a date.”
Chapter 9
Vyrian
I step out of my room just after noon, feeling worlds better. Kahl, Kaiden, and Kinsley put me through the wringer at the forge and I slept away the entire morning, praising the Fates it’s closed today. As much as it seemed odd to me, the triplets run almost nonstop Monday through Friday, barely sleeping, and shut down on the weekends. When asked, Kinsley explained that with Elias in school anyway, they’re better off home on the weekends so they can actually see their siblings.
I glance in Cai’s room, but he’s already gone to who knows where. I hear Soren in the kitchen and cross my fingers he’s cooking.
“You’re alive,” Ren teases, passing me a sandwich that I promptly inhale.
“I’d rather run the damn Gauntlet,” I admit around a mouthful of food. “It’s brutal. There are more orders than I imagined; looks like they’re fortifying the town as well as shipping to the neighboring cities. They’re not dumb. Nothing has happened in the vicinity yet, but they know it’ll spill over sooner or later. I applaud them being proactive instead of waiting until who knows how many die to get their heads out of their asses like some of these cities.” Soren grunts his agreement, heading towards the door. “Hey, where you off to?”
He pauses in the doorway. “To see what sort of training Ezra’s brothers put her through.”
As soon as her name left his lips, I was already skipping over. “Let’s go!”
He rolls his eyes. “What happened to not acting like a stalker? I have a reason to hover around her, but your date isn’t until next week. You show up uninvited without a good reason, you might screw yourself out of not only your chance, but a job too.”
I shoo him out of the door, waving off his worry. “What are you talking about? I just need to drop off my payment for my bow.”
He shrugs and the two of us walk the couple of blocks to Ezra’s house. I hear her pained curse before I see her, picking up the pace and flying around the house to the backyard. I immediately scan for the threat seeing only her and her brothers.
Her left bicep is bleeding steadily as I glare at Kaiden and the dagger in his hand that’s coated in her blood.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Soren grits out. “Training is one thing, but this?”
Ezra turns at the sound of Ren’s voice, and Kinsley wastes no time swiping her legs out from under her. She falls on her ass, eyes narrowed on him like it’s his fault.
“Are you alright?”
I extend a hand to help her up. She gives me a strange look, but takes it before walking back into the middle of the loose square her brothers make around her.
“Fine, you just distracted me,” she states, like she isn’t even hurt.
“And whose fault is that?” Kahl asks coolly.
She shakes her hands out and adopts a fighting stance, bracing herself. “Mine, I know.”
Elias lunges at her, trying to tackle her from the side. She pivots at the perfect moment, dodging, and brings an ornate blade up to block the blow of Kaiden’s dagger this time. Her fist is curled around the handle, able to use the versatile blade for offense or defense in this position. She acts like she doesn’t even notice the wound on her arm, swiping the matching weapon from the grass and dual wielding to deflect their attacks.
She’s an angel of death, and I need to make her mine.
“What’re you doing here, Vyrian?” Kahl asks, keeping one eye on us and the other on their coordinated attack of their sister.
“Came to pay you for my bow.”
Kinsley snorts. “Yeah, sure, okay. I’m sure you were so excited to give us your money you couldn’t wait until you saw us Monday.” He grunts as Ezra’s elbow drives into his stomach.
“How’d you know?” I tease, but it comes across breathless, Ezra taking up my entire focus.
She drops to a sudden crouch, narrowly avoiding the punch thrown to her head and swiping her blade full force at Kaiden’s shin. They aren’t pulling their punches here. If she were to hit him, she could very possibly cut through to the bone, and when Kinsley lands a solid punch to her ribs, I want to tear him apart.
I can hear Ren’s teeth nearly cracking, his jaw is clenched so hard. His hands are fisted at his side and I watch him war with himself to storm over there and kick her brothers’ asses. It has to be worse since he carries the official title of her bodyguard, though I’m not faring much better myself.
“Four against one hardly seems fair, why not even the odds and let us spar with you?”
Ezra catches the side of Kahl’s knee with a sharp kick and he goes down with a howl of pain. “Motherfucker, Ez!”
But she doesn’t let up, despite the fact her face is pinched with concern. She drops the blade in her left hand and throws her entire body weight into the punch, driving her fist into Kahl’s temple. He goes down hard, but she’s already rolling, picking up the blade as Kaiden lifts her by the leg.
She swipes the blade across his forearm, falling in a heap beneath a shower of blood. “There wouldn’t be anything for you to do,” she pants, grunting as Kinsley embeds a throwing knife into her calf.
She jerks it out and whips it right back at him, catching him in the shoulder. Elias and Kaiden converge on her, landing a few good hits before she cuts her way through them too.
What feels like an eternity in hell, but is likely only ten minutes, Elias is the last man standing as Ezra taps out with his knee pressing on her windpipe.
I’ve never killed a kid, but a teenager is a good place to start.
He helps her to her feet and over towards us, ignoring the triplets knocked the fuck out in the yard. Soren storms over, scowling, and starts assessing her injuries. She’s got a limp right now and whether it’s from the fact the triplets are down for the count or he just can’t stand anymore, he lifts her up to carry into the house.
“Calm down, Ren. I’m fine,” she placates.
Elias snorts. “The man wanted an excuse to touch you, don’t be fooled.”
I shoot one last look over at my bosses before following them into the house. Soren sets her down on the bathroom counter on the first floor, the room big enough for all of us to move around in easily. He’s mumbling profanities under his breath as he grabs a wet washcloth and starts cleaning the filthy cut on her upper arm first.
“That was...not what I expected of training. That was full out sparring.”
Ezra gives me a proud look. “And I kicked their asses.”
I grin at my psychotic angel. “That you did.”
Elias rolls his eyes, leaning against the wall. “You didn’t give it your all; you’re still pulling your punches.”
Ezra grimaces. “I don’t want to actually kill you guys; just maim you a little.”
Elias’ eyes soften. “You’re going to n
eed to get past that and stop letting me win.”
She winces as Soren pours antiseptic over all of her various cuts.
“Sorry, little dragon. I don’t want them getting infected,” he rumbles, starting to wrap a bandage around her leg.
“As long as I knock the three of them out, they’ll never know,” she tries to justify as Elias shakes his head.
“They know, Ez, they just don’t call you out on it ‘cause they know we push you enough as it is.”
Soren grabs her by the hips and helps her to her feet. She thanks him and takes a step, favoring one side, and I stop her before she leaves the bathroom.
“How bad are your ribs?”
She gives me a murderous look. “Fine,” she replies curtly.
“Ez?” Elias asks and she sighs, loud and long.
“Not that bad,” she amends.
When it’s clear the three of us aren’t going to let it go, she grabs the hem of her shirt and tugs it up until the side of her bra is showing. There’s already a massive fucking bruise growing and it’s been under half an hour.
“It looks like he fractured a damn rib,” I snarl, reaching out to gently probe the area.
She hisses in pain and Soren smacks his hand on the counter, absolutely furious. “They’re supposed to protect you, not fucking beat you!” he thunders.
Despite her protests, the four of us climb into her car and I drive us to the hospital while she gets checked out. When a skeevy doctor tells her to get undressed so he can inspect her fully, Elias beats us to the punch, chewing him out before demanding another doctor. After that, Soren and I refuse to leave the room, but turn our backs when she takes her shirt off, sitting in her shorts and bra for the doctor to examine her.
She goes for an x-ray, Elias with her every step of the way despite her protests, and an hour later the doctor returns to show us the scans. I’ve been at this a long damn time, and it’s clear there’s evidence of other healed fractures in her charts as well.
I was right, we should have just taken her away from this place.
An hour later we’re at our house, since I can’t promise Ren and I wouldn’t kill her brothers right about now. She’s lying on the couch with an icepack on her side while Soren and I argue with Elias.
“Look!” he finally shouts. “Do you think I fucking like this either? No! But don’t bullshit me and pretend you don’t know what it’s like out there right now. If something happens, nobody is going to play fair and they aren’t going to attack her one on one. No pulling punches and no letting her catch her breath. She needs to know how to fight through the pain, how to deal with multiple people attacking her at once, if anything were to happen.”
“What’s going on, Eli?” Ezra asks cautiously, and he turns to her with pain and indecision radiating off of him.
“It’s...it’s bad, Ez. The world is going to shit and it’s only getting worse. I don’t know how much longer Hadeon is going to be safe,” he finally admits and I watch Ezra’s face flash with hurt.
She whispers, “You were still hiding stuff from me, still lying.”
“Ez,” he starts, but she cuts him off.
“No. Just...why don’t you go check on the others. I think I’m going to hang out here for a while.” He tries to protest, but the look she gives him is so cold he stops in his tracks. “Go home, Elias. I love you, but I don’t particularly want to be around any of you right now.”
Pain flashes across his face before he steels himself and leaves without a word. The three of us sit there in awkward silence for a long stretch of time, giving her a chance to wrap her head around things without pissing her off. Soren swaps out her ice pack as I make us something to eat, just needing something to do with my hands to stay busy.
She sits up on the couch as I hand her a plate, sighing heavily, but seeming more like herself. “Alright, start talking. No veiled answers, no hiding shit. What’s going on?”
I share a look with Soren as we both sit down to pick at our food. He nods, and I wish Cai was here to give his approval, but you snooze you lose.
“No one knows exactly everything going on, to be honest.” At her look, I hurry to elaborate. “Just like here, you have TV, right?” She nods. “But it’s closed circuit. Each station only covers a small area and they broadcast what they want. It looks like here they’ve completely omitted global news. I don’t know if your brothers had a hand in that or if it’s whoever runs the station wants to keep people from panicking.
“There isn’t just one giant war between humans and dragons, Ezra; people are getting stressed. Testosterone and hatred are running at an all-time high which leads people to do some terrible things.”
Soren interjects. “In a nutshell? People are starting to panic. No children means a lot of people lost their jobs. There are some that go to extremes to try to get their hands on a mate so they can get the power boost, putting high bounties out. A lot of pent up aggression means people are breaking into fights not only over territory, but anything.”
I sigh, guessing the real thing her brothers were trying to protect her from. “And there is a growing movement that wants to take away women’s personal rights for the good of the species and force them to be breeders. With it being primarily men in positions of power now that the female leaders were massacred, it very well could pass.”
She doesn’t look horrified like I imagined she would.
She looks fucking pissed.
“Are you fucking kidding me!? Some horny asshats are just going to decide women aren’t people anymore, chain them in some lab, and call it good? Let them be raped and pop out babies like a t-shirt cannon at a concert? What the fuck?” she shouts.
Well, that’s a visual I’ll never be able to forget.
“What about women that are already mated? Are they going to just tear them from their homes and expect that from them too? Or are we just talking about the women that haven’t shifted so can’t protect themselves?” she demands.
“You’re shirt’s smoking,” I helpfully point out and she scowls, trying to dial back her rage.
Soren goes to sit next to her on the couch. “That’s why we left Omisha to come here; we were told this country was better, and it is. They tried to forcibly recruit the entire country to serve in their military, led by a man that is convinced that if he can get his hands on enough female dragon blood, he can develop a way for human females to bear dragon-blooded children.”
Her eyes narrow. “My brothers mentioned that they didn’t think all of the humans were wiped out like they were told.”
I nod. “A good chunk of them, yeah, but not complete extermination. The ones they let live to experiment on, they keep locked up. But there’s no way to ever completely get every last person and I imagine a good chunk are in hiding, biding their time and figuring out how to retaliate.”
Soren rips off the band aid and I hope she won’t send us away as soon as she hears. “Caius, Vyrian, and I are marked as traitors and deserters because of our refusal. If they find us, they’ll kill us on the spot, but we weren’t going to be involved in something like that. So it’s entirely possible there’s a bounty out on our heads now as well.”
She grins. Fucking grins, instead of balking. This girl is something else.
“So you’re damsels in distress and came here so I could save you? I mean, not that I blame you, it’s a flawless plan,” she jokes, adjusting the icepack on her side with a sigh of relief.
I nod sagely. “You saw right through our plan.”
She leans back on the couch and closes her eyes, her tone subdued now. “I see why they push me as much as they do, but I don’t get why they wouldn’t just fill me in so I could prepare better.”
Soren looks like he wants to reach out and console her, but knows it isn’t his place. He clenches his hand to keep from giving into the impulse.
“The world is going to hell, Ezra,” he says. “They likely wanted to offer you as much happiness and innocence as they could before t
he world barged in and snuffed it out. Once you know, you can’t forget and you’ll be constantly looking over your shoulder, worried someone’s going to abduct or hurt you. It’ll be a constant existence of stress, and they just wanted to let you live without that burden for as long as you could.”
She groans, but doesn’t argue. “This sucks.”
I huff out a humorless laugh. “That about sums it up, yeah.”
“But if I pick my mates and can shift, I can just bite the face off of any motherfucker that tries something. Wouldn’t they be excited about that?” she muses aloud.
Soren snorts. “I doubt they’d be excited at the prospect of their sister getting laid. Besides, you still need to get to a sanctuary for that to happen, and it’s a pretty decent journey to the nearest one from here.” Her eyes fly open and she whips her head toward him. He raises his hand in surrender. “What did I say?”
“Sanctuary,” she says through gritted teeth.
My eyes widen. Fuck, they didn’t tell her anything.
“Before the human uprising that started all of this, whenever it was time for a woman to take her mates, they needed to head over to the ritual site to complete the ceremony. An elder walked them through the process; it isn’t just sex. Even if you slept with someone right now, neither of you would be able to shift, it just puts you in a sort of...holding point, for lack of a better term, until you can complete the process.
“But now that so many women and elders have died out, there isn’t a need to have one in every town. There are a few sanctuaries across the country where the remaining elders have gathered. So after you select your mates, you’re going to need to head to one before you can start chomping faces.”
She rises to her feet with a curse, grabbing her blades off of the table as she starts storming towards the door. Soren and I are up in an instant following her, trading a curious look behind her back.
“What, ah, where you going?”
She pins me with a look over her shoulder, her emerald eyes hard enough to cut glass. “To find an outlet for my rage before I accidentally burn your house down. You guys coming?”
