Winning Skyhunter

by Jessie Donovan

  One was a male scent she instantly recognized. Shane Farhall was here.

  While he was intelligent enough not to speak, not disguising his smell meant Honoria could refine her plan for Shane specifically.

  The soft footsteps of one person drew closer, until they had to be about halfway down the hall. Taking a deep breath, she rushed into Shane's line of sight and pretended to be nervous. "What are you doing here?"

  Shane snarled, "What, is King hiding so that his bitch could protect him?"

  Her dragon roared inside her head, but Honoria sent a quick warning to her beast to calm down before she replied in a deliberately wavering voice, "I can handle myself."

  A cruel smirk curled the edges of Shane's mouth. The sight made her dragon want to cut off the male's cock, but thankfully her beast didn't try to wrestle control away from Honoria.

  Shane stated, "Then let's see how far I can go without technically breaking any of the rules. It's about time you learned how females are too weak to lead, let alone be Protectors. There'll be none of that when I win this competition."

  She swore she heard a growl behind her—although she didn't know if it was from Asher or Fraser—and decided to step forward, keeping Shane's focus on her for as long as possible. She still needed to find a way to let Asher know that Shane alone had come into the room. Only then could she make her dramatic move and have her partner help her.

  For effect, she took a step back. "Where's your partner?"

  "I don't need him to help me take you down, Wakeham. I'll do it myself. But before I do that, why don't you tell me where the Fraser bastard is? If you do, then I might go a little easier on you."

  Wanting to prod him a little since Shane's temper always made him act more rash, she said, "Can't find him yourself, I see. That's not what I'd call leader material."

  Narrowing his eyes, Shane moved closer. "Says the female who spent too many years with that pansy clan in America. Dragons are stronger without the humans. I'll make sure the other leaders know that, in the end."

  Her beast roared again, but Honoria was quick to answer Shane. She needed him a bit more unstable. "Once their fake hostage reports your actions, they won't pick you. Just because you win this round doesn't mean you win the whole thing."

  "You say that, but if I mention how one of the other pairs ended up killing that Scottish arsehole and I found him that way, then no one will be the wiser."

  At the intense hatred in Shane's eyes, Honoria drew in a breath. The dragonman wasn't sane, nor should he have made it this far. Even if the other leaders were merely trying to push all the participants with more competition, surely they would've read the signs and put more precautions into place to prevent extremes, such as murder, from happening.

  Her dragon spoke up. Take one more step back, and Asher will help. Let him know how far away Shane is, for reference.

  "Five feet is close enough, Shane. Stay back."

  "Shut it, bitch. Tell me where the Scottish bastard is. The longer you take in answering me, the more pain you're going to feel."

  For a split second, an actual thread of fear wormed its way into her heart. However, she wasn't going to tackle Shane alone. She knew that together, she and Asher would win.

  They had to.

  So instead of answering Shane, Honoria took yet another step back, signaling it was time for her partner to act.

  And then all hell broke loose.

  ~~~

  Only because Asher trusted Honoria did he fight his instinct to help her. Of course, when Fraser had growled at something Shane said, it'd nearly put their whole plan into jeopardy.

  However, Honoria must've heard the growl, too, and adjusted her tactic. Even facing a dragonman who could probably kill her, she'd focused on letting Asher know Shane was alone before proceeding to poke his temper.

  Even though she wasn't a warrior by training, Honoria knew how to keep herself together when push came to shove.

  She'd make a fucking amazing leader.

  His beast spoke up. With us. Together, we work best.

  However, at that moment, Honoria finally reached the point in the room which signaled it was time for Asher to stop waiting and pounce. She ducked down as he sprang forward, and he roared as he tackled Shane to the ground.

  As they rolled, pushed, and shoved, he didn't spare a thought as to if the others were doing their parts. He had faith in Honoria.

  As Shane clawed his face, the feeling of talon against skin banished thoughts of his plan and instead reminded him of another time and place. One where he'd been strapped to a chair as two dragomen took turns carving a K into his chest before sealing the wound with hot metal.

  However, instead of making him lose himself in the memory, this time it fueled his strength. Skyhunter deserved better than that. Shane would probably follow in Marcus King's footsteps, and fuck if he'd ever let that happen.

  Shane Farhall would never be leader as long as he lived.

  Never.

  Wrestling the other male beneath him, Asher pressed his forearm against Shane's throat, pinning him in place. "I won't kill you, but are you ready to surrender?"

  Shane gurgled his reply, "Never."

  Talons dug into Asher's back, and he roared. However, he only increased the pressure against Shane's neck. Not to kill him, but hopefully to knock him out.

  Digging his claws in deeper, Shane's face began to shift into his dragon one.

  Fuck, maybe the male was insane. Asher threaded every bit of dominance he possessed into his voice as he said, "Stop it, Shane. You'll collapse the tunnel and kill us all."

  The idiot continued shifting, wings starting to sprout from his back.

  With a curse, Asher wrenched Shane's talons from his back, jumped away, and headed for the rear door. Honoria stood in the entrance, horror on her face as Shane continued shifting.

  She moved aside and Asher dove into the next room. "Shut the door. Now."

  Honoria and Fraser moved to do so, just locking it as a loud crash came from the other side. Asher waited to see if the door would hold against the sudden weight of earth from the cave-in. And while it creaked a few times, it didn't break or bust open.

  He tried to sit up and cried out as intense, sharp pain exploded through his body. Without fighting for life or death, his body was telling him to take it easy.

  Honoria appeared on one side and Fraser the other. Fraser spoke first. "Bloody hell, was he trying to kill you?"

  Lowering her face closer to his, Honoria asked, "What are your injuries?"

  The corner of his mouth ticked up. "Practical even now."

  "Stop it, Ash. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

  "He stabbed my back, but I don't know how badly." He turned, gritting his teeth against the pain, until he rested on his side. Even though his vision was beginning to swim, he added, "Sorry, Ria. I'm not going to be much help soon. But I know you can save us."

  "Don't you even talk about leaving me. I'll poke your wounds if I have to."

  "You won't…"

  Unable to stay conscious any longer, the world turned black.

  ~~~

  Tears threatened to fall, but Honoria managed to keep them back. Crying wouldn't help any of them.

  Especially since the so-called emergency help button was useless so far underground—it relied on cell towers and she'd yet to see any kind of amplifier in the tunnels—which was something the coordinating team should've realized. Until they reached somewhere closer to the surface, they were truly on their own.

  Trying not to panic at Asher falling unconscious, she ripped off his shirt and sucked in a breath. Shane had stabbed him several times, and it would be a miracle if he hadn't hit something vital.

  Looking at Fraser, she threaded every bit of dominance into her voice she could muster. "What are the back-up protocols for this place?"

  The defiance from earlier was gone as Fraser replied without missing a beat. "Assuming the Protectors watching the place have been
compromised, then the other only fallback is a secret tunnel, the entrance to which is in the next room. It should lead to a room full of emergency support staff."

  "Then fetch them."

  Fraser didn't move. "Not until we move him into the next room, just in case the weight of the dirt breaks the door. Whoever that dragonman was, he was bloody insane."

  Not wanting to think about the dragonman who might've mortally wounded Asher, she motioned toward her partner's upper half. "You carry the front and I'll take the legs."

  Somehow they managed to get Asher into the next room. While there wasn't a bed, there was a table and they gently laid Asher on his stomach.

  The second he was settled, she forced herself to look away from Asher's injuries and she pierced Fraser with an urgent look. "Where's this door?"

  The Scot went to the side and tapped around a certain area on the wall until a panel clicked. He slid it open and cursed. "There should be someone on the other side of this door. This doesn't look good, lass."

  A loud creak emanated from the next room. Not good. It could burst at any moment. "Do you have any medical experience?"

  "Afraid not. I'm an architect by trade."

  "Damn." She glanced at Asher's pale face. "Let's try to clean him up and wrap a tight bandage around his torso, to help keep it from bleeding even more."

  Fraser motioned toward a derelict metal cabinet in one corner. "There are a few things in here." He went to the cabinet and opened the drawer. "A small first-aid kit, some water, and some high-energy snacks."

  "Bring the kit and water. Hell, bring the snacks too. I don't think Ash is waking up anytime soon, but in case he does, he'll need the calories to heal faster."

  Dragon-shifters healed quickly, but they didn't possess magic, nor were they miracle workers. Asher could still die.

  Her beast spoke up. He's too stubborn to die. Especially since the sex score is still in our favor. He'll wake up to make a comeback, I'm sure.

  Grateful for her dragon's attempt to lighten the mood a little, Honoria banished her fears and went to work cleaning Asher's injuries as best she could.

  Once done, she went over to the open door between the room next to the cave-in and their location, closed it and locked it. "At least that should be another barrier to hopefully protect us." Turning to Fraser, she added, "Now, we need to find help. How long is that tunnel? And what's on the other side?"

  "It's quite long, I'm afraid. And if that crazy bastard didn't harm the others down here, then protocols say they should be in one of the three meeting rooms dotted along the length of the tunnel."

  Honoria nodded. "We need to go and hopefully find them."

  Her glance drifted to Asher's still form. It would be better if she and Fraser went looking for the others together, but that meant leaving him behind.

  And Honoria didn't want to do it. He could die, and he didn't deserve to die alone.

  Her beast spoke up. Stop with the dying nonsense. He's strong. After surviving five years as a prisoner, he's not going to give up now.

  Just because you say it doesn't make it so.

  We have to believe. Otherwise, if we split up from the Scottish dragonman and he runs into Shane's partner, who knows what will happen to the male. And if he doesn't reach the meeting rooms, then it'd spell all of our doom.

  Her dragon was correct.

  Leaning down to Asher's ear, she said, "I won't be gone long, I promise. And you'd better be fine when I get back. I have a thing or two to say to you." Her voice softened. "One of them is thank you, by the way."

  Kissing his forehead gave her the courage to stand and look at Fraser. She ordered, "Lead the way and let's find help."

  ~~~

  Twenty minutes later, Honoria clenched her fingers as they exited the second meeting room. They hadn't found another soul yet, and each minute that ticked by was another that could take Asher's life.

  However, she knew yelling at Fraser wouldn't accomplish anything, so they quickly kept moving along the tunnel, keeping all of their senses on alert for the slightest change.

  Her beast spoke up. Can't we use the emergency button yet to call for help?

  I think we're still too far underground, and I haven't seen anything to boost or transmit the signal, not even in the meeting rooms. I didn't even see a blasted telephone in one of the rooms.

  If we get close enough to use the button or make a call, will you do it?

  Yes. The leadership isn't worth Asher's life.

  Her beast hummed. I agree. Maybe once he's healed and healthy again, you'll consider taking him as our mate.

  She liked how her beast didn't say if Asher pulled through. While it was always a possibility he wouldn't, she believed positive thoughts helped in some way.

  A tapping suddenly echoed through the tunnel. She and Fraser both stilled. There was a pattern to the sound, but even with the little Morse code she'd learned as a child, she recognized it as something different.

  Fraser stood a little taller and flashed a grin. "That's Gregor. Come on."

  She kept up with Fraser's pace. "Who?"

  "Dr. Gregor Innes. He was Lochguard's head doctor until he mated a female dragon-shifter on Stonefire. But that code is something Clan Lochguard developed for emergencies. It's brilliant because it's nonsense to anyone else, but it spells out words to me."

  "Tell me it's good news."

  He nodded. "It's basically a call out for any Lochguard participants to go to the third meeting room, the one we haven't seen yet. We should find at least one doctor there."

  A small sliver of hope filled her heart. "We need to hurry then, so Dr. Innes can help Asher. And while I'm not grateful, what about the others not from Scotland? Will they just be left to fend on their own?"

  Honoria was thinking of the teenage girl who had tested her earlier. Her accent had marked her as Welsh.

  Fraser started to run. She kept pace as he answered, "Of course not, that's ridiculous. Each clan in the UK has their own code. Well, it seems except for Skyhunter. I'm sure everyone takes a turn from the respective clans, letting people know where to go."

  "Having a universal one would be easier."

  "Aye, maybe now. But keep in mind, we all were enemies not that long ago."

  She didn't think Fraser was intentionally taking a stab at Skyhunter, but it still stung.

  Her dragon spoke up. But no longer. The others will come along soon enough.

  I wish I could say yes, but given the chaos of this test, the DDA could still decide Skyhunter isn't stable enough and disband us.

  Then we'll fight it. Skyhunter is worth saving. It's home again.

  Fraser rounded a corner and then skidded to a halt in front of a large metal door with signs of rust. He tapped out something on the door, someone tapped back, and he did it again, too. While the exchange couldn't have taken more than thirty seconds, each tap made Honoria more impatient. Asher could be dying, and the doctor who could help him was busy doing some complicated code.

  Honoria's temper didn't flare often, but it threatened to do so.

  However, the door finally opened to reveal a tall man about forty, with blond hair. He spoke with a Scottish accent, "Fraser." He looked over. "And Honoria. I'm Dr. Innes. Where's your partner?"

  She didn't waste a second. "Asher was injured and fell unconscious. Please, you need to come back with us and help him. He might be dying."

  A younger female with short, dark hair stepped next to Dr. Innes. She spoke with a Northern English accent. "No one is going without me. I'm Brenna. We can do longer introductions later, but I'm a Protector."

  Her dragon perked up at that. A female Protector. They do exist.

  Of course they do. Hush.

  "Fine, the whole bloody room can come, if that's what it takes." She threaded dominance into her voice. "But let's go. Now. I won't have Asher die because a few people decided that chitchat was more important."

  Brenna smiled and moved into the tunnel, in front of them all. "I
like you already. Come on, I know where all the rooms are along this tunnel and will make sure it's still safe."

  Honoria started running, hoping the doctor would keep up. She couldn't help but spit out to Brenna, "Why are you all bloody hiding in that room? Surely you know part of the tunnel collapsed and we needed your help."

  Brenna didn't miss a beat. "The cameras were disabled and we had to manually go through the rooms. Most of the Protectors are busy keeping one of the rule-breaking males under their watch. I couldn't leave the others unless there was a known emergency. We didn't think so many Protectors were necessary."

  "I think there were a lot of screw-ups regarding this whole thing." She told Brenna about Shane, the fight, and shifting inside the tunnel before asking, "Who thought using abandoned tunnels would be a good idea?"

  Brenna shook her head. "There was no way to know some stupid bloody dragonman would be idiotic enough to shift inside a tunnel. If someone made it this far in the trials and was that insane, then that's on the others testing you lot."

  "But aren't you from Stonefire, too?"

  "Sort of. I belong to Stonefire, but my mate is the brother of Clan Glenlough's leader. I sometimes work for both of them, depending on need."

  Glenlough was the clan in Ireland run by the female dragon-shifter, Teagan O'Shea.

  Brenna continued before Honoria could say anything. "Technically, clans from the Republic of Ireland weren't allowed to help with all this. However, I'm originally from Stonefire, so it was a way in for my sister-in-law, too. Teagan, Bram, and Finn all want to strengthen bonds between the dragon clans in the future, and who ends up leading Skyhunter is vital to all of that. So, that's why I'm here."

  She sensed there was more of a story behind her explanation, but they finally reached back to where Honoria and Fraser had started their search, and she pushed aside her curiosity. Honoria moved in front of Brenna. "Let me check first. If Asher is awake and sees an unfamiliar face, he may attack you."

  Brenna studied her a second before nodding. "Okay. But I'll be right behind you."