Beyond the Darkness

by Katie Reus

  “You smell delicious, little dragon,” the one named Marshall said. Apparently the leader of the trio.

  And he knew what she was. Just great. “Get the hell out of my way,” she demanded. Shifters or any supernatural beings only respected strength. She was pretty sure these three were out here to ambush her but she knew well enough to always stand her ground, no matter how afraid she was.

  “Not after what you saw back there,” the other one—maybe, Martin—said.

  Somehow she kept her expression blank. “Saw?”

  “You’re special, aren’t you little dragon? Not everyone is powerful enough to see or contain the power.” Marshall spoke again while the third one stepped to the left, as if he was thinking about moving around one of the vehicles to cut off her escape.

  She was about tired of the ‘little dragon’ comments. And she had no idea what he meant by ‘contain the power’. She pinned him with a stare, her dragon’s fire tickling the back of her throat. Tonight was definitely going to end badly. Probably with her clothes shredded and these losers burned to a crisp. She knew her animal was in her eyes already, was barely containing the urge to shift.

  But she’d be weakest when she underwent the change, just for a few moments. She needed to put some distance between them before she let her dragon take over. “Special?” she asked, wanting to keep them talking as she took a couple steps backward.

  They followed, one having to fall behind the others in the tighter space between the vehicles.

  “Very special,” the creepy one she’d seen biting that female said in a sing-song voice. The sound of it felt like ice trailing down her spine. His eyes darkened and she scented that fire again. Demons. They had to be. “And now you have to die.”

  Fire erupted in one of the male’s hands and she didn’t think, just let her instinct take over.

  Not bothering to shift, she unleashed the fire that had been tickling her throat, a scorching stream releasing at the two closest males. She nailed one of them in the arm and face.

  He screamed and the other male went for a weapon. A gun. He yanked it free from the back of his pants. Before he could lift his arm she whipped her fire at him, ready to fry him when a blast of bright orange flames fell from the sky, lighting up everything around them.

  She jumped back, lifting an arm to shield herself from the brightness. Her fire died in her throat as the flames from above ate up the three males, incinerating them and four vehicles around them in seconds, as if the fire itself was hungry enough to devour everything in its path. She could feel the heat but just barely. As a dragon she could shield herself—to an extent—from other dragons’ fire, but whoever was breathing it was specifically guarding her against its destructive power. She sensed it bone-deep.

  She stared at the sky but whoever it was had shielded themselves—until a shimmering bluish-green dragon with scales the color of the Mediterranean suddenly appeared, landing in the ashes of the demons and destroyed vehicles with a thump. He spread his wings, a beautiful pale blue that gave off the illusion of flowing water and stared at her with sapphire-green eyes.

  Eyes she would know anywhere.

  Before she could move or even think, the male shifted to his human form. Bran stood there, all six feet four inches of sexy, pissed off male. His expression was one of pure rage as he stepped toward her. Not that it stopped her from checking out every single naked inch of him. And the man was built. All those hard lines and striations looked as if he’d been carved from marble.

  She knew she should be more worried about what the hell had just happened but as he stalked toward her, it was hard to remember her name.

  “Keelin,” he growled out and it registered that he was angry—at her. “What the hell were you—”

  She stomped her heel against the gravel, not caring if she looked childish. “Don’t you fucking lecture me!” She couldn’t take it from him of all people. Not now, not ever.

  He let out another growl, this one filled with something else. Not anger.

  He fisted her hips, tugging her to him faster than she could blink. She’d barely let out a gasp of surprise before his mouth crushed over hers, hard and demanding.

  Chapter 3

  Bran’s tongue teased against Keelin’s, the simple taste of her setting him on edge. Of course there was nothing simple about her or this situation at all. When he’d seen those three males follow Keelin outside—as she unsuccessfully tried to hide from him—his dragon had clawed at the surface, ready to destroy her attackers.

  But he’d remained in control, had followed them like the hunter he was. He’d remained in the shadows, cloaked and looking out for her. Until that fucker had said Keelin was going to die. He’d never lost control of his animal side like that, as if he was barely hanging on to his humanity by a thread. Everything he’d just done was a fiery haze.

  Everything except the way Keelin was grinding up against him, her petite form arching into him. He’d been going crazy for a month wanting her. It was hard to believe she wasn’t pushing him away. Growling low in his throat, he nipped her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged.

  She moaned and dug her fingers into his shoulders. It wouldn’t take much to get her undressed. He backed her up against the side of a truck—as far away as he could manage from the charred remains of demon and metal.

  He skimmed his hands up her hips and over her waist, wishing he was touching more than just her skintight black dress. When he’d first seen her inside the warehouse, his entire body had gone on red alert. Much like the first time he’d met her. He lost the ability to think, much less talk.

  The dress hugged all her curves, accentuating that perfect ass. He’d seen other males looking at her, wanting her, and he’d had the irrational urge to incinerate every single one of them. And even though the hem was an inch below her knees, the heels she wore helped accentuate those toned calves. Calves he’d fantasized about having wrapped around his shoulders because every inch of her body was a subject of obsession for him. Against his will too. He hadn’t thought he wanted a mate, but his fucking dragon had other ideas.

  When she slid her hands down his chest, her greedy fingers trying to touch every inch of him, he rolled his hips against her, his cock thick and hard and desperate to get inside her.

  She moaned again and all reason fled his mind. Grabbing her hips again, he hoisted her up the side of the vehicle—then realized they had a problem.

  Her damn dress was too fitted for her to move much. And he wanted those fine legs latched around him, her high heels digging into his ass.

  Reaching for the hem, he shoved it up her legs until it bunched against her waist. She immediately wrapped her legs around him, rolling her hips against his. Oh God, just a thin scrap of material separated them now.

  He shouldn’t do this. She deserved better than rough and frantic up against a vehicle mere feet from where he’d just killed three demons, and where anyone could stumble on them. When he met Keelin’s gaze again, her gray eyes were heavy-lidded and sparking with lust. They’d gone almost pure silver.

  That was when he realized she was glowing. A gold light emanated from her, illuminating their position perfectly. Cursing, he glanced around and as he did, the spell of intimacy between them was broken.

  “Oh my God! No. No, no, no!” she chanted, frantically shoving at him, realizing what the glow meant as fast as he did. He didn’t want to let her go but he did. Before her heels hit the ground she was already tugging her dress down. She took an unsteady step away from him, face flushed. The second she did, the glow dimmed, but he knew what he’d seen.

  When dragons started the mating process it manifested in different ways. Since his brother was mated to a Petronilla dragon he knew exactly what that glow was—it was a Petronilla trait for when their animal side wanted to start the mating process. Her dragon was clearly on board with him. Unfortunately, as Keelin glared accusing daggers at him, it was clear her human side didn’t like the thought of mating with him
at all.

  She might as well have punched him in the nuts. He knew he wasn’t a fucking prize, but…fuck.

  Her long blonde hair was rumpled, her full lips swollen as she glanced around, finally taking in their surroundings. When her gaze landed on the burning embers of what had been the demons and vehicles she shook her head. “What the heck was I thinking?” she muttered. Then her gaze snapped back to his. “What were those things?”

  Yeah, he could go for a subject change. Better than focusing on the fact that she didn’t want him. Or didn’t want to want him anyway. He still wanted her though, no doubt about it. “Demons I think. And they followed you out of the club.” His jaw clenched. For centuries dragons had lived in anonymity, even among other supernatural beings.

  But months ago that had started to change when Keelin’s brother escaped from Hell.

  Literally.

  His escape had caused an earthquake in New Orleans and he’d subsequently been given shelter by a wolf shifter pack before his clan found him. And now said pack—and the Alpha’s vampire mate—wanted to enter into alliance talks with his dragon clan. They were already basically allies with the Petronilla clan. And Finn’s mating with a vampire meant those alliances would eventually extend to vamp covens as well. Which could be a positive thing.

  The downside to the situation was that others seemed to know more about dragons now. Not that he’d ever fooled himself into thinking they’d been completely anonymous but if those demons had tracked Keelin because of what she was he’d…well, he couldn’t do much more because they were already fucking dead.

  She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Instinctively he wanted to pull her close again, but resisted, knowing she’d reject him. “I talked to them inside. One of them…” She trailed off at the sound of footsteps crunching over gravel.

  He’d heard one of the doors of the warehouse open about twenty seconds ago but clearly Keelin hadn’t been paying attention.

  Her two female friends and the two Stavros pack males approached. Solon, who had a similar skull trim to Bran, stepped forward and surveyed the damage. “A vampire came inside talking about a light show out here so we came to check it out… What the hell happened here?”

  “Three demons attacked me so I killed them,” Keelin said before Bran could even think about answering.

  Damn it. He couldn’t call her out. The smoldering scent of flesh and metal covered up the scent of her lie. He knew why she’d taken the credit for the kills. He was an Alpha in another Alpha’s territory. Maybe she was worried about him. Which was kinda sweet if a bit misplaced. The kills had been more than justified.

  Solon flicked a glance at Bran and his lips pulled into a thin line. So maybe the guy didn’t believe her either but damn, Bran couldn’t contradict her in front of everyone. Not when they were on unsteady ground enough as it was. It would just piss her off and alienate her. And probably embarrass her in front of her friends.

  “And you decided to just take out some vehicles while you were at it,” Jason, the other one muttered. “That was my truck, Keelin.” His voice was more resigned than annoyed as he pointed at one of the piles of ash.

  Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Big deal, the pack will get you a new one. It’s not like the thing wasn’t insured.”

  “For a dragon attack? There’s not even a frame left for the insurance adjuster. And my iPod was in there.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Bran said, stepping up next to Keelin and ignoring her huff of annoyance. “That’s not the issue anyway. Those demons were tracking Keelin.”

  Solon frowned. “You’re sure?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  Solon’s frown deepened and he ran a hand over his skull trim. “Wait…demons or half-demons?”

  “I…don’t know.” Damn it. He probably should have let one of them live so he could have questioned them. But he hadn’t been thinking tactically before. All he’d cared about was eliminating the immediate threat to Keelin.

  “You think they were after her specifically or just any single female?” Solon asked.

  “Okay, ‘her’ is right here,” Keelin snapped. “And they knew what I was. They called me ‘little dragon’ and said I smelled delicious. They also called me special more than once, though I’m not sure what that was about. And…” She cleared her throat, as if choosing her words, before continuing. “Then they said I needed to die.”

  Bran only realized he was growling when everyone turned to look at him. He also decided to cover his junk as best he could. He didn’t mind nudity and it was clear the other shifters didn’t either but the female with black hair, Nyx he thought her name was, was looking anywhere but at him, as if uncomfortable.

  “So then you just killed them,” Solon said.

  “They attacked me first. And I got a little carried away with my fire.” Her voice was dry as she said the last part.

  Bran snorted softly. If she expected him to apologize later that was never going to happen. He’d level a city block to save her. Period. As an Alpha he was more strongly in touch with his animal side than most of his kind and he wasn’t going to fight the instinctive need he felt to protect her.

  “Damn it. All right…” Solon looked around. The lot was empty of other people and Bran had a feeling it would stay that way for a while. There had been a full lineup of fights for the next couple hours. Apparently they often fought until day break. “Jason and I are going to take care of this. The rest of you, head to Bo’s club. I’m calling Finn. He’ll meet you there.”

  “Shouldn’t we go back to the mansion?” Keelin asked.

  But Bran understood the other male’s reasoning. If someone had targeted her or others were watching them—though he didn’t sense it and his natural ability to detect when he was being watched or hunted was inborn and sharp—they wouldn’t want to lead them directly back there and put the other packmates at risk.

  As Bran expected, Solon shook his head.

  “Okay, well, you know Vega’s in the warehouse right? Maybe we should—”

  “Lyra’s watching her,” Ophelia said. “Apparently she checked in with her dad at her curfew, then turned around and headed here. Sneaky little thing.” There was a note of amusement in the woman’s voice.

  Keelin instantly relaxed. Bran couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. She’d just almost been attacked and was worried about someone else. Yeah, his dragon had picked the right female.

  When she realized he was watching her, she glanced up at him and frowned. Then turned away and completely ignored him. When she practically marched away from him, he couldn’t help but watch the sway of her ass. Damn the woman got him riled up.

  “We need to leave now,” the one named Nyx said quietly, something in her tone making the group go still.

  “What do you sense?” Bran asked, stepping closer to the group of females, wanting to be as close to Keelin as possible.

  Nyx met his gaze, her blue eyes grim but there was a trace of confusion. “I’m not sure, but someone is watching us.”

  Bran inhaled deeply, pushing his hunter’s senses outward, but all he felt were the people in the warehouse. Too many scents filtered through the air, made worse by the scent of ashes, that he couldn’t get a lock on anything else. But he believed the female.

  Ignoring her gasp of annoyance, Bran clasped Keelin’s elbow. It was time to leave. “We should go then.”

  * * *

  “Is she the one?” Shar asked, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.

  Naram nodded without glancing at him, watching the petite blonde getting into a vehicle called an SUV with some wolf shifters and another dragon. After being woken from a millennia long coma—one he’d been put in by the female’s grandmother—he was once again free thanks to a natural disaster. “She looks just like her grandmother and she’s wearing the bracelet.” Soon he would bathe in her blood—if he could destroy her. Then he would take back what was rightfully his. That bitch was wearing his talism
an.

  His.

  “Perhaps she’s not as powerful. The male killed our scouts, not her.”

  Naram shrugged, liking the feel of being in a human body again. When he’d been imprisoned, his spirit had been trapped in a sacrificial urn. The sensation of the wind blowing over his skin now was welcome. “That means nothing. Male dragons are protective of their mates. They are not rational when it comes to females.” Something he knew well. And the truth was, if she wasn’t inherently powerful she wouldn’t have been able to even wear the bracelet. Only a certain line of female dragons was able to possess it without dying. There was simply too much power contained inside it.

  “They are mated?”

  “I don’t know.” And he didn’t like that. His kind and dragon shifters had been enemies since the beginning of time and for all he knew of them, there were still many secrets they kept. At least they had when he’d lived on the earth. He assumed it was still the same.

  “Is it odd that they are aligning with wolf shifters?” Shar asked. The young demon hadn’t been out of Hell long and didn’t know much of the human world.

  Unfortunately Naram was still adjusting to this world too. Eight months out of his imprisonment and he still wasn’t at full power—and he wouldn’t ever be until he eliminated his problem and retrieved his bracelet. He’d only recently released Shar to assist him. “Years ago it would have been unheard of, but now I think things have changed.”

  They’d located the female a week ago and had found her working at a bar owned by a half-demon and living with wolf shifters. She must have only recently put the bracelet on or he never would have found her. But it had allowed him to track her to an extent.

  Her living arrangements didn’t make sense and while he wanted to outright kill her because of her blasted bloodline, now he realized he’d have to be more subtle, to get her alone before that happened. Especially if she was mated. Mated dragons were more powerful and could prove a death sentence to one such as him. Because if he moved in too soon she might take off the bracelet, then go into hiding and then he’d never get the chance to destroy her and reclaim his property. If that happened he would never regain all his powers. That was unacceptable.