"Maddox Ramsay Kincaid," Madeline hissed, her hand gripping his elbow like a claw.
"Hey, mom," he forced his most charming smile down at his mother, trying to placate the anger bubbling just under the surface. "God, you look beautiful tonight."
It didn't work. Maybe it would have worked if he could stand without losing his balance or could speak without a slur.
She reached into his jacket pocket and took the flask, opened it, and sniffed. Her eyes flashed dangerously, before they and the grip on his arm softened. She tilted her head to the side and guided him to a side hall. She pushed him down on a bench next to the washrooms and sat next to him. "Okay, honey," she said gently. "Maybe you should go home."
"No, no, mom," he shook his head. "This is your night! I can't leave."
Her hand squeezed his. "I am not going to pretend that things haven't been hard on you for the last little while. You have been so strong, helping Rhia with her breakup, and your accident, and now all this business with the dragonkin, and Nova-"
"Please, don't..." his voice quaked.
He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. He couldn't listen to one more person tell him that Nova was just a dog. She was more than that... she was his partner. His fiancé. His mate. She wasn't supposed to die. And when he got the news directly from her superior's mouth... all they had been worried about was their damn non-disclosures. He hadn't even been allowed to go to her real funeral. She didn't have any other family. She had been alone at the very end.
He wanted to finish what she started. He could have done it. But Atticus... that fucking bastard... he turned his nose up at him just because he was a human. Goddamn elitist ancients.
"I know how important Nova was to you."
"Mom, please... I love you, but you have no idea how..."
"Honey, I know you two were dating."
He lifted his head off the wall and stared at her, his mouth falling open. "How?"
A knowing smile crossed her lips. "You were not as subtle as you think you were."
The pressure of emotions started to build again. "I miss her, mom."
"I know," Tears were building in her eyes too. "I wish we could have met properly. I know how happy she made you."
They sat together for a few minutes while Maddox struggled to get his emotions and his nausea under control. It made sense now, but he'd always been so jealous of Rhia's ability to drink more than seemed physically possible while he was a chronic puker anytime he picked up the bottle. "Go back to the party." He sighed. "I bet people are looking for you."
"No, you need me more right now."
"I'm okay." She rose her eyebrow at him. "Okay, I'm not, but I can get it together for tonight."
"Are you sure you don't want me to call you a cab? You don't have to be here."
"Yeah, I do." He sighed and smiled at her. "What kind of son would I be if I wasn't here to support you on the most important night of the year?"
"I'm a mom," she scolded him gently. "Nothing is more important to me than my kids."
He nodded, knowing better than to argue with her on that one. If there was an award for the world's best mom, she would have been nominated time and time again. She more than made up for Richard's lackluster attempts at being a parent.
Oh shit, Richard.
If Madeline knew that Nova was a shifter, there was no way in hell that Richard didn't know. But he never said a thing. The same man who refused to let him have friends that might have ancient blood didn't say anything about his partner being a shifter. What did that mean? It had to mean something, but his head was swimming bad enough that he couldn't focus on what it was trying to tell him.
"Sweetie?" Madeline's worried face brought him back. "I really think you should go home. You've had way too much to drink."
He shook his head, stopping almost as quickly. "I'm just going to splash some water on my face." he muttered. "I'll be out in a minute."
She frowned. "Okay. But, please, no more alcohol tonight."
"Deal."
She stood up and walked back towards the event. It took an effort for him to get off the bench and stumble into the bathroom and into a stall where he promptly threw up every drop of alcohol. Somehow, Jager always did taste better coming up the other way.
He heard the bathroom door open. Shit, shit, shit, he swore to himself. It would not look good for the host if someone caught her son completely drunk barely an hour into the event. He stood perfectly still and quiet, hoping the person would just go away. He heard someone laugh. "Don't tell me you've passed out, man."
Maddox almost ripped the door to the stall off. He would recognize that voice anywhere, but he did not believe for a second that he was here. But there he stood. Christian Churchill leaned casually against the sink, his arms crossed over his chest and a cocky smirk plastered across his face. "What the fu-" He couldn't be seeing this. This had to be a hallucination. Church was still in the hospital with a big-ass crater in his chest! "How are you..."
"Here? Alive?" Church chuckled. "Dude, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. I have seen some crazy shit in the last two days."
Maddox leaned against the wall heavily, blocking Church from seeing his hand creeping to his waistband for his gun. Something was wrong. Really wrong. "Okay," he said slowly. "Like what? And what are you doing here?"
Church's eyes danced with excitement. "I'll show you." he looked like he could barely hold back. "You just need to come with me."
"Where?"
"I can't tell you. You have to trust me on this."
Maddox would have laughed if every hair on the back of his neck wasn't standing on end. Trust Church? He barely trusted Church before what he did to Rhia. He was rash. Impulsive. He treated the job like it was his own personal power trip. The number of times internal affairs had come to Maddox about Church was enough to make anyone think he was a rat.
Church sensed his hesitation and laughed again. "Your dad said you'd be suspicious."
Maddox's eyes narrowed further. "My father?"
"Dude, would you relax? He's not here, he's not going to show his face when the Counsel's dogs are here." He snickered at his own bad shifter joke. He glanced at his watch and straightened up sharply. "Shit, we're running out of time. Look, long-story-short; Richard and Captain Landon are a part of a government operation to study the Ancients. They want to bring us in, but we have to go... like... now."
Holy shit. He was right. He was fucking right!
"Landon's alive?"
"No, he's dead as a goddamn doornail, thanks to those bastards. Richard and I vouched for you, Maddox, don't make us look like idiots. Are you in or not?"
"I'm in."
As he said it, the entire building trembled and the lights above them flickered. "Then we've got to go. Keep up."
Church pulled open the bathroom door, leading him out to the hall. "What about my mom?" Maddox hesitated.
"It's been taken care of, let's go!"
Maddox chased after Church, praying to every and any god out there that Rhia would be safe with Nolan and Atticus.
~
Run!
RUN!!!
A voice in Rhia's head screamed at her to run. She wasn't sure if it was through the link or her last shred of rational thought. But her body wouldn't move. She stared up at the dark elf. She recognized him. Not just from the dark realm at the mall. Memories that haunted her dreams since she was a child. Memories from before... memories from when she belonged.
Before he took it from her.
It was him.
All of this was his fault!
Anger flared inside her so suddenly, she didn't have the chance to try and stop the fire from blasting out from her palms. Bright red flames and a heat so intense it distorted the air around her. It felt like a warm breeze to her, comforting and encouraging her as she got to her feet and met the elf's eyes. She suddenly knew exactly why half his face was covered in burn scars. She would not stop at his face this time.
A wide, cruel smile spread across his face. "Ah, ah, ah," he scolded. "You don't want to hurt your friend here, do you?"
He tilted his head to Juniper's unconscious form.
Rhia did not look away from him. This was her magic. Her power. She had control. No, she did not want to hurt Juniper. And she wouldn't. She would burn down the entire forest, the whole fucking city, and she wouldn't hurt a soul except for him.
The elf sighed, pulled a pistol from his belt, and aimed the muzzle at Juniper's head. "Let's try this again." He sighed dramatically. "Put out the flames, or I empty the clip in her skull. Do you really think even a dragonkin can survive that?"
The need to protect Juniper gnawed at her anger. Oh, how she wanted to destroy this fucker... but... damnit he was right!
The flames retreated and started to flicker out. "What do you want?" she snarled, barely recognizing her own voice.
"So many things," The elf cackled. "War, destruction, the heads of the dragons mounted on my wall. You know, it really is the simple things in life that make a man happy, Rhiannon. But, for now, I want to introduce myself." He dipped in a dramatic bow, keeping the gun trained on Juniper. "Zenith Shadowblade, at your service."
Gun fire suddenly rang out behind Rhia. They were too close. Screams followed the shots. She whirled around, her stomach clenching painfully. Her mom... her brother... Nolan, Atticus, Zesstra... fuck, she was even worried for Constantine.
A prick in her neck brought her back to Zenith. Pain washed through her veins, followed by a cold, numbing feeling. He withdrew the needle, chuckling as she stumbled against a tree. "You really should be more worried about yourself." The matter-of-fact way he spoke was somehow even more terrifying than everything else she had seen thus far.
Rhia sucked in a gasp and clawed at her neck. Her legs finally started working, and she stumbled through the trees back towards the event hall. She was fucked. She was so fucked. She needed her fire, but it didn't come. For fuck's sake, she'd been burning things left and right for the last few days, it had been there five seconds ago, why wouldn't it come to her now?
"Where are you going, little dragon?" she heard Zenith sang after her. "You can't escape from me. Not this time."
Fear doused her like a bucket of ice water. She needed to get away. She needed... She needed Nolan... he would protect her.
She broke through the trees in time for her legs to go numb. It was getting hard to breathe. Her eyes widened at the scene before her. Soldiers dressed head to toe in black armour. They stood at the doors to the event hall, preventing anyone from getting in or out. Helicopters buzzed overhead and a bright spotlight landed on her. "Nolan," she tried to scream, but her voice was reduced to a barely audible squeak. "Help..."
Juniper landed in a heap beside her. Zenith must have dragged her out of the woods. He knelt down to brush the hair out of her eyes. The look of cruel excitement was more terrifying than anything she ever seen before. "I have waited so long for this."
"Please..." she fought against the fear in her voice. "I don't want to die."
"No, no, of course you don't, Rhiannon." He whispered almost tenderly, stroking her cheek softly. "But you will."
A handful of the soldiers suddenly appeared, and Zenith backed up to speak to them. His words were muted by the unmistakable sound of a dragonkin roar. Rhia knew that sound. A second later, the all-too familiar form of Dáithí in his full serpent glory exploded from the darkness and landed among the army of soldiers, crushing some, scattering the rest. With a flick of his tail, the entrance to the hall was cleared, and he turned his furious attention to Rhia.
Zenith barked out a laugh and raised his hand to the sky. "Not this time."
Instead of any magic, a harpoon was fired from one of the helicopters. It struck Dáithí in the side near his back leg and exploded. He stumbled, his sandy eyes widening in shock and pain before flaring in rage. Another shot, hitting the same spot as before. Instead of detonating it, the helicopter rose suddenly. The chain connecting them to the serpent went taught and jerked him sideways. Several soldiers ran forward, dropping to their knees in well-practiced motions, and aimed what looked like small cannons at Dáithí. Three earth-shaking shots later, and he was tangled in the net of chains. He let out a roar, and spikes of earth shot up. The attack was wild, and most of them missed their targets.
More gunfire, rapid bursts of automatic weapons, followed by slower, singular shots from the other side. A chorus of violent snarling rang out across the yard. A line of glowing red eyes mixed with a pack of various animals joined the fray. The vampires and the shifters had arrived.
A tiny spark of hope came to life when she saw him. Nolan. His eyes were such a bright, angry red, he stood out over the others. His face was contorted so his fangs were fully descended and visible. Next to him was Constantine, who'd dropped the glamour and mirrored his second-in-command's rage. Using the spires of rock from Dáithí's magic for cover, they were coming for her. Both vampires had their eyes on Zenith.
The elf's cackling laugh rang out over everything. "Nolan Wes!" he shouted. "What a pleasant surprise! How long has it been, old friend?!" His arm wrapped around her waist and dragged her to her feet. His other hand wrapped around her throat and forced her to look towards Nolan and Constantine. "Look at him." Zenith hissed gleefully in her ear. "I want you to see the look on his face when I take everything from him again."
Again? What did he mean?
She found Nolan's eyes. She could already see the fear building in his eyes. A fresh new wave of anger rose inside her. She would not be some damsel in distress. She would not be another problem on his plate! She survived this elf, not once but twice. She survived the heritage tests. She punched Constantine in the face and lived to tell the tale. She came out the other side of Church's relentless abuse. She was going to fight to the fucking end because that's what she did! Fight!
Her body was completely numb, but she could see her fingers flexing and contorting into black claws. She swung her hand up and behind her at his face. A cry of pain and anguish told her she found her target, and he released her.
She managed to take a few wobbly steps forward before a new soldier appeared in front of her to grab her. She went for his throat. Her teeth had turned into fangs and sliced through the armour easily. Warm blood flooded her mouth, and a scream rang in her ears. The soldier shoved her off and she collapsed again. She met Zenith's eyes once again. Three deep scratches raked over the unmarred side of his face and bright red blood streamed down his face.
A sound she could only describe as a screaming roar ripped from her throat. It sent a ripple of her power across the yard. The soldier she had bitten shrieked as her saliva turned to acid and began to eat away at his flesh. She heard an echo of other dragonkin answering her call and a jumble of voices washed through her mind. One voice stood out from the rest. She knew that voice, though not who it belonged to. "Fight, Rhiannon!" It shouted. The voice was full of so much pride and encouragement she couldn't help but smile.
Zenith did not share her smile. In fact, every drop of amusement had drained from his eyes and the cruel smirk had left his face. He stared down at her and she let go of the last shred of control of her glamour. He was going to know exactly who he was up against.
The soldiers were retreating back to form a thick wall of weapons aimed on Nolan and the other advancing Ancients. Another soldier gripped her wrists and pulled them roughly behind her back, binding them with cuffs made from some heavy material. Her body was too numb to respond to her commands.
She kept her eyes entirely focused on Zenith as he took hold of one of the lines. Out of her rage and overwhelming power, she made her first link. "I'm going to kill you." She promised.
"Get in line." he snarled back.
Once again, she was dragged to her feet, and once again she was shoved into the arms of the elf. With a jerk of movement and her stomach bottoming out, they were lifted into the air. The pilots were wasting no time and were already turning away from the fight and lifting higher before they were anywhere near the cabin.
She caught sight of Nolan again. He was surrounded by dead or unconscious soldiers. He'd relieved one of them of their gun and had it aimed directly up at them. His eyes were no longer red. They glowed blue in response to her power. Arches of blue lightning danced off his body and lashed out at any enemy that came near him.
She hoped he would shoot. She didn't even care if she died, as long as this bastard died too!
But he didn't.
A moment later, he turned the weapon on the remaining soldiers and fired into them. A column of fire erupted too close to him. The remaining transport aircrafts took off. Heavy missiles were released from their cradles and propelled towards the warzone.
No... He wouldn't survive that...
"A damn pity I couldn't kill him myself." Zenith muttered more to himself than to her. "But I suppose this will do."
She screamed and desperately wished her body would respond. She was handed off to someone in the cabin. Juniper and Dáithí, back in his human skin, were unconscious on the floor, bound in the same heavy cuffs she was.
The night was suddenly illuminated by an impossibly white stream of magic lifting high above the event hall. As she watched, it spread out to wrap around the whole area, blocking her view of the carnage. Missiles detonated against the magic, sending ripples of pink and red through it.
It was the last thing she saw before the doors were slammed shut and she was tossed to the floor with the others.
~
Shots rang out in carefully trained spurts as the line of heavily armored humanoids advanced. The smell of gunpowder, confusion, and fear drenched the air while a high-pitched buzz pierced through each and every dragonkin on the compound. Keoni dove for the cover of the building and flattened his back against the bricks. Once again, he tested the link, but he was met only by the buzz, a sharp pain to his temples, and an uncomfortable lack of responses.
They, whoever they were, had found a way to block the link. And not just the link. He hadn't been able to shift. None of them could.
He didn't have time to contemplate how or when this technology had been designed. He had to focus on the evacuation. An evacuation not a single kin had ever thought of preparing for. Why would they have needed to? Who in their right minds would ever assault the compounds?
The answer was simple. The same people who attacked Nekros and Phoenix and Rhiannon all those years ago. Something else they should have learned from that terrible night.
A scream caught Keoni's attention. Carefully, he peered around the wall and felt his insides go cold. A female lay on the ground, blood seeping from her shoulder. Her body was curled protectively around a tiny wyvern infant. The soldiers continued to advance, aiming their fire away from her and the hatchling. One of the made a hand gesture. A helicopter descended out of the darkness and started hovering over the fallen pair, aiming a spotlight down at them.
Keoni knew what they were doing. They were going to try to take them like they did to Nekros. They couldn't. He couldn't let them. Too many children have already suffered at their hands. Maybe he couldn't shift, but they hadn't cut off his magic... and they had no idea who they were dealing with.
Keoni flew around the corner towards the female and her child. Weapons turned on him and he weaved in random directions to avoid the bullets. His power pulsed out, wrapping around them protectively before igniting into a wall of violet flames. He dove to her side, placing himself between her and the soldiers. The flames spread out, separating the attackers from the rest of the compound.
Turning to the female, he placed a hand over her wound, and she screamed as he cauterized it. It was a rough patch job, but it would have to do until they were safe. Before he could tell her to run, a different kind of shot caught his attention. Something hit his side. He barely had a chance to look down and register what looked like a harpoon sticking out of his left side when it exploded.
For a moment the world went black. He didn't even feel the pain of his insides ripping apart or being thrown like a ragdoll across the street. His arm was twisted awkwardly under him, and he couldn't feel his legs. The world had gone silent. He managed to crack one eye open and followed the trail of his blood back to the female. There was less of her body than there was of his. He couldn't see her moving. Her hatchling had his head tilted to the sky, screaming for the loss of his mother.
"Run," he tried so hard to link to the child. "Run... please run. What they did to her will be nothing compared to what they do to you if they catch you. Run..."
It didn't matter. If his message had gotten through, it didn't give the child enough time to run. His magic had gone out. The line of soldiers had reached them. One broke formation, swinging the weapon over their shoulder before snagging the little wyvern by his neck and pulling back to place him in a crate held by a second soldier. A line was thrown out of the helicopter.
He needed to move. He needed to do something.
His body wouldn't listen.
Images of Ares flickered in his mind's eye. They had argued the last time they spoke. They had both been angry. Keoni had called him an idiot. Ares had flown off in a temper. Would that be the last thing Ares had to remember him by? Anger and harsh words? Despite everything, a gurgle of a laugh came from his throat. Why shouldn't that be their last moment? It would have been exactly like their first. Fewer teeth, though...
A soldier reached him, and Keoni looked up into the matte faceplate. They were still for a few seconds before the humanoid stepped over him and continued on his way. That pretty much confirmed his fate. He was dying. He wasn't even worth a spare bullet to the head to finish him off.
His eyelids grew heavy. This was not how he'd thought he'd die. Then again... he hadn't exactly thought about his death in a while. Being... being mated to... Ares should have...
It was getting harder to keep hold of his thoughts. He was so tired. He just needed to close his eyes. He would be... would be...
He didn't see the crystal dome form around him. He didn't hear the song of an incensed dragon. The last thing he remembered was hoping that Ares would find love again.
Lysander's front talons, covered in a protective layer of diamond, caught the helicopter by the rotors and ripped it apart. His senses found the one carrying the hatchling cage and threw the remains of the tail at them. His aim wasn't quite dead on, but the humanoid did lose the arm holding the cage. Before someone else could pick up the hatchling, Lysander spat pure magic to form another barrier.
Banking hard, he searched for the source of that sound. It was driving him crazy, making it hard to focus. He was willing to bet his life that it was the cause of the dragonkin below not shifting. Keoni wouldn't have been taken out so easily if he could shift. It came from below, probably at a defensive position behind the soldiers.
He caught sight of a heavily armored truck at the entrance to the compound and dove. They fired every weapon they had available to them to no avail. The layer of diamond was heavy and slowed his flight, but there was nothing that could even scratch the surface of his armour.
Lysander landed hard enough to break through the concrete to the rocky ground beneath. The vehicle under his claws crumpled like an aluminum can. The incessant buzzing stopped. He turned his head towards the burning compound, opened his wide jaws, and roared a command to arms. He felt the dragonkin shifting into their true selves. Magic washed over their mountains, cutting out all power to anything within range.
Another roar and another, stronger wave of magic from the crystalline dragon made the ground quake. A wall of diamond, fifty feet tall, erupted from the ground leaving no way out for the attackers unless they revealed their air support.
Air support came in the form of more helicopters, flying low and fast over the wall to collect their people. Lysander rushed them, sending orders to the kin to give priority to the injured, specifically Keoni and the fallen female. He hoped for Ares's sake that Keoni could be saved. His heart was still beating when he arrived so...
His mind snapped back to the battle when a missile came out of nowhere and struck his wing in blast of fire and shrapnel. That he felt it at all meant that it was no ordinary projectile. He narrowed his eyes to slits and aimed directly for the machine that shot him. He wouldn't be able to take them all down... but he would destroy just one more.
By the time he tore the helicopter to pieces, the others had vanished into the night. He could hear them in the distance, but it wouldn't do him any good to go after them. There were more important matters to attend to. He sought out one of Quin's elites, demanding a status report.
The main building was in a ruin of stone, wood, and flames. Several houses shared its fate. The infirmary was smoking, but they were getting it under control. Three more elites were on their way to Quin's island sanctuary to see if the attackers had gone there. An alarm went out cut through the rest of the reports and it sent a fearful chill through Lysander and every single dragonking.
The hatchery.
Lysander, followed by the remaining elite wyverns as well as a dozen other kin, turned towards the hatchery at top speed. It was hidden deep in the mountains, heavily guarded by both kin and an entrance hidden by powerful magic.
It didn't matter how strong the concealment spells were, nothing could hide the smoking crater where the hatchery once was. They could hear the crying now. Lysander shifted and entered the ruins. He found the source of the crying quickly. A female lyndwerm was half-buried in the rubble. She didn't seem to notice her injuries. Her song was so heartbreaking, it was already bringing tears to his eyes.
Between her claws were the remains of a moss-green egg. A broken, underdeveloped form of the hatchling lay motionless beneath the broken shell and pebbles of ruin.
He really did start to cry now. Tears spilled from his eyes and he collapsed to his knees next to the heartbroken mother. What was he supposed to say... what could he say? Nothing would ever sooth her pain. It would be felt by her and the kin for generations to come.
A solemn report came in. Keoni was alive, but barely. Their estimate would be weeks of sessions with the healers. While there were dozens of others injured, none of them were nearly as bad.
Thirteen dragonkin were dead. Fourteen, including the loss at the hatchery.
Seven dragonkin were missing. Three of them were hatchlings of various ages. They couldn't be reached by the link. It was like they just... vanished. Just like Nekros and Phoenix all those years ago.
Lysander slowly got to his feet, shaking with anger. He stepped back out of the cave and shifted back into his true skin. He launched into the air, heading towards the blinding lights of the city. They should have done this thirty years ago. They should have shown their true strength the first time someone dared raise their hands to the dragons.
He landed on the tallest skyscraper he could find and looked out at the glowing city. In the distance, he heard the song of despair coming from the kin. Further away was another roar, different from the others, and so distinctly dragon that it could belong to none other than Nekros's child. Rhiannon. Could she feel the pain the rest of them were?
For the moment, he turned his attention back to Los Angeles, and screamed a roar of anger, and warning, and rage. The world needed to know. The world needed to see. They may have lost this battle. They would not lose again.
~