Page 23

Chapter 23

Safe

Blake

I woke up nestled against a snoring Xavier. Mornings were never my thing, but this one had me waking up with a beaming smile. I had to take a moment and make sure it wasn’t all some kind of dream.

The sexiest damn dream I’d ever had.

I rolled over, feeling Xavier’s breath on my face. It had been real. All of it. I examined the dragon’s peaceful expression, wondering what he dreamed of. He had a comforting arm through over the blanket, adding a gentle pressure to my side. My morning wood pulsed under the blanket. I’d normally be shy about it, but not today. Not anymore.

Yesterday had infused me with a whole new burst of confidence. Being a twenty-six-year-old virgin always had me second-guessing myself when it came to sex. Was I wanted? Was I good enough? Would I make some kind of terrifyingly embarrassing mistake?

Xavier showed me that none of those questions mattered. All that mattered was that we were both having fun. That was all.

And judging by all that I swallowed yesterday, Xavier was certainly having fun, and so was I.

He stirred, his eyes fluttering open. A soft blue glow of morning sunlight tried to push around the curtains that hung on the windows. There were shards of different-colored light on the floor from the stained glass.

“Good morning,” Xavier said sleepily.

I nestled in closer to him. “Morning, sir.”

“How’d you sleep?”

“Like a baby dragon.”

“Good,” he said, giving me a morning kiss. He was also dealing with some morning wood. I reached under the blanket and gave him a couple of strokes. He rolled onto his back and spread his legs for me, closing his eyes again. “God, your hands feel so good on my cock.”

I was instantly wide-awake. But before things could escalate, we heard a knock on the door.

“Xavier, Blake, we need to discuss our next move,” Warrick’s voice called from the hallway. “Cassius got some news.”

Xavier groaned, sitting up. “Duty calls.”

I sighed, a hand still gently gripping Xavier’s thick cock. “Later?”

“Definitely later,” he promised with a wink.

“Let me at least get a little taste.”

“Go for it,” Xavier said, throwing off the blanket. I smiled, leaning down as I licked his tip. He was magnificent. If there wasn’t more pressing matters to attend to, I likely would have stayed in bed all day with him.

But there were more pressing matters. We got dressed and joined Warrick and Dawn in the main hall. Cassius was there, still in his pajamas, his hair a mess. He nursed a steaming mug of coffee. He set it down on the coffee table.

“I spoke with my father last night,” he said. “He was as shocked as I was when I put it all together. He says he hasn’t spoken to my uncle in years. He knew something was wrong but never really figured it out.”

“Damn,” I said. It hurt to see my childhood friend looking so tortured. He was normally a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. This seemed to have hit way too close to home, though.

“Was there any mention of where we could find him?” Xavier asked. Bambi had leapt onto his lap. He scratched under her neck, being careful to avoid her large saber teeth. Her purrs echoed through the room.

“Yeah,” Cass answered. “I’ve got an address. He apparently still lives there.”

“Excellent,” Dawn said. “Damien and Maddox are off chasing other leads, but I think we can handle this one. Is it close by?”

“It’s near Joshua Tree.”

“Really?” I asked. I thought back to that first day I’d spent with the family. How we’d been attacked, how they had seemed to find us out on our run. What if they didn’t find us but stumbled upon us? If he lived around there, then all he had to do was look out his window and see a golden dragon flying overhead to know that his target was close by.

“I’ll send the address.” Cassius opened his phone and texted us in a group thread. Sure enough, it was only a mile or two away from the Blackthornes’ desert home.

“Great,” Warrick said, setting his phone down. “I think we should go now. How’s that sound?”

“Time’s of the essence, I agree,” Dawn said.

Xavier looked at his siblings. I could see the family resemblance in them. They had the same expressions, the same mouth, similar eyes. “You guys don’t have to come. I can go alone.”

“Absolutely not,” Warrick said. “I’ve been left out of all this world-saving business for too long now. I want to go!”

“And I can’t let my brothers have all the fun either,” Dawn said with a wink.

Cassius leaned back into the couch. “I think I’m staying behind. I’ve had enough excitement for now.”

“I’m going,” I said.

Xavier looked to me. I couldn’t believe I’d been sucking on him like a lollipop only hours before this. Sure, I’d been daydreaming of doing it ever since the first day I met him, but to have actually broken that seal made me feel different in a way I wasn’t quite expecting. I felt closer to him, but the boost in confidence I had was a bonus surprise. “Are you sure?” he asked me.

“Yes. I want to be there. I want to help figure this out.”

“It could be dangerous.”

“That’s why I’m bringing my bodyguard with me.” I winked at him. He seemed speechless.

I got up with a chuckle. “ Are we driving or flying?”

Simon’s home was in a secluded part of the nearby desert. The flight had been a long one, but it allowed me to relax a bit as we approached. There were moments when it’d hit me: I was flying through the air with three dragons on our way to save the world; what could possibly go wrong? It was a beautiful sight: Dawn’s glimmering white scales slicing through the clouds on one side and Warrick’s evergreen and nimble body gliding through the air on the other. I could feel their ancient power surrounding me, making me safer than I’d ever been.

I appreciated that. There were many moments in my life when safety felt as rare as the dragons were. Not even living in the White House, one of the most secure locations in America, did I feel truly safe.

Not in the same way I did now.

We landed near the secluded home in the desert. The house was small, but the property was vast, surrounded by a high fence and dotted with Joshua trees. The isolation made it the perfect hiding spot. There was a trailer next to the home. No signs of life drew our attention. It was quiet. The air smelled like baked earth.

“Stay alert,” Xavier said, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

The front door was slightly ajar, an eerie invitation. Xavier pushed it open, and we stepped inside. The interior was dimly lit, the air thick with dust and an unsettling silence. The house was sparsely furnished, with old, worn furniture and a musty smell that suggested it hadn’t been lived in for a long time. There was woodworking material strewn about, with carvings and statues that reminded me of the Rachels we had seen in Kalen’s home .

“This feels wrong,” Warrick muttered, his eyes darting around. Dawn nodded in agreement. Electricity buzzed around her hands. She was ready to fight.

“I don’t think anyone’s in here,” I said.

“Let’s split up,” Xavier suggested. “But be careful. Call out if you see anything suspicious.”

We moved cautiously through the house, the floorboards creaking under our weight. I stuck by Xavier’s side. We walked through the quiet living room. There were no photos on the walls, nothing on the scratched-up coffee table. The curtains were all drawn. There was dust on the television and cobwebs crowning the corners of the room.

A sound made all four of us freeze. It had come from the back of the house. Like nails scratching against the wall. I looked to Xavier, who raised a finger up to his lips.

Dawn moved forward. She stepped over a threshold, placed her foot down.

A trap triggered. Powder fell from the ceiling. Dawn coughed, shouted to get back. Dragonsbane.

I blinked.

I froze. A sound had come from the back of the house, like nails scratching against the wall.

Xavier shot up a hand. “Dawn, stop!”

Dawn froze as she was about to enter the hall.

“There’s a trap there. Move back.”

Dawn did as she was told. She looked down at the floor. “I can see the discoloration in the wood. Good catch.”

The scratching got louder. It sounded like something was running toward us. My eyes went wide. Fear clamped around my throat, making it difficult to swallow. Whatever it was that was coming for us did not sound friendly in the slightest.

“Get behind me,” Xavier said.

Warrick and Dawn retreated to Xavier’s sides.

“Careful,” Xavier said. “I just used my powers. I won’t be able to rewind time again for a while.”

“That’s fine,” Warrick replied.

A crashing sound made me jump. A shadowed figure lurched into the wall, bouncing off it. The trap triggered, Dragonsbane falling from the ceiling but not having any effect on— ”A Shade!” I gasped.

Shades were some of the most feared beings walking this Earth. They were extensions of the Chaos King. Creatures drenched in a cloak of shadow, with long and lethal spider legs protruding from their backs, their faces reflecting nothing but death. They had circular mouths with rows and rows of teeth that they used to suck out the bones from their prey’s bodies. They would feast, crunching on ribs and chewing on tendons, leaving their victims as a gelatinous mess on the floor.

I’d never seen one in person. Never thought I would.

And now I wished I never had.

The dragons immediately burst into action. Warrick and Dawn attacked from the sides. Dawn sent bolts of crackling electricity at the Shade as it entered the living room, which it deflected with its armored spider legs. Warrick grabbed a vase and launched it at the Shade. He lifted his hand and caused thick roots to burst through the floor, sending pieces of hardwood flying as they wrapped around one of the Shade’s legs.

It ripped off its own leg. Black blood sprayed across the floor .

I took a few steps back and focused on my wolf form, bringing the canine up to the surface of my being. Moments later and I was on all fours, teeth bared. Xavier pushed forward as the Shade rammed into Dawn, sending her slamming into a wall. Warrick tried to grab at it, but it stabbed out with a spider leg, hitting Warrick in the shoulder.

Xavier shot a brick of sand at its head. The Shade ducked. A hole appeared in the wall where the sand had hit. He sent another and another. One slammed into its chest and made the Shade stumble back.

I saw an opening. Fear coursed through me, but I ignored it as I leapt through the air, sinking my claws into the monster’s shoulders. We fell to the floor. I tore at its face, biting and snapping. Its inky blood filled my mouth. My stomach twisted, the acidic taste clinging to my throat.

It stabbed at me with its legs. One hit me in my thigh, making me yelp. Another smacked me across the face. I clawed at the monster’s chest, as if I were digging for the last source of water in the desert.

The Shade didn’t relent, even though its flesh looked like ripped pieces of black cloth. It lurched upward, trying to clamp that suction-like mouth around my jaws. I pulled back.

Warrick gave a loud shout from behind me. “There’s another one!”

A crash and a yell. I couldn’t look back, not without giving the advantage to the Shade. I had to finish this. I had to?—

A spider leg stabbed into my shoulder, breaking through flesh. The pain seared through me. A howl ripped through my throat. The Shade lifted me up and spun me, pinning me against the wall. Its hungry black eyes looked like two depthless black holes.

Behind it was the other Shade. It had Dawn and Warrick occupied, lashing out as the two dragons tried to strike it down. Xavier was across the room. He lifted his hand to launch an attack at the Shade that had me pinned but was interrupted when Warrick was thrown against him, sending them both falling to the floor.

I tried to fight back, to struggle, but the Shade’s mouth moved like lightning, clenching around my jaw. I yelped in pain, the sound swallowed by the creature.

The sucking pressure came next. It was unbearable. Like my organs were being pulled out of place, my bones began to crack, my blood flooding in the opposite direction.

My vision started to go. The pain crested like a tidal wave.

Death would come next.