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Chapter Thirty-Six

Anaki

B efore I was able to get too far out of the village, silence fell behind me. My ears immediately perked up, and I stuck my finger in my ear to shake it.

The birds stopped flapping their wings. The bugs that crawled on the forest floor stopped moving. Luis groaned in my arms, and I shook my head, trying to listen for the all too familiar sounds of the forest.

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

Damnit, he called me dad.

“Focus,” my dragon growled inside me.

I whined. “But he called me dad.”

“He won’t keep calling you dad if something comes out and kills all of us, ” he snarled.

Yeah, I did not like having a talking animal. I much preferred them staying quiet.

His growl of annoyance didn’t deter me, and I hugged Luis tighter. Scales was right, though, we needed to find out what was going on, and my gut told me it was happening back at the village. “Luis, I need you to do something for me.”

Luis tilted his head in curiosity. His eyes were red-rimmed from crying at whatever Abuela had told him earlier. He was a strong kid. I could feel it radiating off of him. He left me and his mother alone to bond, like he knew it was important, and now he has to deal with—well, this.

“I need you to stay here.” I rubbed my cheek against his, letting my scent radiate off my body. It was thick and heavy, not to mark the scent of a mate, but for a fledgling. It was to help hide the human scent he had and to have him blend into the forest.

Nothing would find him. Even for a shifter’s nose, it would be near impossible. That meant I had to come back for him. I wasn’t even sure Elena could find him with her slowly emerging abilities coming to the surface.

“Stay? But why?”

I carried him off the path and to a nearby tree.

It was large, like most of them, but there was a crevice, enough for him to sit inside.

Luckily, he was small for his age, and he fit inside nicely.

I pulled several bushes and branches away for a place for Luis to hide, and pushed them back in front of him.

I continued to let my scent penetrate the area, keeping everything covered in it. “Do you hear that?” I moved the branches around to keep him hidden.

He shook his head. “Don’t hear anything.”

“That’s right. Something is wrong. Not even the animals are moving.” I stared up at the sky. The clouds were thick, and thunder rolled in the distance. Darkness had taken over. I didn’t even remember what time it was, but I didn’t recall it being that late.

Did time mean anything anymore ?

“Promise me something, Luis.” I grabbed both of his hands. “Promise me you won’t leave. No matter what you hear. If your mother calls, if I call for you, do not come out. I will come to you.”

Luis’ eyes were large, concerned.

“Why—”

I put his hand on my chest. “I need you to trust me. I know we have spent little time with each other, but I’ve got a bad feeling. Magic, dark magic…” My instincts went into overdrive, and I felt my scales cover my back. “Do not come out. Bad people…”

Luis reached out and wrapped his arms around my neck. “I won’t leave. I promise.”

I hugged him back and rubbed his messy hair. “Thank you. I’ll be back for you. Remember what I said.” He nodded, and I prayed to the goddess he did what he was told.

As I raced back to the village, the silence broke with an earth-shattering boom. I tumbled and fell to the ground. I let my claws extend, as my scales continued to ripple to cover my back and chest to protect me. I wouldn’t shift into my full dragon—yet.

I didn’t need the fae worrying more and thinking I was the enemy. They didn’t know I could fully shift yet.

As I sprinted to the edge, I looked around the corner of the first home and onto the pathway to see the commotion. Fae were on their knees, most of them bound with a muting and bonding spell because they were unmoving and silent. They were bleeding, bloodied, and bruised.

There were rows of them, and I didn’t hear any of it. There had to be a silencing spell or something.

Damnit, surely the cameras caught all of this. With our luck, Idris turned them off or put them on some sort of loop. Idris was a sneaky bastard.

Dark, hooded figures stood by, while men who appeared to be human, but there was a tinge of other smells that were shifter and vampiric blood mixed together. These must be the men Idris had experimented on and who remained loyal to him.

Hybrids.

Idris promised them power and strength if they stayed with him after Delilah’s ex-husband's timely death. He gave it to them, alright. Some were in crouched positions, ready to strike, while others’ eyes glowed red, and they licked their lips as if they were hungry from thirst.

“Put them away and deal with them,” A towering, hooded figure exuding an aura of authority spoke, its voice cutting through the air like a blade.

Instantly, I recognized the person by their distinctive gait—an unwavering confidence in every stride as they emerged from the crowd and disappeared into the depths of the forest with an air of undeniable control.

I couldn’t go to Elena, not yet. I had to save these people, but delicately. Scales was ready to obliterate, but one wrong move and this could all go to shit.

There was a reason I liked to stay behind the bar.

Two hooded figures–they appeared to be magical entities–had them all rise. They were being led single file to a cage that flickered gold, and was out of the way of the town, near the hidden entrance where Elena and I usually frequent.

I watched the crowd follow the magicians’ orders.

If the fae got into the cage, it would give them protection while I shifted and took out all the hybrids before any harm came to them. So, I waited and stripped out of my clothes until the final fae was in the large cage. The door was barely closed before I fully shifted.

Scales unleashed a thunderous roar that echoed through the air, seizing control of our body with a powerful surge. With a swift, graceful motion, we leaped into the heart of the town, landing amidst the hybrids with a force that sent vibrations through the cobblestones.

The hybrids that Idris had created seemed nearly uncontrollable. Their moves jagged, their claws and fangs unable to descend quickly enough as they raced toward me.

Scales smiled at them as I backed off and let him take the lead. I wasn’t about violence, though I had the overwhelming urge to protect those I loved, but this was his thing.

He knocked the first wave of hybrids from in front of me with one swipe of his long neck.

Our tail swiped behind us, knocking hybrids to the ground.

The snarls, the guttural growls, and the smell of blood filled the air as I stood my ground, facing the advancing horde.

The hybrids lunged at me, their eyes filled with rage and hunger.

Scales reveled in the thrill of the fight, every move calculated and precise as we deflected their attacks.

But amidst the chaos, a flash of movement caught my eye.

A figure darting through the shadows, moving with a grace that seemed out of place in the midst of battle.

They were swift, like the wind pushed them along.

They were fast, the white braided hair behind them flowing, smacking tree limbs as they went by.

They stopped behind a hybrid vampire who was about to leap for my neck, not that it would be able to penetrate my scales, they grabbed it by the forehead, took their dagger and slit it across its throat. Once it fell to the ground, they decapitated the head and kicked it away.

The hood fell back revealing a feminine face I had seen a few times before.

Her skin was as white and pure as freshly fallen snow, creating a stark contrast with the vivid, crimson blood of the hybrid that stained her. The droplets glistened like rubies against her alabaster complexion. When she lifted her gaze to meet mine, her identity was unmistakably clear.

A winter fae .

The white and silver snowflake-like sparkles in her cheeks were tainted with blood when she looked up at me. Her amethyst eyes glowed with bright determination as she rubbed the blood that dripped from her dagger.

I’d seen her at the club before. She was a prospect. Normally, she sat in the corner and stayed by herself. There weren’t many females who joined, but when they did, they tried to prove themselves as much.

This one was a mystery to me.

The winter fae nodded her head over my towering shoulder. My dragon turned and snapped its mighty jaws, immediately biting a hybrid shifter in half. Screams echoed into my still-sensitive ears, and I shook the body away.

The fae joined me in the fray. Her stealth, along with the massive swipes of my body, created a symphony of destruction against the enemy.

A terrifying scream came from the gilded cage behind me.

Scales’ eyes dilated, and he let out another roar in its direction.

One of the magical entities held up a rune, a golden parchment that held a spell, and had begun chanting.

A dark smoke had risen from their hands and was seeping through the cage.

The fae on the inside backed away, the smoke had already gotten hold of Meriam, the fae who took my family in so willingly the day we came to visit the territory the first time.

Scales let out an ear-piercing whine, our tail knocking over the hybrids continuing their pursuit. The wind picked up behind me, but it was nothing to move me.

I lunged forward. The two magical entities in front of me didn’t see me coming, too involved in their spell-casting. I ripped one away from the cage, their rune flying into the air, the spell cut off. The smoke dropped, but it was too late for Meriam, who was still screaming in pain.

My dragon, not yet finished, swiftly lunged forward catching the cloaked figure with his claws, sending him sprawling to the ground.” My dragon's massive foot came down with force and pinned them beneath. The sickening sound of cracked bones surrounded us.