Page 21 of Burned (Drake Security #5)

Chapter

Twenty-One

LORD

I felt the searing pain of the dagger sinking into Alrick’s gut just the same as if it had been plunged into mine. My roar was loud enough to shatter the windows in my sitting room and then everything went black.

“There you are, big guy.” Arson pats my cheek, and his face comes into view as I blink away the hazy fog. “How are you feeling?”

“What the fuck happened?” I shake my head to clear it, trying to remember exactly how I ended up on the floor.

The pain. Alrick’s pain. I growl and reach for the spot where I felt the blade slice through his skin. Of course, there’s no corresponding wound on my body, no tenderness, no blood. My heart thunders and I search our bond for him, picking up a jumble of emotions that don’t do much to reassure me. Panic, determination, anger, love…

“He’s been stabbed. I have to find him.” I try to scramble to my feet, but Nico appears beside Arson and they each grab one of my arms to keep me from going. I struggle against their hold, snapping blindly.

“Lord.” Dahlia’s voice is commanding but surprisingly soothing. “Don’t make me use another stunning potion, please.”

“You… you stunned me?”

“Split-second decision. It didn’t seem smart to let you go full dragon and burn the world down for your mate before we even had all the facts.”

I growl again, but my dragon is surprisingly distant, more preoccupied with nudging at the bond to keep tabs on Alrick than anything else.

“Fine,” I grit out through clenched teeth. “So, what are the facts?”

“Firstly, whatever happened to Alrick, he’s obviously still alive, so he must not have been cut with a cursed weapon,” Tino says.

“And his father isn’t quite as stupid as we’d hoped. He managed to figure out that dabbing Alrick’s blood on himself and whoever is with him was enough to fool the wards into letting him through,” Montrose adds, his demon closer to the surface than usual with his eyes glowing and his voice eerily deep.

“They’re inside the compound?” I struggle against Nico and Arson’s hold on me again, and this time they let me go.

Knowing Alrick wasn’t stabbed with a cursed dagger is enough to keep me calm. If his father left him for dead again then I know he’ll be fine. Even better, he’ll be out of the way for whatever happens next.

Montrose nods. “They don’t think we know. I’ve been popping in and out to keep an eye on them. They’re working on a plan to turn this house into a massive bonfire and when we come out, they’ll attack with those special dragon-slaying blades of theirs.”

“Which means we have the advantage.” Nico huffs smoke through his nostrils, his dragon eyes flashing dangerously. “They think they’re surprising us, but we can surprise them first.”

Montrose grins wickedly in agreement.

“Surprise them by doing what?” Dempsey asks, chewing on his bottom lip anxiously. “Killing them?”

Hemingway puts an arm around his mate’s shoulders to soothe him. “We have to protect ourselves, Bijou.”

“No, I know that. What I mean is…” He looks over at me, pushing his glasses back up his nose as they slip out of place. “Is that what Alrick wants? I’m not sure murdering your in-laws is the best way to start off a new relationship, no matter how evil they are.”

Everyone falls silent and my gut clenches.

“Demps might be right on this one,” Lake says.

“Fuck,” I mutter.

“So, what? We let them torch the house?” Arson raises his eyebrows skeptically.

“I could call my pack in for extra muscle,” Draydon offers. “We can take them prisoner instead of killing them.”

“That’s just delaying the inevitable. Eventually you either have to release a prisoner or kill them,” Montrose says, his demonic features fading behind his beautiful human facade, boredom dripping from his tone now that bloodshed is more or less off the table.

The sound of my front door opening has us all falling silent again. My dragon finally tunes back in, my hackles going up at the unexpected invasion of my private territory. As much as I want to believe it’s Alrick returning home to me, I know it’s not even before I drag in a breath to sniff the air. He’s on the move, I can feel that much through our bond, but he’s not close yet.

“Hello.” A melodic, feminine voice with a thick Scottish accent rings out.

I recognize it immediately, but why in the name of the goddess is she here? A rumble of confusion runs through my clan, and seconds later, the dragon mage appears in the doorway to my living room. She’s just as nude as she was up on the mountain, her long white hair partially covering her breasts. The smell of magic and smoldering embers pours off of her in waves.

“Lord, there you are.” She greets me with a fleeting glance. “There are dragon slayers outside in the woods with gasoline and kindling.”

“We know,” Arson says simply.

“Oh, good.” Xanthis looks around the room, slowly taking in each of my brothers and their mates silently. When her attention lands on Dahlia, the indifference in her expression melts away and she actually smiles. “A witch,” she purrs.

Dahlia studies her right back, matching her with a confident smile of her own and an arched eyebrow. Xanthis approaches, slinking across the room until she’s right in front of our resident potion master.

Xanthis sniffs the air discretely and I can feel the rumble of her dragon’s low purr from across the room.

“A powerful witch,” the dragon mage says.

Dahlia tries to play it cool, but I can see the subtle preen as she brushes her hair off her shoulder and stands a little taller.

“And you are?” she asks.

Xanthis extends her hand. “Xanthis Draig, last of the Welsh dragon bloodline, daughter of mage Calix Morgyn.”

Dahlia’s poker face slips and her eyes widen. “Oh shit, Calix Morgyn is a legend.”

She looks stunned as she reaches out to shake Xanthis’ hand. The dragon mage’s long fingers wrap around her hand, and she holds on for several long moments, still grinning at our witch.

“And she wasn’t nearly as powerful as I am,” Xanthis purrs, fluttering her long, pale eyelashes.

“Is she hitting on Dahlia?” Arson stage whispers.

“Oh yeah.” Montrose sounds slightly breathless as he holds his long hair up off the back of his neck and fans himself. “Horny people are so delicious.”

Dempsey clears his throat. “Excuse me. Not to interrupt, but why are you here?”

Xanthis finally releases Dahlia’s hand and turns to look at Dempsey, blinking at him like she’s surprised to even see him there.

“Oh, right, I came to warn you that I caught a devious, greedy little elf lurking around my mountain range, and he attempted to sell me some information he thought I would find interesting about a family of dragon hunters and a dragon who had recently been to visit me.” She looks at me, indicating that I’m the dragon she’s talking about.

“Well, I guess that explains how Alrick’s family found out he’s alive. As you can see, we’re aware and we’re working on handling it.”

“Hmm. Tea would be lovely,” she says after a moment.

I blink at the non sequitur and when no one else jumps up and offers, Dahlia snaps out of whatever stupor she’s in and volunteers.

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

“Lovely.” Xanthis smiles again. “It’s barbaric to discuss strategy and bloodshed without tea.”

ALRICK

By the time Lord’s house comes into view, I’m practically carrying Viggo. He wheezes through every breath. My wound is nearly healed, but he’s only getting weaker. Does he have internal bleeding or did the beating just take it out of him? I don’t have any way of knowing. But I cling to the fact that once I get him to Lord’s he’ll be able to get more of that healing potion. Viggo will be fine. He has to be.

It’s possible my dad and Digby are watching the house, that they’re already lying in wait to launch their attack, but I don’t have the time to stop and strategize or wait until nightfall. So, I just do my best to stay low and out of sight as we creep our way to the back door.

Before I can even knock, the door flies open and the bond between Lord and me floods with so much relief that it nearly knocks the air out of my lungs all over again.

“Treasure.” The word is more growl than speech, but I understand it just fine anyway. With one arm still around Viggo to steady him, I hold out the other to greet my mate. My mate . I only heard that word in this context for the first time yesterday, but nothing has ever felt more right.

My heart swells until it feels too big to stay contained inside my chest and Lord nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck.

“I thought you were dying. I thought I’d lost you.” There’s a whimper in his gravelly voice that makes my heart crack.

“I’m okay.” I reassure him, stroking my fingers through his hair. “I’m okay.”

“Not to interrupt, but we might want to take this inside,” Viggo points out, wincing as he tries to take his weight off me.

“Shit, yeah,” I say. “Lord, Viggo’s hurt. Please tell me you have more healing potion.”

“I’m fine,” my brother tries to insist, gritting his teeth as he hobbles into the house.

Lord studies him with concern, cataloging all of the bruises and cuts with a quick sweep of his eyes. Pain lances through me as the memories of Viggo’s beating stir in my mind again, and I know my dragon can feel it.

“Come on.” Lord gestures for us to follow him.

It’s strange how much his house feels like home, even though I spent so little time here, most of it while I was unconscious and then suspicious of him. But following Lord down the hallway, something inside of me relaxes. We’re safe here.

Lord’s family fills his living room, taking up every seat, some of them comfortably sitting on the floor. There are two women I don’t recognize, one who’s naked with freaky glowing eyes and tattoos to match, and the other with a badass biker chick vibe and long black hair.

As soon as we step into the room, both women are on their feet before Lord says a word. They crowd around my brother and Lord pulls me away to give them room to tend to him.

“Dahlia and Xanthis will take care of him,” he promises.

“Xanthis?” My pulse spikes. “Isn’t she the dragon mage you talked to about breaking our bond?” Something inside of me thrashes and then recoils, and I can feel Lord’s dragon doing the same. Instinctively, I reach for him through our bond. The pulsing heat of his fire floods our connection as soon as I make contact, soothing me.

“Shhh.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me against his chest. It’s not until he’s holding me that I realize I’m trembling. “She’s not here for that. She came to warn us, that’s all.” Lord brushes my hair back and kisses my temple. “You’re mine.”

I nod and cling to him.

I’m his and he’s mine.

Forever.

“I love you.” I cup his jaw, and his eyes flare my new favorite shade of orange, his pupils turning to slits briefly before flickering back to their round, human shape. “I love you, Lord. I don’t want to break our bond. I want us to figure out how to deal with my family and I want us to be together forever. I choose you.”

“Oh, treasure.” He purrs, leaning in close and bumping his nose against mine. “I don’t think letting you go was ever an option. I love you too.”

Someone sniffles, reminding me that we aren’t alone.

“Oh my god, kiss already,” the sassy blond human—Lake, if I remember right—demands.

“You heard the tiny tyrant.” Lord chuckles before slamming his mouth into mine in a greedy, claiming kiss that I can feel all the way down to my soul and back.

After a minute, someone else clears their throat. “As much as this feels like ‘happily ever after,’ we do still have the little matter of your psycho dragon-hunting family to deal with,” Montrose reminds us.

“Right.” I drag in a breath and force myself to let go of Lord. There will be plenty of time for that later. Centuries. I turn back towards Viggo, who’s now slumped in a chair with both women still fussing over him.

“Most of the wounds are superficial,” Dahlia says. “But unfortunately, I didn’t bring any healing potion with me. Stupid oversight, obviously, given the fact that you lot manage to hurt yourselves at an alarming rate. I can run home to grab some more, but with the… situation outside, I’m not sure if it should take priority.”

“I can heal him,” Xanthis says. “I just need to borrow a little bit of magic. Mine is a bit drained after the long journey here.” She looks at Dahlia with a sly smirk twisting on her lips. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not,” Dahlia says easily. “What do you?—”

Xanthis cuts off her question by leaning forward and pressing her lips to Dahlia’s. It only lasts for a second, a brief peck, but when she pulls back the witch lets out a quiet gasp and little sparks dance in the space between their mouths.

“Thanks.” Xanthis winks, then crouches down in front of my brother again.

She takes his battered face between her hands, and I half expect her to kiss him too, but she just closes her eyes. For a minute, it doesn’t seem like anything is happening, but then I notice it. The tattoos covering her pale body burn brighter blue, glowing almost neon, and in an instant, the purple bruises fade to yellow, then disappear entirely. Viggo’s cuts mend themselves closed without leaving behind any scabs or scars, his breathing hitches and he lets out a slow, relaxed exhale. The dragon mage releases his face, and he looks good as new.

“There. Now you’re just as handsome as your brother again,” she declares.

Viggo coughs out a laugh. “Please, everyone knows I’m the good-looking one.”

I snort a laugh and yank my brother out of the chair to pull him into a hug. He squeezes me in return, slapping my back heartily before we let each other go.

“Alright, so the big, happy family is all here,” Montrose says. “I think we’re going to need a plan. Unless Alrick wants to give us the green light to go ahead and roast daddy dearest and call it a day.”

I know it should be an easy answer. After everything he’s done to me, to Viggo, all the abuse and pain he’s inflicted, I should be happy to watch him go up in flames and then dance on his grave. But my stomach clenches and my chest constricts. I look over at Viggo and I can see the same war going on inside of him. They’re fucking monsters. If we let them live, they won’t just walk away and let us go. They’ll keep killing any dragon they can get their hands on.

I swallow hard and look around at Lord’s family helplessly. My new family. I have to protect them too, don’t I?

“Is there any way to stop them without killing them?” I ask quietly, ashamed to even be considering the idea of showing mercy when they clearly have none.

Xanthis picks a steaming teacup up off the nearby coffee table and takes a sip from it, like we’re discussing where to go to dinner rather than the possible deaths of my dad and brother. She sets the cup back down, dabs a drop of tea off of her bottom lip daintily, and grins.

“I have some thoughts.”