Page 21 of Inferno (Drake Security Book 4)

MONTROSE

Did Mac manage to lose me?

I creep through the silent streets of the village, listening for Mac but coming up empty. Do dragons have a stealth mode? That internal question draws my eyes to the sky. I use my demon vision to scan the darkness for an oversized flying lizard, but still nothing.

The hoard room.

That must be where he went. I tear off in the direction of the tiny shack, confident he went to stroke his pretty things. I’m sure he’s safe. I mean, how would Maggard catch his scent so far from home, but then again, we demons are a shifty bunch, so I’ll just make sure, tell him to get back before the sun comes up, and then return to my dragon.

It only takes a few minutes of speed walking to get to the edge of the lake, but the shack is silent.

“Mac?” I whisper loudly, though I don’t know why I’m trying to be quiet. “Are you out here?”

Still hearing nothing, I pull the rickety door of the shack open, peering into the darkness. That’s when I catch Mac’s scent. He must be down in the hoard room. I scan the floor looking for access, only spotting a few uneven boards.

Seriously, Mac? Good thing I can slip through any crack I want to. With a deep inhale, I suck it all in and drop down between the cracked boards. I have to admit, it is actually a pretty good disguise.

I land lopsided, my feet sliding on a pile of gold coins. It’s pitch black, but that’s not a problem. I call forth my natural self, illuminating the space with a dim glow that rises off my skin. Movement in the corner catches my eye, and I turn my head sharply.

“Mac?”

Walking in that direction, I realize how big this space really is. It’s filled with objects that reek of demon, smoke, and magic. Kid has a good eye. The sound of shattering glass spurs me to move quicker, stopping abruptly when I see the broken box on the ground.

The dagger.

I look up, panicked, just in time to spot one of my brethren waving the dagger in the air and bouncing on his toes.

“Give me that!” I lunge in the demon’s direction, but I trip on another relic and fall on my knees. Thick black boots with metal toes appear before me.

“Oh, Xazedose. I’m so disappointed in you.”

The sound of Maggard’s voice rips through me like the shards of glass under my knees. I look up to see a stunned Mac in his clutches, clearly frozen in a state of shock by demon magic, only able to move his panicked eyes.

“Let him go, Maggard. You have the dagger. You don’t need him.”

“You don’t tell me what to do.” With his finger in the air, he effortlessly lifts me to my feet. “I can’t believe you. Frolicking with dragons and choosing them over your own. What kind of demon are you?”

My throat tightens as he squeezes without even touching me, leaving me unable to speak or react.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know it was you? You reeked of the dragons and tainted our realm with it. I guess destroying your apartment wasn’t enough warning.”

A ripple of panic spreads through me. He does know I betrayed them.

“I can’t decide whether I want to kill you or ban you from your own realm,” Maggard continues.

“Kill, kill, kill,” his demon minions chant.

“It is tempting,” he says. “And I have the dagger now, so it wouldn’t even be difficult. Then what would your dragon do, hmm, Xazedose? He’d suffer, that’s what. He’s already going to when I roast his brother for a feast in hell.”

The threat seizes my chest as bile rises up my esophagus. Maggard laughs like the villain he is. With a flick of his wrist, he tosses me across the room, slamming me into a far wall. I land with an “Oof” and fall to the floor, weak from his use of force.

I pull my head up, and when I see the look of terror on Mac’s face, a thousand images rush through my mind of the horrible things Maggard will do to him before he finally kills him. Then he’ll hunt me down, and Valentino, my deliciae, will spend eternity waging war on the demon world to avenge us.

There’s no way I’m going to lie here and let that happen. I have to save Mac.

With every ounce of strength I can summon, I launch myself forward, landing on Maggard’s back just as he transports to the demon realm. Pain from an unknown source sears through my side, but I have bigger issues when I see where we’ve landed.

The lower level of the underworld. Difficult to find and even harder to leave. I tumble to the ground again, rolling until I reach the edge of the lake of fire, burning my fingertips. Maggard roars, stretching his long arms impossibly wide as he throws a helpless Mac into a cage.

Before I can react, his hand is around my throat, holding me up to his overblown height to see his grotesque face. “You should not have followed, Xazedose. You’ll never leave this place.” He snarls, baring his teeth at me. “You’ll watch as I torture the stupid, misguided dragon, and then when I’m bored in a few centuries, I’ll destroy him. I’ll rip him limb from limb and serve him for a feast.”

“Fuck you, Maggard.”

He laughs. “I will fuck you. I will do whatever I want to you. You’re my slave now.” He holds up the dagger, stained with a bit of my blood. “And since you were stupid enough to follow me and get yourself cut, you’re powerless.”

My heart sinks. That was the pain. Now how the hell am I gonna get us out of here? How will Tino find us?

Maggard, with his bulging eyes and sour stench, tilts his head. “Just figuring out that you’re actually trapped?” His smile fades. “You should have minded your own business.”

“It is my business.”

With a huff, he throws me across the room to land in the cage right beside Mac, who is slowly recovering from his paralysis.

“Get comfortable, boys. You’re going to be here a very long time.”

With a twist of his wrist, he leaves us in darkness and silence. Only the light from the fire lake makes it possible to see. I try to illuminate again, but it’s just a flicker.

“Mac.” I reach for him, focusing as my eyes adjust. He blinks rapidly, pulling himself upright. “Are you hurt in any way?”

“No. Are you?”

I feel my side for the injury, finding a minor scratch that should heal easily. “No. I’m fine. What the Hades happened?”

“Gods,” he moans, rubbing his forehead. “I don’t really know. I was sound asleep, but I was having these vivid dreams about an item in my hoard. It was like it was calling to me. I felt a strong urge to retrieve it.”

“You brought the dagger with you?”

“Shit. I did. I don’t know why.”

I blow out a breath. “Maggard was tracking you somehow. I don’t know how I didn’t sense him. We led him straight to your hoard.” Rubbing my forehead, I rack my brain for options. “Maggard has the dagger. That’s bad. We’re trapped in the lowest level of hell. That’s really bad. My powers don’t seem to be working. That’s… about as bad as it gets.”

After a beat of silence, Mac asks, “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know, little dragon. I don’t have a fucking clue. I think all we can do is hope Valentino can find us.”

“And if he can’t?” His voice trembles.

“Let’s not think about that.”

“I’m sorry, Montrose. I’m really fucking sorry.”

Any animosity I still felt toward the young dragon melts away as his fear washes over me. I hate to admit that I’m just as scared. I don’t want to die. Not now that I know there could be something good waiting for me.

“I’m sorry too.” Reaching for his hand, I squeeze it, and he actually cuddles into me. “We should focus our thoughts on Valentino. Maybe he can sense us that way. Don’t think of anything but your brother, okay?”

Mac nods. “Okay. I’m only thinking of Valentino.”

“Me too.”

Pushing back the desperation slowly creeping through, I close my eyes and envision my sexy dragon’s face, praying he can somehow sense me.

He’s the only hope we have.

VALENTINO

Bolting upright, I stare into the darkness, acutely aware of the cool spot beside me. Where the fuck is Xaze? It only takes a few more seconds before a sinking feeling washes over me. I’m out of bed in a flash, stomping through my room. Upon finding it empty, I swing the door open between rooms to find my brother’s bed empty too.

Fuck.

I manage to put on a pair of sweats before I launch myself out of the window, running through the night to my brother’s hoard room. I can smell both of them, faintly, so they must have come here. What I find when I get there terrifies me.

The shack that was barely standing hours ago is in shambles, nothing but a pile of rotting wood on the ground. My dragon pushes forward, causes me to half shift, my chest twisting with the loss of my mate. I toss wood out of my way until I find the opening in the floor leading to the hoard.

Dropping through it, I land with a thud and use my dragon vision to scan the room. It’s empty. Completely fucking empty. No hoard, no brother, and no beautiful mate. A roar of discontent bellows out of me. My dragon, nearly delirious with fear and rage, blows a stream of fire across the remains of the hoard room, scorching it all. There’s no trace of them or anything that was here. Nothing has been left behind.

I howl, ready to torch the rest of the building, when my eyes catch a glimmer of broken glass. The bottom of the container lies mangled on the floor. The dagger. Oh gods. He found them. Maggard found them.

Driven by pure instinct, I crash through the floor above my head, shifting into full dragon form as I launch myself into the sky, and within seconds, I’m on my way back home to get my brothers. Maggard has Mac, and gods of fire, he must have Xazedose too. If the rumors are true, he’s going to kill them both.

Flying as fast as possible, I make it home in record time, landing with a thud that raises the soil in the courtyard at the compound. Naked, half-shifted, and filled with desperate rage, I run toward Lord’s house as every door opens and my brothers rush to my aid, followed by their curious mates.

I stumble, falling into Lord’s embrace when he reaches me.

“Tino! Gods, what happened? Where’s Mac? Where’s Montrose?”

I open my mouth to speak but all that comes out is fire and smoke, my skin still rippling with scales. The adrenaline of flying like that, of losing them, hits me all at once.

“Calm,” Lord says, stroking my hair as we kneel together, surrounded by my concerned brothers. “We’ve got you, Tino. Tell us what happened.”

I take a few gulps of air to calm myself and push my dragon back enough to speak. “He… Maggard… he found us. He took them.”

“He took Mac?” Nico bellows, his voice a mixture of human and dragon.

“Oh no,” Lake says. “He took your mate too?”

I look up, my eyes flickering from human to dragon as my chest tightens like there’s a vise around my heart. “He must have been tracking us. We led him straight to the hoard room and the dagger.” I turn my gaze to my oldest brother. “He took them, Lord.”

Lord nods, his face hard. “We’ll go get them. Okay? You’re not alone, brother. We’re here.”

His words offer a tiny bit of comfort, and my dragon retreats slightly. “He’s going to kill them.”

“He won’t,” Dempsey says in his soft voice. “Remember what Monty told us?”

“Who the fuck is Monty?”

“Oh dear,” Lake says. “Monty, Montrose, Xazedose.”

I huff a breath, clearly unable to deal with simple nicknames right now. Unable to deal with anything other than getting my mate safely back in my arms. “I don’t remember what he said.”

“He said Maggard is into torture,” Dempsey continues, scrunching his nose as Hemingway rubs his back. “It’s, like, his thing. I know that’s crappy too, but it could mean it buys us a little time. He won’t kill them right away.”

I grunt in pain at the thought of what Maggard could be doing to hurt them. “That’s not comforting,” I growl between clenched teeth.

“Look at me, Valentino.” Lord cups my face, using his stern voice that can cut through any noise. “Focus on me.”

My chest heaves with smoky breaths for several seconds until I’m finally able to exhale and slow my racing heart.

“Good. Dempsey is right. Let’s focus on that.”

“We’re gonna need backup,” Draydon says. “Trust me, demon realm trips are hard, even for supes.”

“Yeah, I did it once,” Arson says, shivering. “Never again.”

“Right,” Lord says. “Can someone call Dahlia, please?”

“On it,” Hemingway says.

I fall back, planting my bare ass in the cool grass. It helps me focus even more. I’m not alone. I have my brothers and Dahlia, and together, we’ll find them.

“He’s my mate,” I whisper. “Lord…”

“I know.” He squeezes my shoulder. “He’s a demon too. He has some defenses.”

“I think that’s why I’m freaking out. Why didn’t he just blip them out? Something’s wrong.”

Lord frowns, nodding. “Maybe. We’ll find them though.”

My bottom lip trembles. “I’m worried about Mac too, I swear, but Xaze…” I shake my head, unwilling to finish the thought.

Lord’s eyes soften. “You don’t have to say that. I know. We all do. We also understand what’s at stake for you personally.” He puts his hand on my chest over my heart. “Can you feel him anymore?”

“Sort of. It’s uncomfortable, like my dragon is searching for a bond he can’t find.”

“Hold on to that. Your dragon knows Xazedose is alive.”

I nod, squeezing his forearm. “I don’t know what I’ll do if?—”

“Don’t entertain it. Focus on finding them.”

“Right. Okay.”

“Let’s get you some clothes.”

I let Lord help me to my feet and walk me to my house. When the door opens, the scent of my mate accosts me, making my dragon thrash and growl. I hurry upstairs to throw on proper clothes and shoes, then meet Lord and the others in the courtyard just as Dahlia is crossing the grass to join us, her black satchel in tow.

The normally glamorously edgy witch is wearing sweats and a t-shirt, and has her hair in a bun. That’s when I realize the time. It’s the middle of the night.

“You boys sure do know how to keep a witch on her toes,” Dahlia says, placing the bag on the grass before kneeling and digging through it. “I’ve got a ward that should help, but it’s pretty powerful stuff. Are you sure this is the best avenue?”

“We don’t have a choice.” All eyes turn to me. “There’s no other way to get them but to go down there. Gods know I wish I knew where there was.”

Dahlia nods, her expression tight. “Only the dragons can go. Oh, and you, Dray. Any supes can withstand it, but not mortals.”

“Boo.” Lake pouts.

“I think that’s just fine,” Dempsey says, wrapping his arm around Lake’s, looking a little pale. I guess we finally found the curious little nerd’s limit.

“I’ll put a demon ward on the property to keep anyone except Montrose out.”

“Xazedose,” I growl.

Dahlia raises an eyebrow. “Xazedose.” She smiles. “Alright, give me a few minutes to bippity boppity boo this shit.”

My brothers gather around me, their concern and support reaching me and calming my dragon. At least for now. I have no idea what kind of rage I’ll unleash when I get to the underworld, but I know I’ll do whatever I have to do to get my mate back safely.

May the gods of hell be in our favor.