Page 22 of Inferno (Drake Security Book 4)

MONTROSE

The smell of sulfur and the incessant screams of trapped souls are a hellish—quite literally—reminder that I’m home, even if my head is swimming and my eyelids are too heavy to lift. My throat is dry and parched, making every swallow feel like razor blades. The spot where Maggard’s dagger pierced me throbs with every breath I take, and with every agonizing pulse, I can feel myself getting weaker and weaker.

Have we been down here for hours or days? It’s impossible for me to say. I drift in and out of inky black unconsciousness, grateful for the few stolen minutes of peace without pain every time they come. And each time I wake, there are whispered words of comfort and pleading, a familiar voice alternating between telling me I’m going to be okay and begging me not to die. It’s a nice voice, but it’s not the voice I want to hear right now as my life slips away inch by inch.

“I really thought he’d be dead by now,” a different voice scoffs, and there’s an answering burst of mocking laughter from at least two others.

A deep, protective growl vibrates in the air around me, and the laughter just gets louder. I try to open my eyes, but it’s useless. I barely have the energy to draw in each breath anymore, let alone lift my eyelids. I do manage to twitch my fingers, but even that feels like a monumental feat that I won’t be able to repeat.

“Leave him alone. I’m the one who stole from you, so why don’t you let him go and focus on punishing me instead,” the kind voice says with a tremble. Mac. That’s who the voice belongs to. The dragon who stole my ring from me. The little twerp who led me to my dragon.

Valentino. Visions of my mate fill my mind, and if I had any energy to sob, I think I would. I waited thousands of years to find my fated mate and I didn’t even get the chance to claim him. Maybe it’s better this way though. If we’d claimed each other, then he’d be dying right now too. I feel for the connection between us, pouring some of the last dregs of my energy into plucking at it helplessly. It’s pulled taut with the distance between us and fading just the same way I am, but there’s momentary comfort in it anyway. My lips barely twitch with an attempt at a sad smile for all the things that could have been between Tino and I.

The cruel voice—Maggard, my foggy brain supplies the name—laughs harshly.

“I can multitask, dragon,” he says. The ground shifts under me, and there’s a thunderous, metallic sound that can only be Maggard rattling my cage. I groan softly, my limp body flopping with the force of it. “How does dying feel, traitor? Is it painful?” he taunts. “Do you think there’s an afterlife for us? Maybe you’ll wake up in an even deeper layer of hell, one reserved for demons who betray their own kind.”

If I could wail at the thought, I would. I don’t have a clue what happens when a demon dies, or any species for that matter. When your life is nearly eternal, what’s the point in worrying about what might come next? But right now, I hope it’s blissful, painless nothing.

He stops shaking my cage, and then I hear the grinding scrape of a key in a lock. The parts of my body that aren’t consumed by searing pain tighten instinctually, but nothing happens. Not to me, anyway.

Mac roars and growls, and I can hear him fighting and thrashing. The smell of smoke fills the air briefly, and Maggard yelps.

“Fucking lizard,” he hisses. “No worries. I’ve heard it’s possible to remove a dragon’s fire gland. What do you think? Should we give it a try?” Maggard cackles. “I’ll admit, I’m no surgeon, but I figure with your healing ability, I can go ahead and slice you open, poke around a bit, and you’ll be no worse for wear. The only thing is, I don’t have anything to numb the pain. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Fuck you,” Mac answers in a deep voice that could only come from his dragon.

“Sorry, but I don’t stick my dick in any of the abominations that evolved on earth. I’m a purist that way, I suppose.” The clank of the cage door closing echoes through the space. “Sit tight, dragon, I’m going to find you a fireproof muzzle, and then we’ll have some fun.”

Maggard’s heavy footsteps fade into the distance, and a door bangs closed. Mac lets out a sigh of relief and then a whimper.

“I really, really wish my brothers were here,” he whispers. “You have to hang on a little longer, Xazedose, please. Promise… promise me you won’t die before Valentino and the rest of my brothers get to us.”

A different kind of warmth sizzles through my veins—not pain this time, but the distinct feeling of word magic. I run my tongue over my parched lips, and even that is too much effort, but I force myself through the pain anyway, through the impossible exhaustion that’s dragging me deeper and deeper into darkness.

“Promise,” I rasp, barely more than a whisper, but it’s enough.

As soon as the word is past my lips though, I regret it. I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to hang on any longer like this either. I pluck at the incomplete mating bond again, holding on to it as tightly as I can manage in my weakened state.

Hurry, Tino. Please, please hurry.

And then I sink into another blissful period of unconsciousness.

VALENTINO

Dahlia wasn’t jokingwhen she said getting down here would be hard. It felt like every bone breaking and the blood was drying in my veins, but we’re here now. It was uncomfortable enough when Xaze brought me, but it’s like the realm itself tried its hardest to resist the intrusion of unwelcome, unaccompanied visitors.

I flap my wings hard, ignoring the exhausted protest of my muscles as I soar through the dense, humid, orange-lit sky of the demon realm. The connection between Xaze and me is fading with every passing second, which means I don’t have time to rest, I don’t have time to even pause for a prolonged breath. I need to get to him.

The cities below us give way to dark forests filled with bare black trees and teeming with beasts I’ve never seen before. The farther we get away from the entry point of the realm, the more alien things become. It gets hotter and the air around us gets heavier, but that only spurs me on. Deep in my chest, I can feel the distance between Xaze and me shrinking.

The trees break and a stone shack comes into view. The exhaustion that was working its way deep into my bones falls away, and I let out a triumphant burst of fire. My mate is inside, I can feel it.

I swoop down into the clearing, the flap of my brothers’ wings and the thud of each of their landings let me know they’re right behind me. I half shift, needing my human arms to pick up my mate the second I see him. I glance over my shoulder to see the towering forms of each of my brothers, baring their teeth and huffing out smoke, each and every one of them itching to tear pieces of flesh off the demon who dared to fuck with the Drakes. Draydon has already climbed down from Arson’s back and shifted into his menacing wolf form, massive and terrifying, with his nearly foot-long canine teeth bared as he salivates for demon blood.

I exchange a quick look with each of them. We didn’t bother to come up with any more of a plan than ‘find them,’ but right now I’m happy to simply kick down the door and take on whatever is waiting for us on the other side.

A shrieking bellow cuts through the eerie silence around us, and Lord’s eyes flare with rage. My pulse spikes, and Nico lets out a river of flames. That’s Mac’s scream. Kicking down the door it is. I rush forward and plow my weight into it. The wood splinters and cracks easily, the entire thing swinging open on its hinges. There’s a beat of silence as my chest heaves and the occupants of the house become aware of our presence.

Maggard isn’t alone here. There are two other demons lounging around looking bored. They jump to their feet as soon as they realize they’ve been found. The larger of the two rushes at me with a pair of silver daggers, one in each hand. Draydon jumps between us and catches the demon around the throat, hauling it to the ground. Arson rushes to help his mate, and I turn my attention elsewhere.

This cottage in the woods looks like something straight out of a dark German fairytale, right down to the lit fireplace in the far corner. My eyes land on Maggard, looming over Mac, who’s strapped to a table with a Hannibal Lecter style mask over his mouth. My little brother thrashes against the tight bindings holding him in place, his eyes full of pleading when they meet mine.

A slow, menacing smile spreads over Maggard’s face as he steps around the table to face me, wielding the dagger Mac stole from him.

“It must be my lucky day, getting to wipe out the entire Drake clan all at once.” He advances on me, but I don’t have time for his attempts at intimidation. He fucked with the wrong family, and he’s about to find out what the consequences are.

I don’t know how effective my fire would be against a demon, and I don’t have the patience to find out. With an inhuman roar, I launch myself at Maggard, claws extended and teeth snapping.

No matter how powerful a creature is, nothing can survive being shredded into bite-sized pieces. His yellow eyes go wide and he falls back with a howl, slashing at my scales. I have no idea whether the dagger pierces my natural armor. I don’t feel any pain. I can’t feel anything except for blind rage.

“You can’t hurt me with your little butter knife. I’m not a demon,” I taunt. “And for the record, there are a hell of a lot more Drakes than us. But lucky for you, you won’t survive to find out exactly how many.”

Maggard thrashes and snaps, his tail wrapping around my forearm in an attempt to stop me, but nothing can slow me down. He took my mate, he hurt my brother, and I am done with his bullshit. I slice through his flesh with the first swipe, relishing the hot feeling of his blood spilling out. I can vaguely hear the sounds of battle being waged around me as my brothers take on the henchmen.

Maggard doesn’t want to go down easily, but that’s fine by me. I need to work out all this rage somehow. His teeth find brief purchase on my scales, tearing a chunk of my forearm out and then spitting it back into my face with a manic crackle. When that doesn’t make me slow down in tearing increasingly larger strips of his flesh from his bones, he wails and drives the dagger into the space between two of my ribs.

My breath punches out of my lungs and an unpleasant burning fills my chest. If I had to guess, he managed to puncture my lung. The joke’s on him though, because I have two sets, and a lack of oxygen isn’t going to be anywhere near enough to stop me. With one hand around his shredded, bleeding throat, I use the other to yank the dagger out of my chest.

Maggard’s eyes go wide as I raise the dagger over my head.

“Please, no, I’ll give you anything. I can give you riches beyond your wildest dreams. Dragons love shiny things, don’t they?” he tries to bargain through gurgling, rasping breaths.

I chuckle darkly and click my tongue against my teeth.

“Dragons like revenge more,” I say before plunging the dagger directly into his heart.

Maggard’s eyes roll back and he goes limp underneath me in seconds. There’s very little satisfaction in his death—not because it’s undeserved, but because the only thing I can think of now is my mate.

I clamber off his body and realize I can’t feel the connection to Xazedose anymore. I clutch at my chest while Lord and Hemingway, both covered in demon blood, rush to the table to free Mac. I cast my attention around the room until it lands on a pair of cages tucked into a dark corner. They both appear empty, and my heart sinks. If this isn’t where he was keeping Xaze, then where? A small movement catches my eye and I realize that the farthest cage isn’t empty at all.

I rush across the room, dropping to my knees as soon as I reach the cage. My mate is inside, barely alive. His breathing is a stilted flutter in his chest, and his face doesn’t so much as flicker with consciousness. The spot in my chest where our connection has been growing is completely numb.

There’s a lock on the cage and I don’t have time to look for the key. The same way I tore into Maggard’s flesh, I use my teeth and claws to shred the heavy metal bars of the cage, spitting out shrapnel and ignoring the way the sharp edges cut my tongue and fill my mouth with blood. Every cut heals before I take another mouthful of metal, until the cage is lying in pieces on the floor all around me.

Every breath I drag in is painful, my lung working to mend itself as my heart thunders and my chest heaves. I wrap my arms around Xaze’s tiny, limp form and haul him into my lap. His clothes are wet and sticky with blood, but I can’t see where it”s coming from. His gray and blue demon skin has an odd pale hue to it, and his head lolls back helplessly.

“No, no, no. You can’t be dead, Xaze. You’re my mate. I need you. I need you,” I sob, running my fingers through the tangle of his auburn hair. “Please wake up. Please.”

I clutch him to my chest and rock back and forth with him. The flutters of his breaths come in intervals that are further and further apart, and my dragon roars and wails inside of me, demanding we do something to save our mate.

Fire burns in the back of my throat and I look down at Xaze. I don’t know if bonding with him will save him, but I have to try something. We can’t get him out of the demon realm fast enough to slow the spread of the poison from the dagger, and there aren’t any other options that I’m aware of.

I take Xaze’s face in my hands and nuzzle my nose against his.

“You’re mine, Xaze. You’re going to make it through this and then I’m going to spend the rest of our very long lives spoiling you. We’ll travel and we’ll hoard all kinds of new memories together, and we’ll love each other so hard that every single creature in this realm or any other will be sick with jealousy over what we have. Okay, Xaze? How does that sound?”

“Tino,” Lord says anxiously behind me. “If you mate with him and it doesn’t heal him…”

“You’ll die too, dude,” Arson finishes for him.

I squeeze my eyes shut. “I don’t care. If Xaze is gone, then I’d rather be too.”

As if in agreement, the fire rises in my throat again, licking at my tongue with scorching flames as smoke pours out of my nose. Before any of them can try to talk me out of it, I seal my mouth to Xaze’s soft, pliant lips and fill him with my fire.

The flames pour down his throat, and I can feel the way they surge through his body, burning away everything that came before and binding us together irrevocably. The fire seeks out the poison leeching through his veins and cremates it, leaving nothing but microscopic ash in its wake. The flimsy bond that was there before returns full force, forged in steel this time, sturdy and unbreakable.

His lips start to move against mine as he stirs, kissing me and gulping down the flames I continue to pour into his body as our souls knit themselves together. When the fire finally dies in my throat, I break the kiss with a gasp and look down at my mate in my arms. His color is a little better, but he’s still weak. Through our bond, I can feel the pain still coursing through his body, but there’s a strength underneath that lets me know he’s going to be okay.

He opens his eyes just a slit and a smile twitches over his lips.

“Deliciae,” he murmurs, and I let out a sob.

“I’m here, Xaze, I’m here.” I hold him close again, peppering kisses all over his face.

He nods weakly. “Let’s go home.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, let’s go home.”

I glance back at my brothers, my eyes still swimming with tears, and they all rush forward, including Mac, who has a haunted look in his eyes but otherwise doesn’t seem any worse for the wear. I’m about to ask for suggestions on the best way to transport Xaze in this state, but before I can, the world squeezes around us in momentary darkness. In a blink, we’re all in my foyer.

The little burst of energy was enough to do Xaze in, and he goes limp in my arms again.

“Is he okay?” Hemingway asks nervously.

“He’s fine, he just needs to rest.” I brush Xaze’s hair off his forehead and get to my feet, still cradling my mate against me. “You can see yourselves out. And I’m glad you didn’t die, Mac.”

“Thanks. Me too,” my youngest brother mutters.

Perhaps we’ll all sit Mac down and have another talk with him about not stealing from demons in the future. But right now the only thing I’m concerned about is taking my mate to my hoard room and getting some rest.