Dragon Mystics: Supernatural Prison #2
Jaymin Eve
DRAGON MYSTICS
DRAGON MYSTICS
Supernatural Prison #2
Jaymin Eve
Dragon Mystics: Supernatural Prison #2
Copyright © Jaymin Eve 2015
All rights reserved
First published in 2015
Eve, Jaymin
Dragon Mystics: Supernatural Prison #2
1st edition
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. All characters in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental
Contents
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
To Travis, for all the moments that loving an author is really hard work. And yet you continue to do so. Also, thank you for cooking 8 out of 10 dinners, and only complaining 4 out of 8 times
Chapter 1
Romania was just … freaking beautiful.
There was no other way to describe the snow-touched mountains and valleys that we traversed. Sure, in my twenty-two years I’d never been anywhere but Stratford, and now Romania, but I knew there was something special in this untouched land. It was ancient, nature at its most beautiful and brutal.
The private plane we’d used to escape had landed two hours ago, and waiting at the airport were two Porsche Cayennes, tires chained, gassed up and ready to go. Louis, the sorcerer, definitely had this little journey well planned. It had been easy to clear customs. Our brand new identities were barely even glanced at. And no alarms were raised when they entered the system, so Louis or the Guilds had taken care of that too.
I just wished the magic-man was here so I could ask him a few questions, like … I don’t know … where the hell were we going? I also really wanted to be able to phone home and hear that no harm had befallen my parents. I worried the Four might target Jonathon and Lienda, trying to get to me, and now I had no way to check on them. Apparently, we could be traced even if we used payphones. Seriously, a payphone … do those things even exist anymore?
I was slightly mollified by the fact my father was the leader of the shifter council, and also pack master – he had a lot of power and authority behind him. But still, I didn’t think the dragon marked hunters cared very much about that. My one meeting with them told me they were crazy and would stop at nothing to fulfill their calling.
Breathing deeply, I forced myself to focus on the here and now. We had split into two groups. Braxton, Maximus, Mischa, and I took the front vehicle. Jacob, Tyson, and Grace, our ring-in-healer, were in the second. I’d ended up shotgun in the SUV. Braxton was driving.
There had been a bit of a scuffle between him and Maximus, striving for domination, but in the end the dragon had won. To be honest, these mountain ranges were pretty scary, especially with the snow and ice. I was glad my alpha-animals hadn’t forced me to challenge anyone for control of the car. Both my wolf and dragon were content and snoozing at the moment. Despite the craziness of the last few days – what with ending up in Vanguard and being captured and almost stolen away by the crazy-ass dragon marked hunters – I was feeling pretty calm.
Still, I couldn’t shake my unease.
The only information I had regarding our destination was the letter and map Louis had sent with me, which I held scrunched in my right hand. At the airport I hadn’t wanted to tip off any of the staff to our destination. Paranoid I know. But the Four scared the shit out of me. Thankfully, with just a few questions – and stumbling over my shocking Romanian pronunciation – we now had a general idea of where we were going. Louis was sending us toward a range of the Carpathian Mountains at the peak of Romania, near the Ukraine border. It seemed to be about four hours from the small private airport.
I stretched out my legs; this car was surprisingly roomy. I could hear rhythmic breathing behind me, Mischa crashed out on the back seat, Maximus right beside her. My vampire best friend was staring out the window, his dark eyes assessing the craggy mountain ranges topped with pretty white snow. The broad, handsome planes of his somber face reminded me of what was weighing on my own mind. I was covered with layers of winter clothes, but I knew what lay beneath now. The dragon mark.
A visible reminder of the secret I was keeping from my sister and most of my best friends.
I hated secrets, and I was the ass concealing one. As if he’d heard my thoughts, Maximus straightened, and as I turned to meet his gaze I was knocked back by the intensity of his tawny brown eyes.
“I need to tell you something,” I blurted, my nerves raising the pitch of my voice. I knew Braxton was watching me from the driver’s seat. I could feel the heat of his laser blue eyes, but I didn’t let it distract me too much. “Something about my dragon mark…”
I trailed off as Mischa’s bright green eyes popped open. Now everyone in the friggin’ car was watching me splutter and stumble over my words.
“When the energy on the mark was released, well … I shifted.”
No one looked shocked yet, but they thought I was talking about my wolf.
“Into a dragon. I shifted into a dragon.”
Silence descended over the car. Braxton already knew, of course, he had been in Vanguard with me. My breath caught and guilt churned my stomach. Maximus had been pretty upset the last time I kept a secret from him. I had no idea how he would react now. Mischa was the first to speak, excitement trilling through her voice, and I forced myself to pull my gaze from my vamp.
“So that could explain my dreams right? If I break the spell containing my mark … I might shift in to a dragon also?”
Mischa hadn’t grown up in our world, she’d spent most of her life with humans so she didn’t understand the impossibility of what I had done. There were no dual shifters – hybrids between the races, yes, but shifters only ever had one animal to call. Even other shifters who were dragon marked could still only change to a single creature, and it was never a dragon, because dragons did not carry the mark. There was no need.
“I don’t know, Misch,” I said in an even tone. “I’ve never heard of a dual shifter before, but maybe as my twin you will find the same thing happening to you.”
Her face went pensive, worrying her bottom lip, which she did when she was nervous. I could only imagine the thoughts running through her head.
Maximus still hadn’t said anything, which had my heart rate increasing. I just knew shit was going to get real in a moment – or whenever he decided to explode. When I couldn’t stand the tension, or my own guilt any longer, I pulled my eyes from him, turning back to stare out the window, forcing something else to capture my attention.
Wow! I leaned forward a little.
At some point during my nervous confession we’d entered a small town. I took the time to examine the colorful locals. They were scattered around the streets, chatting in groups, dining in restaurants. Warmly bundled up in extravagant and mismatched attire, the
y were fascinating. I’d never seen humans in books or on television dress like the ones parading through the streets.
Many eyes turned in our direction and I was thankful for the dark tint on the car. I wondered if their curiosity was simply that we were strangers crossing through their little village, or if this sort of vehicle was uncommon here. Damn, Louis should be helping us fit in, not stand out.
The signs we passed were mostly in Romanian, although some of the words looked familiar so I could probably guess at the names. At least numbers were the same, which made speed restrictions easy to maintain. I glanced down at the scrunched note again, running my eyes over the map. Judging by the distances Louis had jotted around this village, we were getting close to our destination.
“I’m not mad at you, Jessa babe.”
Note forgotten, I swung around again. I was sure my blue eyes were a little desperate as they bore into the vampire. Maximus was my rock, I couldn’t stand the stress of his ire. “But I need you to promise that you won’t keep any more secrets from us.” I knew us was Jacob and Tyson, his fey and wizard brothers. “How can we properly protect you when we don’t have all the facts?”
Braxton interrupted then: “Jonathon was worried that when we joined together and received our calling, we might be dragon marked hunters also. He warned Jessa. Her caution is in part to do with orders from her alpha.”
Braxton had been pretty quiet since the battle-of-wills with his brother over who would drive. It was nice to hear his low husky voice. I’d also like to see the dimples that graced his chiseled face, but that level of happiness seemed to be a little out of reach at the moment.
Maximus growled, low from his chest; it rumbled through the small space. “For fuck’s – are you telling me your father actually entertained the concept that we might hunt you?”
I shook out my black hair, heavy and silky against my neck. “I don’t think he actually believed it, but the warning was clear.”
Maximus continued muttering under his breath while he shot dark glares around, but I knew they weren’t aimed at any of us in particular. I glanced out to the side mirror, confirming as I had been for the past few hours that the second black Porsche was still following us. I noticed Braxton frequently checking as well.
Buildings thinned as we left the town and made our way further into the mountains. There was a steep drop off one side of the narrow path, and Braxton had to slow as the snowy, treacherous roads really began to hinder our progress. Though his hands remained relaxed on the wheel, so I didn’t think he was too worried.
I, on the other hand, had never really spent much time in a vehicle. I was missing the forest of our home. I needed to run. I pushed down this need, along with all the other desires driving my body right now. Hunger was a biggie. They’d fed us on the plane, but I was hungry again. The damn cold had my metabolism shifting into high gear. Judging by my clothes, I’d already lost weight with the last few stressful weeks, and I was not okay with that. A girl needs her curves. The moment I started to resemble Giselda, BEF (bitch enemy forever), I was necking myself.
“This friend of Louis’ better have food,” I muttered, my eyes still locked on the towering ranges around us.
Mischa leaned forward, her face almost next to mine between the front seats. “Are we getting close? What does the letter say?”
I loosened my grip, looking down again, blinking at the crumpled paper. “What the crap? It’s gone…” I immediately turned to Braxton. “It was just there a moment ago but now the writing is gone.”
Braxton swore low, his eyes flicking down to my hand. The vehicle started to slow; he lowered his window, letting in drafts of arctic air before signaling something to Tyson, the driver of the other SUV. I figured they were trying to find a place to pull over. Unfortunately we were not in the best position, and we had no phones to call back. Louis had confiscated everyone’s electronics so we wouldn’t be tempted to use them. We were going to find some prepaid burner cells soon. Soon, of course, did not help us right now.
I flipped the paper over but the back was just as blank as the front.
“I’m killing that fucking sorcerer.” The familiar lament was from Maximus. He’d also moved his massive bulk into the center of the car.
Braxton leaned forward, paying close attention to the road we were on. “We have no choice but to remain on this path. There is nowhere for me to turn around. We can meet up with the others as soon as it is wide enough. Maybe Tyson will have some insight into what happened to the letter.”
Tyson was a pretty powerful wizard, but he wasn’t a sorcerer yet. The quads – and Mischa and I – were twenty-two, which for a magic user was way too young to have evolved into a sorcerer. I think the youngest sorcerer in supernatural history was Louis, and he’d been thirty. Tyson was planning on giving him a run for that title. I really hoped my wizard best friend could get a read off this paper, because without it we were completely screwed.
Not only was it nearing dusk, but the snowstorm which had been holding off was starting to fall. We had exceptional night vision, and the high beams were already flooding the road, but still visibility sucked.
Mischa’s green eyes darted around, examining the increasing fall of snow and shifting terrain outside the window. “Should we stop for the night?” Her voice trembled. “We don’t want to drive off a mountain.”
Braxton almost smiled at that one. “Have some faith … I’m a dragon, we have unparalleled reflexes and powerful vision. I’m not going to drive you off a cliff.”
Dragon. His words reminded me of the moment I’d shifted to my strange, fluffy dragon. He was not kidding about the unparalleled senses part.
The colors I had seen had been so intense, as if dragons experienced much more of the light spectrum than any other creature – well, any other creature I’d turned into, which, sure, was only wolf and human, but I was probably still right. Dragons were special.
My gaze was drawn to the side mirror again. I could barely see the black shape of Tyson’s car any longer. Just a shine of lights every now and then. “Ty isn’t a dragon,” I reminded Braxton.
Blue flashed at me, and for a moment all I could see was the cloudless spring sky that Braxton’s eyes mimicked. The air in the space between us started to morph into something intense. My insides clenched in need and want and fire. I forced myself to try to remember the reasons I wasn’t willing to risk our friendship, but in this moment I couldn’t think of a single one strong enough.
I received a reprieve when Braxton shifted his face away. He lowered the window again to signal something else.
My breathing was a little harsher than usual as my heart and thoughts both raced. What the hell was going on?
Ever since we’d been locked up in Vanguard together, it was like our relationship had gone through an evolution. We’d been best friends for twenty years. Now, though, I had no idea where we were heading. No matter how sexified my thoughts were getting, I wasn’t sure it was worth risking our friendship. What if we didn’t work as a couple? What if something tore us apart? What if one of us found our mate?
So many what if’s … it hurt my head just considering them all. But the biggest of all – what if Braxton didn’t feel the same need? Maybe I was trying to force something because of my own newly discovered emotions? If I acted on it he might be the one to turn me down, and I wasn’t sure I could survive that.
Shit! I was so not thinking about this any longer.
Maximus’s long arm came between Braxton and me; he pointed toward a sign. “There seems to be a lookout or turnaround section just there.”
It took me a moment to focus. I called on my wolf for help, and was finally able to see what he was talking about. Braxton eased our car off the main road, turning left. The wheels lost traction for a moment before we powered out of the slide and drove across the fresh powder into a large circular flat. I was relieved to see the second vehicle pull in beside ours. Of course, while I was happy to see the others, I w
as not looking forward to getting out in that cold. Luckily, it seemed as if they were coming to us.
How the heck was this going to work? Four large quads – I’m talking far-larger-than-was-necessary – were not going to fit in this car.
But somehow we managed it. Braxton stayed in the front and Maximus took my seat. I ended up on Jacob’s lap and Mischa in Tyson’s. Poor Grace, her red hair subdued under a woolen hat, had to squeeze in between us in the back.
Tyson had his usual shit-kicker grin on, and I was happy that the tension which had been very present between Grace and him seemed to have eased a little. Hopefully the witch healer was over the rejection I’d dished out on behalf of Tyson many years ago.
“You know what I’m thinking of right now?” Tyson’s honeysuckle eyes were sparkling. “All of us, it’s really cold–”
I interrupted him by leaning over Grace and cracking him in the side of the head. “Shut it now.”
Mischa’s nose crinkled a little. “Do you have to be such a pig while I’m sitting on your lap?”
The wizard laughed, dimples and white teeth flashing. “I was going to say that survival 101 was coming in handy. Sharing body heat and all that.”
Sure, that was what he was going to say.
Jacob’s strong arms wrapped around me, hugging me tighter. It was comforting to be in his arms, no tension like that which followed me and Braxton. There was no weird sexual pull between the rest of the quads and me.
I turned my head to see the wizard again. “Did you get anything off the letter, Ty?”
Tyson had been handling Louis’ note for about five minutes, turning it over and over. I wondered if his joking around was to cover his frustration.
