Darkness Rising

  Darkness Rising

  Darkness Series

  Katie Reus

  Darkness Rising

  Copyright © 2019 Katie Reus

  Cover Art by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs

  Edits by Julia Ganis

  * * *

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.

  Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book. This purchase allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the right to resell, distribute, print or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload this book to a file sharing program. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  ISBN: 9781635560480

  Table of Contents

  DARKNESS RISING

  Copyright

  About the Book

  Dedication

  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

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  Thank You for Reading!

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Complete Booklist

  When a bringer of death…

  Awakened after millennia, dragon warrior Reaper is ready to fulfill his destiny…until he sees Greer. With one glimpse, everything Reaper has ever known throughout his very long life is irrevocably changed. Greer’s his mate, he feels it in his blood, in his soul—but convincing her is another matter. The dragon clan healer finds him obnoxious and annoying, but he knows a woman’s interest when he smells it. And Greer smells like one word: mine.

  Meets a giver of life…

  Greer has spent hundreds of years using her healing abilities for the good of others, making her the polar opposite of Reaper. The ferocious war general may be an ancient, but his arrogance proves he hasn’t spent any of that time learning about women. Greer is displeased when her Alpha sends her to New Orleans with the insufferable warrior—then she sees him in action against a menace threatening to tear the city apart. Fierce, protective, magnificent…mate-worthy. Maybe opposites do attract, but if they want to live long enough to find out, they’ll first have to save the world teetering on the brink of obliteration.

  Dedication

  For Kaylea Cross, one of the most authentic people I know. Thank you for always being in my corner, cheering me on, and believing in my success long before I believed it was possible. You’ve been with the Darkness crew and me since the beginning and I thank you for all your support.

  Chapter 1

  Greer stretched out on the hard-packed snow, her thick jacket providing a barrier between her and the ice. Not that she really needed it. As a dragon shifter she was practically immune to most of the elements.

  The sun was bright in the Montana sky this morning, bathing her face in a perfect glow as she relaxed in the snowy meadow, though no warmth compared to the fire pumping through her blood.

  Things in the clan were interesting right now, and though she was almost always on call as one of the healers, she took a couple mornings a week for herself to fly and be alone. Dragons weren’t like wolves in that they needed their pack. Well, for most dragons.

  For her it was different. She needed her clan and she loved them. Dragons didn’t tend to live in the same house or mansion or whatever as their clanmates, whereas wolves could all live in one giant place and be perfectly satisfied.

  As she shifted slightly against the snow, she sensed something before she felt it.

  A rumbling.

  Was this…an earthquake? Here? She knew there were tectonic plates all over the planet so it wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. And sometimes she felt it deep in her bones when there were rumblings far beneath the earth’s surface. And this was definitely a rumbling.

  She stood, bracing herself to potentially take flight as the ground trembled and shook beneath her.

  To her left an explosion of rocks, debris and snow burst through the air before arcing out in a riotous cascade as it fell back to the earth.

  Gasping, she took a step back. Oh. My. God. This was not an earthquake.

  A dragon burst out of the ground, its skin a shimmering waterfall of colors in a very familiar pattern. His wings glittered under the morning sunlight, a kaleidoscope of gold and bright violet that slid into a pale lavender. His movements were almost liquid, his wings appearing as if made of smoke more than solid substance as he began circling in the air.

  She knew a dragon who looked like that but she shelved that knowledge for later. Because this wasn’t him. No, this was a dragon who’d been in Hibernation. And who knew how long this dragon had been asleep, but she needed to make sure it didn’t reveal itself to humans.

  She raced along the snowy plateau, waving her arms as the dragon continued circling overhead in the sky, stretching its beautiful, multicolored wings, flapping hard and powerful. When the beast saw her, it circled toward her and…shot fire at her.

  She froze for a millisecond before instinct kicked in. His fire landed half a football field to her right, melting all the snow around it. Snapping to attention, she took a deep, steadying breath and centered herself. Holding her hands in front of her chest, she gathered all of her healer’s powers into a bright green ball of energy. Not something she did often, but self-defense required it.

  She launched the sparking ball of energy straight at the dragon. It wouldn’t kill him, but it should knock him down. Then she was going to knock some sense into this arrogant beast.

  And unlike him, she didn’t miss. Her energy slammed into his face, knocking him off his path. But…he shook it off as if she’d barely grazed him.

  Oh no. It was time to run. Or fly.

  She’d started to do just that, calling on her inner dragon, when the giant, beautiful beast swooped down directly toward her, moving so quickly she didn’t have time to flee.

  Without thinking, she stalked toward him and smacked him on the nose. “I can’t believe you shot fire at me!” she snapped.

  That was just bad dragon etiquette. Yet now that she’d had time to think about it, she realized he hadn’t been attacking her, because the fire had gone so wildly off course. And considering the strength she could feel rolling off this stranger, she didn’t think that was accidental. If he’d wanted to hit her, he would have. She was immune to dragon fire—as were all dragons—for as long as their bodies could withstand it anyway. But he shouldn’t have been immune to her healer’s fire. That was something she
was going to worry about later.

  In response, the male shifted to his human form in such a fluid, quick transformation it took her breath away. She’d only seen a few ancient dragons change forms like that.

  Now the male stood in front of her, staring at her with electric, mesmerizing amber eyes. In that moment she froze, trying to decide if she should run or stay.

  Then he tilted his head to the side ever so slightly and she forced her eyes to remain on his. This male was a predator, likely a warrior, that much she could sense. It wouldn’t do her any good to turn her back on him.

  Finally he spoke, but in a language she didn’t understand—which made her pause.

  She was part of the Petronilla clan, and one of their gifts was understanding every spoken language. It was one of those biological survival things woven into their DNA. It was simply part of who they were as a clan.

  “I don’t understand you,” she said to the male.

  His hair was long, the soft dark waves falling right to his broad shoulders. From what she could see, his chest was incredibly built and muscular. She wasn’t going to look any lower—that was bad manners. She couldn’t help staring into his eyes, however. He had the kind of face that would make angels cry.

  And he was on her clan’s territory. Which was the real issue right now.

  Though to be fair, he must have been sleeping far beneath the surface so he would have no clue he was on her Alpha’s territory. She turned slightly and pointed back to where her four-wheeler was. She often came out here with it, then stripped and shifted and took to the skies. She just hadn’t gotten around to the shifting or flying part today. She’d been enjoying basking in the sun. Now it looked as if flying was going to wait.

  He reached up as if to touch her face but she gently caught his wrists and pushed them back down.

  They didn’t know each other and she hadn’t given him any privileges yet.

  He said something again, growling low in his throat as he leaned forward and sniffed her. Actually sniffed her.

  Okay, then. This dragon must have been asleep for a long time because that was very bad manners. She just hoped he wasn’t as ancient as Mira and Prima, because while she loved the “twisted sisters,” they were like feral animals half the time. Every time Greer looked into their eyes, there was no civilization. They were simply putting on a veneer for everybody. She loved them, yes, but they were far more in touch with their dragon side than she was. Sighing, she turned and headed back to her four-wheeler, looking over her shoulder at him.

  The male paused, watching her curiously, but ended up stalking after her, his bare feet quiet against the snow. He didn’t seem bothered by the cold or his nudity, which for the most part was to be expected with dragon shifters. And males in general. They seemed to have no problem showing themselves off.

  He stared at the four-wheeler, frowning as she slid into the front seat. She started the engine and then patted the seat behind her.

  He simply lifted an eyebrow and shook his head, murmuring something in that language she didn’t understand.

  Sighing, she gave it a little gas so he could see it move. Then she patted the seat again. She needed to get him back to her Alpha’s place, and arrangements would have to be made. They’d have to find his people, and more importantly, make sure this dragon understood that they were not out to humans. Not only that, for all she knew, he knew nothing of technology—and given the way he was looking at her four-wheeler with disdain, she figured that was a good bet.

  He shook his head again.

  “Seriously? It’s not like this thing is going to hurt you,” she muttered. “You’re a freaking dragon.” Sighing, she turned off the engine and got off the vehicle. And when she stripped off her jacket, his eyes lit up with interest.

  Of course. God save her from all males.

  She motioned for him to turn around. For a moment he acted as if he didn’t understand her but she could see a hint of something in his eyes, something wicked and sensual. And she really shouldn’t feel anything at all for a complete stranger. Especially one who practically crackled with danger and energy. This was not the type of male for her. She respected warriors, but…no. She was a healer.

  She made the motion again. Normally she didn’t care about nudity, but she wasn’t stripping down in front of some stranger. Especially since he was watching her with barely concealed hunger.

  Finally, silently, he turned, giving her his back. And a very bitable backside.

  Damn it. She’d given up trying not to look at him and the man was huge everywhere. Everywhere.

  Shaking those thoughts off, she moved with the speed of her kind and stripped, tying her clothes into a neat little ball before shifting to her dragon form. Then she made a little whooshing sound with her wings. He turned then and for the first time since his appearance, he smiled. A real smile that made him go from dangerous and sexy to panty-melting divine.

  This was not good. She was not going to be attracted to some random stranger who’d arrived on her clan’s territory out of the blue. Nope.

  He shifted again in a flash of color and light and then he was next to her in dragon form, almost twice her size. She only knew a few dragons who were this large. She was large by normal dragon shifter standards but this guy was a whole other level.

  She couldn’t just leave him here but she was still a little nervous about bringing a stranger deeper into her clan’s territory. But she had no choice.

  As they took to the skies, she didn’t fully camouflage herself because she wanted him to be able to see her. So she half camouflaged herself so that she was a shimmering shadow of movement as they flew over a mountain pass. He took her lead and did the same, and when they reached the exterior of her clan’s most internal area where all of their homes were, she wasn’t at all surprised that three of the sentinels surrounded them, not making any threatening movements but escorting them until they reached an area just outside where their homes and shops were.

  It was where her clanmates liked to play random sports including soccer, football or just flat-out attacking each other for fun. Because that was what dragons did.

  She immediately shifted into human form and dressed. The other males of her clan did as well. But the newcomer didn’t.

  He eyed the males, his dragon eyes a mix of ambers and greens. His giant muscled body was tense, his wings folded tightly against his back. He looked ready to attack at any moment, which was not good. She was going to give him the benefit of the doubt because she’d basically attacked him with a ball of energy and he hadn’t tried to hurt her.

  And because the most primitive voice in her head told her that he could have. It was easy to miscommunicate with others when you didn’t speak the same language—and when you were an apex predator by nature, sometimes you simply attacked first and asked questions later. Something she wasn’t going to let happen now.

  She stepped toward the male but Dagen, one of her favorite sentinels, stepped forward trying to block her.

  “Greer.” He moved quickly, never giving the beast his back.

  She moved so she was standing next to him. “It’s okay. He speaks a language I’ve never heard and I can’t translate it. He’s just woken from a Hibernation.”

  Dagen’s eyebrows lifted.

  “He hasn’t been aggressive toward me.” Not really. She wasn’t going to tell the others about him shooting warning fire at her.

  Without waiting for his approval, because she sure as hell wasn’t asking for his permission, she stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on the new dragon’s snout. “You need to shift to your human form now,” she said even though he wouldn’t understand the words. She just hoped he understood the tone and meaning.

  Because by now they’d started to attract a crowd of other dragons. Hell—dragons, wolves, and other shifters living among their clan. And some humans.

  Among them was Prima, who let out a startled shout and started racing toward them.

  The
dragon saw her, and immediately shifted to his gorgeous human form.

  To Greer’s surprise the big male raced at Prima, and Greer tensed for a battle but the two simply embraced in a bone-crushing hug.

  Then Prima punched him on the shoulder once—hard—and he did the same to her as they started talking and… That was definitely Gaelic. Scottish in origin maybe—not Irish or Welsh. Or she didn’t think. Her brain computed that confusing language but it was different than the one he’d been speaking before.

  Her dragon unleashed her claws inside, not liking the sight of this male naked and embracing another female. Which was beyond stupid. She didn’t know him and she didn’t care about him. Simmer down, she ordered her other half.

  It took her a moment to realize that both Prima and the male had turned to her. He said something she didn’t understand and Prima hurried over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “This is Greer, our healer,” she said in Gaelic.

  Or Greer was pretty sure that was what she said. Some of that language was confusing.

  “How do you know him?” Greer asked, keeping her gaze on the male—who was unabashedly staring at her.

  She wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. Liar, liar. She liked it—she just didn’t want to. She’d had enough experience with a warrior for many lifetimes. She wasn’t going down that road again.