Broken Compass: Supernatural Prison Story 1 (11 page)

Maximus Compass

My head was a mess. My heart was a mess. But my vampire instincts never let me down and neither did my brothers. I was heading south, chasing down our prey; the boys were spread out across the forest. The distance between us was great but I could sense them strongly through our bond. The quad bond. It was also through this that I kept tabs on Mischa, via Braxton and Jessa.

The dragon shifter’s attention never strayed far from his girl, which was exactly how a mate bond should be.

The twins hadn’t exactly remained where we left them, but the area around them was still clear of danger. Which was a relief, allowing me to immerse myself fully in the chase. My vampire side was amped, the bloodlust riding me hard. I had not fed properly in a long time, and the faint life in human blood was dull and tasteless compared to supes’.

Unlike other vamps, I could go a long time without feeding, but the time was nearing. I would have to find a donor, or settle for bottled blood. The thought of feeding from a female supe just wasn’t sitting well with me. Humans had been different, they were not my kind, but when vampires fed from female supes, there was something intrinsically sensual about it.

So it looked like it was bottled blood for me. Almost as bad as human.

Scents crashed into me as I closed the distance between me and my prey – one of the four supes who had been stupid enough to try and stalk my steps earlier. I had zero tolerance for any being who thought they could threaten my pack. And with Jessa and Mischa pregnant … well, let’s just say my brothers and I would be asking questions later.

We protected what was ours.

Mine’s a shifter.
Tyson’s magical essence was strong. His words cut off as he confronted the male. I could see through his eyes if I wanted, but there was no need.
Shifter bear,
Tyson finished.

He would call for us if he needed help, so I pulled my focus back to the one I was tracking. A flash of black caught my eye, clearly not part of the natural landscape around me. Asshole was going down, and once I found out who sent him, he was going to find himself in Vanguard, where the guards might pay extra close attention to him.

My senses were firing hard, and I followed the scent I had locked into my brain. I could pick this supe out in a crowd any day, but I still had no idea of their race. The muddiness of it suggested demi-fey.

I kicked up my speed another few notches and the black came into sight again. It was a cloak shrouding a small, hunched form. The figure moved fast, almost at the same superspeed as me, which ruled out ninety percent of the demi-fey.

After another minute, I was starting to get the picture of what I chased. Harpy. These bird-women had leathery skin, beak-like noses, and a penchant for war and violence. What the hell was she doing near Stratford? Actually, what was she doing on Earth? I’d never seen one in the human realm – especially not outside of the prison system. They mostly stayed in Faerie where their unusual looks and vicious nature was less noticeable. Jessa and Braxton had had a recent run in with them, and I knew if my brother caught up with this demi-fey first, she probably wouldn’t make it to Vanguard.

The figure hunched over further before ducking beneath some small bushes. There was no easy way for me to follow that path, but I could see where those bushes ended. I dashed around the side just as she darted out, and grabbed the back of her cloak.

The material was smooth, silky even. Not what I’d expected from the coarse-looking thread. Definitely a Faerie garment, which made it that much easier to slip through my fingers.

“Shit!”

My curse had her speeding up again. This was not my day. I needed about a hundred hours to sleep, feed, and time to catch up with my family and appreciate the gift of Mischa and the child she carried. I also had to look into this Cardia fake mate and fake dragon marked thing. I did not need a goddamn harpy leading me on a chase through the wilderness.

A twinge of unease crept along my spine then, and almost in the same instant I felt the spiciness of Braxton’s worry in my blood. Surely he hadn’t run into any trouble with his prey? Not even worth worrying about, which meant his concern was … Jessa. There was no other explanation.

We’d left Mischa and Jessa back in the clearing, secure in the knowledge that the four of us had our pursuers on the run. But what if we’d missed one? What if this was all a trap to leave the girls vulnerable?

Braxton. Are the girls okay?
He had me locked from his mind now; my footsteps slowed as I waited for his reply. The harpy was disappearing again, but that was the least of my worries. Braxton’s deep tones came back at me hard.
Maximus, fall back. Jess is blocked from me.

I didn’t hear anything more, I was already gone. The world blurred around me as I ran; the entire time I prayed to the gods, to the fey, to anyone who would listen. I could not just find out about the pregnancy only to lose Mischa and my child so soon.

I could feel my brothers close behind but I was going to get to the clearing first. Breaking free from the trees, I zeroed in on where we’d left the girls. It was empty. As I ground to a halt, I forced myself to slow my breathing. I needed to get my shit together so my senses could work to their full potential. As the blood pounding in my veins eased, I was able to scent the path the girls had taken. The trail was strong; they’d only just recently left.

I charged into the forest, Braxton right behind me. He was in human form, the forest too dense in places for his dragon. There was an odd thrashing sound in the direction we were heading, almost like a tropical storm, but it was still clear skies above us.

“Can you feel Jessa?” I asked when Braxton reached my side.

“Yes,” he said, that one word brimming with fury. “She’s worried. She hasn’t actually called for me yet, but I can tell she’s in trouble.”

Whomever had touched them was going to die. Plenty of places to hide a body out here. Wouldn’t be a problem. “I’ve got their trail. No time to wait for the others, they can catch up.”

Braxton didn’t say any more. Locked on with laser focus, both of us crashed through the shrubbery and dense foliage. The light, foresty scent of Jessa was strong. She always reminded me of new life, swirling winds, and the strength of nature. It was almost as if her scent were part mother nature, part sexy nymph. Mischa, on the other hand, had some elements of Jessa’s earthiness, but with a slightly sweeter undertone – floral even. Hers was the real deep, rich aroma of the first blossoms of spring, and I could follow that scent across the world if I had to.

The path we strode showed clear signs of damage from others who’d used it before us. Many more than just the twins had followed this trail. It was well-used, leading us right into the densest part of this pocket of forest, toward the mix of storm and machinery noises.

“What the fuck?” I cursed as we dashed into a clearing.

Braxton was already growling, both of us grinding to a halt. The storm noise made sense now. The entire clearing was filled with a massive tornado, twenty feet high and thick enough to almost obscure the objects it surrounded.

“This is magically created,” Braxton said. “So what the hell is it doing all the way out here? There are no magic users in this area.”

None registered to our town anyway, which meant this was probably dark in nature.

As we stepped closer I could just make out the shape of a small house nestled in amongst the trees, and standing before it seemed to be the twins. Or at least twin-shaped shadows.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before?”

Braxton swiveled to meet my gaze. “Never.”

Great. I stepped as close as I could, trying not to flip the hell out. Just the knowledge that something which was clearly dangerous and magical in nature was separating me from Mischa ... I was on the edge of losing it.

“It’s not attacking them,” I said, my eyes darting at vampire speed to try and discern everything from the scene. “But I think the house is made of … candy … which is all kinds of screwed up. Is the house holding them hostage?”

Braxton snarled, very dragon-like, and when I turned toward him I could see the yellow splashed across his eyes; his features were getting that lizard look about them. Most of the quad bond was disabled at the moment, just enough connection remained so Tyson and Jacob could find us, but I still picked up the animalistic nature of his mind.

Braxton’s words were guttural. “The boys are almost here. I’m going to drop the rest of our bond and shift.”

I stepped back. In a flash Braxton was naked and then he was dragon. Stepping to his side, I waited for him to charge the wind barrier. If anyone could break through the magic of this unnatural tornado, it was the dragon. And he wasn’t going in without me.

“Max!”

Jacob’s shout let me know he was almost there, Tyson right behind him. Which was good; I wanted us at full strength. We’d take no chances with the girls or their babies.

My
baby. Fuck. Heads were going to roll when I got to the other side. The dragon launched itself toward the wind, but just before his snout crashed through, a filtering of magic washed over the area, slamming into the four of us, knocking us back a few yards.

What the hell? Magic rarely acted so strongly against us like that, especially not the dragon.

Braxton was already moving again, Tyson and I close to his right, Jacob on his left.

“That was dark magic,” Tyson rumbled. That explained the strength. “Someone is casting a spell using demon energy.”

The wizard raised his hands, and as he started to murmur under his breath, I felt his own potent brand of energy zip away.

“Can you tell where it’s coming from?” I asked.

Braxton had paused. One wrong move with dark magic and we might make the situation a lot worse for everyone. Demons were not to be messed with. It was only their inability to live on Earth without a host that gave us any advantage against them.

Tyson took a few minutes to answer, by which time Braxton’s rumbles and fiery breath had increased exponentially. Finally the wizard said: “The darkness originated in that house. Strong sorcery, mixed of so many energies, but … fuck … I’m getting a whiff of the Krass family.”

Those words were an accelerant to the fire inside of Braxton. The dragon tilted his head back, roaring and letting his huge plume of flames spring free. He then took off at a crazed run.

Tyson continued speaking as we followed the beast: “I’ve had enough classes with that asshole to know the signature of his craft. Arrogant sorcerer hasn’t even bothered to hide his trace.”

Braxton was just about to dive through the wind barrier again – nothing was going to stop him this time – when the heavy energy in the area increased and the barrier started tightening in on the girls, moving faster than we could reach it, even with vampire and dragon speed.

That didn’t stop us from trying though.

My hand had just scraped along the edge of the wind when there was an imploding pop noise, and in a blink the gusts scooped up the twin shadows and then they were gone. Within two heartbeats there was nothing left in the clearing.

Even the house was gone.

Everything inside of me turned to pure darkness, my fangs shooting free; my rational side disappeared under the craving of the vampire. I could hear Braxton roaring beside me, and I knew Tyson and Jacob were equally as angry. All of us lost ourselves for a few moments, a trademark of males when they feel true fear. Fear is not an emotion we Compasses are well equipped to handle, and I for one wanted to tear this forest to pieces until it revealed my pack mates.

I scraped together as much of my sanity as I could. The deep exhaustion which had been plaguing me for days was forgotten as adrenalin coursed through me.

My focus was on Tyson. “Can you trace that magic?”

He nodded. “Yep, already on it.”

I left him to it, knowing he needed to concentrate. Braxton was flapping his wings, so I stepped across and touched a hand to his flank.

Are you going above to scout?

We all had strong mind blocks, but could send messages mentally using touch. Braxton’s mind could be hard to reach when he was in dragon form, but this time he was open to me.

Yes, and if I find something, I’ll signal you with flames.

With a nod I stepped back and let him do his thing. The canopy wasn’t thick above us, a few swipes of dragon claw and he was through. Then he was gone, the rhythmic swishing of his wings fading.

Tyson was still muttering away. Jacob had his hands pressed against the trees, communicating with the nature gods, trying to find the disturbance in the land. We had used these techniques a lot over the past twelve months when we were trying to find Vanguard, so this was all second nature to us. Of course, we never were successful, always looking in the wrong place. We couldn’t let that happen to the twins. That just was not an option.

I strode into the clearing and across to where that house had been only moments before. Besides the cleared, round zone, there was no evidence that a building had stood here at all. The grass was not flat; there were even some small wildflowers peeking up through the tall green grass. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes and still felt the prevalent tendrils of heavy magic, I would not have believed a building had stood there.