Diamond Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 4) (15 page)

He looked at her ring. “That should give you some protection. You hide right here. The wyverns seem to be busy with Red and Luc, and whatever is fighting Dom won’t get past us.”

“But you don’t have your powers,” she said nervously.

That was true. “I’m still strong. You know this.” He turned to go up the stairs. “Stay safe. Just for a second.”

She nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

Then Lana screamed again, and he launched himself up the stairs, ready to help Dom. Because if anything happened to Bridget’s friend, that would be the end of her trust for sure.

L
ana felt
like the whole world had just exploded into chaos.

Sure, nothing had been normal ever since she’d been abducted, and she’d long ago given up any hope of being rescued. But today things had gone from shit storm to fubar in about five seconds.

Curien, the monstrous alpha wolf who was third in command here, had finally come to claim what he thought was his, and despite her smashing a few vases over his head, he’d nearly been about to accomplish it.

Until the biggest Goth she’d ever seen in her life had come crashing in the door to rescue her.

Curien had been on top of her, struggling to get his hand down her pants, when she’d locked eyes with the best-looking, oddest-looking man she’d ever seen in her life.

And then he was the angriest, shouting at Curien to take his hands off her, flying across the room with speed she hadn’t even seen from wolf shifters, and slamming her attacker into the wall so hard the rocks shook. She’d screamed, putting her hands over head, as little chips of the ceiling had come raining down.

The man was ruthless, tossing Curien around as if he were a particularly durable water balloon the stranger was trying to break.

But Curien was durable, and he kept standing up, ready to fight again, until finally he’d torn through his skin and into his wolf form, and that’s when she’d seen the bright-blue eyes of her rescuer (hopefully?) turn into slits like some kind of lizard.

Oh damn, of course this would be a shifter, too. And she was so done with them.

The man tore out of his jacket as his muscles increased, and she saw shiny claws catch the light as he lunged at the wolf, catching him in midair. They fought, and the stranger wrestled the wolf to the ground, lifting his talons high as the wolf writhed and whined, aware it was to be shown no mercy.

The claws swiped down, and she screamed and looked away, not even wanting to see that happen to a bastard like Curien, but before anything could happen, someone else lunged through the doorway, stumbling on the rocks.

He was tall but unlike her goth-looking, black-haired rescuer with the perpetual scowl. This one had white hair and eyes in a color she’d couldn’t decipher. He was tall, elegant, and muscled, dressed in casual clothing that went oddly with his beautiful face.

“Dom,” he said. “Stop.”

Dom, the stranger, was breathing heavily and only barely managed to pull himself back from delivering a fatal slash to the wolf. Instead, he punched him, hard, knocking his head into the stone floor, and stood, spitting on the wolf’s unconscious body.

The white-haired man walked forward. “Dom, calm down. She’s safe.”

Dom turned to her, still shirtless, still scary with those piercings and that odd-colored hair. Those bright eyes.

He’d saved her. But he was a
shifter
.

She scooted back on the bed as he walked forward. “Oh no you don’t.”

“You’re coming with us,” he said.

She tried to run for it, but Dom was on her in a second, scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder as if she were nothing. And she was on the taller side and curvy.

She pounded on his back, and the white-haired man glared at his friend. “Dom, where are your manners?”

“Where’s Bridget, Alistair?” Dom snarled.

Alistair spun on his heel. “Down in the passageway,” he said. “She made me leave to make sure you weren’t getting your ass kicked.”

“As if.” Dom scoffed.

“Then you shouldn’t have been playing with your food,” Alistair snapped.

“Bridget is with you?” Lana asked, ceasing her struggle.

“Yes,” Alistair said, walking down the steps. “Right… here…” He trailed off, and Lana felt her heart go cold. If Bridget had gotten hurt while coming to help her…

Because, of course, Bridget, with her amazing, loyal heart, would never give up on her.

“She was right here!” Alistair said. “Shit. Shit!”

And then he was gone, disappearing down the stairs and through the doorway on the second floor.

Dom looked at Lana. “Guess we better make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.”

“What
are
you?” she asked, glaring at him, wishing he didn’t have to keep hold of her quite so tightly.

He didn’t answer, just started down the stairs after his partner.

* * *

B
ridget cursed
herself for being so caught up in watching Alistair go after Dom that she hadn’t seen one of the wyverns, if that’s what it was, creeping up on her from behind.

It had grabbed her around her waist and covered her mouth before she could scream, and she’d had to watch helplessly as Alistair disappeared into the room and out of sight.

Dammit, the creature must have just been waiting for an opportunity.

It was human-ish but taller and thinner, with pale scales she could feel over some of the parts that were touching her. Wearing only ragged pants.

It dragged her into the room on the second floor, where the others were fighting,

“Stop!” it shouted out as she looked around and saw many creatures like it wailing and burning as they tried to fight Red and Luc. Some of them were frozen solid, and Red and Luc didn’t even look like they were breaking a sweat. Zach was nowhere to be seen. “Unless you want something to happen to her, you will stop!”

Red and Luc froze when they saw her, both unsure what to do from there.

Several wyverns who were near came closer, encircling her, muttering and reaching out to touch her as she tried to wriggle away. There were still dozens in the room.

“Stop it!” Red said.

“You going to use your fire? Burn her?” the wyvern hissed triumphantly. “Freeze her? There’s nothing you can do.”

There were nearly a dozen wyverns around her now, crowding in, making menacing noises, trying to touch her.

“Get the fuck away from my mate,” Alistair’s angry voice called out as he appeared at the doorway.

He strode forward, eyes glowing, almost as if he were lit from within. He faced Bridget and the insolent wyverns. “Bridget, give me my powers,” he said. “Be my mate.”

His hair was lifting around him again, the way it had when he’d been in the dungeon, watching her with Galen.

She shook her head, still stubborn. He had most of his powers right now anyway, since she was in danger. “No.”

“Bridget, I was wrong. There was one time when I felt you were mine. Before the ring.” He raised a hand and swept one side of the wyverns away with that invisible force he possessed. “When Galen was touching you. I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t handle it.” He wiped the other side of wyverns away, slamming them into a nearby wall.

“It wasn’t because I’m a good person, because I wasn’t until I met you. The only person willing to be kind to me.” He raised both hands and pulled, drawing the wyvern holding her toward him. When they were close, he pulled her against him, shoving the wyvern back with incredible force. “When I rescued you then, I knew you were mine. I’m just stupid, Bridget. Too stupid for you. You deserve better.”

Another wyvern rushed them, having recovered, and Alistair kicked it in the face as he turned Bridget to face him. “If something had happened to you then, I couldn’t have survived it. I should have known then you were my mate. Perhaps that’s why I was so willing to hand over the ring, on a subconscious level. Dragons never hand over their ring. Even then I thought it was odd.”

Another wyvern popped up, and he punched it in the face without breaking stride. “I’m not good with emotions.” He closed his eyes in irritation as a few wyverns attacked from behind, and he forced them back with a shockwave. “I feel most deeply when I’m fighting for you. I have to be honest then. In the stairwell, I wanted to tell you I love you… when you asked why I wanted to be your mate.”

He brushed her hair back as he kicked behind him and took out another wyvern. “I love you, sweetheart, more than life.” One more punch. “So agree to mate me and give me my powers so I can kill these fuckers for even touching you.”

“Okay,” she said simply. “I’ll mate you.” She reached up on her toes and kissed him, and he felt her acceptance and love and felt lucky he had a woman who understood emotions so much better than he did. Who was so much more willing to bend than he was.

And that she was okay and they weren’t fighting anymore.

And oddly, he felt no panic over the fact that they were mated as the collar slipped from his shoulders. No sense of being trapped, no responsibility, just peace. As if everything he’d gone through had been for a purpose, so he could meet and be with this woman.

He felt power flood through him, and a grin spread over his face.

“Shields up,” he yelled to Luc and Red. He waited for Luc to cover both of them with an ice shield and then stomped his foot into the ground, hard. Energy spread from him over the ground, chasing down every unshielded creature in the room, turning them to sparkling, clear stone.

He turned to survey the room, the wyverns stuck in various poses of shock and fear. He didn’t feel bad for them at all. They’d been attacking his friends, his mate, aiding and abetting kidnapping.

“Holy shit,” Luc said as he and Red stepped out of their shields. “What the hell did you do to them?”

“Took care of them,” Alistair said, keeping his arm around Bridget.

“Nice speech,” Red said.

“Thanks.” Alistair refused to be bothered by anything now that Bridget was officially his. He could already see them building a life together.

Dom walked in, holding Lana over his shoulder like some kind of captive as she beat at his shoulders. “Ice sculptures?” he said. “Not bad.” He plonked one with his fist, and his eyes widened. “Oh shit, that’s not ice, is it?”

Alistair shook his head.

“Damn, that’s useful,” Dom said. “Should have just got you two to mate each other and sent you in first.”

Alistair shook his head. It had happened how it needed to. She wouldn’t doubt his love for her now. He’d said it on his own, when he’d been unable to fight it anymore. Though now that he thought about it, she hadn’t said it back.

Hm. Something to discuss when they got back, hopefully.

“Bridget!” Lana screeched, looking over hopefully. She had tawny skin and dark, curly hair, plus eyes in a light color he couldn’t make out. “Let me down, you Cro-Magnon! I want to see my friend.”

Dom dutifully put her down, and she ran to Bridget. Alistair fought back his jealousy as they hugged. After all, this meant a lot to his mate.

He felt emotion welling in him just watching her shed happy tears over being reunited with her friend.

Dom threw an arm around his shoulder. “So you have those kinds of powers, yet you wasted them for so long just lying around consuming Bon-bons?”

Alistair scoffed. “Not just Bon-bons. Steak, wines…” He laughed. “I have discovered I like fighting. I think I will enjoy being on the right side in this world.”

Dom watched Bridget and Lana thoughtfully.

“Perhaps you’re rethinking it as well?” Alistair asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Dom said. He turned to Red and Luc, who were walking across the room. “Hey, let’s go.”

“Gotta go find Zach,” Red called.

But just then, Zach appeared on the other side of the hall. “I’m here. The witch got away.”

“Witch?” Luc asked.

“I’ll explain when we get back,” Zach said, looking a little worse for wear and definitely shocked. He glanced at Alistair, noting the collar was gone. “Congrats.”

“Thanks,” Alistair said.

“Let’s go home,” Zach said. He walked to Lana. “Lana, was it? Would you mind coming with us? We could use your help with some info, and Bridget would love to catch up.”

Lana nodded, sending a scowl in Dom’s direction. Still, Alistair couldn’t help noticing the human female was also blushing. “See, some people know how to politely
ask
you to come with them.”

Dom ignored her. “Who’s she flying with?”

Zach’s eyes twinkled. “Dom?”

Dom looked at her, and she shook her head. “No. No, no, no.”

“Sorry,” Zach said. “We all have mates, and they don’t appreciate us carrying other women in our arms if we can help it. But trust me; Dom’s an upstanding guy.”

Lana locked her arm through Bridget’s but begrudgingly followed them down the stairs and outside. The she walked to Dom, who transformed into a giant, shimmering purple dragon so dark it almost looked black.

Alistair looked down at Bridget. “You ready to fly?”

She nodded eagerly, touching her ring. “Let’s go.”

And then, as a giant, shimmering dragon, he carried his mate into the night.