Dragon Mystics: Supernatural Prison #2 Page 3

  The note returned to Braxton, he slipped it into his pocket. I resisted the urge to demand its return. It was my freaking note after all, but for now I decided to only fight the necessary battles. Our group was silent but watchful as we continued along an unchanging path. The cold still prickled in the air, but it was definitely less freezing than on the other side.

  I had a sudden thought. “Do you think this is where Krakov is?” I lowered my voice so as not to be overheard by any but my boys. I was sure the Romanian supernatural prison was the last place Louis would have sent us, but who knew what that infuriating mage was thinking.

  Four heads swiveled in my direction, before looking between each other again. I knew, on occasion, the quads communicated without speaking. It freaked me out, reminded me of the Four and how they were clones of each other. I would be mighty pissed if that ever happened to the Compasses. Sure, they had plenty of similarities, they were quads after all, but I loved that each of them was relatively unique. I did not want that to change.

  Finally Maximus answered. “I don’t know, they’re as reticent with information on that prison as they are with Vanguard.” All the supernatural prisons were well hidden and protected. For many obvious reasons. “But I believe it’s concealed somewhere in the valley of a mountain range, not halfway up like we are here.”

  “Yes,” Braxton said, confirming this. “There’s also a gateway community bordering it. This is not the prison … this is something else entirely.”

  Cloaky was still moving at the same even, striding rate, and as we followed his path I noticed that this seemingly never-ending tunnel was actually … well, ending. The low light was starting to brighten out in the distance, and I was astonished that it looked like natural light. Had we just walked straight through the mountain to the other side? Surely not, it was a massive range, it would have taken us days to cross. There had to be some other explanation.

  Braxton suddenly halted all of us. It took him no more effort than extending his free arm. “We all stick together. It doesn’t matter what is said or offered, trust no one but each other.” His tone was firm, brooking no argument.

  I may have accidentally elbowed him in the ribs, just because he needed to check that tone of voice when addressing the rest of us. We weren’t his subjects yet. The Compasses weren’t due to lead the American Supernatural Council for another three years.

  Although they already had the arrogance of that position down pat.

  Braxton flashed me some dimple, the first real smile I’d seen from him in a while, and I just about fell on my face. Excuse me, how was it fair to be so ridiculously gorgeous and then also powerful? All of the quads were hot … total assholes. Lucky, I adored their smug faces.

  But I had to be careful, it was in their natures to dominate, and if I let them take control of me or the decisions I made, it would all be over. They loved and respected me, I knew that, but sometimes strong men think they know what is best for a woman. All in the name of protecting her of course, and I wouldn’t be that girl. Not even for my Compasses.

  As we traversed further into the mountain, a rumble rocked through the empty planes of my stomach. I groaned, wrapping my free hand across my abdomen. “I am so effing hungry.”

  I get a little cranky when I’m hungry … understatement of the year.

  Braxton’s smile increased, both dimples in full devastating effect, I had to shake my head a few times to clear the hotness that was assaulting every one of my senses. Damn, I needed food and sex. In that order, and not with a Compass. We had a pact, a friendship pact that was sealed in blood. It was not worth risking our dynamics for a quick roll in the hay. I was going to have to look elsewhere.

  Okay, so why did the thought of having sex with a stranger kind of fill me with a blank darkness? A depression of sorts? The prospect held no appeal besides scratching the obvious itch. What the frig’ was wrong with me? I loved sex.

  “I love sex,” I growled.

  Ah, shit. I did not just say that out loud, right? That was supposed to be in my head again. All six of my group ground to a dead halt. Oh yeah, definitely out loud.

  Mischa and Grace looked a little astounded, but huge grins had spread across the quads’ faces. And then the laughter started. Tyson was actually bent over, resting both hands on his knees as his large body shook.

  “Care to enlighten us to the rest of your thoughts, Jessa babe?” Jacob raised both eyebrows at me a few times, white teeth flashing as he too laughed.

  Tyson straightened, mirth still rocking his body. “Yeah, what exactly were you thinking? Was it one of us … please pick me.” He playfully reached out and snatched me from Braxton, spinning me around in a circle.

  I kicked out at him, forcing him to either drop me or cop a broken face. Thankfully he chose to place me back on the ground.

  “Shut it, assholes.” I started to march along the tunnel in the direction of the lit area. We were almost there. “I was not thinking about any of you.”

  Liar.

  Yeah, so I was a liar, big deal. Better than losing my pack over a stupid hormone-induced decision. Their laughter died off as they caught up to me. Mischa pushed her way through to snuggle herself into my side. I raised my blue eyes to meet her green, one of the main differences in our looks – well, the eyes and a few other bits and pieces. “What?” I asked, trying to keep the nasty from my voice.

  She shook out her long dark hair, her woolen hat keeping it from flying away. “I know exactly how you feel.” She pretty much whispered it in my ear.

  Mischa was a virgin; her shifter side had been suppressed along with her dragon mark. This had allowed her a little reprieve – in the outside world – from the onslaught of hormones we were hit with around puberty when we came into our powers. Now that her shifter side was free, well, she was feeling everything intensely, and like myself had no outlet.

  We were screwed … well, more like not screwed, which was the problem.

  As we continued to walk, I did my best to avoid the probing eyes of my Compass quads, especially a certain piercing blue set. Thankfully, a pretty large distraction – the end of the tunnel – was closing in. Hopefully, whatever was out there would give me a reprieve from the amused looks and lessen the embarrassed heat which wanted to coat my cheeks. I managed to keep myself blush free, but damn it was hard work.

  Cloaky had disappeared into the light. I really hoped we weren’t heading for the metaphorical “light at the end of the tunnel.” I liked living, and planned on doing it for at least another eight hundred years. As we reached the end it took no more than a moment for my eyes to adjust to the brightness. Woah. What the actual hell was this place?

  Mischa breathed deeply. “Holy shit!” It was still odd to hear her curse. Our mother, Lienda, was fairly prim – for a wolf shifter anyway – and she didn’t think ladies cursed.

  Screw being that kind of lady.

  We had emerged onto a dais about twenty feet in the air. Below us was what looked like an entire world, spanning as far as I could see.

  Grace had lifted both of her slender hands and had them pressed against her face. “It’s the hidden oasis.”

  I locked in on the witch. “What do you mean?”

  “It was just a story my gran told me.” Grace’s large, very dark – almost obsidian-black eyes – were scanning the environment below. “When the dragon king was alive, he was the worst kind of dictator. If you didn’t join him, you died. Some of the races banded together, witches and fey mostly, and they decided to pool their magic and create an oasis, a sanctuary for those who needed to escape but were not powerful enough to fight.”

  My gaze was drawn back to the scene below. This place certainly fit the “sanctuary oasis” brief. It looked to be divided into territories. Lands of ice, oceans of blue, forests of green, and deserts of red. Basically something to suit each and every one of the supernatural races, even those from the demi-fey.

  But one thing was bothering me. “Why was I the only on
e who could enter the golden barrier?” Sure it had strung me up, but the others couldn’t even get in at all. “I had to show the mark. This seems to be something to do with dragon marked.”

  From the side, a voice said, “You are both right and wrong. This is the created oasis, and over time it has become a dragon marked haven.” Cloaked fey was standing on a small ledge which looked to lead into a crisscrossing path down into the valley. “Now is not the time for the long history of the sanctuary. Follow me, there are dangers here for those uninitiated. Do not be tempted from this path, for now you must shadow my steps.”

  “Are we near Krakov?” asked Braxton.

  “No,” was all the answer we received.

  I wasn’t sure about everyone else, but I was relieved to know we weren’t courting the criminals of Romania. I’d heard they held the worst of our kind. Their prison was supposedly a veritable stronghold.

  Cloaked dude turned and was off again. Braxton reached out then and linked our hands together. I narrowed my eyes and he leveled his stoic expression on me before he said, “I knew the moment he said ‘Don’t be tempted off the path,’ that you’d need some help.”

  A few rumbling growls rocked my chest, and my eyes got even squintier. “Are you trying to say I have a short attention span? That I can’t walk into this valley without suddenly being distracted by, say, a squirrel, and scampering my ass off the road?”

  Jacob and Tyson both snorted. I whipped my head around to them. At the sight of my expression, they stemmed their laughter before clearing their throats and staring off into the sky.

  About freaking time. I was on edge, the need to be in control, dominant, was slamming into me. Braxton had stepped up his possessiveness more than a notch since we’d escaped the relative safety of our hometown. Maybe it was that I’d never been outside Stratford before, or simply everything from the past few weeks, but now seemed to be the time to nip this bullshit in the bud.

  My finger flicked around to rest of them. “Listen up and listen well, Compasses. I’m not a delicate human, or a damsel in distress. I’m a wolf, an alpha and a supernatural. If you all try to bubble-wrap me up, I’m going to rip your faces off.”

  Mischa and Grace seemed impressed and shocked by the attitude I was throwing at my boys, but the five of us fought all the time. It was how we related, we loved and fought hard. It was part of our pack dynamics.

  Unfortunately, my five-feet-four of spitting mad shifter didn’t instill even an ounce of fear in my moronic quads. They exchanged amused glances, before Maximus snatched me up and threw me over his shoulder. Braxton seemed reluctant to let my hand go, as it stretched out between us, but eventually he was forced to release it.

  “It’s damned cute the way you boss us around, Jessa babe,” Maximus said. He sounded amused. I sighed and resigned myself to not winning any domination contests today.

  I could hear Jacob and Tyson chuckling as they followed their vampire brother. Over Maximus’ shoulder I saw Braxton ushering Mischa and Grace onto the path ahead of him, as he took the rear of our group.

  “Are you planning on carrying me the entire way down?” I deadpanned, hugging myself into the broad, muscled back of Maximus. “I might just have a nap.”

  His laughter rumbled the hard body under me. “Yep … and by the way, you’re starting to feel a little light. We need to get you some food.”

  “Tell me about it,” I grumbled.

  I could hear Mischa murmuring to Grace. “Why does Jessa even have feet? The Compasses can’t seem to stop themselves from carrying her around.”

  Gentle laughter sounded from the witch. “It’s been that way since they were young. Jessa is their girl, and … well, there is more love in their little pack than in any other I’ve ever seen.” Her tone was hard to get a read on, but there were hints of envy. I couldn’t blame her.

  It was true, our pack was one big pile of love. Love, claws and cursing. We were all soulmates in a manner, destined to be friends and pack from birth. But, to be fair, some of the reason they continued to fling me over their shoulders was control. I didn’t like to do what they said and this way they used their one advantage – massive bulk – to force me to follow their plans. I knew it, they knew it … and we were okay with it. For now.

  “If I could interject with some insights.” Tyson’s voice jarred me from my thoughts.

  Someone snorted, it sounded like Grace, all light and feminine. But still irritated. Which was her usual Tyson reaction. He plowed on anyway as we walked.

  “Jessa’s small ... we like to bring her up to us. We’re pack, we’re equals. Not because of power ... but because of everything else. We actually need her in our lives ... she keeps us grounded.”

  “She completes your pack,” Grace said, with the slightest quiver in her tone.

  “Yes.”

  Well, crap on a cracker. Who would have thought there was so much tenderness in the quads’ souls. The sharp intake of breath from Grace indicated she was in just as much awed surprise.

  I bestowed a gentle smile on my wizard best friend, and he responded by reaching out and grazing my cheek with his thumb. Despite our worries, for a moment everything was right in the world.

  Even though I’d been joking about the nap thing, I did find my eyes fluttering closed at the rhythmic walking. Sure, one would think the current situation wouldn’t lead to a comfort level to sleep, but one thing I knew was that there was no safer place in the world than with my quads. Not a single place.

  Chapter 3

  It felt as if I’d closed my eyes for like eight seconds before I was jarred awake. We were no longer moving. I stifled a yawn as I looked around. We appeared to be at the start of this sanctuary and I was glad that I hadn’t missed our journey through the different zones. Despite the fact it had been subzero temperatures on the outside of this cave, a desert lay right in front of us. I could feel wafts of heat rising from the red sands. There were definitely fey elemental manipulations and magic spells all over this place. The scent of … something preternatural lingered in the air. Magic was rarely subtle; it was hard to hide.

  I tapped Maximus on the shoulder. “Let me down.”

  For once he didn’t ignore my request. I was dropped gently to the rock floor. “Did I miss anything?” I asked Mischa, who was by my side.

  She shook her head, before reaching up and ripping the wool hat from her silky hair. “Nope, it was pretty quiet on the walk down the mountain, and now we are just waiting to cross the zones.”

  Waiting for what? I peered around the broad shoulders blocking my line of sight. Jacob might not be as big as his brothers, but he was still huge. And he was in the road. Finally, as I scooted to the side I was able to see Cloaky. He was no longer alone. The fey was in a serious looking conversation with four other males, all wearing blue cloaks. Great, it was a freaking cult or something.

  I sidled closer to Braxton. He looked relaxed, but his attention was firmly locked on that group. He never glanced my way, but still knew I was there, reaching around to tuck me under his arm. “Can you hear anything?” I managed to mumble.

  “They’re discussing you and your mark.”

  I pulled back enough to see his expression. Stormy eyes, chiseled features, furrowed brows … okay, my first assessment was very wrong, not relaxed at all. He was pissed. And throwing off heat like a goddamned fire.

  I started to wiggle out from under his arm. The warmth was smothering me.

  “I’m wearing too many clothes,” I said as I continued to maneuver myself so I could get the thick jacket off.

  “Hells yes you are.” Jacob the jackass was back. I’d missed him.

  “Screw you,” I growled.

  Tyson joined his fey brother, standing shoulder to shoulder. “Well, you do love sex, remember.” Tyson’s eyes twinkled, which was about the only thing to save him from having his testicles permanently lodged up into his throat.

  Our joking was interrupted by the convergence of cloaked figures. For the
first time the hoods of their cloaks were down, so I could really see their faces. The five of them were all different, but I was surprised to see one similarity: each had a head of pure silver hair, sort of like old people gray but more shimmery. This especially stood out because their faces were young.

  Could you only join this cult if you were prematurely gray?

  Original dude from the tunnel still seemed to be the spokes-gray. “My name is Gerard, I am the second in charge of this sanctuar … sanctuary.” I noticed he lapsed into what sounded like Romanian at times, but there was no indication if this was his native language or not.

  I stepped forward, my jacket draped over my arm crinkling loudly. “We need to speak with Quale.”

  No more screwing around. I was tired, hungry, worried about my family back in Stratford, and … mostly hungry. Identical expressions of rapidly blinking eyes and open mouths descended over the five grays’ faces. I had taken them by surprise.

  “How is it that you know of Quale?” the shortest of the grays asked me. He was only an inch or so taller than Mischa and I.

  The four Compasses took a singular step toward the group. I freaking hated it when they acted like a single unit. The motion had tingles racing down my spine and dread settling in my stomach.

  “Take us to Quale.” Braxton had also had enough, he was not even trying to hide his annoyance.

  The grays didn’t seem very concerned by his angry stance. Either they had no idea what Braxton was, or they were very used to dealing with dragon shifters. “Follow us,” they said together.

  Everyone in our group shucked off any extra layers before taking the first step onto the red dirt. Heat engulfed me and I sighed. I didn’t like to be baked; there was probably some snow wolf in my lineage. Sweating, I stripped off another shirt, leaving myself in just the singlet. I hoped it didn’t take us long to cross this zone, otherwise I’d be naked before anyone knew it.