I had no idea how Larky had the power or control to be in a collective presence of thousands. Surely that many “voices” would drive him crazy, like drowning in a sea of energy.
The marked started to move, a single mass, the front line a few steps ahead of the rest. I couldn’t see any small children, although a few looked like teenagers. I felt the call of energy around me and knew our side was preparing themselves. Larky was not holding back, he was sending them across full force, determined to finish this today and to retrieve me. Which, lucky for him, was what I needed to happen also. The moment he was close enough, I was going to end it.
Chapter 17
It was like time stood still for that second, our two groups raging toward each other, power and energy flying around, chaos in its purest form, and I wondered how many of us would still be standing in the end.
When we were a few dozen yards from the marked minions, the Four dropped back. I could hear the murmuring of sorcerers and magic users as they joined their power to the Craiz men. This would be our best chance to halt a large portion of the marked and give me and the Compasses the moment we needed to take the king down. I just hoped he didn’t know about the necklace. If he was prepared for my attack, it would be so much harder.
The Compasses and I didn’t stop. Braxton, Maximus, Tyson and Jacob were glowing with power, the swirl of energy above their heads strong and prominent. I could see the focus in their faces; they wanted the king and nothing would stop them. Cardia remained off to the side of Maximus, and just like me, she wasn’t getting too close.
I felt the whoosh of the Four’s power flutter across my hair then, and I almost gave a shout when the marked froze in front of us. Tendrils of the Four’s energy caressed my skin, but my dragon roared to life and sent her energy out to push through theirs. Thank the gods. Would have been a bit of a disaster if I had frozen too.
Not waiting for the others to catch up, I went straight into the fray, dashing from one marked to another, cracking them in the temple. We didn’t want to kill them. This was a fight most of them had not signed up for, but we needed to make sure they were down and would stay that way for a while. The Four’s power had frozen them, but they were still awake and aware. We were just shutting their lights out for a few extra hours.
The Compasses were right with me, all of us moving at super speed to get through the masses. The rest of our people were doing the same. Louis was wicked useful, knocking down about eight at a time with his blasts of power. On top of that he was adding his energy to the Four, and helping in other areas. Dude was an overachiever; we were damn lucky to have him.
The further we moved through the minions, leaving prone bodies in our wake, the more aware the marked were becoming. The Four’s power only had so much hold, and we were reaching the edge of that control. I’d lost sight of Larky once the fighting erupted, but I could feel his presence close by. My mark continued to burn and tingle, reminding me that we needed to move our asses and find the king.
“Jessa!”
I looked up from putting down a marked woman and found Rose barreling through bodies toward me.
“I’m so glad I found you. The king is just over there.” She pointed me toward the edge of the group, and I caught glimpses of his golden hair above the fighting masses. The marked who were not controlled yet were reaching us now and starting to fight back. I was distracted from Rose when two marked charged me. I sidestepped the first – a fey – before smashing him in the temple. He was down fast. The second was a shifter, but with no fight training. It took me a few moments longer, but I managed to land a solid uppercut that had him seeing stars. It was hard to knock out supernaturals, but when you were strong and knew exactly where to hit them, it was doable.
Rose grabbed my arm. “If you have any way to stop him, you have to do it now.”
She was shaking and I wondered what was happening to her.
“What’s wrong?” I had to shout to be heard.
“His brothers are coming, and the four together are too strong to fight.”
My quads were close, each occupied with fighting and immobilizing marked, but she caught their attention. “What brothers are you talking about, Rose?”
Her big eyes were rimmed in red, tears sprinkling her lashes. “Larkspur is a quad. He and his brothers are the original quads. You weren’t the first he dragon mated, his brothers were. But it went wrong. I think because only he’s a shifter, the others are pure blooded: fey, magic user, and vampire. Their energy wasn’t built to be shifters, and by forcibly dragon mating a soul to each of them, it destroyed their minds – but not their strength. They’re close to invincible.”
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to figure out what she was talking about. “The shining ones said those other three souls were never mated. They returned to the sky.”
Rose clutched me closer. “They did almost die, the souls and his brothers. Larkspur found a sorcerer strong enough to put them into a deep, healing sleep. They remained in this stasis for almost a thousand years, and now they're healthy and strong. They can shift and they’re here to destroy your pack. They’ve come for your mate.”
The Compasses tightened ranks around me. They’d heard the entire conversation, even whilst smashing any marked who came at us.
“He knows or suspects that you’re pregnant, Jessa.” The urgency in Rose’s voice increased. “He promised the shadow spawn the first dragon shifter from you, the chosen one, and that’s enough for them.”