My thoughts were put on hold as I was gathered up in the arms of my pack. They had dropped their joining briefly, so I wasn’t zapped, although I could still feel the panic and frustration from each of them. Braxton was the last, and as he wrapped his arms around me, his strong body cradling and protecting me for one last moment, I had to fight down the tears.
“Don’t die!” I said fiercely as I pulled back from him. “Don’t you die, Braxton Compass, because your child and I need and love you more than anything.”
He pulled me close enough to drop his lips onto mine. “I promise you, Jess. I will always come for you. Not even death could stop me. Remember, we’re a team. Where you go, I will follow.”
He kissed me one last time. I didn’t want to let him go. Then everyone had to step back to give him space. Louis sent out a wave of energy, scattering those around us. In a blink, my mate was no longer on two legs, but on four massive black and blue, scaled legs. Those large, unblinking yellow eyes locked in on me, and my dragon wanted so badly to shift as well. We had to defend our mate.
Not yet, I reminded her. We have to stop the king or everyone will die, and Larky will take the baby.
I loved Braxton with every piece of my heart and soul, but I was pretty sure I loved my child just a little bit more – my young who was vulnerable and needed my protection.
The Compasses climbed onto the back of their colossal brother. I refused to believe that this was the last time I would see them all. And as my boys rose into the air, Braxton’s powerful wings lifting them at a rapid rate toward those three beasts, I swear my heart went with them.
“Come on, Jess. You have to trust that they’re strong enough to do this.”
Louis’ hand on my arm forced me to focus. Larky was no longer where he’d been lazing, and my senses were suddenly on high alert. Shit! Where was the creeper now?
Roars split the air above us and I couldn’t stop myself from spinning to find my boys in the sky. The king’s brothers had circled around the Compasses and were preparing to attack as one from all sides.
“I need to shift,” I said to Louis. “I can’t leave them up there with just Braxton.”
I was in full panic mode now. The king’s brothers were huge, each about the same size as Braxton. He would be torn to pieces.
The sorcerer wrapped himself around me, cupping the back of my neck and pulling me in so that our eyes were inches apart. I had no choice but to stare into his mesmerizing purple depths.
“Give them a second. I know you’re worried about them, but I think their power will work on the king’s kin.”
My upper lip lifted as I snarled into that perfect face. “You think? You better pray you’re right, sorcerer, or I’m going to rip your freaking head off.”
He smiled. Smug bastard. Why was he never afraid? It was disconcerting to be faced with so much confidence. Even the Compasses had their moments of doubt and fear, but besides a little guilt-laden moroseness regarding the death of his chosen mate, Louis was cool as ice.
The roars increased above us, and more than one set of eyes were locked in on a once-in-a-lifetime sight. Four dragon shifters. Three Compass males. One epic battle.
The boys must have let loose with their energy then. I gasped as the dragon-minions halted mid-air as if in suspended animation. Braxton then dived low, the others clinging to his back as he came up underneath the first and the air was saturated in blood and innards as those razor sharp claws eviscerated its soft underbelly.
I could scent the dragon magic. It was strong, especially as the blood flew free.
Braxton changed trajectory, doubling back to dragon two. Jacob and Tyson leapt off his back and landed on the second beast, and in that moment the Compasses must have lost their connection. As the fey and wizard landed, both of the beasts who were still in possession of their guts started to move. The third plummeted from the sky, and all those in the vicinity below had to get out of the way immediately or risk being crushed.
I was distracted from my pack by a bunch of marked storming toward me, their dragon specters spinning dizzily above their heads. I dropped lower, calling on my dragon and wolf, forgetting the sorcerer was at my side. With a lazy flick of his hand, and some well-placed power words, those marked flew off into the distance.
I turned back to my boys, relieved to see that all of them were still fighting. Braxton was going head to head with one of the black dragons. Gouges littered both of their hides, but the other dragon was definitely covered in more injuries. Tyson and Jacob looked to be inflicting plenty of damage on their beast, each of them using blades they had pulled from their own personal arsenal. The quads were always weaponed-up, even if they were just going for breakfast. The dragon was struggling to dislodge them from its back, even with all the dipping and diving going on.
“I told you they’d be fine,” Louis said with that humor in his tone again.
I whipped around. “Shut it!” I might just punch him for fun. I knew my eyes were blazing, cheeks flushed as I glared my displeasure.
Louis’ reply was cut off by a sweep of air behind us. As we turned, I had a terrible feeling about what I would find there.
Larky, in his dragon form.
“Does your magic work against dragons?” I asked Louis, both of us stepping closer together.
“Not very well,” he said. “I have a few tricks which might hold him, but probably not long enough for you to get through the body and into the heart.”
About fifty yards separated Larky’s beast from us, and there were a lot of marked in between, but I could feel his focus on me. He was coming to get his prize, and I couldn’t let myself be taken. He would strip me of my one weapon, our one shot to end this.