Arsenic Dragon (Dragon Guard of Drakkaris Book 3) Read online

  Please. Someone. Help me!

  CHAPTER 2

  As Arsenic and the others zoomed through the portal, all he felt was swirling cold and flashing light.

  Then suddenly, he was out, free-falling in cold air, high above a frigid, dark-gray ocean.

  His wings sprouted instantly, and he hovered, partially shifted, as the others came through the portal and did the same. He looked down at the small structure beneath them, a tall, old-looking building that was blackened by age and surrounded by water. Waves that looked tiny from this distance crashed in little white flashes against the cliffs surrounding the building.

  Just looking down at the place, he felt a dark feeling of urgency deep inside.

  Not waiting for the others, he folded his wings and dove, heading toward the building at the fastest speed possible, not worried about staying safe.

  Luckily, he could hear the whistle in the air as the other dragons followed, all diving toward the building where someone needed their help inside.

  They landed in the water, the safest place to land without being seen, and due to his speed, Arsenic was under for a few seconds before surfacing in human form.

  He couldn’t dare transform into a full dragon because it would give up all pretense of stealth. Not to mention, with this small of a building, he could topple some of the stone and cause injury to any humans inside.

  His hands tightened into fists at his sides as he bobbed in the water and looked up at the structure in front of him.

  “What’s the plan?” Cadmium asked, bobbing alongside, his usual cheerfulness gone. When it came to missions, even Cadmium knew how to be serious.

  “There are at least a dozen guards at the door,” Marina said. “Even more inside. I saw them in my vision.”

  “Okay,” Lead said. “Then we are going to head in the front as a distraction, and Arsenic can go in through another entrance and find the hostage. It is a hostage situation, isn’t it?”

  “It’s a girl,” Marina said. “She needs our help.”

  Arsenic nodded. “I’ll find her.” He flexed his wings out, ready to take flight, but Marina tapped his shoulder.

  “Let me come with you. She’ll need me.”

  Arsenic hesitated, knowing Mercury would not want his mate in danger. But Marina was a powerful female dragon in her own right, and they didn’t have time to argue.

  Mercury gave him a reluctant nod, not wanting to gainsay his mate. “Don’t let anything happen to her.”

  “I promise,” Arsenic said. He looked at Marina. “Stay behind me. Let me do the fighting.”

  Marina nodded, then withdrew her wings and put her arms around Arsenic’s neck as he took off into the air, heading for a window he’d seen. It would be easier with only one of them flying. When he was in the air, hovering at the right height, he pulled a dagger from his vest and looked down at Lead, hesitating.

  “Go!” Lead called from beneath him, and the dragons let out a roar as they charged up over the rocks, heading in semi-shifted form for the main doors, which opened as shifters spilled out, already alerted to intruders in their space.

  Perhaps they had barriers and knew when they were breached. Regardless, Arsenic couldn’t really worry about that at the moment.

  He threw the dagger ahead of him to shatter the window so he and Marina could fly through.

  They landed with a thud, Marina still on his back, and he withdrew his wings as he stood and looked around them.

  They were in some kind of dining hall and seemed to have interrupted something. Arsenic tore off his jacket, leaving him with easy access to his vest and daggers as he saw the scene unfolding in front of him.

  Vaguely, he became aware of someone screaming, and he looked over to see a small, white lump in the middle of the floor, covering her head with her hands as she made the most unearthly noises.

  He stepped forward, desperate to assist her, but more than a dozen wolf shifters, huge and hulking, stepped forward in a line to block his view.

  Rage rushed through him as he realized what was going on. He heard screaming escalate from the woman and scrabbling noises and realized someone was picking her up, though he couldn’t see her.

  “Let her go,” he heard Marina say urgently, but he blocked her with his body, knowing this situation was far from resolvable with words.

  He reached for his daggers and grabbed four, two in each hand. Then he thrust his hands out in different directions, sending the deadly projectiles slamming into their targets.

  Now it was time for male screams to rend the air as four of the shifters stumbled back, scrabbling at their chests while Arsenic’s potent poison spread within them.

  They fell to the ground, going gray, as he reached for more daggers.

  He threw six this time, holding three in each hand since they were smaller, now that he knew how much poison it took to take down a wolf.

  More howling and staggering commenced.

  He heard Marina let out a choked sob as he walked forward, pulling more weapons into his hands with deadly efficiency.

  Marina was a gentle soul, but he didn’t have time to worry about her delicate sensibilities when he was dealing with potential rapists.

  He could hear their thoughts as he threw more daggers, taking down another three wolves as he tried to make his way toward the screaming woman in white. He made sure Marina stayed close behind him. He could feel her huddled into his back.

  “That’s right. Keep your eyes closed,” he murmured. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”

  “Do what you have to. Bring her home safe.”

  “I will,” Arsenic said. Though, he rather wondered if they were already too late for that, based on the broken tone in the woman’s voice. She’d suffered trauma—that was clear—and these men would suffer for it.

  He threw two more daggers, knocking down a pair of wolves who were blocking his view. When they fell to the side, he saw a group of five wolves who were pulling their captive toward a door as she struggled.

  She looked up at him and blanched, and Arsenic knew he couldn’t hesitate any longer. Quickly calculating the location of everyone in the group, he closed his eyes to block out all emotion as he gathered his daggers for a final throw.

  When he released the projectiles on a quiet breath, he kept his eyes closed, waiting for them to find their marks.

  Thuds and screaming rang out, and Arsenic opened his eyes to see the last of the woman’s captors falling away.

  Bodies littered the stone floor, and a few were still twitching. Arsenic felt zero regret as he stepped over them. He was cold now, in warrior mode, ready to crack any part of his soul if it meant preventing more pain to this innocent.

  When he reached her, she flinched back, sinking against the wall behind her.

  “Crios,” she uttered cryptically, hands grasping at the stone around her. “Crios.”

  “What’s that?” Arsenic asked, stepping forward.

  Just then, Marina came running out from behind him and knelt in front of the woman, even as the woman let out a squeak and tried to scrabble away.

  “Stop,” Marina said, taking the woman’s hands as a healing aura emanated from her and filled the room. Arsenic had heard of healing abilities that the water dragons of Earth possessed, but hadn’t seen them until now.

  The girl’s eyes glazed over and closed, and Marina gathered her into her arms, carrying her to Arsenic.

  It was odd to see Marina carrying someone nearly her size in her arms, but then again, sometimes he forgot she was a dragon and as strong as any of the males.

  “Let’s go,” Marina said, holding out the woman they’d rescued. “Can you take her? She should remain asleep until we get back.” She looked around them as the shrill sound of an alarm echoed through the hallways. “There are sure to be more of them. Our best bet is to get back through the portal and close it.”

  Arsenic nodded, taking the slight woman in his arms. When he did, something in his heart cracked as he took
in her appearance. Faded bruises littered her visage, and she was gaunt, as though she’d recently lost weight. She weighed barely anything in his arms. Her hair was cut short, a reddish color he hadn’t seen before in person.

  He wanted to touch it, see how it looked in the light, and then realized what a stupid thought that was to have while standing in a room littered with the bodies of his enemies, plus more heading for them.

  He had no doubt he could end anyone who came for them, but right now, the priority was getting this gorgeous creature out of this hell and somewhere safe. And making sure his team got back as well.

  They ran back toward the window they’d come through, and Marina went through first, jumping through it and sprouting wings as she yelled that she was going to get the others. Arsenic carefully carried his precious cargo as he climbed through the window, then held her tight as he jumped.

  Cold air burst around him as he summoned his wings and took off for the portal, knowing the others would follow. This woman was their mission, and he had to get her home, no matter what.

  Still, he darted a glance over his shoulder to see Marina flying toward him, leading the others, and sighed in relief.

  Then he jumped through the portal, taking his rescued hostage and himself back to the mansion where it was safe.

  “I’ve called the oracle, but she’s currently not answering,” Marina said, pacing in front of the couch where Arsenic had deposited their rescued prisoner.

  He’d stayed by her, keeping the other dragons at a distance, oddly protective even though he knew he had no reason to be. She was just another mission objective, and he’d accomplished what he was supposed to.

  She wouldn’t need him now.

  One of the others would be better to assist her. Someone friendly like Cobalt, or gentle like Zinc. Or one of the mates maybe.

  Not him. Not cold, unfeeling Arsenic.

  Not the assassin.

  He was good for killing—nothing more, nothing less—and he’d done his part in bringing her home.

  Yet the dragon inside him was pacing, unwilling to let anyone else be at her side as she slept.

  “For now, she’ll have to stay here, but I’m not sure what to do with her,” Marina said, sitting next to her as Arsenic stifled his protective impulses that wanted to even keep Marina away.

  He sensed that this creature was fragile, and beautiful, like an Earth butterfly with torn wings, whom he needed to protect until she grew new ones.

  He was the strongest, after all. The most dangerous, most would admit.

  “It’s okay,” Marina said, putting a hand on Arsenic’s knee, making Mercury growl. Marina sent her mate an exasperated glare. “Someone has to calm him down. You should have seen him in there.”

  “Killing things?” Cadmium asked lightly.

  Marina nodded. “It was horrible but necessary.”

  “Sounds like Arsenic,” Cadmium said with a smirk.

  Arsenic ignored him. What did a castle lounger like Cadmium know about the kind of dark burdens he had to carry?

  Zinc walked forward, putting a hand on Arsenic’s shoulder. “You did well. Thank you.”

  Arsenic gave a short nod. As Zinc was the heir to the throne of Drakkaris, his commendation was not to be taken lightly. “I did only my job.”

  But had he? Had he really needed to kill that many in order to save their hostage? He’d felt cold, but rage had taken over.

  Perhaps there was another way to get through the situation if he’d had time to think it over, but he hadn’t. Not with those terrible screams in the air.

  “It was hard, wasn’t it?” Zinc said, apparently reading his thoughts.

  Arsenic nodded, then shrugged. He’d long moved past being the type who needed sympathy. Or understanding. “It was necessary.”

  Lead stepped forward. “What do we do now?”

  “I may have to travel back in order to get ahold of the oracle,” Marina said, glancing at Casey and Brittany, standing by with concerned expressions on their faces. “Can you two spend the night with her?”

  They both quickly nodded, coming forward with folded arms.

  “She will be safer with one of us,” Arsenic said, feeling his muscles tense at the idea of anyone taking her away from him.

  “She will feel safer with women,” Marina said, something sad glittering in her eyes as she shared looks of understanding with the other women.

  “But we rescued her,” Arsenic said. “She was not assaulted.”

  “You saw her,” Marina said. “She shrank away from you. We don’t know what has happened, but she is afraid of men. That much I know.”

  Brittany put a hand over her mouth. “How did this happen? I thought you and the oracle have been tracking the dragon hearts.”

  “We have,” Marina said. “But she isn’t one and fell through the cracks. We didn’t even know she was taken. With the others, there are news articles, and…” She shook her head. “There is no excuse. We just have to do the best we can for her now.”

  Casey nodded, rolling up the sleeves of her robe. “We’ll get her in something comfortable. Will she be asleep for a while?”

  “Yes,” Marina said. “But I can wake her at any moment. Arsenic, will you carry her to her room for me?”

  He nodded, scooping the woman into his arms. She somehow felt right there, as if she belonged. Looking down at her bruised face, he swore to himself that nothing in this world would ever hurt her again.

  He would guarantee it.

  Marina led the way up the stairs to the guest bedrooms, and when she chose one and walked inside, he followed, waiting as the women pulled out clothing and started a shower running.

  “Set her here, please. On the bed,” Marina said. “Once you go, we’ll try to wake her.”

  Arsenic nodded, reluctantly setting her down on the covers, hating the ache of emptiness that reverberated as he was forced to let her go.

  If he wasn’t here, who would protect her?

  But that was a silly thought when there were so many other dragons in the house.

  He strode out of the room and closed the door, forcing himself to go back to the cool, detached warrior he tried to be.

  But when he was halfway down the stairs and a scream rang out, he nearly turned and ran back to the room.

  A part of him knew she was with Marina and the others and that she was perfectly safe without him.

  Another part felt that if she was in trouble, he should be there. But then she quieted, and reality settled over him like a cold blanket.

  He was just part of the team who’d rescued her. She wasn’t his responsibility.

  So why did a part of him, a part that felt it was waking up for the first time in his life, want her to be?

  CHAPTER 3

  Farrah woke up as if from a dream, heart pounding, body wondering if it wanted to be present in this new situation.

  The first thing that hit her was the scent of cinnamon and pine, welcoming, familiar smells so different from the sterile atmosphere of the lab where she’d been imprisoned.

  The next thing she noticed were the women. First was the one who had saved her, a beautiful blonde who could have played an Amazon in a movie with her height and imposing presence. She would bet this one wasn’t human, and that set her slightly on guard.

  The other two women put her more at ease, and she’d bet anything they were human and friendly.

  Though she was uncomfortable with the pity in their eyes, it was such an improvement to any of the other emotions directed at her in the past weeks, and she had to be grateful.

  “How are you doing?” one of them asked, leaning forward on the chair she’d pulled up next to the bed. She had dark-blond hair pulled into a ponytail and worried blue eyes. She was curvy, as were all the women in the room, to various degrees. They looked glowing, healthy, well cared for.

  The opposite of her.

  “My name is Casey,” the other human woman said. She had straight, dark hair that flow
ed over her shoulders as she leaned forward and curious hazel eyes that were lit with gold and green and hints of blue. “This is Brittany, and that is Marina,” she said, pointing at the beautiful blond woman.

  “I know her,” Farrah said, her throat still scratchy from lack of use. “She rescued me.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t take all the credit for that,” Marina said, and her voice was soft and musical, drawing Farrah in.

  A shudder went through Farrah as she realized it was truly over. She was truly free. She slumped forward, shaking, and felt Marina and the others come around her.

  She let them hold her, stroke her back, as she let herself sob out her relief in great, choking breaths.

  When she’d composed herself and waved for the others to step back, she looked at Marina questioningly. “What do you mean you can’t take all the credit?”

  “There were others who helped, one especially. You might have seen him.”

  “The scary man with the knives?” Farrah asked, heart pounding as she remembered. Even through her own panicked screams and the way the world had blurred around her, she could still remember it clearly. The way he’d walked forward, cool as ice, focused on annihilating everyone in his path.

  At first, she’d feared he was coming for her next, but then the beautiful woman had come forward and calmed her, and…

  She looked over at Marina in wonder. “What did you do to me?”

  “Just some soothing,” Marina said. “How much do you know about shifters?”

  “Some,” Farrah said, not really wanting to talk about it. She was free, and now she could escape that world forever. Go back to being normal. How amazing that sounded.

  “Do you know about dragons?” Marina asked.

  “No,” Farrah said dully. “And I don’t want to. I just want to go home.”

  The others exchanged worried glances, and Farrah felt her heart start a rapid free-fall toward something hard and unforgiving. Her pulse sped up. “Please say I can go home. I can’t stay in this world any longer. It would destroy me.”

  A flash of light lit the room, and a swirling vortex appeared for a split second before an old woman in a sleeping robe walked through it. The vortex closed, and the woman’s misty, purple-white eyes focused on Farrah as she cringed back against the headboard of the bed.