Deadly Alliances (Dark Shifter Academy #5)

Chapter 1 Tobias

My entire world came crashing down around me as I looked up and saw Arya swimming through the melee above the glass.

“NO!!!” I bellowed, my dragon’s roar ripping through me and ringing through every ear inside the Dome, forcing several students and teachers to cover their ears.

I burst into my dragon form and flew over the crowd toward the small building that housed the “secret” lake entrance. I didn’t care that I’d be a better swimmer in human form, or that my dragon fire would be useless in the frigid lake. My singular thought was getting Arya back.

But before I made it halfway across the crowded lawn, a heavy weight smacked into me, tackling me back to the ground and forcing me to knock over a handful of students like bowling pins in the process.

I roared and wrestled against the mass of black scales that crushed down on me, swiping my claws and snapping my jaw in desperation to get free and continue my pursuit.

“Enough!” Arthur’s dragon roared after my claws gouged his neck, pinning my arms to the ground with his massive claws.

“Let me go!” my dragon begged as I continued to scramble beneath him. But no matter how hard I twisted and bucked, I couldn’t shake Arthur’s impressive size.

“Stop being a fool,” he growled, but I couldn’t hear him; all I could do was watch helplessly over his shoulder as Arya took Hadrian’s hand in the water above.

“She’s getting away,” I moaned, agony shredding my throat. “I have to stop her! Why won’t you let me stop her?”

The tip of his wing whipped across my face with such sudden force that it snapped my head to the side, darkening my vision for several seconds. My body fell limp beneath him as my world rocked, and I tried desperately to regain my bearings.

“If you think I’m going to let you sacrifice yourself for that siren whore, you’re a bigger fool than I thought possible,” he snarled into my ear, the heat of the fire he held at bay in his throat blasting my cheek and neck. “She broke your imprint, so count your blessings and move on.”

He held me down for several seconds, and all I could do was blink past him as Arya blurrily disappeared toward the surface.

“She’s your greatest weapon, and you’re just handing her over without a fight,” I growled, rage scorching over the panic in my chest. “Some great military leader you are.”

His other wing snapped my face again, whipping it in the other direction, and consciousness threatened to abandon me for the briefest instant.

I felt his weight lift from my body as the knowledge that I was thoroughly subdued sank into both of us.

“Open your eyes, boy,” Arthur hissed as he returned to human form. “The dome is cracking, and there are thousands of lives down here dependent on its mercy. The bodies of some of our best mer soldiers float in their own blood above our heads. We are not prepared to have this fight tonight. Pursuing her now would be a folly beyond measure.”

I rolled to my side, my dragon rescinding beneath my flesh out of sheer exhaustion. I staggeringly pulled myself up to sit, nearly falling sideways as my balance continued to evade me.

“So you’re just going to let Hadrian have her?” I countered even as my vision spiraled. “What about the prophecy?”

His shadow fell over me, but I refused to look up at him. “How do we know this isn’t part of the prophecy? She’s closer to him than any of us could ever get.”

“And if he kills her?” I snarled darkly.

Arthur paused for a moment, then knelt down beside me. “He won’t. He’s her father.”

His insinuation finally registered, and I laughed humorlessly. “Ah, yes. I forgot you’re both competing for ‘Father of the Year.’”

He lifted his hand, and I winced, bracing myself for another blow. But his hand curled around my shoulder instead, his voice softening when he said, “In time, you’ll understand.”

I shoved his hand off of me and crawled away from him, shakily climbing to my feet. “What I understand is that Hadrian is a ruthless vampire who has no loyalties, and if you believe otherwise, then you’re a bigger fool than I thought possible.”

He sighed as he followed to stand with me. “Tobias, I’m not suggesting we leave her in his custody. We will get her back. We just need to be smart about how we do it.”

I turned on him then, finally looking him in the eye. “And just what do you think is the smart solution?”

He straightened his shoulders and puffed out his chest. “Sending a team of our finest soldiers to retrieve her, of course. We’ll take the fight to them, where our own people aren’t at risk of collateral damage.”

Hope and determination sparked in my heart. “Then I’m going with them.”

He snorted a dismissive laugh. “You most certainly are not.”

I scowled at him, fire smoldering in my chest. “You’ve been adamant about me joining the military my entire life, and now that I willingly volunteer, you reject me?”

He flared his eyebrows in surprise and patted my upper back. “By all means, join the military now. I, for one, would be thrilled to have you in our ranks. But as a novice, such a mission would be far above your paygrade.”

“Bullshit,” I snapped, forcefully shrugging his hand away again. “You’ve been training me since before I could walk. If anyone is suited for this mission, it’s me.”

His eyes narrowed. “The answer is no, Tobias. You are too emotionally invested to act rationally, as you already perfectly displayed to everyone here. Your feelings for the siren compromise your judgment and make you reckless. You’d be far more of a liability than an asset. Your placement will be elsewhere, perhaps at the school—”

“No,” I demanded. “I will not sign away my soul to the military unless Arya’s rescue is my first mission. Those are my terms.”

His eyes narrowed further, and his jaw clenched even as his lips curled into a smug smile. “Very well. Then as a student of the Dome, and as my son, I will assign a team of guards to protect you at all times…and to see to it that you don’t do anything foolish.”

He strode away with his hands clasped behind his back before I could pose any sort of rebuttal.

I seethed with rage as he disappeared into his entourage of soldiers, not caring how many eyes were on me. They had all abandoned Arya when she needed them most, and as far as I was concerned, everyone in this goddamned place could fuck off. Not a single one of them cared that Arya had sacrificed herself for them. Not a single one of them cared what happened to her now that she was gone.

With a smoke-filled hiss at my closest audience members, I charged through the crowd, who parted for me like the Red Sea.

My father thought he could keep me under lock and key so I couldn’t go after my mate on my own. But I wasn’t going to play this game by his rules. Nothing would stop me from saving Arya.

Arthur Dracul had underestimated me for the last time.