Chapter 15 Jackson #2
Rustling noises crackled through the forest, forcing me to rip my eyes away from the house and scan the surrounding area. The scent of drakes filled my nose. So many. I was surrounded.
When the first drake emerged from the forest, it did so with long languid strides, its long, lithe body sliding from behind a tree and out of the shadows.
Ruby red eyes glared at me. Large, taloned paws thudded on the ground, claws digging furrows in the dirt and grass with each step.
It was the largest drake I’d ever seen, hulking and muscular as the dark, shit-brown scaled skin flexed.
Beside that dragon, another emerged, this one smaller, but still dangerous, its mouth hung half open in a parody of a smile, dagger like ivory teeth glinted in the morning light as saliva dripped.
More of them slipped from the forest massive drakes ringed the clearing, tails twitching and lashing back and forth, every set of eyes looking upon me as if I was a mouse in a cage, and they were hungry snakes.
Even in my full dragon form, a fight with this many drakes at once would be tough.
Winged dragons were bigger and stronger than both drakes and wyrms, but numbers were still numbers.
Me being an alpha would help, but not enough.
They also had incredibly powerful legs and could leap over a hundred feet.
If I tried to shift and simply fly away, they’d pounce on me before I could get far enough away. I was trapped.
It was only as that realization sank in that the sound of footsteps again came from the house.
Glancing at the ruined home, I found another drake slipping, like liquid, from the shattered front door, his huge body barely fitting through the broken and gaping opening.
The scales were dark green, almost jade-like, and ridged with spines along the shoulders and hips.
Eyes black as midnight glared at me with hungry fascination as the entirety of the body stepped down the rotten steps to the grass below.
When the drake was only a few feet away, he shifted, revealing a man I’d only seen in pictures.
Joseph Anitoli.
His shoulders were the broad and rigid type you saw on linebackers, his thick barrel-like chest strained against the dress shirt he wore, the sleeves rolled up to reveal massive forearms with rippling muscles like steel cables beneath the skin.
Stubble lined his face, and his light brown hair was swept back from his forehead.
His smile was predatory in its savagery.
“The legendary Jackson Adelmund. Last alpha of the winged dragons,” Joseph said, opening his arms as if to hug me. “Glad you could make it, Jack.”
Swallowing hard, I glanced around at the other drakes, each of them still in their dragon forms, their eyes locked on me.
“I, uh, didn’t know there’d be such a big welcoming party,” I managed.
Joseph chuckled, and put his left fist into his right hand and cracked the knuckles.
“I’m not a dumb man, Jack,” he said, still giving me that predacious grin.
“You may say you’re a good boy who’ll do as I ask, but I know your type.
” He shrugged as if bored. “You start getting ideas, you think maybe I can fight my way out of this, your dick starts getting hard at the thought, testosterone and your dragon start giving you ideas? All shit I’ve seen before.
All shit I’ve dealt with before. My men are here to make sure you don’t try any bullshit that we would both regret. ”
I nodded slowly. “Okay. Sure. Well, I brought your car,” I said, waving a hand at the Lamborghini.
Joseph finally tore his savage eyes from me and looked at the car. He chuckled with glee. Stepping forward, he ran a hand along the side.
“Oh, she is a beauty. No wonder Alessio’s losing his shit over this. Dumb fucking prick that he is, he does have taste.”
“What did they do to piss you off?” I asked.
“I told you,” Joseph said, not bothering to look at me as he leaned in to inspect the interior. “He’s horning in on my business dealings.”
“Yes, but all the other crime families, cartels, and gangs do. Human, shifter, all of them. What’s got you so hung up on Alessio Torrence?”
My tone finally brought Joseph out of his reverie, and he stood tall. Leaning his huge forearms on the roof of the car, he narrowed his eyes at me. “You know what they said about curiosity and the cat, right?”
Staring back at him, unflinching, I nodded. “I do. But I’m not a fucking cat. Are you gonna answer me or not?”
The drakes around the circle froze, probably shocked that I dared to speak to their alpha that way. Joseph glared at me, emotionless. For a moment, I was sure I’d fucked up by not being able to ignore my curiosity. Then, he belted out a laugh, banging a hand gently on the roof, and pointing at me.
“Oh, Jack, you’ve got some steel balls between those legs of yours. Tell me the truth, do they clink when you walk?” He gave me a conspiratorial wink as he chuckled.
I said nothing. I’d be damned if I gave this guy even a hint of satisfaction. The shine in his eyes faded, replaced by a bitter anger that his laughter didn’t quite cover up.
“Fine,” Joseph said after his laughter died away.
“Alessio and his family got the jump on something I’ve been trying to perfect for years.
A type of alcohol additive that will actually let shifters get drunk.
He’s gonna make a fucking killing on it, and he’s beat me to market. I don’t like getting beaten.”
My shoulders sagged in disappointment. All this for fucking beer, liquor, and wine?
Deep down, I’d hoped there was some type of blood feud, a battle that had raged over a murder, assault, or personal slight.
Something that would justify me risking my life for payback.
Instead, it was nothing but two men fighting over a goddamn product launch.
Like two dumbass CEOs sniping at each other over the launch of a new app.
Holy fucking shit. This was even more pointless than I’d realized, and I had to fight to keep the disgust and derision off my face.
“Little prick knew I’ve been working on that for the better part of a decade, then, as soon as he takes over from his old man, he swoops in and hires two of my best chemists—a lion shifter and a human who knows about us.” He patted the car again. “So, this is payback.”
“A little petty, don’t you think?” I said.
“Don’t concern yourself with the dealings of bigger men, Jack,” Joseph said, then he sneered at me. “You wouldn’t understand.”
I let that slide. There was no reason to get into an argument I couldn’t win.
“Fine,” I grunted. “You’ve got his car. Now, what else do you fucking need?”
Joseph’s eyes narrowed. “Watch your mouth, son. What I need and what I want are usually the same thing, and I always get what I want.”
“Sorry,” I said, holding my hands up in surrender as I glanced around at the drakes.
None of them had rested on their haunches.
All six glared at me, leaning forward on their toes, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
I didn’t know whether to be terrified or flattered, that this many dragons were worried about me hurting their boss.
Joseph straightened and circled around the car, coming to a stop only a couple feet from me. He kept his eyes on me like I was a harmless puppy he really wanted to kick.
He jabbed his finger into my chest. “You know what I don’t like about you fucking winged motherfuckers? Always thinking they can get out of anything. Comes from having those goddamn wings. Today? You don’t get out of shit.”
The drakes around us inched closer. Joseph eyed me, smiling as he noticed the acrid smell of my own fear. I was suddenly terrified of what he was going to ask me to do.
“You got me a car this time,” Joseph finally said, leaning close, his voice low, almost like a lover’s whisper. “Next? You get me a person.”
My face twisted in disgust, my jaw clenching so hard I thought my teeth might shatter. A kidnapping. Of course. What else would this psycho want?
“You want me to kidnap someone?”
Joseph nodded slowly, eyes never leaving mine. “See, boys? Just because they got wings doesn’t mean they don’t have brains. This one catches on quick.”
The drakes made strange hissing sounds that were the approximation of dragon laughter.
Rage and hatred filled me, but I’d figure this out. I’d done it before, I could do it again. Alessio Torrence was a piece of shit crime lord. What did I care if some other crime boss got kidnapped and killed by this psycho? Hell, it would probably save some innocent lives in the long run.
“Who is he?” I asked. “Give me the name, and I’ll get to work.”
Joseph frowned and blinked in confusion before chuckling. “Ha, you think you got it all figured out, don’t you?”
My resolve slipped as he spoke. Something was wrong here. I was immediately terrified.
“I’m not having you snatch a guy,” Joseph said, then went on. “I’m not solely involved in black market business. I do dabble quite a bit in the vanilla world like you do. I’ve got a rival that I need to put the fear of God into. You’re gonna take his kid.”
“Absolutely not,” I said, the words tearing free of my throat before I could stop myself. “No way. Not a chance. I’m not gonna let you mess with a fucking child.”
A dangerous flash of anger flared in Joseph’s eyes, and my dragon snarled a challenge that rumbled in my chest, audible to all around.
The drakes rushed forward, a tidal wave of claws, teeth, and hunger.
I readied myself to shift and try to fight my way out.
The odds were against me, but I had no other choice.
An instant before they were on us, Joseph surprised me by lifting a fist into the air.
“Stop!” he bellowed, his voice booming out like a grenade blast, and the drakes froze. Their snarling faces so close I could feel the hot fetid breath of their dragons washing across me. My body shook with uncontained rage and fear.
“You see that house?” Joseph said.
Thrown by the abrupt and pointless change in subject, I shook my head to clear it. “What…what about the house?”
Ignoring the question, Joseph pointed at the rotting building.
“My great-great-great grandfather built that house over two hundred years ago. Made a fortune in tobacco and cotton right here,” he said, and swept an arm around the clearing.
“Before this forest grew up, it was a field as far as you could see.” He leaned in close, his nose almost touching mine.
“I want you to look at that door. Luca!”
I was proud that I didn’t flinch as he screamed in my face. Instead of looking at his disgusting face anymore, I turned to look at the house as he asked. From inside, I could hear the faint sounds of grunting and exertion. Whoever this Luca person was, he was having a hard time with something.
A few moments later, my jaw dropped open as a burly man with a shaved head dragged my sister’s egg out of the house. I almost lunged forward to steal her back, but before I could, a heavy talon from one of the drakes shot out and wrapped around my leg as though they’d all read my mind.
In horror, I watched the man haul my sister out, then reach back into the house, and retrieve a shotgun. He racked a shell and pressed it against the egg.
“No!” I screamed, jerking forward, but I couldn’t break the hold of the drake.
Panic flared within me as I imagined him firing the gun into the shell, shattering it and murdering my unborn sister.
I would die. If that happened, if I had to watch that, I would die.
My heart would shatter and stop beating.
“Please,” I moaned, tears brimming in my eyes. “Please don’t hurt her. Please, please, please—”
Crack!
Joseph backhanded me across the mouth, silencing my begging. It didn’t hurt because I couldn’t feel anything at the moment. All I could do was look at the egg and the gun pressed against the shell.
“You and I both know shifters prefer to handle things with tooth and claw rather than guns, but”—he shook his head, smiling and giving a refreshed sigh of delight—“sometimes it proves a point. You go near that house, Luca there blasts that egg. That gun is loaded with a fat silver deer slug. It’ll turn your little sister into a nice scramble.
All it’ll be missing is some toast and sausage. ”
“Please no,” I begged again, eyes blurry and swimming with tears. “I’ll do anything. Don’t hurt her. I’ll take the kid.” Shame, disgust, and regret washed over me as the words tumbled out. “I’ll get them for you.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say,” Joseph said, then snapped his fingers.
Luca dragged the egg back inside. Without her in sight, I managed to compose myself enough to wipe my tears and turn my eyes back to Joseph.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Good boy,” Joseph cooed, patting my shoulder, and it was all I could do not to reach out and tear it off his body and beat him to death with the limb.
“Who?” I repeated, almost shouting at him.
“Brynhilda Bauer. Age eleven,” Joseph said without hesitation, grinning at me with that knowing smile that said he knew exactly what he was doing and was loving every second of it.
“Bryn?” I muttered, too shocked to comprehend what had just been said.
“Oh,” he said with mock realization, snapping his fingers, “That’s right! That’s your best buddy’s little sister, isn’t it?”