Julianna was a replacement leader, brought in after Derk, the last vampire councilman, was discovered plotting to destroy the Lebron line. Of course, someone removed his head the day before his trial, and no one knew who. The Compasses had been questioned, and they’d had this amazingly detailed alibi. I’d listened hard to their version of events and my senses had told me there was both truth and lie in their story. I just couldn’t figure out which part was which.
I had accepted long ago that one of them had done it and it made me love them just a little bit more. True friends have your back no matter what, and in our world, which was fraught with danger, sometimes that meant getting your hands dirty. It might seem a little harsh, but we lived in a kill or be killed world, and I had no problem with death if it kept my loved ones safe.
Jacob came back in from the kitchen, a thick, brown bread sandwich clutched in his hand. “So what is our plan to find the prison now?”
Tyson leaned forward. “It’s taken us months to properly scour the forest. It would take just as long to find the right underground area. We need more information.” The wizard reached out and in a swift movement snatched Jacob’s sandwich before throwing out a shield spell to stop his brother pounding him into the earth. By the time Jacob broke through the barrier, the food was gone.
“Focus.” Braxton halted their bitchfest before it started.
Jacob continued to look murderous as he stared down the grinning Tyson.
I blinked a few times, willing my eyes to stay open. “We need the trolls. They rule the underground and they’ll know, either by the fact it’s spelled or off limits, or because trolls are part of the secret keepers.”
There were a few nods. Tyson started swirling magic in front of him. “First thing tomorrow, we will see if we can snag ourselves a troll to chat with.” The wizard sounded a tad creepy when he spoke like that. I’d been saying it for years, but if there was ever another supernatural war, the Compasses were dead set going to be the cause.
“I’ve got to get some sleep.” I was plenty relaxed now after the truly orgasmic pleasure Braxton had induced in me with just a simple massage. “I’ll see you all in the morning.”
Three sets of eyes followed me as I started to drag myself down the hall toward the room which was unofficially mine. I expected to be out the moment my head hit the cloud-soft pillows, but it was then that all of the worries piled in on me. How would the talk with my father go tomorrow? Would Lienda be there? Could I truly accept a sister after all of these years thinking I was an only child? What was with the dead fey and all of the council’s secrets? Could Mischa be a dragon-shifter?
Eventually I had to call on my wolf for help. Animals don’t sweat the small stuff, acting mostly on instinct, and right now she knew we needed sleep. Within moments my worries fuzzed away and the blissful release of sleep claimed me.
I wasn’t one for dreaming. Mostly I slept like the dead, and had no memories of anything from the moment I closed my eyes until I opened them again. But tonight I seemed to be mimicking my sister and was plagued with dreams of dragons.
The dream started out with my wolf running across a field, sunlight glinting off her midnight black fur. The area didn’t look familiar but I wasn’t afraid or curious. Then out of nowhere a dragon appeared above my head, circling me a few times before coming to rest right in my path. I had no choice but to stop, skidding to a halt about twenty feet from the massive animal. It was a light blue color, the sun reflecting off the scales, and more delicate than Braxton’s dragon form. I shifted back to human. I wasn’t surprised by this appearance. Instead, anger flooded me.
“What do you want?” I yelled, hands on hips.
A thump behind had me spinning around. Another dragon was coming in at my rear. One more thump and I was surrounded by three massive dragons. Shit, this was not good. The dream world kept the panic at bay, but still every beat of my heart seemed extra loud as I tried to figure out what was going to happen.
“You must join us or die.” In the spot the original aqua dragon had stood was Mischa.
I shook my head. “I cannot be a part of this, I refuse.” I took a step closer, both of my hands held aloft. “You’re wrong, there’s no way this can come to pass.”
“The shifter law is truth and you know it. They’re an anomaly and must be stopped. We need you.” My sister tried again, but I shook my head, my hair bouncing on my naked shoulders.
“I can’t let you go, Jess, you know that. I’m oath bound.”
“Find a way around it,” I warned her.
“Shift to dragon and we’ll decide this in the old manner.” One of the other females, a short curvy redhead, transformed long enough to speak before turning back into a black dragon.
I simply stared at her, and then in a heartbeat I felt the energy consume me, but instead of my wolf … I became a dragon. My scales were the blue of my eyes, and as I spread my wings the other two dragons launched into me, except for Mischa, who was still human. I clawed and bit back, but was vastly out-dragoned. The pain felt real as they proceeded to tear me to shreds.