Dragons justice 7, p.9
Dragon's Justice 7, page 9
But I certainly didn’t feel like one.
Electricity jumped from my fingers into the first electrical socket I saw. Then I dialed the strength of my magic up to eleven.
Lights exploded all around me, the remaining lights shorting out and going dark instantly. I smirked, but then those lights flickered back on. They had to have some sort of backup power.
I wondered if I could blow that too. Pushing more and more electricity into the socket, I heard a muted thump in the distance and the lights whined as they dimmed back off.
“Okay. Time to get the fuck out of here.” The first door I came to was locked, an automatic response as the power went out. I had to grab the door and strain to rip it open.
I paused. I did not want to give Norton more ammunition. I needed to be careful, even if there was no documentation on me being at the prison.
“Fire is a great way to clean,” I muttered to myself. I turned back down the hallway I had come and breathed deep before letting loose a torrent of flames that cooked the hallway all the way to the poorly propped up door. It fell over and the bed, along with the bodies, caught fire.
My dragon’s breath was hot enough to make nearly anything catch fire or just melt. I kept up the flames, cremating the men who’d assaulted me and burning away any trace I might have left.
“Good. Now to just rip my way out of here.” There was a loud crumbling as the concrete behind me cracked and a wall toppled, exposing another area of the prison.
“Not bad.” Going that way would be easier than going back through the more populated parts of the prison. I didn’t want to kill everyone if I didn’t have to, and I would if I wanted to get out without more trouble following me.
I pushed through the rubble, an annoying siren going off as I stepped into an empty, half court gym. Apparently, they weren’t on the same electrical system as everything else.
Lifting my foot, I breathed more fire carefully, getting rid of the blood on it before walking across the gym and making a hole in the wall beyond it. I smiled as the hole I made led outside. The green grass made me smile, although it was hard to see it in the darkness of the night.
Stepping out onto it, I wanted to stop and sigh. I wanted a moment to just wiggle my toes in the grass, but I needed to keep moving. Picking up the pace, I headed for a chain-link fence and tore a hole through it before I kept on running, getting clear of the prison and into the woods.
I wasn’t quite sure where I’d been taken, and I was still wearing a torn-up prison uniform.
My current plan was simple: get clear of the prison.
With the ground under my feet and the smell of nature around me, I was feeling far more centered. A smile grew on my face, and I turned back to see the prison on fire. It looked like it had spread. The area beyond mine was on fire as well.
That must have started when I’d overloaded the electrical system. Teaches them to cut corners. That probably shouldn’t have happened, but prisons weren’t exactly known for being built with safety as the top consideration.
Feeling for my mates, I could feel them all in a single direction. I kept heading through the woods, my legs pumped with draconic strength. I leaned into the run, feeling the wind in my face and loving every second of it.
I wondered what was going on with my wives. Based on the guard’s words, they likely hadn’t been able to find my location and were losing their minds. I’d wondered why nobody had showed up, especially my pregnant dragon wife.
And if they weren’t able to find me, that meant everything was likely going to shit as they no doubt were on the verge of strangling everyone else.
I’d had plenty of time to think in solitary. Simon had been dug up, and they’d at least claimed to have prints. Which was fair, given I had killed him. But if they’d truly turned that murder into charges, they wouldn’t have been able to lose my paperwork.
Which meant they had just used that image to get me to come along with them. There had to be additional motives beyond locking me up.
Simon being dug up and me going missing would cause ripples throughout the Philly council and the greater paranormal community. They were causing chaos with the move. Chaos that they likely hoped to use.
The big question was, who would benefit from the chaos?
Norton wasn’t working alone. He wasn’t smart enough, and he needed inside information to have found Simon. Someone inside the paranormal community was working against me.
My first thought flickered to the gnomes and dwarves. Despite my attempts to mend the relationship between our species, they were still cagey at best.
They thought I owed far more gold to them than I’d ever give up. But this didn’t feel like something they would do. I needed to get back and start sorting everything out.
The tree line ended, and I stumbled to a stop in the middle of a road. I scanned around, not feeling comfortable shifting. It was too easy to be spotted.
My phone popped out of my bracer and I tried to start it, but the stupid thing was still dead. Four days of no charge was too much. After a moment, an idea came to me. I scratched an enchantment on the trunk of a tree with a claw before pushing my mana into it.
“Come here, Pixie,” I whispered into the night as I tried to summon the gold coin that she should still be wearing around her neck.
I knew it would take a bit for her to reach me, so I crouched low before springing up into the tree to wait. I had spent three days in complete solitude. Waiting a little longer wouldn’t hurt.
Chapter 10
“My king!” A limo pulled up and Pixie threw herself out of the limo, led by the gold coin on her choker.
“Husband.” Jadelyn was out immediately following her.
I jumped from the tree I’d been waiting in and landed in all my bloody and shredded jumpsuit glory. “You two are a sight for sore eyes. Let’s get in before someone sees me.”
Dragging a claw through the enchantment, I ended it.
Jadelyn plastered herself to me as I got into the limo, and we were moving as soon as the door closed.
I was surprised the limo wasn’t stuffed with my other wives. “Where are the others?”
“The manor or the council chamber. Things have gotten tense. You missed a few things these past few days,” Jadelyn started to explain, but I held up a hand.
“So I’m guessing we still don’t know who pulled Simon out of the ground. Fingers are pointing as a result. And what about Norton? What has he said after stuffing me in a prison?” I asked.
“They pretended to not have come to the gallery at all. The cameras were off, and everyone’s focus was on the other arrest happening,” Jadelyn crossed her arms and grumbled. “I’m in talks to buy his mortgage and his car debt, along with those other two fools. Teach them to play dirty. I’ll take everything they have.”
I pat her on the shoulder, hoping she’d calm down. “At least I’m out.”
“Yeah. What happened to you?” She leaned on me and looked up.
“I got put in a prison to ‘await my trial’, then I got stuffed in solitary until some guards came in calling me a ‘fanger’ and tried to assault me. But it was pretty clear that this wasn’t legal, so I decided to bust out. Didn’t end well for the guards, and the prison is now on fire.” I looked over my shoulder, hoping to see an orange glow, but the trees blocked it as the limo rolled down the highway.
Pixie hugged my side. “We were worried.”
“I’m sure. But unfortunately we don’t have time to rest. Someone is working with Norton.”
“We’ve come to the same conclusion,” Jadelyn agreed. “The guards knew about the paranormal?”
I rubbed my chin. “From what Norton and these guys have said to me, it seems like they really only know about vampires and werewolves. One of the guards talked about his wife being turned into a vampire with the situation earlier this year. He was also smoky eyed like the rest of the people with Iapetus’s blessing.”
“They are in for a rude awakening if they think all paranormal fall into vampires and werewolves,” Jadelyn snorted with a little giggle. Hearing it again was music to my ears.
I missed my women. Grabbing Jadelyn’s hips, I pressed her to me as I let out a low rumble. “Missed you. We’ll figure this out, but I want to gather everyone back to the manor, if possible.”
Jadelyn looked over my shoulder. Pixie already had her phone out, tapping away.
“You have a phone now?” I asked my nymph.
“I had to get with the times. Very handy devices. Also, I’ve had to push back your schedule, but the wild nymphs are getting a little impatient. I know you won’t have time tonight. However, tomorrow, can you meet with them?” Pixie pleaded.
“Sure.” I acknowledged that I’d missed quite a few days and my leadership was needed. “Have we found Simon’s body?”
Jadelyn pursed her lips. “No. That’s part of the problem. The elves are pissed. There’s been a little development with the fae. Apparently, Winter knows something but she can’t say because of an oath.”
I wished that two oaths could cancel out an oath, but there was no magic key. It was, however, a data point to help lead us back to who was coming for us.
“So, if Winter knows and is under oath, then we can assume it happened when she was weak, or when she went to get Iapetus’s blessing. The council and maybe a few other high-level fae were all that had access to her,” I thought aloud; the answer felt like it was just out of my grasp.
“That’s the problem.” Jadelyn frowned. “We’ve come to the same conclusion, and so have others. The council is now at each other’s throats. I asked Ikta, Maeve, and Summer point blank; none of them had anything to do with this.”
“The Spring Lady?” I asked.
Jadelyn shook her head. “Summer says she’s been on the front lines this whole time. Oh, and Winter said something else about false prophecies that got them in a tizzy doing research through a library.” She shrugged.
I sighed. I didn’t need even more mysteries to solve.
But my energy picked back up as the limo rolled up to the mansion. I hopped out, hurrying inside the second the wheels stopped. My first few steps had nymphs jumping to attention, gasping and running.
“I’m that scary?” I joked as Pixie followed close behind me.
“No, they are probably going to run and grab your wives,” Pixie replied.
I grunted and went up the stairs to my bedroom and the baths. I really needed a bath; although, looking at my grime-covered body, I opted for a shower. The bath water would get gross very quickly.
“You.” I pointed to a nymph I vaguely remembered. “Can you get one of my wives to tell the council that I’ve returned and am catching up on the situation? Tomorrow I’d like to have a council meeting.”
“Of course. Welcome back.” The nymph bowed fluidly at the waist and hurried off with a skip in her step.
“Whose nymph was that?” I asked Pixie as I stepped into the bedroom and into the baths.
“Tyrande’s,” she said quickly. “You haven’t asked about Yev.” She waited.
“I figured Jadelyn would have looked much more tired if I’d missed Yev’s delivery. Hell, I feel like I would have heard her roar of anger all the way from the prison if I’d missed it. How is she?”
Not bothering to preserve the prison jumpsuit, I ripped it off. Bundling it in my hands, I blew a small torch of fire over it until it was simply ash. Walking over to the trash, I wiped it off inside.
“She’s staying shifted as a dragon, per Trina’s recommendations, and resting in your hoard,” Jadelyn answered. “I think she’s going to pop soon.”
“Good. I’ll try to get to her soon. But I don’t want to go into my hoard looking like this.”
The bath was a giant room of some carved stone. Along the edges, there were a dozen showers that could be used to rinse off, and five large pools of various temperatures. But the first two were my favorite and very hot. There was only a small walkway of about two feet between them.
I turned on a shower and stepped under the cold spray, not even giving it time to heat up before I grabbed a coarse brush that I think one of the girls used for their feet and started to scrub the dried blood off of my body.
“I’ll get Tyrande a new one of those,” Jadelyn commented as I ruined it with the blood. “I assume that’s someone else’s blood?”
“Yep. Want to help me get it off the back of my neck? I can feel it in my hair.” I did a little mock shiver as I handed Jadelyn the brush. She dropped her dress off her shoulder, handing it to Pixie and slipped off her underwear before taking the brush.
Pixie hurried away, likely to get out of her own clothes too.
“We were really worried,” Jadelyn cooed in my ear as she scrubbed gently on the back of my neck.
“I’m sure. But this was just his opening salvo. Norton couldn’t have thought that the prison would stop me for long. But if someone in the council is helping him, they aren’t telling him everything. He clearly wasn’t prepared for a dragon.” I turned my thoughts towards the future. I needed to out-think them and take down whoever was causing this mess.
Someone new stepped into the bath. I expected Pixie, but I was met by a vision of blue vampire flesh. “There you are. I’m disappointed you didn’t come say ‘hi’ to me first.”
“I needed to get this blood off of me.” I took the brush back from Jadelyn and pulled a stool over to sit down and start to work on the ash and blood covering my leg. “I’d hate for you to smell this dirty blood.”
Morgana’s nose twitched. “Humans? No, not just humans. Something more. Ones with Iapetus’s blessing?”
“Yeah. I’m going to wait until everyone is here to explain all that happened. Until then, get out of those leathers and get in the bath.” I smacked her leather clad ass with a smile.
Nymphs and the rest of my mates trickled in as I finished scrubbing myself down enough that I could get into the bath without ruining it.
All of my wives, save for Maeve and Yev, showed up.
“Ladies, let’s bathe and then head to the hoard. I’d like to see Yev without too much delay.” I slipped into the bath, reveling in the way the warmth of the water seeped into my shoulders.
“Not too much, but maybe just a smidge of a little delay?” Kelly swam into my arms. “We’ve missed you, and she’s already carrying your child. The rest of us would like a shot.” She leaned in, kissing along my neck.
***
Yev raised her head as I entered the hoard. “A little nymph told me you came home a few hours ago.” She sniffed the air. “You smell like wet dog.”
“He does not smell like wet dog. Rude,” Kelly protested as she put her wet hair into a ponytail. “And I was just very happy to see him.”
“Like a dog when her owner returns,” Yev scowled, or at least, it was the closest her big dragon head could do to scowling. She was in a mood and not a good one.
“Sister, you don’t mean any of that. You are just grumpy.” Tyrande stepped in and gingerly walked across the gold coins.
Yev sniffed her too. “You smell like my mate, too.” Her focus shifted to me. “Am I too fat? Is that it?”
I held up my hands. “You are my beautiful dragon wife who is currently resting in my hoard and about to give me my first child.”
“It’s an egg for a year,” she whined and looked at some of the ladies behind me.
“Then we can all have babies at the same time, even if yours is the size of a small horse.” Kelly skittered across the coins to grab Yev’s muzzle and rub her face into it. “We are all a pack. There’s no winning or losing here.”
Yev flipped Kelly up atop her head. “Thank you, Kelly. I am a little upset that I cannot welcome my mate as you have.” She ended with a grunt and lowered her head into the gold as she groaned. “Trina.”
“I’m here.” The copper dragon ran across the gold easily and ducked under the dragon’s tail. “You are dilated! Do you think you can push?”
Yev reached for me with her head and I stepped up closer, petting her neck as she nuzzled into me. “Maybe,” she grunted.
“Good. Good,” Trina said. “This is nothing compared to childbirth. Be happy you have it easier.”
“Are you calling this easy?” Yev’s voice was strained, and she didn’t sound pleased.
“Relax, breathe,” Trina told her. “It’s not unlike a live birth, but your egg is round and proportionally smaller than a human baby. Now push!”
Yev strained against me for a few more seconds before she stopped and panted. “How was that?”
“You are making wonderful progress. A few more like that and we’ll have an egg.” Trina patted her side.
Tyrande clicked her tongue. “You lucky bitch. I hope my kid comes out so easily.”
“This isn’t easy,” Yev groaned once more.
“I mean… in comparison…” Trina started.
Yev pulled her head away from me to crane over her body and glare at Trina. “Whose fucking side are you on?”
“The side of science and healthcare.” Trina put her hands on her hips and glared back. “Now, you need to push. Let’s get this sucker done if you have that much energy.”
Yev curled her head down and let out a dragon sized grunt that made the coins rattle and shift in the hoard. Her grunt turned into a roar as she pushed.
“That’s it, just a little mo— yes!” Trina stepped closer and picked up a giant, green egg.
“Is there a full-sized pony in there?” Kelly asked from atop Yev, who laid her head on the gold and panted.
Trina walked the egg over until Yev could see it.
The giant green dragon curled herself around it and Trina. “Put it down,” Yev instructed, clearly feeling territorial.
“Yes, ma’am.” Trina did so and jumped back for Yev to completely curl around it.
The egg was about four feet tall and about half that around. It was a bright green to match Yev, and it had little spikes on it all, pointing in one direction. I assumed they pointed away from how it had oriented on the way out. Otherwise, the delivery would have been far more messy.
