Badass Dragons - Complete Set (14 page)

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Three vampires immediately rushed
along the rocks towards Cheryl, and apprehended her. Whilst she felt equally as
strong as they were, if not stronger, she did not fight them.

Once they
were on the shore, she was thrown at Rafe’s feet, whilst the others circled.

“I didn’t
expect to see you here,” Rafe stated. “This is most interesting.”

“Where’s
Jet?” Cassandra demanded. “Did he bring you here? Is he hiding around some
place?”

“No,” Cheryl
shook her head. “When he found out I was a vampire, he didn’t want me anymore.
But he allowed me to live. I found my way back here because it’s where I
belong.”

“You can
stand up,” Rafe said.

“Thank you.”

She stood and
Sophie joined her side.

“So you have
come to your senses then?” Sophie questioned.

Cheryl
nodded.

“What’s it
like? Better than before?”

Cheryl
shrugged. “I suppose so.”

The vampires
in the group started laughing. All but Cassandra and Reiko.

“Enough of
this,” she said. “Explain what has happened.”

She walked
right up to Cheryl’s face and bore her teeth. “Since I am the leader here, you
will answer to me. Or I will have you strung up so high that by this time
tomorrow night there’ll be nothing left of you but a rotting shell.”

“Okay, okay,”
Reiko said walking over. “Just calm down alright.”

He put a hand
on her shoulder.

She shook it
away. “I need your support here,” she hissed at him. “Don’t go against me.”

He lowered
his eyes, defeated.

“Honestly, I
can’t tell you much of anything,” Cheryl said. “But I’m willing to help you
track the dragons down if you need me to.”

“Does Synrith
know you’re a vampire?” Reiko asked.

“Of course he
knows,” Cassandra snapped. “Jet will have bloody told him, won’t he? Her cover
is blown.”

“I have a
connection with Synrith,” Cheryl said. “He will want to see it for himself.”

Now everyone
laughed. Including Cassandra, Reiko, Rafe. Everyone.

Rafe walked
over. “That’s very funny,” he said. “Synrith caring about someone.”

Cheryl was
now a little more than uncomfortable.

“Trust me,”
she asserted. “I can draw him out.”

Rafe waved
his hand. “We’ll need to come up with something better than that. It’s far too
obvious.”

“I’m still
not convinced she’s telling the whole truth,” Cassandra said. “She’s hiding
something.”

Sophie
pressed her nose into Cheryl’s side.

A tingling
feeling ran over her spine.

“I know that
smell,” Sophie whispered.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Before Sophie could explain further,
the group’s attention was distracted by the sound of motorbikes heading in
their direction from both sides of the beach.

“What the
hell is this?” Reiko demanded, grabbing Rafe’s shirt.

“Relax,” Rafe
said. “It’s just for my protection.”

“What game
are you playing here?” Reiko said, releasing him.

“Look there
is a plan that we’ll undertake, but we’re going to have to do it my way.”

The bikes
stopped short of the group by about fifteen meters to either side. Judging by
the numbers, Cheryl guessed there might have been fifty riders in total.

“You don’t
need protection,” Reiko spluttered. “From who do you –”

“I want to
know  what she was going to say,” Cassandra piped up.

“Who?” Reiko
asked.

“Sophie. She
smelled something on Cheryl’s dress.”

Sophie looked
at Cheryl from the corner of her eyes. “I didn’t smell anything.”

Cheryl’s
mouth almost dropped in surprise.

“You didn’t?”
Cassandra repeated. “You’re sure?”

“I just like
the smell of her dress.”

“Alright,
enough of this,” Reiko said, cutting in. “I don’t care what her dress smells
like. Now can you, Rafe, please explain what the fuck is happening here?”

“Of course,”
Rafe said, motioning to the cave. “We’ll talk in there.”

Cassandra and
Reiko started rounding the other vampires to head in that way. Then they turned
and saw Rafe hadn’t moved.

“I want to
talk to Sophie and Cheryl first. Then they’ll wait out here for us.”

Both of them
frowned.

“Please,” Rafe
said. “You’ll have to trust me on this.”

“Fine,”
Cassandra snorted. “Don’t take forever.”

She grabbed
Reiko’s arm and led him into the cave.

Rafe stood
back from Sophie and Cheryl.

Cheryl looked
to her sister. “Do you know what he wants with us out here?”

Sophie
nodded. “You just pay attention.”

“Attention?
To what?”

Rafe smiled
and put his hands in his pockets. “You’re so lucky I’m as fond of Sophie as I
am,” he said. “She’s really looking out for you.”

“She is?”

“Of course.”

Silence.

Rafe looked
up at the sky a moment. Then back down on the ground.

Suddenly a
panic rose within Cheryl.

Had they
known all along that Synrith had taken her here? Was this whole plan a set up
to draw him out?

Behind her,
she heard the ever familiar sound of a dragon’s wings ripping up the ground. But
when she turned, she saw to her surprise it wasn’t Synrith.

It was Jet.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

As Jet’s wings flapped in the ocean,
the water sprayed across striking both Cheryl and Sophie as they attempted to
shield themselves. He then shifted into his human form and marched forward to
confront Rafe.

“Do you have
the package?” Rafe asked him.

Jet handed
him a small wooden case. Rafe opened it and removed a golden dagger.

“Very good,”
Rafe said. Then he nodded to the cave’s entrance. “They’re in there.”

Jet turned
and gave the girls a stern expression. “Better stand back.”

Cheryl and
Sophie quickly backed away whilst Jet morphed into his dragon again. He put his
mouth to the cave and a stream of blue fire roared through the cave.

The vampires’s
horrified screams could be heard within, and they did not cease quickly.

Cheryl looked
at her sister for some kind of explanation as to why this had occurred, or why
she had allowed it to.

Sophie gave
away nothing.

She seemed
completely removed from what was happening.

And perhaps,
that was reason enough.

CHAPTER
TWENTY

After about seven minutes, Jet’s
dragon appeared satisfied that the vampires were dead, and he morphed back into
his human form. He approached Rafe and the girls with a bold look of
treacherous triumph.

Cheryl could
hardly look him in the eyes.

“I didn’t
know what to make of the phone call,” Rafe mused. “But you truly have proven
yourself.”

Jet extended
his hand.

Rafe shook
it.

“These
miserable vampires are the scum of the earth,” Jet declared. “When I saw
Synrith had betrayed me for this one, I could hardly wait to get my revenge.”

“Well you
can’t harm Cheryl,” Rafe said. “It’s against the agreement I made with my
friend here.”

Jet nodded.
“As long as she’s your responsibility, I don’t care what happens to her.”

“I’m sorry,”
Cheryl interrupted. “Are you talking about me?”

Rafe shot her
a glance. “One moment please.”

Cheryl shook
her head in confusion.

“Let’s go
over the terms again,” Rafe said to Jet.

“You agreed
that I would take control of Synrith’s castle.”

“Correct.”

“You agreed
to an alliance between wolves and dragons with me as dragon master.”

“Correct.”

“In exchange
I will make sure no more harm comes to wolves on behalf of dragons in this
city. Now that you have the dagger, you can duplicate it, and ultimately every
wolf will stand equal to a dragon in combat.”

“But we rule
the land,” Rafe said. “Your clan will answer to me from now on.”

Jet nodded.
“Agreed.”

“How do we
deal with Synrith?”

“He’s around
here somewhere,” Jet said. “He’s using Cheryl as a spy. Or at least he thinks
he is. When he sees that I have sided with the wolves, and that I have control
of his castle, he will flee this city to save his own hide.”

“And he won’t
come after her then?”

Jet stared
into Cheryl’s eyes. “She means nothing to Synrith. All he cares about is his
rule and no one else.”

“You are
sure?”

“Oh, I’m
positive.”

Cheryl’s face
fell, distraught. She knew Jet believed what he was saying was true.

“Then I am satisfied
with your terms, Master Jet,” Rafe said. “Let’s shake again.”

They shook.

Rafe then
turned and nodded to Sophie.

“You belong
to him now.”

“What?”
Sophie cried. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I haven’t
lied to you, and I’ll always respect what we had,” Rafe said. “But this is
business. He needs a mate.”

“Then he can
take Cheryl!” Sophie pouted. “I belong to you.”

Rafe shook
his head. “He doesn’t like Cheryl anymore.”

“Come,” Jet
said, extending his hand to Sophie.

Rafe put his
hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. He will make you happy.”

Sophie’s cold
look of self assurance had crumbled. She was becoming increasingly enraged.

“Son of a
bitch,” she whispered. “Son of a bitch.”

She turned to
Cheryl, tears falling from her eyes. “Help me.”

Cheryl opened
her mouth. She felt tears rising within her. “I don’t know how…”

Sophie
grabbed Cheryl’s arm. “You are strong. Fight them for me.”

Cheryl’s arm
fell away. “This was your doing. I’m so sorry.”

“Bitch,”
Sophie snapped at her. “Fucking stuck up spoilt –”

“Alright,
that’s enough,” Jet said putting his arm around her. “Let’s go.”

He dragged
Sophie away kicking and screaming. Cheryl couldn’t look at it anymore.

Then Rafe
held her gaze.

“What happens
to me?” she asked him.

His head
tilted from one side to the other. “I don’t know if I like you yet.”

“What happens
if you like me?”

“We’ll just
have to see what happens,” he said. “But we will fuck. And lie together. And
you will tell me everything you know about Synrith.”

“Is it true
there is a cure?” Cheryl asked him in a quiet voice. “For vampirism?”

“If there is
you’ll never get it from me,” he said.

“Not even if
I –”

“If you
what?”

Cheryl bowed
her head. “Nothing.”

The wings
were blowing through the wind again. Sophie was trapped on Jet’s back and
riding high up into the sky.

Rafe moved on
to his motorcycle. “Come here,” he said.

He picked up
Cassandra’s discarded helmet and put it on her. Then he lifted her up and
placed her on the back of his bike.

As Rafe moved
round to the side of his bike, Cheryl’s gaze drifted back up to the sky.

But not
searching for Jet and Sophie.

She was
searching for Synrith.

“He’s not
coming,” Rafe said, putting on his helmet. “I’m your man now. So get used to
it.”

Cheryl pulled
her eyes away from the sky. She swallowed hard.

Rafe signaled
to his wolves. “FOLLOW,” his command boomed across the open beach.

He then got
on the bike and revved the engine a few times.

Swoosh.

Swoosh,
swoosh.

Rafe looked
over his shoulder. “I don’t fucking believe it.”

Synrith’s
giant green dragon was descending rapidly towards them from the sky.

“All for
little you,” Rafe muttered at Cheryl. “Well, he’s not fucking having you.
YOU’RE MINE.”

Rafe gunned
the bike into full gear, and sped off down the beach with his hoard of wolves
following in support.

Synrith’s dragon
followed also.

Cheryl’s
heart leapt for joy.