Blueblood Dragon (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Genesis Valley Book 1) (14 page)

Ana

“I am sorry.”

She heard the words come from Ferro’s mouth, saw the dragon about to burn them to cinders, and knew that Ferro had been apologizing for getting them both killed. It had been a trap all along. They must have seen them coming, she figured.

“I would do it again,” she told him, “as long as I got to spend time with you.”

Her hand reached out to touch Ferro. She wanted to die close to him, touching his skin one last time, feeling the electric shock every time they were close.

But instead of his soft skin, Ana’s hand encountered something cold and hard. Her eyes focused on his arm, and she gasped as rust-colored scales emerged from his skin. What was he doing? If he shifted in such a confined space, he would surely kill both of them!

The scales emerged across his body like a protective layer that marched from his legs up and over his head, until they coated him entirely. Wings sprouted from his shoulders, billowing outward to fill the air around them. He snapped them forward in time to deflect the fire away from her and down the hallway.

Ana stared. Ferro had become a dragon-man. His form was human, but he was completely covered in dragon scales, along with huge wings that he could control as effortlessly as if he were a dragon. Behind her, down the hallway, she heard a shriek as the helpless ambusher was incinerated.

“Stop this now, Parlanah!”

Ana came back to full attention at that. Parlanah was his daughter, one of his first children. But Merlin had told them she had died in the invasion of the Council chambers. He had been wrong. Clearly she had faked her death, so that nobody would know that she was the mastermind behind it all.

The fire down the hallway stopped abruptly as the dragon heard Ferro too. She would have been expecting screams, and the powerful words Ferro had said—audible even above the roaring of the flames—told anyone listening that he wasn’t in pain.

“What is this madness?” the dragon said, rearing back in surprise as she took in Ferro’s changed shape. “How did you do that?”

Ferro ignored her, stalking forward, wings swept to the side to block Ana from view.

“Stay there,” Parlanah said.

Ferro ignored her, walking into the throne room that was mostly filled with the dragon’s bulk. Ana could see smashed tables and chairs lining the walls, flung there as the dragon had enlarged rapidly in size, her bulk snapping them like kindling. The dragon sent a paw at Ferro’s head, planning to swat him away.

Ana’s jaw dropped open as Ferro revealed yet another one of his abilities. He inhaled quickly and opened his mouth. Whereas Parlanah’s flame had a been a yellow-orange cloud that had filled the hallway completely, the fire that emerged from Ferro’s mouth was a blue-white torch. It was focused down to a stream no more than a handful of inches across, and even down the hallway from him now, Ana was buffeted by the heat wave as it cooked the air around them.

Parlanah screamed as the blade of flame sliced through her paw, melting scales like they were butter before it took an entire talon off as well.

Shouts from the hallway drew Ana’s attention as the primogenitor of the dragon species did battle with one of his unruly children. From behind them, three shifters emerged, running down the hallway toward their leader.

Ana’s side still hurt, but she had been fully mobile for some time now. Moving from where she had been lying against the wall, she stayed in a crouch, her fingers closing upon the closest weapon she could find. There was no time to think, no time to plan. She simply needed to act if she wanted to save Ferro’s life.

With an ear-splitting roar of defiance and effort, she lifted the huge metal door and sent it flying down the corridor. Attackers scattered, one of them taking a solid hit, but they all kept coming.

Ana went to meet them.

She didn’t have the ability to cover herself in protective scales. She couldn’t breathe fire or fly.

But she did have over three thousand years of combat experience and a temper. Fists blurred, elbows churned, and the melee was joined. Ana took as many punches as she threw, but the power behind her hits slowly began to tell. Her opponents attacks slowed, and then they were forced to go on the defensive as she sped up her blows.

First one, then a second shifter went reeling, stunned by the ferocity of her attack. Behind her, she could hear the shouts coming from the throne room as Ferro in his dragon-man form attacked Parlanah, attempting to end it then and there.

“Stay down!” one of her attackers gritted out as she took a right hook to the temple, spinning away from the blow. She planted her hands on the floor and kicked backward, her heel slamming into his ribcage, breaking at least one rib.

“No,” she growled, getting back to her feet and delivering a vicious one-two blow with lightning speed to his midsection.

A little-known human reaction took over and Ana dodged out of the way as the man began to vomit instantly and uncontrollably. A perfectly timed hit to the stomach will cause anyone to vomit. She closed her hands into fists and raised them both above her head before delivering a powerful hammerfist on the back of his neck.

Bone snapped and she let her legs collapse under her, using her weight to drive his face into the stone floor. Something popped, her attacker shivered once, then lay still.

“You don’t have to die here,” she told them, trying to stay focused and ignoring the sounds coming from behind her. Ferro needed her help. She wanted to be by his side, defeating Parlanah together. Instead, she was stuck fighting some lackeys.

A third shifter came down the hallway.

“I’ll take it from here,” he said calmly.

Ana swallowed at the calm, even gait to his step, and the utterly confident way he said it.

“You two go help the others in the courtyard. They aren’t faring very well,” he said, annoyed.

She didn’t know who he was, but he must be someone powerful, judging by the respect the others gave him. They instantly turned and headed outside. It gave her hope to know that the rest of the team she and Ferro had assembled was still kicking ass elsewhere, but that didn’t matter right then.

“I’ll try to ensure you don’t suffer,” the other shifter said, coming toward her easily.

Ana looked at him distastefully. “You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” she blustered.

The dragon shifter shrugged, uncaring. He was within three steps of her now.

Ana made her move, chucking the piece of stone she’d hidden in her hand at him. His arms snapped up in a cross in front of his face, deflecting the blow.

She had expected him to bring them back down. The blow Ana had launched at his face worked on that fact. It was the natural response.

Instead, the arms stayed crossed until her right fist passed through the two upright forearms. Forcing his arms together, her attacker locked her hand between his two powerful arms. At the same time he twisted with her blow. The combination sent her flying through the air. She careened off the edge of the wall and tumbled farther down the hallway.

“You’re going to have to do better than that,” he informed her, moving in close to her as she rose, wincing at the bruising already evident on her arm.

Ana ducked under his next blow, delivering a hard right to his kidney. The man grunted, but his other fist smashed into her nose, sending her to the ground. In a flash his hands were around her neck, trying to snap it.

He had caught her unawares, and his arm was snaked tightly across her neck. The crown of her head was tucked in under his chin as he squeezed. Air became a precious commodity and Ana began to gasp, trying to summon more. Darkness dimmed the edges of her vision. It would only be seconds before the black void overcame her. The distant roaring of Ferro and Parlanah still sounded from the throne room. He wouldn’t be able to come to her rescue.

Ferro!
She shouted mentally, even though she knew he couldn’t hear her.

Ana thought desperately, searching for some sort of salvation as she felt her windpipe begin to give under his pressure.

An idea coalesced. She didn’t have time to think it over, so she just acted. Deep in her mind she reached out, finding her animal, connecting to the other mind within hers. It roared, eager to help in any way it could.

She did her best to convey with mental images what she needed from it. Her vision swam as she began to pass out. With one last attempt to make sure it understood, Ana released her animal.

Ferro

“Stand
down
!” he bellowed over the angry, pained roar as Parlanah snatched her deformed paw back.

A tail whipped through the air, connecting with his side, sending him flying into the wall. Stone crunched under his impact, but the scales covering his body prevented him from sustaining any injury. He dropped to a crouch, his wings tucked behind him.

“I would know how you learned to achieve this, dear father,” she sneered at him.

“Time, and patience,” he replied. “You are out of one, and have always lacked the other,” he informed her, launching another attack. His legs drove him forward until he had closed the distance halfway. Muscles bunched, and he leapt into the air, propelled upward by a mighty beat of his wings.

Fire blossomed from his mouth once more, scorching more scales from the dragon, this time sloughing them off from her right flank. A paw came whipping toward him, but Ferro was ready for that. He wrapped his wings around him and dropped like a stone under the limb.

Parlanah snarled in frustration. Ferro spat a ball of flame at her snout as she prepared to douse him in flames once more. The dragon reared back in surprised pain. She did something Ferro hadn’t expected. She flicked her wing at him, trying to flatten him under it. The membrane slammed into his head, sending him tumbling.

“Your time is up old man,” she told him angrily.

In the hall behind him, he heard Ana roar. Something smashed angrily and then multiple voices came back at him. She was under attack. He needed to finish this
now.

Using his flame once more—he didn’t have much more in him; the blasts were pure energy taken from him—he sliced open her wing membrane. Parlanah pulled it back to her side, freeing Ferro to go for her head.

“Get off!” she snapped as he landed on top of her large head.

“Stop this madness,” he ordered, his wings easily keeping him balanced.

Parlanah didn’t respond.

“Please, do not make me do this,” he pleaded. “I have already lost Karthorax and Luthor. I do not want to lose you!”

The dragon laughed. “You lost me when you abandoned me after I was born,” she spat, trying once more to dislodge him.

Ferro sighed and steeled himself for what had to happen next. He inhaled until his lungs were full.

Forgive me.

Fire wreathed the top of Parlanah’s head, flowing straight down from Ferro into her skull until she wailed in agony. Her head then crashed to the floor, lifeless.

The hard landing dislodged him and he tumbled across the chamber, his body smashing through something until it slammed to a halt against the wall.

Ferro didn’t pause. He launched himself to his feet, flying over the ruined remains of the throne he had just destroyed. He didn’t have time to appreciate the irony of that.

Ana needed him.

He shot into the hallway, his scales sinking back into his skin. The trick was something he had learned a long time ago and had taught to a very select few shifters. It required massive amounts of energy and mental strength to control his animal so strictly. He hadn’t told any of the other dragons about it, nor had he shared the trick to concentrating his fire to make it burn so much hotter.

“Ana!” he shouted.

She was slumped to the ground, eyes closed. Behind her, a shifter stared at Ferro, eyes unseeing. His arms were wrapped around her throat, though they were slowly falling aside. Massive red welts were already springing up on her skin, giving Ferro hope that she would be okay.

He slid to his knees at her side, trying to find the best way to untangle them. It wasn’t as easy as it looked due to the massive, brilliant white horn that was impaling the other shifter’s head.

Ana coughed.

He held her as best he could. “Hi,” he said softly into her ear. “Just stay calm. It will be okay,” he promised.

Around the rest of the castle the sounds of fighting had died away.

A rather unpleasant noise startled him as the horn began to shrink, leaving a huge hole in the shifter’s head. As it disappeared completely, the body fell away, allowing Ferro to hold Ana tight to him, careful to avoid her throat.

“Did we do it?” The voice that came from her was raspy and sounded
wrong.
It must have been due to the damage inflicted upon her throat, but it made him feel terrible for what she had sustained.

“We did, my love. We did,” he told her, gently kissing her forehead. Her hair was plastered to her face with blood from the shifter she had killed. He moved it aside, clearing her vision.

Down the hallway, footsteps scraped on the stone floor.

His head snapped up, muscles tensing.

A head peeked around the corner. It took in the carnage for a moment before focusing on Ferro. The ancient dragon shifter breathed a sigh of relief as members of their team came around the corner.

Five of them in total. He frowned, looking over the various faces until he realized who was missing. “Jarran?” he asked softly.

The leader shook his head.

“Dammit,” Ferro swore. One more needless death. He had known they would take some losses, and if he was honest, losing only one was far below even his most realistic expectations going in.

That didn’t make the loss any easier to stomach. He felt personally responsible for every shifter who had been ended as a result of his daughter’s arrogant quest for power. If he had only been more involved in the world at large, he could have seen this coming and done something to prevent it.

“Check the basement,” he said wearily, still holding Ana tight in his arms. “We need to find out where they are holding the Council members. We will be along shortly.”

“No, we’ll be along now,” Ana said, forcing her way to her feet despite his objections.

“Just take it easy,” Ferro urged her.

She shot him a firm glare. “This is what’s hurt,” she said, pointing to the mess of bruising and swelling that was her throat.

He suppressed a shudder at how weak and pained her voice sounded. But Ana wasn’t done talking to him.

“This is fine,” she said, pointing at the rest of her body. “I can walk to the damn basement. I’m stronger than that.”

This time Ferro couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, my dear, you are that.”

She nodded sharply, then hissed as a hand flew to her neck, wincing in pain.

“Good. Now take my damn arm so that I can stay as close to you as possible,” she told him.

He arched an eyebrow, but offered a quick bow and took her arm into his. “Of course, my lady,” he said with an aristocratic lilt to his voice.

“Don’t make me laugh,” she rasped out.

Ferro sobered immediately, despite the fact he could already hear her voice sounding better. Her attacker had done a decent job of crushing her windpipe among other things, but she was going to live, and that prevented his spirits from being dashed completely. It would be a painful day or so while she recovered, but in reality, that was nothing compared to the lifetime they now had to spend with each other.

They followed the others to the basement. Descending the stairs, the group was immediately accosted by shouts, jeers, and insults of a staggering variety. He flashed a toothy smile.

“Sounds like they’re still pretty pissed about being locked up,” he joked. Ferro allowed everyone a moment’s levity to relax, before nodding to proceed.

The shouts turned to cries of incredulity as the captive shifters realized just who was in the basement with them.

“They got to you too Ferro?” one of the Council members shouted in horror.

He rolled his eyes, but Ana opened her mouth before he could reply.

“I thought you said these were some of the older, smarter dragons on the planet?”

“They are,” he said, not understanding where she was going.

“Then how come they can’t recognize a rescue party when they see one?”

Ferro and the shifter team that had accompanied them all broke down into laughter. Laughter that died as they realized how their comrades had been imprisoned.

“This is barbaric,” he said as they came into view.

Of each shifter, only their head was visible. The rest was buried in the floor, encased in solid concrete.

“Yeah, it’s not been overly pleasant,” came a reply from farther down the line.

“Eight,” he said softly, doing a headcount while the free shifters quickly looked around for tools to break their friends free.

“What?” Ana turned to look at him.

“There are eight. Merlin makes nine. Only nine left.” He sighed heavily. “You know, back when we first formed the Council, there were fifteen.” His shoulders drooped. “All my fault,” he whispered, leaning against the cold wall.

“Stop that,” Ana said with as much force as her damaged throat would allow.

When he didn’t respond, she shoved her face into his, forcing him to focus on her. The intensity of her eyes startled him. They were glowing brightly, in a way he had never seen before. The blue was so vivid it was mesmerizing.

“Your eyes,” he said without thinking.

“I know,” she said. “It started after we made love the first time.”

He shook his head. “Why did you keep it a secret? What does it mean?”

Ana snorted. “I couldn’t control it. I still can’t. All I know is that being in close proximity to you sets it off sometimes.”

Ferro hung his head. “Look around you Ana. Being around me is a one-way sentence to sadness and death.”

If anything, the fiery blue orbs increased their brightness. “Don’t you get it?” she snapped. “This is a sign. It has to be.”

He looked at her suspiciously. “A sign of what?”

“Life, you big dope! It means I’m pregnant.”

“You know after two weeks? Ridiculous,” he scoffed, though inside he felt a thrill that had lain dormant for many millennia. The thrill of the idea of being a father again. “How can you tell?”

“Because,” she said with patience it was clear she didn’t have. “That is what you are: life. You created an entire species. You fought for life when your children were losing theirs. You came here and you rescued all of these people, giving them a new life when theirs was threatened by death. Death may be part of it, but Ferro, my love, after everything you do, there is always
life
. It is in your blood,” she said, her voice all but a whisper. “You are the origin of your species. Possibly of all shifter species. You are the king who will never wear a crown. The royalty who will never claim a dynasty.”

She grabbed the side of his face. “And dammit if I don’t love you for it.”

She kissed him.

For a moment he froze, her words finding something deep within him, something he didn’t realize had been there. He was the bluest of bluebloods, the oldest of the old.

But never had he felt so
alive.

He was going to be a father!