Ivormantis (9 page)

There was a deep rumble from inside Ivormantis’ throat as he stood a little higher and expanded his massive and gorgeous wings.

“They’re coming,” his deep voice rumbled.

“Who?” Meldamiriel had no more than whispered her inquiry when she heard a twig snap, the sound seeming louder in the still of the night.

She could have sworn her heart stopped beating entirely as she clung to Ivormantis’ neck for dear life. Paralyzing fear gripped her hard, choking the very breath out of her body. At first, she could barely see some of the brush swaying slightly. Was it due to the light breeze that kept whispering gently by or was it yet another unknown enemy coming for her? Then the trees stilled, the air suddenly seemed stagnant, the stillness lending an eerie feeling a few seconds before a band of blood hungry, blade slashing, fang baring, and snarling vampires came rushing forward. The look in their bloodshot eyes told her they were ready to fight to the death for what they wanted: her.

Ivormantis easily lifted off the ground and into the air, his primary concern was to keep Meldamiriel safe. As expected, several of the vampires threw their blades high in the air at him, but he was more agile than they had anticipated and could dodge each sharp blade easily.

“Whatever you do, my mate, do not let go of me,” Ivormantis growled deeply before he took a rapid plunge down toward their enemy, opening his massive jaw and letting loose a breath of fiery hell in front of them.

She sucked in a deep breath as she watched as the frontline of the vampires were caught in the way of her dragon protector’s rage, their clothing catching fire, their hair singeing, and their flesh blistering in the extreme heat of Ivormantis’ fire breath. The creatures’ cries were those of the lost souls trapped in hell’s eternity of suffering, no mercy at all within sight. Their human flesh burned off quickly, leaving behind still moving corpses of flaming bones and muscles as they continued moving forward toward them.

“Look away, mate, you need not see any of this tonight,” Ivormantis whispered back to her.

The large, pissed-off dragon allowed his body to sail back down to the ground, landing on his front claws with such force the earth actually trembled around them, resembling a minor earthquake. It was enough to cause several of the vampires to lose their balance momentarily. They stumbled and tripped, their supernatural speed powerless to protect them from the unexpected unstable ground.

At first, Meldamiriel was unable to tear her frightened eyes away from the scene that lay before her. Nothing but death, torture, hatred, greed, and ultimate suffering surrounded her. Even in the midst of all this, she was unable to hide her eyes. She watched Ivormantis bite the head off an approaching vampire, before turning his head slightly to snatch up another. This one he tossed up in the air, as if using him for a play toy. As the body started sailing back down to earth, he blew a direct stream of fire, immediately charcoaling the vampire. The big dragon waited for the remains as they fell freely to the earth, opened its wide jaws, caught it, and swallowed it whole. Feeling her stomach lurch, Meldamiriel grasped his neck a little tighter and buried her face into the smoothness of his scales.

Ivormantis’ temper was boiling over. How dare these blood thirsty creatures come after his mate, again? He blew out another long breath of fire, putting a bit more force behind this one and watched as several of the vamps fell to the ground, their bodies jerking this way and that before the fire consumed them whole. There was one though that caught his interest. He was a scrawny one and looked quite familiar. Ivormantis cocked his head to the side and thought back for a moment.

‘Isn’t that the same piece of trash you and Blain thought would be worthwhile to leave alive?’
Ivormantis questioned his human half.

‘Yes, so kill the bastard! Just leave one of these scums alive. I want answers this time,’
Dominic growled back, watching everything that was happening from behind his dragon’s eyes.

‘As you wish.’
Ivormantis wasted little time in destroying all the vampires in his path. There were still a good number of vamps attempting to get near him. He killed numerous by either stepping on them with his huge clawed feet that immediately crushed them into the ground or by swinging his claws out to damage them, prior to eating them.
Nasty bunch. Couldn’t they at least taste good?
Once he made it to the one he was after, he stopped in front of the pathetic creature, glaring at him. “I gave you a chance to live, you should have taken it.” The vampire never had a chance to respond before Ivormantis clamped his mouth down over his head, eating him as well.

A howl suddenly pierced through the night’s calm air. Ivormantis picked his head up, looking to the forest line for this new danger. There were only a few vampires alive at the moment and all of them were injured, posing no immediate threat. There was one moaning pathetically and currently trapped under his claw, his leg broken from the dragon’s weight coming down on it. He heard Meldamiriel whimper in fear behind his neck as he prepared himself for another attack as they watched the forest line shift and move, the sounds of animal grunts and heavy breathing traveling to their ears.

“Calm yourself, love, everything will be alright. No one will harm you. I won’t let them,” Ivormantis said, forcing his voice to be light and trouble free for her benefit, in hopes that it would reassure her that she was truly safe with him.

A short moment later, a single white wolf stepped calmly through the forest’s trees and out into the open. At first, its eyes scanned the scene laid out before him. It then looked up to the dragon. It sat perfectly still and cocked his head while watching the scaly creature.

“If you have come for a fight, dog, bring it on. But know this. You will not live to tell about it,” Ivormantis call out to the creature.

The wolf stood and started a slow and cautious approach, shifting from a white werewolf into a naked human as he got closer.
Oh wonderful. I have a shifter dog prancing before me with no clothes on. Doesn’t the dumb dog know my mate is sitting on top of my neck?
Meldamiriel!
Ivormantis turned his body slightly to shield Meldamiriel’s sight away from the wolf.

“We do not wish to fight against you, but with you,” the wolf stated, standing a few feet before him.

Ivormantis lowered his head down to look the other man in the eye. “You and who?”

The man threw his head back and let out a howl. Almost immediately, other wolves began to answer and slowly emerge from the trees. Within minutes, a hundred wolves stood staring at the large dragon with a woman sitting on top of him. Ivormantis looked to the leader for an explanation.

“We wish to help you protect the Omega Elf. She means a lot to my people. She is a good omen to us and we will fight to the death to keep her safe and out of the bloodsuckers’ grasp.”

“How did you know of the vampires in the first place?”

“Vampires tend to try to avoid us if at all possible. Our scouts found them cutting through the back half of our land. We knew with that many, they were up to no good, so we decided to see what we could do to help.”

“And you didn’t think to step in during the fight?” Ivormantis knew he was beginning to get flip with this dog, but since Dominic hadn’t stopped him, he figured he wasn’t doing too bad. Besides, it seemed that dragon nor human could make up their mind on whether or not they liked the guy, yet.

The wolf shifter man raised his hands in front of him. “I will admit, we are the ones that chased them into these gardens to begin with, but we had no idea that you two were here. We just wanted to flush them out into the open. Besides, lizard man,” he stated with a grin as he looked around at the carnage, “looks like you did well handling a small band of vampires on your own. We would have stepped in if need be.”

Ivormantis narrowed his eyes and growled deeply.

The wolf laughed. “The name is Edmond, Alpha of the Skogafoss pack.”

“The waterfall?”

“Skogafoss offers a peaceful home for us. Our pack is hidden out of human eye sight.”

Ivormantis leaned back, thinking a moment as to decide whether to trust the fur ball or not.

“Ivormantis, I don’t feel so good,” Meldamiriel spoke quietly, her skin turning clammy against his scales.

“Okay, my jewel. Everything is going to be just fine. Allow me to assist you down so I may shift back. Then we shall take you inside,” Ivormantis purred to his mate as he moved his head to assist her. He stopped before reaching her and turned his head back to address the shifter. “Follow me and take this leech in with us, I want him for questioning.” He lightly kicked the vampire that had been trapped under his claw toward Edmond.

He then brought his head around and rubbed his nose against Meldamiriel’s face. “Love, you don’t look so well. Move over to my nose and allow me to gently lift you down to the ground.” Her legs were weak and wobbly as she hit the ground and she tried to stabilize herself the best she could by leaning against her big dragon. Once she found her footing and could stand on her own for a moment, Ivormantis took a step back and Dominic rushed to the forefront, eager to take care of his mate. He barely reached Meldamiriel again before her knees completely gave way and she started to sink. He gathered her up in his arms, cradling her trembling frame against his body. He turned back to Edmond, narrowing his eyes at the wolf as he caught the other man staring at his mate.

“And for gods’ sake, put some damn clothes on!” Neither he nor his beast was happy with the werewolf standing before their mate stark naked.

All Dominic heard as he turned and started toward the castle was Edmond’s laughter. He knew walking around naked was natural to shifters and they were accustomed to doing it regularly. Although he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot? Would the alpha wolf be so open about letting his mate see others naked? He had heard that wolves were very protective of their mates. Apparently, the poor wolf didn’t realize that dragons were just as bad.

Dominic buried his nose into the side of her hair and took in a deep and calming breath of her scent. “Are you unharmed, my love?” he whispered quietly to her, not wanting to spook her after all she had just witnessed.

Meldamiriel nodded. “I’ll be okay,” she replied, curling into his chest a bit more.

He didn’t miss the tremor that ran down her body. He brought one hand up and smoothed her hair a bit. “It’s over, love. It’s over.” They both knew he meant today’s attack only. Neither was dumb enough to believe that there wouldn’t be another attack.

Chapter Four

Dominic carried a much shaken Meldamiriel into the castle and straight upstairs. He barely stopped once to inform the guards of what had taken place, why there were werewolves camped out on the front lawn, and why the vampire was still alive. He waited until they had reached her door to speak.

“Baby, are you going to be okay?” He and Ivormantis understood the need to keep one of those bastard leeches alive to try to obtain information, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

As shaken up as she was, he also hated the fact she knew her sworn enemy was being held two floors below her. Although he knew Blain had taken every precaution when he had the interrogation room built to ensure no prisoner escaped, she didn’t know that.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes that nearly broke his heart. He reached up and caught one with his thumb.

“Dominic, please don’t leave me tonight. I…I just don’t want to be by myself after…” she trailed off there, but Dominic knew precisely what she was talking about. Her enemies knew exactly where she was and she no longer felt safe in the castle. Not when they had been so close to her tonight.

He gave her a short nod and opened her door. He wasn’t fooling himself. She hadn’t asked him to stay because she was ready to mate with him. No, she was asking for his protection. And he would give it to her in spades. Just like Ivormantis did.

“Would you like me to draw you a bath? It might help you relax?”

She was about to answer when Natasha came rushing into the room, not even bothering to knock beforehand. “Oh my God, hon, are you okay? I am so sorry we weren’t there for you.” She enveloped her friend in a tight embrace. Meldamiriel’s reply had Dominic’s chest puffed out with pride.

“I’m okay, just shaken up. Ivormantis and Dominic protected me very well. I was never really in very much danger.”

“I’m so glad to hear you’re okay!” Natasha squeezed her friend just a bit tighter. “Do you need me to stay with you tonight?”

Dominic held his breath, waiting for the reply. His precious little mate surprised him yet again by reaching over and grabbing his hand as she replied to her friend. “Thanks for the offer, but Dominic has already agreed to stay with me.”

‘Yes!
She is accepting us!’
Ivormantis chortled in glee from within him.

He looked down and realized how dirty and naked he was standing in front of the two women. Not wanting to leave Meldamiriel any longer than necessary, he quickly excused himself and rushed across the hall, throwing on the first pieces of clothing he came to. Besides, he had no desire to push his mate into something she wasn’t ready for.

He waited until Natasha said goodnight and had walked back out the door. Holding her hand, he led her to the bathroom and sat her down on the closed toilet seat. He then walked over to the tub and started filling it with warm water.

He was surprised when he turned around a moment later to find his mate standing in front of him, naked. She reached over and started pulling his shirt over his head.

Amused, and a bit in shock, he let her have her way, watching as she tossed his shirt in the corner. Next she leaned down and pulled off his shoes. Standing back up, she told him, “Okay, big man, let’s get you out of the rest of those clothes.”

His hands automatically went to unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans without him even thinking about it. “And what do you plan to do with me after I’m naked?” he teased.