Dragon Guard: Blood Dragon, Book 3 (Dragon Shifter Romance) E-Book

Mac Flynn

• Herausgeber: Crescent Moon Studios, Inc.
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

The shadow world of the paranormal goes looking for Sarah Rennelle as she finds herself caught up in a cat-and-mouse game with dragons, vampires, and an annoying demigod. Normalcy is invaded by Avery, one of her former students with a penchant for trouble. This time, however, he’s gotten himself in a little too deep and needs her help, or rather, he needs Adam’s help. Blackmail comes into play and Sarah is forced to drag Adam and the others into the mess as they find themselves facing off against two new enemies. They want Avery, but a series of mistakes leads them to show interest in Sarah. It’s an unhealthy interest in her that leads her away from her companions, and leads Adam into desperation as he tries to find her. All the while Sarah has a feeling something isn’t quite right between Adam and her. Like so many people around her there's something he’s not telling her, and she aims to find out what it is even if it kills her.

Leseprobe

Dragon Guard

Blood Dragon, Book 3

Mac Flynn

Copyright © 2018 by Mac Flynn

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Continue the adventure

Other series by Mac Flynn

1

Sirens. Loud music. Decapitations.

The city of dragons and vampires was a raucous one during the night. Establishments large and small catered to their needs, from offering local micro-brews to the high-end imported liqueur that cost more for a shot glass than a teacher would earn in a month. Some of the populace chose to hold their fun solstice beneath the starry sky. The streets and alleys were full of people smoking, laughing, and drinking until beer blew out of their noses.

A small establishment far off the main roads offered the best of both worlds: an outdoor patio encircled by a tall wooden fence. Its clientele consisted of the young entrepreneurs and office workers that inhabited the city. They mingled and danced to the heavy beat of an electric drum. Alcohol flowed freely, and the prohibition on minors was relaxed as several of the patrons walked in with ‘guests’ picked up after high school classes.

The patio abutted a dark, dingy alley. The party was shielded from prying eyes by an eight-foot tall wood fence topped with lattice. Strings of colorful lights cast strange shadows over the trash cans and empty crates.

One of those shadows tiptoed up to the fence. They stooped and picked up the crates one at a time and setting them atop one another until a small pyramid was formed. The figure climbed atop them and grasped the space between the lattice and the top of the boards. Their face came close to one of the lights, and Sarah would have found that face familiar.

It was Avery, the curious student of her school. He stood on his tiptoes and stretched his neck, but only the top of his head peeked over the lattice.

“Damn it,” he muttered as he jumped back onto the gravel alley. His feet made a hard crunch.

A corresponding crunch made him freeze. He whipped his head to his right where the alley stretched deeper into the block. The sound of voices floated to his ears. He dove into a nearby stack of garbage cans, but peeked out.

Three figures appeared from around the corner of the drinking establishment. There were two woman and a man, with one of the women on the outside of the group being the youngest at eighteen. The other two were roughly the same age. The woman in the middle stumbled about, knocking into the other two.

“Whoopsie!” the person apologized. She let out a loud burp. “I think I need to go home.”

The other woman looked over her at their male companion and grinned. She was short at just above five foot and had long brown hair, one side of which curled over one eye to hide part of her face. The young woman sported a pair of jeans and a purple blouse. “What do you say? Should we take her home?”

Her male companion wore a similar set of jeans with a polo shirt. His short blond hair accented perfectly against her long locks. He smiled and nodded. “That’d be just fine with me.”

Their inebriated companion draped her arms across their shoulders and turned them deeper into the alley. “It’s this-away.”

As they stumbled deeper into the shadows Avery pursed his lips and slunk out of his own. He ducked and dodged behind garbage cans, crates, and the occasional alley cat, always staying close enough to overhear the threesome. His prey were fifty feet from the end of the alley when the drunk woman tripped. She stumbled to her left and knocked her back against the brick wall of another establishment.

A laugh escaped her lips. “I think this is far enough.”

Her two companions glanced at each other before the girl looked back to her. “Far enough for what?”

The woman against the wall raised her eyes to them. They were a deep, blood-red color. Her smile widened and revealed sharp fangs. She pushed off the wall and took a steady step forward. “For a snack, of course. Now-” she tapped a finger from one to the other, “-which one should I start with?”

Her female prey glanced at her male companion and smiled. “Think we should tell her?”

He shrugged. “May as well. She said it was far enough.”

The vampiress leaned back and blinked at the pair. “Tell me what?”

The girl stepped forward and drew out a necklace on which hung a medallion. The medallion pulsed with light, and as it did a pair of leathery wings erupted from her back. She raised her empty hand and her fingers lengthened into dagger-like claws. Her muscles expanded and stretched her already tight clothing, tearing it in some places.

The dragon girl looked down at herself and frowned. “Damn. These were my favorites, too.”

The vampiress stumbled back against the wall with wide eyes. “W-what the hell are you?”

The man frowned. “Come on, Gerty. Get it over with. You know the boss doesn’t like them scared.”

Gerty dropped the medallion onto the front of her shirt and shrugged. “All right, don’t rush me.”

She strode up to the shocked vampire and raised her dagger-like hand. A clean swipe across the vampire’s neck and her head toppled from her shoulders. The head rolled back the way they had traveled and came to rest a yard from where Avery was hidden.

The eyes rolled toward him, and the mouth opened. “Please. Please help-” blood gurgled out of her mouth. Her eyes rolled back and her features fell limp.

The man was in the process of scooping up the blood that poured out of her neck when he heard the voice. He stood and narrowed his eyes at the spot where the head lay. “Did you hear that?”

The girl was in the process of studying her ruined wardrobe. “Probably just a cat.”

He shook his head as he pocketed the vial of blood. “A cat couldn’t help her.”

The man stalked toward Avery’s position. Avery ducked lower, but his movement caught the attention of the stranger. The man froze and whipped his head around at his girlfriend. “Gerty, we got a live one!”

Gerty looked up at him and frowned. “A what?”

Avery dashed from his hiding spot and sprinted down the alley. The man pointed at his retreating back. “That!”

Gerty frowned and spread her wings. “I’m on it!”

She flew into the air and after Avery. Avery grabbed everything within reach and threw it behind him. Garbage can lids flew like saucers and grazed her temple. Pieces of crates sailed at her and nearly impaled her wings. Alley cats flew like angry balls of fur and fangs intent on destroying the first thing they latched on to. One of them latched onto Gerty’s face and stuck there.

She shrieked and crashed to the grab as the furious feline clawed at her cheeks. “Get off!”

Avery reached the end of the alley and disappeared around the corner. The dragon yanked the cat off her face as her friend jogged up to her side. She threw the feline to the side. The creature landed on its feet, gave her a cursing hiss, and ran off. Her face was covered in scratches and her eyes burned green with anger.

Her boyfriend set his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll get him, Gerty.”

She shrugged off his hand and narrowed her eyes at where Avery had disappeared. “Yeah. Tomorrow. In class.”

Above them a near-full moon watched the scene close, and a new one open.

Sarah Rennelle was many things. She was a friend, a school teacher, someone Cate could look up to. She was also late to work.

“How could Jenny unplug my clock with the vacuum?” she wheezed for the sixth time as she raced down the alley. “It has a battery!”

Such was one of many dilemmas for the heroine as she reached the end of the alley. Five minutes. She had only five minutes until class started, much less when she was actually supposed to be there.

“Please let Grendel be sick,” was her mantra as she tiptoed across the parking lot.

Sarah slipped inside and leaned her shoulder against the wall to her right. Before her stretched the endless hall, and on her left just a few doors down was her own domain. A few students lingered against the walls and at their lockers, but most were already inside their rooms. Grendel was nowhere in sight. She would make it.

Sarah slapped a smile on her face, unwrinkled her mussed clothes, and strode toward her classroom. She had to pass a janitor’s closet on the right. The door was cracked open.

A hand shot out and grabbed her arm. Sarah yelped as she was dragged into the dark, cramped interior. The scent of cleaners invaded her nostrils and her back hit the unforgiving handle of a mop and bucket combo.

“Quiet,” a voice whispered.

Sarah squinted in the dark and made out the pale face of Avery. She frowned. “Avery? What in the world are you doing in the closet?”

“I need your help.”

She pursed her lips. “If you need tutoring you need to speak with your teacher-”

“Not that.” He peeked out and studied the hall. His homeroom was down at the far end. Between here and there was another alcove that led outside. A figure lurked in there. “I need some professional help.”

Sarah glanced at her watch. She could just barely make out the minute hand. Two more ticks and she’d be late. “Then you’re going to have to go to the counselor and ask for a list of tutors-”

“Not that, either,” he told her as he shut the door and turned to face the confused teacher. “I need protection. Special protection. I need your dragon.”

2

Sarah’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth, realized that was a bad mistake, and clacked her teeth together. A moment of thought had to run its course before she blurted out a few words that wouldn’t be patched up with a simple, truthful explanation.

Sarah swallowed and tried to steady her nerves, but she spoke in a few decibels higher than usual. “My what?”

Avery grasped her arm and frowned at her. “Come on, Teach, we both know you’re a terrible liar and I don’t have time for that, and neither do you.”

She slipped out of his hold and backed up toward the door as she shook her head. “I don’t know what-”

“Adam.” Sarah froze. A sly smile slipped onto Avery’s lips. “Now you believe me, don’t you?”

Sarah narrowed her eyes. “How do you know about him?”

Avery opened his mouth, but the sound of footsteps outside their cramped quarters made him whip his head in the direction of the door. He pressed his fingers against the entrance and leaned his ear against the hard wood. Sarah noticed his face was pale and his lower lip quivered.

The footsteps retreated. Avery breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to her. His eyes were pleading. “I really need your help, Miss Rennelle. You don’t know what kind of trouble I’m in.”

She folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. “Try me.”

He took a deep, shuddering breath and ran a hand through his hair. His gaze was glued to the floor. “I. . .I saw something I wasn’t supposed to.”

Sarah kept her gaze on the student as she nodded. “I’m listening.”

He bit his lower lip and his eyes flickered up to hers. “I saw a Saint.”

The breath caught in her throat. Her arms slid down to her sides and her eyes widened. “A. . .a Saint?”

He raised his head and nodded. “Yeah, and you know I’m not meaning the kind you see in church.”

“What did you see them do?” she asked him.

He swallowed hard at the memory. “I. . .I saw them kill someone.” He paused and furrowed his brow as he glanced to his right. “At least, I think they killed her.”

Sarah leaned back and frowned. “

Avery shut his eyes and shuddered. “They. . .the one girl cut off the other girl’s head and it rolled over to me and spoke to me. It pleaded with me to try to help her, and that’s when they noticed me hiding behind the

“Who noticed you?” Sarah questioned him.

Avery threw up his arms. “The two in the alley! The guy and girl who killed the other girl! They saw me and tried to grab me, but I ran out of there like the last bell rang!”

Sarah leaned her shoulder against one of the shelves to her right and pursed her lips as she studied the young man before her. He shivered like a leaf in a tornado, and his fingers stumbled over one another as he awaited her reply. “How do you know they’re called Saints?”

Avery shrank beneath her steady gaze. “I. . .I’ve kind of been watching you for a while.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Watching how?”

“Let’s just say I have some big ears, but-” he paused again and glanced at the door.

Another pair of feet passed by. The final bell rang, sounding Sarah’s doom at getting to class on time. Unfortunately, she didn’t foresee herself seeing the inside of that classroom today. Sarah sighed. How she longed for the simple joys of juvenile delinquents and their wet spitballs.

The threat of wadded paper balls, however, was brushed aside for this new one of Saints and vampires, and the frightened young man before her. Sarah took a deep breath and put a hand on his shoulder. “All right, I believe you.”

A smile parted his lips. “You mean it?”

Sarah she pushed off from the shelf and nodded. “Yes, and I’ll take you some place safe.” She grasped the door knob, but he whacked her hand. She drew her hand back against her chest and glared at him. “What are you doing? I thought you wanted my help.”

He nodded. “I do, but I can’t go out there. Not yet.”

She stiffened. “What do you mean? Why not?”

He jerked his head over his shoulder at the door. “They tried to get me just now. I slunk in here, but now they’re waiting down the hall for me to go to class.”

Sarah’s eyes widened. She caught Avery’s gaze in her own and pointed at the floor. “You met them here? At school?”

He nodded. “Yeah. They’re students here, too, at least the guy is.”

Sarah performed a mental list of all the Saints she had come across. None of the guys fit the characteristics of a high schooler. That meant this was a new pair. Oh goody.

Sarah ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. “Damn it. . .”

Avery pawed at her sleeve with his hands as his big, wet eyes looked up at her. “Please, Miss Rennelle, you have to help me. You have to hide me.”

“One sec,” Sarah snapped as she looked around the small, shadowed room. A pair of coveralls that hung from a wall hook caught her attention. She snatched them off the wall and held them out to Avery. “Put these on.”

He wrinkled his nose at the stained and unwashed attire. “I think I’d rather die.”

She shoved them against his chest and looked into his eyes. “That’s probably what’s going to happen if you don’t put these on.”

While Avery slipped the coveralls over his other clothes she looked around the room for more disguise material. The mop she had earlier hit her back against gave her an idea. A spare head lay on one of the shelves. She snatched the noodle-like cleaning tool off the shelf and plopped it onto Avery’s head.

He paused and parted one of the white dreadlocks to glare at her. “I think this is a little much.”

“Not when your life depends on it,” Sarah pointed out as she slipped off her coat. She helped him put it over his clothes and stepped back.

The coveralls had Avery age two decades and the coat over all the other clothes gave him a bulky, unflattering figure. The mop top hid most of his face and obscured enough of his vision that it gave him a bumbling gait. The transformation was complete.

“Let me look out,” Sarah offered as pushed him back and peeked out into the hall.

The hall was empty but for the shadow of a figure at the end to her left. That then was the Saint. She squinted her eyes, but the distance was too great to make out the person. She ducked back in and looked over her shoulder at the hilarious figure of Avery, as amused by the situation as a wet cat.

“Follow me.”

They slipped out of the closet and into the hall. Sarah took them down the corridor in the opposite direction of the shadow. After a few steps she risked a glance over her shoulder. The figure had abandoned their vigil and now followed them. Sarah winced and looked ahead.

That’s when she ran into a very hard wall, or rather, a very hard man. She stumbled back and would have fallen if a pair of large, firm hands hadn’t caught her shoulders. Sarah tilted her head back and felt the color drain from her face as she looked into the stern eyes of the high school principal, Grendel.

“Miss Rennelle, do you know what time it is?” he asked her.

She nodded. “Y-yes, sir, but-”

“Then why are you not in your classroom with your students?” he snapped as he dropped his hands from her shoulders.

Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat, but the motion didn’t alleviate her faltering excuse. “I-I-”

“Miss Rennelle is taking me home,” Avery spoke up.

Grendel looked over at the disheveled figure behind Sarah and frowned. “What in the world are you doing wearing those school supplies, Mr. McFay?”

Avery stretched out the coveralls and grinned. “Looks good, doesn’t it?”

“It looks ridiculous, but you’re not answering my question, Mr. McFay.”

Avery winced and sidled up beside Grendel. He leaned in close to the man’s ear-or as close as their height difference would allow-and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Truth be told, I kind of-well, I kind of tore my pants and I didn’t want any of the girls to know. I’ve got a reputation to keep, ya know.”

Grendel snorted. “I’m sure all the girls in the school are well aware of your reputation, Mr. McFay, but that still doesn’t explain your involvement, Miss Rennelle,” he mused as he returned his attention to the teacher. “Mr. McFay has permission via his parents to leave at any time, but you should be in your classroom.”

Avery held up his hand and sheepishly grinned. “I kind of locked myself out, and I need her help getting a locksmith to open it up.”

Grendel arched an eyebrow, and Sarah held her breath as his eyes flickered between them. The principal finally breathed through his nose and pursed his lips. “You’re very fortunate, Miss Rennelle, in that we have a substitute in the office right this moment looking for work. You may go, but don’t let this happen again. Is that understood?”

Sarah gave him a warm but shaky smile. “Of course. Thank you, Mr. Grendel.” She grabbed Avery’s arm and dragged him down the hall toward the central exit.

Grendel turned and watched them leave with a deep frown on his lips. A figure passed by him, and his anger deepened. “Mr. Flanders, what are you doing out of class?”

The blond-haired young man stopped and looked up at Grendel with a crooked grin. “Just getting some water, Mr. Grendel.”

Grendel pointed down the hall in the direction the young man had come. “The water fountain is the other way.”

Flanders stepped backward and shrugged. “Guess I got a little lost.” He turned and walked back down the hall.

Grendel eyed the young man until the student disappeared around the corner. He returned his attention to where Sarah and her disguised companion had gone. “What trouble have you given yourself this time, Miss Rennelle?”

3

Sarah and Avery exited the school at a brisk walk. Her lips were pursed and the air around her tense, but the young man threw off the mop and tilted his head back to soak in the sunlight. A wide smile graced Avery’s lips as he closed his eyes and sighed. “That was close.” Sarah didn’t slow her pace, and he noticed her shoulders were stiff as she strode on ahead. He hurried to catch up and leaned forward to catch her narrowed eyes. “Come on, Miss Rennelle, it wasn’t that bad. Grendel let you off easy.”

Sarah spun around and glared at him. “Listen, Avery, you might like lying to people, but I don’t. I also don’t like that you’re keeping things from me.”

He puffed out his chest which-combined with the coveralls-gave him a bloated appearance. “I have not.”

“Then who’s the Saint? You said you knew he was a student here,” she reminded him.

Avery winced. “He’s-well, he’s a guy I had in a few classes. Well, whenever he showed up. I think his name last name is Flanders or something like that.”

She nodded. “I’m listening.”

The young man shrugged. “That’s it. I don’t know anything else about him except his girlfriend can kill people.”

“Anything else you want to share with me?” she persisted.

He held up his hands in front of him and gave her a shaky grin. “That’s it, I swear.”

Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Then tell me why you’ve been following me enough to know about Adam.”

Avery winced. “That’s just a little extracurricular activity. You know, to keep from being bored.”

“Try homework.”

“I said to keep from being bored.”

“Then try watching wallpaper curl. It’s a little safer than-than-” she waved her hand at the school, “-than getting a bunch of dangerous people to try to kill you.”

The humor fled from Avery’s face and his shoulders slumped. “Listen, Miss Rennelle, I just need your help for a little while and then I’ll be out of your hair, I swear it.”

Sarah closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. A sigh escaped her parted lips before she dropped her hand to her side and looked to the young man before her. “All right. I got you this far, I suppose I’ll keep you until I talk with Adam and-well, another guy.” They’ll know what to do with him.

Avery clasped her hands in his and grinned at her. “You’re a lifesaver, Miss Rennelle! A real lifesaver!”

Sarah pried her hands loose from his hold and slipped an arm around his back. She drew him away from the school and glanced over her shoulder at the receding building. “Neither of us will have a life to save if we don’t get out of here before that Saint finds us.”

Sarah dragged him down the blocks to her apartment and shoved open the door. Jenny leapt up from the couch where she’d been watching TV and froze. She looked from teacher to student blinking her wide eyes as Sarah closed the door behind them. “Listen, Sar, if you’re going to be giving your kids some extra ‘tutoring’ then at least take them somewhere else.”

“It’s not like that,” Sarah snapped as she pulled Avery over to the living room chair and pushed him onto the plush cushion.

“Then did the school burn down?” Jenny wondered as she came to stand beside her friend.

Sarah stood over the young man and frowned down at him. “No, but I almost wished it had.”

Jenny pointed at Avery. “Is he the wannabe arsonist?”

Sarah looked down at their ‘guest’ and sighed. “Sort of.”

Avery leapt to his feet and flashed a smile as he held out his hand to Jenny. “The name’s Avery.”

Jenny smiled and shook the offered hand. “Jenny.”

He winked at her. “I know.”

Jenny blinked at him. “You know?” he grinned and nodded. She glanced at Sarah and jerked her head at their ‘guest.’ “How much does he know?”

Sarah shook her head. “I don’t know. You can try to interrogate him while I’m gone, but I don’t think it’ll help.”

Jenny wrinkled her nose. “Why am I being left with babysitting duty?”

“Because I need to go see Adam about him,” Sarah told her as she strode past the chair toward the door.

Avery scooted around the chair to follow her to the entrance. “Then I’m coming because that’s the place for me.”

Sarah spun around and glared at the troublesome young man. Her eyes showed an impatience that hinted at anger, an emotion that Avery found unfamiliar and terrifying coming from the kind teacher. “You’re staying here. Got it?” Avery shrank back and nodded. “Oh, and-” she grabbed his shoulders and turned him in a half circle before she worked off his coat. “Gimme my coat. It’s cold out there.” She slipped on the jacket and glanced over Avery’s shoulder at Jenny. “I don’t know if I’ll be back before sunset.”

Jenny moved to stand beside Avery and set a heavy hand on the young man’s shoulder as she beamed a smile at Sarah. “I’ll watch over him like a fox in a hen house.”

Avery whipped his head to her and frowned. “That’s not how it goes.”

She patted his shoulder roughly enough to make him wince. The smile seemed glued to her lips. “Don’t ruin the moment, kid.”

Sarah sighed. She wasn’t sure which of the two before her was the adult, and she didn’t look forward to finding out later. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”