Dragon Marked: Supernatural Prison #1 (25 page)

His purple eyes regarded me, and I felt as if he
already knew I’d shifted into a dragon.

But I trusted Braxton’s judgment. If he thought I
should keep my dual nature to myself for a while, well, that’s what I’d do.
Even if Louis suspected, I wasn’t going to confirm it for him.

“Just a burst of power which released my wolf. I was
no longer restricted by the securities on the prison.” I stayed as close to the
truth as I could. “I sort of got some dragon features, but I locked the power
back inside before anything too much happened.”

He nodded. “Your power is immense. I’m guessing that
you’re so used to keeping it all contained that you haven’t even noticed the
massive increase.”

It wasn’t exactly true, I could feel the curled
sleeping power of my dragon. She was happy, content. It was strange, I’d
expected a snarling beast and I knew that part of her could emerge at any time,
but for right now … it was almost as if she was part wolf.

“I’m going to have to place my hands on your chest.”
He had both of his arms aloft in front of him but hesitated to drop them on me.
I knew he was waiting to see if I was okay with such intimate contact …
especially after yesterday.

I bit my lip before nodding. “Thanks for checking in
on my mental state, but I’m fine. Touch away.”

Dark streaks of blue flashed across his eyes. “I
imagined you saying those words, just in slightly different circumstances.” He
raised his eyebrows at me a few times. “But I’ll take it.”

We were still standing close to his hidden home and
the waterfall that concealed it. Soft strands of green grass curled around my
bare feet, and small slivers of sunshine broke through the canopy. It was cold
today, but somehow Louis kept his area nice and temperate. My toes were
thanking him for this. In one smooth movement he placed both hands on my chest,
in the space just above the swell of my breasts. I flinched minutely, unable to
stop my thoughts from returning to yesterday – my disgust and fear as that
creature ran his hands over my body. I could still taste the bile and smell the
fear which had permeated the air. My fear.

“Jessa.” Louis’ voice was commanding. I raised my eyes
to meet his. “Look at me.” His voice softened. “Focus on me.”

I did as he said, focusing on his face and forcing
myself to take long, deep
breaths.
I would not let this beat me; so many women had had it far worse. They hadn’t
been saved. I needed to remember that.

“Time will rid those memories, Jessa. Don’t be so hard on yourself, you
don’t have to be strong all the time.”

“There you go reading my mind again.” How did he do that?

He dropped his forehead against mine. “I can see it written across your
face. You keep beating yourself up for what you consider your weakness. I know
how hard it is to be strong all the time and not to know what to do when that
falls away.” Lifting his face, he dropped a kiss to my forehead, in the same
place his head had just rested. “What happened yesterday in no way diminishes
your strength.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

We were quiet for the next few minutes, and in that
time the strain across Louis’ features increased.

“I can’t lock your energy away. It’s strong and has
taken root, moving through your body, into your cells. It’s part of you in a
way I can no longer separate. Our one chance is for me to cloak you. It will
hide the energy from anyone searching for the dragon mark, but it’s not locked
away. You can access the power, and if you do, they’ll be able to find you.”

“Why didn’t you just do that originally?”

He laughed. “We worried about a child having that much
power, and you wouldn’t have had the restraint to stop yourself accessing it.
Now hopefully your control is good enough for this. Remember, the Four will
find you if you use your mark power.”

I nodded. Warning duly noted. There was a sharp jab,
followed by what felt like tingles caressing their way up and down my body. Then
Louis stepped back. I shook myself out. It was the strangest sensation, like he’d
poured a second skin over my body.

“Going to take some getting used to,” I said, forcing
myself not to scratch at my arms.

“The numb itchiness will die down shortly and the sensations
will be much easier to deal with.”

I freaking hoped so. I was like thirty seconds from
dropping to the ground and rolling around in the grass.

Our heads spun toward Stratford as the town siren
started to blare. The alarm wasn’t used much. It was a signal for the
townspeople to gather in the city center.

“Is that because of the Four?” I asked.

Louis nodded. “Yep, they’re infamous in the
supernatural world. Their presence alone demands some fanfare. They’ll be
wanting to search out the source of the mark energy.”

He linked his hand through mine and started to lead me
into town. The itching sensation was subsiding, but still a little irritating.

“How powerful are they?” I was having trouble
imagining what they were like. The fear their mere names created just didn’t
ring true.

Louis turned his head, scanning the area.
“Individually, they are no more powerful than your average alpha or race
leader, less powerful than some I’d say. But their real strength lies in their
ability to join and elevate the power of each other.”

I remembered Braxton saying the same thing. I rubbed
my free hand over the smooth, worn denim of my jeans. The chill was increasing
the further we got from Louis’ place. Luckily my metabolism was in fine form,
or I’d probably be on my way to frostbitten feet.

“So this ability to connect and increase their power
is the same that the Compasses are supposed to possess?”

Louis nodded. “Yes, quadruplets are so rare that everyone
pretty much expects your boys will turn into carbon copies of the Four.”

I snorted. He regarded me silently for a moment. “Not
going to happen,” I felt compelled to add.

The Four were cold-hearted dicks. You’d have to be to
lock away babies. The Compasses would never be that. I’d kick the shit out of
them if they even started looking in that power-crazy-dictator direction.

“Do you know the exact location of the mountain of
Drago?” As soon as the question left my mouth, I wondered why I’d asked him
that. I let loose way too many of my thoughts around him.

“It’s in Romania. The Krakov supernatural prison and
Drago are both in the Carpathian Mountains.” He didn’t ask me why I wanted to
know, so of course I felt the need to babble out my reasons.

“Braxton said that the king is supposed to rise at the
end of this month and that he rests at Drago.” Again, Louis was quiet, not
giving anything away, so I continued: “Have you heard this before?”

He exhaled lightly, but still more forceful than he
usually breathed. “I’ve lived a long time and heard many stories about the rise
of the king, but there is some truth to the thousand years. It was said that
all dragon marked need to be in the mountain at the time of the rising. If they
aren’t, there is a trigger inside the mark energy that will bring about their
destruction.”

Great! That was just great.

“The dragon king was pretty big on his ‘You’re either
with me or against me’ motto, and he must have figured that any not at Drago
when he rises … well, they’d be against him.”

Of course they were. No wonder they’d cut his head
off, he was crazier than the Four.

“Is he just supposed to just rise on his own?”

Louis stared off for a few moments, his face blank.
“No,” he finally murmured. “There has to be a sacrifice, and there’s a ritual,
but I don’t know what it entails.”

If Louis didn’t know, I wondered if anyone did.

“Why are these two women freeing the dragon marked?” I
asked him, needing to understand.

His features hardened. “I have my suspicions, but in
reality my guess is as good as yours.”

I was thinking that maybe there were some out there
who knew the ritual, and I couldn’t figure out if they were freeing the marked
for that reason or if they were looking for someone.

Entering the outer zone of the town, we started to
move with the masses of people. When that siren rang, everyone responded, no
matter what they were doing.

Which probably explained some of the states of undress
I was seeing around me. There were naked shifters, who’d clearly been out for a
run, and then a few couples who were clad only in their underwear. Of course
they’d had time to grab clothes – not to mention the bins were scattered
everywhere – but we really didn’t sweat nudity the same way the human
population seemed to. Besides a few shy exceptions, most of them wouldn’t have
thought anything of their appearance. Certainly not enough to stop and look for
clothes.

The city center was already half filled. There were
too many of us to fit into the town hall so we’d congregate out here around the
fountain. Louis and I started to move closer to the front. Not that I thought
being near the Four was a great idea, but I wanted to find my family and I knew
the council leaders would be at the forefront. We didn’t have to push, people
moved aside for us – okay, mostly Louis, but a girl could dream.

Power, glorious power.

At least the tingles of his cloaking had died right
down to almost nothing. After a few minutes of dodging the crowds, my nose
crinkled at all of the scents assailing me. I noticed my father standing off to
the right. That was where we needed to go. I lowered my head, ready to plow my
way through the last few meters. I was almost there when Louis grabbed my arm
and halted me.

“I’m not sure what is going to happen right now,” he
said, keeping his voice low. “If it goes down in the way I hope, then everything
will be fine, and you won’t have to worry. But if things skew off track, you
need to listen to my instructions and follow each one, without question. You
will just have to trust me.” He dropped a kiss on my cheek. “I’ve got to go and
check on something now, but I’ll find you again.” 

I was opening my mouth to ask him what the hell he was
talking about, when he disappeared. Like literally, into thin air. Burnt umber
coated the inside of my nostrils, the scent filling my senses. He’d used some
pretty powerful magic just then.

Pushing down the tendrils of icy fear and worry, I
stomped the rest of the way. I was just about at my family when a figure caught
my eye. He was tall, casting a shadow as he stood off to the side of the
fountain. Despite the fact that there were supernaturals everywhere, he stood
in his own space. Melly. He had both arms by his side, fists tightly clenched.
He was staring at me through the crowd and his expression was hard. This wasn’t
exactly anything new, but in that extended moment the huge shifter reminded me
of something … or more importantly someone – the bear who had attacked me
inside Vanguard. He’d worn the same expression, and said I was collateral
damage in a war I knew nothing about. I’d just assumed that was to do with Jonathon,
but what if it hadn’t been, what if there was more to Melly’s hatred of me?

I was distracted from my thoughts by Mischa grabbing
my hand and dragging me across to the edge of our group. When I turned my head
back to the spot again, the bear shifter was gone. So freaky.

Jonathon leaned in close to me.

“Are we all good?” he asked. I could see by the
serious expression and hard blue eyes that he was stressed.

I bit at my lip. “Well, the power is too strong for
Louis to lock away again, so he put like a cloaking around me. Hopefully it’s
enough.” As long as the dragon didn’t decide to burst free.

Jonathon ran his eyes over me, and then reached out
and touched me. “I can’t sense anything unusual about you, but then I don’t have
the tracking skills of the Four. I hope Louis knows what he is doing.”

Lienda gripped his forearm tight enough that every
knuckle stood out on her hand. “I don’t want to risk it. We need to run.”

Jonathon pulled her closer. “If we run, they will ask
questions, and then the Four will come for us and they always find those they
hunt. We need to play the game and stay calm.”

I wondered where the Compasses were. Usually they
would be front and center during something like this.

“Are they bringing in someone to replace Kristoff?” I
asked Dad.

He was staring out over the crowd, trying to keep an
eye on what was happening.