Dragon Marked_ Supernatural Prison #1(74)

Oh well, at least the alarm wasn’t anything serious. Although, I’d had a faint hope that someone was coming to break us out.





Chapter 14




Braxton and I lay on our bunks. They were just a tad softer than the stone floor but smelled worse. I’d almost ended up crashing on the ground. It had been lights out for a few hours, but I couldn’t sleep. The howls and screams that echoed along the shifter wing was part of the problem – shifters go crazy locked in stone walls, and some had been here for many years – but the other problem was my head. It just wouldn’t stop thinking. I was worrying about the dragon marked, Mischa, my family, and the Compasses. I knew Kristoff was evil and there was no way he would stop at enacting revenge because his plans kept going awry. Louis flittered across my mind on occasion too, but he was a little further back than the rest.

The noise of Braxton’s bulk moving on his bunk had me turning my head to the side. In the semi-darkness I could see him watching me. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, Jessa?” His voice was low, gentle. Kind of unlike his normal tone.

I made a decision right then to share some of my burden. I had a secret that I’d been keeping and I hated that. It was eating away at me like a poison and I needed to get it out before it did permanent damage. I rolled off my bed and padded silently across the small room, four steps and I was right beside his bunk. His ancient eyes, so out of place on his twenty-two year old face, caressed my features.

I dropped to my knees right beside his head. “I need to tell you something.” I leaned in close to whisper. There were too many ears in this place.

He shifted himself over then, pressing his back against the wall and I crawled in next to him. It was a tight fit; he had to drape his arm around me and we lay facing each other, our mouths close.

“You can tell me anything, Jess.” I could feel his breath hitting my face. I almost had to close my eyes so I didn’t press my lips to his. Damn, my urge to kiss him was strong and annoyingly inconvenient. Now was not the time to have a sexual meltdown.

“There was another reason I was so determined to free those prisoners,” I said slowly. “I believe they’re dragon marked. And…” I took a deep breath. “I’m marked also.”

Blue flashed darker in his eyes; they looked indigo in this low light. “What do you mean?”

I snuggled my face into the crook of his neck and in whispers told him the entire story, from my birth as a twin, to the lengths Jonathon and Lienda had gone to keep Mischa and I safe. The way Louis had spelled the energy to help us hide.

When I finished, I lay still, my body tensed as I waited for his reaction. He didn’t move for a long time … and hot tears were building up behind my eyes. I willed them not to fall, but if Braxton decided he didn’t know who I was anymore and that he didn’t want to know me, I’d probably fall apart.

Then his arms moved tighter around me and he crushed me into his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me when you found out? Please, for the love of all things, please tell me it wasn’t because you were fucking afraid of my reaction?”

I shook my head against his chest. “Dad said that the last quads born, the Four, are infamous dragon marked hunters. He seems to think that’s to be you and your brothers’ fates also. He didn’t want me to make myself vulnerable to you.”

Braxton cursed. “There’s no way we would become dragon marked hunters, I don’t care about the call.”

“The call?” I asked, stilling. I’d never heard of that.

He was very calm as he spoke. “On the day we join our powers together, we will feel the call. The original four, their calling was to hunt dragon marked – they can track the energy and are lethal at their jobs. No one knows what our call will be, although many guess it is going to be the same thing.” His fierce eyes locked on me. “But we would never hurt you. It wouldn’t matter, I would kill myself first and I know that Ty, Jake and Max feel the exact same.”

“You’re my best friend,” I whispered to him. “I’m thankful every day for you Compasses.”

His lips pressed against my forehead, one of those firm, lingering kisses that sent thrills from the tip of my head down to my toes. “Do you need to tell me anything else?”

Strange that he’d used the word need and not want.

I swallowed, trying to get myself under control. “Do you know any more of the stories of the dragon marked? What exactly is it everyone is so afraid of?”

He settled back against the stone, bringing me with him. “The time of the king of the dragons was filled with war and bloodshed. So many supernaturals lost their lives. When the king made his proclamation, they were in Drago, which is a cave that rests in a mountain range in Romania. We’re right on the cusp of the thousand years since his fall. Legend says the best chance for him to rise will be at the end of this year.”