Chapter One - word count 2838 - Download PDF file
1.
      
      Sandamar’s backhand clout sent Seth flying.  He landed face down on the stone floor, his dark hair falling forward to cover his eyes.  Seth pushed himself up with his palms bracing flat against the stone, and twisted his shoulders to look at Sandamar.  He slowly licked the blood from the corner of his mouth.  The gesture was taunting and Seth knew he was looking for trouble, but everything about this particular vampire rubbed him wrong.  He was getting sick of playing puppet and letting the other cats do the string dance as well.  They needed to get this assignment done in a hurry.  
      “Be mindful Seth, I can give your people over to my vampires as a snack. I’m sure they would enjoy all that delicious lycos blood.”  Sandamar warned the wereleopard.  
      “Who would do your dirty work then Sandamar?” Seth’s tone was bored, as if the whole drama hadn’t affected him at all.  He knew if he showed just how much he detested the vampire, his people wouldn’t have a hope in hell of getting out alive.  
      Sandamar laughed sending chills down Seth’s back.  The vampire was just as shudder-worthy as this dank hole in the ground he called his headquarters.  Seth looked around the room and wished again that they were home not here pretending to be rogues.  
      Damp stone covered every surface of Sandamar’s throne room.  The buntings on the walls had long since rotted so they hung in rags, and the whole place stank of mould. Seth’s enhanced sense of smell made it that much worse for him.  This place was the home of decay and corruption.
      Sandamar adjusted the velvet sleeve of his jacket as he answered Seth’s question
      “My trolls would work just as well as your cats Seth.  You would do well to remember that you are disposable.”
      “Your trolls are as dumb as shit, and you know it.” Seth smiled the cut on his lip already healed.
      Sandamar’s pale skin flushed, a sure sign that he was loosing patience with Seth’s taunting.  
      “Seth.” That one word held a wealth of meaning, and made Seth realized he had done all the baiting he was going to be allowed.   Any more would put the lycos in jeopardy.  His first duty as their leader was to keep them safe.  If one of the lycos got hurt he would never forgive himself, and that was before and after Gabriel kicked his ass.  
      He got up off the floor.  Brushing dust off his faded blue jeans and straightened.  
      “Just let one of the lycos guard the girl.”  
      Sandamar sighed, and decided getting the wereleopard out of his sight was more important than who guarded the dragonling. “Very well Seth, go and arrange for your cats to stand guard on the girl.  I’ll tell the troll he’s been relieved.”  
      Seth nodded and walked out of the room, resisting the urge to sigh in relief.  He sent a prayer of thanks to whichever deity was watching over him.  It had been pure luck that the stupid troll had given him a reason to go to Sandamar, and request guard duty.  
      
      “Do you think he can be trusted?” Barund moved out of the shadows coming to stand next to his master.  
      He twitched nervously when Sandamar laughed.  
      “In no way can that lycos be trusted.  However, his cats are useful, and obedient – at least to a certain degree.  He is right about the trolls, they are stupid and the vampires are a problem in daylight. So I’ll keep him around until he gives me no other choice.”
      “I think he is going to be a problem.”
      Sandamar turned to look at his minion, impatience playing across his features.  
      “Of course he will be a problem you moron, do you think I am unaware of that?  The threat I hold over his people will keep him in line.  I don’t have time to worry about this right now.  We have a ritual to prepare for.  If I am to get what we require, I need to be completely ready.  I do not need the distraction of other problems.  The lycos will listen or his cats will die.”
      
      Seth brooded as he moved down the underground passageway. The reek of this place was making his sinuses ache. He wasn’t the only one who detested Sandamar’s headquarters.  The whole team hated this place.  They had never been on a mission that made them feel this uneasy.  What ever Sandamar was up to, it could not be good for the mythos and that could only mean that it would be very bad for normals.  At least this assignment was just about done.  They had to get hold of Gabriel soon.  The escape needed to be put into motion.   He had a feeling that the lycos were not going to be useful to Sandamar for much longer.  He’d better have a talk with Dar.  Seth breathed in and breathed out growling deep in his throat.  The sound was too low for most beings to hear, but it carried well and the werelion would know the meaning of the call.  
      
      Seth smothered a laugh when he reached the holding cell and saw the injured troll walk out clutching its intestines to keep them from spilling out.  
      The troll looked up and flinched slightly when it saw Seth approaching, then realizing what it had done it straightened its shoulders and growled at Seth.
      “You laugh. You are dead cat walking” the troll managed to spit out.  A mouth full of sharp fangs is not exactly built for speech.  “I kill you soon.”
      Seth grinned his tone was light when he answered. “You are welcome to give it a try.”
      His next words were coated in ice.  “But if I ever see you hurt someone for the sake of bullying again, I will kill you first.”
      The troll’s dusky skin palled and he moved past Seth as quickly as he could, while still keeping his intestines where they belonged.  
      
      Seth knocked on the door and pushed it open.  The girl was huddled in the far corner of the bed, her knees drawn up, the smell of her fear rank in the small space.  A dark bruise already bloomed under one eye.  She relaxed a little when she saw it was Seth, but not much.  
      “How are you feeling kid?” He smiled to reassure her.
      “I’m not a kid.” She spat.
      Seth chuckled and held up his hands in surrender “Hey at least the ugly brute didn’t knock the spirit out of you.”  He moved over to her to check the bruise.  Namara tried to scoot further back but the wall was right behind her.
      “Easy now,” Seth used a soothing tone. “I’m not going to hurt you.  I just want to make sure that troll didn’t do too much damage.”
      “Why, will my ransom price drop if I’m hurt?” her words dripped sarcasm.  
      Seth shrugged her sarcasm off, the kid was hurt, alone and afraid, he didn’t blame her.  He’d probably react the same way if their places were reversed.
      “Nope, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”  
      She let him come closer.  He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned slightly forward to test the bruise.  The armbands she wore gave of a spark and they both jumped, Seth laughed.  
      “Some powerful mojo there.” He remarked, nodding in the direction of the armbands as he ran his fingers gently over the bruise.
      “How else will that stupid vampire keep me from shifting to dragon form and burning this place down around your ears.”
      Seth leaned back, reached out, took her chin gently in a hand and tilted her face up to look at him.  
      “Hey now, not all of us are bad guys.”
      “Then what are you doing working for the bad guys?” She asked derisively
      He shook his head, “Now that is a long story, and one that’s rated R.  But we are working on a plan.  So don’t worry about all this, okay?”
      Namara didn’t want to, but somehow she believed him.  A slight smile curved her lips as she nodded, well tried to nod, he was still holding her chin.
      “I owe you a thank you.” She said softly.
      “No you don’t.”  He shrugged stepping away from her, assured that the bruise would heal well.
      “No, I have to thank you.” She insisted, “If you hadn’t stopped that troll…” she swallowed, “No one has ever hit me before.” Namara remembered with a shudder how the troll had raised his hand to hit her again just as Seth had walked in.  He’d been on top of the troll in a blur, all she saw after that was the troll clutching at it’s stomach lying on the floor and Seth standing over it, his hands curled and his eyes the brightest forest green.  Not the lavender she remembered.  She’d looked closer at his hands and been frightened to see claws retracting into his fingers.  Namara had heard that some of the more powerful lycos, the Du’call, could transform parts of their bodies at will.  Seth was obviously very powerful. Strangely the realization had made her feel safer, instead of alarming her.
      “It’s all good kid, I never could stand a bully.” Seth grinned at her.  The lazy tones of his voice were hypnotic and comforting, she wondered if that was one of his powers or if he just had a natural ability to put people at ease.  
      There was a knock at the door, and Seth said, “Come in Darius”
      Darius’ tawny head peeked round the corner, “You summoned me, oh mighty one.”  He grinned walking into the room. Namara had never seen anyone walk the way these men did.  More of a comfortable roll than a walk, the way a cat moved, graceful but alert, the potential for sudden and decisive action was just under the surface.
      “That I did.” Seth smiled, “I’ve managed to convince fang-face to let us take over guard duty.”
      Darius raised an eyebrow, and turned his blue eyes to Namara, “Oh?  I’d like to know how you pulled that one off?”  
      “He nearly gutted one of the trolls.” Namara felt compelled to answer, then blushed.  Darius made her feel awkward.  As dragon royalty, being awkward was something she rarely experienced.  
      He had a smooth accent that could almost be called British but it wasn’t quiet.  She was still trying to figure out exactly where the accent originated.  When he spoke it always made her feel warm, she realized the awkwardness was probably because she was attracted to him.
      Darius’s head snapped round to look at Seth.  The second eyebrow shot up to join the first “You did what?”
      “What was I supposed to do?  The troll was going to beat her to a pulp for the fun of it.” Seth leaned back against the wall, his long fingers hooked in the belt loops of his jeans.  
      Darius whistled low. “What did pale-and-pasty say about that?”
      “He wasn’t impressed,” Seth shrugged, remembering the blow that had thrown him half way across the room.  “but he did give us guard duty.”
      Darius smiled, looking at Namara again. “Glad he did, or I might have taken some time to kill a troll.”
      She blushed crimson again, cursing her pale skin and her attraction to this particular lycos.  
      “Have you managed to get hold of Gabe yet?” Seth’s stomach clenched, he prayed to whichever deity would answer, that Darius had been able to contact Gabriel.  
      Darius didn’t answer and couldn’t seem to look away from the girl. Seth had to wave a hand in front of his face to get his attention.  
      “Hello, Darius” He drew out the hello making it clear that he knew why Darius was distracted.
      Darius jumped “What? Oh yes, I wanted to talk to you about that.  But is this the best place?”
      “It’s as good a place as any in this hell hole, go ahead, I’ve got a feeling the kid would welcome the news.”
      “Gees.” Namara rolled her eyes heavenward.  “That’s a very annoying habit you have Seth.  I have a name, use it.”
      Darius’ laughter was deep and rich.  “Bossy much?”
      Seth grinned, “I apologize, Lady Namara.”
      
      “Just Namara is fine.” She mumbled and blushed again.  She wasn’t used to this kind of banter.  The dragons were a formal people.  Humor wasn’t one of their best things.  
      “Back to business,” Darius sat down on the edge of the bed.  “I did get hold of Gabriel.”
      “And?”
      “I quote - The compound welcomes the omega home whenever you want to get your asses here.” Darius leaned back against the wall and watched the smile spread across Seth’s face, his dimples making an appearance.  
      “Home.” Seth breathed the word like fresh mountain air.  
      “Yep,” Darius winked at Namara and grinned at Seth “now we just have to decide when we are packing our backpacks and hitting the road.”
      “Tell Ross and Marcus to get ready.”  Seth’s voice was steel.  “We leave tomorrow night.”
      
      Seth entered the room, with Ross and Darius at his heals. Marcus was on guard duty.   
      He could feel the tense excitement thick in the air.  It was like the night before Christmas.  Seth looked over at the tall dark haired man.  
      “Are you ready?”
      “Hell yeah, let’s get out of this dump.”
      “Namara, do you remember what we discussed yesterday?  Stay close to Darius at all times. He will make sure that you keep up.”  
      She nodded her head, determined not to be the one who messed up their escape plans.  
      “I’ve spoken to Xander.”  Seth said bringing the others up to date.  
      “He will be laying a peace down.”  
      “What does that mean?”  Namara asked.  
      “Xander is a powerful mind vampire, he manipulates thoughts and emotions, in this case he can radiate calm and relaxation so that everyone will stay where they are.  Which will make it easier for us to get out of here undetected.  Xander has also had a contact leave a panel van outside for us.  We just have to make it that far then drive out of here.”  
      “Good.” Ross said behind Seth.  “We don’t need this getting complicated.”  
      “I agree, the less fuss the sooner we are home.  I don’t feel like fighting my way out of here.”
      “Dudes, what are we waiting for lets haul ass.”  Marcus grinned.  
      “I’ll take point, Ross you are behind me then Darius and Namara, Marcus you take rear guard.” Seth ordered moving through the door.  
      They moved quickly in single file through the musty tunnels of Sandamar’s headquarters.  
      At every corner Seth would hold up a hand for them to stop.  He’d cautiously check around the corner before moving them closer to the exit.  It didn’t take them long to reach the main stairs leading to the surface.  They crept up the stairs, Seth once again holding his hand up for them to stop as they reached the top.  He put an ear to the door and drew in a deep breath through his nose to scent the air.  He looked back nodded and pushed the door open.  Namara was surprised to see the full moon.  She looked at the men with her.  They were obviously all Du’call lycos or they would have had to change form while the full moon hung in the sky.  
      The panel van wasn’t far from the door.  They moved towards it quickly.    
      Namara gasped as the troll that had attacked her came lumbering out behind the van, he’d obviously been trying to figure out where the van had come from and hadn’t seen them yet.  Darius looked at the troll then at Namara’s pale face.  
      “Is that the one who hurt you?” he asked, anger etched on his face.  
      She nodded mutely.  
      The troll looked up at that moment and saw them.  It bellowed and charged.  Darius pushed Namara back and attacked.
      “Wait Darius!” Seth yelled then he cursed as his order was ignored.  Seth ran to Namara, shoving her behind him as the other men attacked the troll.  In a matter of seconds the troll was down, knocked unconscious.  Seth glared at Darius and herded Namara to the truck.  
      He opened the paneled side, helping her up into the truck.  Then he moved to the driver’s door.  Ross took shotgun and the other men climbed into the back with Namara.  
      Seth started the van and pulled out, driving up the dirt path that led to the main road.  
      “Darius,” Seth didn’t even look back as he spoke. “if you ever ignore an order I give you in battle again, I will personally rip you to pieces. You copy?”
      “I copy.” Darius answered.  He didn’t argue, he knew he’d done the wrong thing leaving Namara unprotected while he attacked the troll, never mind wrong, it was ten kinds of stupid and he was pissed at himself.  He didn’t need Seth to kick his ass.  He could do it himself.
 
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