Dragon's Oath (Northbane Shifters Book 5) Read online

“Christ, do you make Lorel listen to this?” Tristan asked. “Do women like that?”

  “Don’t ask me,” Luke muttered, and we all looked at him. He winced and rubbed his bare knuckles together. Poor guy was still smarting over his broken engagement. But two weeks up here should set that to rights. “Sorry,” he added hastily. “Don’t mean to be such a cynical bastard.”

  “You never should’ve gotten engaged to that devil woman,” Brody said bluntly, and everyone else winced, except Luke, who laughed and nodded. “I told you, man. She was a viper.”

  “Geez, Brod, they broke up,” Rett said with a frown. “Don’t gloat too much.”

  Rett’s serious air was in such sharp contrast to his usual good humor that it set us all off laughing. Or maybe we’d drunk too much. Who knew?

  Either way, Luke was grinning when he threw back another glass and then raised it. “Shoulda known. I was never really into blondes. Get me a leggy brunette with blue eyes. Hear that, universe? Or any of you idiots.” He stood up and bellowed. “Blue-eyed brunette!”

  Rett clapped Luke on the back as he fell back down, Luke grinning like an idiot and Rett trying not to laugh. “You’re not alone, buddy. Between the service and school, it’s been tough to meet someone worth the time.” He shrugged his big shoulders. “Or memorable.”

  “One of these days, I have to introduce Laia to you guys,” Tristan mused, and a grin cracked his face as all eyes swiveled to him. Instead of a story following that statement, per usual, he gave us a sage nod. “You’d make time for her. And I guess I trust you guys. Not that any of you are good enough for her, but you’re damn closer than any other fool my cousin has wasted her time on.”

  “Thanks for that,” Rett said. “And I’ve always wanted to meet her. She sounds memorable.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” Kal grumbled. “We’ve never met her, and I know more about her than about some people I actually do know.”

  “Yeah, Kal, that’s not that unusual for you, bud,” Brody said. “Tristan, make it happen.”

  “You think it’s a good idea?” Tristan asked Brody.

  “Hell, yeah,” Brody replied, while Kal growled, “No.”

  Luke and I exchanged a glance, more inclined to agree with Kal. When you’d heard as many wild child stories as we had over the years of Laia Llary, Tristan’s cousin and partner in crime, you’d have to wonder who could handle her.

  “Probably not a good idea,” Kal continued, his eyes flicking to Rett.

  “Mm, don’t worry,” Tristan said and grinned at Rett. “Your cousin is her type.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about!” Kal barked. “Don’t sic your man-eating cousin on my poor cousin.”

  “Hey,” Rett protested.

  “She’s not a man-eater,” Tristan said, and then he lapsed into thought. “Or is she?”

  “Man-eating might be good for Rett,” Brody said innocently.

  “No matchmaking,” Rett said, immediately alarmed. “I don’t mind meeting Laia. Casually.”

  Brody and Tristan only exchanged a devious look, making Luke laugh and Kal scowl.

  “Hey, don’t forget this is a guys’ trip,” I cut in before Brody and Tristan could heckle the Deacon cousins even more. “The last thing I want to talk about is grown-up shit like relationships.”

  “This place sure beats boot camp or the Boat,” Rett said, sounding a little too glad to change the subject. He tipped his head back and gazed up at the smoldering stars overhead. “Almost like being back at Micousha. Should we sing ‘I Met a Bear?’”

  Without further ado, Tristan and Rett bellowed out a chorus, their voices mingling with our laughter and shouts. Our voices echoed against the mountains behind us, rising and drifting over the crash of waves in front of us. After they were done singing, we fell into a good, long silence. Enjoying the here and now.

  Brody heaved a sigh. “Goddamn, this place blows my mind. I wish I could live here.”

  There was a murmur of assent, then we all let out collective noises of amazement as the sky leapt to life with northern lights. Deep, burning streaks of color, from green to blue to purple, traversed the sky. Something about it tickled the back of my mind and itched at my spine, but I couldn’t grasp it. Everything in me was lost in those lights, a sigh escaping me as the colors became iridescent, making the whole sky look a flame and a song.

  “We should go down to the beach and check this out,” Luke suggested.

  “Bring the booze!”

  Stumbling and laughing, we made our way down there and watched the lights crisscross the sky. It was unbelievable. During all the years we’d spent in the Navy and all my time up here, I’d never seen anything like this. The stars flamed and rolled, twinkling more brightly against the solar wind.

  “What the hell?” Brody suddenly muttered.

  “What’s up?” I asked, too at ease to wonder at his tone.

  “My phone’s acting up,” Brody said and glared at the blue glare. “Damn thing. I’ll get it looked at when I get back home.” He yawned and settled back. “Wanted to send a picture to Lor.”

  “One-track mind,” Kal muttered.

  “Oh, I can’t wait until it happens to the five of you,” Brody said and grinned around his beer. “I’m gonna enjoy every goddamn moment. Me and those ladies are gonna be best friends, too.”

  “You’re a weird dude,” I said with an affectionate laugh.

  “Especially Kal, and you, Xander,” Brody said.

  “Me?” I snorted. “Please.”

  “Yeah, always givin’ me shit.”

  “Only because we love ya, you big-hearted dope,” Kal said, a little drunkenly and unexpectedly. We all laughed at that and ribbed him until we got Kal to laugh, too.

  It was strange none of us thought to go in. Instead, we stretched out on the beach and watched the sky overhead. The show of northern lights was too strong and alluring. Later, we’d all agree it was like we were waiting for something. Some finale.

  Only the soundless unraveling of energy hurtling through space and time wasn’t it.

  The first thing I heard was breathing.

  Deep, rhythmic breathing from powerful lungs. Like a goddamn monster. Loud enough to drown out the susurration of the waves. The breathing was followed by light. Bright, bright sunshine, jabbing behind my eyelids and making me wince.

  It took several attempts to peel them back.

  Finally, it all came together.

  I was curled up on the beach, and the breathing was mine.

  A huge snort escaped me, and I backed up, kicking up more sand than should have been possible. Heart pounding, I whipped my head around and stared at the horizon. It was dawn.

  A gorgeous, pulsating dawn of amber and rose, unlike anything I’d ever seen. The colors were molten as they rippled across the blue-green sea. Everything bright and full of life.

  But why was I on the beach? Had I slept down here? And what the hell was…

  I looked down. Some kind of yelp escaped me, and I fell backward, limbs flailing and muscles in my shoulders bunching as leathery flaps circled around me.

  Breathing hard, I stared at the distance to the beach and shook my head. I was tall, but I wasn’t tall enough to see the tops of the trees. Holding up my hands, I saw the claws instead, and another panicked sound escaped me. I went to yell and couldn’t; a different sound escaped me.

  I was some kind of lizard or friggin’ monster.

  What the hell was in those drinks?

  Scrambling upright, turning in a circle, I felt things tugging at my sides and glanced back. Wings. I had wings. They moved, and I lifted a little bit off the ground, only to promptly fall back down. Excitement, fear, and a massive amount of confusion sloshed around my stomach.

  Is this some crazy dream? Did I get roofied?

  A growl from nearby distracted me, and I looked up to see a gray wolf rolling over, standing up on wobbly legs. It collapsed as I backed up, frozen. Shit, where had he come from?
/>
  And where were the guys?

  The wolf shook himself and stood, staring around, and then looked at me.

  Wait. Wait. I recognized him.

  Luke?

  He went to back up, and then his head cocked, looking me up and down. There was recognition in his eyes, too. Then there was another sound, and I looked to see a polar bear shake itself off and let out an enormous disgruntled snort. I almost laughed. That was Kal.

  Next to him, a black bear rolled over, waving its paws in the air and then going rigid from head to toe. It let out a bellow of alarm and rolled over, knocking into the polar bear. Rett.

  Rett and Kal stared at each other, nostrils flaring and fur shaking.

  A softer growl distracted me. Beyond them was a tiger, who was slowly waking up, arching its back and flicking its tail. Tristan. At first, he didn’t seem to realize, then he twisted himself around and around, before sitting down, breathing hard. I watched as his big head arched down, looking at one paw, then the other.

  “It wasn’t just me,” I said and blinked. My hands flew to my face, my chest, and down my arms. I was back, but I was… “Luke!” I looked over in time to see him shift from wolf to man, then sink to his knees, staring at his hands. “Luke, hey—hey, are you okay?”

  “What. The. Hell. Is. Happening,” he wheezed and looked up at me. I looked over to see Kal, Rett, and Tristan stumbling around, now back to normal, too. “Am I hallucinating?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “Guys, you okay?” They rushed over, with the fast and easy gaits of guys who’d gotten a great night’s sleep. That’s when it hit me, too. I wasn’t hungover. In fact, I felt amazing and strong, my senses going haywire. “We are all awake, right?”

  “I think so,” Rett wheezed. “Did I just have claws?”

  “Never mind that, did Alex just have wings?” Tristan asked and stared at me.

  “Yeah, I think I did,” I said, not sure whether to laugh or get my head examined.

  “What the hell were in those drinks?” Luke got out.

  I shook my head, about to say I’d been wondering the same thing. But a strange, itching feeling was filling me, now. A tingle of some instinct I couldn’t define.

  Later, I’d recognize it as a warning.

  "Guys." Kal’s voice had a strange, uncharacteristic edge to it. “Where’s Brody?”

  Chapter Two

  Tiani

  Present

  The silence of a midwinter night in the Northern Wilds was endless.

  Everything was numb, every toe and finger, every damn cell, all the way down to my soul. All except my mind, which spun around and around, bouncing off of nothing. My breath puffed out in the air and was drawn in sharp, painful bursts, the cold scraping against my throat.

  Pushing forward through a clump of trees, I shivered when the branches clacked together like delighted fingers. Everything was frozen solid, every branch and leaf sheathed in a layer of thick ice. It had snowed three days ago, then melted during a brief warm day, only to become a land of ice when the temperatures nosedived again. Oh, the unpredictability of the Farthing Mountains.

  In spite of the warm burst, teasing the impossible idea of spring, swells of snow still lingered in the hollows and under the trees. However, if you found the right path, it wasn’t bad walking. Most of the ground was covered in a firm, solid crust, and only a few areas were treacherous slabs of ice waiting to take you out.

  I would have given anything for this kind of terrain a few days ago, when I’d been slogging through mud and melting snow. Except now, the depths of cold were shrinking the capillaries of my skin to a dangerous level. So much for taking the long and circuitous route to avoid certain death when now I couldn’t be certain I wasn’t walking straight into it.

  Nor could I turn around or stop somewhere for the night. Not when my stomach was growling and I had no food supplies left. Better to keep walking than hunker down in some cave, if I could even find a cave. No, I had to keep moving, to stay warm and alive, if possible, until morning.

  Long avenues of pines stretched on either side of me, empty and remote. Mountains reared up just beyond, vast shadows with silver crowns. The sky overhead was an arch of pitch scattered with distant, indifferent stars. Cold fires that gave no heat. A full moon dipped in and out of sight.

  It hard to believe there was such a thing as spring, never mind summer.

  And all too easy to believe I could be the last creature walking this strange, lonely world.

  Coming to a break in the trees, I heard a rush of water in the distance and slowed, glancing around. Movement of water meant it had to be deep. The last thing I wanted to do was wind up in a stream up to my knees. Again.

  I went to backtrack when I spotted a narrow path that led west, curving down to a natural archway between two tall and naked oaks. Following it down, I spotted deer prints in the pockets of unfrozen snow, and my shoulders sagged with relief.

  As I stepped up to the archway, my lips parted, and my breath caught. For a moment, I was too stunned to move, then I stumbled forward, cold and hunger forgotten in this impossible, dreamlike moment. Is that…?

  I was standing at the end of a long, tranquil lake filled with starlight and moonlight. Or at least it looked that way, it so perfectly mirrored the sky. Twin mountains in the distance guarded the far end, and I squinted, not sure I could believe what I was seeing.

  A sharp breath pulled in, and a laugh almost exploded out of me.

  Lights. Those were lights on the other side of the mountain. Almost indistinct enough to miss, except if you were me.

  I’d made it to Winfyre Ridge.

  Heart pounding in my ears, I swallowed the dryness in my throat and tried to take a step forward. But I couldn’t. Again, I was seized with the terrible conviction to turn tail and run.

  Only now, a dark chuckle echoed down the years as well.

  Oh, my dear Tiani, when it is time, you will help me bring Winfyre and the Northbane to their knees. No one will see it coming. Not Bane or his family of half-breeds.

  Not even you.

  You, their beautiful doom.

  Nostrils flaring, I shook my head. Orion really liked to lay it on thick, the slimy bastard.

  But still, I couldn’t repress a shudder. I’d sworn to myself, no matter what, I’d never come to Winfyre. No matter what else Orion made me do or held over my head, the one thing I'd do was stay away.

  I'd figure out something. I always did.

  Well, you know what they said about making plans.

  Someone was definitely laughing at me now.

  Closing my eyes, I tried not to dwell on the brief time when the Northern territories had been rife with the gossip of Orion’s disappearance over a year ago. When I’d thought I was free and had celebrated like no one else. Only to be cornered six months later by his vacuous, cruel right hand, Shauna Lind, and dragged into another mess.

  Orion wasn’t gone. He was off somewhere, biding his time. And Winfyre was his first target.

  It always had been, the venom and contempt he had for the Northbane driving all his horrible plans and cruel machinations. Nor was there anyone else he hated more than Xander Bane.

  I didn’t know when Orion would be back or where he’d gone, not exactly, but I knew this place was in danger. The Greyclaw were already in disarray because of him. I couldn’t say for certain, but I was fairly certain their leader was making deals with the likes of Lind. My stomach knotted at the memory of seeing them together.

  I’d never particularly thought Hamlet Norson a great leader, but he’d kept the territory together. While locked up under Lind, I’d heard her lackeys mention in glee how people were leaving the Greyclaw in droves. I had no idea if it was because of Norson’s monstrous betrayal or if Orion was back or anything. All my news was old or incomplete since I’d been on the run for nearly four months. I’d heard whispers where people said a war was coming, but I didn't think so.

  Whatever was coming was much wor
se.

  Get Iris. Get out.

  My best friend in the entire world, my sister, the woman I would do anything for and had, Iris Lisay. She was in Winfyre, innocent of that fact and of so many other things.

  I should have told her before. We should have run while we had the chance.

  I had no idea how I’d admit that I’d traded my soul for her life. Or that I’d do it again. Or that I hoped I hadn’t condemned an entire territory by doing so.

  We’d been sisters in the system together and roommates since we were sixteen. When you found a friend like Iris, you did anything for her because she would do anything for you. She was the only family I had in this entire world. My fists clenched.

  We’ll escape. We’ll run, and she’ll never know.

  Besides, I’d made it this far, sneaking past the patrols and gates to get into Winfyre. It hadn’t been easy since the borders were closed. However, I wasn’t about to be subjected to any cross-examination. Knowing Lind, she would’ve prepared for this eventuality. Compared to her and Orion, dealing with Winfyre was child’s play.

  I was pretty sure I could sneak one honey-blonde best friend out of here, too.

  About to step forward, a different glow caught my eye, and I turned towards the north, watching as the sky lit up with swaths of green light. The bands became brighter, stretching across the sky, and I tipped my face up to watch them, leaning back against one of the twin pines.

  Aurora borealis, scattered solar winds moving through the upper atmosphere of the earth.

  For a moment, I felt a twinge of regret I couldn’t stay and watch.

  There was a rush of wind, and I shivered, watching ripples move across the water. I glanced at the lake again, and my entire body went rigid, spine prickling with dull bursts of electricity.

  Roaring filled my head. Staccato heartbeats clogged my throat. Nerves, incongruous to the shock, prickled through my numb body, startling me into adrenaline-laced wakefulness as my muscles became tauter by the second.

  I should run. The whispered thought was practical.

  But I never ran.

  Instead, I watched, eyes huge as I barely took a breath. I had to see it all. I had to.