Francesco Marino

The scientists and doctors with all of their tests weren't able to figure out what was happening to Damon or any of the others. After a long day of training the strong, uninjured dragons, I had checked in on all of them. Damon at least seemed able to stay awake now and was aware, which was progress, but he was so pale, and he had sat up some, but he hadn't stood. That was frightening.

The night was almost over, and I was beyond anxious. Miguel hadn't checked in, and I had no idea if he had saved Audrey, if he had even found the Fanged Serpents, if she was dead, if he was dead…

Not knowing was about to make me go insane. This entire situation was enough to make me go insane.

I poured myself a scotch, a healthy amount, and drain half of it. It burned yet was smooth. Everything about this had me on edge, but we had set up a perimeter around the entire radius of where all fifty of us Three-Tailed Clan members lived. Forty-nine. We all lived close together, a community of our own within the city. We had settled here, taking Philly by storm and had been looking to live here permanently when the Fanged Serpents flew in, destroying everything we had hoped to build.

They had wiped out two other clans by different means. Poisoning the water for the first and death by fire, a cruel murder means for dragons. Had they gone back to poison again this time, poison on their claws? Were Miguel and Damon on the right track to think along those lines?

It was maybe five in the morning when the front door creaked open. I remained in the kitchen, an empty glass in front of me. Wishing I had more poured so I could drink another swallow, I pushed away from the table, stood, and walked toward the door. Walked, not ran, not dashed, not flew. I was too worried about what news there might be, especially because I couldn't smell Audrey.

The sight of Miguel carrying a slumbering Audrey filled me with such rage, such jealousy that I wanted to yank her out of his arms. I wanted to make certain she was all right. I wanted to kiss her, to check her over, and so much more…

But I said nothing. Clearly, she needed to rest, and from the looks of her wrists and neck, the only places where clothes did not cover her skin aside from her face, she had been tortured, although I suspected that she was healing from dragon blood.

My nostrils flared. I had saved her from the very beginning, the one to first lay eyes on her. I had been the one to rescue her from the Fanged Serpents who would have killed her. But Damon had given her blood and forged a connection with her, and now, Miguel had done the same. It didn't matter that Damon's had been severed. I had seen the way she looked at him. Hell, she had already looked at Miguel and me the same way.

My thought drifted to the file as Miguel nodded to me and carried Audrey away from the front door. I locked up and trailed behind him, ready to cough if he dared bring her to his room. No, the dragon entered the guest room—her room—and tenderly placed her on the bed.

The two of us headed for the kitchen, and I poured Miguel a stiff drink and slid it on the counter toward him.

"You look like you could use that."

He nodded gratefully and chugged it down. Who was I to judge?

I poured him more and waited as patiently as I could for him to tell me what had happened, which basically meant not patiently at all.

"She's all right?" I finally asked.

"I saved her," Miguel said, puffing out his chest. A blond Hispanic, he could be hot-tempered at times, prone to fighting first and asking questions later.

I could be just as fierce but mostly when it came to love.

Nothing like this had overwhelmed me so entirely before. I was doing my best to lead out dragons when it truly was a three-person job. Dragons were not a typical human. They were fierce, proud, loyal, and they needed guidance. As a species, we always had rulers. Otherwise, we would risk detection, and given how volatile humans could be, well, we can't ever risk having them learn about us.

So my first and foremost worry should be about the Fanged Serpents. All-out war between two dragon clans in a heavily populated city like Philadelphia increased the probability of being seen a thousandfold. With technology and smartphones, it would be hard for people to be persuaded that nothing was real, that we were legendary like the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot if a clear photo was taken. Yes, we had a few computer geniuses in our clan, but the internet was huge. The news would surely go rival and boom! A mass hunt for dragons. We'd either be locked up as Guinea pigs or killed outright. Neither worked for me, sorry.

"How did you find her? Why doesn't she smell like herself?"

"The Fanged Serpents."

"I gathered they tortured her," I said dryly. "Do you know specifics or not?"

"I was answering both of your questions. I hunted down the Fanged Serpents. I found their lair, and I burned it."

"You did what?" I shouted.

"I needed a distraction." He shrugged and poured himself another drink.

"So you endangered Audrey—"

"She wasn't in danger. I set another building on fire. The flames jumped, yes, but I got her out."

"You idiot!" I slapped the counter so hard that some of his drink splashed over the side of his cup.

"I did what I had to do," Miguel growled. "I brought her back here safely. We weren't followed."

"Like they don't know where we live." I began to pace, hoping to burn off some of his anxious energy, but I was only becoming angrier and more upset with every step.

"They know where she lives."

I paused a moment before resuming my pacing even faster now. "How do you know?"

"They got onto her computer and changed it. Disallowed her password protection."

"So anyone could have gone onto her computer and read the secret file," I said and finished with a stream of curses in Italian that my mother would have died of shock if she had heard me.

"Only if they had access to her computer." Miguel shrugged. "I have no idea what they're playing at."

"Where is her computer?"

"In my car. I don't know if they bugged it, if they can see every keystroke… or if there's a bomb. It's so confusing, isn't it?"

"They could've made a copy of the file," I said.

"But why?"

"Hell if I know! I don't know why they do much of anything, but I'm certain about one thing. You know they're going to retaliate and hard. They took her because they know what she means to us. They changed her scent so we couldn't find her. They—"

"They failed."

"No. You failed. You were supposed to go in and out, be a spy, undercover. In and out, you know? Without being seen or heard or make a fucking scene!"

"I know all about in and out," Miguel said with a wide grin that he and I both knew women found incredibly sexy. I wanted to punch that grin so fucking badly.

"We can't just worry about ourselves," I snapped.

"Our cocks, you mean?" Miguel asked.

"They took her for a reason. If they changed her scent, it was because they didn't want us to find her. What had they planned to do with her?"

"She was near death when I found her," Miguel said. "Altering her scent permanently almost killed her. How in the fuck had they done that? I mean, they had burned her… Her body, her skin… Francesco, it was all fucked up. I gave her blood twice, and it's still not normal."

"I take it you brought her back to her place, and that's how you found out about them coming by her place because of her computer?"

"Yes. I wanted to bring her here, but she fell asleep there, but the idea of them being there made my skin crawl, and I couldn't wait any longer. I thought she might be safer here." Miguel cocked his head to the side. "How's Damon doing?"

"Let's go and see, but, Miguel, if they attack us here, in our home, because of that stunt you pulled to save her—"

"I had to save her," Miguel said simply. "That was the bottom line."

We marched to Damon's room. The scientists and doctors were working in shifts around the clock, and they had just finished drawing more blood when we entered. Miguel shut the door after they left.

Damon, looking pale, was sitting up. "Who's in the house?" he asked.

"Audrey," I answered.

Miguel scowled at me, clearly wanting to be the one to announce the news.

"This asshole just made things worse for us," I complained.

"How so? What did you do now, Miguel?"

The Hispanic glowered at us both. "You two can cut the crap. I'm not a giant screw up."

"No. Just a fuck up," I said.

"Enlighten me," Damon said.

I was silent, forcing Miguel to explain his disaster. Damon's reaction was only slightly more subdued than mine had been, which was saying something since he was the most even-keeled of us all.

"What's our game plan?" I asked once Damon finished tearing Miguel a new ass hole.

"Let me know how I can help," a soft voice said from the doorway.

Audrey.

All of us turned toward her as if we were one person. Honestly, she was our sun, all of us orbiting around her, hoping she would shine her light and love on us.

"A guy named Jeremy…" She frowned, biting her lower lip. Now that did all kinds of things to me. "I can't remember if he told me his last name or not."

"Jenson," I supplied a fraction of a second quicker than my co-leaders.

She nodded. "He talked to me some."

I whistled low. "He's the leader of the Fanged Serpents."

Her already pale face blanched even more. That she was so pale after having blood from Miguel twice worried me, but she seemed to be moving around easily enough.

"What did he say?" Damon asked.

Her gaze settled on him, and she rushed over to him, embracing him. The two murmured to each other, and I turned aside, wanting to give them privacy, doing my best not to eavesdrop. Blood connection broken or not, the two still were bound, that much was clear to see.

And Miguel had ensured he would be connected to her. Where did that leave me?

Green was the color of my eyes, but honestly, it didn't suit me all that well.

Finally, she drew back slightly, although she continued to hold Damon's hand.

"First, I want to apologize to you all," she said. "I wrote a secret file about the existence of dragons and told someone about it with instructions for how to open it only if I disappeared. Well, I did disappear, but it doesn't matter. I deleted the file. I was worried about everyone. This war isn't just about us and your clan and the enemy. They're killing humans. They're involved too, and they don't know anything, and I thought that wasn't fair, but that's not my call. Please forgive me."

She hung her head, but when none of us responded, she lifted her gaze to each of us, worry and confusion plain on her dainty features.

"File's deleted, so it's not an issue," I said.

"The detective's been notified that you aren't missing, so it's all good." Miguel's grin but slightly sheepish nature suggested there was a story there.

"We're concerned about the humans too, believe me," Damon said.

She breathed easier before her features tightened again. "Jeremy mentioned something odd to me," she said, furrowing her brows. "He said something about his being a phoenix."

"Fuck," I blurted out.

Audrey and the other leaders stared at me, confused.

"You never read the old lores, have you?" I grumbled. "Terrible leaders, the two of you."

"Give me a break." Miguel rolled his eyes. "You only read them so that you could impress the ladies."

I couldn't deny it. That had been true… before.

The old lores contained the stories and traditions from the earliest of dragon clans. From the advent of the written language, lores had been kept. Dragon shifters predated the written word, so the oldest of stories were written after having been based down through stories and songs.

"Don't," I warned him. "It's possible, according to prophecy mentioned by one of the earliest dragon clans to ever exist, that one dragon will become a new creature, a phoenix. It is not written how that could be done, and most everyone thought it impossible. No one has ever tried—"

"He didn't tell me he was trying," Audrey interrupted. "He said…" She paused. "'I am a phoenix. Burn me, and I will rise again. You shall see.' Those were his exact words."

I would've begun to pace again, but with all of the equipment in here, there wasn't any room.

What could that possibly mean? A phoenix was another fiery creature, yes, a bird instead of a dragon, one that could rise again from its ashes.

Ashes. Fire.

I glowered at Miguel.

He shrugged and lifted his hands. "There's no way he couldn't have gotten out, and most likely, the fire was contained," he protested. "Don't look at me!"

Damon ignored us and focused on Audrey. "Tell me everything he said to you."

"He was curious why you all…" She flushed, her embarrassment adorable. "Why I mean so much to you. At the end, he said he was beginning to see why."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I didn't scream when they…" She waved her hand in front of her to encompass her body, the torture.

"That is impressive," Miguel murmured. His eyes were filled with so much compassion, a look I hadn't seen him ever give before.

"Is there anything else he said that might help?" Damon asked.

"I'll try to remember if there was, but I can't think of anything else." She inhaled and exhaled noisily. "They used me as bait, although on their terms. Why can't you?"

"You have been through enough," Damon said.

"No, chica," Miguel said at the same time.

"I doubt you want us to save you a third time," I said.

Her eyes narrowed, and she put her hands on her hips. "I was trying to learn as much as I could to help you," she said. "There wasn't a way for me to save myself, but I tried to find one anyhow. I'm not a damsel in distress."

"You're a warrior," I agreed, "but warriors die on the battlefield."

Her expression fell, and she whispered, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"You should rest more," I urged, and I helped her turn around and walked her to her room. I closed the door behind us to give us some privacy, not that I thought anything would happen. Just because of habit, mostly. When you lived with roommates, privacy was something to be prized.

She climbed into bed, and I lifted the covers to her chin.

"Go to sleep," I murmured, and I leaned down to kiss her forehead.

She moved out of the way, and my heart hurt. She had made a decision and was down to two of the leaders. I was the odd one out. Fair enough.

No, not fair enough. I loved her. I would die for her. Even if she didn't feel the same, that didn't matter. My feelings were more than enough for us both.

"I slept with Miguel," she blurted out. "And I… when I was kidnapped, I had a dream, but it didn't feel like a dream, it felt real, maybe because of the blood, but…"

"You and Damon too."

Audrey nodded, looking miserable. "I don't know why, but I love you too. I want you too. All three of you. It's not right. It's selfish and unfair to you all, but that's what I want. I don't understand these feelings, and maybe I don't want to sort through them because I'm happy here, happy with all of you, not just one, and that's terrible, but… It is what it is."

She sat up, the cover falling down. I hugged her tightly, wanting her to know that I was there for her, that I would always be. Fuck. At least she was sitting, and I wasn't pressed up against her because I was hard. My cock wanted her as desperately as I did.

But not now. Not while there was a war going on, while she was in danger. Not while she was confused and torn between the three of us. Not while Damon wasn't injured yet and not healing properly. Not while everything was so fucked up.

Unfortunately, she noticed my cock growing, and she reached for it. I blocked her.

"You can't say you don't want me," she said with a sly grin.

"I would never say that," I said, "but the timing…"

"Fuck timing. We're at war. You said it yourself that warriors die on the battlefield. Why not now when tomorrow isn't promised?"

She had a point, but I still didn't think this was right, but she wasn't taking no for an answer. Audrey climbed out of bed and reached toward my pants. I wanted to refrain from lifting my hips to help her take off my pants, but I didn't. I also didn't stop her from unzipping my pants and fishing out my cock.

Pausing, she looked up at me. At my nod, she licked her lips and put her luscious mouth on my cock. Oh, fuck, that was amazing. I couldn't help touching the back of her head. While I didn't push her down to take more of me in, I couldn't help thrusting my hips a little.

Her tongue swirled around my tip, and she yanked my pants enough that she was able to fit a hand down and play with my balls. They tightened, and I tried to calm myself, to not think about anything because I didn't want to come yet, I didn't want this to end.

"You're fucking incredible," I murmured.

She pulled away long enough to say, "If you say so," before taking my cock back into her mouth.

What? Fuck no.

I drew back and helped Audrey to her feet, sitting all the way up from having leaned back while she sucked me like a porn star.

"You are fucking incredible," I said, staring her in the eyes. "I honestly believe that."

"Then make love to me," she whispered.

How could I possibly ignore that impassioned plea?

I brought her closer and lifted her shirt inch by inch, kissing the exposed skin as I went, taking my time. Once I had almost exposed her breasts, I hesitated.

"My skin," she said, covering her stomach that I had already kissed.

"What about it?"

"I still haven't looked. I don't want to seem vain, but…"

"You're a warrior, right?"

She nodded.

"Warriors gain scars on the battlefield, and warriors are proud of them. They're a sign of courage, of surviving. You are a survivor. You're a fighter. Maybe the scars will fade. Maybe they won't. It doesn't matter to me. Why should it matter to you?"

She rubbed her side, avoiding my hands on her stomach. "Because the sight will remind me of what happened. The pain."

"And what happened after?"

"Miguel saved me."

"And he…" I did my best to rise above my jealousy. "He made loved to you."

"Yes," she said softly.

"And now, we're making love."

"Yes," she repeated. "You're such a damn tease."

"Am I?" I grinned and lifted her shirt to expose her nipples.

My tongue, my fingers, my lips… I teased and loved each breast, one then the other before ripping her shirt over her head. My lips claimed hers, my fingers gripping her hair, drawing her closer. Our tongues dueled, and my entire body burned with desire for her.

Her hands fumbled with my shirt, and I drew away long enough for her to yank my shirt off. Within seconds, we were both completely naked.

For someone who was recovering and had seemed tired enough to go to sleep for a week, she had gotten a second wind. Her hands were wandering all over my body, and then, she suddenly stilled, slowing moving her fingers until they traced my dragon tattoo on my left shoulder.

"My dragon," she murmured. "My dragon savior."

"One of them," I admitted a little bitterly.

Her eyes were shining as she leaned forward and kissed my dragon. "Mine."

My cock certain agreed, and I pulled her onto my lap. I wanted to ask her how she wanted it, but she answered that for me by shifting slightly and lowering herself onto me. She moved slowly at first, gingerly, and I hissed as she finally took my entire length inside of her.

Audrey threw back her head and gasped as I gripped her hips and thrust.

"You like that?" I asked with a smirk.

She gave me a saucy grin. "You like this?"

My love grabbed my shoulders and slammed down hard on me, squeezing her walls around me. I gasped. Pre-cum oozed out, and I thrust.

"Stop," she murmured.

I did my best to comply, and she took the lead, taking me in and out of her, clenching every few pulses. As she gradually built up speed, I couldn't take it anymore. I thrust in time with her movements, and her walls collapsed around me even harder than the other times.

"Francesco," she breathed heavily as she orgasmed.

Her pleasure was enough to send me over, and I—

"Fuck," I said, but it was too late. I came, emptying myself into her.

"What's wrong?" she asked before kissing my neck and nuzzling deep into my neck.

"I didn't even think…"

"A condom? It'll be okay."

"You're on the pill?"

"Yes. I mean, yeah, I missed some because of being kidnapped, but it'll be all right. I'm due for my period in a week. I doubt I'll get pregnant now."

Audrey pregnant. She would look adorable with a baby bump. The thought revived my cock, making me just as hard as before. I was still inside of her, and she noticed, rocking her hips slightly.

"I'm not sure if I can go again this quickly," I muttered, wishing I could.

"I can," she said, smiling broadly. "And who knows? Maybe you'll surprise yourself."

I gripped her waist and flipped her onto her back while keeping myself inside of her. I swallowed her shriek with my mouth so that the others wouldn't realize what we were doing, and yes, about a half hour later, I amazed myself by being able to come again.

There was just something about Audrey. Something so incredible that she had three dragons all on our knees.