Speaker 1: Dragon called a slow burned, sexy paranormal romance written by
Carl Lockhart and Cassie Alexander read for you by Victoria
may Hi. This is Cassie Alexander, and welcome to chapter three.
Care Austin's movements were as savage as he looked. I
hope the hunters take all of them out before we
kill them. Fuck the truth, Austin, Zach protested, the very
picture of reason enough, Damien said, calmly, the kind of
controlled calm that sounded dangerous. He turned toward his friend.
How did the portal mirror get in you? Zach put
one hand to the back of his neck and rubbed
it before speaking, Well, she she, Austin snarled, dragging his
hand across his face. Of course, your dick got you
into this mess. You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Damien covered a snicker with a cough. She. Zach went
on with the same amount of emphasis, while making a
studious effort to not look at Austin smelled amazing and truthful.
The pain was real, the panic was too. Damien stroked
his chin, And so, how exactly did the portal wind
up inside of you? Zach? Looked any which way, but
at the two of them. Oh god, it was a
sex thing, Austin said, dragging his hand across his face,
the muscles of his thick arms rippling, as if the
wolf inside him were fighting to escape. I didn't know
at the time, Zach protested with a grunt. We were
both being athletic, and you fucked her and she asked
for it rough, Austin muttered, and she some how tagged you.
Oh my god, you are such an easy fucking mark.
Zach growled. Look, and why didn't you tell anyone? Immediately,
Damien interrupted, Because of this right here, he gestured at Austin,
they decimated our entire pack. Austin's eyes went wide with disbelief.
It was a generation ago. Our mother killed herself, killing
everyone who had that blood on their hands. We signed
the truce, you and I and the others together so
that wouldn't happen again. Isn't that enough? Zach stared down
his brother, cool as the professional killer he was, Austin's
nostrils flared. If a member of Starry's Guy asked me
for help, I would only listen to them long enough
to kill them, which is precisely why they didn't ask you,
Zach turned toward Damien. Not everyone has to pay for
the sins of their past, least of all people who
weren't even alive back then. And when were you going
to tell us about the hunters? Damien pressed, Your dick
almost got you killed twice over, not to mention, caused
a shit ton of very hard to cover damage. I
was going to tell you, at least, maybe not him,
Zach crawled a lip at his brother. I just didn't
know I was going to get bitten by an unearthly
creature the size of a fucking bus later that night.
Maybe you got bitten because you weren't fighting your best,
because you were tagged by magical pussy. Austin growled. She
needed help, Zach growled right back at him. And I
would go back in time and fucking do it again
if I got the chance, do her again? You mean,
Austin sniped, then turned to Damien. Can you fucking believe this?
Oh wait, I forgot who I'm asking. Austin went on
his temper, letting his mouth run. Not another word, Damien
said curtly. Austin had scented andy on him when he
came home. Alone during last weekend's full moon. But Damien
never would have met Andy to begin with, had Zack's
injuries not been so severe that he'd had to hire
a private nurse to watch the werewolf when his crew
went out. The both of you pathetic, Austin muttered, say
that again. Damien challenged him the wolf and Austin flared up.
Damien could almost see it rise in him, like the
flicker of a flame, but it was just as quickly
tamped back down. I'm sorry, brother, Austin said only to Damien,
his brother in arms, though not by blood. At least,
your pussy was human pussy and couldn't have possibly been
sent from the realms or hunters against us. She's innocent,
Zach said, gruffly. I'd swear it with my blood. Yeah. Well,
we've all seen quite a lot of your blood recently.
Damien pinched the bridge of his nose. Now that they
had eradicated did all of Damien's doubts that Zach's collateral
damage was in any way intentional. He needed more information.
Grim called Jamison. Grimalkin blinked slowly, and Damien knew his
tech master was being summoned. Jamison had sent him a
cryptic text earlier that evening regarding predicting a gait. It
was one of their many long term goals, the capability
to predict the rifts that happened when assorted realms collided
with Earth, allowing unearthly creatures to come through the tears.
If they ever managed to do it accurately long term,
Damien might finally know what it was like to have
a weekend, or a vacation or a mate. His dragon grumbled,
it was true. One of the things holding him back
from chasing after Andy endlessly like they belonged together, because,
no matter her recent opinion on the matter, they did.
He felt it in his soul was the knowledge that
rifts were unpredictable. As his job to close them, he
might be putting her in harm's way. But if Jamison
had good news for him now, if his science was reliable,
Damien could spend today filling his car full of dresses
and arrive at Andy's apartment the moment she woke up,
to make her try on each and every one of
them for him until he couldn't control himself any longer.
He'd made the mistake of being an asshole to her once, yes,
but he had both the will and means to make
it up to her. Zach got up to join Austin
in his pacing. Grimwolkin expanded the size of the room
to accommodate both of them, and Damien tore his thoughts
away from Andy, refocusing on the men. We need to
have a little talk with whoever you slept with, innocent
or not. She's our only lead to figuring out what
the fuck is going on here. If it's from the realms,
we've got to nip it in the bud. Assorted realms
weren't just populated by chaotic monsters looking to wreak havoc
on Earth. Damien had left behind his kingdom, his family,
and his father's throne. Not everyone was happy about that,
And if she has information regarding the return of hunters,
I want to know that too. A door that didn't
exist prior appeared in the room's far wall, and Jamison
walked through it, dressed casually in flip flops, ratty jeans
that let the black of his skin show through, and
a super Mario tank top that framed both his metallic
shoulder and cyborg arm. D about that text, wait, Zach
you're back. Jamison's face showed a lated surprise at seeing
Zach in human form again. I was starting to get
worried about you, Zach grinned back at Jamison. At least
someone's happy. I'm alive. These guys giving you problems. You
just let me know if you need me to go
all terminator, Jameson said, giving Zack a thumbs up with
his metal hand. Nah, Zach said, clapping him on the back.
Can't keep a good wolf down, or his dick Austin
Addams rolling his eyes, Jamison looked between the two of
them and then laughed. I get the feeling there's more
to this story, but first things first. Where's my sample?
He held out his hand expectantly, where Zack looked at
it blankly. What he asked? My sample? Jamison asked, looking
around at the rest of them. You know the silver
thing you told me about, He went on, turning toward Damien.
Ow fuck me, Damien cursed after Andy had told him
she didn't want to see him again, despite both of
them clearly having had the best sex of their lives.
He'd come home pissed and may or may not have
explained things thoroughly to Jamison, while with him fighting his
dragon down so it didn't rip the roof off his
castle and fly back to her. It's not here. You
didn't like spit it out when you woke up, Jamison asked,
then leaned forward. Should I have scanned you when you
were a wolf? Austin said, you'd be okay, okay, God
fucking damn it. Damien kept cursing as the burden of
realization sank in. No, I put it in my coat pocket,
the same coat he'd gone and given to Andy. He
wasn't even near her, and he was putting her in
danger again. He pulled out his cellphone and sent her
a fast text, I need my coat back. There was
no response, not that there would be immediately, but knowing
that didn't stop him from staring at his phone for
a moment too long, hoping he'd be proven wrong. When
he wasn't. He shoved his phone back into his pocket
and looked back at the men I'll get it from
her later now about the rifts, Jamison winced about that.
Everything in Jamison's bearing turned apologetic as he began to
speak quickly. We predicted the gait within five miles accuracy,
which is a new record, but it didn't work. I
thought you said you sealed it. Damien frown remembering the
text Jamison had sent. I know I got ahead of myself.
The gate we thought we sealed reopened. It might have
been just a matter of using enough juice. Maybe we
underestimated it, and it takes more power to steal a
rift that hasn't been opened yet. But then another one
opens nearby that my algorithms didn't predict. So maybe if
you keep one closed, the power surges somewhere else nearby,
and some octos started pushing through. Don't worry, though, Max
and Mills went to handle them. Damien's phone beaped with
a text alert Andy. He ignored Jamison as he went on,
pulling his phone back out again. No, and whatever cool
he had possessed earlier was not enough. Damian pulled in
on himself like a collapsing star, and Jamison's words were
drowned out by the static of blood in his ears.
No isn't just my name. It was one of the
last things Andy'd said to him, because he'd hurt her.
He'd done it intentionally when he'd been trying to save
her from himself. But that was no excuse. Without thinking,
Damien whorled, picked up the couch that none of them
were sitting on, and hurled it into the fireplace. Grimalkin,
perhaps knowing what he needed, chose not to disappear it,
instead letting the thing shatter and catch a flame. Whoa man,
Jamison said, jumping back. Max and Mills are fine. They
already radioed in. Damien turned and saw the three other
men gawking at him. He was in no mood to
explain the last conversation he'd had with Andy to them,
least of all when her walking away from him was
his own. Damn fault. I hated that couch, said Damien,
striding out in