Defy Me Read online

What? Her head exploded? Holy crap. That was kind of a pretty bad mistake.

  "For being a unicorn you take things awfully literally, Yvaine. Fallyn's head is intact, but she's had it rough that one."

  Sorry. I'm kind of new to this mythical creature thing. Fallyn is still alive then.

  "Once Jett helped rescue her from hell. I have to admit, he does have the heart of a dragon. He reminds me so much of his father. All rebellious and broody. If it wasn't for his mother, I think I'd really like him. I am trying. I found you for him, didn't I?"

  My Jett? All she did was ask the goddess questions. This entire conversation was so confusing. She had the feeling she was supposed to be getting something out of it. She had no idea what.

  "There's only one." Duh, her tone said. "Anywhoo, now the poor thing is scared to death of the one dragon who would give anything to be with her. If she knew he was willing to die, to sacrifice his entire being to save her soul, she wouldn't want him to do that. Yet she's been doing it for him her whole life."

  Sacrifice. To save a soul. A cold shiver shook her hide and her limbs went a bit numb, like they'd fallen asleep. She wasn't entirely sure they were still talking about Fallyn. She wouldn't want that for him.

  "No." A flurry whipped through the field, sending the goddesses dress and hair into a frenzy. Her expression soured and she set down her teacup hard enough it cracked. "Let me ask you this, Yvaine. What good does it do to find your true mate and then give it all up for some noble cause?"

  Gulp. Because he'd be alive.

  "Pshhh. Not really. A piece of him would be missing. They can't live that way. They can exist, but it's a half life. It's a sad state of affairs for a dragon. Most of them don't survive." She threw her hands up in the air completely disgusted with the idea. "There's no way Fallyn would want that. I mean, would you?"

  Yvaine reared up and kicked at the air. I have to get back to him. I don't want that for Jett. I don't want that for me.

  The wind died down and the goddess poured a new cup of tea, her mug restored from the pieces she'd smashed it into. "I'm afraid you're here to stay."

  No. She had to get back to Jett, back to life. Hers was just beginning. She'd gotten it all wrong. She thought if she just found out who or what she was that it would all mean something. This was all wrong. Terribly wrong. She galloped away from the goddess, through trees and over the hills. She ran and ran until she was exhausted and couldn't go anymore. She slowed to a walk. Had to keep going. The table, the tea, and the goddess reappeared in front of her and she collapsed onto the grass. Between long hard breaths she threw her questions at the woman, angry she even had to ask them. What is this place? Why are you keeping me prisoner when I should be back there?

  The goddess took a sip of her tea. "Oh, you're dead."

  Yvaine got back up and pawed at the ground. Dead?

  She didn't feel dead. She was breathing hard, her heart beat wildly in her chest, her soul ached to be back with the one she loved. This wasn't death and she refused to be dead.

  "Mostly." The goddess nodded and shrugged.

  Is that even a thing?

  "There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead."

  Yvaine had heard that somewhere before. Then I can go back.

  "I can't do anything with all dead. That's not my realm. Been there, done, that. Started a war. They don't have t-shirts for that kind of thing though."

  But mostly dead, Yvaine crossed her mental fingers she was right about this, is slightly alive.

  That's how she'd been living her life. Only slightly alive. Waiting for her real life to show up. What a waste. How had she not seen that before?

  The woman slow-smiled and gave Yvaine the smallest of acknowledgement nods that meant she'd given the right answer. Good. Now that they'd gotten that straight, the goddess could send her back, save her so she could start living her real life.

  "I can't save you, Yvaine. So don't ask."

  Oh. She totally was about to.

  Save herself. If she wanted to live, she had to save herself.

  Yvaine opened her eyes and closed them again. Wow. She had the worst headache. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth a few times trying to stave of the shooting pain in her head, her hands, her arms, her legs, her stomach. Pretty much every part of her hurt. "Ouch."

  "Yvaine?"

  She reopened her eyes and saw Jett, in his handsome man form, covered in silver goo. Just the man she was looking for. "You have to live."

  He stopped breathing for a second and then grabbed her up in his arms. "Me? You're the one who died on me, damn it."

  She breathed in his smoky scent."Sorry about that. I know better now. Besides, I was only mostly dead." And she wasn't going to live that way anymore.

  Jett held her so tight she couldn't see his face, but his body was shaking. She wanted it to be with laughter, but he was in shock. "That's not a thing."

  "I think it is. I've been doing it for a while. Until I ran into you and your forced me to start living me life. Thanks for that." The goddess had said she hasn't shown that person she'd lost that he had value beyond what he could do for others. Yvaine had been on that same path. Out of anyone in the whole world, Jett should have been the one to want her to use that value to save himself and his brethren. He hadn't wanted that at all.

  Jett clasped her tight in his one good arm and stood up, turning in a circle. Looking for a way out. "I'm not sure I'm the one to thank, but I'm happy to oblige you some more later. We need to get out of here now. The demon dragons are revolting. They've got Ereshkigal and the Annunaki on the run. I think her curse is breaking down. She doesn't have control over them anymore. We can escape while they're distracted."

  A demon dragon whipped by them shooting fire in every direction like it was in a parade. A group of them danced in a circle around a big rock with metal handles in it. The were lashing it with their tales breaking it to bits. Oh, yeah. They were revolting all right. Like a group of teenagers whose parents were out of town for the weekend. "Jett. I want you to know that you're more than the man who has to save the demon dragons from your father. That's a great mission, but it's not going to make you whole. I know you think you're missing something inside. You're not."

  The fire in his eyes flickered. "Because of you. You've shared your soul with me. I think it's what saved me from succumbing to Ereshkigal's curse again. My brother was not so lucky." He pointed to a dragon swinging from a stone stalagtites in the ceiling. "Your blood alone could break the curse. But without a soulmate their demon selves took over. Your soul saved me."

  "I did share my heart and soul with you, but I can't save what isn't already there. You did that. You saved yourself."

  "I don't think I believe that." He stopped her from interrupting. "But I will maybe concede we saved each other together."

  That would do for now. She kind of liked his theory. "What about these guys? Can we get out of here and take them with?"

  "That's easier said than done. I can open the shadow, but I can't fly. My wing is still shattered. With all of them running amok, I'm afraid Cage and the dragon warriors would not take to kindly to us releasing them from hell."

  Poo. "Lead them then. They've revolted against Ereshkigal, it seems like you put it in their heads that they don't have to be enslaved to the Black Dragon. All they need is someone who actually cares what happens to them to show them the way."

  Jett's eyes flamed with pure blue hot flames. She watched as his mind turned the idea over in his head. He'd thought for so long that he had to free them, but they'd freed themselves. "I'm not their savior. I'm their Wyvern?"

  He shook his head. Not believing his own train of thought.

  She kissed his jaw in her favorite spot. "Duh."

  "The Wyvern." It wasn't a question this time. "Of this motley mess of half dragons. The other Wyverns will not accept them, us. We're half demon, what they've been fighting against their whole lives."

  Yvaine remembered wha
t she'd seen in the goddess's tea time. "You'll find a way to convince them. They were already prepared to fight with you. I saw them battling in the field around the abbey above ground. At least I think that's what I saw."

  "We can't simply join their ranks. These guys have known nothing more than death and destruction. I can't be the Black Wyvern and think everything is going to be all hunky dory."

  From out of the back of the cave and enormous dragon appeared. His scales were every color of the rainbow and he was twice as big as any other dragon Yvaine had seen. But she recognized his eyes. They were kind and had helped them before. You're right, son. You cannot be the Black Dragon Wyvern.

  It's mental voice echoed through the cavern so loudly that every demon dragon halted in its tracks. A few hissed and screeched, flapping their wings at the big dragon. The majority of them simply stared. The dragon shook his head at them, looking slightly disgusted. No manners, these ones. They're going to be a handful, my boy. But you'll lead them just fine.

  "You just said he wasn't the Wyvern."

  The first son of the First Dragon is always the Wyvern. What I said is he isn't the Black Dragon Wyvern. Because there are no such things as black dragons.

  Yvaine waved her hand around the room. "Then what are these guys?"

  I believe you've been calling them batstriches. I'd like to see them be more than that. Rise up, my son.

  "So you can bring the Black Dragon down to kill me and take over his Wyr? He is your son, isn't he?" Jett snarled and his dragon shimmered to the surface. He clasped Yvaine's hand in his, grounding himself to her.

  He is. He is the first born dragon of mine and Inanna's. But he isn't the first son of the First Dragon. He has no claim to the Demon Dragon Wyr. Before I met Inanna, or rather, before she fought her sister and saved me from the depths of this hell, I had another son. The product of my union with a Galla Demon. Your mother.

  The big dragon, who Yvaine now understood must be the First Dragon blew a swirl of rainbow colored fire into the cavern, lighting each of the demon dragons on fire. But they didn't erupt into flames, they grew and stretched their wings and transformed into big black dragons with fiery eyes, almost identical to Jett's.

  You aren't the Black Wyvern, my son. You're the Demon Dragon Wyvern.

  Wyvern of Another Color

  You are the Demon Dragon Wyvern.

  The words played over and over in Jett's head. The Demon Dragon Wyvern.

  Demon Dragon.

  Wyvern.

  The first son of the First Dragon.

  The first son.

  "Jett?"

  He should probably be doing something, saying something. He couldn't seem to get his arms or legs or anything else to work. Yeah some great Wyvern he was going to be, frozen in place by fear in hell. The brothers he'd known in their withered forms no longer squawked and hissed. A thousand mental voices filled his head until he couldn't hear his own thoughts.

  ...you're more than the man who has to save the demon dragons...

  "I think they're all waiting for you to say something since you dad just up left in a poof of rainbow sparkles."

  Yeah. They probably were waiting for him to say or do something. Hell if he knew what. He didn't know anything about being a leader. Where would they live. Who was going to teach them all about how to control the shadow. How many dragon warriors would they have to fight before--

  Yvaine grabbed his cheeks in her hands and yanked his head down to hers. She planted her lips on his and snuck her tongue inside his mouth before he even finished his dark thoughts. He resisted her for a split second before closing his eyes, threading his good arm into her hair and kissing her like his life depended on it.

  It did.

  The good part of his life anyway. The part he wanted to live with her. "Yvaine."

  "There you are. I like it when you growl my name. It's very sexy."

  "What would I do without you?" She could maintain that she hadn't saved him, but he would always believe that without her he'd still be slumming it in some bar waiting for the cure for all his ails to simply appear. She changed everything and made him want to be a better man. A better dragon. A better demon dragon.

  She smiled up at him and patted his cheek. "Apparently stand around with your thumb up your butt. Hey, if you're like the king now, does that mean a get a crown?"

  He scanned the room and saw his Wyr, each and every one of them also trying to figure out what had just happened. All but one. The brother who'd first broken Ereshkigal's curse. Maybe with Yvaine's blood, maybe not. "You can have whatever you want, love."

  Yvaine traced the path he was staring and pulled away. Too bad. "Maybe after we get out of hello kitty."

  "Really? Hell is one of the words you can't say. It's just a place." Granted one laced with evil, tortured souls, and destruction.

  She shrugged.

  Two demon dragons scuffled in one corner of the cave drawing Jett's attention away from his lovely soul mate's lips. He supposed if he left the demon dragons to their own devices much longer they would all start getting ideas about fighting for dominance. He needed to establish the hierarchy and a chain of command now so they knew where they stood and what they could and could not do in this new world they were all living in.

  He cleared his throat and opened his mind to all of them. When he spoke there was a new tone to his voice. One of the alpha. "Brothers. The tide of our fortunes have changed, thanks in part to your determination to throw off the yoke of Erishkigal's spell. The First Dragon has granted us a new lease on life. I can not promise it will be easy. We will have to find a different way of living than any of us have ever known before. I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to make sure you each get a fair shake, but there will be no handouts from me or the dragon warriors. Each of you will have to work for everything you need."

  Several demon dragons stepped forward and shifted into human forms. They looked surprised at first that they had the power to assume these new forms, then the first one spoke. "What about mates. How did you steal the soul to get yours? Will you teach us?"

  "No." There were so many growls from the demon dragons the room vibrated with the noise. "Because I won't need to. We were taught by Ereshkigal and the Black Dragon that we were soulless. They were wrong."

  More demon dragons shifted. "But we do not have shards like the dragon warriors. How do we know we have souls?"

  Good questions. Jett took Yvaine's hand and thought carefully about how she'd helped him understand that his own life had that inherent value. It wasn't her words, although they'd helped drive it home. It was the way she'd simply believed in him all along. "Look inside yourselves, that glimmer of magic, the part that you can feel the shadow moving within, the piece of you that says live, damn it, live. That is how you know you have a soul."

  Some of the demon dragons nodded, understanding. Many more scowled at him. It would take time for them to believe their lives were worth living, that the worthlessness that had been beaten into them for so long was wrong.

  "And mates?" His brother stepped to the front of the pack. The fire in his eyes burned with a covetous light at Yvaine. She didn't flinch. Jett wanted to. He didn't want anyone thinking about her in any way other than as mate to their Wyvern. Except he'd probably looked at Azy and Ciara the same way. Without having seen how a mate had changed Cage and Jakob, Jett might not have wanted one of his own. His Yvaine was the shining light of promise to each of the demon dragons that there could be someone who loved them out there in the world too. He could not deny them that.

  "How will we get shards of our souls to give to them. We've all seen the dragon warrior's shards glow when they are with their mate. They give that piece of their souls over to their mate for safe keeping. We don't have that. How will we know?"

  "You'll know. Trust me. You'll know. We are not the same as the dragon warriors. We will have to figure out what is right for our Wyr, together." That seemed to appease the majority for now. He an
swered a few more questions, one about names that he couldn't answer for them. He didn't know where he'd gotten his own name, only that he had one.

  Yvaine supplied the answer. "It will be a right of passage for you all to choose a name for yourself."

  His brother, still at the front of the group turned and addressed the Wyr. "I have been in the world in this form and I choose for myself the name Neo."

  A fine choice. "Neo, stand before me in fealty. I name you the second to the Wyvern. Should I ever fall in battle, you will lead our brethren."

  Neo stood tall and took Jett's arm and hand, clasping them. "Thank you, brother. I accept."

  "Excellent. Your first duty as my second is to find us a place to live. I am tired of the depths of hell. Let the shadow guide you." Neo raised his eyebrow, jerked back and touched his forehead, clearly surprised his face had moved in that way. Jett clapped him on the back. "Choose some lieutenants too. We need to organize this exodus out of hell."

  Neo pointed to a few of the demon dragon men in the front row to come forward. "What of the dragon warriors. Won't they attack when they see so many of us rising from here?"

  Jett nodded. He'd been thinking the same thing. He would seek out Cage first as the AllWyvern of the dragon warriors. "I've got some favors owed from them. I'll be using those to call an AllWyr. Soon enough the other Wyverns will have to learn of and accept our new status."

  "Good luck with that."

  He was going to need it.

  They spent the next several hours organizing the demon dragons into groups with varying tasks. Jett spent most of his time teaching individuals how to harness the shadow to they could pass through it. Yvaine tended to the wounds of many of them. She discovered after she sneezed on one of them that it wasn't only her blood that had magical powers, but her saliva too. Old wounds were healed and those who'd had trouble shifting between dragon and human form could move between the two easily after she licked her hand and touched them. She was with one small group of them who were making her laugh so hard she was crying and when she wiped a tear from her face Jett excused himself to join them.