Dragon 5 Chapter 10 (Patreon)

I got out of Trina’s car and wondered what the hell Maddie had been thinking, walking through the area that surrounded us.

Windows had metal bars protecting them, and a few buildings were boarded up.

She should have turned back, and I had a feeling she would have if she hadn’t been so focused on trying to get my blood tested so she could help me. Maddie was the type to be laser focused on something when she wanted it.

“This is a shit hole.” Trina commented as she looked around. “If I walked through this area, I’d have to get my claws dirty.”

I looked back over at the dragon. She was in a tight t-shirt that she was in the process of tying up, paired with skin-tight jeans.

“What?” she asked as she looked at me.

“Why do you always tie up your shirts?” I asked.

“So you check out my voluptuous rack.” She rolled her eyes at me. “Don’t pretend like you don’t. I’ve seen it. One day I’ll wear you down.”

I just chuckled and continued into the alley where Maddie thought she had been attacked.

Trina locked her car and then did it a second time, to be sure.

The alley had the stink of long forgotten trash and people with no reason to move it. I wrinkled my nose and recoiled a little.

“The dragon king is afraid of a little stink?” Trina teased.

“Just sort of hit me like a hammer.” I shot back and strode forward into the alley as I shifted the inside of my nose.

Thankfully, with that move, it went from an overwhelming stink to individual scents as I gained the sense of smell of a predator. But I could still taste it in its full vividness. I gagged a little but tried to hide it from Trina.

There was an area of the alley that was disturbed, looking like a recent scuffle had occurred. There were drops of blood leading back out of the alley. “She managed to get back out to the street before Frank got here.” I noted.

“She seems like a tough girl. We’ll help her get through this.” Trina reassured me, stepping over to where there was the most blood and a few scraps of torn cloth.

We both took deep breaths as we tried to scent the area.

My shifted nose picked out distinct scents, and I pushed aside the smells of the garbage and area. Then I highlighted the remaining smells and tried to follow them.

“This way.” I went back through the alley, almost to the end, but then I lost it.

Turning back, I found the scent again. But each time, I lost it in the same spot.

“Look up.” Trina pointed at an open window.

“It couldn’t be that easy, could it?” I replied.

“If it was some fresh vamp that smelled your blood, this might make sense. She passed his window, and he went wild.” Trina threw out a plausible explanation.

I eyeballed the window relative to the building. “Third floor, a few past the corner.”

“We’ll see what it looks like inside. The windows on the front were boarded.” Trina went back around to the front door, which was indeed locked, with a board behind it.

I grunted as I twisted the door handle, and it snapped off without much effort.

No one was watching us and I pushed in, prying the board away from our passage and entering.

The building was half finished. It was all concrete and studs on the inside. Dry wall had only been put up in a few parts, and it was all water damaged.

“Looks like someone’s failed project.” Trina commented.

I wiped some dust off a nearby wall stud. “It has residents, though. You don’t get dust without people.”

My alarm bells were going off. If there was one vampire here jumping out to feed and turn, that meant there were probably others besides Maddie that had fallen to the same tactic.

With most of the place boarded up, I shifted my eyes to see better in the dark. We walked cautiously through the first floor, expecting something to come out of the shadows, but it never happened.

Instead, we made our way over to the stairwell, which seemed the most finished out of anything in the structure. As we neared it, I heard the first signs of life.

The sound of quiet chattering made its way down the stairs to us.

I put a finger to my lips and crept up the stairs, heading directly for the third floor.

My heart was pounding in my chest, but I was loving the adrenaline rush. I wasn’t sure what we would come up against, but I wanted to catch whoever had turned Maddie. I was not giving up this chance.

As we got to the third floor, I crouched and peeked around the door frame.

Multiple forms huddled on the floor, and they talked in hushed voices. I didn’t bother listening.

I shifted, letting my clothes rip off my frame as I grew several feet and wrapped myself in armor like gold scales. Powerfully built and armored, I thought of this as my dragon knight form.

Even as I rounded the corner, the group was already scattering at the sound of my clothes ripping.

“Get him.” A raspy voice screamed, and their sudden surprise turned into a feeding frenzy.

They were fast.

A hag of a woman with torn clothes and gray stretched skin came at me with her mouth wide.

I smacked her aside, or at least, I tried to.

She grabbed onto my arm and clung on with the desperation of a drowning rat. Her fangs slammed into my arm, but she couldn’t penetrate my scales.

Trina was there in a heartbeat, her fist crushing the vampire's skull and sending her flying.

“My king.” She took a deep breath, but I stopped her.

“Don’t. We need their fangs.” I wasn’t sure if her death breath would ruin those, too.

Trina was shifted to match my dragon knight form, yet she scowled at me. “Fine.”

“Contego.” I shouted as a shield popped up in front of me, blocking the next vampire. Then I grabbed the vampire by the back of the throat as my shield faded.

Even the one with the crushed skull would heal enough; We needed to inflict as much damage as possible and force their healing to its limits.

Or we could remove their heads. Morgana had always taught me that was a solid backup.

My other clawed hand grabbed the vampire’s chest, and I tore the head off. There was surprisingly little blood from the vampire.

Trina’s back bumped against mine, and we fought with our claws as a dozen vampires surged towards us.

They had the advantage in numbers, but their strength was pitiful.

A few times, one was fast enough to try to get in between us, but with our strength, we crushed them.

My claws tore through vampires and before I knew it, everything had stopped except mine and Trina’s heavy breathing.

“I think they’re done.” Trina said. “So, how do we know which one turned, Maddie?”

Blinking, I stared at the carnage. “Uh… I’m not even sure which head goes to which body.”

We both said the answer at the same time. “Magic.”

So I shifted back to being human and pulled my phone out of my enchanted bracer. Sabrina picked up on the first ring. “Zach? How can I help?”

“Who said I needed any help?”

Sabrina just sighed. “It always seems like you are in some sort of trouble.”

“Well… now that you mentioned it, I could use some magical assistance. I need to see if any of the dead vampires currently surrounding me were the one that turned Maddie.”

“What?” Sabrina squawked before lowering her voice. “Maddie was turned? Where are you?” I puffed up my chest a bit, happy that she was concerned about Maddie, and not so concerned about dead vampires.

I quickly gave her the address and promised to tell her everything when she arrived.

“The succubus is coming again?” Trina prodded one of the bodies with her foot and stepped over near the stairs. “We should probably make sure the rest of the building is clear as well. Although I would have expected the noise to bring any of the others to us.”

She had a point.

“Let’s go sweep the rest of the building. The last thing I need is more surprises.” I grunted and shifted back into my dragon knight form as we headed down to the second level.

It turned out to be clear, and we made our way up through all eight floors.

We found two more vampires, but they weren’t much of a fight compared to the dozen that had been on the third floor. They could barely move, like they had little blood. There was also a pile of dried out corpses on the top floor.

By the time we had finished, a taxi was pulling up out front and Sabrina was getting out and staring at the neighborhood cautiously.

“Up here.” I waved from one of the few windows not boarded up.

The cabbie exchanged a few words with Sabrina, and I could see she was trying to reassure him that she’d be alright.

I appreciated the taxi driver not just dropping her and flying off. He saw the risk the area posed.

But finally Sabrina seemed to appease the cabby, and the car drove off as she made her way into the building.

“What is this about Maddie being turned?” She asked from the stairwell, pausing only briefly when she stepped out onto the third floor.

“Long story. The short version is that Frank called me to the hospital after I dropped you off at that class. Maddie was bit and turned in the alleyway down there. Maeve thinks she can help her if we get the fangs of the one who did it to her.” I then gestured at the bodies. “We could use a little help figuring out the right one.”

Sabrina nodded and walked in a circle around them. “I need you to move their heads into a pile. Then we need a piece of Maddie after she’s been turned.”

“A piece?”

“Hair would do.” Sabrina clarified. “Vampire lines will trigger the same magic that determines paternity, so we can just do a paternity test.”

“You are not the baby daddy.” I joked.

Neither of them got it, so I sighed and dialed Morgana.

***

“You killed all of them?” Maddie asked, staring at all the surrounding bodies. She’d been discharged from the hospital and tagged along with Morgana to the scene. Morgana was trying to keep her close in case she needed help in curbing her hunger.

Apparently, her lack of straight answers had led her into a fight with Frank, who had stormed off.

“Trina helped.” I put some of the blame on her.

“Come over here.” Sabrina motioned for Maddie. “I need some of your hair.”

“Sure.” Maddie yanked a few strands out. “Whatever you need.”

Sabrina took the strands and wound them around the diagram she’d drawn on the ground.

It was far more intense than the ones I could do.

“If the one that turned me is here, does that mean I go back to being human?” Maddie asked.

“Only if you want to, and only if the fae’s process works.” I told her, not looking away from Sabrina’s work. “The urges you have can be controlled.”

Maddie was quiet, but nodded. “Morgana told me that Maeve’s solution might not even work. I just… it would mean so much change.”

I was certainly sympathetic. When I’d found out I was a dragon, it had indeed changed every aspect of my life. But I wouldn’t wish for a normal life again.

And I could see the temptation in her eyes. The paranormal world was more intense, but it also was magical, literally.

So many human problems disappeared the moment you became a vampire: aging, disease, physical prowess. Morgana didn’t even have to watch what she ate. She could pack as much blood as she wanted.

“If you want to finish the transition, I’ll support you." I pulled her into a hug.

“Thanks. It’s a lot to take in. You briefly described your transition. Has it made life better or worse?” She asked.

I noticed Morgana’s ears twitch and Trina did a very poor job of trying to look elsewhere.

But I didn’t care if they listened. “Better. Things are more dangerous, but I’m surrounded by such strong ladies. We’ve been through things that have made me feel more alive, and my life is certainly richer.” I paused. “Would you tell Frank?”

She licked her lips. “I… I don’t know. If we figure this all out, I feel like I either need to leave him or tell him. It isn’t fair to keep him in the dark. He’ll sense enough that he’ll push me away, anyway.”

I nodded. Frank adored Maddie, even if he was obsessed with the idea of a harem. I wasn’t sure what he’d do without her. “We’ll see. There is still time.”

Sabrina’s work glowed brightly and a searching red light wavered over the vampires present before disappearing in a puff.

“What does that mean?” Maddie asked in a hurry.

“That whoever turned you isn’t here.” Sabrina clicked her tongue. “I’m not quite sure where to go from here. This seemed like it would be the place to find them.”

Morgana had been inspecting the vampires and moved to do so a little more aggressively. “Can you redo that with one of their hairs?”

“Why?”

“I want to know if they were all turned by the same vampire.”

Sabrina nodded and started to use her chalk to change the diagram.

“What are you thinking, Morgana?” I asked, not sure where my mate was going.

She opened one of their mouths. “The vampire fangs are pristine, especially when compared to the rest of their dental care… or lack thereof.”

“Meaning the fangs are new?” I thought I was following her train of thought. Vampire fangs were still teeth, and they should all show similar wear and stains if they were old.

Morgana pursed her lips. “Given how they acted and how fresh their fangs look… I’d guess these guys are less than a few days old, maybe even less than a day old. A few of them are only partially transitioned.”

I nodded. “You think a single person or a group came and turned all of these people? It might even be the same person who turned Maddie. But why?”

“War tactics.” Morgana said. “It was done in the seventeenth century too. To slow down the church, vampires would go in and turn an entire small town, then command them to stay indoors until someone came. They would transition and then grow ravenous. When the church rolled through, they would trigger an ambush.”

“That’s awful.” Maddie covered her mouth.

“War is awful.” Morgana said, wrinkling her nose. “Such tactics would get the entire paranormal community against the vampires in these times.”

“Then let’s bring this to the council tonight.” I growled and scratched my feet on the floor.

Trina coughed. “You can’t prove it was Deniz.”

She’d figured out what I was thinking. After their killing of a dragon on her way to the conclave, I had a bone to pick with the Turkish vampires. Deniz would make a marvellous example.

“Sabrina, can you do another one of these spells at the council meeting tonight? If he shows up, I want to nail him to a wall.” My eyes were shifting, and the beast was pitching a fit in my chest. “He does not get to come into my fucking city and make a mess.”

“I could, but if we do this and it doesn’t lead to Deniz, then what? He’s old and can play politics in the vampire courts.  It won’t be him. He could have had somebody turn them for him. Hell, he may have even targeted Maddie, smelling you on her, to piss you off. To make you make a political misstep.” Morgana warned me.

My beast really didn’t like the idea of being manipulated.

But she was right. If Deniz was behind this, then I was playing a game with someone who was likely ten times my age and experience.

I needed to be more careful.

My beast begrudgingly relaxed, seeming to agree, even as visions of ripping off Deniz’s head and solving the problem easily wafted through my mind.