Dragon's Ground (The Desert Cursed Series Book 2) Read online

  Dragon’s Ground

  Shannon Mayer

  Copyright © 2018 by Shannon Mayer

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  ISBN 978-1-987933-39-0

  Cover art by Raven

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Afterword

  Acknowledgments

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my family for an endless supply of angst, emotions, and contrary personalities. Without you, I would never have truly understood that truth was stranger than fiction, and I’m not sure my stories would have the depth they currently do without my crazy background.

  Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Maria Potter for her help in this series! (I forgot in the first book damn it!) She helped me start the process of Zamira, Lila and Maks’s personalities and names. ❤️ SO, thank you, they would not be what they are without you!

  Chapter 1

  I lay on my back in my bed inside the place I called home and thought of all the ways I could kill my ex-husband and get away with it.

  Poison in his food.

  Smother him with a pillow.

  Trampled by giants.

  Trampled by anything big enough to trample him.

  Knife him right in his stupid face with a dull blade. Or maybe a spoon.

  The list was long, and sure, you might say those sorts of morbid thoughts are a common fantasy for an ex-wife when her husband turned out to be a cheating, lying, manipulating asshole of the kind the world sees only once in a generation, but for me it was a bit more.

  I was actually plotting how to make it happen.

  Because my ex-husband was not only all of those things, but he had threatened my life and the life of my brother.

  The scene still reverberated through my skull and it made me boil with rage, homicidal thoughts rolling through me all over again.

  Steve grabbed my arm as we left Ish’s chamber, right after we’d returned to our home in the Stockyards. As our mentor and leader, Ish had given Steve the position of alpha of our pride. Sure, the decision was based on lies, but I couldn’t prove it. I glared at him, slowly looking to where his hand gripped my arm.

  “If you value your fingers, you’ll take them off me now, you camel-fucking asshole.” I snarled the words but didn’t jerk away. He would either drop his hand or I would go for his throat right there and not feel an ounce of sorrow over it.

  “You are not in charge, Zam.” He peeled his fingers from my arm, slower than I wanted but at least he let go. “Be glad your brother isn’t here to see this.”

  I narrowed my eyes farther. “Don’t you dare even think it, Steve.”

  He smiled, his canines showing clearly in the light of the flickering candles. “He’s a blight, a weak link in our pride. He should have been put out of his misery years ago.”

  There was no thought process for me at all as I launched myself at him.

  Darcy caught me around the waist in midair and held me back—but barely. “Stop, Zam, stop! This won’t do anyone any good, least of all your brother!”

  She was right, but in that moment, I wanted nothing more than to grab Steve’s stupid, sneering face and shove it into a deep water bucket until he stopped thrashing.

  He snorted and shook his head and spoke as if he’d read my mind. “You should have been drowned as a cub, Zam. Useless and weak. That’s you and your brother.”

  I sat up, and my bed springs creaked as I swung my long legs over the side. My emotions rolled from anger to worry, to hatred and fear, leaving me unable to sit still.

  Above and behind me, my horse, Balder, stuck his head in through the window that connected his stall to my bedroom. His lips flapped as he wiggled them against my head, messing up my long dark hair before he let out a big snort that sent horse boogers all over my scalp.

  “Nice, thanks,” I grumbled and pushed him away gently. He was as antsy as I was, being cooped up for three days. Three days of finding ways to avoid Steve, because the truth was, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t attack him.

  He’d threatened me before, lightly, subtly. But never my brother.

  That I wouldn’t stand for.

  I blew out a long breath and scrubbed my hands through my hair. “Fuck, we need to get moving, Balder.”

  He bobbed his head in agreement, but of course, there was nothing he nor I could do about our current situation.

  Three days ago, we’d returned to our home in the Stockyards.

  Two weeks before that, I’d pulled Steve, his current girl, Kiara, and my best friend, Darcy, out of the dungeons of the Ice Witch of Pojhola. The Witch’s Reign had nearly killed me on multiple occasions and I’d thought that our mentor and leader, Ish, would have been happy to see us all home and alive.

  Yeah, that hadn’t been the case, not in the least. She wanted the Ice Witch’s jewel—a sapphire that would give her additional power over the weather. She’d been furious that we’d not returned with it. Or at least that was what I let her believe.

  I reached under my shirt and touched the sapphire that hung on the chain around my neck next to my father’s ring. A part of me knew I had made things worse by not giving it to Ish. If I’d done that, I could have proven I had been the one to save the day against the Ice Witch. Could’ve shown clearly that I should be the one to lead our lion pride despite my size and gender.

  I should have given it to her. I really should have.

  But I didn’t, and that other part of me knew I’d been right to hold it back. Something was off with Ish, something dangerous and dark that I’d never seen in her in all the years I’d known her.

  That took my thoughts down a path I didn’t like, one that left me unable to trust even the woman I’d thought of as a mother. I frowned and let go of the sapphire. At least, for now, it was safe with me. I was no mage, so there was no call on me to use its power.

  The caw of a raven startled me and I spun around.

  “Balder, am I hearing things?” I asked as I climbed onto the bed and peered out the connecting window.

  He snorted and flicked his head up and down as if agreeing with me. I smiled and reached out for him. He was such a good boy, steady and . . . a second caw cut through the air and a flash of white whipped across the courtyard I could see through Balder’s stall.

  I grabbed my kukri blades and leapt through the window, then over the half-open Dutch door in a single bound. I landed in a crouch, the two blades held out to either side of me. I kept very still while my mind raced with all the possibilities. I’d faced the large, magical White
Raven in the land of the Witch’s Reign. I’d traded for my life by giving her the flail of Marsum, a weapon that was powerful and deadly.

  I’d considered it an excellent trade, seeing as the weapon had tried to kill me more than once.

  I shifted in my crouch, leaning to the side so I could check out the overhang above me. No bird sat there. Probably I was just on edge because I’d been—

  A caw shattered the air and my heart clattered into overdrive. I wanted to leap up and fight, but the caw of the raven came from all around me.

  “We made a deal!” I shouted.

  “We did . . . that is true,” she called out, her words bouncing around me like the ping pong balls in the game room.

  I pushed my back against the wall of the building and slid to my right, one quiet step at a time. “What do you want?”

  “I bring you a gift.” The Raven’s words were suddenly soft on the wind. “My mistress regrets . . . things.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at her choice of words. “Regrets . . . things? You mean like trying to kill us, or worse, handing us over to the Jinn?”

  “Yes, those things, amongst others.” There was a sound of talons on metal and my head snapped up. Above me to the right was the curve of the tip of one talon as she gripped the metal roofing. I continued to move her way.

  “Okay, fine, let’s act like that wasn’t a fucking shit show. Why would she send me a gift?”

  “Maggi went to the Oracle . . . who told her that you need your weapon back.” The talon lifted from the metal roof, disappeared, and then came back into view with . . .

  “Oh, fuck no.” I stood and stepped out from under the overhang, staring hard up at the huge white bird. “Are you serious?” I pointed at the flail in her claw. It looked small in her grasp. But it was a fucking monstrous weapon that not only killed with glee, but drew the energy and life off anyone who used it for killing.

  So, you’d kill your enemies, but you still died. What a deal.

  The raven tipped her head to one side as her eyes narrowed. “The Oracle knows better than all of us. You will need it. Do not let it out of your sight again.” She let go, and the flail dropped to the ground, a clatter of metal against the scattered paving stones.

  “Wait!” I held up both hands as she crouched, her muscles bunching to launch her into the air. “Just . . . is Maggi really Ish’s sister?”

  That probably wasn’t the best question, but it was the one that burned in me. Because of all the implications it led to. That Ish had held information back. That Maggi had thought Ish cared enough for us to save us from her. And Ish had done nothing of the sort.

  The raven crouched, bringing her deadly beak within inches of my face. “They are sisters. You were lucky to survive Maggi, I believe, and you gained her respect for the allegiance you showed to your pride. She holds loyalty as a quality above all others.”

  I swallowed once and then gave the raven my secret. “I didn’t give Ish the sapphire.”

  I didn’t think birds could smile; I was wrong. The corners of her beak turned up and her black eyes glittered with humor. “Then I believe Maggi was right in returning the flail to you. Be strong, little cat. You’re going to need every ounce of your inner power before this is done.”

  A shout came from across the courtyard. The raven pushed off the roof and launched into the air. I stumbled back with the downdraft of her thickly feathered wings, going to one knee to stop my backward slide.

  More shouts.

  I had to move fast. I shot forward and scooped up the flail. It warmed instantly against my hand, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear it . . . purred against my skin.

  “Knock that shit off. You aren’t happy to see me. You’re a fucking weapon,” I snapped, irritated and upset with what had just happened. The purring sensation stopped, but the warmth didn’t. I grimaced, wanting nothing more than to throw my hands over my head and rail to the sky.

  What the hell? The Ice Witch was now my, hell, I didn’t even know what to call her. Mentor? Patron? Cheerleader?

  “Fuck me,” I grumbled as I strode back to Balder’s stall. The shouting behind me was still heavy in the air, but it was just the other residents of the Stockyards—a mixture of humans and lesser supes. They would run and tell Ish what they saw, and I’d tell her I’d made the raven go away. But I was a shitty damn liar so this could go south rapidly.

  I climbed back into my room and laid the flail on the bed. Yes, the weapon was powerful, but the truth was, I couldn’t use it unless I was willing to die.

  I shivered, thinking of the drain on my body when I’d slammed it against the White Wolf. Yes, I’d survived his claws and teeth, but the flail had laid me out as it drained my life in payment for its help. Or some shit like that.

  I’d barely been able to save myself and couldn’t guarantee I’d be able to do it again. I just stared at it. “Seriously, what the hell am I to do with you?”

  A knock came on the door and Darcy poked her head in. “Am I interrupting something?”

  With long blond hair, bright gold eyes, and a smile that normally lit up a room, she was the epitome of a Bright Lion. Unlike my dark hair and green eyes that could not have made me stand out more. Today, though, her sunny disposition was missing, and that made me nervous.

  I snorted. “No, just talking to myself again.”

  Her face was sober and my joke didn’t so much as lift her lips into a half smile. “Steve wants to leave today. I think Ish will allow you and me to go as well. I’m assuming you do want to go.”

  “Does he?” I had to fight to keep the sarcasm from dripping off even those two words. None of this current situation was Darcy’s fault. Well, maybe a little of it was—in my mind, anyway. She could have stood up for me against Steve at any point.

  We could have taken him down together, but when I’d suggested it, she looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

  “That’s not how things are done in a pride; you know that,” she’d said.

  “Well, maybe things need to change then” had been my reply, and she’d turned her back on me and walked away, stiff-legged and angry.

  More and more, I doubted our friendship, and that cut deeply. I’d risked everything to save her from the Ice Witch. But after having Lila at my side for just a week, the little dragon had shown me there were better friendships out there, even if they weren’t between the same species. I just didn’t want to let Darcy go. She was my kind—a lion shifter. We had been friends since we were children . . . but things had changed somewhere along the journey to this moment, and I had been ignoring that truth for a long time.

  Darcy sighed and stepped into my room, shutting the door behind her. “Listen. We must let him lead. We don’t have a choice here, and you know it, so don’t even think about asking me to jump him again. Ish put him in charge of recovering the Dragon’s gemstone. I trust Ish, and she wouldn’t do this if he wasn’t the best choice.”

  Oh, that fucking stung. Steve was not the best choice, not by a long shot. I held those thoughts back. “And what about Bryce? Did she say anything about him? Did she say we could send someone to look for him?” I felt like I was living in a fucking loop I couldn’t escape. Only a month before, Steve had been sent into the Ice Witch’s Reign to recover the sapphire for Ish while Darcy was being held captive by the same power.

  Ish claimed Darcy was lost, and not worth trying to bring home even though Steve was going to the very castle where she was being held. Ish said all our efforts should be for the jewel and the jewel alone.

  Which just meant I’d gone after Darcy with only a supposed human at my side for help. Thoughts of Maks—said supposed human—stirred up a ragged set of emotions I didn’t have the energy to deal with on top of the worry for Bryce, so I pushed them aside.

  “Bryce, what about Bryce?” I asked once more seeing as she didn’t answer the first time. “He’s out there, on his own, and he is going to need help. You know that. He loves you, Darcy. Does that mean
nothing?”

  Because here we were again. In the balance was a loved one and a jewel held by those who were physically and magically stronger than us. What was more important to Ish? I didn’t really have to ask, but I wanted her to say that Bryce was worth saving. I needed Ish to show me that she still cared, at least a little. Or . . . hell, I didn’t even know the answer to that.

  Darcy lowered her eyes, and with that, my heart dropped. “She . . . she said he is lost to us. Those were her exact words. He made his choice to leave when he is not physically strong enough to take care of himself.”

  And there it was again: Ish had made her stance clear.

  The jewel she desired was more important than Bryce.

  I realized that Ish had solidified that stance by making us wait three days before we were even allowed to start out. She’d kept us pinned down to make a point.

  Steve might be the new alpha, but Ish was truly running the show. And she wouldn’t have any of us defying her—or more clearly, she wouldn’t have me defying her to go after Bryce when she wanted my energy to go into bringing the jewel to her.

  I would have snuck off on my own, but Ish knew me too well and put a lockdown on the Stockyards.

  I don’t know what the spell was, but it was a bitch, and I was still hurting from it.

  Yes, I’d tried to sneak me and Balder out on the second night we’d been back.

  I rubbed the palms of my hands, the burns from the magical, and fucking invisible, fence line still healing. Whatever spell she’d laid, it had sunk in deeply, and it seemed to only affect me, as I’d seen servants and others from the Stockyards going in and out, no problem.