Freeing the Dragon Read online

  Freeing the Dragon

  Immortal Lovers Book 1

  Nicki Rowe

  The Immortal Lovers Series is a project born out of my love for history and Supernatural creatures. I had spent a year plotting, planning and drinking so much coffee and tea to make this book a reality. I hope you enjoy every thing this world I created has to offer.

  Immortal Lovers is a continuous series that is meant to be read in order, starting with Freeing the Dragon.

  Copyright 2019. Nicki Rowe. All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, places, events, etc are either the imagination of the author or are used fictitiously.

  Cover by: RebecaCovers

  Chapter One

  Angel

  Angel de la Cruz pulled his leg up onto the bench in the middle of a park near Central and Carlisle. Next to him, an election sign had been shoved into the bright green synthetic grass, an African-American woman’s smiling face was covered in spray paint. The slogan read: “Vote Ariel Simms for President. An ally to ALL.”

  Someone had drawn devil horns and a mustache over her face, and crossed out ally and sprayed ‘fiend’ above in crude, blocky letters.

  Why there was a campaign poster this far in Supe territory was beyond Angel. Supes couldn’t vote anyway.

  Angel shook his head at the vandalism and got back to the task at hand as he pulled on the itchy nylon jacket his unit leader had forced him to wear. He was dressed as a morning jogger in shorts, a light jacket and sneakers. His phone was attached to an armband, but not music streamed through the chip implanted into his mind, instead Angel listened to the steady stream of communication between his team.

  As usual Felix Reese, the unit’s Leader, was trying to keep everyone in check, but no one listened. They were discussing the new VR hologram game that had launched two days earlier.

  Angel was silent, but getting restless. He had been jogging around the park for nearly two hours.

  He scrubbed a hand through his messy black curls, as he stood from the bench. Yo, I think if we don’t see our target in the next twenty, we call this thing a bust. His thought was sent out via the chip to the rest of his team.

  “He hasn’t deviated from his schedule,” Astrid put in; Angel could see her through the window of the coffee shop across the street. Astrid was always putting her two cents in, even when no one asked for it. “He’ll show, Angel.”

  Boss? He thought out to the man Angel had looked up to since he joined WatchTower.

  It was Felix’s call if they packed it in for the day or kept waiting.

  “Fifteen minutes,” Felix agreed. “We’ll regroup and come back tomorrow if we have to, but we gotta catch this motherfucker.”

  Their target was named Brandon Sinclair, an average looking man with a rather large nose. He was rich and powerful, an anomaly among the other Supes who barely scraped by living paycheck to paycheck. Sinclair’s name was well known throughout the city among humans and Supes alike.

  Sinclair made his fortune through a network of underground fight clubs and selling Supe magic and such on the black market. The Watch hadn’t gotten involved. The lives of Supes mattered very little to WatchTower, but then some human women were kidnapped to ‘entertain’ Sinclair’s fighters, and well...WatchTower always gets involved if humans are at risk.

  WatchTower was born out of fear seventy-five years ago when the supernaturals started coming out of the shadows. As technology developed it was making it harder and harder for Supes to hide. For decades they lived as equals among the humans, receiving the same access to jobs, education and healthcare.

  But then the Great War happened. The country was split: Human versus Supes. And the Supes lost. They lost all standing, all their education, their well paying jobs. Laws became stricter, and Supes were policed by WatchTower.

  Everything changed in the blink of an eye.

  “I see movement,” Jaden’s voice came through the comms.

  Sinclair walked into the coffee shop, passing Astrid and Mark, and the other patrons without so much as looking up from his phone.

  The shop was filled with Supes, but there were a few humans sitting at the tables enjoying their morning muffins and free WIFI.

  Law 32: Supernaturals ARE NOT allowed on the human side of any town/city under ANY circumstances. Humans can venture and/or live on the Supernatural side of any town/city if they so wish. However, they do so at their own risk.

  The dividing line for Albuquerque, New Mexico is I-40 as of 23 March, 2196. Any Supernatural caught North of I-40 will be executed on sight.

  Angel opened the door to the small cafe, inhaling the scent of coffee and baked goods. He shot a look of disgust at Astrid and Mark who looked a little too cozy in the booth by the window.

  Astrid flashed him a superior smile before going back to playing the flirty girlfriend.

  Angel supposed he should care more about the fact that Astrid was flirting with his boyfriend, but other than the fact that they should be focusing on the job and not flirting, he didn’t really care.

  Probably says a lot about the state of our relationship, Angel thought as he got in line at the counter.

  The man he stood behind turned and flashed Angel a disarmingly charming, but shy smile. His eyes were light gray, the same color as a winter sky right before it snowed. He shoulders weren’t broad, but there was definition to the man, sinewy muscle roped his arms. He looked to be the same age and height as Angel with dark, wavy hair. The man’s jaw was angular, like it was cut from glass.

  Angel had to stop his thoughts from going haywire. With the line of communication open through the chip, the whole team would be able to hear that he found the man attractive. Mark included. Angel schooled his features from drooling over the most adorably good-looking man he had ever seen into a polite smile.

  “Did you want to go before me?” The man asked, his quiet voice matching his shy smile. “I can’t decide if I want a muffin or bagel.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting.”

  The man was a Supe of some kind. Angel could feel the power rolling of him that defined him as ‘more than human. It was hard to tell what powers a Supe had just by looking at them--except for vampires. They couldn’t really hide their fangs.

  Angel supposed he could look up the Supe in the Database, and learn everything about him, including his name, address, DOB, lineage, powers, the stores he frequented every week, where he went to school, who his closest friends were…

  But that seemed invasive, and Angel was not the type of person to use such measures to find out more about some cute guy he saw once.

  The man smiled wider, more confident. A set of killer dimples appeared on each cheek. “Please. I insist.”

  Angel stepped around him, closer to Sinclair, and turned back to Mr. Hottie. “Thank you.”

  “No problem. I just hope you aren’t ordering the entire menu,” he replied with a warm chuckle.

  Angel couldn’t help but smile in turn. It was hard not to be taken with the sweet man. It was almost as if the Supe were a magnet and Angel were metal. He could feel himself getting sucked into the gray eyes, the dimples and the shy smile.

  “I’m not. I promise,” Angel flirted, unconsciously placing a hand on the man’s arm.

  A low growl sounded through his chip. Angel removed his hand, and looked over at Mark who pinned him with a deadly stare. A promise of retribution if Angel didn’t stop talking to the Supe.

  Angel turned around. No amount of cute guys were worth incurring Mark’s wrath.

  “There’s no time for your macho, alpha bullshit,” Felix warned Mark. “We are here for a job.”

  Angel didn’t look at the man behind him again as the line dwindled. He kept an
eye on the back of Sinclair’s head, studying the bald spot beginning to form.

  Sinclair still hadn’t looked up from his phone. The device wasn’t the standard issue phone given to all Supes, which is a violation of Law 15. The government issue phones were obsolete and easy to track; the phone in the warlock’s hand was a new model that had only released two weeks prior.

  “It’s ballsy for him to pull out his illegal phone in a public space,” Astrid chimed in. “Anyone could repot him.”

  “He thinks he’s above the law,” Jaden, their sniper, said. He was perched on top of the tattoo parlor across the street. The sound of him spitting followed his words.

  I wish he wouldn’t chew tobacco over comms. The sound of him constantly hacking is disgusting. Angel had complained about the habit to Jaden who then proceeded to only chew more, so Angel dropped the issue.

  As an answer to his unblocked thoughts, Jaden only chewed louder. His chewing was immediately followed by the rest of the team’s outburst.

  Angel rubbed his temples. Communicating through the chip always gave him such a headache.

  Sinclair reached the counter and finally looked up from his phone. “A grande Americano,” he ordered before the barista greeted him.

  No please. No thank you. Angel rolled his eyes at the warlock’s lack of manners.

  “Anything else,” the vampire asked, smiling sweetly. She appeared no older than eighteen. “We have freshly baked banana bread.”

  “No. Just the coffee and make it quick.”

  The barista’s smile fell. “Yes, sir. That will be three seventy-five.”

  Asshole.

  After paying, Sinclair moved to the side, nose glued to his phone screen again.

  When Angel reached the counter, he greeted the vampire with a friendly smile. “Hi. Can I get a blueberry muffin, please?”

  “Anything else?” she asked, smile firmly back in place. “Coffee? Latte?”

  “No. Thank you though.” Angel paid, slipping an extra tip into the jar by the register, hoping to make up for Sinclair’s shitty attitude. Angel always tried to tip more when he was on the Supe side of town; for every dollar humans made, a Supe made seventy cents. He turned to cute, shy guy behind him. “Thanks for letting me cut.”

  “No worries. Have a good one.”

  Sinclair grabbed his coffee without thanking the other barista and walked out. As soon as Angel received his muffin he followed behind the warlock, digging into his pocket for a dollar coin.

  Angel was the team’s Bait. He and Astrid looked the least like they belonged to WatchTower, so they reeled the targets in with their friendliness or charm, and then the rest of the team swooped in for the arrest.

  “Sir! Sir!” Angel called out, running to catch up with Sinclair.

  He kept walking, head down, nose to phone screen.

  “Sir!”

  Sinclair stopped and turned, squinting at Angel like the mere presence of him was the world’s biggest inconvenience. “What?” he snapped.

  “You dropped this.” Angel held out the coin. The oldest trick in the handbook, a way to get close to the target without showing the Watch’s hand too early.

  Sinclair eyed the coin with a cold expression. “Keep it.” He moved to continue on his way, but the rest of Unit 6482 was closing in. He went stalk still, frozen as men and a woman dressed in black moved in from all sides. “What the fuck?”

  “My name is Angel de la Cruz, come with us quietly--” That was all Angel got out before the warlock took off into the street.

  Well, that could have gone smoother.

  A car honked at Angel as he chased after Sinclair. Felix cut across the street further down to head off their target. They collided on the sidewalk on the other side, people jumped out of the way with startled shouts. Felix tackled Sinclair, pushing his shoulders into the pavement as Angel dug out a pair of cuffs from the small pack around his waist.

  The cuffs were infused with some sort of science or magic (Angel wasn’t sure) that would keep Sinclair from using his powers.

  Angel was only a few steps away when Sinclair’s arm jerked from Felix’s hold, and then Felix screamed. His arms loosened from around Sinclair, and he fell to the side. The warlock jumped up, flashed Angel a self-satisfied smile before darting into an alley. Angel started to go after him, but blood poured from Felix’s side. His hands gripped his ribs to staunch the flow, but to no avail. The blood began to pool around his knees.

  Angel knelt beside Felix, catching his leader as he pitched backwards. The others pounded the asphalt towards them, and Leo, the rookie, sunk to Felix’s side. Mark and Astrid stood close by, guns drawn, eyes caught between surveying the scene and concern for their fallen leader.

  “G-go after h-him,” Felix whispered the demand, blood gathered at the corner of his mouth.

  “Shh.” Angel pressed his hand to Felix’s bloody side. “We’re here. Help’s on the way.” He looked up to make sure one of them had called for help.

  “I called for an ambulance,” Astrid confirmed.

  “They’re going to take him to the Supe hospital,” Mark spat out. “It’s the closest.”

  “This is hardly the time for your bigotry towards Supes,” Leo said as he kept the pressure on Felix’s wound, but his and Angel’s hands were doing nothing to stop the blood flow. Leo’s eyes welled with tears. “Don’t you die on me, Lex.”

  Lex? Angel wondered, but didn’t have time to fully process the meaning behind why Leo would call their leader by a nickname. He seemed to be the only one who had caught the shortened named. The rest of the team was focused on Felix, the life was fading from him fast. His eyes fluttered, his hand went limp in Angel’s.

  “Where the fuck is the ambulance?” Angel yelled.

  A crowd had gathered, phones drawn to take video and pictures. The Unit ignored them.

  “You can’t die on me, Lex. You can’t.” Leo whispered something incoherent, soothing the hair back from Felix’s face.

  Felix didn’t respond. He gave Leo a sad smile as more blood gathered on his lips.

  Sirens sounded close by. Oh, thank God.

  Moments later, EMTs pushed through the crows and placed Felix on a gurney. They loaded him into the back of an ambulance, and someone handed Leo and Angel towels to clean the blood from their hands.

  Other WatchMen pushed the crowd back.

  The Director of the Albuquerque Watch, Alistair Cole, strolled from somewhere in the crowd. His mouth a severe straight slash across his face. The grave look in his brown eyes caused a shiver to go down Angel’s spine.

  The operation had been fucked ten ways to Sunday, and Angel felt like he was to blame.

  “This is a shit show,” Director Cole stated, clasping his hands behind his back. “After we find out about Leader Reese, I want a full report on what the fuck happened here today. Understood?” The unit nodded. “Where is Jaden Till?”

  “He went in pursuit of the target,” Astrid answered.

  A shot rang out nearby, and Jaden emerged from the alleyway covered in blood. “Found him. Um...when you look at his face, Director, there may be some skin missing. My bad.”

  Director Cole sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Please tell me you didn’t kill him. We need to interrogate the son of a bitch.”

  “I didn’t kill him,” Jaden replied, wiping blood on his camo pants, “but he’ll need medical attention.”

  The Director sighed again. “You’re too trigger happy, Till.” The Director motioned for a group of WatchMen to grab Sinclair. “You need to learn restraint.”

  Jaden shrugged. “I have great restraint, sir, but no one messes with a member of the 6482.”

  Chapter Two

  Angel

  Angel leaned heavily on his knees with his head in his hands, listening to Leo pace the small area between the rows of chairs in the O.R. waiting room. With comms turned off, it was hard to gauge what anyone was thinking.

  “It’s been hours,” Leo said, wringing
his hands in his shirt. “We haven’t heard anything for hours.”

  ‘The Kid’ as the unit affectionately called Leo had never been so wound up. He wouldn’t sit still, and every little sound made him jump. This wasn’t the first mission Leo had been on, he was not one to be easily spooked. You had to have a tough skin to be a WatchMan, but Leo looked on the verge of tears.

  “Little bro,” Jaden said quietly. “Why don’t you sit?”

  Leo shot Jaden a hard look.

  The Till brothers had been adopted by Lenia and Walter Till when they were young. Jaden had eight years on Leo, and it was plain to see that Leo looked up to his older brother. At twenty, Leo was skinny and small for his size, but he was great at squeezing into small spaces and was a whiz with computers.

  Angel ran a hand through his hair, his leg jiggling with unease.

  “Hey, Lee, you wanna go to the vending machine?” When Leo looked like he was about to argue, Angel stopped him. “It’s just down the hall. We won’t be gone long, and we’ll be able to see the doctor come out.”

  Leo sighed and nodded. Angel led him to the vending machines about twenty feet away. As he put a dollar in, he looked at Leo out of the corner of his eye.

  His hands were stuffed into the pocket of his jeans, head bowed slightly and shoulders rolled forward. If someone gave him the slightest push he looked as if he would fall forward. Leo chewed on his full bottom lip, picking at a scab healing on his dark umber skin.

  “You’re really worried, aren’t you?” Angel bent down to retrieve his chips, although he wasn’t very hungry. He just needed to do something. “About Felix?”

  Leo sighed. Tears threatened to spill, but didn’t. “Yeah.”

  “Was there something going on between you and him?” Angel whispered. He remembered hearing Leo’s jumbled thoughts as Felix bled out on the sidewalk, the panic and heartbreak in each word brought tears to angel’s eyes. “I know he broke up with André recently and he’s been happier these last few months…”