The Dragons of Paragon Read online

  Marius’s skin chilled. He stopped breathing. Stopped blinking. Tried to make out the word his father mouthed to him from the beyond. The glass dropped from his trembling hand.

  And Harlow caught it.

  “Is everything all right?” Harlow asked. “Are you unwell?” She turned to look where he was staring, his empty glass cradled in her palm. Killian disappeared like so much smoke. There was nothing there. Just the empty corner of the room.

  Marius shook his head and took his glass from her. “Thank you. I’m still recovering,” he said. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to retire to my rooms.”

  “I understand. It is very late. Take care of yourself.” She smiled, and he noticed her red lipstick exactly matched her dress. Oddly, he found he was almost sorry to have to cut the conversation short.

  “It’s been a pleasure, Harlow,” he said automatically before bowing and retreating from the room. Halfway into the hall, he was surprised to discover that he actually meant it.

  Thank you for reading the DRAGONS OF PARAGON. If you enjoyed this title, please leave a review wherever you buy books.

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  Marius is back, baby! But he’s not sure who he is anymore. So much of his identity is wrapped up in his former destiny to be king. Without a place or purpose in this new kingdom, he feels lost. Worse, he’s not sure he ever was the person his royal life led him to believe he was.

  Can Harlow help him remember his true self? With her at his side, he might just be brave enough to carve out a new existence, if forces from the past don’t come between them.

  Find out more in THE LAST DRAGON! Order your copy now.

  Or turn the page to read an excerpt.

  Excerpt: The Last Dragon

  Chapter 1

  Ash snowed from the sky, sparks of bright red fire lighting up the otherwise endless darkness. An otherworldly growl came from somewhere in the woods beyond the cave—thick, dense woods filled with sharp claws and slashing teeth. When the hunters killed, they stole more than one’s life. Life was meaningless here, after all. What those monsters took was far more chilling.

  “I’m so hungry. We have to try for the temple.” The voice beside Marius was a low whine. If a rat could speak, it would have that voice. But the other man was right. They needed food or they’d become weaker and weaker, unable to die but also unable to move unless some other soul took pity on them and carried them to the sacred place.

  “We go together,” another voice said, this one lower, more confident. Killian.

  Marius couldn’t see the other man in the darkness, but he knew his face well, knew that he could trust him. They were connected somehow, from before. How exactly, he couldn’t remember. That piece of history had been buried by pain and darkness long ago. So long ago. A lifetime. Maybe, if he’d had time and enough light to see the man, he’d remember. Not that it mattered. Every day was about survival. There was no room in his mind for anything else.

  His hand gripped the hilt of the sword hanging at his side in a black leather scabbard. The other man tapped the heel of his spear on the cave floor.

  “I’ll help too,” the rat man said. But Marius knew that only meant he’d follow behind and keep a safe distance from any violence. That man had never even found a weapon for as long as he’d been in this strange, desolate place, and the only reason he had fighting leathers was because Marius had found him some.

  Killian didn’t respond. An exploding ember lit the sky beyond the cave. “Now,” Killian said.

  Marius sprinted toward the temple, weaving in and out of trees at breakneck speed. A screech came from behind them, and he whirled to find Killian facing off against a hunter. The winged beast’s skin was gray and leathery, its head covered in rows and rows of eyes, and its lipless mouth unable to close fully due to the length of its many teeth. It slashed a multijointed limb through the darkness.

  Marius swung his blade, lopping off the thing’s claw before it could reach Killian. He spun, ducked, and thrust. A metal-on-metal screech sounded as his sword slid into the thing’s steely flesh.

  And then he woke up.

  Marius blinked at the thing in front of him. He was warm and well fed, surrounded by shiny obsidian. On the floor in front of him was a suit of armor through which he’d stabbed a sword that was not his own. It wasn’t even an actual weapon. He realized in horror that it was part of the sculpture, the sword that the suit of armor had been holding.

  “Uncle Marius?”

  He spun to find Charlie standing behind him in the hall, her blond hair a tangled mess and a stuffed bear clutched under one elbow. What did Raven call it? A teddy bear. That was it. The girl loved her bear. He couldn’t get over how much she’d grown this past year. Her development was rapid, even for a dragon. Then again, she was only half dragon. The other half was witch like her mother Raven. It was still to be seen how the two species would manifest in the child. She’d yet to shift and had no ring as he and his brethren did.

  “What are you doing up?” he asked her. He silently thanked the goddess that he hadn’t hurt her. He could have. Might have stabbed her in his sleep as he had the suit of armor. “Your mother and father would not like to know you’re out of your bed in the middle of the night.”

  The little girl rubbed her eyes with her tiny fists and ruffled her strange, feathered wings. “I heard you.”

  Marius looked right then left down the hall. If anyone else had heard what he’d done, they hadn’t come to help him. “I’m sorry I woke you, but you should have left it for the guards to sort out. What would you have done if I was something dangerous?” He was, extremely dangerous. Again, his stomach tied itself in knots over the possibility he might have hurt her.

  “I knew it was you, Uncle,” she said, confused.

  “How did you know it was me? Anyone could have made this noise.” He gestured to the destroyed suit of armor.

  Her little nose wrinkled, and she wiped a hand across her forehead, sweeping platinum curls from her eyes. “That’s not what I heard. I heard you screaming, inside my head.” She pointed at her temple, and ice formed in his veins. “I came and woke you up so you wouldn’t be scared anymore.”

  He swallowed. “You woke me up?”

  She nodded. “I used my zappy zap.”

  “What’s your zappy zap?”

  “Mommy said I shouldn’t talk about it.”

  “You can tell me because you used it on me,” Marius said. “I already know about it.”

  Charlie’s brow furrowed as she thought about that for a moment. Then she clapped her small hands together. A shock flowed through Marius, making the tiny hairs on his arms and legs stand on end. “That’s a fun trick.”

  “Mommy says I’m not supposed to use it unless I’m in danger.”

  “You have a very smart mommy.” Marius held out his hand to her. “Come. I’ll tuck you in.”

  She slipped her tiny fingers into his, and they padded toward her room. “What was your bad dream about?”

  “I don’t remember,” Marius lied.

  “I saw a monster.” Charlie’s slippers scuffed across the floor.

  “You could see what was happening in my head and hear me scream?”

  She nodded.

  “Does that happen to you often?” Marius asked.

  “No. One time with Aunt Avery, but her dream was pretty, all sunshine and blue sky.”

  Marius sighed. “Great,” he mumbled. He’d have to tell Gabriel about this. Charlie clearly had some psychic abilities he and Raven weren’t aware of. “I’m sorry my dream scared you, Charlie, but it was just a dream. Nothing real. If it happens again, try to push it out of your mind.”

  She stopped in front of her room and giggled. “It doesn’t scare me, Uncle Marius. You killed that monster. Killed it dead. You would never let it get me.”

  He kissed her on her head, noticing how his hair, now completely lacking color, almost matched hers, although her eyes were blue and her skin was a warm gold, perf
ectly smooth and unmarked. He gave her his most reassuring smile. “I would never let anything get you, Charlie. Not on purpose. But I’m afraid, if I’m having a bad dream, I might bump into you and knock you down. I’d be asleep and not know you were there.”

  Her young face grew serious. “I’ll send my zappy zap through you from far away.”

  That made him smile. “Okay, little one, into bed.” He lifted her into the plush four-poster and pulled the frothy pink blanket over her. She tucked her teddy bear under her chin and closed her eyes.

  “Uncle Marius?”

  “Yes?”

  “Mommy says that bad dreams happen when something isn’t going right in your life and your brain tries to work it out.”

  “Hmm. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Maybe if you fight the monsters in your real life, you won’t have to fight them in your dreams.”

  He studied the little girl and placed a kiss on her temple. “Goodnight, Charlie.”

  Meet Genevieve Jack

  Award winning and USA Today bestselling author Genevieve Jack writes wild, witty, and wicked-hot paranormal romance and fantasy. Coffee and wine are her biofuel. The love lives of witches, shifters, and vampires are her favorite topic of conversation. She harbors a passion for old cemeteries and ghost tours, thanks to her years attending a high school rumored to be haunted. Her perfect day involves a heavy dose of nature and one crazy dog. Learn more at GenevieveJack.com.

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  More From Genevieve Jack!

  The Treasure of Paragon

  The Dragon of New Orleans, Book 1

  Windy City Dragon, Book 2,

  Manhattan Dragon, Book 3

  The Dragon of Sedona, Book 4

  The Dragon of Cecil Court, Book 5

  Highland Dragon, Book 6

  Hidden Dragon, Book 7

  The Dragons of Paragon, Book 8

  The Last Dragon, Book 9

  * * *

  The Three Sisters

  The Tanglewood Witches

  Tanglewood Magic

  Tanglewood Legacy

  * * *

  Knight Games

  The Ghost and The Graveyard, Book 1

  Kick the Candle, Book 2

  Queen of the Hill, Book 3

  Mother May I, Book 4

  * * *

  Fireborn Wolves

  (Knight World Novels)

  Logan (Prequel)

  Vice, Book 1

  Virtue, Book 2

  Vengeance, Book 3

  Acknowledgments

  As I close the eighth book in this epic paranormal romance series, I would like to again thank Anne at Victory Editing for her work on this novel. A huge thank you to Lisa Hollett, Silently Correcting Your Grammar, for her editing skills and story bible. Nine dragons plus mates and supporting characters is a lot of moving parts. Lisa kept everyone’s hearts and rings the right color and ensured consistency across books. I can’t thank her enough.

  Another big thank you to Deranged Doctor Designs for the fabulous cover art. They captured the look I was going for with this series perfectly.

  And finally, thank you readers for trusting me with the hours you invest in my books. I strive to give you a memorable experience and hope you enjoyed this one.