Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Broken Luna From The Dragon Bloodline: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Briton and Kade stand at the base of Ashcroft Mountain as dawn breaks. They've been walking in circles for three hours."This is pointless," Briton says. "We're no closer than when we started.""The wards are redirecting us. Every time we think we're climbing, we end up back here." Kade examines a tree. "This is the same tree. I marked it an hour ago.""So how do we get through?""We don't. Not without an invitation." Kade pulls out his phone. "I'm texting Jamie.""She won't answer.""She promised to show up for the council meeting. That's something." Kade types quickly. *We're at the mountain. Can't get through. We need to talk before the meeting.*No response."Told you." Briton leans against the same tree they've passed six times. "She's avoiding us.""Can you blame her? We're both complications she doesn't need." Kade pockets his phone. "But those kids need their father. Fathers. Whatever this situation is.""What is this situation exactly?" Briton looks at him. "Two alphas sharin

Meredith looks like she's aged a decade. Burns cover her arms and her left eye is swollen shut."They destroyed it." Her voice is hollow. "Twenty years. Gone in minutes.""Where's Jamie?" Briton demands."Council headquarters. Quentin took her himself." Meredith pulls up a map with shaking hands. "Downtown Clearbrook. Disguised as a corporate office building.""We know the one." Kade studies the layout. "Forty floors. Security on every level. They'll see us coming from miles away.""So we don't let them see us." Briton's already planning. "Jai, can you hack their security systems?""Already working on it. Give me twenty minutes.""We don't have twenty minutes." Meredith's expression is desperate. "They're going to extract Herston's dragon essence. The process takes an hour and it's fatal. They started ten minutes ago."The world stops."They're killing her?" Kade's voice is deadly quiet."Slowly. Painfully. To prove a point." Meredith stands despite her injuries. "We need to move now.

The supernatural market is exactly what it sounds like. A maze of vendors selling everything from cursed artifacts to illegal potions, all tucked beneath Clearbrook's Chinatown.Jamie and Kade navigate through crowds of creatures that shouldn't exist. Vampires haggling over blood wine. Witches examining spell components. A fae trader selling dreams in bottles."Silver root, aisle seven," a vendor directs them. "Phoenix ash is with the alchemist. Third level down."They move fast. Every second counts.The silver root vendor is a witch who takes one look at Jamie and laughs. "You're the Dragon Queen everyone's hunting. Bold of you to show your face here.""I need silver root. Fresh, not dried. How much?""For you? Free." The witch packages it carefully. "The Council's been terrorizing this market for years. Anything that disrupts them is good for business.""Thank you.""Don't thank me yet. Phoenix ash is harder to get. The alchemist doesn't give discounts. Even to queens." The witch le

Kade takes Jamie into the depths of Clearbrook's industrial district at midnight. The streets here don't see much law enforcement and the buildings are marked with symbols only supernatural creatures recognize."Where are we going?" Jamie asks."The real underground. Not the market. The place where creatures who don't fit anywhere else gather." Kade parks outside what looks like an abandoned factory. "Fair warning: it's going to be intense. These aren't pack wolves or organized covens. These are survivors."Inside, the factory has been converted into something between a community center and a fortress. Makeshift rooms line the walls. A central area serves as communal space where dozens of beings gather.A vampire with scarred arms looks up. "Kade. Didn't expect to see you here with company.""This is Jamie Olive. The Dragon Queen everyone's talking about."Murmurs spread through the crowd. Some hostile. Some curious.A witch steps forward, her hands glowing with defensive magic. "Why

Highway 7 cuts through the mountain pass like a scar. The road is empty at this hour, just after midnight.Jamie crouches behind a boulder with Kade and ten Iron Wolves. Below, the road winds through the valley section Meredith identified."Visual on the transport," Jai's voice crackles through their earpieces. "Two armored trucks, six guards visible. No aerial support detected.""Too easy," Kade mutters."Or they're arrogant." Jamie checks her weapons. Dragon steel blades, courtesy of Meredith. "Briton, you in position?""South side, ready to secure prisoners." Briton's team is positioned at the extraction point. "Jamie, if this goes wrong—""It won't. We've got this." She sounds more confident than she feels.The trucks approach. Jamie signals. Kade's wolves move into position.The first explosion rocks the lead truck. Kade planted charges in the road, targeting the wheels. The truck swerves and crashes into the guardrail.The second truck stops. Guards pour out, weapons raised."No