Dragon Element [D.O.A. 5]

CHAPTER 1 Cobra walked into the main office looking for Pit, but no one was inside. Just as he was about to leave, Cobra noticed he had something in his mailbox. Walking over, he pulled it out, muttering, “Well shit.” Every year for almost twenty-five years, Cobra had received a letter from someone. He had no idea who sent it, but as a D.O.A. agent, it was something he had known in his gut he needed to take seriously. Mostly it was the words, “See you in twenty-five years.” Then the next year it was “See you in twenty-four years.” And so on. Cobra didn’t even have to open it to know that this letter would be the final letter if it was like all the others, because this year marked the twenty-five years since he had started getting the f*****g things. Cobra had never told anyone except his best friend, Solo, and the leader of D.O.A., Pit, about the damn letters, and he knew he needed to find his leader and let him know he’d got another one. Fuck, he didn’t understand all the concern. He was a badass agent who could handle himself if anything sinister arose. Cobra was a part of a group of men called D.O.A.. He and his team had been brought together centuries ago by Heck, the right hand man to God. They were asked to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Something that would help keep innocent people from being harmed or killed. D.O.A. were men who fought against serialists…con men, rapists, arsonists, and killers. If there was a serialist out there, D.O.A. was brought in and was expected to deal with them. If it was another paranormal, then they would take them to the council. If it was a human they would make sure they were put away human style. However, sometimes, the serialist made it to someone and Cobra and his team would have to find a way to explain away what happened. They didn’t do this alone. Each D.O.A. team member had been assigned to a dragon, otherwise known as a maharishi. They were soul-connected from the day of their resurrection. The two worked together on assignments all the time, able to communicate telepathically or sometimes verbally with their dragon to take the bad guy out. Cobra found the maharishi a fascinating bunch. They could take on any size, even going so far as to become a tattoo and attaching to their D.O.A. counterpart. Most of the dragons had no names… well not until the sentience, better known in the shifter world as mates, came along. Well, except for his maharishi. He had been dubbed Taco by, Calvin, one of the long-time residents of Drago, the small town D.O.A. had created to provide a safe haven for those caught in the crossfire of one of their assignments, either as a witness or a victim. Even though Calvin had been one of the first residents of Drago, Cobra really had only caught a glimpse of the guy from time to time. He was a cute guy and Cobra would be lying if he didn’t admit the few times he had seen him through the window of the grocery store Calvin ran, that his c**k had taken notice, but Cobra refused to acknowledge the fascination. He was not about to get involved with a resident here. s**t, what if he gave in to his desire and then the guy became all clingy and expected more than Cobra was willing to offer. Things could get real messy and Cobra didn’t need the complication. However, his maharishi didn’t have any qualms about getting to know the guy. Hell, his dragon…Taco… spent more time with Calvin than he did with Cobra at this point when they were home. Cobra snorted thinking about the name, but it was fitting. His dragon loved the damn things, especially the ones that came from Taco Bell. s**t, if anyone went into the larger town in Poconos Boulevard and didn’t bring back a couple of orders, Taco would get pissed and do some nasty s**t. One time Wiz had gone to check the mail from the main mail office and forgot to stop. Taco had actually shot a stream of fire on the man’s butt, burning his ass to the point Wiz couldn’t sit for a week. Smiling, Cobra thought, Wiz has never forgotten again. It was kind of funny to call his maharishi Taco. Okay, he loved the things, but damn it wasn’t like Azul was given the name Pizza or Pepperoni. Hell, he still remembered the day his maharishi had come to him all smiley. Taco was a beautiful golden dragon that most people pictured when thinking about one. He had large antler-style horns on his head, a white mane, and a wide line of large spikes under his belly and on the tips of his wings. Cobra knew that of all the dragons in D.O.A., he had gotten the best, no matter what the others thought. Not only was Taco smart, he was funny and a great companion… especially for a loner like Cobra. “What has you so happy today? Did you get to steal some pizza from Azul?” “Give me a break, you know I’m not a big pizza dragon. I prefer the spicier things in life.” “Then what has you looking like you’re ready to do aerobatics any minute?” Cobra asked. His maharishi clasped his clawed paws together, and actually swung his tail and butt back and forth as he said, “Calvin gave me a name. From now on, call me Taco.” Cobra would have laughed, but he didn’t want to have his ass fried like Wiz’s, so he had kept his mouth shut. “Call you what?” “Taco. Calvin named me Taco.” Unfamiliar with the name, Cobra asked, “Who?” Taco rolled his eyes, saying, “Calvin. The young man that owns the grocery store. Geez, Cobra, he’s lived here practically since we created this town thirty years ago.” The picture of a man with short, wavy, black hair that stood maybe five foot four and weighed maybe a buck twenty-five soaking wet crossed Cobra’s mind, and he felt his c**k twitch. “Oh yeah, I know who you mean. I just didn’t know his name.” “How the hell could you not know Calvin’s name? He lives here.” Taco asked in confusion. Telling his dragon that Cobra had always avoided the man like the plague because of the s****l attraction he always felt for the guy was not something Cobra intended to do. Hell, any time he got a view of the guy, Cobra would run the other way. As much as he might want to f**k Calvin, he knew that wouldn’t be a good idea. “I don’t like mingling with the townspeople. You know that.” “Well he’s a great guy and you’re missing out.” Taco stated. “I’ll take your word for it.” Cobra muttered, going back to what he had been doing. Shaking off his memories, Cobra made his way to the house. Opening the letter and reading it. “Motherfucker!” “Language!” Clara shouted from the back of the kitchen. Cobra’s eyes went wide realizing that Jude’s mom was close by. Clara had moved to Drago to be closer to her son when he had mated with a fellow D.O.A. member, Casper. She had more or less adopted them all into her family, and Cobra had to admit it was nice to have a motherly figure around, even if she did hate when any of them cussed. An angry Clara was scary as f**k, but a disappointed one had Cobra feeling like pond scum. “Sorry Ms. C.” Seeing Pit with his mate, Bren, sitting in his lap eating breakfast from the fork Pit held to Bren’s lips, had Cobra backing up slightly. The image was almost as intimate as catching them having s*x on the kitchen table. Solo had been ready to walk out the back door with his mates, Stone and Lex, but stopped just as Cobra came into view. “What’s wrong, Cobra?” Pit asked, not looking away from his sentience. Knowing it was too late to turn around, Cobra asked, “You know every year I get a letter, right?” Solo stepped forward, saying, “Yeah.” “Well, I got another one today.” Cobra said through gritted teeth. “Wait, you get a letter every year sent here?” Lex asked. Nodding, Cobra replied, “Yes for the past twenty-five years I’ve been getting a letter that has been like a countdown. This time though, it says this.” Cobra handed the letter to Pit as Lex took the envelope. If you’ll meet me at the Park, I’ll see you tomorrow. Lex looked at Cobra asking, “Do you have the other letters?” Nodding, Cobra replied, “Yeah, I thought I might need them for evidence if we can ever figure out who it is sending them.” “Well, you better figure it out fast.” Lex said anxiously. “What is it, kitty cat?” Stone asked. Waving the envelope in his hand, Lex said, “This one doesn’t have any postage on it.” “Huh?” Solo grunted in confusion. “No postage means it didn’t come through the actual mail.” Lex replied. Stone gasped, “So, whoever is sending them is already in Drago.” Taking the letter from Stone’s hand, Cobra said, “That’s impossible.” “Did you pick it up from the mail office?” Pit asked. Shaking his head, Cobra replied, “No, it was in my box in the main office.” Pulling out his cell phone, Pit said, “Nautical, I need you in the kitchen.” “What are you thinking, Pit?” Stone asked. Shaking his head, Pit replied, “I have no idea what’s going on, but since Lex mated and hasn’t been to work, Nautical has been the one bringing in the mail. He can tell us if he brought it in with the rest of the mail.” Cobra heard Nautical coming into the house, and from the sound of it, many others were joining him. If Cobra didn’t know any better, he would think that the entire D.O.A. family was making their way to them. Turning, Cobra sighed, thinking, Yep, they’re all here. Just great. It wasn’t that Cobra didn’t appreciate his friends or more so his family, it was just that Cobra had always been a private person, and having everyone knowing his business just made him uneasy. “What’s up, boss man?” Nautical asked. “When you picked up the mail, do you remember a letter for Cobra mixed in with it?” Pit asked. Shaking his head, Nautical replied, “No, but when I was putting mail in the slots for everyone, I do remember seeing one in his box. I just figured it was put there by Blade when he picked up the mail the day before. I know I was supposed to go, but I was working on that case with Solo’s stalker and couldn’t get away.” “I didn’t get anything for Cobra in the mail either.” Blade responded. “What’s going on?” Gunner asked curiously. Pit looked at Cobra, and knowing what the man expected, Cobra explained. “So, you’ve been getting these letters every year for going on twenty-five years and never told us? Dude that is such bullshit. We’re friends… hell, we’re family. How could you hide something like that?” Blade snapped angrily. Cobra sighed, “Blade, you know I like to keep my problems close to my vest.” “You don’t wear a vest.” Jude stated with a raised brow. Rolling his eyes, Cobra replied, “You know what I mean, Jude. Besides, it was letters. I figured that it was just a pissed-off criminal trying to get in my head.” “Well, it sounds more like one of them trying to remove it instead.” Taj stated, letting out a loud aggravated breath. Seeing the disappointment in the men’s eyes, Cobra tossed his hands in the air, “Fine, I f****d up. I never thought whoever was sending these letters was a real threat. I checked all my old cases, and none of the people I helped take out are set to be paroled ever, let alone in twenty-five years. The people we go after are either spending the rest of their life in prison on death row or are dead. There is no way they can come after me. I just have no idea who could be sending these letters to me.” “Then I think we need to check some more.” Pit said, setting Bren on the chair next to him and standing up. “Wit, you and Nautical go over all our cases. Find out their status and get that information to me as soon as possible. Cobra, I want you to get those letters and give them to Wit. I want to know if there is postage on them, and if not, since when, and any that have postage on them are to be shown to Lex. Maybe he can get some prints or DNA.” Turning to the snow leopard shifter, Pit asked, “Can you have your friend check to see where they came from, even if they’re over twenty years old?” Nodding, Lex replied, “I think so.” “Pit, you do know that I can do some checking as well. Sending a threat through the mail is a federal offence after all.” Stone stated. “I realize that, Stone, and I appreciate it. However, I’d like to kind of keep this situation to ourselves. If it is something that we discover has to do with one of our past cases, I’ll come to you. For now, all I want is for Lex to talk to his friend, and then you and your mates can take advantage of some alone time.” Pit said with a smile. Turning to Taj, Pit told him, “Make sure Drago is secure. Anything strange is to be reported in immediately.” “Of course.” Taj stated. Turning to Cobra, Pit said, “We’ll figure this out, Cobra.” “Thank you. I just hope we find whoever’s doing this before someone gets hurt.” Cobra muttered.