Savage Basilisk

  Big Bad Basilisks 3

  Terry Bolryder

  Copyright © 2021 by Terry Bolryder

  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.

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  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

  Epilogue

  Sample of The Demon’s Pet

  Also by Terry Bolryder

  Author’s Note

  This is the third and final book in the Big Bad Basilisks series!

  **In my world-building, a basilisk is any mysterious, over-sized reptile that isn’t a dragon (my basilisks are not snakes)**

  Each book has a resolved happy ending for each couple, but the world does build on itself so you’ll want to read the first two books just in case!

  Apex Basilisk (Big Bad Basilisks 1)

  Primal Basilisk (Big Bad Basilisks 2)

  1

  Ajax growled as he faced off with the other two basilisks, Gunnar and Diesel.

  He’d been waiting all week for this day.

  The basilisk beatdown. The one time he and the others could really go full bore at each other, no holding back. Full violence.

  And just like the last one, today’s was already looking like it would shape up to be an utter disappointment.

  They’d set up in a large circular area behind the mansion in Cooper’s Ferry where they’d all been living since Diesel had finished his last assignment in a small town nicknamed the “Crater” far from here. Only, where there would usually be huge piles of garbage, junk, and disposable items the basilisks could use to beat the absolute shit out of each other, today, Diesel and Gunnar only had pathetic lumps of assorted items that looked neither sharp nor dangerous.

  And was that… a pool noodle Gunnar had in his tiny pile behind him? What an utter joke.

  Pretty soon, they’d all be calling it the basilisk “friend-down” or some utter bullshit, where his two lovesick friends went on and on about how awesome their mates were.

  Fuck that.

  Ajax jumped in to explain the typical rules, since Gunnar (who was usually their leader when it came to things like this) was taking his damn time getting started. “You know the rules. No powers, no hits to the eyes or—”

  “We know the rules.” Diesel interrupted as he sent another glance back at the mansion where his mate, Morgan, was probably inside, worrying like usual.

  She’d almost passed out the first time she’d seen something so “dangerous” as the basilisk beatdown, and she’d opted out from witnessing future beatdowns since then.

  But it didn’t change the fact that Ajax and his friends were what they were. Violent, powerful, destructive monsters that had done nothing but fight and sleep up until their still-recent awakening into the modern world.

  Ajax cracked his knuckles and ripped his shirt off, body teeming with pent-up energy that had been looking forward to this much-needed outlet.

  But ever since Gunnar and Diesel had found mates, nothing had been the same between the three of them.

  And Ajax hated it.

  “Do we even need to fight? We can just make you apex this week,” Gunnar said, folding his arms. One of his eyes was red and one was blue, and both looked bored at this moment.

  Ajax ground his teeth at the idea.

  Being the apex, or alpha, meant fighting for the top spot in their crew of three. It meant fighting, nearly to the death if need be, to show dominance and power, as they had done in the wild where only the strong survived.

  Not some fucking blue ribbon awarded for participation only.

  “Is this a joke?” Ajax said. “Why are we even here if we aren’t going to fight?”

  Gunnar tore his shirt off, revealing his towering, tattooed mass, and got in a fighting stance. “I won’t back down if you won’t, so let’s start the beatdown so we can get this shit over.”

  Off to the side, Diesel hesitated, looking frustrated by the whole situation.

  Probably yearning to be off with his mate so they could cuddle and write sonnets for each other or whatever the fuck it was mates did with each other.

  Ajax yanked a huge tree stump from the pile behind him and flung it toward Gunnar, who at least looked willing to fight right now. With utter calmness, Gunnar cocked his fist back and threw it forward just as the wooden mass was about to hit him.

  And with a single strike, it exploded into shards of roots and wood in every direction.

  Though, through the haze of splinters that fell like brown snow, Gunnar’s face remained calm.

  In retaliation, Gunnar picked up the heaviest thing from his measly pile behind him (which was an old rubber tire that had probably belonged to some heavy construction equipment) and lobbed it toward Ajax.

  In a flash of spinning black, it ate up the distance between them in seconds, with enough force to flatten any normal human easily.

  But to Ajax, the damn thing was so slow, so halfheartedly thrown, he only had to dodge slightly to the side to avoid it completely.

  How disappointing.

  Ajax yawned as it whizzed past him, and it rolled up the hill behind the house before it came to a stop a few hundred feet up its incline.

  “Were you even trying to hit me with that?” Ajax shouted angrily.

  Gunnar was silent.

  Fine, I’ll give him something to hit, Ajax thought as he leaped off the ground, jumping thirty feet toward Gunnar with a wild punch, intentionally leaving his left side unprotected as he did.

  Any reasonable basilisk would see Ajax’s guard open and counter with an earthshattering blow if given such an opportunity.

  But to Ajax’s utter disgust, Gunnar raised both arms at the last second, and a deafening thud resounded through the clearing as he blocked the blow but didn’t retaliate.

  Then, as if to cover for the fact he’d passed on a perfectly good opportunity to hit back—like a basilisk would normally do—Gunnar swung his right fist toward Ajax, so slow even a bear shifter might have been able to dodge it.

  Ajax leaped backward, standing between Gunnar and Diesel now, expecting them to come charging at him in unison.

  After all, two-on-one fighting had been normal, even encouraged, among their crew during the beatdown. It was just survival of the fittest.

  But as he looked over at Diesel and saw he was just standing there with his fists at his sides, Ajax realized he’d finally had it.

  “What the hell has gotten into you?” Ajax snarled, fists clenched so tight they’d turn walnuts into powder right now. “Are you even basilisks? Fight me!” Barely contained rage and frustration welled inside him to a near-boiling point.

  After all, for centuries they used to beat each other nearly to death as gigantic, wild creatures that protected the beautiful Texas wilderness from intruders and evildoers.

  But now, mated like this, he didn’t even recognize his friends.

  Granted, it didn’t help that all the missions Ajax had been sent on had involved zero fighting. Zero action. Just guard duty or simple fetch assignments for the double dragons.

  And no sign of his mate either.

  “We want to give you a good fight, Ajax, but things have changed,” Gunnar said, already looking relaxed, not like he was ready to pound something into utter oblivion like Ajax felt right now.

  Granted, he’d always been called the “savage” one. The dangerous one.

  And his friends acting so utterly tame only made the divide between them feel all the broader.

  “You don’t get it, Ajax. When you have a mate, the urge to fight for anything but them isn’t so strong,” Diesel said gruffly, as if that explained everything.

  “Coming from the guy that used railroad tracks like baseball bats on us only a couple months ago,” Ajax spat back.

  Diesel especially had calmed a lot in the past few weeks since he’d found his mate, Morgan, while protecting her shop and the town she lived in from a giant dragon who’d foolishly laid claim on the place.

  Diesel huffed and tore his shirt off, then pounded his hands together like he was working himself up to fight. “If I can’t make you understand with my words, then maybe my fists will make a point,” he said, sounding a little more like the basilisk Ajax had once known.

  But Ajax had already had enough of this farce.

  If they were just going to fight to mollify him, or to make a point, then he didn’t need another shitty beatdown like the last few had been. Not with all the other frustrations he was dealing with currently.

  “Fuck this. You two go home. Your mates are waiting anyway,” Ajax said, exhaling as his muscles refused to release their tension, the monster in him left unsatisfied by the utter lack of fighting he’d come to look forward to with his friends.

  Gunnar and Diesel just stared at him, wide-eyed.

  “I wanted a figh

t with actual basilisks. Not two lovesick weaklings,” he added harshly.

  Diesel shook his head. But instead of punching Ajax just for saying something out of line like he used to, Diesel turned and headed back for the house, muttering something about Ajax being a “violent asshole” as he went.

  Which Ajax was. He wouldn’t deny it.

  But before they’d found mates, Gunnar and Diesel had been violent assholes too.

  Dammit, he wouldn’t even get to use the axle he’d pulled from a semitrailer a couple days ago, Ajax thought darkly.

  A big hand landed on his shoulder unexpectedly, and Gunnar was there, appraising him seriously.

  “I guess that makes you the apex this week, just like last week,” Gunnar said with a reassuring grin.

  “Fuck off,” Ajax replied, though Gunnar didn’t act deterred at all.

  Instead, he looked over at the mansion before staring straight into Ajax’s eyes. “I know how rough it is, not having a mate, feeling like there isn’t a purpose to this new world sometimes. But we’re still your friends. We’re here for you.” Then he pulled his hand back and made for the house before pausing halfway toward the back porch. “And as for a mate, all I can say is that when it’s right, it’s right. And when you find whoever that lucky woman is, maybe then you’ll know how Diesel and I feel.”

  Then with a nod, he disappeared into the mansion, leaving Ajax alone in the clearing as heavy gray clouds gathered overhead.

  Lucky woman? Yeah, right.

  Lucky to be with a monster, Ajax thought grimly as thunder cracked and rain began to pour down, lightly at first, then in a heavy torrent.

  He just stood there, alone with his thoughts, shirtless, his fists at his sides.

  Would he ever have a mate?

  And if he did, would she even be able to accept the savage beasts inside him?

  After all, he wasn’t just a basilisk.

  But the others didn’t need to know that.

  2

  “What do you think?” Troy coolly asked as he leaned against the glass door, looking out over the backyard below.

  Olivia didn’t know what to think at all about this “Ajax” character.

  Her gut told her he might be perfect for this mission.

  Her logic told her not to be so sure.

  After trading only a few blows, which had still been so incredibly strong she’d felt their impact in her toes, the other two basilisks had backed down, leaving Ajax alone.

  The others had warned her the beatdown might not last very long.

  But that didn’t mean she was done trying to get a read on him.

  Right now, Ajax was just standing there, face tense, fists clenched, as rain drenched him from head to toe. Rivulets of water coursed down and between the thick layers of muscle across his chest and arms and back, accentuated by the stark lines of black tattoos everywhere.

  Not bad, she thought, appraising him with interest that wasn’t entirely professional for a moment.

  Then she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts as Troy’s partner, Jack, sent her a small grin from her left.

  She sent him a glare back, warning him to not get any ideas about reading her thoughts right now. He knew better.

  “What’s he doing now?” Jack looked away from her and down from the second story of the mansion where they’d been watching as Ajax started to raise one hand.

  Olivia watched with rapt attention.

  Suddenly, masses of rocks flew together to form large, human-shaped formations all around him.

  When there were more than a dozen, Ajax’s eyes flew open.

  And in a blur, he flew into action, pounding the things he’d apparently just made from thin air into oblivion.

  He used his fists first, cracking through the rocky, rough-hewn faces of the stone effigies like a madman. The sound of shattering crashes resounded through the backyard and rattled the windows as he kicked and punched his way through them, cracking the heavy-looking statues in two and crunching them to dust.

  When they were just piles of red and brown rock littered all around his feet, he did it again, conjuring even more.

  And slowly, methodically, he went to his pile of makeshift weapons, picked up a huge cylinder of metal, and swung it around a couple of times like it was made of paper.

  Was that… the axle of a semitrailer or something?

  Then he pulled it back like a bat and smashed through a half dozen statues in one heavy, earthshaking blow.

  “Probably just blowing off steam from the looks of it,” Reno, the de facto leader of the basilisk crew, said with a chuckle from somewhere behind her.

  Olivia just watched with amazement.

  Working for the double dragons as their right-hand man, she’d encountered a lot of different dragons over the years. She’d met ones awakened from the past, sea dragons, metal dragons, even a couple who were apparently from another planet far away.

  But she’d never, ever seen a shifter like Ajax.

  A shout rent the air as Ajax, seemingly unsatisfied, formed more rock shapes and broke those to pieces over and over until the huge hunk of metal in his hand was twisted and bent. Then he tossed it aside and started to pace angrily, like a predator still stalking for prey to kill.

  And those eyes, bright crimson, which seemed to glow even from the distance she was watching, called to something in her.

  “I think he’ll do,” Olivia said suddenly, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

  Troy, the surliest black dragon in existence, just stared, his arms folded over the long-sleeve black shirt he wore.

  Troy’s short blond hair was dark in the low light of the room, his emerald eyes glittering.

  To her side, even Jack’s perpetual smile had fallen to a grim line. His black hair with slight streaks of blue fell to his collar, and his sapphire eyes were solemn.

  “You’re fucking joking, right? Just look at him.” Troy spoke first, green eyes blazing with doubt.

  Olivia stood her ground, folding her arms and mirroring Troy’s stance as she glared up at him.

  “Do I look like I’m joking?” she asked calmly. “We still don’t know what other kinds of shifters we’ll run into. And I don’t want to ask for Dallas’s help again now that he’s mated and has a kid on the way.”

  Troy closed his mouth but didn’t appear convinced.

  “Maybe you should listen to her, Troy,” Jack said helpfully. He usually took her side first, before Troy would ever agree on anything.

  “Besides, you said these basilisks are good at problem-solving, didn’t you? And we have a really big potential problem on our hands,” she added.

  Troy glanced to the side, frowning.

  After all, as the head coordinator for the Dallas region, Olivia was privy to all the private information and data that only the double dragons had access to.

  She’d read the reports about the basilisks since their first sightings earlier this year (though, apparently, they’d been seen off and on for a long time now). And as things had evolved over at Dragonclaw Ranch, she’d watched with keen curiosity how it had all unfolded.

  In spite of their rough exterior, the basilisks had shown a much higher than usual intelligence, even for shifters, allowing them to adapt to modern life almost seamlessly, learning new things at a rate that would have been impossible for humans.

  And weekly updates from Reno had only further proved that the basilisks, though primitive in some ways, were smarter and deadlier than even the strongest dragons in other ways.

  “Problem-solving… More like problem-crushing,” Troy said as he cast another glance down at Ajax.

  But this was just typical of Troy. He was controlling and overworked, even on a good day.

  And Olivia knew he secretly hated not being able to protect everyone with his own hands. Hated when the double dragons had to seek outside help.

  Especially for missions like this one.