by Jessica Gunn
I’d gotten rid of him once before—albeit temporarily and not all too well.
I could certainly do it again.
I took off at a run with Zezza flying beside me, weaving in and out of the crowd of people rushing out from the banquet hall. I didn’t seen Tharin or Eli, but they could have run through with Elena and I hadn’t noticed because of my frozen stupor.
I didn’t have a plan. Judging by the magic assaulting the pocket-weave’s walls—not that I was an expert in magic—I had to assume it wasn’t solely Keir on the other side. He was a fae, and a powerful one, given his half-royal blood. But just what the extent of that power could be, I had no idea.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was stopping Keir and whatever army he’d amassed to attack us. And if we couldn’t stop him, we’d have to fight.
“Zezza, what do you think we can do to help?” I asked her as we ran through the banquet all and out into the center of the village. I couldn’t fly, so if I was going to the beach, I’d have to take the long way down, through the jungle path, with only Zezza at my side.
The answer to my question to Zezza was obvious: magic. But as far as I’d experienced, my limits were walking on water, making some sparks, and a little wind push. If Zezza had more information, this would be the best time for her to share it with me.
Zezza landed on my shoulder again and sent image after image in my mind of a woman standing inside what can only be described as a wild tempest. Raising her arms as the storm grew and grew, a massive torrent of power and energy.
I stopped and looked at Zezza deadpan. “I can’t do that.”
She wrapped a wing around my other shoulder as if to say, “Not yet.”
“Warden!” a voice called into my mind.
My eyes went wide. “Zezza?”
She looked at me as though I were the stupidest person she’d ever met, then looked up.
I followed her line of sight to see a huge wall of scales passing by overhead. Bux.
“Bux!” I called.
He circled around us once before landing heavy, though with grace, beside me. “Hurry, Warden. We will need you at the beach.”
I put a hand on Zezza’s back—to prove I did want her with me this time—and began climbing up Bux’s back. He didn’t have a saddle on right now. I supposed it was silly to think he would like he was a domesticated animal. But damn did wearing a dress right now make this difficult. The fabric at the ends caught on one of Bux’s scales and ripped. I cringed. This dress was beautiful, but now I could move my legs some more. I could get it repaired if we survived this incursion.
“What’s happening down there?” I asked.
Bux took off before I was fully in place. The sudden take-off jarred me and I gripped on tightly as best I could without the handles of a saddle. Zezza dug her talons into my shoulder to stay on as wind pushed against us.
“They are preparing for battle,” Bux said.
Already the beach was in sight. Bux’s huge wings carried us far and fast. For a second, I thought the wind might push Zezza and me off.
“Battle?” Of course. I’d already thought it might come to that, depending on what exactly Keir’s plans were. Assuming it was he coming through the wall to this weave and not someone else with a stone.
It must be him. No had one come after the dragons for years now, according to everything Eli had told me. The only outlying factor was me and the hatchling on my shoulder.
“The threat must be extinguished,” came Bux’s response thundering through my mind. “Before others learn of the tear.”
Tear? So breaking down the walls to a pocket dimension caused a permanent connection between weaves?
A flash of magic shattered against the sky in a brilliant kaleidoscope of colors. Crimson and teal, sunshine gold and winter blue. And then, for a single moment, it appeared as though the sky itself had fractured in shattering pieces.
Then… nothing. There was only light. Only the wind beneath us. I felt the beating of Bux’s wings, even the beating of his heart, even the lightning coursing across Zezza’s scales. But all sound was gone, just for a moment that seemed to stretch on for forever.
CRACK.
The sky split open and magic fell lazily from the sky like the last effects of a giant firework. With it, a wave of force shot out from that point, knocking Bux sideways and into a spiral. I clung to his neck, clawing at his scales and neck frills—anything to get a grip and hang on as Zezza’s talons bit so deep, I felt trickles of blood. As Bux evened out again in the air, I clasped a hand to Zezza’s back to make sure she was still there.
She whimpered in response.
I lifted my head toward the sky. Out over the endless water, a dozen figures stepped out of a portal and onto the water. They were clad in fine steel armor tailored to a tight fit, each carrying a massive lance and magic that whipped around them in fiery auras. The magic around them ranged in hues. From summery light colors to dark winter ones.
Keir’s army, small as it was. Fae from both courts.
Wait a minute. Fae… from both courts.
The twelve of them lifted their hands, shooting magic into the air. Keir stood out in front of them and directed the swirling storm of magic downward, right at the village.
“No!” I screamed, unable to do anything to stop it.
I watched helplessly as they shot the magic like a lightning bolt zipping along the ground, tearing up trees and houses alike, straight through the middle of the Speaker’s Hall.
And it kept going.
I followed it, switching to lean over the other side of Bux.
The magic was arching right toward the nursery. I wasn’t sure how many dragons had been in attendance tonight. I’d not bothered counting the babies. Some could still be in there!
“No!” The word viciously tore from my throat. “Bux! We have to go in case some of the hatchlings are there!”
He flapped his humongous leathery wings and took us straight there, even as fae magic continued to fall around us.
“Zezza, hang on!”
She tensed her talons in response.
Bux made quick work of the distance between us and the nursery, setting himself up for a landing just outside the stained-glass-walled building. Before we landed, I caught movement of a form at the edge of the forest along the path. They carried a massive spear in one hand and fiery waves of blue-purple magic in the other. It was one of Keir’s soldiers!
“Bux!” I shouted.
“I see,” he replied in my mind. “Go. I will set you down and secure the rest of the area.” Bux then swooped down toward the ground, stopping only long enough to let me slide down his scaled side. Doing so in my dress hurt, as did flying. There was nothing between my legs and his rough scales. But the sight of the fae warrior and his magic heading right for a nursery full of baby dragons was enough for me to ignore the painful stinging and start charging his way.
Zezza flew at my side, always my guardian.
The hairs on my arms stood as Zezza’s body began to charge lightning, as I had now seen her do dozens of times. I let her power wash over me—empowering me. Then I lifted my palm.
Small sparks of lightning danced there, teasing more power out of me.
“Hey!” I shouted at the fae warrior, outfitted in the cold grey steel armor over leather, his spear pointed toward the nursery door. “Don’t move another step!”
I was maybe thirty feet away from him now and tried to keep unease from my voice. Since my experience walking on water with the sea serpent, the only magic of mine that I’d used had been a bit in the cabin when Zezza and I had been alone. A small little lightning ball.
Could I wield enough to fight this fae?
The fae turned to me and flicked a lock of his long, white-blond hair behind him. Arrogance. Lovely.
“Warden,” he acknowledged.
“Don’t you dare think about hurting them.”
He lifted an amused eyebrow and shifted his spear to point it toward me. Zezza grow
led loudly.
“And are you going to stop me?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m not here to hurt them,” he said. “No one wants that.”
My chest felt like it was on fire. If Keir had broken through to this pocket-weave, then he had to have had another agenda besides coming after me. And if they weren’t going to kill the first brood of hatchlings in years, what else could they possibly want with them?
A sizzle sound permeated the air as the space around this winter fae soldier fizzled and crackled with magic.
I readied myself for a fight. A few days ago, I couldn’t have ever imagined this. Fighting with magic or weapons, for my life or anyone else’s. A few days ago, I wouldn’t have even cared—as sad as I had been. In general, I hadn’t been apathetic or anything. But as far as fighting for someone else… I’d been kicked out of my family and needed a way out of Boston.
Now I belonged here. And I’d fight to ensure its safety to the best of my ability.
I dug my heel into the ground and tried to look as menacing as possible while wearing a dress and wielding lightning in my hands.
“Get away from the nursery,” I said coolly, my words even. Zezza growled again as if to emphasize my order.
The fae warrior cracked a smile. And then laughed. “You think you can stop me? You might be the Warden, but you’re new. Untested.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Then let’s test my power.” If he wanted to bet his life against my inability to wield magic, then let him.
He lunged forward, spear pointed toward me. Moonlight sifting through the canopy top glinted off the tip of the blade. I gulped, then brought my arms up and together in front of me, aiming to pull wind around him and bring him down. A whoosh of air lifted up the edges of my dress and hair as a small cyclone appeared before me. I pushed forward and sent it flying at the fae warrior as he dashed toward me.
The wind cocooned him for a moment, even lifted him off the ground. But he threw down his free hand and spliced an opening through it with… was that snow? An inch of powdered snow covered the immediate area around him. He leapt up and out of my mini-cyclone and threw down a path of magic, leaving a ramp of ice and snow right to me. As if he were riding a skateboard, he slid down it and leapt once more.
Zezza growled louder, the sound turning into a roar. Her charged lightning crackled around us before she opened her mouth and let loose a bolt of lightning right at the soldier. I backed her up, swirling the air around me and throwing it at him a second after Zezza’s attack.
The lightning zapped the end of his spear first, spiraling down it to his hand. It didn’t seem to slow him down at all, but in the hastiness of Zezza’s attack and his reaction, the fae didn’t see mine coming. Only, instead of wind coursing around him and restraining him, a massive thunderclap sounded on impact.
I jumped, startled by my own magic as the fae warrior’s face twisted in pain. A thunderclap that loud and that close could have ruptured his eardrums.
Good.
I leaned forward and swiped at the air, thinking of Zezza’s lightning arc. A streak of lightning flew from my fingertips right at the fae warrior. I stood there dumfounded as he shook, electrocuted, and collapsed to the ground, his eyes rolling backward.
“Oh, my god,” I whispered, lifting my fingers to eye level. The tips of my fingers were blackened some, but they didn’t hurt. Small wisps of smoke rose from each finger.
Zezza looked back to me and made happy sounds deep in her throat.
“I did it!”
Screams tore from inside the nursery, cutting my celebration short. Dread chilled me to the core as my worst fear was realized. Not all the hatchlings had been at the celebration after all. I ran toward the door, grabbing the fae’s spear as I went. Bux continued flying in circles above us. When he looked down and saw what had happened, he landed. But the second he did, a silvery-strand of words made their way to my ears and into my mind.
“Vera…” Keir sing-songed in my mind. “Where are you?”
Gulping, I squeezed my eyes shut as my muscles locked up. “Shit! No!”
Keir wasn’t even nearby! He was hundreds of feet away in the air over the ocean. How did he have this amount of control over me from there?
Because you bet your real full name to him, you idiot, I thought to myself.
Zezza peered over at me and made a noise that wasn’t quite a growl but was too deep to be a trill. Curiosity.
“Keir,” I explained. “He’s in my head.”
Bux let out a mighty roar that sent my very bones quaking from the reverberation of it. “You are the Warden! None have power over you!”
Then I must have been a terrible Warden.
“Keep an eye out, Bux. I’ll take care of this.”
He bowed his giant head to me until one of his eyes was level with mine. “I will guard you with my life.”
“That’s not how this is supposed to work,” I said.
“We protect each other. It is what our kind does. Now go!”
I wasn’t about to argue with a dragon as ancient as Bux. With Zezza still on my shoulder, I bounded the rest of the distance to the nursery. The beam of energy had barely skimmed the edge of it. One corner of the roof was smoking and there were scared cries from inside.
I skidded to a stop in my flats outside the nursery door and pulled it open. Inside was mass chaos. The hatchlings had crawled all over the three dragon shifter workers inside. The staff stumbled to keep upright with the weight of all the hatchlings except for two, both with silvery blue scales, laying limp in one of the staff’s arms.
My heart froze but I swallowed back the building tears. We didn’t have time for crying, not right now.
“Warden!” one of the workers called. I recognized him from earlier but hadn’t caught his name. “What is happening?”
“We’re being attacked,” I said. “Is everyone all right?”
I wasn’t sure I could handle battling it out with Keir. But this, helping with the baby dragons, I could do. I ran over to the staff and picked up a few of the dragons, putting one on my arm near Zezza for her to comfort too. She did, wrapping them in one wing and covering a nearby hatchling with the other wing.
“Mostly scared,” the shifter said as he brushed too-long dark hair out of his eyes. “Us included. Except…” His gaze slid sadly to the two dead hatchlings.
“Don’t think about that now,” I said. “We have to keep the rest of them safe.”
“Vera…”
I shook my head as if that’d clear Keir from it. Nothing would at this point.
Something caught my eye and I turned, glancing behind me at a stained-glass window as dark blue energy splashed the ground outside. Bux roared again, unleashing a hellish wave of his own magic from his mouth.
“We need to get them to safety!” I shouted over the monstrous sound of Bux’s attack clashing with the fae’s. A Winter Court fae, judging by the color of the magic. Assuming, of course, they coincided.
Gods, what had I gotten myself into? And when would I be able to stop asking that question?
The staff and I began to move the hatchlings into a side room. I wedged the fae warrior’s spear into a doorway to block it. Outside, fae magic battled with Bux’s. Nowhere seemed safe. But collected into one room together, the baby dragons were at least defensible. The staff entered the room last and I went to shut the door behind them, but one of them put his hand in the way.
“Aren’t you coming, Warden?” he asked, his eyes wide but pupils narrowed. He was scared, but focused.
I shook my head. “No. I’ll guard you from out here.”
As if to prove me wrong, that was the very moment Bux’s massive scaled tail came crashing through the roof of the nursery, slamming down across the space.
And didn’t move again.
“Bux?” I asked, pressing the door closed until the shifter gave in. “Bux, are you okay?”
Zezza began growling, the sound like a car motor sta
rting.
“What is it?” I whispered as we got closer to the wall that had collapsed beneath Bux’s tail. He still wasn’t moving. I pressed my palm against his side. Not even his chest moved. There was no breath. No indication of life.
Two minutes. Two minutes and the fae had attacked and killed Bux?
No. He couldn’t be dead. Tears stung my eyes and I wiped them away. Bux can’t be dead. Such an ancient creature like that, killed in moments… And those two hatchlings…
Blood pooled around the edge of the broken wall in a thick amount. I swallowed hard, keeping down the bile that rose at the back of my throat.
“Vera.”
I blinked. This time, Keir’s voice sounded as though it were right in front of me.
Right behind the wall.
My muscles locked up again even as my breathing started to come in shallow gasps. Sweat pooled on my brow.
“There you are,” Keir said, his light tone betraying the savagery in front of me.
Zezza nudged my neck with her snout. Try as I might, I couldn’t open my mouth to respond to her. Or lift a hand to touch her back.
Zezza, he has me. I thought it over and over again.
She sent me an image of us on the train, Keir standing before me. Me pushing him away with magic.
Didn’t Zezza think I would do that right now if I could?
I tried to lift my hand again and nothing, not even a single finger, twitched.
“Come to me, Vera,” Keir said from beyond the wall. “I came all this way to collect you and your dragon. You should be proud of me.”
“Proud,” I spat. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Quiet now.” As he said so, my mouth closed and my lips seemed to seal shut. “I am not kidding. In fact, I’m deadly serious. Now come out, come out before I have to kill another dragon.”
My heart beat so fast and so strong that I feared it might burst my ribcage. Step by step, my feet acted of their own accord, ambling over debris and a pool of Bux’s blood. Zezza flew off my shoulder and behind me, biting onto the back of my dress and trying to pull me back into the hatchling nursery.
But I kept moving. Climbing. All at Keir’s whim.
