As his hands pulled apart and faced my dragon, there was a magnetic pull that was tugging painfully at my scales. Desmond had no mercy whatsoever as his power increased and five or more scales tore from my chest.
Chelle roared in pain as her head reared up and fire came out of her mouth. I would have loved to use that same fire on Desmond, but there were too many friendlies around us to risk burning them all. We were going to have to fight through the pain and crush him.
Hurts, Chelle barely managed to say.
I know, so let’s knock him on his ass. Use your tail, I replied.
She did as I suggested, but our reaction was too slow, and Desmond evaded the blow.
“The more I pull, the weaker you’ll be. Give up now and it won’t hurt as much,” he jeered.
“Never,” my voice boomed from my dragon.
We stumbled forward, hoping to gain momentum, but Desmond was right. Several more scales had been torn from my body and we were slowing down, though I wouldn’t give up until I had nothing left in me.
But, as despair began to filter through me as the agony rose and Chelle’s continued apologies sounded in my head, I began to lose hope. Enzo still hadn’t come to assist me, and I had no idea how he was faring against those who had ambushed him. My dragon knees buckled in pain as we lowered to the ground in obvious defeat.
“That’s right. Bow to your master,” Desmond said.
“You’re nobody’s master. You’re a disgrace to all supernaturals,” JayLeigh’s voice sounded through the air, but she was nowhere in sight. She really needed to teach me that damn trick.
Desmond was knocked to the grass, and his spell broken. The force that had been tugging on my dragon was no longer present, but we were still weak and barely managed to stand back up on all fours.
JayLeigh’s half-shifted form finally made an appearance as she dragged Desmond by the neck toward me. “You want to do the honors?” she asked.
“Hell, yes,” I responded with a renewed sense of strength as adrenaline pumped through my dragon.
JayLeigh tossed the worthless sorcerer in front of me and, before he could right himself, my front foot landed on his chest with force.
“You won’t win. Even if you kill me, you can’t stop her,” he wheezed.
“You killed my parents. This has nothing to do with her,” I snapped as I continued to press my weight on him.
His eyes widened as his mouth opened to scream when my talons dug their way into his sides, but something didn’t sit right with me. I was no better than him if I stood there and watched him slowly die.
There was no way I’d actually bite him, and the thought of stepping on him fully just creeped me out, imagining the feeling of snapping bones beneath me, so I glanced up at JayLeigh. “Finish him.”
“Gladly,” she said as she arched her sword and brought it down into Desmond’s chest when I pulled my foot back to give her enough room.
There was no joy brought to me when Desmond took his last breath. Killing him didn’t bring my parents back, but it did mean he couldn’t harm another, which would be enough to help me move forward.
Alright, Chelle. I need my human form back, but I still need your senses. You ready to find Malina?
Find Marek, and you’ll find Malina, she said, and I agreed. I hadn’t seen him since the beginning of the battle and hoped he was still okay.
When I shifted back to my human form, I still tapped into my dragon strength, but not quite a half-shift until Chelle had time to recover from the loss of so many scales. She wasn’t alright by any means and needed the time out from too many physical movements.
Before going to find Malina, I searched for Enzo. Behind me was a pile of bodies, most of whom I assumed were knocked out, but there was a lot of blood, so I couldn’t be certain. Though, none of them were Enzo and that was most important.
He was nowhere to be found, and I was starting to panic, because he was the one who insisted we didn’t separate.
“Do you know where Enzo or Marek are?” I asked JayLeigh when she stepped next to me.
“Marek was headed outside the walls last time I saw him, and I haven’t seen Enzo at all since we originally separated.”
Shit, this was not good. Too many of us were scattered around. I couldn’t help them all, and as much as I wanted to make sure Enzo was okay, he was a big boy and my desire to find Malina won out.
“Let’s search out Malina, then. I’m sure she’s cowering around here somewhere while her army sacrifices themselves for her,” I spat.
“They’re not the only ones losing their lives,” JayLeigh said with despair in her voice.
It would have been stupid of me to think we’d all survive this battle, but I wasn’t ready to face the deaths of our own. When it was over, I’d mourn, but for now, I couldn’t afford the emotional effects those thoughts would bring.
JayLeigh tossed me my dagger. “You dropped this.”
Taking the blade, I tucked it back into its holster on my hip. “Thanks.”
As we moved toward the crumbled gates, I caught sight of Gemma and Talon. Tension eased from my body when I saw them still together and keeping each other safe. My eyes made contact with Gemma’s and she nodded toward her left. Glancing, I grinned when I saw Sylas’s prone frame. I had no idea if he was dead since his eyes were closed, but I wouldn’t feel sorry if he was.
I kept moving, not needing to be a distraction to her if I couldn’t help. Hopefully it wasn’t too much of me to hope that Talon would continue to keep her safe.
JayLeigh pointed over behind the academy building. “Over there. Let’s hurry.”
She took off at a full sprint, and I followed after her, barely keeping up in my still-weakened state.
I’m here if you need me, Chelle said.
You just keep resting until I really need you. Desmond didn’t play fair, and you can’t tell me you’re not in pain, I replied, but she didn’t respond. I was right, and there wasn’t much else to say.
When we finally arrived at the back side of the school, my brain took a moment to really understand what I was seeing. Fallen gargoyle statues lay broken in pieces on the ground. The main tower of the school was blown to bits. There were craters in the dirt from more explosions, and bodies lay every ten feet or so all around the area.
So many deaths that could have been prevented if it wasn’t for one covetous woman.
What surprised me most was seeing Enzo standing with Marek, but I didn’t have time to think about why he was over there before Malina caught sight of me and JayLeigh.
“Ah, our dear daughter has finally joined us, and we’re all together for the first time. How exciting is that, Marek?” Malina’s voice was filled with false joy as she narrowed her eyes at the dragon king.
“Don’t touch her,” he snarled, taking a step toward me.
Malina sneered. “Be careful, old king. I’m not sure how much more you can take before you have no choice but to bow before me.”
“I will die before that ever happens,” he growled.
“So be it.” Malina threw a spell at Marek, and JayLeigh winced at my side.
“What do we do?” I asked. “Just move in and fight?”
She shook her head. “Marek has a plan. I just need to figure it out.”
“You sure seem to say that a lot. What if you’re wrong?”
“Then, you’ll be the new dragon queen and I’ll owe you a life of servitude,” she replied.
Hell no. I wasn’t going to be the queen of anything. JayLeigh could hope all she wanted that Marek could handle things on his own, but I wasn’t taking that risk.
Searching out Enzo once again, I couldn’t get a read on him at all. He held his hand up for me to stay put, but there was no way I was doing so. Marek was in serious trouble, and I didn’t understand why everyone else insisted on just standing around.
Racing forward, JayLeigh tried to stop me, but I shrugged her off. “He’s the only real family I have left. I won’t lea
ve him on his own, no matter what you think.”
I didn’t wait for her response as I continued toward the fight. Malina saw me coming and changed her direction. “You want to play, Raegan? Let’s see what you’ve learned in our time apart.”
Tapping into my dragon strength, I apologized to Chelle for not giving her more healing time, but I needed her speed to evade the spells Malina shot out at me while I gathered one of my own.
I hadn’t learned many offensive spells last year. That had been something I was supposed to accomplish in third year, but I knew enough to hopefully get by.
Firing off a few powerful orbs, Malina staggered back when only one of them made contact. “Impressive, but it’s not enough. You’ll never be enough. You were created for one purpose: to give power to me. Now, stand still while I take what’s mine.”
Before I could do anything, her hands raised in the air and a stabbing sensation started in my chest and spread across my body.
If she continues to do this for too long, we’ll die, Chelle’s sorrowful voice filtered through.
Not today, I replied.
Shifting into my dragon form was the only thing I could think of in order to break her concentration and while I did that, Enzo finally moved in as well, followed by JayLeigh. Enzo was still helping Marek while JayLeigh did her best to distract Malina without getting caught in the power-suck.
When I was fully shifted, Malina didn’t stop, but I was stronger. Even though my chest still burned where I was missing scales, I moved against her spell, one step at a time, until I was within striking distance.
“I see Desmond had his fun with you. My little rat finally got what he wanted,” Malina taunted.
“Too bad he didn’t live long enough to enjoy it,” I replied before whipping my tail around with force and striking her in the side.
She tumbled to the ground, and her spell was finally broken. Even if she wasn’t down for the count, at least she wasn’t growing more powerful.
Marek was up and moving with a purpose toward Malina, but she paid no attention to him as her glare remained on me.
“That stung, but it only pissed me off and confirmed what I should have admitted to myself long ago. You’re too stubborn to be of any use to me.”
She withdrew a blade from her hip and, when her fingers wrapped around the hilt, the tip of the dagger began to smoke, and she threw it toward my dragon.
I had no idea where my vital organs were in this form, but when the blade sank into an open spot with no scale for protection, I had a feeling it didn’t matter. The spell she placed on the dagger moved quickly through my body and paralyzed me.
“Shift back,” JayLeigh yelled as she quickly removed the dagger from my dragon’s chest.
I tried to do as she said, but the process was slowed by the heaviness of the spell and I couldn’t even sense Chelle when I reached out to her for help.
While I laid helplessly on the ground, I had the perfect view of Malina, so I saw the exact moment that Marek and Enzo attacked. Marek’s clawed hands raked across Malina’s chest, and shock covered her face.
“I might have loved you before, but I won’t let you kill my daughter,” he roared.
“She might as well be dead. That dagger will kill her dragon, and then she will never be whole again. She’ll never be anything more than a shell of her former self. That’s what she gets for being such a selfish child,” Malina spat.
CHELLE! I yelled inside my head when Malina’s words registered with me.
No, this couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be dying. I’d only just gotten to know my other half, and I wasn’t ready to let her go.
JayLeigh had told me to shift back, and I hoped that was supposed to help protect Chelle, so I focused harder on that while watching the scene before me play out.
Marek charged Malina once more, this time with death in his eyes. He was out to kill, and I prayed it would finally be over.
Marek landed on top of her, but she didn’t go down easily, and even from where I laid, I could see how hard it was for him to harm her. A part of Marek still loved her, and this was killing that portion of him to fight against her.
JayLeigh tossed Marek my dagger and he caught it in the air before plunging it into Malina’s chest, twisting it and leaving a gaping hole.
She laughed in his face even as her face paled. “That might leave a mark, but you know that won’t kill me. Are you man enough to finish the job, or will you die before your daughter?”
My dragon form was almost completely gone, but I still couldn’t sense Chelle. I had no idea if she was gone, but before I fell into a pit of desolation, I put my focus on Marek. He needed help, and Enzo and JayLeigh weren’t enough.
Fighting through the spell, I rolled onto my knees and missed whatever had happened but caught the sight of Marek laying on the ground.
Enzo and JayLeigh moved in on Malina at the same time, but she flung them away like tiny pests as she stalked toward Marek.
Standing, I took a few steps toward them, but I already knew I was going to be too late.
Malina smirked as she looked at me. “Say goodbye to Daddy.”
Her hands were glowing with a power so severe it had me staggering back from its pulsing force. My only bit of hope left was when I saw Enzo racing toward Malina’s back, but when he slid on the ground and landed next to Marek’s prone body, I was thoroughly confused.
“I’m sorry, Raegan.” His eyes met mine as he whispered the words.
Though, I didn’t understand their meaning until he plunged a glowing blade of his own, one I’d never seen, into my father’s chest.
I was going to kill him.
Rage built inside me as I proceeded to move forward.
Malina groaned as I glanced her way just in time to see her hand covering the wound Marek had left in her chest that had begun spilling blood.
“This isn’t over, Raegan. I’ll be back, and you will all pay for Marek’s weaknesses.” With those final words, Malina disappeared in a tornado of smoke to go lick her wounds, but I didn’t give a shit about any of it.
My mind could only process the fact that the man I loved had killed my father. I didn’t understand it, and as my hands transformed into claws made for killing, I wondered if I could really end Enzo for his actions.
“Raegan, stop,” he begged. “I know you’re upset—”
“Upset doesn’t even come close, Lorynzo,” I snapped, using the full name he hated.
“He’s not dead.”
Shaking my head, I didn’t believe him. “Malina wouldn’t have walked away if Marek was still alive.”
JayLeigh approached me slowly. “Enzo is right. Marek can only be killed by Malina since they are Doyen, and she can only do that by stopping his heart with the power she was about to use on him. Enzo saved his life by doing what he did.”
“Marek gave me this dagger and asked me to use it when I knew the time was right,” Enzo continued to plead with me. “He didn’t want to put the responsibility on either of you.”
My stare went to JayLeigh. “If he’s not dead, why isn’t he waking up?”
“He will in time, but it will take days, possibly weeks, which is why Malina didn’t stick around to finish the job. His heart has to be beating for her power to kill him.”
“So, now what?” I still didn’t quite know how to process everything my eyes had seen.
“Now, we finish the battle Malina started and recover from our wounds and losses. When we’ve done that, we do this all over again.”
As I took in the bodies around me, I fought back tears from my broken heart at watching Enzo stab my birth father, and from still not being able to sense Chelle. Even if he wasn’t really dead, I wasn’t sure I could ever do this again. It took every bit of strength in me not to run away like before.
This time, I’d stay, but they were going to wish I’d left.
Thank You
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Also by Heather Renee
Raven Point Pack Series - Complete
Shades of Fury
Shades of Magic
Shades of Deceit
Shades of Secrecy
Shades of Vengeance
Shadow Veil Academy
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Deadly Declaration
Daring Provocation - Fall 2019
Blood of the Sea Series - Complete
Crimson Horizon
Pale Horizon
Obsidian Horizon
The Falls Trilogy - Complete
To The Falls
From The Falls
Embracing The Falls
Before The Falls
Standalone
Marked Paradox
About the Author
Heather Renee is a USA Today bestselling author who lives in Oregon. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels with a mixture of adventure, humor, and sass. Her love of reading eventually led to her passion for writing and giving the gift of escapism.
When Heather’s not writing, she is spending time with her loving husband and beautiful daughter, going on their own adventures. For more ways to connect with her, visit www.HeatherReneeAuthor.com.
Deadly Declaration (Shadow Veil Academy Book 2) Page 22
