by Katya Moore
The door opened again. "Donovan," a woman's voice rasped.
I opened my eyes. Donovan dropped the cigarette. His face paled. "Yes'm?"
"You are needed within. The High Priest wishes to discuss your ascension." She sounded faintly amused. "You seem to have proven yourself worthy in his eyes."
He flashed a wry grin. "But not yours."
"You are human." Her voice was flat, lifeless, cold. "Your worth is meaningless to me."
"If I can't be ground up for shifting fodder, to hell with me, then?" he laughed.
"You are not my concern." The door closed.
Donovan stared at the door for a long time. "Crazy bitch," he muttered to himself, then opened the door and headed inside after her.
I waited for what felt like an eternity, then pried myself off the wall. I looked over at the bushes. Chase was nowhere to be seen. Probably for the best. I turned my attention back to the wall. These shingles looked less trustworthy. A thought crossed my mind.
Duh, Sia. You have climbing equipment.
I reached inside myself and forced a second shift. It was easy, with my heart still hammering in my chest from Donovan's unexpected appearance. My talons dug into the aged wood effortlessly, and my arm muscles were stronger. In a couple long, smooth pulls across the building's surface, I found myself clinging to the top of the window frame, toes gripping the sill. I looked into the attic through the broken glass. A few old, cobweb-crusted boxes, but otherwise empty. Luck was with me.
The glass. That was going to take some finer work than talons could provide. I shifted back down, teetering dangerously on the sill. My heart was pounding again, this time from the exertion of shifting. If I didn't stop fooling around with my half-dragon, I was going to be of no use in the upcoming fight. Pick a form and run with it, Sia.
My fingers pried at the cracked pane. It crackled softly as I lengthened the split in it, then pulled it free, sliding it ever so carefully out of the worn wooden frame. I tilted it and slid it in through the window, then repeated the process for the bottom half of the glass. Goodbye window, hello door. I leaned in and pushed the glass along the floor, then eased myself in through the hole.
The boards of the floor groaned under my weight. My stomach dropped. With one big step, I lunged back to the edge of the attic floor, ducking the slanted wall. The boards were less creaky there, and the shadows deeper. I froze, waiting for someone to hear. I could hear muffled conversation downstairs.
I pulled out my phone and sent a text.
I’m in.
Someone approached the attic door just as I came to a frustrating realization.
Shit. How am I going to get out of the attic?
I scrambled along the edge to get closer to the attic door. The stairs were narrow. There was no way they wouldn't brush up against me if I stood down there. So, I waited breathlessly. The door opened, and a robed man started his way up the stairs, cursing under his breath.
"It's a creaky old building. What the hell do they expect?" He mounted the stairs and stepped into the attic. I slid around behind him, pressed tight against the wall, and slid out into the house before he could turn and spot me.
I didn't have time to pat myself on the back, though. As I flattened myself against a dining room wall, I found myself in the presence of the High Priest of the Chosen of Apep.
I froze, fear pinning me to the wall. The High Priest stared in my direction.
Don't see me. Don't see me.
The sorcerer returned from the attic. "Nothing to report, my Priest," he said with a deep bow.
The priest gave a curt nod, then turned his attention back to Kiernan Donovan, who knelt before him reverently. I slid along the wall to a more deeply shadowed spot and froze in my tracks. The basement. I needed to find the basement.
"You've served me well, Donovan. You've taken one of the Shadow Queen's own. You're certain she won't sacrifice him?" the High Priest hissed.
Donovan chuckled. "Not Sia. No, sir. She's a tender-hearted lass, that one. She'd never leave one of her own to the likes of us."
"Good. Her weakness is our advantage." He turned his attention to a sorcerer sitting at a laptop in the living room. "Any word?"
"Yes, my Priest. They're nearby. Doubtless plotting their approach."
Shit.
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. A tall, pale woman with long, wispy white hair walked through the kitchen. She was dressed in a flowing silver dress, shredded nearly to rags. Unearthly white flesh peeked out the sides of her skirt as she walked. Her breasts were nearly bare. She moved like she was in a dream, slow and flowing. She might have been beautiful once, but her face... her cheekbones jutted out over hollow cheeks, and deep black circles marred her eyes. And her eyes. Her eyes were solid black. No iris, no whites, just black. I shuddered. There was something inhuman about her, but she didn't feel like anything I'd seen.
She opened a door on the far side of the kitchen. That had to be it. It was now or never. I darted along the wall, thankful beyond measure that she hadn't bothered to turn a light on. She released the doorknob, trusting in the door to close behind her. Small miracles, I sighed to myself as I caught the door and slipped behind her. I matched her stride on the stairs, hoping that she'd mistake any creaks for her own steps.
The basement was damp and smelled faintly of mildew, copper, and urine. I swallowed hard. That didn't bode well for anyone down here. The woman waved her hand, and a torch ignited on the wall. I flattened myself against the staircase and held my breath.
There was a cage along the far wall. In the flickering light, I could see a body... a person, lying on the ground motionless. Aric. I could feel it, deep inside me, pulling me to him. My heart ached.
Move. Just a little. Please be alive.
"Soon, little dragon. Soon, your friends will be here." Her voice sounded like she'd swallowed a desert's worth of sand. I recognized it as the voice speaking to Donovan outside. "Soon, we will take them, and they will all be mine."
Aric rolled over onto his back. I slapped my hands over my mouth, stifling a gasp. His pale face was a mass of swollen flesh and bruised bone. They'd worked him over hard. I could barely recognize him. Even his ice blue eyes were bloodshot and nearly swollen shut. Tears burned at the edges of my eyes.
"Fuck you, crazy bitch," he spat, then coughed wetly. "They're going to...rip you...apart." His breath rattled.
Panic started swelling in my chest. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't far from it. It didn't take an earth dragon to see that. My mind spun. I have to get him out. I can't carry him. I can take her, but I can't get past the guards. Can I?
The woman sauntered over to the cage and reached in, caressing Aric's cheek with a bony hand. "Be at peace, little dragon. Your soul will be mine in a few moments. We only have to prepare the ritual, and all will be darkness."
He flinched away from her and moaned in pain at the motion. A surge of fury rose in my chest. I wanted to rip her arm off and beat her with it.
I can't help him. But I can bring help. Sense returned to me, almost drowned out by my rage and pain. I shook my head. Desperately, I wanted to go to him. To touch his face. To tell him that we were coming. To tell him to hang on.
Instead, I turned back and started up the stairs. The woman reached into a wooden box and drew out a piece of silver chalk and began to draw a circle on the floor. I moved faster. Whatever she was planning for Aric, we had to stop it.
Chapter Seventeen
I dashed through the shadows, leaving Chase in the dust in my haste to return to the group. I knew he'd find his way back. There just wasn't time. He caught up to me as I was gasping for breath, leaning against the alley wall.
"What the hell, Sia? You couldn't stop to talk to me?" Chase protested as he joined the group.
I looked up at him, panting. "No. I couldn't. We don't have time for me to explain this more than once. There's a... witch... down in the basement with him. She's the one who rips out people's souls. Turns them
into essence. At least, that's what it sounded like to me. She was starting the ritual when I left."
"You didn't stop her?" Dario roared, then stopped himself, visibly willing calm on himself. "I...I'm sorry. How many were in there with him?"
"The High Priest. Donovan. At least three sorcerers. One of them knew we were here, had a laptop with some sort of sensors on it. We've got to be careful."
"How many Chosen? How many sorcerers? Foot soldiers?" His voice bored into my head.
I started to answer, then the world went dim. I clutched at the wall, then sank down to my knees abruptly.
Galen and Jared flanked me. I leaned on Galen heavily. He looked into my eyes, then glared at Dario. "She's just spent the last twenty minutes cloaked in shadows and shifting back and forth into her half-form. She doesn't have a lot of endurance banked yet. Give her a minute to breathe."
"We don't have a minute," Dario shouted.
Kane clapped a hand on his shoulder and turned the enraged water dragon to face him. "Dario, screaming at her isn't going to get your brother back. Take a step back and chill the fuck out."
Dario glowered at him, threw his hand off his shoulder, and whirled to pace off to the back of the alley, away from us. I could feel the emotions pouring off him. Rage. Frustration. Panic. Worry. Maybe he actually does care.
"We spotted at least twenty foot soldiers, a dozen sorcerers, and at least ten Chosen. And that was on the near end of the block. We didn't scout past the cottage because Sia came out of there like a bat out of hell." Chase sounded dissatisfied with that, but looked more concerned about me than angry.
Kane crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "So, possibly double that, if the other side looks the same. Possibly more, if they have a barracks set up in one of the houses that didn't get checked."
Chase frowned. "All of the houses are about the same size. I'd lean towards the conservative end."
Kane looked down his nose at him. "I never underestimate the Chosen. If they think they're finally going to get their hands on Sia, they're going to throw everything they have at her. Especially since they know she can transform to a full dragon."
I looked up at him. "I... don't know about that."
Chase clapped a hand on my shoulder. "You can. You will. Have faith."
I rested my hand on his. "I...have faith. I just don't know if... I have the mojo right now."
"Rest. Breathe. You'll make it." Galen wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I felt him shifting beside me, his talons grazing along my arm. Jared saw what he was doing and did the same on my other side. The two of them looked at each other. I could feel the tension between them. Finally, Galen reached out a hand toward Jared. He took it, and the two of them began to glow a faint green. Suddenly, my breathing slowed. The burning feeling in my chest from my run to the alley died down.
Kane scowled at them. "Don't go crazy with that. We don't know how this fight's going to go, and we're going to need healing."
Chase gave him a tired look. "We're going to need a dragon. Lay off."
I raised a hand. "Enough, both of you." Shakily, I stood up. The earth dragons backed off, fading back to their normal, if shifted, selves. I leaned against Galen, more for comfort than actual support. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. "We need a plan. A solid plan. This isn't just a rescue. This is going to be a freaking military operation."
Chase opened his mouth to speak. I held up a hand.
"Who here has led a squad into combat to rescue someone behind enemy lines?" I asked weakly.
Kane raised his hand with a victorious smirk. Chase rested his hands on his hips and shot him a venomous glare.
I looked at Kane in surprise. "When?"
Kane rested his hands on his hips, puffing himself out a bit. "I've been serving in the draconic army since I was sixteen. We've fought the Chosen in a dozen countries, broken up human trafficking rings in Asia, stopped toxic dumping operations in the Amazon, rescued would-be recruits from training grounds in Midwest America. You name it, I've helped bring it down."
"You were in command?" I asked dubiously.
He nodded. "I had my own squad at eighteen. We brought down a recruiting op in Iowa. I pulled out half a dozen kids a few years younger than myself from that bunker, alive." He locked eyes with me. "I can bring Aric out alive."
I nodded slowly. "Okay, Kane. You're running the show. What do we do?" I felt my heart lurch as a wave of pain and frustration from Chase washed over me. I couldn't think about that now. Hurt Chase, or lose Aric. It wasn't even a choice, but it still hurt like hell.
Cass and I stood in the alley, holding hands, watching the rest of the dragons advance. A sick feeling whirled its way around the pit of my stomach.
"Do you think this is going to work?" I asked him softly.
He pulled me closer and wrapped his arm around me. "As much as I dislike Kane, he was at the top of his class at the Proving Grounds. He's a soldier."
"But we're not soldiers. None of us are." I chewed at my lip. "Okay, Tyrone was one. Luz, Perry, and Monique went to the Proving Grounds, at least. But the rest of us... a private eye, a doctor, an EMT, a couple academics, and a bartender. And whatever Dario is."
"A crafty bastard," Cass muttered. I fought a smile. "I believe the technical title is 'squad executor.'"
"That's grim sounding." I watched as the two teams of five half-shifted dragons approached either side of the street, staying to the shadows much as I had earlier. My heart pounded in my chest.
"The executors execute the wishes of the Elder Council." A faint smile flickered across his lips. "To varying degrees. I'd imagine Dario has a different approach to it than Aric does."
Thinking about Aric hurt. "How did...does Aric do it?"
"He reads off the bulletins from the Council admin in funny voices, then throws them in the trash and tells Chase to figure it out." Cass squeezed me a little tighter. "We'll get him, Sia. Kane's done this before."
I thought back to Dario's words back at the diplomatic mansion. "What if he doesn't rescue him? What if they think he's a liability and just... just..." The knot in my throat tightened, squeezing away my words.
Cass stroked my arm. "Dario's a heartless bastard, but that's his baby brother. I saw his face when we were planning this out. He's getting Aric out of here. If not out of love, out of pride." He shrugged. "He'd never live it down if he let his own brother die on a mission."
"I'd make sure of it," I choked out. I wanted to cry. I wanted to crumple into a ball and weep, for Aric, for fear of losing everyone in this suicide mission. But I couldn't. They needed their dragon support, and they were going to get their dragon support.
A cry went up in one of the houses. I saw Chase and Dario split off, heading for the cottage as foot soldiers poured into the street. The remaining eight dragons made a big show of unleashing three flavors of hell on the charging cultists. I saw a pack of cultists go up in flames as three angry fire dragons breathed as one. Electricity arced through another group. Sharp spikes of stone rose up from the pavement, piercing more of them.
"Come on, ya bastards!" Kane roared over the din. "Bring it!"
I could see the shifters approaching in a wave. A motley crew of canines, mountain lions, crocodiles, and other fanged creatures snapped fierce jaws as they ran at our squad. Chosen slithered after them, hissing commands and fanning out to surround them. They found themselves blocked by pillars of stone.
"Our turn." Cass looked determined as he released me and started running for the street. I drew a deep breath and followed him.
I was terrified. The seething mass of bodies hurling themselves at people I cared about. The stakes. The fact that I had no idea what the hell I was doing. My dragon didn't even need prompting. She just spread her wings and soared.
I could hear cries from some of the foot soldiers as my massive dark form blotted out the moonlight. The half-dragons had done just what they said they would. The incoming sorcerers were bunched
in a tight knot in the back. I took a deep breath and exhaled over them, then sucked in the life essences of four of the nastiest-looking of the lot. They collapsed, and the rest began to fall back. I could hear a couple of them yelp in surprise as they ran smack into Cass's golden flank.
He bared his teeth and raised his wings. I could feel prickles forming on my neck. The half-dragons fell back a step as Cass slammed his wings down, bringing down six blinding bolts of lightning into the throng of cultists. I could smell burnt flesh heavy in the air as humanoid bodies fell. A shiver went down my spine as I wondered if I'd ever get used to the carnage.
No time to think about that. The cultists were growing wise to our tactics, as the Chosen hissed at them from the sidelines. I targeted them next. I could see the whites of their slitted eyes as I whirled on four of them. I used my wings to slam them into a tidy heap as I breathed death onto them. Their life energy tasted of poison. I worked my tongue in my mouth for a second, spitting into the bushes, before I stomped a foot onto the fifth one as he slithered away. He tasted just as vile.
Lightning crackled. Flames roared. Vines rustled and concrete shattered into vicious shards. I could hear a cacophony of animal sounds, of screams, of battle cries and smack talk from Galen and Kane. My scales were glowing brighter and brighter. I saw Quinn go down, and rushed to his side to breathe over him. He stirred, then leaped back to his feet and dove back into the fray.
The odds were tilting in our favor. I let out a roar and stomped on a pair of sorcerers. As I did, I saw the tail lights of a van ignite. Donovan, the High Priest, and the witch poured out of the cottage door and bolted for the van. I roared again and began to lope toward it.
Suddenly, the world went sideways.
As I charged after the van, everything inside me turned liquid. The world reeled in front of me as a wave of dizziness knocked me off my feet. I felt myself crashing down to the ground, toppling over, crashing into a sagging porch and crushing it beneath my weight. I tried to raise my head, but it felt like some great weight was dragging it down, down, down to the ground.
