Shifter Queen (Dragons & Phoenixes Book 3)

by Miranda Martin

  Oh no. If that wasn't me, the coincidence was uncanny. I needed to hide. I turned to look at the door directly behind me. Couldn't hurt to try. It was right there.

  I took the old-fashioned door knob in my hand and twisted it. The door opened easily. Well, okay then. I stepped inside, closing it behind me.

  The place looked like the lobby of an apartment building. A middle-of-the-road one, with nice floors and a cute sitting area set over to the right. I looked around for something promising and found the doorway under the stairs to the left. Probably a utility closet. I made a beeline for it, opening it to find a small nook. Perfect.

  I stepped inside, tucking myself in behind a cabinet. This was as good as it was going to get for now. I waited there for a while. I heard the door going out to the alleyway open and close and people walk through. I heard some more conversation about the intruder in the city. But nobody opened the small closet that I was in so I felt safe enough.

  I was starting to wonder whether I could leave the closet or if I'd have to wait there up until the attack happened, when I overheard another conversation.

  "When are we going to get the signal?" someone muttered in a low voice.

  "Not for some time yet," another quiet voice answered, a slight tone of irritation edging it. "We'll get it when we get it. Just stay alert."

  "What about the trespasser? Who do you think it is?"

  Wonderful. I was the topic of conversation once again.

  "I don't know, Max."

  "I'm just saying," the man said defensively. "Maybe we need to find her ourselves."

  "And how do you propose we do that? Everyone is looking for her and no one has found her yet. We need to just sit tight and wait for Sven's signal like we're supposed to."

  Sven? I bit my lip as I had a quick internal debate with myself. It wasn't a hundred percent safe. But realistically, this was my only chance to get out of this closet right now, rather than having to wait even more.

  I opened the door just as the footsteps started to walk away. It was a woman and a man, both of them tall and on the slender side, with straight black hair. The man's was cut short, the woman's just hitting her shoulders.

  "Hey," I whispered.

  They both turned around at once. Their faces told me that they must have been siblings, if not twins. Their eyes even widened in almost the same way as they took me in.

  There was no way to take me for anything but an outsider. They were both dressed in white, in the loose tunic and pants combination that the phoenixes favored in the city. I was in my t-shirt and jeans with boots on my feet. This was why I hadn't run out into the street. There was no way to hide that I didn't belong here with the way I looked, which actually worked in my favor right now.

  The two of them hurried over to me right away, glancing around quickly as they did so. They pushed me back into the utility closet and closed the door behind themselves.

  "I'm Mia," I said, taking their measure.

  They were young, maybe in their late teens.

  "We know who you are," the young woman said in exasperation.

  "There's no need to be rude, Serai," the boy admonished. "I'm Max and this is my sister Serai. What are you doing here? The army hasn't arrived yet...has it?"

  "Not yet. It's a long story. Someone kidnapped me to hand me over to Emberich...actually I think that's it. Maybe not such a long story after all."

  They stared at me.

  "We have to hide her," Serai said urgently. "If they find her now..."

  "Yes," Max agreed. "That would not be good."

  They exchanged a look, having a short conversation with just their eyes.

  "Why don't you come hide in our apartment," Serai finally said, turning to me after the silent communication. "We'll call someone for help and..."

  "No," I interrupted instantly. "Don't call anybody. But it would be great if I could head to your place for now."

  Trusting these two was enough. I was only doing it because I felt like I needed to. I didn't have to trust everybody else. They looked at each other again, but then nodded.

  "Follow me," Serai said, opening the utility door and looking both ways before walking out and gesturing for me to follow.

  I walked behind her up the stairs, with Max bringing up the rear. We skipped the elevator altogether, which I thought was a smart move. At least there was some mobility on stairs if we ran into someone we didn't want to run into. Our steps were quiet on the carpeted hallway as we hurried over to their apartment. Serai used her hand print and retinal scanner and waved me into the small, but neat apartment.

  "Nice place," I commented politely as I moved to sit down on the couch.

  "Thank you," Serai said, with Max murmuring his thanks as well.

  They hovered around me awkwardly, obviously not knowing how to act or what to do. I sympathized. I kind of felt the same way. I took a moment to look around and think.

  I couldn't just hide out in their apartment until Ashur and everyone got here. I was already in the city, which meant that I'd actually be able to get to Emberich easier than I would have if I'd come in with the initial attack. I knew as soon as our forces showed up, Emberich would be on complete lock down. And Emberich was my ultimate goal here.

  Max opened his mouth to say something but I beat him to the punch.

  "Is there any way you guys can get me to the palace without being seen?" I asked.

  They looked at each other nervously.

  "I don't think that's a good idea. Everyone's looking for you right now," Max said breaking the quiet.

  Valid point.

  "I need to get to Emberich and it's probably going to be easier for me to get there now than it will be when the attack happens," I explained. "Do you have any spare clothes that I could borrow? If I just keep my head down and blend in, I might be able to make it."

  Another charged silent pause.

  "Maybe she could," Serai murmured, looking me up and down.

  "That's insane, Serai," Max blurted out. "Everyone's looking for an intruder and everyone has her picture now. They know what she looks like."

  Everyone had my picture? Hmm. So this was what it felt like to be famous.

  "Yes, but they're not going to be expecting to see her while they're walking down the street," Serai pointed out reasonably. "If I put her in my clothes and she doesn't meet anyone's eyes..."

  "I'm willing to take the risk," I interrupted, standing up.

  Serai and Max continued to bicker back and forth while she went into her bedroom and brought out another tunic and pants set.

  The truth was, once the attack happened, I knew the streets were going to be in chaos and it was going to be a lot more difficult for me to get up to the palace. That, coupled with Emberich tightening his personal guard, meant getting to him would be way harder.

  Now was my chance for me to position myself.

  I grabbed the clothes and shut myself into the bathroom to change quickly. I tucked my knives into my pants and put my boots back on. The tunic and pants were kind of tight on me and the sandals didn't work at all. It would have to do.

  I came back out. They were still having a quiet but intense argument. I cleared my throat. Serai and Max paused mid pointing and waving to look over at me.

  "Ready?" I asked.

  "Yes," Serai confirmed, stepping forward even as Max shook his head.

  "This is a terrible idea," he muttered as he followed us out of the apartment. "She's going to get caught."

  "Fine, but it's happening. You might as well accept it," Serai snapped back at him. "Stop being a baby about it."

  Max rolled his eyes, but followed along.

  We walked out of the building and down the street. It helped that I was with two other people and not on my own. I knew they were looking for a lone intruder. It probably helped as much as being dressed in the tunic and pants. Nobody gave us a second look as we hurried to one of the gondola platforms.

  "Are you sure?" I asked as we waited for
the doors to open, people chatting to each other casually around us as they waited as well.

  "It's the fastest way," Serai murmured as we stepped on with a group. "You want to minimize time around people."

  I guess that made sense. So I sat down sandwiched between Max and Serai and tried not to look at anybody. A couple of people gave me some odd looks, but I simply turned away from them and looked out the window. Nothing to see here.

  I was a little surprised that we got off on the platform before the one that reached the palace.

  "You won't be able to get there from the other platform," Max explained as we walked down another winding street.

  "But there is another way to get there," Serai added.

  We hurried through winding narrow alleys, all at an incline.

  "Here," Max said, coming to a stop. "This is the end of the line for us."

  "Go in there and you will come out next to the entrance that goes up onto the main roof," Serai told me.

  She stepped forward, opened up a hidden hand print screen, and set her hand against it. I heard the faint ding of a lock being opened. A grate slid to the side in the ground, revealing the black maw of another tunnel.

  "How many tunnels does this place have?" I wondered out loud, looking down at that dark entryway without much enthusiasm.

  "The king who built this place was really paranoid," Max said as he looked down at the entrance as well. "There's a lot of hidden passageways and tunnels running through the city." He met my eyes with a smile. "Kind of ironic that they're being used to help overthrow the current king."

  True. And paranoia was the only way that all of this made sense.

  "Thank you guys," I said as I got down on the ground in preparation of going down there.

  "Be careful," Serai ordered. "We should have called someone," she murmured, shaking her head.

  "Yes," Max agreed. "We should have."

  "I'll be fine," I reassured them as I hung onto the lip of the entrance and let myself drop with soft knees. "No problem." Maybe if I said it confidently enough, I might start believing it too.

  We all heard footsteps nearing at the same time.

  "Quickly! Go!" Max said in a low, urgent tone as they hit the lock again and the entrance closed above me, leaving me in another dark tunnel.

  I was getting really tired of tunnels by this point. Why couldn't people build wide, well-lit hallways, maybe with skylights? Sighing, I used the light on my watch again to navigate through it. Thankfully, this one was a lot shorter than the one that had brought me into the city. When I came out on the other side, it was right next to the palace, as promised.

  But there were also two guards directly in front of the tunnel entrance. I froze as I stepped out and saw them. There was no way to hide as I came out. They were directly in front of the entrance as if they were guarding it. Had I just been betrayed by a couple of teenagers?

  One of the men was in his late thirties with burnished brown skin and the other one was in his mid-twenties, his pale skin freckled across his nose. They looked as startled to see me as I was to see them.

  Okay, not the kids then. I didn't know why that made me feel better, but it did.

  Before I could say anything or try to explain myself—I didn't know how, but maybe something brilliant would have come to mind—they both stepped forward in front of me.

  "The army has not arrived yet," the older man said frowning. "We were supposed to get a signal. Did we miss it?"

  I blinked at them. Wait.

  "Are you with Sven?" I asked to be sure.

  They looked at each other and frowned.

  "Yes," the younger one said. "We were waiting for the signal."

  I didn't want to get into the whole thing again right now.

  "I ended up coming early and I need to get into the palace. How can I do that?" I asked directly. I didn't want to waste time beating around the bush.

  They looked at each other uneasily but then I saw the younger one give the other one a shrug.

  "We can get you onto the roof. The roof then has access to the rest of the palace." They both looked at me dubiously. "There are many guards inside the palace."

  "That sounds perfect," I said, ignoring the comment about the guards.

  I'd find out soon enough.

  Somehow, I literally found myself with an escort to the external stairwell that led up to the roof on this side of the palace, well towards the back. We passed by another couple of guards who gave me strange looks, but I kept my face mostly turned away from them.

  "Just checking the roof," the older guard explained lightly as he kept us moving.

  The other guards didn't say anything, but I saw one look over his shoulder at us as we passed. But they kept walking. I let out a relieved breath.

  "Are you sure you need to go in alone?" the younger guard asked, looking worried.

  "I'm just waiting on the roof until the attack. Then I'll have help to go in," I lied.

  I knew they'd insist on coming with me if I said anything different and they needed to keep that tunnel guarded. We couldn't have anybody else there if our people used it to come in. Reassured, the guards left me at the staircase and went back to the tunnel entrance as I made my way up.

  When I got to the top, I was relieved that at least this part of the roof was flat. Most of the palace roof was made up of spires and other pointed areas that were not conducive to standing or walking. But I didn't have much time to be relieved about that.

  In the next instant, a deep echoing bell started to ring. I could feel that sound in my bones. Disconcerting to say the least. Then I heard the shouts of alarm. I looked across the city with a frown.

  What was going on?

  Movement caught my eye making me tilt my head up.

  There, on the horizon. The sky was filled with glinting scales. Wings arranged tip to tip, it looked like the whole rainbow of colors was barreling towards the city in an overwhelming wave, so dense, they blocked the sun in places.

  I watched as the front line swept down to the city, dragons opening their mouths to spit flame over the structures, and phoenixes directly behind them, using their flaming feathers.

  It looked like the end of times.

  Maybe it was for this city.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I watched as the phoenix forces collided with the dragon ones, the clash of flaming feathers and spitting fire grabbing my attention and taking my mind off what my goal was at the moment.

  A phoenix darted past me, the heat from its feathers hitting me hard. It finally shook me out of the trance I'd fallen into, transfixed by the sight. Shaking my head, I turned away and ran towards the door I saw set into one of the walls. As pretty and decorative as Emberich's palace was, it still had the same access points as any structure. Whatever dressing you put on a place, it was still just a building.

  Unfortunately, when I opened the door, I hit a real roadblock. Two guards were waiting just inside the door. And I didn't get lucky a second time. They saw me and didn't even hesitate.

  I ducked as one of them swung his sword right where my head had just been.

  They weren't playing. But neither was I.

  I brought out my knives and slashed at the first one's calves as I tried to duck past the second one.

  He had a staff that blocked my way immediately. Inconvenient.

  He then used it to sweep me off my feet, but I immediately rolled to them and stepped back. But I needed to be closer, close enough to be inside their defenses where swords and staffs would be useless. But where knives weren't. So I rushed back in and stabbed up with both of my knives, straight into the swordsman's guts even as he tried to block me.

  His eyes were shocked as I pulled my blades back out, but I immediately shoved him away down the stairs before turning to the man with the staff.

  I didn't pause before I threw a knife straight at his eye and hit my target dead on. He let out a short scream and I shoved him down straight after his friend. I couldn'
t take the risk of their coming after me.

  Rushing down the steps, I jumped over their prone bodies, trying not to look. I knew if I didn't get them first they would have killed me. But that didn't mean I liked to see the aftermath of what I'd done.

  I ran down the stairs and came out into a beautiful marble-lined hall, the alcoves on each side lit with spotlights to show off the tapestries and paintings of phoenixes doing mighty deeds. Many of them featured phoenixes killing dragons. But others showed them building the city and helping other phoenixes—bringing them food and water, accepting people in need.

  That was life, wasn't it?

  Complicated.

  The palace rocked around me a little and some plaster fell from the ceiling above me, raining down onto the floor. I reached out to steady myself against the wall. The battle was already weakening the palace.

  I needed to find Emberich quickly. I wouldn't put it past him to have an escape route planned to save his own life while he left his people here to fight and die for him. People like him could always justify cowardly actions so they didn’t appear to be selfish ones. Not that he would necessarily even need to justify running to himself. I was probably assigning him some kind of moral conscience when he didn't really have any.

  In any case, I needed to hurry.

  I ran through that hall and into another, past maids and other household staff who were running around in a panic. Why they hadn't already been evacuated I didn't know. Just another example of Emberich's ego. And maybe also his lack of empathy for his own people.

  One of the maids came to a halt in front of me, looking down to see my knife, both it and my hand bloody. I couldn't even say it wasn't what it looked like. Her eyes went back to my face, wide and frightened as she backed away a step, her face pale.

  "Go," I ordered as I skirted around her, giving her plenty of space. "I'm not here for you."

  She nodded quickly and sprinted away, obviously worried that I would change my mind and come after her anyway.

  I kept going. It seemed like the fighting had drawn most of the guards outside to defend the palace. The people I saw either were running to hide, escaping from the kitchen or the rooms inside.