by Linsey Hall
The demons hadn’t recognized Roarke in his human form, but this beast recognized the Warden of the Underworld right now. Hard to miss him, with all that power rolling out. Thank fates.
“Step aside.” Roarke’s voice rumbled with power.
The beast stepped aside. Roarke went to stand in front of it as we passed single file. The scent of rotten meat spilled from the monster’s mouth as I walked by, but the floral aroma of Nix’s magic surged. I glanced behind to see her conjure a big steak and lay it at the beast’s feet.
I grinned, loving my deirfiúr more in that moment than I almost ever had.
The beast blinked at Nix, then chomped on the steak. We continued on, Roarke picking up the back and leaving the monster to enjoy its dinner.
The shadows in the passage grew darker as we ran. At first, I thought it was just the lack of light, but then I realized it was a strange black mist. Like the fog out in the woods. When we came to a crossroads, I grew woozy.
It was the mist. It had to be. I turned to my friends, wanting to take hands in case we lost one another.
But they were nowhere. “Guys?”
Silence. Just more black mist, slowly obscuring the thorny walls around me.
“Roarke? Cass? Nix? Aidan?”
Nothing.
Just like back in Wales, when the white mist had swallowed everyone.
For fate’s sake, I couldn’t get a break.
Chapter Thirteen
My heartbeat thudded in my ears. This was the second time I’d lost my friends, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be as easy to find them this go-round.
I drew my sword from the ether, not because I heard someone coming, but because it was like my sharp, pointy security blanket. I wasn’t quite as alone in the mist if I had it in my hand. For good measure, I called upon my Phantom power, letting the cold magic flow through me and turn me blue and transparent and hoping it would attract my friends to me like before.
I wouldn’t put any money on this trick working in the thick black mist that surrounded me, but I had to try.
I gave it a moment, then called on my dragon sense, asking it to take me to Draka’s egg and praying everyone else could find it, too. It was a good plan; otherwise, I could be searching for Nix while she went away from me, searching for Cass.
The magic tugged around my waist and I followed, keeping my sword held at an angle in front of me so that it would bump into the thorns before I did.
I turned left, then right, weaving through the labyrinth and praying my dragon sense led me true. By the time the mist cleared, worry for my friends had formed a balloon inside my chest. It nearly suffocated me.
I stepped into a small clearing where the thorny walls had expanded outward. A heavy stone door was in front of me, but none of my friends. I crept forward, pressing my hand to the door and trying to feel if there were any magical signatures that would indicate enemies inside.
I felt nothing but the pull of Draka’s source egg.
Slowly, I pushed open the heavy door. The air inside was cool and dim. Silent.
I slipped in, my gaze widening. I was in a massive domed room. A pool of white light filled the center, shining down from a crystal at the top of the dome. A little window allowed sunlight to flow in, hit the crystal, and then spread out. The rest of the room was dim.
But what caught my eye was the pedestal with Draka’s blue source egg sitting atop it. My fingertips itched to race forward and grab it, but the glowing white light made goosebumps stand up on my skin.
I approached it slowly, keeping all my senses alert for the magical signature of the light. Draka had said her egg was held captive in a trap. Was this the trap?
I’d bet all the books in my trove that it was.
When I neared the light, I knocked on my head, then reached out a single finger to poke the light. Just as I was about to touch it, the door behind me creaked open.
Praying for my friends but expecting the worst, I turned, my breath held.
In the doorway stood a Shadow. The figure was shaped roughly like a man in a cloak—the Grim Reaper, to be honest—but the cloak was semi-transparent and flowed like mist around his ankles.
Instinctively, I threw an icicle at him. It hadn’t worked a week ago, when I’d walked through the portal into the tower from my childhood, but I had to try. Again, it sailed straight through him.
Damn it.
“Is that the best you can do?” The Shadow’s voice was as sibilant as a snake’s hiss.
I raised my sword, remembering how it had wounded him a week ago.
“Who are you?” I demanded. “What do you want with me?”
“Everything.” The Shadow whipped out a hand, and a long snake-shaped wisp of fog snapped toward me. It wrapped around my ankle, yanking me off my feet.
I slammed into the ground, barely keeping my grip on my sword. He shouldn’t have been able to grasp me in my Phantom form. But then, my Phantom sword shouldn’t affect him, and it had.
We could hurt each other in our weird ethereal bodies.
I did a sit-up and sliced at the wisp of fog, cleaving it in two with my blade. I scrambled up as he whipped out another coil. I lunged, dodging it by a millimeter, and called upon my ice power.
I pressed my palm to the ground and forced my magic into the stone, envisioning a great wall of ice between me and the Shadow. It grew quickly, glimmering and blue, to about ten feet overhead and ten feet wide.
It wouldn’t do much, other than give me time to plan, and I prayed that was enough. My mind raced. I could try to get Draka’s egg, but that white light would probably trap me if it had trapped her Phantom dragon egg.
The Shadow shot another wisp of fog at me. It struck the ice, bouncing back. But his next shot whipped around the side of the ice wall. I dodged, but was too slow. It curled around my waist, pulling me to the side.
I sliced it off with my sword, but another whip followed it, winding around my thigh. Then another on my arm.
I cut them off, but another flew at me, enveloping my ankle.
Shit! He was too fast. And I was trapped.
He stood in front of the only exit, his black cloak whipping in a nonexistent wind, tendrils of smoke lashing out toward me.
I glanced behind me at Draka’s egg.
There was only one thing left to do…
Save her.
I was caught, but she didn’t have to be. Who knew if my plan would work, but I had to try. And maybe my friends would find me in time to save me.
I sliced off the tendril of shadow that tugged at my ankle, then raced for the pedestal holding Draka’s egg. As soon as I entered the white light, my limbs grew sluggish. It was like running through water, as if the light were holding me captive.
The only benefit was that the Shadow’s wispy tendrils couldn’t reach me in the light. They snapped against it, reflected. I was sweating by the time I reached Draka’s egg and grabbed it off the pedestal.
The Shadow yelled, but I ignored it. Focus was the only thing keeping me going as my limbs became heavier and heavier, affected by the crystal hanging high above. I was moving pretty fast, but it took everything in me.
Her magic swelled against my hand. I could almost feel something beating inside the egg. Like dragon wings. It gave me a boost of strength, and I surged toward the edge of the light. By the time I made it, I was on my knees. I toppled over and shoved the egg out of the light.
It rolled on the stone floor and glowed brilliant blue, bursting with light. The glow slammed out into the room, then disappeared.
I tried to drag myself across the stone to escape the light trap, but I was stuck—as if someone had superglued my belly to the floor.
Now this was the dignified end I’d always hoped for.
Slowly, I managed to turn my head. The Shadow approached, skirting the edge of the light, careful not to touch it. When he finally stood over me, I could only catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye, looming over me. The Grim Reaper co
me to deliver the death blow.
“The time has come,” the Shadow intoned.
“Asshole. Is that the best you’ve got? Some vague, ominous bullshit?” The words came out slurred and slow, a product of the magic that trapped me. It weakened even my jaw muscles.
“You should be grateful. You will take your place among us as queen.”
I sputtered a laugh. “Sure, queen of what?”
“The world, once we are free.”
Now I really started laughing, though it sounded like some weird record played too slow. And I didn’t know why I was laughing, because it certainly wasn’t funny. But it was ridiculous. I was trapped here, glued to the floor like a piece of dropped baloney, listening to this creeper spell out some horrible future in which I was queen.
But the worst part was, part of me liked the idea of being queen. It made me vaguely queasy, but that part was there.
“Go to hell,” I muttered.
“Not a problem. We’ll go soon enough. Once we’re—”
The door creaked open. I could just barely see out of the corner of my eye.
My heart dropped. A man carried in a struggling woman. For a moment, I thought it was Roarke carrying Cass. But he looked different. Shorter. Paler.
Holy fates, was that his brother?
Other figures came through the door, distracting me. Demons carrying Nix, Aidan, and finally Roarke. It took several demons to contain Roarke and Aidan. Roarke was beaten to hell, his form limp with one wing broken and cuts pouring blood. Like he’d put up a fight and the demons hadn’t liked it. The others didn’t look great either. More demons crowded in behind, which wasn’t surprising. It would have taken a lot to bring my friends down.
Hope disappeared.
All captured. Too many enemies. And this damned light that had me pinned like a bug.
Roarke twitched, regaining consciousness and lifting his head. His gaze darted around the room, falling on the man who looked like him.
From all the way across the room, I could see his eyes widen. Shock, joy, then despair.
It was his brother. Oh, shit.
And he was on the side of the Shadows, the mysterious enemy from my past who had placed the curse on my mind. What did they want with me? And why was he on their side?
“It seems we’re all together now.” The Shadow’s voice hissed. “But I won’t be needing your companions.”
“So let them go,” I said.
He laughed. “Hardly. Kill them!”
“No!” I thrashed. Or tried to. I was stuck solid, unable to escape.
Roarke’s brother dropped Cass to the ground and reached for his sword. As he was reaching, she scrambled up and darted away. Hope flared in my chest until a demon jumped her and took her to the ground.
A blue light surged through the door, massive and so bright it nearly drowned out the white light that trapped me. It coalesced to form the shape of a dragon that hurtled for the ceiling.
Draka!
She’d escaped!
She flew for the ceiling, avoiding the white light that trapped me, and whacked her tail at the crystal charm that was creating the bewitched light. It sailed through the air and crashed against the stone wall, shattering.
Immediately, the light that trapped me faded. Strength returned to my limbs. The superglue disappeared. I leapt up, sword gripped in my hand.
Draka swooped toward the guards holding my friends, knocking them over. Bodies tumbled and my friends scrambled free, lighting up the room with their magic. Cass hurled fire while Nix threw arrows. Aidan shifted and Roarke raced for his brother, running because his damaged wing would not fly.
I left them to it, lunging for the Shadow. I collided with him, taking him down.
Just touching his ethereal form made me shudder—probably how folks felt when they touched me. He had no face, just more shadow in the vague shape of a cloaked head.
He grasped my shoulder, but I swung my sword, severing his arm.
He hissed as smoke rose from the wound. I stabbed him through the shoulder, pinning him.
“Tell me what your plan is!” I demanded.
“Never!” There was such vehemence in his voice that I believed him.
“Then I have no use for you.” I withdrew the sword and stabbed it through his neck.
He hissed louder; more smoke billowed up. As he faded, he hissed, “We are legion, we are more.”
The words disappeared on the air, along with his body.
Had I killed him? I thought so, but I didn’t have time to worry about it. I hopped up, taking in the scene around me.
My friends fought demons—over forty of them. Nix had conjured a sandbag barricade. From behind it, she and Cass fired arrows and flames. Aidan had shifted into a griffin and was flying through the air alongside Draka, decapitating demons with his beak. Blood sprayed with every chomp.
Roarke was stuck on the ground with his broken wing, but he was in the middle of the melee, tearing off demon heads left and right. He moved so fast I almost couldn’t see him.
But his brother was gone.
Ran off like a coward.
I raced toward Cass and Nix, stowing my sword in the ether and calling upon my ice magic. Side by side, we hurled our weapons, killing demon after demon. With Draka’s help, we had a chance.
Soon, the demons overran our barricade. They surged between us, separating us. I drew my sword from the ether, going corporeal so it would strike. I lunged for the demon nearest me, sinking my blade into his stomach. I pulled it free and swiped out at the demon next to him, removing his head.
Pain sliced through my shoulder and I turned, gagging at the tearing feeling of a blade pulling free. A spindly gray demon stood behind me, a wicked looking sword in his hand. It dripped my blood.
Oh, for fate’s sake, this being human thing sucked. I called upon my Phantom power, letting the cool magic wash through me. It was time to practice some close-range icicle warfare, because I wasn’t keen on getting stabbed again.
As blood poured down my back, I didn’t think I had too many stabbings left in me today.
The spindly demon swung his blade at me, but it sailed right through my ethereal form. I charged up a tiny icicle, no more than twelve inches long, and sent it right into his chest. His milky eyes widened, and he tumbled back. I whirled, searching for another demon.
There was one coming up behind me, a massive demon with muscles on top of muscles. His serrated sword was raised to cleave my head in two.
No, thanks.
I hit him with another icicle, but it bounced off. Too small to pierce his thick chest, unlike my success with the skinny demon. This was the downside to the close-range icicle warfare. I called upon a bigger icicle, and this one plunged halfway into his chest.
He stopped, teetering on thick legs, and I kicked him over. At my side, Cass had lit up half a dozen demons, and Nix had fired arrows into the eyes of four more. Aidan’s discarded demon heads littered the ground, while Roarke’s broken bodies were piled up against the wall.
Draka picked up the last demon and chucked him into the wall.
The room fell silent, the only sound our panting breaths.
“Well, that was something,” Nix said.
“Yeah.” I sought out Roarke, who looked slightly shell-shocked. His wing looked better, as if it’d just been pulled out of joint before and had now been shoved back in, but his expression was still blown apart. “We need to get out of here.”
“Yeah.” Cass limped over. “There’ve gotta be more demons in this place, and I’m in no shape to get into it with them right now.”
Neither was I. In fact, I was about to be puddle-shaped, because blood loss from the wound in my shoulder was starting to make me woozy.
Chapter Fourteen
It was, by far, the weirdest family dinner I’d ever attended. In fairness, I’d never been to a family dinner unless you could count pizza with Del and Nix, but I’d seen them on TV and they did not look like this.
>
We were all scattered around Roarke’s kitchen, drinking wine and chatting. It’d been a full day since the battle at the fortress in Germany. I’d needed the time to recover from my wounds, and so had my friends. There’d been everything from burns and cuts to broken bones.
But we were healed now, mostly, and Roarke was making us dinner while the Allman brothers played on the stereo. Badass Warden of the Underworld was pulling lasagna out of the oven while Connor worked on a pastry on the other side of the counter. Emile and Roarke stood, discussing something intently while the two little rats, Ralph and Rufus, slept on Emile’s shoulders. Claire, Cass, and Nix played some kind of drinking game called Sink the Bismarck.
“You’ve created a lovely life for yourself,” Draka said from beside me.
I glanced at her and couldn’t help but feel my chest warm at her words. She was the closest thing I had to a mother who cared about me. Right now, she was in her human form, though she still looked like a Phantom with that strange, ageless quality only she possessed.
“They’re great, aren’t they?” I said. “But couldn’t you hang around now that you’re free?”
She shook her head. “I cannot. With our dwindling numbers, Phantom dragons are weaker. It’s how the Shadows managed to catch me in the first place. Sometimes my power falters. I must return to our cave to regenerate my strength.”
“Of course.”
“But I’ll be there for you if you need me.”
“I know.” I frowned into my mug of red wine. “And I’m going to need you, aren’t I? Whatever is coming is bad.”
“I think you have an idea.”
Yeah. Me, queen of some demons destroying Earth. Super great.
“Why did the Shadows place the curse on my mind that made it hard for me to control my power?” I asked. “Wouldn’t they want me to use my power to help them?”
“I think they doubt you. They didn’t want you to use your power against them, so they tried to block that.”
“They just want to catch me and use me. Or, some mysterious power that I have.”
“Yes.”
“What monsters. Why did my family align with them? Why did they want me to play this role?”
