by K. F. Breene
“But you can’t tell anyone about me, right? Be honest, because I will know if you’re lying.” I wouldn’t know any such thing, but there was a good chance it would believe me. I was the heir, after all.
“The confidentiality bond as it pertains to the summoning is still in effect,” it grumbled. “I will be punished for leaving without approval and having no reason for doing so.”
“Yet you wanted to guide me initially. Guide me in secret, I might add. That doesn’t add up.” I narrowed my eyes at it. “You lying little devil.”
It crouched to the ground and worried at its mark, looking up at me. It didn’t say anything, but then, it didn’t have to.
“Kill it,” Darius said without inflection.
I should have. It had tried to set me up in the beginning, just like we’d thought. If we’d taken the path it had laid out for us, it would have brought me to its leader in the hopes of gaining a boon. What a sniveling little…
On the flip side, Callie and Dizzy could mark it to help me. My goal was never to come back to the underworld, but it never hurt to have insurance.
“Go,” I said, dissolving the air. “Remember my…” I tilted my head. What was the word I was looking for. “Leniency?”
“Mercy,” Darius murmured.
I snapped. “Mercy, yes. Remember my mercy. Now get gone.”
It took off like a shot, clearly wanting to quickly put as much distance as possible between itself and me.
Without delay, I turned around and did the same thing, hurrying into the illusion of the river while holding Darius’s hand so we didn’t get separated. We ran down to the dock and climbed into the boat.
This creature had the same vaguely human look and grayish skin as the one that had given us a ride initially.
“Hello, Egg Man,” it said.
“Are you the same guy we had before?” I asked it, because how else would it remember my supposed name?
Its face turned to Darius. “Hello, Walrus.”
Darius nodded in greeting.
“Where do you go?” the creature asked.
I looked at Darius for an answer. Strategy was his department.
“The way we came in,” he said.
Without hesitation, the creature untied the rope and the boat calmly drifted away from the side.
I blinked at Darius, wanting to ask a few questions. Like, why did he seem so confident it would know? And did it, in fact, know? And was this the same one as before?
Plunk.
I flinched and ducked away before groaning. “Not the drops again.”
Silence filled the empty expanse as we made our way across the river. Darius, still nude and seemingly not disturbed that his bare butt was resting on an often used and probably rarely cleaned seat, stared off to the side patiently. The creature stared between us, also patiently.
I fidgeted and tried to keep from jumping overboard. I really hated this ride.
“Question.” I pointed at the creature. It didn’t look at me. “Are you a tattletale?”
Silence.
“Do you keep a captain’s log of passengers?” I tried again.
Silence.
“If I throw you into the water, and no one is there to hear it, will the splash actually make a sound?” No one answered, so I had plenty of opportunity to think about what I’d just said. “Actually, will you even make a splash?”
I was tempted to see, just for kicks, but there were no oars. If this thing went over, we’d probably be stuck on this accursed river forever.
Another couple drops from the ceiling later, we drifted toward a dock. The creature tied up the boat. No fog greeted us from this side.
Huh.
The creature’s head turned to me. “Safe travels, Egg man.” Then to Darius, “Safe travels, Walrus.”
I hopped off the boat, shaking my head. I couldn’t even summon the enthusiasm to sing the last lines of the song. Despite Darius’s assertions, I had not gotten used to the crazy that was the river. It just wasn’t right.
Without balking, we walked up the beach and through the illusion we’d seen before. This one didn’t change the second time around like that other one had.
“I wonder if you could’ve walked on that water,” I said randomly, thinking of the illusion of the hut on the ocean.
Something large drifted above us. The roar shook my bones, bubbling up fear from inside me.
A black dragon.
The black dragon.
Chapter Thirty
“What in the hell is it doing here?” I screeched, starting to run.
Darius grabbed my arm, probably worried he’d lose me in the layered illusion. Do not use your power. We have to blend in.
No kidding, but could I stop myself from protecting us the only way I knew how when it was a matter of survival? I wasn’t sure.
“Should I go naked like you? I can burn off my hair. That might make me look as odd as the rest of them…”
“No. Keep moving.” We stayed near the edge of the passageway, scraping our backs on the jutting, sharp rocks. The tail of the dragon disappeared overhead.
Demons hurried toward us or moved with us, glancing up in panic. One crashed into Darius and careened to the other side of the corridor, scraping against the rock.
Its eyes hit mine as it pushed away. A rare helpful demon, it said, “Go back the way you came! They only bring in dragons to burn the place out!”
He scurried toward the river.
We ran forward into a cluster of demons, all equally panicked. Another roar made everyone flinch. Someone grabbed at Darius’s satchel, a thief taking advantage of the distraction.
Thieves should know better than to get grabby with a vampire.
Darius snatched the demon and swung it around, bashing it against the rock. Then he flung it to the ground and kept going as though nothing had happened.
A hollow of creatures opened up around us, giving us more room. That probably wasn’t good.
The black dragon drifted overhead, and I looked up through my eyelashes, trying to see if anything or, rather, anyone rested on its back. Empty. Thank holy buckets of goo.
“Maybe dragons can’t sense power,” I murmured as we hunched and crowded in with the demons in front of us. They tried to get away, but we persisted, running behind them, basically herding them the direction we were going.
Don’t chance it, Darius thought.
Everyone slowed into a cluster as we all reached the big open area where I’d slayed the huge demon. Only a few brave souls walked through it, hurrying from one side to the other.
“What does the dragon want?” I asked a strange creature beside me. It didn’t look much like a demon, but I had no idea what it might be. Gargoyle?
“I don’t know. I didn’t even know dragons existed!”
“It’s looking for someone,” a demon in front of us rasped.
“Will they find someone else by accident?” I asked.
“Yeah. This is the start of the raid. Anything that can’t go back across the river will be killed. Usually they don’t bother with this area, but when they do, they clear it out. Won’t want anyone on the outside hearing about dragons. The news can’t get out with everyone dead.” The demon looked up, its fear plain.
“Then why don’t you head toward the river? Why doesn’t everyone?”
The demon glanced back over my shoulder. “Too late now. I gotta stay alive long enough to sneak back over.”
I followed its gaze but only saw a mass of cowering creatures, hunched together, as though trapped and waiting for a golden opportunity to escape.
I didn’t know why it might be too late, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going toward the river, anyway. And I certainly wasn’t the kind of girl to wait for the enemy to come to me.
“Darius, let’s light this place up with magic and make a run for it.”
“Wait. You got magic?” The demon in front turned around, giving me its full attention. It pointed.
&nb
sp; I punched it in the face.
“Don’t draw attention to me and I won’t kill you,” I seethed.
It ripped its finger down. “You’re that human that beat two turns with the dragon,” the demon whispered. “You got magic. That sect has been looking for you.”
“They found me. The clown is dead. Take a hint.”
The demon shifted. It looked around and then back to me, not moving away. It took hints like it minded its own business—not well.
“Where’d you get all that magic? You got any for sale?” the demon asked.
Two other demons hovering near us glanced over. Darius leveled an assessing stare at the demon willing to buy. I had no doubt a side business featuring large payments to the dual mages and demons acting like mules into the underworld could come out of it, but we didn’t have time to hang around.
“We gotta—” I cut off as yelling and shouts rose over the murmurs. Everyone looked back, me included.
“Told ya,” said the demon with a future as a magical mule.
The crowd around us shifted, their movements harried and jerky. Through opening gaps I saw demons running toward us from the corridor, fear smeared across their faces.
“Raid!” someone shouted.
The dragon roared somewhere to my right. A stream of fire raked through the trader space in front of us, blasting us with heat. Two demons flailed in the fire, scorched in the spray.
Screams of agony and the clank of metal filled the air, and the chaos was, sadly, headed our way. Large demons with weapons surged forward, pausing now and again to deliver a killing strike. An insect-looking creature climbed up the wall, whining and flinching as the protrusions pierced it. It didn’t get far before one of the armed demons ripped it down. Suddenly the corridors surrounded by jagged rock walls made sense. They made it easy to corral, then take down, prey.
“We gotta go,” I said, urgency speeding up my heart. I unzipped my pouch and dug out a handful of spells. I handed them over to our potential new business associate. “Pinch,” I yelled, taking one out and pinching it. “And throw quickly.”
I lobbed it behind us. An explosion sent a leg flying.
“Do it quickly. They won’t all work without words. Ignore those that don’t and move on. Stay alive, and the vampire will get in touch with you.” I had no idea how, but that wasn’t my problem. I hooked a thumb Darius’s way before shoving the demon away from me. “Go! Save yourself. Kill people. Do whatever you do.”
The dragon rose to the left, pumping its great wings. It turned toward the river and spewed a stream of fire. I grabbed a still, strategizing Darius and yanked him forward, pushing my way toward the edges of the crowd and waiting next to the main drag.
A few demons ran through the space, making a break for it. More joined until the place was filled with panicked creatures. I pushed Darius to the side near the wall as the dragon turned. The throb of power filled the area.
The gush of fire blistered the air as it raked down the main drag. Without overthinking it, I covered Darius and I in a protective bubble, ignoring the press of the crowd. The dragon turned, blasting those who’d made it across the clearing.
What better time to follow them?
“Let’s go.” I ran across the blackened stone of the trading area, putting distance between us and the task force. On the other side, I ran until the walls were higher and we couldn’t see the trading area, before stopping and digging into my pouch. The beat of wings, much too close, announced the dragon was doing a flyby.
Darius dragged me to the ground and moved closer to the wall with me. A demon sprinted our way, looking up as it did so. A moment later, it jerked its arms over its head and ducked. A blast of fire consumed it, the flame spreading out along the corridor and washing toward us.
I threw another protective bubble over us, realizing that my ability to do so had to be something else imparted by my father. Thanks, old man.
Something screamed up ahead as the fire burned everything in its path. My breath caught as a glimmering black body and one wing appeared above the wall just down the way, the dragon checking out its handiwork. I clutched Darius, shrinking as best I could, watching the body. Seeing a front foot, then the back. Waiting for the head to appear next.
The rush of fire sounded, but not in our corridor. The dragon was cleaning out the one next to us.
“Go, go, go!” Staying low, ignoring the scrape of the wall against my arm, I ran, stepping on or jumping over scorched remains. We turned a corner and straightened, the dragon out of sight. For now.
“Spells,” Darius said in a tight voice. He was feeling the pressure.
I grabbed a volatile spell, squeezed it, and lobbed it as hard as I could toward the dragon.
Darius threw his over the walls.
A blast of light exploded. The dragon trumpeted. Wings flapping drowned out a yell.
A pink haze ballooned up from Darius’s spell. It solidified and then burst, spraying spikes.
We took off running, staying near the wall, constantly looking up to make sure the dragon wasn’t coming our way.
Another spell went off, flashing red across the dark ceiling. Then blue. Our potential business associate was trying out his new arsenal.
That was good for us.
A demon stood in our way, cowering and blocking a small offshoot path. It was in the direction we needed to go.
“Move!” I shouted.
It stared at me, mute. Not complying.
I raked my special hellfire across its middle and kicked my way through, with Darius right behind. There was no room for cowards in this band of thieves and cutthroats. Not if we wanted to live.
That path dumped us out on another that led to the magical stairs. We were almost there.
I tried to look back for some sign of the dragon, but the walls were too high. We had to go up, though, and get out. If we stayed here, they would find us. Going back was not an option.
But if we went up, the dragon was sure to see us.
Darius ripped me around to face him. His bruising kiss fluttered my eyelashes. He stared down into my eyes and looked all the way down to my very soul. “I love you more than sunlight, Reagan Somerset, and I will see you out of this world and safely home, where I intend to kiss you every night for the rest of all eternity. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” I said fervently, clutching his wide shoulders.
His brow scrunched in determination and he nodded before stepping away. He dug into his satchel, to the bottom, and butterflies filled my stomach at the thought of the dangerous spells he stored way down where it was hard to grab.
Another roar shook my bones. People screamed. The crackling of fire sounded to the left. Shouts and yells, closer now. We were running out of time.
Darius placed three casings into his open palm before closing his satchel and digging into his backpack. He pulled out a vial of blood.
“If your mind goes hazy with this, just try to operate on your survival instincts. Don’t think, just do. You need the boost, or we’ll never make it.” He handed it over.
I upended it into my mouth as Darius stepped away, murmuring something I couldn’t hear. He crushed the casings in his palm, paused for a beat, and then threw them with all his might.
“Let’s go!” he shouted, and reached for me.
I let him hold my hand until I could yank the zip on my pouch closed. I shook out of his grasp. “Only silly girls in action movies hold hands when they are running for their lives!”
I took off toward the stairs as the ground started to shake. Something hit off my head, and for once, it wasn’t a drop of water. It was a rock.
More came down, the ceiling shedding, and a crack ran through the stone underfoot. The rock walls to our sides made a weird sort of grinding noise.
The shaking keyed up a notch, and I staggered to the side, losing my balance. Darius lurched the other way, reaching for me.
I batted his hand away as I righted. He was more graceful
than me and clearly not used to falling. I, on the other hand, was an old pro. It didn’t bother me one bit.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” he yelled over the groaning.
Rocks rained down freely now, bouncing off my head and striking my shoulders and arms and feet. The crack in the ground enlarged as another started up.
An explosion knocked me to my knees, jolting the ground under me. Another pushed me forward onto my hands.
Darius pulled me up by my arm and shoved me in front of him, staggering like a drunk.
“What the hell was that spell?” I hollered as we neared two waist-high beams that denoted the base of the stairs. I grabbed Darius with air and let fire burn around my feet. Yes, I’d agreed not to use my power, but I wasn’t about to let us die. Besides, with all the chaos, who would notice? “Not even Penny has that kind of power.”
“When the natural mage surfaces, it’s usually to make money. I am unusually generous with him. It keeps him coming back. For this spell…he had help.” He looked behind us. “Go fast!”
I lifted us with air and basically flew up the steps, moving my feet like I was running, hoping no one would be the wiser.
“Hurry!” Darius shouted, his hand hitting off the air as he tried to clutch my arm.
I hazarded a glance back, because even though I was reasonably intelligent, I rarely proved it. The dragon pumped its wings, rising into the sky, not flinching as the rocks rained down. Looking straight at us.
“Oh sh—” I put everything into it, hightailing it up the stairs and hauling Darius with me.
I quickly learned that, when fear and panic were raging through me, I couldn’t levitate as quickly as I could run. At least not yet. I set us down, lined the stairs with fire so we could see, and we took two stairs at a time. The flap of wings blotted out the pounding of my feet. My muscles screamed from exertion. Darius’s heart hammered.
“Where the fuck is the fucking door, Batman?” I yelled, grinding my teeth.
The dragon’s roar assaulted my senses and shook my body. I glanced back and saw its huge talons reaching for me.
