by Olivia Ash
Correction—it’s what I used to want.
Standing slightly behind Zurie, Carter grimaces and looks quickly away, his nose wrinkling in disgust. I want to gloat at him, to goad him further, but with that crystal draining the life out of me, it takes all my energy to simply remain upright.
Zurie gestures to one of the soldiers nearby, and they hand her a close-range dragon rifle. At roughly three feet long, it’s the smallest one that can kill a dragon at close range.
And, much to my surprise, she shoves it in my hands.
“Do it,” Zurie continues. “Or die.”
She snaps her fingers, and every weapon not currently trained on the five kneeling warriors turns toward me. A few red dots appear on my chest as my magic is rapidly drained from my body.
“Do it, Rory,” Drew says from behind me.
I spin on my heel, baffled, only to find him watching me with a somber expression. His shoulders squared proudly, he simply waits, knowing he doesn’t have to say anything else.
“Do it,” Jace echoes, a sad tilt to his eyes. Our gazes lock, and his jaw tenses with all the things he wants to say to me. “You’ll be safe,” he adds with a weary sigh. “You can’t go feral if you don’t have your dragon.”
The thought alone nearly shatters me.
“At least you’ll be alive,” Levi agrees, his jaw tensing as he fights to hide a tortured expression.
“Shut up, you three.” Tucker grits his teeth, briefly looking down the line of dragons beside him before he turns his gaze on me. His father pops him on the back of his head with a sharp blow, and Tucker lets out a string of curses as he refuses to so much as look at the man. He and I lock eyes, and I can see the pleading request in his expression. He’s silently asking me to do something, to give him a chance to grab a gun—anything.
My gaze shifts to Irena, and she simply watches me. Calm. Tensed. Ready. Her bright green eyes lock on mine, just waiting for the silent cue. Her shoulders relax, her fingers stretching as she limbers them for battle.
Irena already knows what I’m going to do.
My men are noble. I know in my heart they mean it—each of them would die for me, and that is not something I take lightly.
But it seems they don’t know me as well as my sister does. Not yet, anyway.
As Zurie assumes I’m facing some difficult dilemma, I scan the world around me once more. The Humvees. The mounted guns. The propane tanks. The veritable sea of soldiers.
“You don’t have to do this,” I say quietly to my former mentor. “There’s a third choice here.”
She scoffs. “And that is?”
“Leave me alone,” I say, exasperated. “I won’t fight you. I won’t destroy you. I won’t even care what you do if you just leave me be.” I point to Carter. “Train this little moron to replace me, for all I care. All I want is a truce, and if we have that, you and I can live in peace.”
“Spectres don’t quit, Rory.” Zurie rolls her eyes. “That’s the law. You return to me, or you declare war. These are your options. Now, choose.”
I sigh, milking the moment as I stitch together the makeshift patchwork quilt that is my final plan. It’s risky. I will probably get shot. A lot. It’s going to hurt.
Hopefully, no one I care about dies.
“Easy,” I say, lifting my chin with a prideful flourish, mimicking her in moments of difficult decisions. I want her to think I’ve given in to an older side of myself, the part of myself she used to control. It’ll buy me time.
With that, I walk toward Jace and press the barrel against Jace’s forehead.
He lifts his gaze, meeting mine as I stare him down. He looks resolute, like he’s accepted his fate. Like he’s silently grateful I’m going to kill him first, so that he doesn’t have to watch what he suspects is coming next. I figure he thinks this is a suicide, of sorts—he must figure I want to kill him first so I go feral and wreak havoc on the place.
As he faces death, I subtly examine the row of twelve propane tanks behind him. It must take a lot of fuel to run a place this big.
That works in my favor.
It’s astonishing, really—the very idea that I would ever hurt my men or my sister is ridiculous.
Zurie is about to see what happens to those who dare back me into a corner.
They die.
Chapter Thirty-Four
As I press the gun to Jace’s forehead, I lock eyes with him. The Fairfax General. The dojo master. A commander. Leader. Warrior. I’m proud of him for his strength, for the courage he’s showing now.
But I wish the noble idiot would figure out I’m not going to shoot him.
I can’t signal anything to him because Zurie will see it. Once I act on my hastily drawn plan, we’re not going to have a ton of time to get weapons and cover. He, Drew, Levi, and Tucker will have to act quickly to avoid getting a headshot.
But this is the only choice we have.
I quickly assess the other options, just to be sure, but none of them are good enough. My next gunshot has to count, and it needs to buy me enough time to get my team to safety. Shooting Zurie would probably fail, since her speed is practically unparalleled, and the people I care about would get instant headshots. Not worth it. Shooting the General would yield the same result.
I need a diversion, one large enough to throw everyone here off their game.
As the seconds tick down, I carefully plan the sequence I’ll have to follow once the diversion hits. The soldier behind Jace has a semi-automatic, and that’ll make it easier to take out the guards holding my team at gunpoint.
Irena’s ready. She doesn’t need help, but my men might. My next job is to cover them until they have weapons and cover.
After that, I’m going to shoot the hell out of that damn black box. I’m getting my magic back, one way or another, and blowing that thing to pieces is probably the best way to do it. After that, I’ll deal with Carter and Zurie if they haven’t retreated by then.
I’ll have, at most, two minutes to do all of this.
Fun.
As I fight another bout of dizziness and nausea from the crystal that’s slowly sucking my magic from me, I flex the muscles in my core and prepare for battle.
In my periphery, the propane tanks loom like giant targets. I carefully track the one spot that will cause the largest explosion. I’ll only get one or two shots off before the world around me erupts in gunfire, so I have to make this count.
All my life, Zurie taught me that failure wasn’t an option. I had to be perfect, every time.
That’s about to backfire for her.
I squeeze on the trigger, preparing my shot. Jace maintains his gaze, but for the first time since I raised the gun to his head, his eyes narrow slightly in confusion. His eyes drift briefly to his left, toward the propane tanks, and I wonder if he’s pieced it together yet.
Hope so.
Fast as lightning, I lift the gun toward the propane tanks and pull the trigger. In the stunned silence following my shot, I manage to fire one more. Both shots hit my target, and the world around me erupts in the largest explosion I’ve ever seen.
All hell breaks loose.
Soldiers scream. A few run past, burning, throwing off the aim of anyone whose gun is trained on me or my team. Three of the Humvees explode, shooting debris in every direction. A tire takes out the guard holding Tucker in place, and he instantly grabs the gun from the dead man’s grip. He aims it at his father, who counters with a few well-placed blows. A shattered door hurls toward them, and they both dive out of the way before it slices them in half.
In the seconds that follow, Jace instantly grabs the gun I was going to go for. With a grunt, he flips the guard over this shoulder and shoots him in the head with his own gun.
“Switch!” I shout, throwing him my rifle as bullets tear past us. He tosses me the semi-automatic, and we quickly take out the soldiers behind our teammates.
In a matter of seconds, my team is free—and we’re under heavy fire. A
Bullet grazes my shoulder, and I wince as I duck for cover.
Racing toward the nearest Humvee, I do a quick scan to make sure everyone’s okay. My men bolt after me, all armed and ready to recoup. But when I tilt my head to check on Irena, she’s armed with three guns and surrounded by four bodies, kneeling behind a flipped car as she scours a soldier’s pockets for more ammo.
Good.
I gesture for her to join us, and she obliges me. She stays low, gun raised and firing as she bolts toward us. I fire the semi-automatic in my hands to give her cover.
The six of us take refuge behind one of the Humvees that didn’t explode. As Drew kneels next to me, he grabs me by the collar and kisses me deeply. It’s quick and passionate, rough and beautiful.
Before I can say a thing, he releases me and cocks his gun, all business once again.
No words. Just action.
All right, I can work with that.
“We need to get out of here!” I shout to them as the fires rage nearby. Rivers of flaming oil weave around us, slowly expanding, and we can’t stay here long. This Humvee is going to blow in five minutes, tops.
“There will be armored cars in the next garage over!” Tucker shouts back over the crackle of flames.
A hail of gunfire hits the Humvee as the soldiers recover, and I wonder how many we’re facing now. The explosion took out a good chunk of them, but we’re still in a freaking Knights fortress.
“Tucker, get a vehicle for us,” Jace orders. “Levi, can you shift?”
Levi frowns, glaring out at the cavern. “I’ll try.”
“No!” I shout as another hail of gunfire hits the car. “Levi, please. Don’t.”
My ice dragon tenses, watching me with the stern and stoic gaze of a warrior who’s willing to do what it takes to survive. He doesn’t answer, and the sheer fury in his gaze sends my heart stuttering with dread.
“All right, Levi, don’t do it,” Jace reluctantly agrees. “We just got you back. I don’t want to lose you again, buddy.”
A slight smile tugs on Levi’s mouth, and he nods gratefully to Jace.
The dojo master braces himself and hands Levi his gun. “Drew, you and I need to take out as many of these assholes as we can.”
“For once, I agree with you,” Drew says with a grin as he hands me his pistol.
He won’t need it.
“I need to destroy that box,” I say with a nod toward the device still sitting on the platform.
“And I need to destroy her,” Irena practically growls, sneering with hatred as she peers around the Humvee.
At Zurie.
“Irena, don’t.” I grab her arm and tug sharply, forcing her to look at me. “When we get the chance, we’ll do it together. You hear me? Together.”
Irena, much to my irritation, doesn’t react or respond. She simply watches me, her expression somber and on edge, and I know that’s not going to happen.
Damn it all.
“I mean it!” I shout as an explosion rocks the cave. Dust falls from the ceiling, and I wonder if another of the vehicles was torn just to shreds.
“No promises,” she says quietly. “I started this, and I need to end it.”
“Move out!” Jace shouts, apparently oblivious to our conversation. “This vehicle’s going to blow! We’ll give you guys cover, but you need to get out!”
He kneels and shifts, his body morphing and vibrating as his dragon takes over. Drew follows suit, and the two of them quickly tower over us. They roar into the cavern, a final warning to let anyone who still values their life to run away as quickly as they can.
The two dragons bolt into the gunfire, and I hear the delightful crackle of flames roasting everything they touch as Drew lets loose a storm of his dragonfire. The blinding bolt of Jace’s magic carves through the cave, and the cavern trembles beneath their might.
“Rory, can you use your magic to cover us?” Tucker asks.
I try to summon the white magic, but it fizzles and dies along my fist. I finally got out of range of the box, but it took too much of my magic for me to use it. I can feel the dull and distant pulse of my dragon, but she’s nearly gone.
Furious and practically boiling with hatred, I shake my head. “I need to destroy that box first.”
“Damn,” Tucker cocks his rifle. “Let’s go, then.”
The four of us dart into the fray, only to encounter utter insanity.
Flames coat most of the world around us, casting thick plumes of dark smoke against the ceiling. Jace and Drew soar through the air, unleashing hell on the soldiers that are trying to run for cover.
To my dismay, Carter and Zurie bolt down one of the tunnels branching off from the main cavern. Even worse, Carter has the black box tucked neatly under his arm.
Damn it.
A few bullets hit the ground at our feet as snipers try to take us out. We race toward the wall, taking cover when we can as Tucker leads the way to the tunnels.
“The garage is down that tunnel.” Tucker nods toward the tunnel next to the one Zurie took. He lifts his gun and takes out two soldiers in the top rows of windows, relieving us momentarily so we can run into it.
Irena doesn’t. Without a word, she takes off into the tunnel after Carter and Zurie, leaving the rest of us to sort out what happens next.
I get it. She doesn’t want to let Zurie get away—but if she and I are going to win this, we have to face her together.
“You and Levi go!” I shout to Tucker. “Irena and I will destroy the box.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Levi shouts to me.
“Dude, I cannot do this alone!” Tucker shouts at his best friend as he fires at a few lingering soldiers on the top level above us.
Levi groans in frustration as we near the fork between the two tunnels. He grabs my arm. “Rory, I would shift for you. I don’t care what the consequences are. Even if I get stuck as a feral dragon again, I can’t—”
“Cover Tucker,” I say softly, kissing him. Our lips brush lightly against each other, the lingering buzz enough to settle my heart despite the chaos around us. “Stay safe, Levi.” With a doting smile, I walk backward a few steps before running into the tunnel after Irena.
“Hey, where’s my kiss?” Tucker shouts down the hallway after me.
I laugh. “You’ll get it after this is over, hot stuff!”
“I better!” He shouts back.
I race into the darkness, but Irena is startlingly fast. The tunnel is dotted with sparse lights, just enough to barely see, and I keep my gun trained ahead of me as I carve my way through the shadows. The explosions become more and more distant, muted and muffled, the farther I run. I can’t even see her, and I have no idea how far she went.
Before I can reach her, I hear gunfire.
My heart skips beats, and even though I want to speed up to help her, that’s a great way to get shot in the head. The tunnel curves sharply to the right, and I force myself to slow enough to peer around the bend.
Crates line the tunnel on either side, offering both cover and making for surprisingly little visibility, given the massive height of the tunnels.
Irena stands between Zurie and Carter in the center of the wide corridor, fending them off simultaneously. Each time Carter swings at her face, Irena counters and lands a devastating kick that throws him off balance. With each deadly blow from Zurie, Irena ducks, occasionally using Carter as a shield. Two guns lay on the ground a short distance off, and I see all three of them eyeing the weapons from time to time, judging whether or not they can dive for them.
With her enhanced strength, Irena lands a gut-wrenching kick to Carter’s face. It launches him into the air, and he hits the wall hard. The black box under his arm drops to the ground, and he lands on his hands and knees, wheezing as he tries to breathe.
Poor guy can’t even handle a love tap.
I cock my gun and aim at his head. Time to end this. First Carter, then my former mentor.
Zurie started this war, and Carter tr
ied to take the reins. It didn’t have to be this way, but I intend to finish what they started.
Chapter Thirty-Five
With my gun trained on Carter’s head, I fire.
And the bastard ducks.
I hate him with all the fury of a sun, but even I have to admit he has skills. He rolls out of the way, grabs one of the loose guns, and fires off three rounds at me. The shots whiz past as I duck for cover. He doesn’t stop, and the gunshots get louder as the seconds tick by. It’s clear he’s walking toward me, trying to corner me and catch me off guard.
That’s probably worked for him in the past, but it won’t work against someone with Spectre training.
I squat as he rounds the bend and kick out his knees, taking him instantly to the ground. He recovers quickly and aims the gun at my face, but I don’t give him the chance to pull the trigger. With practiced ease and a skillful twist of my hands, I disarm him. The gun slides across the ground, clattering against the far wall.
With practiced ease, I hold his chest down with one hand and aim my gun at his face with the other. He grabs the barrel as I fire, twisting out of the shot at the last possible second. The bullet ricochets off the concrete floor, burying itself in a wall as he wrestles the gun from my grasp. We fight for it, rolling over the ground as we try to get the advantage on each other.
In a last, desperate attempt to get it, he elbows me in the face. I take the hit, never one to back down, and knee him in the gut.
The gun slides across the floor to the opposite end of the hallway, and it looks like I’ll have to kill him with my bare hands.
Irena grunts with pain, but I have to trust she can handle her fight with Zurie for now. In my weakened state, I have to be careful. Any distractions at all could give Carter the upper hand, and I can’t allow that.
Still weakened and nauseous from the crystal’s drain on my power, I hook my leg around his to root him in place and punch him as hard as I can. He ducks, however, and though I clip his ear, my fist hits the ground by his head. My knuckles ache with the mind-numbing pain of hitting concrete, and I grit my teeth in agony.
