Lucas raised his head and stared at the bars of his cell.Oh, yes. It is time for you to go.
And you?Suspicion vibrated along the link.
I will be staying a little longer.
The link pulsed with frustration.I could refuse to go.
You won’t be gone long. I fully expect you to ride to my rescue with your horn blaring.
Another loud snort that echoed down the hall.You are such a smart ass.
My friend, in this case, it really does take one to know one.
* * *
Aria crouched beside Cara with her tail spike balanced in her hand.
She was so jacked up on crystal that it was possibly the longest spike she’d ever produced. It felt amazing to have her fingers curled around a familiar weapon once more. If she’d refused Udo’s wish that she put her spike down, maybe none of this would have happened.
But then, she wouldn’t have met Nikolai. Or Lucas, either.
Even though they crouched in a cave out of the wind, the air was frigid. A small figure huddled at the back—Jacques was so bundled in multiple cloaks that only his eyes and bushy brows were visible. His hands were buried in Sparkle’s feathers as she perched on his lap. The Phoenix had helpfully lit a fire to try drive the chill out of the cave. Every so often, a little puff of ash drifted off her.
The Satyr was here primarily because Sparkle wouldn’t work for anyone else, and they needed her cross-realm teleporting abilities. But he wasn’t in a generous frame of mind. “Trust Galeran to choose an icy retreat for his hiding place. I thought the Liberis loved vibrant locations filled with life. In other words, somewhere where everyone sweats. Not this.”
“That’s the entire point, Jacques,” Tyrez rumbled. Aria noted that the big Dragon shifter kept himself planted firmly between the Satyr and Dani, but the intense cold seemed to have put even Jacques’s libido on hold.
Dragon shifters didn’t feel the cold like many other species, but they didn’t enjoy it, either. Their scales kept them from freezing to death, but Aria wasn’t cold. In fact, she’d reduced her scale covering three times in the last half hour.
Aria was so desperately worried about Lucas and Nikolai that she barely registered how odd it was that she was burning up. She told herself that there was nothing she could do to help them. That this part of the plan depended entirely on Lucas.
Even thinking of him caused her heart to pound.
Or rather, pound harder. She couldn’t remember when either it, or her life, had last been normal. Her body was so wound up that she jumped when Tyrez shuffled his feet.
Tyrez, Ash, and Dani leaned against the back wall of the cave. At the entrance stood two four-legged forms unperturbed by the swirling snow—Watcher friends of Cara’s, poised with their snowy manes blowing in the wind.
Aria hadn’t been sure about adding more Liberis to their plan, but Cara insisted they could be trusted. They needed to get those runes disabled fast, and once they were...
Once they were, Nikolai would be free to access his powers. Aria swallowed her nerves and wondered if the Watchers were there for other reasons, too. Would they be able to stop him if he lost it?
Not likely.
Was Nikolai still sane? Lucas had been worried enough to launch this entire plan. The thought of that power unleashed by a vengeful Perditor—it didn’t bear thinking about.
Galeran’s Bellatis patrolled the mountain around their hideout, forcing the Dragons to fly in under cover of the snowstorm.
Now they all waited for a miracle.
She paced away from Cara, and back again. Unlike her counterparts, the Watcher was bundled in a thick cloak, but she wasn’t shivering despite the temperature. She was, however, watching Aria closely.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
Aria froze her pacing. “How should I be feeling? This waiting is driving me crazy.”
The blue gaze measured her. “Is that all it is?”
“Her scent is off,” Dani offered from the darkness.
