The black rolled across his eyes, and he exhaled through his flared nostrils. Rage surged through him.
“Watch out,” Cara warned, just as the lock rune, weakened by her efforts, snapped.
It jolted through the Watcher’s music, and Nikolai didn’t stand a chance against the emotional tsunami that swept through him. Aria caught the fringes of it, enough to gasp at its power.
Mai squeaked in terror and dropped from his mane onto the floor. Wisps of dark fog rolled off his skin, the only warning Aria got before he exploded.
He wrenched away from her, spinning and hurling his body through the cave.
Where he ran straight into Dragons. Tyrez and Ash had transformed and blocked his route out.
“Let him go!” Cara’s voice thundered through the cave. Ash’s eyes widened, and he stood up on his hind legs to clear the path. Tyrez wasn’t quite fast enough, and a wall of snow rose from the ground to slam into him. It knocked the huge Dragon into the side of the mountain, where he lay dazed.
Nikolai blazed a path through the snow, a black arrow with a single, devastating purpose.
Cara gestured to Aria. “Go!”
With her heart in her throat and her guts twisting into a knot, Aria went.
* * *
Nikolai was coming for him.
But what plunged toward Lucas through the howling wind wasn’t a Liberi. It was pure Perditor. And it wasn’t listening to Lucas at all.
Dammit Nikolai! You won’t just kill Galeran, you’ll kill us too!
No reply.
It dawned on Lucas that the frantic motion from the tunnel as they searched for Ash had now fallen silent. His instincts started to scream. With his mind still immersed with Aria and Nikolai, it took a herculean effort to pull away and focus on his physical reality.
The silence continued. Had the search moved deeper into the cave? His skin prickled, and all the fine hairs stood on end.
Then Galeran and Demeti walked in, accompanied by three Dires.
Lucas climbed to his feet, just as a bolt sizzled from Demeti and hit him full on.
It sent him flying, only to be yanked up short by the chains, sprawling him into the straw. Wisps of it smoldered around him as he struggled to stay conscious.
Lucas!Nikolai, frantic.
I’m okay. Get a grip, Nikolai.But Lucas wasn’t convincing, and he knew it. Because he wasn’t okay.
One glance into Galeran’s burning gaze, and Lucas knew the jig was up.
Lucas caught a glimpse of pounding hooves in the driving snow, and an odd double-vision glimpse of Nikolai’s flying mane along with a path sketched between boulders.
Galeran just told me you will die for what you’ve done.Nikolai’s mindvoice was barely decipherable through his rage.
Busy, here,Lucas sent.Just concentrate on keeping Galeran away from your power. I can hold my own until then.
Lucas rose on shaking legs to face Galeran.
Demeti’s eyes glowed the color of fresh blood, his raised hands ready to administer another blast.
Crap.
“You think you’ve won, spiriting Nikolai away from here,” Galeran snarled, “but you have only ensured your own demise.”
