Beside him, Cara tossed her head. “We need thee runes gone, or he’ll blast right through us.”
Nikolai stared off through the storm.
We’re almost there,Aria sent.
* * *
Aria tried to ignore the restlessness in her soul as she peered at the cliff. It looked just like the rest of the dark, jagged rocks that loomed over them.
“Are you sure this is the place?”
Ash’s long, gold hair swirled across his face. Her gaze followed the silken strands as he pushed it out of his eyes. “Oh, yes.”
Dani stood beside him, her narrowed gaze squinting at the spot in question. “That’s an old slide. It’s made up of chunks of rock.”
Aria looked closer. The snow lay in drifts up against, and over, the stone. Despite the accuracy of her Dragon vision, she didn’t see any difference between it and the surrounding mountain.
Ash seemed to sense her disbelief. “Dani is right. It’s not one solid piece. And that makes all the difference.”
Two figures loomed up beside Ash. Tyrez and Razir both snorted steam through their human noses as they planted the tips of their five-foot tail spikes into the snow.
“The moment she breaks through, they’ll be on to us,” Tyrez noted. “No way to move a rockslide quietly.”
Aria admired the tail spikes. Her latest effort had been pretty impressive, a solid two and a half feet, but Tyrez and Razir were in a league of their own. In the hands of such muscular Dragons, they were formidable weapons.
Muscular? What the shards was wrong with her? It was like her bonding to Nikolai had unhinged something within her. Next to their brawn, Ash’s beauty was almost ethereal...
“You’re staying out here,” Tyrez growled to Ash. “This isn’t your forte.”
Ash’s eyes gleamed, but he nodded. His gaze moved to Aria. “Lucas is the key,” he said.
She regarded him in shock. “Lucas isn’t a Dragon. He can’t get close to Galeran.”
One corner of Ash’s mouth twitched up. “Sometimes the direct approach isn’t the best one to take.”
She stared at him. “Do you ever not speak in riddles?”
“Nope,” a new voice broke in. “Riddles are his thing.” Cody moved up alongside Tyrez. “We’ll focus on the Dires, and leave the Bellatis to you lizards, all right?”
As Tyrez rolled his eyes, a Sabre even larger than Cody stepped up beside Razir. “We’ll flank you. As Cody said, leave the Dires to us.” He flexed his fingers, which had sprouted claws.
Cody nodded deferentially to the newcomer. “Right, boss.”
A smaller, slighter Sabre in beast form butted Cody’s hip. Clearly female. Her golden eyes snapped to Aria. “Ignorre him. He can be such an idiot,” the Sabre commented.
Cody grinned at Aria. “I’d argue, but I might lose a body part. Meet Kitani, my mate.”
“Definitely his betterr half,” Kitani growled. But she bumped affectionately into Cody.
Aria recognized a kindred warrior spirit, and she smiled at Kitani. Behind them was a group of their kind, many of whom were already shifted to beast. Among them were a few Dires, including one with bright-red fur.
By their size, the Dragons present were clearly from the elite Legion troop sent by the Emperor.
“Make sure your guys”—Razir’s gaze dropped to Kitani—“uh, crew, know to leave the Bellatis alone, Kade. They can suck you dead with a look.”
“Yeah. Cara made that clear.” Kade’s face lengthened as he embraced his beast. Cody followed suit, his fur so dark that Aria could barely see the spots in it.
The Dragons didn’t shift. In order to fight in the cave’s close confines, they would be going in as humans, armored by their scales and wielding their tail spikes. But their best protection was their natural immunity to the manipulations of life energy.
