“I will,” I promised, with no idea whether I could make it happen.
“Can we go now?” Jinsic demanded.
Kiko rolled her eyes as I pushed her away. “You owe me, big time, for this,” she warned.
I waved to Marcus and Talakai. “All right, you two. Grab on, we’re going in.”
* * *
We almost died in the first second.
I would have, if the Dragon scales hadn’t spread to my breasts. The mercenary’s sword skittered right across them.
With a roar, Marcus ran his own weapon clear through him. Yanked it free as the man fell.
Marcus grabbed my arm and pulled me to a pillar that ran the room’s circumference. “Stay here,” he commanded. “Use your swords if you have to.”
He turned to leave. I looked past him to where Talakai was already an indigo blur of motion, fighting a horde that grew by the second. Rafael, Anna, and Lucas stood near the cage at the far end of the room—they faced Isobel. More than just facing her—Rafael had his hands on her arm and throat. I could barely see them through the swirling mess of Dragon shifters in human form, and mercs, and even Dires in beast form, ducking and diving in a mass.
As I squinted, trying to see, a Dire was thrown high enough to hit the ceiling, before landing only feet from us with a sodden “thunk.”
He was so shredded I could barely tell he had ever been a Dire. For just an instant, I caught a glimpse of red scales through the heaving chaos of the battle.
Havoc.
And then the room lit up with red energy, and I saw the tall, thin man from my link with Rafael. Finn, the Torshin, standing behind the coven. He raised his hands as he flung his energy bolts into the mass of fighting forms, not caring whether he hit friend or foe.
He pulled something from his pocket—a ball of what looked like pure energy. When he flicked his wrist, it spat out a long, sizzling whip.
I’d seen the marks that thing had left on Rafael. And as I watched in horror, he sent it lancing out toward the group. It caught Lucas, and the Morph screamed.
I grabbed Marcus. He was so determined to wade in with his sword and knife that he dragged me a few paces before stopping.
We won’t win by fighting this way,I said.
She’s right, Marcus,Iskar chimed in.If we want to survive this, we need to be smart. We need the Storm Drake.
A few clouds and lightning aren’t even going to reach us in here,Marcus protested.
I didn’t have time to roll my eyes.There is more than one kind of storm,I said.And we have more than one Drake.
His eyes widened as my black scales sprouted clear spikes in the center.
Bring it on,Iskar said.
48
Rafael
I gritted my teeth and held on.
Isobel was linked to both her coven and every crystal in the place. I sensed each individual female within her inner circle, including the one who had once been so familiar.
I’d believed I’d known Aurora. But nothing of my past rang true any longer. And the focus of that stood before me, fighting me with every breath.
The thought fanned the flames of rage within me, and I called upon it to help me hold my ground.
At our backs, Matt kept the fighters away from us. The man moved like lightning, using his body as a weapon. His brown and gold scales protected him from the worst of their efforts to reach us, but he was growing increasingly bloody in the attempt.
