Chapter 59 Skylar
Skylar throws her arms above her head as glass rains down around them.
Then lets out a sob of relief at the sight of silver scales.
Mjolnir roars, and it seems to be the final call of action to Zryan, who breaks free of his second chain, pulling it straight from the wall.
He grabs the head of a Dreki who had been fighting Bastet, and twists—breaking the man’s neck instantly.
His eyes promise violence—and for the first time, Skylar truly sees why those in the army revere him.
Mjolnir opens his mouth, and Skylar hears it—that sound only animals can hear, the high, piercing shriek.
The three Dreki attacking Astrid are blown apart, blood and gore splattering broken glass.
The queen is sprinting in the other direction, over Axel’s body and out of the dome, the last of her menagerie by her side.
But it’s not over. Skylar can feel the air cooling around them, and somewhere nearby, a flash of light scorches the clear blue sky.
Zryan Teleports, appearing next to Astrid and leaving his chains behind. He places his hand on Astrid’s cheek, and Astrid lets out a cry, reaching her hands up to cup his face. Then Skylar’s attention is dragged away—by the shimmering bronze scales coming into view over the rubble.
She experiences a horrible surge of panic, even as Mjolnir speaks into her mind.
I couldn’t leave Kaida behind. Bruma is nearby. She’s safer with us.
Skylar really, really hopes that’s true. Because the cold is more intense now, making their breath mist in front of them, the tips of Skylar’s fingers turning numb. Zryan, Astrid, and Bastet have turned to look, too—at the blue dragon beating its way toward them.
“He’ll try to stop us leaving,” Zryan says. He glances at Bastet. “How quickly can you fly?”
NOT FAST ENOUGH TO OUTFLY A DRAGON, I FEAR. NOT WITH MY INJURIES. He’s limping, Skylar notices, one leg trembling. Astrid bends to inspect it—but she’s all out of potions.
“Then I’ll just have to take him down so you can get away.
” Zryan looks to Skylar, and though she can’t hear his thoughts, she thinks she knows what’s going through his mind.
She knows he wants her to stay here, with Astrid—to make sure she’s safe, that she gets away.
She gives him a firm nod, reaching out a hand to place it on Kaida’s head as she nears.
Kaida nuzzles in, not seeming bothered by the blood that coats it.
Axel’s blood. She flicks a gaze toward his body, lying in the rubble, then immediately looks away again. It doesn’t feel real, what happened. And she’s not sure how she’s going to feel, when it catches up with her. But right now, they have bigger things to worry about.
We will come back for you, Mjolnir says into her mind.
I know.
Zryan kisses Astrid, hard, and when he pulls back, his eyes are bright. “Don’t you dare die, okay?” He kisses her again, swallowing any words of protest she might have, then turns—and Teleports straight onto Mjolnir’s back.
They take off into the sky, flying toward Bruma. There is the crash of thunder meeting ice, and the sound sends a tremble around this desolate place.
“We need to move,” Skylar says, ushering Kaida in front of her, as Bastet limps ahead, over the shards of the shattered glass dome.
Kaida is oddly quiet, like she knows how serious this is.
Skylar squints against the bright sun and looks back over her shoulder to where the two dragons are fighting in the air.
Mjolnir has the upper hand, she can see that.
But Bruma doesn’t have a rider to protect, and he is ferocious.
Astrid lets out a gasp as another clash of elements shudders through the sky.
He’ll be okay, Little Witch. We just need to—
But she’s cut off, screaming in agony as pure, dazzling light burns her eyes.
She can hear Bastet yowling, Astrid screaming, too, as they all fall to the floor.
A growl comes from Kaida, and Skylar reaches out blindly to try to grab her tail, stop her from advancing.
Because this is Ziva—and Kaida doesn’t stand a chance.
None of them do. She thinks she can hear Zryan shouting, somewhere in the distance, can hear another crack of thunder.
But cold is still surrounding them—Bruma has not been taken down yet.
The light ebbs, pain retreating, and Skylar blinks to see the queen sliding off Ziva’s back, her eyes holding a predatory focus as she advances on Astrid. On the wand, hanging at her side.
“You will not take that from me. I have worked too hard, given too much.” Skylar can hear how much she means it. How warped her mind really is.
Kaida roars, and for the first time ever, a tiny flame erupts from her mouth, setting fire to the bottom of Ottilie’s tunic, making her screech as she flaps at it.
Ziva hisses at Kaida, and Kaida hisses right on back.
And whether it’s because she, too, has an innate urge to protect a baby dragon—the last fire dragon in existence—it makes Ziva pause, as Ottilie works to extinguish the flame.
Get on Bastet, fly! Skylar tells Astrid.
He’s not strong enough.
He’s going to have to be. Hide somewhere if you can’t make the distance. Mjolnir and Zryan will come for me. She can see the protest before Astrid’s thoughts come—but this is bigger than both of them. Astrid, we are not letting her have that wand, okay? We don’t know what she’ll do with it.
Skylar thinks she might love Astrid even more, as her mate nods, determination in those blue eyes. She doesn’t hesitate as she gets on Bastet, clutching the wand tightly. And with an effort that looks painful, Bastet launches into the air.
Go with them, Little One, Skylar urges Kaida.
But angry sparks hiss from her. No.
There’s no time to argue, because the queen is screaming, already moving back to Ziva.
Skylar lunges for her as another roar of thunder eclipses all sound.
She reaches with her power and finds the queen, starts to draw.
How could she not have realized just how powerful Ottilie is?
She can taste it as she draws, and even through the chaos, she can feel the elation as that energy hits her system.
Then her whole world turns to agony as Ziva’s light flares again, harsher and more brilliant than before. The sound of Kaida’s growl is eclipsed by the snap of Ziva’s jaws, and though Skylar is blinded, her eyes on fire, she can smell Ziva’s breath, feel the heat of it—and knows this is it.
Skylar! Astrid’s voice rips through her, the panic almost impossible to bear. Skylar can’t answer. She is on the ground, whimpering, and she can’t move as the light burns not just her eyes but her skin, searing through her clothes, melting it.
But the killing blow she’s expecting does not come.
Instead, she feels soothing shadows pushing back the light, enough that she can squint her eyes open, that the burning on her skin ebbs.
Darkness surrounds her so that she can see Kaida, right by her side, and nothing else.
It is a darkness that she recognizes—and impossibly, it is a darkness that is comforting.
Get up. A distant ringing starts up in her mind. She knows that voice.
The island. This is the voice from the island, as shadows came around her, saving her. And from the night at the warrens, when she and Astrid were spotted.
Yes, the voice says into her mind. I am here. Run to me.
And she knows, now, what the strange presence at the corners of her mind has been in those moments. She doesn’t know how it’s possible, but she understands.
Come, Kaida!
Both of them are running through the shadows, as Ziva thrashes, trying to free herself from the darkness. And there it is—a black dragon, shadow and smoke surrounding it.
Fly! Skylar tells Kaida.
Kaida obeys, launching herself into the air, as the lunar dragon speaks again to Skylar. Her dragon. Somehow, she has a connection with this dragon, too—she can feel it.
Jump.
Like on the island—only this time, she is not jumping off something but on. She uses the tiny part of the queen’s energy she took to propel herself, higher and faster than should be possible. Right onto the back of the dragon.
It’s only then, when it’s too late, that she notices.
Notices that there is already someone there, sitting in front of her at the base of the black dragon’s neck. The man turns to her, with a face so beautiful he almost doesn’t look real. Shadows flicker below them and she remembers. She’s seen this man before. Once, when he could have killed her.
Black eyes on hers in that dark alley, shadows that held her in place. Shadows that weren’t his—but his dragon’s.
A mind probing hers.
You’re not Blooded. So what are you?
“What are you…?”
But the dragon dips, wings outstretched, and Skylar’s stomach rolls as her question is cut off.
Skylar!
It is Kaida’s voice in her mind, and it is afraid. Skylar looks down—and sees why. The dragon has snatched her up midair, holding her entire little body in one claw. And now they are moving faster, away from Ziva, who has taken flight.
It’s okay, Little One. I’m here—he’s saving us.
But is he? Because as she looks back at the beautiful man sitting in front of her, she realizes that in her split-second decision, she got something horribly wrong. A feeling that is confirmed when those black eyes glitter—something like triumph there.
She might not know his name, but she feels sure—he knows who she is. Somehow, he knows she’s the same person from that alley—and she doesn’t think he’s come here to save her.
Mjolnir!
What are you doing, Death Bringer? There is a horrible urgency through the line that connects them.
What the fuck is she doing? She tries to back away from the rider, but the dragon’s spikes are in her way. A small, taunting smile curls the stranger’s lips, and he shifts, something in his left hand glinting in the sunlight.
It shouldn’t be possible. She should not be able to ride his dragon, not when he is already here. She should be dead by now.
We are coming for you, Mjolnir says. Get off that dragon, Skylar—he is not from Draka.
Skylar can see Bruma far below her on the ground. She can’t tell from here whether he’s dead or not.
Astrid. Where is Astrid?
But Kaida—
We’ll help her. We’re—
But she hears another clash of thunder, answered by blinding light. Zryan. He has another dragon to fight, because Ziva and the queen will be going after Astrid, who still has the wand. Which means Skylar’s on her own.
The shadow rider reaches for her, and she reacts without thinking, throwing her power out to him.
Only it doesn’t connect. It isn’t like with the queen—there is no wall. There is nothing at all.
The stranger gives her a small shake of his head, tutting. “You didn’t really think that would work, did you?”
Before she has time to reflect on what that means—that her power doesn’t work on this man—shadows coil around her, holding her in place. She tries to reach out to Astrid, but her mind feels sluggish. The man is doing something to her, fucking with her brain.
They are flying higher, away from Mjolnir and Astrid, and the man lifts his hand, pointing it in front of them. She sees, now, what he’s holding. And she knows what it is—because it’s the exact replica of the pin she’s worn in her hair her entire life.
She is powerless to do anything other than watch, even as every muscle in her body contracts, trying to break free of the shadows’ hold. Even as her heart surges in panic, her skin still searing from Ziva’s light.
She hears her mate scream her name from somewhere far away, as the man slashes the wand—and cuts a hole in the sky.