Chapter 49
Magic thrummed beneath her skin. At first, it was a gentle caress, a soft plea to be set free.
Then it pounded harder and harder along with the beat of her heart.
A war drum. An all-consuming demand to be unleashed.
It clawed and scratched and pleaded to be released at full power after being repressed for so long.
It tasted freedom on its blazing tongue and was starving for more.
This time, Adara obeyed.
This time, Adara was not afraid.
She was not afraid she’d hurt anyone. She was not afraid to reveal what she truly was. She was not afraid to save her friends.
So Adara let her magic flow free, let it envelope her, let herself become the monster she’d gladly be to defend what she held close . . . even if it cost her life.
Itryla al rone yi mon taka.
Flames sprang from her throat, spearing toward the ship, threatening to send everyone on it to a fiery, gruesome death.
Some pirates bailed entirely, diving over the edge of the ship, taking their chances with the unforgiving sea.
Others leaped out of the way, crowding at the stern as Adara swooped down toward the sinking prow, breathing fire in her path.
The pirates raised their weapons and hurled them at her.
Swords and knives and arrows bounced harmlessly off her thick scales, hardly anything more than a tickle.
Adara soared high into the air. Billows of dark smoke rose from the ship, blotting out the stars and moon.
Under the guise of the smoke, she flew by once more and swept Asher and Ace’s unconscious forms into her back talons, leaving her front ones free to defend herself.
She cradled them carefully as she flew toward the safety of their own ship.
It had been a long time since Adara had taken her dragon form.
She’d forgotten how freeing it was, how invincible she felt, and the sensation of undiluted power thrumming through her veins.
It felt like her insides were on fire, and she would ignite at any moment—but not in that terrible, irritating way that made her feel like she would explode when it needed release.
No, this felt like she was nothing more than the fire that coursed through her.
Nothing more than heat and flames and destruction.
Nothing but pure power. Like how the sun shone on the earth, and they all knew nothing would survive without it.
That if it were to erupt, all would cease to exist.
Adara peered down upon their ship, met with familiar faces, all staring up at her in a mix of awe and terror.
“You’re a godsdamned dragon and didn’t tell us!” Caleb shouted over the drone of her wingbeats, his expression a mixture of shock and amazement.
She didn’t have time to respond as she gently deposited Asher and Ace onto the deck, then whipped back around to retrieve the others.
When she returned to the burning ship, her eyes met Dominic’s.
Conflicting emotions raged behind his emerald irises as he held onto the railing for support, yet the corners of his lips tugged into a subtle grin.
A gesture that seemed to convey that he always suspected there was something more inside her than the fire.
Something awful and vicious and compelling.
Something he’d been anxious to see all this time.
Something others feared and ran from while he watched in admiration.
“Get the others first!”
There was a twinge in her chest at Dominic’s orders, but she obeyed anyway, ignoring the urge to save him first.
A massive shadow moved beneath the surface of the water but did not reemerge.
The lykren’s thick tentacle swung hard, cutting through the remaining masts.
Wood groaned and slammed against the deck, splintering the body of the ship.
Its claws raked along the hull. Gallons of water poured inside the lower decks of the ship, flooding anything that hadn’t yet been destroyed.
Screams rang out. The only thing the pirates could do was watch in terror as their ship was devoured in flames, sinking into the depths of the Plagued Sea. There was no escape for them.
Adara plunged downward, then leveled out near the ship as the remaining Andreilians scrambled to find shelter. She found Vesper and Desmond at the quarterdeck, terror-stricken eyes scanning the ocean. Scooping them into her talons, she banked hard, turning to fly them to safety.
When she returned, the water was calm. The ship cracked and splintered as it slowly sank deeper into the sea.
She was running out of time to carry them all back.
Her heart pounded, searching for the lykren’s shape beneath the waves, but it was nowhere to be found.
Her wingbeats slowed as she carefully lowered herself next to the ship, preparing to gently grasp the others in her talons.
She never got the chance.
Pain slammed into her side, scorching and radiant like lightning as the lykren’s fangs pierced the underbelly of her scales. Her skin felt like it was on fire, burning and melting away under the lykren’s acidic venom. A deafening roar of agony and dread ripped from her throat.
Then it was drowned out by the waves as the lykren pulled her under.