But before it could spew its useless fire at me, Mephisar fell from the sky like a meteor, a furious scream ripping free of his throat as he crashed into the dragon’s face. He slashed, his claws and fangs ripping open its flesh. Mephisar howled his rage as he dug his claws deep into the dragon’s eyes. Blood erupted from both sockets, spraying the air and Mephisar’s coiled body.
With a deafening scream, the dragon bucked against my tendrils, then gave its head a powerful shake, managing to dislodge Mephisar. My wyrm hit the ground hard before rolling to a stop a dozen feet away.
Blood streaked the dragon’s face, both of its eyes leaking black ichor. It bared its fangs and hissed a truly terrifying hiss, but I saw the fear beneath the rage.
Good.
It should be afraid of us.
More tendrils sprouted from my palms like living vines. They darted toward the dragon, and the closest shaped itself into a lance. It pierced upward from the ground, sliding effortlessly through the dragon’s chest.
The beast screamed again and shook its head back and forth as though desperate to free itself from my magic’s hold.
“Lily!” Rathiel shouted.
I jerked my head in his direction to find him rushing toward me. Behind him stood the others, and for one moment, I allowed myself to breathe. Eliza was beat to hell, Levi looked like a walking corpse, Calyx appeared to have caught a few flames, if his singed feathers were any indication. And Gorr was standing on three legs, but they were here and alive. The three of them didn’t look like they had much left in them to give, but Eliza clutched her daggers, while Levi and Calyx held their swords.
Rathiel, however, held two. One was his. The other was Inferno’s Kiss.
He broke from the group and threw mine toward me. My blade arced through the air, and the hilt connected with my palm like it belonged there—which it did. Flames instantly ignited around the handle once my fingers closed around it. I spun my wrist once, warming up, then returned my focus to the dragon. Even with my shadow lance piercing its chest, it refused to die. Stubborn asshole.
I needed to change that.
I took a running start and let my magic suffuse me. All of it. Fire and shadow joined as one. My power howled in my chest for freedom, almost like it was begging me to stop holding back—so I did. I gave my magic free rein.
The shadows answered first. They came willingly, almost like a cloud of night seeping out of my body. But instead of shootingtoward the dragon, they coalesced around me and gathered on my back. And from there, they unfurled.
I didn’t stop moving, but I did spare a glance behind me, my brows climbing when I caught sight of two great, sprawling wings erupting from my shoulders. They looked and felt so real, almost like they’d always been there. Like they were exactly where they belonged. They weren’t my old wings. They were darker. Colder. But they weremine. I felt it deep in my bones.
Elation broke through the dark cloud suffocating me, and without any hesitation, I bent my knees and launched myself upward, my feet leaving the ground in a blur of soot.
Miraculously, I didn’t fall.
I flew.
Something I hadn’t done in ten years.
A wild, broken laugh tore free of my throat as I climbed higher and higher, pumping the wings like the limbs I’d once had—before Lucifer had stolen them.
I wanted to scream my misery for Sable, my elation for my new wings, my pain, my joy…but I had to focus.
Gathering my thoughts, I angled myself downward. The dragon hadn’t moved, still held in place by my shadows. Time to end this.
I tucked my wings in, aimed my blade downward, and dove.
Flames surrounded Inferno’s Kiss, and embers trailed behind us as I plunged from the sky. The dragon bellowed at my approach and tried to rise but failed. It struggled against my bindings, dug its claws into the ground, screamed its anger, released a stream of scalding fire, but none of that stopped me.
I matched its scream as I landed on the dragon’s head and drove Inferno’s Kiss right through the top of its skull, between those curved horns and down through bone and brain. The impact brought me to a crashing halt on top of its head, and I flared my wings out behind me for balance.
The dragon gave a last scream—then collapsed. Dead.
I didn’t move at first, still too in shock to do anything but breathe. After a moment, I tucked my wings away, completely out of sight. They retreated into my back, but I still felt them there, ready for me to call upon them again.
I exhaled, all of my emotions raging within me.
Pain for Sable.
Joy for myself.
