I shoved open the door to find the others waiting for us in the middle of the courtyard, each turning to watch our approach.
Eliza glanced at Levi. Her face looked almost…hopeful. “You ready?”
Levi smiled and immediately pulled Eliza into his arms. “Of course.”
Interesting. There was no hesitation there. No discomfort when he placed his hands on her body. Good for them. The angel deserved a little fun. I just wasn’t sure how his brethren would respond to that when he returned home to Heaven. We fallen didn’t care about sex. But celestials sure did.
“If you think you’re leaving without us, Princess, you’ve lost your damn mind,” came a voice.
I glanced over to find Calder, Varz, and Gorr stalking toward us. The vampire and netheron wore eager grins, while Gorr’s tail swished happily.
“We can ride on Mephisar,” Varz announced.
Lily considered them, then nodded. In the past, she’d farmed the three of them out between the two hellwyrms, but Sable wasgone now. So we had to make do with what we had. Mephisar could handle it, but we would need to watch for signs of fatigue.
“What about you—?” Varz began to ask, then immediately fell silent when Lily snapped out her shadow wings.
“Well now, those are new,” Calder commented. He circled Lily like she was a prized creature and whistled.
I shoved his shoulder and gave him a nonthreatening glare, but one he took seriously, nonetheless.
“Wicked upgrade,” was all he said before climbing onto Mephisar’s back.
Varz and Gorr piled on behind Calder, with Gorr seated in the middle for stability. It certainly looked awkward, but what other choice did we have beyond leaving them behind? That was an option, but right now, I preferred the numbers, if only to ensure our victory.
“Let’s go,” Lily said an instant before launching herself into the air and leading the way to Sulphur’s Grasp.
As luck would have it,we spotted the dragon first. It lay sprawled across the basin ledge, its tail draped over the edge, swinging lazily. Its head rested on a rock pike, and smoke unspooled from its nostrils with each slow breath.
It almost looked harmless like that—eyes closed, limbs slack.
Almost.
Thankfully, appearances didn’t mean much to me, considering the other dragon had killed Sable. Hellwyrms were bred for war. That the dragon had taken one out said a lot about this breed’s strength and skills. It wasn’t something any of us would forget anytime soon.
Lily didn’t waste any time. She gestured at Levi and Eliza, then pointed them toward the tail. A swift glance at Mephisar and a sharp gesture of her hand had the wyrm banking to the right to circle to the beast’s back. The stomach wasn’t accessible, yet. But I had a feeling it wouldn’t take long for Mephisar to reach the soft underside.
As for me, Lily brushed her hand against mine and pointed toward the beast’s head. Closest proximity to all those lovely teeth and its fiery breath.
The only problem remaining was the route. To reach the dragon, we’d have to fly right through Sulphur’s Grasp, which meant straight through its ever-expanding cloud of toxic air. Going around would unfortunately add a couple of hours to our flight time. Not out of the realm of possibility, but Lily didn’t want to delay things that long. Her eagerness to begin the march to her father was palpable to all.
Mephisar could handle the toxic air, immune thanks to his wyrm blood. The rest of us, however, would have to hold our breaths until we made it through to the other side. If we failed, the poisons would sear our lungs. Levi and Lily would heal quickly, I would need blood to recover, but we had no way of knowing what to expect for Calder, Gorr, Varz, and Eliza. I only hoped it didn’t kill them.
The instant the air began to change, I sucked in a lungful of air, banked left, and headed toward the dragon’s head.
It took longer than I would have liked to clear the cloud and come out the other side. But the second we did, I released my breath and sucked in another. It stung, but it was little more than a mild nuisance. I glanced back and watched as everyone else cleared the cloud.
The dragon hadn’t so much as stirred. That gave us a moment to gather ourselves and take in our prey. Somehow, itlooked even bigger than the last one we’d faced, and that didn’t inspire me with much confidence.
We all took our positions. Levi dropped soundlessly to the ground and lowered Eliza to her feet, who then drew her daggers while Levi pulled his sword. Mephisar landed by the dragon’s back, and the three hellspawn disembarked and immediately drew their weapons. Lily and I remained in the air, hovering high above the dragon’s head. She unsheathed Dragonbane and clutched it in her hands while positioning herself directly above the beast’s skull. One sharp descent was all she needed. Pierce the dragon’s brain and end this.
She glanced at each of us, one-by-one, then nodded, giving us the order.
Except, that was the moment the dragon’s eyes snapped open.
Molten gold met my gaze before it flicked to Lily.
Dread coiled low in my gut. It hadn’t been sleeping. It’d been waiting for us. Baiting us. Feigning vulnerability to lure us in.
