I close my eyes and send out a request, carried on tongues of mythical flame. Tonight, is the night that more animas than one might get their revenge.
My phone buzzes with a notification, and I glance at it before saying goodbye to the empty room. “We’ll be back soon,” I tell it. “Be ready for me and my pack, and until then, look after the students within the academy walls. If my father or Ghoul comes here, don’t let them in.”
The wind is cool on the animus dorm roof where Hyacinth and her mates—the slender Sifa and bleached blonde Teylani—await us under the late afternoon sun. With them, we animas make a team of seven.
Stacey and Sabrina wear stretchy black catsuits they stitched up in a hurry. Sabrina gets a hood on hers, drawn tight so only the moon of her face shows. Stacey’s hair is in a tight bun, but she’s dressed herself in black lipstick. She downs an entire can of energy drink and hands it to Eugene, who pulls it towards him with a claw. Stacey might have recovered from her ordeal, but she still feels the long-term effects of poisoning, including fatigue.
Minnie wears black leggings and a zip-up jacket. She’s got a black strap to tie her pink curls back so she looks like a karate master. Hyacinth and her pack watch this with raised brows, but when they see me, they straighten as one. As if I’m somewar general, ready to give them their orders. I hone in on their bodies, looking for any signs of weakness or lack of focus.
“Focus,” I say. “The flight will be just under an hour by dragon wing. Five minutes from the compound, we’ll begin.”
They nod as Marduk, with the nimpins huddled on his shoulders, gestures for them to step backwards. He, Yeti and Beak frown from the sidelines, clearly not happy about being left out. Beak tried negotiating with me. He wanted to go in with a group of avian forces, attacking the property from the air. Yeti wanted to bring military trucks and surround the place with brute force.
Marduk, for his part, remained silent, understanding that I need to do this and obeying his regina when she told them to cease their protests. They listened thankfully, and Beak bowed his head when I stared him down. I was always going to do this my way.
My dragon form bursts from my skin, lungs sizzling, my blood heating as the building becomes mine. There is no roar for me to release tonight. I keep it all within. I save it.
Marduk and Yeti levitate everyone onto my spine, and I wait for them to settle, flexing my claws out one at a time.“Are the earpieces working?”I ask into their minds.
Marduk sourced us the FBI-worthy comm devices as easily as he sources everything. While I can talk into their heads, my friends not being able to respond has made things difficult in the past. Because animalia have excellent hearing, I have to make sure any communication is not heard by enemies around us.
“What does a dragon in heat look like?” Minnie’s voice is clear in my left ear.
“I dunno, what?” Stacey pipes.
“Godzilla. Lia is going to be Godzilla tonight.”
“It’s giving Jurassic Park,” Stacey snickers.
“It’s giving, this is serious,” Hyacinth warns. “People are going to get hurt tonight.”
“We’ll be invisible. It’ll be fine,” Sabrina drawls.
“I signed the consent form I made!” Minnie protests. “We all did.”
“We’re also all adults.”I project to them. “If at any point you want to get out of there, you’re allowed to. You just have to tell us.”
“We’re all good, Lia.” The earpiece makes Sabrina’s deadpan sound like it’s right next to me. “Let’s do this.”
Without another word, I wrap them in my shield, bend my knees, and we’re off.
Chapter 26
Xander
The air is silent as Scythe changes Katerina’s bandages under her brusque instruction. There has been no change in the scent of the room. Blood and rotting flesh make for a foul scent to my dragon’s nose, and yet I find it comforting.
My ears strain, and although I know there is nothing to hear, something ancient rumbles through my bones. Savage and Lyle open their eyes from where they are sleeping on their cell floor. Scythe’s hands pause in their work, making Katerina frown up at him. A little smile twitches at the edges of my mouth moments before becoming full-blown laughter.
Katerina’s head snaps towards me.
Our regina has come for us. And she isfurious.
Chapter 27
Aurelia
We come upon the Crocodylus property at sunset, orange and pink bleeding across the sky at my left shoulder.
