She sighs. “Taking orders from a wolven. How far must I fall?”
“Ugh, just go!” Brin falls to all fours, brown hair sprouting on his cheeks, along his arms, and from beneath his tunic. He reaches up and rips his shirt away, his back growing wider, his pants falling away in shreds as he transforms into the beast mortals hear about as children. The monster who’ll carry you away if you disobey your parents.
The vampire is already gone when Brin shakes, his fur laying sleek against his body. He’s taller than me even though he’s still on all fours. His wolf eyes focus on me, but he doesn’t speak. Can he not? A low grunt comes from him, and he turns to face the door and lowers onto his haunches.
Yelling echoes along the hallways, and a rumble of thunder shakes the stone all around us. He looks at me over his shoulder, his predator eyes glowing silver beneath the yellow.
I take a deep breath, my throat burning from the simple movement, and reach out a hand to touch his back, the fur softer than I’d imagined.
He shivers slightly under my touch, his gaze on me as I move closer and carefully climb onto his wide back. When he turns to face forward, his right hand, clawed and fully wolflike, grabs my hip and pulls me higher on his back. I twine my arms around his thick neck as best I can. I don’t know if I can hold on, don’t know if Brin’s sharp mind is still inside this beast, still capable of hearing me.
“I trust you,” I whisper to him. “No matter what happens, thank you.”
He tilts his head back and lets out a terrifying howl, one that I fear will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life. Then he takes off, his claws strong enough to leave gouges in the stone. I cling to him, my legs around his waist, as he dashes through the hallways in a blur of feral ability. Rain beats down on us as he crosses courtyards and passes beneath crumbling parts of the fortress’ roof.
I see one body, a DragonKin warrior lying in a pool of his own blood. Nilufer has made easy work of them, taking out anotherthat Brin deftly jumps over, hitting the floor on the other side and continuing his impossible speed. I don’t see the vampire, but I suppose that’s intentional on her part. These unsuspecting DragonKin didn’t stand a chance against her.
I gasp when Brin picks up his impossible pace, the world around me blurring as he barrels through the rain and out of Sela’s stronghold. Across a bridge over a high gorge and farther into the night. It’s hard to breathe, hard to hold on though my fingers are curled around his hair and my heels dig into his sides.
When he takes a hard turn to the left, I barely manage to hang on, my scream lost in the raging storm. Skidding to a halt, he looks up. I follow his gaze. A flash of lightning shows me why he stopped. A DragonKin lands only fifty paces ahead, the sound a cacophony of sharpness and wet thuds. Ice shatters around it, flying out in an explosive burst. It’s not Vander. That’s all I can process at the moment—no golden scales, nothing to remind me of him.
Brin jerks upright onto two legs, shielding me, then falls back to four legs once the ice is gone.
“Are you okay?” I scrabble higher on his back, getting a better grip around his neck. “Did it hit you?”
He doesn’t answer, only takes off toward the dead dragon, weaving around it and picking up speed again.
We tear across a craggy plain, Brin running hard into the relentless wind and rain. I hide my face in his fur, the pain in my neck growing worse with each pounding beat of his legs on the turf. He slows again, still running but now favoring his left side.
“Brin!” I yell over the storm. “Brin, are you all right?”
He keeps going, aiming for a treeline ahead of us.
Worry eats away at me, and when I move my arm to readjust along his shoulder, I feel warmth. Blood. There’s nothing else it could be. He’s bleeding.
“Brin, we have to stop!”
He halts so suddenly I almost fall off. Then he growls loudly, the hackles on my neck rising right along with his.
Ahead, the darkness ripples.
“What’s there?” I grip his fur, my eyes glued to the spot where the darkness seems to be alive.
He takes another step forward. A groan rolls from him, and he falters, his body shaking.
“Brin!” I slide off his side and run around to his front. Blood. I can smell it. The rain mixes with it and runs down his fur, puddling on the ground.
A whoosh behind me makes me spin, but I let out a cry of relief when I see a black dragon with orange scales darting through the odd darkness. I know him even though I’ve never seen his dragon form. “Rivon! He’s hurt!”
Brin falls to his side, his yellow eyes rolling back. “Brin!” I scream and press my palms to his cheeks. “Brin!”
Rivon gently nudges me out of the way with his snout.
“No!” I shove at him, my fingers grazing along his orange scales. “You have to help him. Please!”
Rivon doesn’t budge, and I could swear I see something like pity in his huge serpentine eyes. It only serves to infuriate me. Thisisn’t the time for sorrow. Not when Brin’s right here and needs our help.
“Take him to Lenka. Take him! Go, godsdamnyou!” I back away.
