Taking advantage of the distraction, Mia grabbed Dewdrop’s arm and raced for the hole Night and Tyne had created.
We won’t let you down,a feminine voice said in Tate’s mind.
Despite it being her first time hearing the mental voice, Tate knew it belonged to Mia. It carried her essence and conviction.
“You should get going too,” Tate told Tala and Gabriella.
Gabriella caught one of the traitors, snapping their neck with the same ease she would a chicken bone. The man slumped to the ground.
Gabriella aimed a fierce smile at Tate as screams came from Tyne’s victims. “And leave you with all the fun?”
“We owe you a debt,” Tala said firmly as she met Tate’s gaze. “Nor would our ancestors welcome us to their halls if we were to abandon the field of battle simply because the odds weren’t in our favor.”
“I don’t know. I kind of think they’d be happy about your longer life expectancy,” Tate said, keeping one eye on George, who hadn’t made a move since that first attack.
“Better to die on our feet than in our bed,” Gabriella returned as she fixed a predatory gaze on the traitors.
“We need to move,” Ryu said.
Tate nodded and looked at George. “Sorry, dear. No time to play with fake dragon slayers.”
Ryu raised his voice. “Thad, can you hold them?”
The emperor withdrew his bloody fist from the chest of a traitor who’d gotten too close, a heart held in it. He squeezed, turning the muscle into pulp. As he opened his palm, red dust spilled out of it, all that remained of the heart.
“Save my city,” he ordered, looking fed up.
Tyne danced by, every swing of his hand claiming more lives.
“Tate,” Ryu prodded.
“Coming.”
Thaddeus’s bearing was regal as he faced the rebellion. “You have one chance to surrender. You’ll be imprisoned for the rest of your life, but your families and land will be spared my reprisal. If you don’t, not a single one of you will leave this place alive.”
Tyne’s high-pitched laughter sent chills down the backs of those who were listening. His eyes glowed as a bone sword appeared in his hand. “Now that’s the sort of emperor you should be.”
Night sent him a disgusted look.Where did he hide that sword?
“We can ask him later,” Tate said. “Let’s go.”
As she started to withdraw, keeping a careful eye on George in the event the other woman attacked, the pontificator and his people let out war cries.
“We will never surrender.”
Thaddeus’s expression was cold, somehow making those present feel as if he were looking down at them from some lofty, untouchable position high above them.
“Very well, you’ve made your choice. Arrest them,” he ordered the Lord Provost.
William’s expression was remote, reminding Tate of her unease in the meeting room. That feeling grew to a scream inside her as she noticed George’s sly smile.
A warning bubbled up in her throat as William reached into his jacket, withdrawing a metal item in the shape of an infinity symbol. He slid the first two fingers of his hand into the loops and pointed them at Thaddeus.
“Watch out,” Tate screamed.
A deafening roar shook the ground as Thora threw himself in front of the emperor. There was a mournful, pain filled cry, seconds before Thora crumpled to the ground. His robes split apart to reveal limbs twisted and misshapen from the beginning of the change. Scales covered his face which was caught between human and dragon. Neither and both.
Tyne whirled, his eyes wild and insane. Ryu’s roar of denial came as the Lord Provost calmly stepped over Thora’s body and advanced on the emperor.
