We crossed the step-through without an issue, and I had no idea why I expected our destination to be the White House, but I was surprised to see we’d landed in the desert. It looked a lot like Arizona: red rock, cactus, arid soil, and strong waves of heat. I hadn't been to this specific place before, but there was something familiar in the scents around me.
“What the fuck?” Jessa snapped. “It’s just flying out there in the open, where any human could see it?”
She was talking about the winged beast, visible in the distance, circling above some craggy rocks.
"Zero fucks given about hiding itself," Tee said, her face one of exasperation and annoyance. "And the asshole is strong."
Louis looked grim. "He's channeling the original ley lines. Taking the power as he works to destroy it. Only a dragon could achieve this through their connection to original magic and the shining ones.”
"And he got the initial power he needed from murdering supes?" I asked, needing this confirmed.
"Not just supes," Justice replied suddenly, horror filling her voice.
We all turned to where she was facing, a little west of the dragon.
"Motherfucker!" Jessa snarled.
Strung up in a line, right across the horizon, was a massacre. Way more than the fifty supes that had been part of the joint treaty. Even from the distance, I could tell that some of the men who had been part of the president's guard were there.
A glimpse of red hair caught my eyes, and a large prickly plant nearby exploded in a ball of flames. My power was so much stronger now that I barely even had to think before it responded.
"It's Bryce, isn't it?" Justice choked out.
I nodded. He was a good man. He didn't deserve to end up like this.
"I can't smell the death," Braxton rumbled, words barely audible over the dragon in his voice. "Why can't I smell the death?"
Louis was still staring at the bodies high in the sky, their heads drooped forward, leaving them prone and broken. They were far away, but we still should have been able to smell that much death.
“It's a spell,” the sorcerer finally said. “The spell they used to set this entire thing in motion is still progressing, and it has a barrier around it that’s blocking our senses. When the barrier falls, it’ll be too late to stop the dragon.” That set him into motion. “We need to move,” he shouted as he started running.
We took off after him, right toward the line of death, and the dragon that hovered above its kills.
34
Justice Winter
Dragon probably tasted delicious. I legitimately wondered how lovely it would be fried up in giant steaks, seasoned and grilled to perfection. Fuck, I really wanted to murder that ocher-tinged bastard flying in the sky, acting like it didn't have a care in the world.
No matter how hard I tried not to look, my gaze kept returning to the heartbreaking line of death that spanned across the red rocks of the desert. Normally, vultures would be circling that much death—it would bring out every predator and bottom feeder around—but whatever spell held this place was keeping the wildlife away.
"Bet they taste gross," Grace said, and I realized that she'd clued into my thoughts. “But worth trying, I think.”
The eight of us were in some sort of Compass-and-their-mates octagon bond, and it was super weird. I’d decided as soon as it happened to not think too strongly about it and just go with the flow. I hadn’t even gotten used to one supe in my head, let alone seven of them. Hopefully we wouldn’t be like this for too long.
"We should definitely try it and find out," Jessa snarled. "Like, I feel it would be good research for us to kill this bastard, fry him until he was crispy, and have a feast for all."
Louis picked up speed. So did the rest of us, but he had so much magic pushing him along that we soon fell behind. Even as fit and powerful as we were, whatever Louis was doing moved him faster.
"Fuck that," Tyson muttered, and magic slammed into us, pushing us to the point where my legs were not keeping up with the speed and I was basically running just above the rocky landscape.
We caught up to Louis and Tee in the next minute, but there was no time for Tyson to gloat—we’d reached the carnage of the dragon.
"So many of my problems involve dragons," Jessa said between curses. "One would think that since they're pretty rare on Earth, I wouldn't run into murderous ones so often." She narrowed her eyes on Braxton. "You're lucky I really love you, mate. Because I'm feeling pretty anti-dragon."
All four Compasses shook their heads, smiling indulgently at their oldest friend.
A roar from above interrupted before Braxton could reply.
