Just one more…
“What do you think you’re doing?” the guard shouted, spinning to face the prisoners’ carriage. He put his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle.
Time to go.
Footsteps clanged up the stone steps, coming from deep within the underground tunnel. I seized a water trough that rested a few feet ahead of me, summoning my awaiting dragon as heat pulsed in my chest. With a snarl, I breathed a stream of my dragon fire directly onto the water.
An enormous cloud of scalding steam rose and blasted the trap door entrance right as four new guards strode into view. One of them fell to his knees, blisters erupting on his face. Two more staggered backward. The steam blocked their view for a few seconds asI hoisted the last of the prisoners into the carriage, leaving only the older boy I’d put in charge.
Shifting my fingers into talons, I sliced through the cuffs on his wrists and tore them off. “Driver’s box. Now. Get to the edge of the property and look for the other carriage with a big, white stag. He’ll take you somewhere safe.”
Still unable to see me with my camouflaging ring on, the young man nodded and darted to the box as I smacked one of the horse’s backsides. The two of them rose onto their hind legs with a whinny and took off through the stables, zig-zagging between guards and bales of hay to the opposite end and out the wide entrance.
I looked back at where Devora and Kieran had been with their carriage to find them gone too. Relief soared through me. Nobody had been seen—there was no way to trace it back to us. It simply looked like an accident allowed the prisoners to free themselves. I just had to buy them enough time to get away without being followed.
“Why are you all just standing there?” the first guard snarled. “Track them down!”
Three of the guards raced for the remaining horses. Still invisible, I rushed ahead and threw open the doors of the nearest stalls, jumping out of the way as the animals surged forward. One of the guards with a torch approached the next set of stalls, and I let loose another blast of fire. The torch exploded into a blaze, making the man drop it with a shout. Fire spread to the straw on the ground. I swiftly unlatched the rest of the stalls to let the horses escape the growing inferno.
With a growl, the guard with burns on his face got to his feet and shifted into a hyena. He sprang over the fire and darted to the entrance where the carriage had disappeared.
My heart raced. If evenoneof the guards followed them to the Keep?—
Out of nowhere, a whip of shadows descended upon his back. He howled and crumpled to the floor as thick tendrils of darkness wrapped around his throat and pulled like a leash.
Ijerked my head behind me to find Devora standing before the trap door, arms outstretched and shadows dancing at her feet. The line of fire on the ground between us flickered, making her glow brighter in its orange and yellow haze.
“Where did she come from?” one of the guards shouted.
The man closest to me stopped in his tracks, peering at her in recognition. “Wait, isn’t that?—”
I reached out and snapped his neck.
He fell like a rock. The remaining four went on instant alert, grabbing their swords as they backed away from the spot where we stood.
I’d wanted to be discreet. Leaving a mass of bodies in our wake would raise too much suspicion. But now that they’d seen her, I couldn’t let them go running back to Scarven and put her in danger.
They all had to die.
The realization of what I had to do settled over me. The bloodthirsty haze of my dragon half rose to the surface, gnashing his teeth.
I ripped the ring off my finger to reveal myself. Devora’s eyes widened at the dead man at my feet.
“You shouldn’t have come back,” I said grimly.
Then I attacked.
Lunging, I grabbed the guard closest to the stalls and shifted my other hand into talons, slicing them down his chest until it was nothing more than mangled skin and sinew. I threw him to the side as another one pounced, his sword outstretched. This one must’ve been a Lightbender—lightning flashed around the blade, so hot I could feel it before it touched me.
He charged at me, and I caught the sword with my bare hand. With a menacing smile, I slowly pulled it from his grasp, the blade piercing deep into my skin. Blood trickled down my arm. The man’s face was contorted in horror as I tugged the sword free, flipped it around, and plunged it intohis gut. His own lightning crackled across his skin as his body went limp, then it fizzled out completely.
“Nox!” Devora called out.
I whirled to face her. She was all the way across the stables, with two guards advancing on her. A shield of shadows sprang up in front of her, but they were thin and weak. When she locked eyes with me, fear shone back.
My wings extended at my back with a stretch, their navy-blue and silver scales shimmering as they consumed the front half of the stables. I launched into the air with shifted talons and dove for Devora right as the two guards struck.
My claws pierced their backs, severing their spines.
