“Cadence, get out of here.” Slate’s standing beside me, his left arm flush against mine.
“No.”
Even though Adrien doesn’t look away from theguivre, he explains, “According to Gaëlle, the salt will immobilize my piece long enough for me to recite the incantation.”
Incantation?He knows a spell against dragons?
I don’t ask for fear of distracting him. I’m incredibly glad he has a plan, because my nifty fire extinguisher isn’t going to do much against aguivrethat could swallow both Slate and me, and still have room left for Adrien.
Something shatters, and I whirl around to find Slate running a sheet pan over the serrated edges of glass stuck inside the window frame above the kitchen sink.
“Cadence, I’ll help him contain the piece. But get out.Please.”
“I’m not leaving him.”Or you.I don’t know why I don’t utter that last part out loud. Because I’m mad and petty?
Slate’s jaw gets a full workout from how unhappy my refusal makes him. I can tell he wants to argue some more, maybe even bundle me in his arms and toss me through the open window. But his eyes widen and then . . . and then he’s throwing himself on me, and we slam down on the tiles, the momentum ripping the fire extinguisher from my hold. Although he cushions the back of my skull and tailbone with his palms, the impact jostles every bone in my body.
I blink, catching pale streaks of smoke whizzing past the pillar of bone, muscle, and warm skin shielding me. Were those . . . were those more fireballs?
Mon Dieu.
I try to wriggle out from underneath Slate, but not to get away, just to make sure he’s okay. “Slate?”
He groans, his fingers curling into my hair. If he can move his fingers, then his knuckles didn’t shatter, right?
Although tempered by my bodyguard’s spicy scent, the reek of sulfur expands, and then the air fills with the flap of great wings.
Theguivreis on the move.
37
Slate
Everything hurts.Again.
But there’s an upside—Cadence is under me, her body pressed against mine, her voice tinged with worry instead of hostility.
“Slate?”
“I think I’m dying. Give a man his last wish. Ravish me, Cadence.” Even through my shut lids, I sense her eyeroll.
She presses against my chest gently. “You’re not dying.”
“Hmm. . .” When I finally draw my lids up, I catch the loveliest sight: pinked cheeks and tipped-up lips.
“Slate, theguivre. Come on.” She slides out from underneath me like a car mechanic on a creeper.
Ah, yes. The dragon. Hence the horrid smell and ridiculously hot air in the room. Well, what’s left of the room. Adrien’s going to have a hell of a time redecorating.
The creature roars, and I feel its vibrations in the blue tiles.
I push back into a squat, and squint into the cloud of silver smoke. “Cadence, please,” I try one last time. “Get to the window. I got—”
“I. Said. No.” She stands but ducks as a giant wing nearly clips her head.
“Fuck.” That gets me on my feet. “Prof?” I say into the smoke.
Nothing.Fuck.
