I shivered as his foreboding magic hummed over my skin, filling the cavern with an ominous energy.
“The huntress is not part of the bargain,” Kaden growled, glaring up at the dragon.
“Insolent fools,” Eckoghari growled, wings ripplingagainst the shadows as he bared his fangs. “Youdaretrespass in my caves and turn your magic against me, demon?”
Bright-orange flames flared at the base of his throat, threatening fire. My heart stuttered.
We were no match for a dragon. I couldn’t imagine Drathen steel would penetrate his hard scales, even if one of us could get close enough to impale the beast.
But then Kaden bent down, picking up a rock and tossing it a few yards away. Eckoghari turned his head, and then I felt a rush of something sweep me off my feet.Kaden’s shadows.
I bit down on my lip to keep from making any noise as they lifted me around the side of the pool and set me gently on the ice.
“The huntress is not part of the bargain,” Kaden repeated, glaring into Eckoghari’s sightless eyes.
As he spoke, Adriel set the grubby sack with my jacket on the floor of the cavern, and a second later, Kaden’s shadows scooped up him and Sorsha and deposited them beside me.
“She is my condition,” Eckoghari growled. “I have no liking forMorkahlf. Faeries and princes are acceptable, but they do not entice me like the flesh of a huntress.”
Then, without warning, the dragon whipped his head around, capturing the grubby sack in his maw and devouring it with those impossibly long teeth.
I sucked in a breath, heart thumping in my throat, as the beast’s jaws tore through the fabric and my leather jacket.
Then there was silence, and Eckoghari’s nostrils flared in realization. It was difficult to discern the expression inthose eerie white eyes, but the fresh orange flames that glowed in his throat told me all I needed to know.
When he spoke, his voice was a low rumble that raised the hairs along the back of my neck. “You have deceived me,” he growled, that ball of fire swelling as smoke wafted from his nostrils.
I sucked in a gasp, but there was no warning. Eckoghari reared back, thrust out his neck, and shot a gout of flames at Kaden.
Chapter
Twenty-One
LYRA
Horror lanced through me as the dragon spewed his fiery breath, and for an instant, I was blinded by the flames. My skin burned. My mouth went dry, and my heart felt as if it might punch through my ribs.
When the spots finally cleared from my vision, I saw Kaden emerge from a wall of shadows, and I nearly sobbed with relief.
“Playing with fire?” he asked, his eyes sparking with a challenge.
Eckoghari snapped his jaws, the horrific sound echoing through the cave. “You insult me, demon.”
“I assure you, that was not intentional,” said Kaden, shaking sodden locks of hair out of his face.
It was then that I noticed that Eckoghari’s fire had melted away a chunk of the icy ceiling, soaking Kaden in the process.
“The little brute escaped, and we . . .” Kaden spreadhis palm toward the ceiling. “Well, with the fate of the realms hanging in the balance, we really could not delay.”
The dragon’s low growl rattled my bones, his throat glowing with fire once more. Another stream of flames shot out, and this time, Kaden barely managed to block it in time. His shadows roiled over the flames, dampening their heat as more water dripped from the ceiling.
“Insolentfool,” Eckoghari snarled, smoke curling around his magnificent head as his nostrils flared. “You dare trespass in my home and attempt to deceive me?”
His next rumbling snarl shook the ice cave, and I eyed the enormous icicles warily. I threw myself to the ground just as a thick column of flames shot out of Eckoghari’s maw.
I felt a tremor of panic jolt down the bond a split second before cool, dark shadows washed over me. They devoured Eckoghari’s hungry flames, tempering their heat.
Cold water sliced at my cheek, and when I dared raise my head, I saw that I was lying in a puddle of melted ice.
