“Threadbare operation,” Sofia said. “And I called in reinforcements. As long as Frederick didn’t sound the alarm…”
The shadows descended over us from the thick surrounding forest, and the coolness settled beneath my skin. Dread rose up inside me upon our approach. Seeing an area so foreign amid something I’d grown up with cast such a dissonance to my whole upbringing.
At the end of the winding pathway, swathed by darkness, was a small hut.
I could barely process that this had been here the entire time.
“When we head in, stay back,” Sofia said, slowing down outside the building. I didn’t spot any other vehicles, which meant the Alpha Blue stationed in there had most likely been dropped off. “I’ll stun the guards.”
I nodded, the words drying on my tongue. Once she shut off the engine, tension hummed in its wake.
We exited the car in silence, and the shadows settled over me at once, the air crisp out here. I’d lost all sense of time today, disoriented like I’d been tumbling in a dryer. Sofia pressed a magic-based flash-bang grenade into each of my hands, and I gripped them tight, my palms slick with sweat. She didn’t say a word, but I assumed we were past the time of talking.
The hut was simple, with a black clapboard roof and spartan white exterior. The door had black bars over the front, as did the windows, making it clear this was a prison not a cottage. How many people were inside there? Alpha Blue was always armed to the teeth, and I’d what, sparkle them to distraction? My throat was dry, and my limbs trembled as we approached.
Sofia tested the knob, and it jiggled. A slow smile rolled to her lips.
Then she flung the door open and marched inside.
Panic flooded through my veins as I raced in after her, then skidded to a halt.
Three men in all black surrounded another guy in the center of the room. Their guns were trained on him. On closer glance, the black horns, the dark scale patterning along the side of his face signaled he wasn’t quite human. Along both sides were jail cells, a pale seafoam-green color, and I couldn’t help but scan them. A familiar figure stood behind them to the left, clutching the bars.
Ursuline.
Their dark eyes locked in on me, widening in surprise. My heart cracked open at the sight of them.
They were alive.
They were here, and they were alive, and our window hadn’t closed yet.
“Sorry, Sofia, I got caught,” the monster in the middle of the room called out. All attention diverted to us as Sofia continuedher march toward the Alpha Blue guards. The monster shrugged, his hands slightly lifted, but I caught the glint in his gaze, the hint of a grin.
Hope bubbled up inside me.
“Mal,” she said. “Just the dragon-in-distress I was looking for.”
“What are you talking about?” one of the guards called out as he rushed toward Sofia.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave me alone.” Mal’s voice grew deeper, darker. “You never know what a dragon will get up to.” A wicked grin split his lips, and the air hummed. His whole body began to shift into an orange-red, like he immolated from the inside out.
“Fuck,” the guy next to him yelped. “He’s on fire!”
“Go, get Ursuline out,” Sofia commanded me.
I didn’t need to be told twice. I raced up to the bars holding Ursuline back, and at the first brush of my hands against theirs, a sob welled up in my throat.
“You came for me,” Ursuline murmured, wonder shining in their eyes. For a moment, all that existed was us—the air thick with tension, the joy rising within me fast and fierce.
“I always will,” I promised, meaning those words with every ounce of my soul. When I’d been stuck at the manor, they’d sacrificed everything to get me out. And there wasn’t a future I wanted more than the one with them by my side. “Now, how do I free you?”
“The lock is there,” Ursuline said, caressing the large lock keeping the cell shut with a tentacle. “The keys are with the asshole over by Mal.”
The guard they gestured to had backed away a few paces, as Mal turned himself into a bonfire, the flames licking up around him. My stomach churned. Out of one fire and into another.
The guard’s keys jangled at his side. I squeezed the grenade in my hand. I had to try.
I raced up to him.
