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“Close the portal,” Undina says. “It’s an entry point, a weakness they will continue to exploit.”

“We will,” Shara promises. “Though there are others. Find them. Close them. We must.”

“Agreed. Agreed. Agreed.” Echoes all around us.

Movement spilled me down onto the rock-hard surface I knew immediately was Rik’s body. One of his arms locked around me. I opened my eyes as the stone sphinx lifted his head and closed his mouth. Ah. Now I knew why my voice had been muffled before.

:At least you didn’t fucking die this time,: Leviathan grumbled in his bond. Then he clashed his teeth like a portcullis slamming shut. :Now get the fuck off my head, motherfucker!:

Cracking his ram’s mouth open in a vicious grin of lion canines, Sekh sat down harder. :Sorry, dragon. I don’t have room.:

:Hey, cool, I wanna play Twister too,: Daire chortled in the bond. :Ass on green.:

I started to laugh but Rik’s pain trickled through the bond, despite his best alpha efforts to remain stoically indestructible. I tried to lift my head, but he still gripped my hair in his other hand.

His breath hissed out. :Sorry, my queen. I think my shoulder’s dislocated. I can’t move my fingers.:

Sekh immediately shifted back to his human form, lifting his weight off Rik’s lower body and evidently the dragon’s head. I didn’t dare let the Eleusinian Mysteries fall away completely—not until I closed the portal—but I opened my arms, lifting one arm back so Rik could pierce me with his fangs and feed, though I blurred the veil over us both to keep my blood shielded.

A sweet little yellow canary lifted its head, sitting on my chest.

:Fly free, Tanza Skye. Your mother waits for you.:

A charcoal-colored bird swooped down to sit beside her. Hunger battle-bird, speaking in Keisha’s voice. :The blood debt has been paid.:

The canary let out a trilling string of notes and then she sprang into flight with the other bird, both immediately disappearing.

:Guess Carol Anne finally fucking ran to the light,: Ezra said, making Daire laugh again. :Now it’s time to clean this fucking house, my queen.:

I didn’t get the reference, but yeah. Time to clean this fucking house indeed.

63

SHARA

After a few minutes of feeding, Rik healed enough to sit up and loosen his fierce grip on my hair. Though the end of my braid had embedded deeply into his wrist, leaving impressive rope-like marks up his forearm, even as he shifted back into his human form.

:Can I blast the fuck out of it?: Mehen asked.

I turned enough to see his dragon head snaked through the oval doorway, the bulk of his body still out in the tunnel. :I don’t think dragon fire will affect it, but you can try.:

Before Sekh even stepped out of the way, Mehen cracked open his jaws and belched out flames, engulfing both the general and the pool in smoldering, burning acid. With my focus on healing Rik, I must have let the Mysteries slip away from Sekh. The stone general wasn’t harmed, but every scrap of clothing he wore burst into blackened ash.

He shot a murderous glare at Mehen. :You fucking moron. That was my favorite shirt.:

:You’re fucking welcome. It looked like shit, motherfucker. Now you have an excuse to shop.:

:I’ll just raid your closet, dragon. Oh wait, scratch that. You dress like a snobbish butler, no offense to Winston.:

:Our queen is entirely too close for such a stunt,: Rik retorted.

Leviathan’s slitted eyes narrowed, dark with malice. :She still wears the Mysteries. Besides, my queen would never be harmed by my fire. Even if she stood in my flame stark naked.:

:Let’s not find out,: Rik said.

Sekh snorted. :Waste of time and air anyway. As fucking usual. Your fire did nothing but put a dent in my wardrobe.:

I lifted my free hand to Sekh, silently asking him to help me up, though Rik immediately climbed to his feet as well. Letting my wrist go, he rolled his shoulder and flexed his fingers, opening and closing a fist to make sure the function was completely returned to his hand.