The closer we crept, the harder my heart pounded. Where were Lumi and the other lesser demons that always accompanied the dark lord in his travels? Not only were most of the narkins gone, but not a single servant remained. A swirl of unease filled my insides, and my demon rushed to the surface. I tightened my grasp on Talon’s hand, hoping his presence would anchor me.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered.
“My demon’s coming, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop her.”
“Good.” Delacroix craned his head back and smiled. “We’ll need her.”
Talon stopped and dragged me to a halt beside him. “Try to keep her back, Azara. I know you can do it. We’ve spent hours training to keep her at bay and before you disappeared you were in control. Not her. You don’t have to lose yourself to use your powers. Learn to work together.”
Sure, easy-peasy.
An ear-splitting crash resounded ahead as a horde of narkins broke through a wall. “Watch out!” Two hundred pounds of muscle slammed into me, shoving me to the floor. All the air evacuated from my lungs as I hit the cold cement. From the corner of my eye, I caught a wooden beam smash to the ground less than a yard away from us. The massive mahogany rafter divided Talon and me from Delacroix and the attacking narkins.
Talon hoisted me off the floor, and his eyes raked over my body. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head, brushing the dirt and kindling off. Tiny cuts crisscrossed my arms, but that was the extent of the damage. I stared at the gigantic beam and shuddered. If Talon hadn’t pushed me out of the way, it would’ve been much worse. “I’m fine,” I managed.
The narkins began scaling the fallen timber, and Talon’s concerned glance morphed into dragon warrior mode. “You ready?”
My head bobbed up and down as my ravenous she-demon swirled to the surface.
“Maintain control,” Talon shouted as his claws extended. The sea of narkins blurred over his shoulder as darkness threatened to eclipse my vision.
I drew in a deep breath and shoved her down. A flicker of purple light caught my eye. My demon’s mark flared to life, and a different kind of power rushed my insides. Maybe it was time to take my magic for a test drive.
Talon leapt into the battle, slicing his razor-sharp claws at the attacking guards. A massive head rolled right off the lead guard’s neck and bumped into my boot. A pair of vacant eyes stared up at me. Bleh.
“So nice of you to return, dear cousin.”
My head whipped up to a smiling figure hanging over the bannister. A wicked grin twisted Thax’s thin lips. “I do hope you’ll stay this time. It was very rude of you to simply disappear after all the fun we’d been having. You truly hurt me.” He lifted the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically.
Remy stood beside him, the shimmering oracle pressed between his long fingers. His alabaster irises sent a wave of goosebumps cascading over my skin. Talon moved next to me, glaring up at the twisted twosome. I steeled my nerve and squeezed my fingers into tight fists. “I know you tortured me for months, stole my memories and used me to bolster your own dwindling power. And now, I’ve come to make you pay.”
“We’ll see about that.” Thax’s voice was calm, but a flash of fear streaked across his profound irises. Whatever Remy had seen was bad, and I was about to bring his premonition to life.
A flash of white zipped by me, and I ducked just in time to avoid being gored by a rogue narkin tusk. Bending down, I unsheathed my dagger and jammed it into its chest. The creature screeched and tumbled to the floor.
I glanced up, but Thax and Remy were gone. Shitzu.
From my peripheral vision, a heavenly glow lit up the dim atrium. Hayden. He cut through the mob with his blazing sword as Logan and Dallas finished off the stragglers.
Another pair of narkins lunged, but I summoned two scorching orbs to my palms. I tossed the witchfire in rapid succession, the magical flames replenishing after each hit. Talon appeared beside me, battling two more narkins. I buried my dagger into one of the beast’s back, and he quickly took down the other.
“Thanks for the assist.” He shot me an elusive smile, and my heart tripped over a beat. I massaged the spot over my chest, tamping down on the wave of giddiness. Not a good time.
“That’s what I do,” I countered. “Save your dragon ass.”
This time a full out chuckle escaped his tense lips. “Right…”
Another squad of narkins leapt over the rafter and headed right for us. Talon ticked his head at the approaching guards and grinned at me. “Please, by all means, save my ass.”
Without missing a beat, I chucked a dozen fireballs into the horde. Screams filled the atrium as the stench of burnt flesh reached my nostrils.
“Not bad,” he muttered, “but you do remember I’m a dragon, right?” He exhaled a breath, and a puff of smoke swirled in the air. His broad chest inflated, and he released a torrent of red-hot fire into the sea of narkins.
Thick, dark smoke filled the air as their shrieks bounced off the stone walls.
He crossed his arms over his chest and threw me a satisfied grin. “That’s how you do it.”
“I might be impressed if I didn’t think your head would explode at the compliment.”
Again, an elusive chuckle. Who knew a fight was exactly what the surly dragon needed to remove the stick up his perfect ass.
Talon scanned the waning battle and let out a whistle. Logan, Hayden and Dallas swiveled to face us. “Anyone got eyes on Thax?”
They all shook their heads.
“What about Delacroix?” I scanned the smoky chamber for the towering demon.
“Damn it,” Talon roared. “Where did he go?”
The boys finished off the remaining demons and searched the wreckage for Delacroix. I didn’t hold my breath. That bastard had taken off after Thax. I was certain because I would’ve done the same.
“What about Remy?”
Blank stares from all the guys. Dammit. How could we have lost all of them?
Chapter Twenty-Four
“How the hell did Thax give us the slip like that?” Talon punched the wall and the obsidian cracked, fissures spiderwebbing across the sleek stone. He growled, spun around and continued his manic pacing of the tight mini SIA command station as Dallas, Hayden and I watched silently.
We’d already been over last night’s events a dozen times. Dallas had even hacked into Thax’s underground security system to discover how exactly we’d lost the dark lord, his seer and our demon fugitive. No matter how many times they’d searched the images, not one of them showed up in the footage.
“Delacroix had to be in on it,” Hayden muttered.
“But how?” I pushed myself off the wall and stared at the video that had been looped on repeat. “He wanted Thax dethroned almost as much as I wanted him dead.”
“We never should’ve trusted him!” Talon growled, tossing a glare in my direction.
I slapped my hands on my hips and matched his dark gaze. “You’re not blaming this on me, are you?”
He closed the space between us, towering over me. “If Vander hadn’t made that deal with him to protect you in the first place, this never would’ve happened. He was clearly thinking with the wrong head.”