Her scales were black. Deep, obsidian black. They seemed to absorb the moonlight rather than reflect it—there was none of that beautiful, shimmering quality Cyrus’s scales had displayed. She drew her head back, as if she were gaining momentum, and then her throat flexed. Her jaws gaped open and green fire came pouring out.
Feed your rage like a flame, she’d said to me. Tabitha was surprisingly straightforward; I should’ve realized she meant it literally.
The Guardians scattered, their cries of alarm ringing through the night. I stood there, seeing that moment with Cyrus again, frozen with terror and regret.
“Go!” Laurie snapped, yanking me forward with his free hand. Recovering, I wrenched my dress up again, silently vowing to opt for pants from now on. I tightened my grip on the hilt of the sword still in my other hand. The driveway we ran over steamed from the heat and melted ice, and over our heads, I caught a glimpse of Tabitha rearing back for another surge of dragonfire.
She was giving us a head start. They all were, I noted with a start—Laurie’s friends hadn’t started running when we had. Instead, they stood with their backs to us, blades and guns at the ready. Any Guardians that managed to pass Tabitha would need to go through them, too.
The realization gave me a burst of strength. I kept pace with Laurie and Gil as we raced beneath the archway. Screams sounded from behind, but I didn’t look back. We reached the street, and my bare feet slapped against the freezing pavement. Laurie seemed to hear this at the same moment I did, and I saw him glance down. Cursing, he stopped and reached for me, probably intending to carry me in spite of the heavy-looking sword he already held.
Tabitha roared again, and somehow, I heard a note of warning in the sound.
Laurie and I turned at the same time. Several Guardians were heading in our direction, but Tabitha’s enormous, lethal body hadn’t left the archway—a biker whizzed past, acting completely oblivious to the beast looming over him. Most likely, the illusion spell Belanor had mentioned only extended to the edge of the palace grounds. If there were sightings of a dragon in Munich, the humans would descend into chaos.
Which meant there wouldn’t be any more help from Tabitha, not if she wanted to avoid exposing all of Fallenkind. The inner circle was also preoccupied, and I was glad to see each member holding their own.
I didn’t remember running again, but then I was rushing after Gil and Laurie down a narrow street, the driver of a UPS truck honking his horn at us. Nightmares couldn’t cast any sort of glamour, and I cast a single, fleeting thought about the strange picture I must’ve made flying past in a lacy ballgown and brandishing a medieval sword in one fist. Laurie seemed to have a destination in mind, and he led us down alleys and around corners, never faltering or offering explanation.
“Stop, in the name of the King!” someone shouted.
He’s not king yet! I wanted to shout back, but the unfamiliar voice was too close for my liking. A backward glance told me that, in spite of our head start, the Guardians had gained ground on us and they were closing in fast. We were on a quieter street now, with fewer cars and people to avoid. I could hear the clanking of armor and swords.
At the mouth of another alley, Laurie stopped and spun.
“Go,” he said shortly, moving his head again to indicate we should get behind him. He spun the sword in an expert movement.
I glared. “We’re not leaving—”
Gil grabbed my arm and pulled me into the narrow space behind Laurie. A strand of hair blew across my mouth as I looked wildly over my shoulder, desperate not to lose sight of him. I sensed a ripple of his power as he claimed several minds at once, making them see what he wanted them to see. It was strange that I kept sensing when Laurie used his abilities—maybe it was because I’d been in his head now. Because I’d gotten past his wall.
This alley led to a dead end; Gil and I reached a wall of dumpsters and whirled. At the other end, The Seelie Prince’s body blocked most of the street, but I saw a cluster of oncoming Guardians jerk to a halt, their expressions twisting. Some with confusion, others with blank terror. Laurie was buying us time, too, I realized. He had a plan, he always had a plan. If one of them failed, he went right to the backup he’d put in place. He’d probably chosen this alley for a specific reason. But what were we waiting for? Was I supposed to be scaling the walls?
“Now what?” Gil muttered, echoing my thoughts.
I was on the verge of calling out to Laurie when he tossed something down the alley. He quickly faced forward again, his body tight with concentration. My gaze dropped to the objects he’d thrown at my feet.
Boots. They must’ve come off one of the Guardians Laurie was holding in his thrall—they were tipped with metal and made of high-quality leather. Leaning my stolen sword against the closest brick wall, I hurried to pull the boots onto my frozen, dirty feet. They were too big, but not by much. I’d still be able to run and fight, and that was all that mattered.
I had just finished putting the second one on when a hand clamped around my ankle.
I spun, a scream rising to my lips. It died when I saw none other than Peeks, his finger pressed against his mouth in a desperate bid for silence. He was half-standing out of a sewer hole, the round lid propped against his shoulder. Jassin’s son was lucky I hadn’t been holding the sword, or his head might’ve gotten lopped right off his body.
Gil moved in a blur, probably to rip Peeks’s head off anyway, and I threw my hand out with a frantic, “No, don’t!”
The vampire froze, his eyes unnaturally bright again. He didn’t take them off Peeks, who glared back with an expression that managed to be wary and defiant all at once.
“Can we go now?” he said. His long hair was scraped into a bun, exposing the shaved sides of his scalp. He wasn’t wearing his Guardian armor, only a worn jean jacket. Before either Gil or I could respond, Peeks’s gaze shifted, taking note of the figure still fighting at the mouth of the alley. “If Laurelis is coming, one of you should fetch him. Now.”
Understanding dawned; he meant for us to go into the sewers.
Laurie must’ve set this up as one of his backup plans. My mind flashed back to the conversation we’d had last night.
Belanor will set a trap, Laurie had warned me.
Then we’ll just have to be smarter than him, I’d said back.
If we’d relied on my arrogance, we probably wouldn’t have made it past the driveway. Once again, Laurie had saved our asses. The thought made something in my chest tighten. Though he hadn’t known Belanor would have an entire contingent of Guardians waiting for us, Laurie still put precautions in place, outsmarting his twin as effortlessly as he waltzed.
Peeks had probably been working with him this entire time. I wondered if Jassin’s son had brought me food of his own volition or if Laurie had ordered him to. So many pieces. So many moving parts. Laurelis Dondarte was a force to be reckoned with, and I wouldn’t forget that again.
But none of this mattered right now. Nothing mattered except getting out of here, and making sure no one got left behind.
“Laurie!” I hissed, reaching for the sword still propped against the side of a building. “Laurie.”
His silvery head whipped toward me, and I watched him take note of Peeks and the manhole. He nodded once, hopefully to indicate that he’d follow us, then whirled to face another oncoming guard. He must’ve reached a limit to the minds he could influence, or he’d drained too much of his power, because Laurie raised his sword with a bright, taunting laugh, his hair streaming behind him in a gust of wind. I stared, wishing I could stay. Watch him. Absorb the fairy tale picture he made, standing there on that ice-slickened street.