The king’s voice sneered in my head. You know, I don’t think you’re worth the trouble. I can rule the supe world with the marked alone, and if I don’t have any offspring, the shadow ones will still be locked away, unable to exact revenge on me.
He murmured like he was speaking to himself, but it was clear he wanted me to know I was no longer valuable to him, that he was preparing to kill me and my child.
I fought harder, but that only forced his claws and teeth deeper into my body. I slashed out and tore into the ribs on his right side, inflicting an injury which might actually slow him down. In fact … his heart was visible. Shit. I didn’t have the necklace and I couldn’t see Louis.
My head went fuzzy as Larky crushed my throat, and at the same time tore across both of my wing joints and shoulder blades. I tried to bellow but no noise emerged. The pain was everywhere and all encompassing. He’d completely disabled every avenue I had to escape.
That other roar sounded again, and I tried to remain focused, needing to know which dragon was closing in. Usually I’d think Braxton, but for some reason it sounded different. A weight landed on us; the hold Larky had on me eased and I was flung free.
I caught a glimpse of Louis as I sailed past. Air expelled from me in one huff as I hit the ground, my eyes closed, my dragon and I both struggling through our pain. I almost couldn’t handle it. Energy washed over me then, cool hands touching my side.
Normally that would make this supe very stupid, touching an injured dragon, but I was in no position to fight now.
“Jess! Girl, you have to change back.” I knew that voice, that scent. Grace. Her gentle energy wrapping around me.
I opened my eyes, struggling to lift my head. Grace was disheveled, her hair everywhere. Dirt covered her face and there was a gash along her chin and down to her collarbone. Cardia stood protectively over her; it looked like they had been working together for most of the fight.
The healer witch appealed to me again: “I can’t heal you in your dragon form, the magic just rebounds back to me.” Her large eyes were glassy; she was swaying on her feet.
I’d say Grace was pretty much at the end of her ability to heal anyway. Still, I knew she was right. I had to change back to human and hope she could patch me up enough to give me another shot at the king. I reached for the magic, the shifter energy which made up the core of my being. My dragon had already let go of her control; she wanted me to shift and save both of our lives.
Internally, I scraped myself toward the energy, trying to hurry because I was losing a lot of blood. Finally, by the tip of my fingers, I managed to yank a strand toward me, sobbing as the change washed over me.
The shift back was brutal. My energy was low, and the agony of trying to change around massive damage had black dots dancing across my vision. When I was about halfway done, a shadow loomed over the back of the two girls. I tried to shout a warning, but my vocal cords were stuck between dragon and Jessa.
Cardia sensed the marked at the last moment and whipped around so fast she was a vampire blur. But it was a second too late for Maximus’ mate. As the sword swung around, slicing clean through Cardia’s neck and partially severing her head, my vocal cords returned. Screams ripped over the battlefield as I watched on in horror.
It was like the world was moving in slow motion. Grace, who was the gentlest of supes, suddenly went feral and blasted out at the sword-wielding marked with some sort of spell. By the time she was done, the vampire who had ended Cardia was a scorch mark on the earth. Grace then dropped down beside the vampiress, sobs ringing from her. Finally finished my shift, I dragged myself to them, willing to offer whatever energy I could to help heal the fallen supe.
“No, no, no … too much damage.” Grace was murmuring through her sobs and I knew that it was too late for Cardia.
There was no saving Maximus’s mate. My heart squeezed tightly in my chest, nausea rocketing through my gut. My vampire was going to be devastated by this. He would never be the same daredevil, carefree, over-protective, larger-than-life Compass again. This would ruin him, reduce him to a shell of the supe he was now.
More energy flowed as Grace tried again; she hadn’t given up. I could tell how much she cared for Cardia. The two had probably spent a lot of time together while the rest of us were stuck in Faerie. Grace finished sealing the wound on Cardia’s neck, basically reattaching her head, then she sliced across her own wrist, feeding blood into the vampire’s mouth. I watched in silence, not surprised when there was no movement, no beat of Cardia’s heart and no signs of regeneration. She was gone.
Still Grace wouldn’t give up, and as she bled her paleness increased to worrying levels. Finally, I shoved her aside.
“Heal your wrist,” I managed to mutter, before taking Grace’s knife – I was naked and weaponless – and slicing my own wrist. I placed it against Cardia’s mouth.
I was only doing this for Maximus, so he knew that we did everything we could.
Despite my pain and injuries exhausting me, tendrils of panic thrummed through me. I couldn’t see anything through the mass of sorcerers which surrounded us and had no idea where the dragon king had disappeared to. Energy brushed against me, strong and ancient, and relief surged as Louis and some of his sorcerers pushed through the crowd.
He dropped down at my side, laying both hands on Cardia. His eyes fluttered closed, and when they reopened the dull emptiness there confirmed what I’d already known. There was nothing more we could do.
“She’s gone. Her soul has moved past this world and can no longer be retrieved.” He touched my wrist. Clothing covered me, followed by the burn of a healing. I almost collapsed as the warmth spread everywhere, accelerating the healing which I’d already started with my shift.