Beside us, Grace was hunched forward, her hands on her legs, head hanging low. Tears silently dropped off her cheeks; the pain she was exuding was tangible. I was also mourning, and not because Cardia had been my friend, but because she had been mated to Maximus, and that made her important, made her my pack. I couldn’t stand to think of his pain right now. He would already know and was probably incapacitated; hopefully the boys had him, and wouldn’t let him plunge to his death in grief or something. It had been known to happen.
As my body finished its repairs, with Louis’ help, I was able to focus on my task again. The king needed to die and he needed to die now. Where the hell had he gone? I thought for sure he’d have been here, trying to finish me off when I was at my most injured, but there had been that roar and then nothing.
As the last of Louis’ power evaporated, a sense of rejuvenation filled me and I stumbled to my feet, before straightening to my full height. A sparkle of gold caught my eye.
What the actual fu–
Five dragons were fighting: two of the king’s black-as-night brothers; Braxton’s blue-black beast; Larky, who glowed black, red, and orange; and the last larger than all the rest, and pure gold.
“She came,” I said, my nails digging into my palms. “That’s the queen of the dragons. She just saved my damn life.”
She had torn the king off me before he could finish crushing me, saving my life, Josephina’s, and the young who resided inside of me. We might actually stand a chance now; she was stronger than any other dragon.
“Should I shift?” I said, not really asking anyone in particular. “I could help.”
Louis wrapped a hand around mine, and when he pulled away the necklace rested in my palm. “You’re still weak. I haven’t had time to heal you properly. I think if you shift one more time today you’ll probably fall into a healing sleep. You can be just as helpful down here, making sure you finish it off when the queen brings him down.”
He was probably right. I could still feel the recent injuries, the weakness inside my blood and muscles. Louis normally would have fixed that right up, but the sorcerer was spent. He’d maxed out his energy today.
“I need to get closer,” I said taking off at a stumbling run, my legs needing a few moments to get the blood flowing.
I pushed through the marked, most of whom had stopped fighting and were all staring up into the sky. I thought at first they were just captivated by five dragons in battle, but then I noticed the dragon specters. They were swirling high, higher than I’d ever seen before, and linking directly to the king. He was calling on every ounce of power to beat the queen.
“Knock out the marked!” Louis was yelling. “Knock out the marked now!” His power-laden words drifting through the crowd. All members from our side – those still standing – lurched into action. This was the perfect time, as the marked were all distracted assisting the king, and the more we took out, the less power Larky had at his disposal.
“Jess! Are you okay?”
Jonathon was sprinting toward me across the bloody field, and I found myself swept up in his embrace. “I saw your dragon fall. I thought the worst. I’m … I’m so goddamn happy to see you.”
I collapsed against him, allowing a second of comfort before I started urging my father to run with me. I had to get closer to the battling beasts.
“Is Mom okay?” I asked as we scrambled through the crowd, both of us knocking out as many marked as we could on the way.
“Yep, I sent her back with Mischa. Your sister managed to get free. I had to knock her out.”
I winced. My sister really had to tell our parents that she was pregnant. Although, I’d bet Lienda knew now after carrying her back to the hall. It would be hard to miss that little belly. One consolation was that Jonathon knocking her out was better than someone else mistaking her for one of Larky’s and killing her.
Jonathon followed my line of sight. “Where did the golden dragon come from?”
He had heard the story from Faerie. All of the leaders knew what the shining ones had said about Larky, but seeing it in the flesh was quite another thing. She was even bigger than the dragon king, and still too stunning to stare directly at, sparkling pure gold in the sunlight.
I quickly explained again the true majesty of Chrysandra. She was queen of dragons and had joined the battle for one reason only. Larky had killed her child.
Awe crossed Jonathon’s features; my father wasn’t easily impressed, but Chrysandra was a rare exception of power and beauty, even in our world. They were directly above us now. Braxton had separated out and was fighting against the two black dragons again. From my angle it looked as if the rest of the Compasses were on his back, but it was hard to tell. Hopefully the third of Larky’s brothers was down permanently. Braxton did not need another beast to fight.
Clenching my sweaty hand around the charm, my fingers flexed as I waited for an opening.
Larky and the queen swirled closer. The golden dragon struck out hard and fast, leaving bloody gashes along the king’s hide. For some reason, whenever she did, the wound lasted longer than when I had, her magic working against him.
The marked dragon energy was still swirling into the sky, slowly filtering to the king. I could see a large cloud of specters about to hit him, a ton of power, and I was suddenly afraid for the queen. My dragon bellowed within me, her emotions a mess as we were forced to wait on the sidelines, helpless. My poor Josephina; it was colossally unfair that such a majestic creature had become a prisoner. I loved her enough that I wished things were different for her. Unlike the other souls who had chosen to be mated, she should be free.