Shadow and Flame

by Katya Moore

  While she was immersed in her task, I looked at Lina, then at my shackles. "The runes," I hissed. "Can you scratch the runes?" Lina was still lost in her grief, eyes downcast, resigned to her fate. I screamed inwardly. These restraints would drive me mad before the Witch Queen could do a damned thing to me.

  The witch swept the essence powder into a black silk bag and pulled the drawstring closed. With a contented smile, she carried her parcel to her cabinet and set it in the top drawer. It closed with a resonant click.

  Then, she turned to face us.

  "Waste not," she said with a hideous too-broad grin. She signaled to the doorway, and two serpents entered.

  No.

  They slithered past me to Lina and began to work at her shackles. I screamed in rage and desperation, hurling myself against the chains until I thought I'd tear my wrists off. They looked at me and laughed, then returned to their work. I got a good solid kick in at the tail of the one closest to me. He hissed in pain, then moved his tail out of reach.

  "Lina," I gasped. My voice tore at my throat, like crushed glass. She turned her eyes toward me with a look of despair that cut me to my soul. "I'm getting us out of here. It... it may not be how we want it to be, but I'm getting us out of here."

  A flicker of desperate hope lit her eyes, but it died when she saw the grim look on my face.

  "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm so sorry."

  Her jaw tensed, exactly the way Chase's did before going into battle. She nodded tersely, then was yanked off her feet by the priests. I watched them drag her over to the table, writhing, kicking, biting at their arms.

  I could see scales start to form along her arms. They'd taken all of the chains off her. The fires of hope lit up my chest. She's a Hearne. She's a fighter. Let her do this. I opened my mouth to cheer her on, then felt my jaw drop as the Witch Queen lashed out with a hand. In one fluid movement, she used one of her sharpened talons to carve a rune into Lina's chest. The scales fell away from her arms, and she screamed in horror and pain.

  I closed my eyes, cursing myself for getting my hopes up. Of course the witch would be prepared for that. Now, I'd have to stand here, helpless, useless, and watch my mate's sister die a horrific death.

  Unless...

  They'd cut off my access to my dragon. But had they cut off my access to the Serpent?

  My mind raced back to the night of my twenty-first birthday. The night I discovered who I truly was. The night I killed half a dozen Chosen without even realizing it. I hadn't shifted for that. I hadn't accessed my dragon. I'd lashed out, in pure animal instinct, grabbing at the greatest power at my disposal. The darkest secret of the shadow dragon lineage.

  I could access the power of the Great Serpent and make it my own, for one unspeakable blast of killing power.

  The cost, though. I swallowed hard. I'd be the only one left standing. I'd kill the priests. I'd kill the Witch Queen. I'd destroy this threat to dragonkind once and for all.

  But I'd also kill Lina.

  Meriwether's words echoed through my head. Sacrifices have to be made sometimes, for the greater good. I watched as they bound Lina to the table with some sort of blackened chains. She fought them, arching her back and straining against her bonds, cursing and spitting at the priests and the Witch Queen. She would not go quietly.

  I glanced at the other girl who hung silently next to me. I didn’t know her name. I didn’t know her family. All I knew was that she was young, unconscious, and about to die. It didn’t seem right, not even knowing her name.

  Sacrifices have to be made.

  Bile rose in my throat. Not for the first time, and not for the last time, I hated who I had become. But I was the Shadow Queen, and this threat had to stop. I couldn't let her take Lina. I couldn't let her take Ava's essence to the High Priest.

  Not one more dragon. This ends now.

  The Witch Queen gestured at the priests, and they began to slither toward their exit. It was now or never. I closed my eyes and reached deep inside. Past my dragon. Past my heart. Past the deepest recesses of my mind. I searched inwardly, looking for that primal place I'd touched when I thought I was going to die. Dark, cold places, deep within. Places I didn't like to admit were in me. There were shadows there, formed in pain and fear and loathing. I reached deeper and felt it slithering inside me. Something dark. Something big. Something unspeakably powerful.

  I reached back a mental fist, prepared to hit it with everything I had.

  The Witch Queen reached for Lina, then screamed a shrill inhuman scream of pain and rage.

  My eyes flew open.

  I saw a thin trickle of blood begin to trail between the Witch Queen's breasts, dripping down from the point of a blade. I felt my jaw go slack as she wavered on her feet, then stumbled forward, clutching at the edge of the table. She coughed, blood dripping from her lips, then sank to the ground.

  Lina looked past the witch and screamed, not in fear, but in recognition. Her face lit up, and she sobbed in relief.

  "Chase!" I saw him reaching for a second throwing dagger as he pounded down the stairs. He flashed me a quick toothy half-dragon smile, then lashed out with his dagger and caught one of the priests through the hood, dangerously close to his eye. Chase looked pissed for a fleeting moment, then charged.

  I pressed my feet into the wall and yanked at the chains impatiently, trying with all my might to dislodge them from the wall. All hell broke loose around me. More serpents emerged from the two doorways, hissing and drawing long curved blades. Dragons poured down the stairs after Chase, some familiar, some not. They clashed in the middle of the room, tearing through the markings of the ritual circle. I felt a blast of dark energy radiating outward. It slammed into me, making my feet slip from the wall and sending my back crashing into the stone. Dragons and serpents alike slid back on the smooth stone floor, then resumed their combat. I shook off the stun and started to brace my feet against the stone again, ignoring the pain in my wrists.

  "Stop that, you're going to hurt yourself!" Galen grinned at me and reached up over my head, a set of keys dangling from his talons.

  "Where did you get those?" I asked, amazed at his efficiency.

  He winked. "Found the most important-looking snake and punched his face in."

  I smiled at him. "Good thinking." The shackles opened, and I fell into his arms. I rested there for a moment, warm and safe and fighting back a sob of relief. No time for that, though. "Get Lina. Get the other scout. Get them out of here. We're not leaving without them. Not after all we've been through." I regained my footing and staggered away from him.

  "Can you shift?" He rubbed at my wrists, the faint green glow of his healing magic driving the pain away.

  I snatched my hands away and reached in for my dragon. She practically danced in my chest, stretching her wings and sending scales rippling down my arms. "Save the healing for the girls. They need it more."

  Galen saluted, then turned and unlocked the girl beside me.

  I turned my attention to the table. A priest stood over it, his blade poised over Lina's chest. I roared. Chase turned and saw him, then lunged at a dead sprint. I reached out and grabbed a shadow. With a sharp motion of my hand, it wrapped around the priest's arm and hauled him backward. Chase tackled him to the ground, his jaws around the priest’s throat. I heard a sickening crunch from behind the table, then saw Chase rise to his feet and turn his attention to Lina's chains. Galen threw him the keys as he passed, carrying the limp scout to safety.

  I surveyed the room. The other dragons had matters well in hand, so I ran to the Witch Queen's ritual chest. The top drawer was locked, but there was no sign of a keyhole. A twisted rune sat where a keyhole might have been. I ran a talon over it. It writhed at my touch. Bewildered, I ran my talon over it again. It coiled tighter.

  "CASS! QUINN!" I shouted over the din of battle, scouring the room for any glimpse of golden scales. I spotted Cass across the room, firing bolts of electricity into the chest of the nearest serpent. I closed
my eyes and pushed my desperation at him.

  Look. At. Me.

  I saw his head whip around, his brow arching. I gestured frantically for him to join me. He looked around himself, dropped a shoulder, and charged through the fray, knocking serpents and dragons aside to get to me.

  "You rang?" he asked breathlessly when he'd made it to my side.

  "What's this?" I demonstrated my discovery.

  Cass frowned and tapped a talon against his jaw. "Rune lock. Keyed to the Great Serpent's power."

  "So why's it reacting to... me..." I slapped my taloned hand against my forehead. "Duh. Got it. I'll have it open in a jiff."

  Cass squinted at me. "What're you...?"

  I closed my eyes. It was easier to find it this time, having been down this path only a few minutes before. Down the darkest recesses of my soul, into the abyss. This time, I reached out to the presence and caressed it lightly. As I did, I reached out my actual hand and ran it over the rune. I heard a tiny click, and the drawer opened. With a soul-deep shudder, I came back to my senses.

  Cass was staring at me, mouth slightly agape. "That... I didn't know you could..." He gave an involuntary shudder, then gave my arm a squeeze. "Well done," he said with a wan smile.

  I ignored the feeling that I'd just irredeemably horrified my beloved mate and reached carefully into the drawer. The silk bag rested inside. I lifted it out, pressed it gently to my heart, then slipped it into my pocket.

  "What was that?" Cass asked with an uneasy look.

  "Who," I corrected. "We need to get her home to her family."

  Cass nodded solemnly, the uneasy look fading from his eyes. "Of course."

  The din died down, and we realized that the battle had come to an end. I looked around and realized it was just my mates, Lina, the scattered corpses of a dozen or so serpents, and me.

  "Where is everyone?" I asked.

  Chase looked a little shifty for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Tyrone brought the other scout up to the medics. The rest have gone down into the catacombs. They're searching for her."

  "Searching for…" I looked over by the table. There was a pool of blood on the floor, some shreds of silver fabric caught on the table, but no sign of the Witch Queen.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. "Goddamn it."

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  "You did it. You got us to them." I sat on the edge of Aaron Cadmus' bed, cradling his hand in mine. "You saved the girls."

  He looked better than the last time I'd seen him. The IV drip that ran into his arm had pumped enough fluids into him to bring color back into his face and reinvigorate his skin. His cheeks looked less hollow, and his breathing was stronger and steadier.

  But the scars remained. He looked at me with haunted eyes. "All of them?"

  Pain stabbed through my chest. I closed my eyes tightly. All I could see was Ava, burning away before my eyes. I opened them again and shook my head slowly.

  He slumped against his pillows and closed his eyes. "Did... did they take her? Do they still have her? Her essence?"

  "No." I rested a hand against my pocket absently. "No. They didn't get her. She's going home."

  A tear ran down his cheek. "Good," he whispered. "Thank you."

  The guilt made it hard to breathe. Not being able to save Ava. Losing the Witch Queen's body. Possibly letting that demoness loose to kill again and again.

  "Rest now," I said softly, placing his hand back on his chest. "You did good. Thank you."

  "Thank you, Excellency."

  I stood and walked out of his room. Ava's essence weighed heavily in my pocket. I didn't feel like an Excellency. I felt like a failure.

  Galen stood facing the door. He took one look at my face and swept me into his arms, cradling me close.

  "That was a good thing you did," he murmured into my hair. "He needed to know. Needed to know he made a difference. Now he has a chance to heal."

  I nodded into his chest. "Thank you," I sighed.

  The Fafner Home was a study in somber colors and heavily soundproofed walls. The effect was less calming and more stifling. The wood paneled walls felt like they were closing in on me. I let Galen guide me to the nearest waiting room, a study with deep green walls, dark woodwork, and comfortable chairs. Aric and Cass waited there for us. Galen sat me down between Cass and Aric and took a seat across from me. I leaned my head on Cass' shoulder and took Aric's hand in mine. For once, they didn't attempt a tug of war. They just loved me silently, stroking my hair and my hand respectively.

  Jared and Chase walked down the hall toward us, deep in conversation. I sat up, pulling myself together as quickly as I could. Chase looked at me and smiled. I smiled back, powerful and brave and not at all wracked with inner torment.

  "How is she?" I asked.

  Jared tucked his clipboard under his arm. "Strong," he said with a note of admiration. "For all she's been through, she's held together remarkably well. Physically, she'll be here for a couple weeks. Broken ribs, bruised organs, they starved her, and she's badly dehydrated. But for all that, her mind is sharp, and she's putting on a very brave face."

  I looked at Chase. "Sounds like someone I know."

  Chase nodded solemnly. "She's holding a lot inside. I know it." He turned his attention to Jared. "She's going to need some coaxing to let it all out. She's going to need a friend."

  Jared cleared his throat and looked a little embarrassed. "I... may have to call in a consultant for that." He nodded in Galen's direction. "I think I might know someone who could help."

  Galen blinked in surprise and sat up a little straighter.

  A slow smile spread across Chase's face. "I think you've got the right colleague. I can speak from experience. He's the best there is."

  Galen looked at his hands for a moment, embarrassed by the compliment. He found his voice when he looked Chase in the eye. "You got it, man. I got your back."

  "You always have." Chase reached out a fist. Galen bumped it gently. Both men cleared their throats. Chase looked at me and smiled. "Jared says we can go see her."

  "We?" I sat up a little straighter. "Don't you want to..."

  Chase cut me off, stepping closer to me and reaching for my hand. "I..." He cleared his throat again, looking a little shamefaced. "I could use the support. If you don't mind."

  I caught his hand and stood up. His vulnerability made my heart ache. "Of course. Let's go."

  She looked tiny in the hospital bed. Lina was taller than me by an inch or so, and more powerfully built, but there was something about that bed that took away that power and left behind a scared teenaged girl. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face, revealing a long bruise along her jawline. Her eyes had deep hollows beneath them, and her cheeks were gaunt. Still, her deep blue eyes glinted defiantly at us as we walked in, as if daring us to call her on her rough appearance.

  "Hey, monkey butt," Chase said, his voice gentle and soft. He braved a smile, but I could see the sorrow behind it.

  "You're the monkey, parkour boy," she fired back with a wry grin, then she sobered and looked at me with a hint of fear. "Umm, I mean, hello, your Excellency. It's an honor."

  I chuckled softly and extended my hand. "It's an honor to meet you. Again. You were amazing back there."

  She lowered her head. "I... there was nothing amazing about me. I got us captured. I..." Her voice choked off. "Ava," she whispered. She cleared her throat. "You rescued me. I needed to be rescued."

  I shook my head. "You fought like a tiger the entire time we were there. You didn't give up a thing. I know it. And you didn't go down without getting your shots in." I rested a hand gently on hers. "You made me want to fight harder. I was almost ready to give up in there. You inspired me to do better. Don't you dare hate on yourself for that."

  Her eyes widened at that. "I... yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

  I stepped back. "Now, you're going to forget I'm here, and your brother's going to love on you. That's an order." I winked, leaned against the wall, and
vanished. Her surprised gasp was satisfying.

  "Yeah, she does that," Chase said with a chuckle, glancing back at where I had been. "Usually, she saves it for when she wants to get out of training." I picked up a pebble from a plant by the window and chucked it at the back of his head. He laughed and brushed it out of his hair.

  "She's the Queen, you dipshit! Be respectful!" Lina hissed.

  Chase sighed. "I do respect her. But... it's..." He gave an awkward laugh and ran his hand over his hair. "It's complicated."

  Lina gave him a long, hard look. "Complicated. Right. Like, you and the Proving Grounds complicated?"

  Chase growled softly, without heat. "No, not that complicated. Though, I've had to deal with Schulte a lot more often lately."

  "ELDER Schulte. GENERAL Schulte. Eldest, Chase, you've really got problems with the chain of command," Lina scolded.

  Chase rolled his eyes. "Tell me something our entire family doesn't know, Leen. But I'm not here to get yelled at about my complete and utter disregard for draconic royal titles." He reached out a hand to her. "I'm here because I'm worried about you. I'm here because I love you."

  Lina raised a skeptical eyebrow and pulled her hand away from his. "You...feeling okay, big bro? Since when do you... have feelings and shit?"

  "Language." Chase laughed, then leaned back in his chair. "Blame Galen. Blame seeing the world and getting away from Father's punching fist. Blame the Shadow Queen."

  Lina's eyes bugged. "Eldest Fucking Dragon, Chase, are you trying to get sent to the Cooler or something?" she hissed frantically. "She could still be here! This is… blasphemy!"

  I sighed and stepped away from the wall. Lina yelped and edged up her bed about half a foot. I winced. "Sorry." She eased her way back down the bed, breathing a little ragged. Smooth, Sia. Traumatize the patient. "And you're right. He's being very disrespectful and should be punished." I reached over and poked Chase in the shoulder. "Bad Chase. That's a very bad Chase. No whiskey for you tonight."