Whichever spooked him, the vampire lifted the clay pot and with one mighty heave was tossing it directly at Blayze.
Three things happened all at once.
Blayze instinctively ducked as the vessel sailed across the room. Bolt leaped forward to place his large body between her and the incoming curse. And a strangely erotic blast of magic filled the air.
Knocked off balance, Blayze tumbled backward, smacking her head against the floor. Bolt, however, stayed standing directly in the path of the curse.
“Bolt, no,” she cried out, watching in horror as he remained in front of her, clearly determined to play the hero.
But even as she tried to scramble upright, the unknown magic gave a violent pulse, and in the blink of an eye, Bolt was gone.
Just like that.
At the same time, the vessel flew over her head and hit the wall behind her. The fragile ceramic smashed on impact, releasing the curse harmlessly into the air.
Shocked silence briefly paralyzed Blayze as she tried to sort through what had just happened. The sight of Flynn tossing the curse. Bolt dashing to stand in front of her.
And then…
Poof. He was gone.
Had Flynn done something? No. That was impossible. Vampires didn’t have the ability to create magic.
So had it been a portal? Or did Bolt possess some strange power that allowed him to simply disappear?
Dazed, she slowly rose to her feet, giving a small shake of her head.
She was still struggling to clear her brain when there was a blur of motion. Damn. Flynn was trying to escape.
Fury boiled through her. A white-hot, ancient anger that carried the force of a volcano.
This was the evil monster who’d cursed her.
He was going to pay.
With a low growl, she lunged toward his fleeing form, knocking him to the ground before he ever made it out of the room. Then, forgetting the centuries she’d devoted to imagining the various tortures she intended to inflict on the creature responsible for her misery, she allowed her fingers to shift into massive claws.
“Save a place for Magma in the underworld,” she hissed before she was swiping her claws across his throat, easily slicing off his head.
She was turning away from Flynn as a dark burst of energy surrounded his body and it began to disintegrate into a pile of ash.
She no longer had an interest in the vampire who’d destroyed her life. Coming back in time meant that she now had a chance for a future. That was all that mattered.
Oh, and Char. He mattered most of all.
About to head out through the destroyed wall, Blayze felt the strange magic brush against her skin.
She frowned, instinctively reaching out with her powers.
Immediately she realized that it hadn’t come from a dragon. Which meant that Bolt wasn’t responsible for his own disappearance.
Her heart missed a sudden beat.
If someone else had created the portal, then that meant…
Hope.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Char pressed his back against the wall, gritting his teeth as he struggled to remain upright. A task that would be a lot easier if the furious dragon would stop fighting against the spell that was holding him mid-shift.
The effort to maintain his magic was not only taking its toll on his body, but it was also making it impossible for Char to concentrate on what he intended to do next.
He really, really needed a Plan B.
One that didn’t include being melted by dragon flames.
“Release me,” Magma commanded, his voice oddly distorted by the spell.
The fact he could speak at all, however, meant that Char was barely keeping him restrained.
“A hard pass on that,” Char muttered.
The shimmer around the dragon pulsed as he continued to struggle to get free. “Did you hear me?” The words were less distorted, and louder. They echoed down the corridor.
“I think the entire lair heard you.” Sweat trickled down Char’s face, his lungs burning. Was it the heat from Magma, or the strain of trying to maintain his spell? It didn’t really matter. “Including Synge, who’s going to be very interested in why you were in this area of his home,” he told the dragon, hoping it would stop the male from fighting against the magic.
It didn’t.
Hell, it only increased his efforts.
“I will destroy you,” the male growled.
Char clicked his tongue. “Now is that any way to get me to release you?” he mocked.
Magma grunted, the heat in the air making the stone glow red-hot. “Your magic is weakening.”
Char had no witty comeback. His magic wasn’t just weakening. It was on the verge of complete collapse.
Then, he was suddenly jerking his head to the side as he belatedly realized that the heat wasn’t just coming from Magma. There was another dragon nearby.
One who was becoming intimately familiar to him.
“Blayze,” he breathed, watching as she hurried around the curve of the corridor. He swept his gaze over her, a sharp relief twisting his heart. She looked pale and disheveled, but she was alive and seemingly unharmed. Then he felt the heavy power of Magma pressing against his magic and his relief transformed to fear. “Dammit. What are you doing here?”
She ignored the dragon who was surrounded by the shimmer of Char’s spell. Almost as if she didn’t even notice he was there. Instead, she sent Char a tight smile.
“I think I have a way for us to return to our time.”
He studied her in confusion. “How?”
She waved a hand, urging him to follow her. “Come with me.”
He frowned, struggling to accept what she was saying. He’d already resigned himself to dying in this corridor. Now she was saying she could take them home?
“What about Flynn?” he demanded, glancing over her shoulder.
She shrugged. “I killed him.”
“And the curse?”
“Gone.”
A slow smile curled his lips. He didn’t know what he loved more about this female. The fact that she could so easily kick ass, or the fact that she didn’t even realize how spectacular she was.
“Good girl,” he told her.
The dragon next to them wasn’t nearly so impressed with her splendid ability to destroy her enemies. His distorted roar rattled through the corridor, making the floor shake and dust filter from the ceiling.
“What do you want to do with him?” he asked his companion.
Her features hardened as she glanced toward Magma. She seemed to consider her options before giving a reluctant shake of her head.
“I can’t risk depleting my power,” she admitted, genuine regret threaded through her voice. “How much longer will your magic hold him?”
He grimaced. “Not more than a few minutes.”
“Long enough,” she assured him.
Frustration coiled through Char. He wanted to destroy Magma. He wanted to physically pummel the bastard for the pain he’d forced Blayze to endure.
But she was right.
He could barely stand. He certainly didn’t have the strength to kill a pureblood dragon. Even if the beast was trapped in his spell.
Still, he couldn’t resist a parting farewell to the bastard.
Leaning forward, he spoke in a low voice. “It’s possible that you will escape death today, unless Synge can figure out what’s going on before you escape,” he said. “But I promise that I will hunt you down in the future. And I will annihilate you.”
Magma released another roar, making Char smile in satisfaction. But before he could continue his smack talk, Blayze was grasping his arm and tugging him away.
“Char, let’s go,” she commanded.
He allowed himself to be pulled around the curve of the corridor. Okay, it wasn’t so much that he allowed himself to be led. He was simply incapable of doing anything but stumbling behind Blayze as he struggled to stay upright.
Th
ankfully, they didn’t seem to have far to go as she headed directly toward the ragged hole in the nearby wall.
She stepped over the rubble that filled the corridor. It looked like someone had blasted open the door with a tank. Or a large dragon had gone through it.
“Where’s Bolt?” he asked, surprised he couldn’t sense the male.
They entered the room where they’d originally arrived in the lair. His eyes widened. It looked decidedly worse for wear. The furniture that had been carefully stacked against the walls was toppled, and a few pieces were completely smashed. Plus the far wall was covered in some nasty goo. The curse?
“He disappeared.”
Char came to a startled halt. He couldn’t have heard her right. “What did you say?”
She moved to stand only inches from the wall. “He darted in front of me to protect me from the curse,” she said. As if that explained everything.
His brows drew together in confusion. “Was he hit with the spell?” he demanded.
She shook her head, walking in a circle with her hand held out in front of her.
“No. Like I said, he disappeared, before the curse reached him.”
He felt a stab of concern. Had something happened that had rattled Blayze’s senses? She was wandering around in a circle, babbling nonsense, as far as he could tell.
That would explain why she suddenly thought she could get them back home.
“Dragons don’t just disappear,” he reminded her in a gentle tone.
“Not without help,” she said, coming to a sudden halt. “Here.”
He moved toward her, intending to pull her out of the room. In a minute, maybe two, his spell holding Magma was going to fail. And when it did, all hell was going to break loose.
They needed to get back to the throne room and hope they could convince Synge to destroy the other dragon.
But even as he reached to grasp her arm, he caught an unexpected scent that lingered in the air. He frowned, sucking in a deep breath.
“It smells like…”
“What?” she demanded as his words trailed away.
It took a second for him to place the evocative odor. “Succubus,” he finally announced.
She sent him a startled glance. “Odd. They don’t have the power to create portals, do they?”
Like most demons, Char’s knowledge of succubi was extremely limited. They tended to remain hidden from the world, appearing to feed off humans before returning to their secluded nests.
“They’re a secretive species,” he said with a shrug. “I’m not sure what their powers are, beyond being capable of feeding off sexual energy.”
Blayze studied him with a searching gaze. “Hmm.”
Char blinked, not sure why she was looking at him as if he had a smudge on his face. Then he abruptly realized she thought he’d had a sampling of the succubi’s “sexual energy.”
He held up a slender hand. “I’m just telling you what I’ve heard. I don’t have any personal experience with a succubus.”
Her lips twitched as she returned her attention to a spot directly in front of her. Was she using her magic?
“Perhaps my father commanded her to try and locate me,” she said. “He couldn’t have known we traveled back in time.”
Synge? And a succubus?
This truly was madness.
He lightly touched her shoulder. “What’s going on, Blayze?”
“Someone managed to grab Bolt and suck him into…” She gave a small shrug. “Not a portal, precisely. But through a narrow split in time and space.” Her features settled into a determined expression. “I can feel the spell that she used. Which means I can grab onto the magic and take us out of here.”
There was a tingle in the air, and the speckles of color in Blayze’s pale eyes flared with power.
Char hissed in shock. “Wait, Blayze.”
The magic continued to pulse in the air as she sent him an impatient frown. “Why?”
He pointed out the obvious. “We don’t have any idea where this spell might take us.”
She glanced around the dark room, then deliberately allowed her gaze to rest on the sweat that was dripping down his face. A reminder that he was seconds from losing control of an infuriated dragon. “It’s better than here.”
“There’s no guarantee.”
She offered a sweet smile, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Trust me,” she whispered.
“Hellfire,” he muttered, the room beginning to fade away just as his knees collapsed in exhaustion.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Levet watched as a dark silhouette began to form a few feet from Vex.
Relief crashed through him. Not just that he was not going to be chopped into a pile of gravel by Styx’s big sword, but that Blayze was going to be reunited with her family.
From what he’d heard, Blayze had suffered enough.
“Bien!” he said as he rushed forward, his tail twitching with approval. Then the form solidified, and he belatedly realized that this wasn’t the pretty female dragon he’d been expecting. Instead it was a large male with long brown hair and dark eyes. Levet skidded to a halt, pointing a claw at the scowling stranger. “Eek. You are not the dragon we wanted.”
Tayla gasped, standing next to Levet. But Vex ignored both of them. Her attention was wholly focused on the male standing directly in front of her.
“Bolt?” she whispered.
The dragon’s baffled frown was swiftly replaced with something that might have been yearning as he caught sight of the succubus.
“Vex?”
The pretty demon swayed, then she tumbled forward. The dragon cursed before he was moving with blinding speed. He gracefully scooped the unconscious succubus in his arms and cradled her against his chest.
“Stop it, you overgrown lizard.” Levet gathered his magic as he moved toward the dragon. He was going to… Well, he didn’t know precisely what would happen when he released his power, but it was going to be awesome.
The male that Vex had called Bolt sent him a warning glare. “Stay back.”
“What have you done to her?” Levet demanded.
“Me?” Bolt looked horrified by the accusation. “Nothing.”
“Then give her to me.” Levet held out his arms.
The male tightened his hold on the unconscious succubus. “I will not.”
Levet stomped his foot, glaring at the dragon. “Vex is my friend.”
A sizzling heat blasted through the room as Bolt cradled Vex even tighter against his chest and shuffled backward. “No.” His eyes smoldered, an ebony flame dancing over his long robe. Really, who wore a robe anymore? Levet wrinkled his snout. Only that human dude, the one they called the Pope. “She is mine.”
Tayla grabbed the top of his wing, giving him a gentle tug backward.
“Levet. I think they know each other,” she said in a hushed voice. As if she was wary of triggering some violent response from the male.
Levet shook his head. It seemed ridiculous to think that Vex knew some random dragon that she’d plucked from midair. Then again, he’d been in this world long enough to know that fate often interfered at the oddest times.
And Vex had confessed that she had once been in love with a dragon.
Levet narrowed his gaze. “You are the one who broke her heart,” he accused.
Bolt glanced down at the female in his arms, his fierce expression melting with an aching regret.
“It was never what I wanted,” he rasped. “My father bound my life to another.”
Tayla made a sound of impatience. “None of that matters now.” She turned to send Levet a frustrated glare. “Vex clearly used her powers to locate her lover. She had no intention of bringing Blayze back to us.”
“Blayze?” the male dragon questioned. “Synge’s daughter?”
Levet jerked his attention back to Bolt. “You know her?”
The dragon gave a lift of his shoulder. “She was supposed to be my mate.
”
Levet arched his brows, glancing toward Vex who was snuggled in his arms. “Mate?”
Tayla took a step toward Bolt, her lips parted as if she’d been struck by a sudden thought. “Where did you come from?”
“Synge’s lair,” he answered without hesitation. “My father and I were there to celebrate the imminent birth of his daughter.”
“His daughter?” Tayla widened her eyes. “You mean Blayze?”
“Yes.” A strange expression tightened Bolt’s bluntly carved features. “And then a full-grown Blayze appeared.”
“Wait.” Levet held up his hand, his poor brain spinning as he tried to keep track of what the dragon was telling them. “So you were celebrating your betrothal to the unborn Blayze when the future Blayze showed up?”
Bolt offered a slow, cautious nod, his gaze darting between them and the female who he held with such obvious tenderness.
“Yes, along with her servant Char,” he said.
Tayla regarded him with a curious expression. “Did she tell you how she got there? Does she have the ability to travel through time?”
Bolt hesitated, perhaps wondering if they were friend or foe of Blayze. After all, Tayla was an imp and Levet was a gargoyle. They might very well be hunting Blayze for some nefarious purpose.
Then, seeming to sense their genuine concern, he answered. “No. She used her power to follow the curse back to the original caster.”
Levet felt a stab of appreciation. He didn’t fully understand how Blayze’s magic worked, but it was clever of her to trace the curse back in time.
“What happened to her?” Tayla demanded.
“We’d discovered that Magma was plotting to curse her,” he said.
The scent of scorched lemons filled the air, making Levet’s nose twitch. He didn’t even have to glance at Tayla to know she was pissed by the revelation.
“A dragon was responsible for hurting Blayze?” she ground out.
Bolt nodded, his own expression grim. “That was his intent.”
Levet wrinkled his snout. Dragons were often bloody in their politics, but most of them were fiercely protective of their offspring. Especially female purebloods. It would be an outrageous breach of etiquette to harm a hatchling. “Why?” he demanded.
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