I lobbed it behind us. An explosion sent a leg flying.

“Do it quickly. They won’t all work without words. Ignore those that don’t and move on. Stay alive, and the vampire will get in touch with you.” I had no idea how, but that wasn’t my problem. I hooked a thumb Darius’s way before shoving the demon away from me. “Go! Save yourself. Kill people. Do whatever you do.”

The dragon rose to the left, pumping its great wings. It turned toward the river and spewed a stream of fire. I grabbed a still, strategizing Darius and yanked him forward, pushing my way toward the edges of the crowd and waiting next to the main drag.

A few demons ran through the space, making a break for it. More joined until the place was filled with panicked creatures. I pushed Darius to the side near the wall as the dragon turned. The throb of power filled the area.

The gush of fire blistered the air as it raked down the main drag. Without overthinking it, I covered Darius and I in a protective bubble, ignoring the press of the crowd. The dragon turned, blasting those who’d made it across the clearing.

What better time to follow them?

“Let’s go.” I ran across the blackened stone of the trading area, putting distance between us and the task force. On the other side, I ran until the walls were higher and we couldn’t see the trading area, before stopping and digging into my pouch. The beat of wings, much too close, announced the dragon was doing a flyby.

Darius dragged me to the ground and moved closer to the wall with me. A demon sprinted our way, looking up as it did so. A moment later, it jerked its arms over its head and ducked. A blast of fire consumed it, the flame spreading out along the corridor and washing toward us.

I threw another protective bubble over us, realizing that my ability to do so had to be something else imparted by my father. Thanks, old man.

Something screamed up ahead as the fire burned everything in its path. My breath caught as a glimmering black body and one wing appeared above the wall just down the way, the dragon checking out its handiwork. I clutched Darius, shrinking as best I could, watching the body. Seeing a front foot, then the back. Waiting for the head to appear next.

The rush of fire sounded, but not in our corridor. The dragon was cleaning out the one next to us.

“Go, go, go!” Staying low, ignoring the scrape of the wall against my arm, I ran, stepping on or jumping over scorched remains. We turned a corner and straightened, the dragon out of sight. For now.

“Spells,” Darius said in a tight voice. He was feeling the pressure.

I grabbed a volatile spell, squeezed it, and lobbed it as hard as I could toward the dragon.

Darius threw his over the walls.

A blast of light exploded. The dragon trumpeted. Wings flapping drowned out a yell.

A pink haze ballooned up from Darius’s spell. It solidified and then burst, spraying spikes.

We took off running, staying near the wall, constantly looking up to make sure the dragon wasn’t coming our way.

Another spell went off, flashing red across the dark ceiling. Then blue. Our potential business associate was trying out his new arsenal.

That was good for us.

A demon stood in our way, cowering and blocking a small offshoot path. It was in the direction we needed to go.

“Move!” I shouted.

It stared at me, mute. Not complying.

I raked my special hellfire across its middle and kicked my way through, with Darius right behind. There was no room for cowards in this band of thieves and cutthroats. Not if we wanted to live.

That path dumped us out on another that led to the magical stairs. We were almost there.

I tried to look back for some sign of the dragon, but the walls were too high. We had to go up, though, and get out. If we stayed here, they would find us. Going back was not an option.

But if we went up, the dragon was sure to see us.

Darius ripped me around to face him. His bruising kiss fluttered my eyelashes. He stared down into my eyes and looked all the way down to my very soul. “I love you more than sunlight, Reagan Somerset, and I will see you out of this world and safely home, where I intend to kiss you every night for the rest of all eternity. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” I said fervently, clutching his wide shoulders.

His brow scrunched in determination and he nodded before stepping away. He dug into his satchel, to the bottom, and butterflies filled my stomach at the thought of the dangerous spells he stored way down where it was hard to grab.

Another roar shook my bones. People screamed. The crackling of fire sounded to the left. Shouts and yells, closer now. We were running out of time.

Darius placed three casings into his open palm before closing his satchel and digging into his backpack. He pulled out a vial of blood.

“If your mind goes hazy with this, just try to operate on your survival instincts. Don’t think, just do. You need the boost, or we’ll never make it.” He handed it over.

I upended it into my mouth as Darius stepped away, murmuring something I couldn’t hear. He crushed the casings in his palm, paused for a beat, and then threw them with all his might.

“Let’s go!” he shouted, and reached for me.

I let him hold my hand until I could yank the zip on my pouch closed. I shook out of his grasp. “Only silly girls in action movies hold hands when they are running for their lives!”

I took off toward the stairs as the ground started to shake. Something hit off my head, and for once, it wasn’t a drop of water. It was a rock.

More came down, the ceiling shedding, and a crack ran through the stone underfoot. The rock walls to our sides made a weird sort of grinding noise.

The shaking keyed up a notch, and I staggered to the side, losing my balance. Darius lurched the other way, reaching for me.

I batted his hand away as I righted. He was more graceful than me and clearly not used to falling. I, on the other hand, was an old pro. It didn’t bother me one bit.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” he yelled over the groaning.

Rocks rained down freely now, bouncing off my head and striking my shoulders and arms and feet. The crack in the ground enlarged as another started up.

An explosion knocked me to my knees, jolting the ground under me. Another pushed me forward onto my hands.

Darius pulled me up by my arm and shoved me in front of him, staggering like a drunk.

“What the hell was that spell?” I hollered as we neared two waist-high beams that denoted the base of the stairs. I grabbed Darius with air and let fire burn around my feet. Yes, I’d agreed not to use my power, but I wasn’t about to let us die. Besides, with all the chaos, who would notice? “Not even Penny has that kind of power.”

“When the natural mage surfaces, it’s usually to make money. I am unusually generous with him. It keeps him coming back. For this spell…he had help.” He looked behind us. “Go fast!”

I lifted us with air and basically flew up the steps, moving my feet like I was running, hoping no one would be the wiser.

“Hurry!” Darius shouted, his hand hitting off the air as he tried to clutch my arm.

I hazarded a glance back, because even though I was reasonably intelligent, I rarely proved it. The dragon pumped its wings, rising into the sky, not flinching as the rocks rained down. Looking straight at us.

“Oh sh—” I put everything into it, hightailing it up the stairs and hauling Darius with me.

I quickly learned that, when fear and panic were raging through me, I couldn’t levitate as quickly as I could run. At least not yet. I set us down, lined the stairs with fire so we could see, and we took two stairs at a time. The flap of wings blotted out the pounding of my feet. My muscles screamed from exertion. Darius’s heart hammered.

“Where the fuck is the fucking door, Batman?” I yelled, grinding my teeth.

The dragon’s roar assaulted my senses and shook my body. I glanced back and saw its huge talons reaching for me.

We need a miracle… Darius’s thought looped around my mind.

The claw touched my side, and the foot closed, nearly surrounding me. It wanted to capture, not kill me.

My father’s dragon was about to capture me. Did he know?

My toe hit a step and I tumbled forward. Darius grabbed my arm and yanked. The world tilted. Sucked at me.