“Kiev, could you two start gathering some others to come with us? Since we have so many dragons, I don’t think it’s necessary for more than a handful to come,” I said, as a plan began to form in my mind. “In fact, having more could be a disadvantage.”
“Very well,” Kiev said.
“I’m going to get Caleb now,” I said. “I suggest we bring at least one werewolf, and we should also bring a witch, aside from Mona, who won’t be staying with us long—perhaps Ibrahim—and then the rest could be vampires. It doesn’t matter as long as they are not humans.”
The couple nodded and we hurried down the tree, parting ways as we reached the ground.
It’s time to give those witches a taste of their own medicine…
Chapter 22: Caleb
Rose. She had become a whirlwind. Whenever there was talk of danger, her first instinct wasn’t to recoil, like most sane people. No, the first—and only—thing she thought to do was walk right into it.
Her courage was a gift, but I also feared that it would become her downfall. I couldn’t help but feel she was beginning to spin out of control.
As I sat on the steps of our cabin, waiting for her to return and explain to me whatever wild idea she’d just gotten into her head, I found myself wishing that just once, she would allow herself to rest. I had come close to losing her too many times of late. I just wanted to lock her up.
I stood up as I caught sight of her emerging from the woods at the foot of the mountain and climbing up toward me. Arriving at the cabin, she gripped my hand and pulled me inside.
“Let me talk to you while I take a shower,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
I entered the bathroom with her, waiting patiently at the door as she removed her clothes. I tensed as I laid eyes on her bare form. Her soft curves and smooth skin still made the predator within me stir, even now. I leaned back against the wall, watching as she began to soap herself down.
“I spoke to the dragons,” she said. “And I spoke to Mona. I think we should storm the black witches’ islands and try to retrieve the humans they’ve stolen.”
Truth be told, I had already expected this, so her words didn’t come as much of a surprise. I eyed her steadily as she looked toward me for a reaction.
“So?” she said. “What do you think?”
There was no denying it. I would relish every second of scorching the island that had held me prisoner for decades and been my residence during the darkest period of my life. But the thought of Rose venturing into their territory made my stomach churn.
“I think it’s a good idea,” I said. “But I don’t want you coming.”
She stopped soaping herself and stared at me.
“It pains me just thinking about it,” I said. “Even with your ability to wield fire, after everything we’ve been through, I just want there to be a few days in a row when you’re not facing mortal danger.”
Silence fell between us. She cast her eyes away from me and finished washing herself. Then she stepped out of the shower, reaching for a towel and wrapping it around her. She walked up to me, placing her arms around my waist and resting her head against my chest. I held her closer, breathing in her scent.
“I think I would drive myself out of my mind staying here while you went without me,” she said, “but, Caleb, if you don’t want me to go, I won’t.”
I was shocked by her words. I’d expected her to reply with an argument, to be adamant that there was no way she wasn’t coming. I hardly knew how to respond.
I reached for her head, looking deep into her green irises, and tried to understand what had brought about this sudden submissiveness. As the corners of her eyes moistened, I realized. Gone was even the slightest trace of the steely determination I’d grown accustomed to seeing in Rose Novak. She’d become putty in my hands.
Running my hands down her back, I pressed her against the wall. I dipped my head and closed my lips around hers. She breathed heavily, reaching her warm hands beneath my shirt and tracing her fingertips along my chest.
“I love you,” I breathed, brushing my thumbs against the sides of her mouth as I continued to taste her again and again.
She responded in a hoarse whisper, “I love you,” but she didn’t need to. She’d just shown that her love for me was strong enough to overcome her nature as a Novak. She was willing to submit to my request to not cause me unhappiness, even though it pained her in equal measure.
Perhaps I’m now the only one who can tame the ball of fire that Rose Novak has become.
Even as I looked at her, my resolve ebbed away. Although I despised the idea of her riding toward danger once again, her submission was melting me.
A battle now raging within me, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the bedroom. I sat her on the edge of the bed, gazing down at her.
She looked up at me, her expression calm, her eyes wide with surrender.
I realized then that, even in our better days, Annora had never behaved like this with me. Although I loved Annora and would have done anything for her, I could hardly remember a single instance when she had put my desires before hers.
A storm of conflicting thoughts continued to whirl in my mind. On the one hand, I just wanted to do what was best for Rose. I wanted to keep her safe. But on the other hand, now I felt guilt stabbing me for causing her unhappiness by making her stay.
I swallowed hard.
You are impossible, Rose Novak.
After several more minutes of wrangling with myself, even though I hated myself for it, the softer side of me gave in. I bent down to her level.
“Okay,” I said, taking her hands in mine. “Get dressed.”
She frowned in confusion, her lips parting.
“Come with me,” I said, even as I heaved a sigh.
“But I don’t want to cause you pain,” she said.
A smile crept across my lips. “As insane as it sounds, I’ll probably be in more pain thinking of you and your sorry face left behind in this cabin while I’m riding toward danger by myself.”
Her face lit up. Standing, she reached her arms around my neck, drawing me in for another passionate kiss before she hurried to the closet to get dressed.
Chapter 23: Rose
Caleb and I rushed to Kiev and Mona’s tree. I was glad to see that there was a small crowd already waiting for us there—consisting of my grandfather, Micah, Ibrahim, Gavin, and, to my surprise, Griffin. They stood alongside Mona and Kiev.
My grandfather looked at me with concern as I hurried up and gave him a hug. I was so sure that he wanted to request me to stay behind, but I was both relieved and surprised when he didn’t. He just kissed the top of my head.
I turned to Griffin, raising my brow. He grinned at me. “I convinced my mom to allow me to come instead of her. I’ve been a vampire long enough now that I’m used to my strengths and abilities.”
As for Micah, I wasn’t surprised that he was here. His expression was one of determination. He’d been through hell at the hands of those witches. I was sure that he had been the first wolf to step forward and volunteer to help us.
“So,” I said, looking around at each of them. “I suggest we head over to the dragons now.”
We hurried through the forest toward the Black Heights. As we ran along the tunnels and reached the first corridor where all the dragons’ apartments were, we found Jeriad along with several other dragons standing together and talking. They turned around to face us as we approached.
“Hello,” I said tentatively. “Are you ready to accompany us?”
Jeriad eyed each of us, then nodded slowly. He shot a glance at the dragon standing beside him, who walked away and began knocking on doors along the corridor.
Soon, dozens of dragons were piling out of their quarters and walking toward us in the center of the corridor. Of course, the prince was not among them. I supposed that this was not a task for royalty. Once I counted about fifty, and it appeared that no more were coming,
I pointed to the exit. We left the mountains and gathered in the clearing outside.
“You still haven’t told us where exactly you want to go,” Jeriad said.
“There are two islands not too far away from here,” I said. “Islands governed by the black witches. They have stolen a number of humans—young men and women—whom we want to try and rescue. We are hoping that at least some of them are still being held there.”
“Very well,” Jeriad said after a pause. “None of us are fond of black witches. It sounds like this task will not be a difficult one to put our hearts into.”
Without warning, the men started expanding. The eight of us backed up against the wall of the mountain to make space for the dragons as they assumed their full size. I craned my neck upward, looking for Jeriad. I spotted him about twenty feet away. Caleb and I walked straight to him. Jeriad reached out a massive hand and we climbed onto it. He lifted us upward so that we were level with his head. Caleb climbed up onto his back first, then held out a hand and pulled me up next to him. He sat behind the dragon’s neck, and I sat behind Caleb, wrapping my arms around his waist and holding on tight. The others were beginning to mount dragons too.
“You should fly in front, Jeriad,” Caleb said. “Out of all of us, I know best how to reach the island.”
As Jeriad was preparing to take flight, Mona called up to me from below. “Rose, what are we doing?”
“What?”
“It will be much faster if I just magic us all there.”
I felt like a fool for it to not have occurred to me. I was about to open my mouth to speak to Jeriad when the dragon shook his head.
“We fly there with you, or not at all,” he said.
I cast a glance down at Mona, who was looking irritated. “It would be instantaneous if you would allow me to take you there.”
Again the dragon shook his head. “No. We don’t accept that sort of assistance from witches. We will fly.”
Mona heaved a sigh, but didn’t argue back. She climbed up onto the dragon Kiev had already mounted and sat behind him.
“We’ll head to my island first,” Caleb called to everyone. “Let’s go.”
The dragons’ heavy wings beat the air and we launched into the sky with a jolt.
I already knew how fast dragons could fly. I estimated that it might only take an hour for us to reach there. Of course, it was more time than if Mona had just vanished us there. But for whatever reason, they weren’t comfortable with that.
I didn’t talk much to Caleb as we traveled. He needed to concentrate on making sure that we were all headed in the right direction. It had been a while since Caleb had visited that island. But he’d spent so many years in that dark place, I was sure that we would have no problem getting there.
It ended up taking one and a half hours before Caleb slowed all the dragons until they were just hovering in the air.
Caleb pointed directly ahead at what looked like nothing but more open sea. “Fly forward,” Caleb said to Jeriad.
The dragon began moving forward. Then he stopped, as if his head had hit against something solid.
Caleb nodded. “We have reached the boundary.”
We turned around to look at Mona. Anxiety was written on her face as she looked straight ahead. She let go of Kiev, and, levitating herself in the air, moved closer toward the boundary. She reached out her hands, laying them flat against it. She closed her eyes tight and her arms began to tremble. She uttered a chant. Five minutes passed in intense silence among the rest of us. All eyes were on Mona as she was lost in her own world, trying to crack the spell. Perhaps the strength of the boundary had increased since we had last visited. Perhaps it was so strong that even Mona couldn’t penetrate it.
But my fears were unfounded. It took ten more minutes of severe concentration on Mona’s part, but eventually her hands pushed through and she disappeared from sight. Although the island was still invisible to us, it appeared that she had broken down the protective barrier keeping people out.
She called from the other side of the boundary. “You can fly through now.”
Jeriad and all the other dragons did as she had requested. A cold blast of wind hit my face the moment we entered. This island was still covered with snow and was as frozen as ever. But whereas previously I would’ve been shivering, thanks to my recent transformation, I didn’t find the temperature disturbing. Sure, it was cold, but it wasn’t painful.
There were several submarines lined up by the port. But so far, there was nobody in sight. The dragons flew beyond the port and began to touch down in the clearing just before the thick woods started. The area wasn’t large enough for all of them, so when Jeriad landed, as soon as we climbed down from his back, he turned back into his human form. The others did the same until all of us were standing around the dark clearing.
Mona locked herself in a tight embrace with Kiev. She kissed him hard, then broke away and walked up to me.
“I’m sorry I can’t stay. Your parents are depending on me—”
“It’s not like you could do much even if we did find Rhys here,” I said, “He overpowers you now.”
She nodded, though she didn’t look any less concerned. “I’m worried about how you’re going to get to the other island without me.”
“We’ll manage,” Caleb said with confidence I didn’t feel. “We’ll have to find someone here on this island we can bend into submission.”
Mona sighed and cast one last glance at her husband before vanishing. The rest of us gathered closer together.
“Firstly,” Caleb said, “we need to try to figure out whom we are up against.” He addressed Micah. “You have the best hearing. Listen carefully, can you hear anyone up in the castle?”
Micah held his breath, his brows furrowing in concentration as he listened. He nodded slowly. “There are voices coming from there.”
“Any idea of how many?”
Micah bit his lip. “Perhaps half a dozen people. It’s hard to say from this distance. There are a number of voices overlapping each other. I can’t hear Rhys among them though, or his sister and aunt. I’d recognize their voices.”
“Okay,” Caleb said. “Then we ought to assume the worst-case scenario, that all the black witches are here.”
“Prisoners are usually kept right at the base of the castle, in the dungeons, correct?” Aiden said, addressing Caleb.
“Yes,” Caleb replied.
“Then the dragons should cause a distraction in the upper levels,” Kiev said, following their line of thought.
“You’d be able to do that, Jeriad?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“You just need to be careful not to breathe too much fire until we’ve made it safely back out of the castle,” I said. “Ibrahim will levitate up toward you to inform you once we’ve finished looking around inside.”
Jeriad nodded.
“Okay,” Caleb said. “Let’s head to the stairs.” He caught my hand and we all began running through the trees. Still falling behind Caleb’s speed, I ended up just jumping onto his back and allowing him to carry me the rest of the way.
Once we arrived at the steps leading up to the towering castle, he addressed the dragons again. “Since you object to being transported by magic, I suggest you turn back into your dragon forms now and begin flying up toward the top of the castle. Ibrahim, in the meantime you should vanish us up the steps.”
The dragons began transforming again while the rest of us huddled around Ibrahim, who vanished us all from the spot and made us appear just outside the door of the castle.
Shivers ran along my spine as I looked out at the view, my eyes traveling from the dense woods to the mountain peaks surrounding us, and then settling on the wide step beneath my feet. A rush of memories flooded my mind. I held Caleb’s hand tighter. I remembered so clearly the night I had hugged Caleb, sitting right here on the step, looking down on the dark island. That same night I had lured him into dancing with me in his room, and I’d kiss
ed him for the first time on his cheek. It seemed so long ago now, and yet it wasn’t. I remembered how he’d tried to keep me locked up in my room. I hadn’t realized at the time that he’d been trying to keep me safe.
Caleb squeezed my hand, glancing down at me as if he were experiencing the same nostalgia.
I forced my eyes back up to the sky. The horde of dragons was flying full speed toward the top of the castle.
“I don’t hear anyone until at least halfway up the castle,” Caleb said, his eyes narrowed. “Do you, Micah?”
Micah shook his head.
Caleb looked worried now. While this meant we would hopefully not bump into any of the residents, it was also chilling to realize that the humans likely weren’t on this island. Surely if they were they would be making noise.
As if reading my thoughts, Caleb said, “We should check anyway.”
I nodded, even as my heart sank into my stomach.
“They’ve started,” Griffin said. He stood several feet away from us with his father, both of them staring up at the dragons.
Billows of flames were beginning to hit the turrets. Although they were far up, I could still feel the wave of heat rushing down, touching my skin.
“Keep your ears peeled, Micah,” Caleb said. “Tell me what you hear.”
“Footsteps, moving further up the castle.”
“Then let’s go.” I urged. I looked nervously back up at the dragons. Hopefully they would heed my warning not to release too much fire just yet.
We all stepped back as Ibrahim stepped in front of the double doors and held out his palms. The doors blasted apart and we hurried inside. Goosebumps prickled my skin as I looked around the grand entrance hall—yet more memories resurfacing.
I could almost see the dark memories whirling behind Caleb’s eyes as he took in the room.
He pointed to a door on our left. “Through there,” he whispered.
Caleb led us through the door and slammed it behind us. He moved toward a trap door in the corner of the room and pulled it open. “There’s no point in us all going down. Stay here while I look.”