Chapter 36

Kaelan

Ireleased Seraphine. She plummeted toward the ground with a scream, but two monsters unfurled their wings and soared up into the sky and snagged her from the air before she could smash into the brutal terrain surrounding Caer Far.

Pity.

The ground might be nothing but poisoned earth and rock now, but it still could serve a purpose if Seraphine was broken open on it.

So the monsters were hers indeed, and I had brought them down upon Caer Far. Would Thorne have sent me here if he had known what would happen?

I landed in front of Caer Far, between the castle and the monsters, snarling. The open mouths and wide eyes of monsters flashed past me as they turned frantically, trying to stream around me; one took to the air above me and I snatched it out of the ground, ending its miserable life as my jaws crunched around it.

Wave after wave of monsters crashed into me.

And I fought.

The monsters’ teeth glanced off my scales before I ripped through throats.

Tiny, crawling monsters wormed up under my scales and I let out a roar of pain as they bit into me. Their venom burnt through my blood like fire.

I whirled, knowing there was no escaping them, channeling my pain into my fury as I fought.

There were so many of them, an endless wave no matter how many I killed. I ripped at their throats as they overwhelmed me with sheer numbers, crawling over me. I froze them, shaking my head, hurling their stiff bodies off my face.

Poison was pumping through my veins.

I was going to die here, holding back the monsters from Caer Far.

I let out a roar as more of their bodies buried me once more, burying my voice.

Then the monsters parted.

“I can call them off, Kaelan.” It was Seraphine’s syrupy-sweet voice.

Then the monsters were falling away.

For a second, relief swept through me.

And Seraphine loomed over me, smiling her wicked smile.

“You will be the one who destroys everything you love, Kaelan,” she promised me. “And it is going to bring me so much joy to see you tear them apart.”