Chapter Thirty-Six

Levi

S ave the sovereign? Stop Malakai?

Who am I?

The idea of saving her was beyond foreign. For years, I'd plotted overthrowing her, doing everything I could to make it happen. That included spending several years among the humans, researching how they went about it. I'd met Sarah while doing just that.

Now, my wings beat with frenzied energy to get me to the palace as fast as possible, to try to do the exact opposite thing!

It would have boggled my mind as a plain impossibility in the past. Not anymore. Not after witnessing the changes in Malakai. No, not changes. That was who he was and had been for longer than I was able to accept at the moment. The only change was him finally letting me see the real him. Not the man I'd called my best friend. That man was gone. If he'd ever existed in the first place.

The fire in my stomach was nothing like the burn of shame washing over me. How easily I'd been tricked, duped by someone I trusted implicitly. Tricked and used . All to be discarded as his mad power grab came to a head.

Well, no more. I was done with that, done being his patsy. Done helping a maniac.

My wings beat a little harder, driving us even faster toward the palace's spires. They thrust up from the side of the mountain like the fingers of a giant, reaching for a sky they couldn't quite touch.

"No matter what, today will be her last day on that particular throne."

"What was that?" Sarah called. "I couldn't hear it."

I didn't intend to say it out loud, but I did now, repeating the phrase.

"Malakai's words," she said.

"Yes. I can't get them out of my head."

"Why not?"

"Think about it," I said. "It's an interesting choice of words. Why did he use the words ‘that particular throne'? What other throne would she sit upon? There's only one dragon throne, and I seriously doubt any of the European royalty are just going to scooch over and let her in, right?"

Sarah snorted. "‘Scooch' over is not phrase I think royals of any location are familiar with when it comes to their thrones."

"Exactly."

"What if he wasn't referring to it symbolically?"

She was smart. Another reason I loved her. "That's what I was thinking. He means the actual chair she uses."

"He's going to destroy it."

"My guess would be he intends to blow it up. Ideally with her on it."

"Why do you think that?" Sarah asked.

"Because today is the first day of the new session of the Council after the Summer Solstice. Which is when she will sit on her throne and call them to assembly. What better time to blow the current ruler to smithereens and announce you're taking over? There'll be no question that she's dead, and if I know Malakai, the other seats are probably wired in some fashion as well."

"They're in the same room? The throne and the Council meeting, I mean?"

"Yes. They bring in tables and set them up. Which means Malakai has an in with several people on her staff. People high enough up who can swap the chairs or bring in the explosives. I don't know. It's going to get ugly."

"Coups always do," Sarah concurred. "But, Levi, I don't think he's going to threaten the Council."

"What do you mean?"

"I think he's going to blow them all up. The sovereign is a royal. Does she sit first?"

"Yes."

"Five-second timer then. She sits. It starts. The others sit. Boom, they're all gone. No more sovereign. No more council. No cohesive body to oppose him. It'll be undisputed. Especially if he has enough muscle to back it up."

"He will," I muttered. "He's probably busy taking out the palace guard right now. They won't suspect a coup. It's never been tried before. He'll be able to get far too close to them."

"Fly faster," Sarah urged. "Much faster."

Not wasting energy on words, I did just that.

We came screaming down at the palace like a peregrine falcon diving after its prey.

"Hang on!" I hollered. "This will be rough!"

The roof was still manned by guards, and at my approach, a pair of them shifted into their dragon forms, the orange and black of their scales indicating they were of royal blood.

My claws dug deep into the roof, scratching furrows behind me as I skidded to a halt, while the pair of guardians rose high, wings spread, inhaling dangerously.

"Wait!" I shouted, snapping out a wing for Sarah to scramble down from. "We're here to help!"

The dragons paused. "Help?" the one on the left asked suspiciously.

I took on my human form, my body shrinking and changing in the blink of an eye.

"She's in trouble. Someone is trying to kill her!"

"Kill her? Explain yourself."

"There's no time," I said, gesturing to the stairs that led deeper into the palace. "You have to prevent her from sitting on her throne."

"She's already our leader."

"Not that ! Literally sitting down. I think someone has wired it as a bomb. Come on. We have to stop her!"

The guards looked at me warily.

"Come with me," one of the orange and black dragons said, returning to his human form. "All of you. Let's go."

The six guards grouped up around us as we entered the palace, moving at a run. Sarah carried Jakub at her side, easily hefting his small form.

"Who's threatening her? Why do you suspect this? How have we not heard any of this?" the lead guard asked as we hurried along.

"People on the inside," I said, still catching my breath from the crazy flight over. "It has to be. I don't know how else it could be."

"Who?"

"His name is Malakai. He's the head of an anti-sovereign group who wants to dispose of her. They—"

We reached an intersection, and figures jumped at us from each side. Dressed all in black and deep royal blue, they struggled to overwhelm the palace guards, using surprise ruthlessly.

"Come on!" I shouted at Sarah, guiding her through the chaos. "We can't stop."

"Were those Malakai's men?" she asked as we escaped the combat and ran on down the halls toward the throne room.

"Yes," I said. "I recognize the uniforms. Which means they're already inside the palace. We have to be careful."

The shouts from behind lessened and then vanished entirely as I guided us around several corners, all of which were thankfully empty. We were close to the throne room now. Just one stairwell and a corner to go before we reached the side doors. I'd chosen them instead of the main entrance, hoping Malakai would leave them less guarded.

I slowed as we approached the broad staircase that led down a level. Its wide steps curved down to the right and out of sight, preventing anyone at the top from seeing the bottom. It also was perfectly smooth-walled. No decorations, just a hollow tube, perfect for channeling flame. One of the hidden defensive measures of the palace.

It would be very easy for anyone down below to burn me alive while I tried to descend, catching me in a wave of flame I couldn't avoid. Which meant there was only one way for me to go.

"Wait until I give the all-clear," I whispered, ushering Sarah and Jakub off to one side, hidden behind a statue of one of our earliest sovereigns, the cool marble more than enough to keep them safe.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked as I backed up down the hallway we'd come from.

"Slow won't work," I said simply before taking off at a run.

Straight for the stairs. I reached them at full speed and kept going. My feet found the corner where the wall met the stair, and I rocketed down the spiral at a forty-five-degree angle, barely slowing.

Even so, my presence was noted by whoever was below. A gust of fire greeted me an instant before I slammed into the navy-blue uniformed traitor. I knew the impact was coming and thrust an elbow up and into his neck. Bone snapped, and the body went limp as I rode it to the floor, bouncing off and into a crouch as I slid down the shiny tile floor, looking back the way I'd come.

The other guard was already coming at me, inhaling deep to breathe fire. I dodged it and leaped for him, spitting a fireball at his face. It wasn't enough to kill or even badly hurt. Rather, it was an instinctive reaction when something comes at your face.

He ducked and blocked the fire. And while it might have missed him, I didn't. We went down in a pile, and I didn't hold back. It was a life-or-death fight. My fingers found his balls, and I made a fist with all the force I could muster.

His scream was cut off as my shoulder clipped his jaw, snapping it closed. It popped back open as the guard reeled woozily, and I yanked it down farther, unhinging it, and then breathed dragonfire down his throat. Flesh melted and sizzled, and the guard died as I melted his insides.

"All clear," I called. "But it's not pretty."

"Understood," Sarah replied as they came down to join me.

Even she kept her eyes averted, but I saw her nose curl upward in disgust. I couldn't blame her. The smell of burned flesh was anything but pleasant.

There was no time to waste, however, and I charged straight through the thick metal door, bending it in the process as it screeched in protest before swinging open, leaving a long thick scratch in the immaculate tile.

"DON'T SIT DOWN!" I bellowed, lifting a hand.