Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

The shift from the shadowy room to the glare of the sun had Kora off balance. She pitched forward, blinded by the light and reaching for anything to keep herself upright. There was nothing but air as she tripped and fell to her knees. She extinguished the flames and blinked against the harsh light until her eyes adjusted.

Grass cut into her bare flesh, making it itch. A hasty look told her she was alone. But where was she? Kora got to her feet and turned in a circle to see nothing but waist-high grass in every direction. No mountains, no tunnel. No Villette .

She could only stare as disbelief rolled through her. She had found her enemy and had been within feet of attack. And now she had to start over.

The difference was that Villette knew a hellhound lived.

Derek sailed down the stairs so fast his feet barely touched stone. He didn't stop when he reached the bottom and continued following Kora's scent. He was rushing down the tunnel when someone yanked him into a room.

He instinctively lashed out with magic. Something connected with his jaw, snapping his head back to smack into the wall. Derek barely noticed the pain as he focused on his attacker. He ducked when he saw a fist coming at him. Then he straightened and threw magic with both hands. The next thing he knew, Merrill had him against the wall, his forearm pressed into Derek's neck.

" We can keep fighting, or I can tell you where the woman is," Merrill stated flatly.

Derek stared into dark blue eyes and released the hold he had on Merrill's shirt. Immediately , Merrill released him.

" Fuck , you're strong," Merrill muttered. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees.

" You spoke of a woman. You saw Kora ?"

Merrill straightened and blew out a breath. " I doona know her name. I saw a woman on fire."

" That's Kora . Where is she?"

" Gone ."

Derek shook his head, but inside, he roared his denial. " She can't be dead."

" I didna say she was dead. I said she's gone."

That dimmed Derek's panic enough that he could think again. " Gone ? Gone where?"

Merrill glanced out the door and lowered his voice. " I saw her head toward the room where I found Villette the other day. I followed out of curiosity. Kora removed the armor she wore and erupted into flames. Then she walked into the room."

" And ?" Derek snapped when Merrill didn't immediately continue.

" She fell through the floor."

Just when he thought he had found her. Derek slumped against the wall and tried to drag air into his lungs that now felt as if they were being crushed. " How ?" Even as he asked the question, he knew.

" You work with Villette and you ask that?"

He shot Merrill a dark look. " Where would she send Kora ?"

" What is it you do for Villette , exactly?"

" If you don't know anything about Kora , then I don't have time to talk."

Merrill stepped in front of him and lifted his arms when Derek went to leave. " If you want to find your woman, then you need to follow her."

It was the only reasonable conclusion. There would be no hiding his choice then. And there would be repercussions.

He didn't care.

Derek strode past Merrill to follow Kora's scent to the door at the end of the hall. He stopped at the doorway, his gaze locked on Villette's body rigid with pain.

Not only didn't Kora know where she was, but she had no clothes or shoes, no coin, and no food. She couldn't remain, though. After turning in another circle, she randomly chose a direction and began walking. The sun beat down relentlessly. She thought about Derek's cuff and how useful something like that would be in her current situation.

Kora had only been walking for about ten minutes when the first roar cut through the air. She immediately dropped, her gaze frantically searching the sky for the dragon. The second roar was louder. And much closer. It shook the very ground beneath her feet. There was no hiding from the dragon. It had her scent.

The need to run thudded through her, but she didn't give in. If she died, then she would do it facing her nemesis. Kora got to her feet and let the flames erupt and cover her once more. The amethyst dragon slammed to the ground in front of her, its wings held wide. It stood on four limbs with long talons.

She tilted her head back to gaze up at the ferocious beast. It towered over her menacingly as its citrine eyes glared down at her. Its skull was narrow with amethyst crystal growths in various places over the scales. A row of horns ran down the sides of its jaw. Its nose was wide with two short, slitted nostrils. Rows of colossal teeth poked out from the sides of its mouth.

The dragon snapped its wings against its body. The edges were tattered and damaged, but it was the armor-like scales that grew on the top of the wing's primary bones that caught her attention. The scales were wide at its back and colored darker on its stomach.

The hate emanating from the fiend was palpable. Fear had controlled her for long enough.

Kora threw her arms out and screamed, " Come and get me then!"

The dragon inhaled. She waited to be doused with dragon fire. Then another earsplitting roar sounded.

Fear and rage mixed within Derek the moment he saw the dragon about to attack Kora , becoming something dark and treacherous. Something unstoppable.

Something inescapable.

He shifted and launched into the air with all the power he could muster. He saw the amethyst take in a breath and roared to announce his presence—and to warn of his intent. The amethyst dragon swung his head around just as Derek wanted, but it didn't come for him. Derek landed behind Kora , his eyes locked on the amethyst before he opened his jaws and roared.

Derek felt Kora's fear. He wanted to look at her, but he didn't dare take his eyes off his opponent. It was a good thing because the amethyst rose on his back legs and spread his wings. Derek saw the fire moving between his foe's scales and quickly shielded Kora with his wing an instant before the flames engulfed her.

The heat of the dragon fire burned his scales, leaving them scorched and stinging. He whipped his barbed tail at his rival. The amethyst bellowed as the barb imbedded in its scales. Derek then launched himself at the dragon, tackling him as they rolled away from Kora , tearing at each other with teeth and claws.

Kora had frozen in place with the arrival of the second dragon when it landed behind her. She had looked between the two as fear turned her blood to ice. The second dragon was larger than the amethyst. It had onyx scales edged with metallic silver, and its red eyes never wavered from the other dragon. Were they enemies? Or were they fighting over who would kill her?

Then the oddest thing happened. The black-and-silver one shielded her from the other's dragon fire. She was so surprised that she simply stood there in shock while the heat from the amethyst dragon's flames made sweat run down her face.

She snapped out of it when the amethyst bellowed. Before she could react, both dragons were fighting. Kora started running. Her arms pumped, and her feet slammed against the ground as she moved quicker than she had ever done before. She might have said she would stand to face her enemy, but that was before there were two of them.

A large shadow moved over her, and she looked up to find the dragons fighting in the air. Roars reverberated around her. She shifted course and kept running.

Derek yelled as teeth ripped through the scales on his shoulder. Blood gushed down his foreleg, thick and warm. He had a hold of one of the amethyst's wings with a claw as his other hand slashed at anything he could reach. His back talons got in several good strikes, too.

He pulled them higher and higher, keeping the amethyst's attention on him so Kora could get to safety. The dragon was big and old, if the scars on it were any indication. It fought with a ferociousness that stunned Derek . Then again, he had only ever fought against Bryok , and that had never been for life or death.

This was.

The amethyst sank his teeth into Derek's wounded shoulder again, adding a second injury. Derek growled in fury and latched his jaws around his foe's neck, clamping down. The dragon screamed and yanked his head back, trying to get free.

There was something different about the last roar. Kora slid to a stop and looked behind her to see the dragons in a free fall. She couldn't look away as they plummeted to the ground. They were far away, but she still felt the vibration when they crashed.

She waited, hoping both were dead. She spun and started running when she heard the fight continue.

" Why can't they just die?" she murmured.

Derek lay on his back and stared up at the blue sky as his body slowly knitted tendon, muscle, and bone back together. Each breath was agony. No part of him wasn't injured. From tail to head, even his wings. The process was usually quick, but the damage he had sustained in the battle as well as the fall had been substantial. Both of his wings were broken. One had nearly been shorn off.

The battle itself had been long and taxing. A couple of times, Derek had wondered if he would win. He had felt himself close to death several times. Derek turned his head to look at the amethyst who lay unmoving. Even when his opponent had been gravely wounded, he hadn't stopped fighting. There had been no quit in the dragon. But Derek had Kora , and that gave him the strength to keep going.

That ensured he would be victorious.

It had cost him, too. He'd lost sight of Kora . Her scent was still heavy in the air. It would be easy for him or anyone Villette sent after her to follow.

He returned to his mortal form. He needed to get up and go after Kora , but his body wasn't healed enough yet. He waited for as long as he dared before rolling onto his stomach and pushing up onto his hands and knees. Villette wouldn't take his betrayal calmly. It wasn't just Kora's life in danger now—it was his, as well.

Derek climbed to his feet and forced his feet to move. He took one step, then a second. He lifted his foot for another when he saw the amethyst's hand move. Derek didn't hesitate to shift and jump into the air before landing atop his foe. He clamped his teeth around the amethyst's jaw and ripped it out. He wouldn't move again.

This time, when Derek's human body returned, he clothed himself with magic. He looked in the direction Kora had run and fixated on a spot in the distance before he touched the cuff. He repeated that five more times before finally spotting her.

Kora ran until her body gave out. Pulling herself off the ground took energy she didn't have, but she had pushed herself too hard. Fear had a way of doing that. She was covered in sweat, her body trembling with fatigue, and her throat parched as she put one foot in front of the other.

She hadn't heard the dragons in some time. That didn't mean they weren't coming after her, though. She had nowhere to hide or go where they wouldn't find her. She was doomed. She always had been. She just hadn't known it. But even if she was going to die, that didn't mean she had to make it easy for the beasts.

Kora squinted up at the sky, looking for dragons and clouds. She would love some shade. The fact that she was still alive was shocking. She likely wouldn't be if the black-and-silver dragon hadn't protected her. Why ? She couldn't wrap her head around it doing such a thing. Kora wished she had gotten a better look at it. She had only caught a glimpse of the gleaming black scales that looked as if silver had been painted along the edges. But she thought it resembled the one who had stood over her when she battled the soldiers.

Which was ridiculous.

Or was it?

Someone had put her dead body on the top of the mountain. Could it have been a dragon?

She snorted a laugh. The heat was getting to her. Dragons didn't care about such things. They certainly wouldn't be concerned about a dead hellhound.

The moment she heard the sound of water, she rushed to it, her exhausted muscles forgotten. Kora splashed into the shallow stream. The liquid cooled her battered feet. She squatted and cupped her hands, filling them with water before bringing them to her mouth. She drank her fill and sat back with a sigh. When she looked up, her gaze snagged on Derek , who stood on the opposite shore.

" How are you here?" she asked, unsure if he was a figment of her imagination.

He walked through the water to her and helped her to her feet. He brushed her hair away from her face with his fingers. " I told you I would find you anywhere."

" There are dragons," she began.

" I saw. The amethyst is dead."

" And the other?"

He shrugged. " Not a threat."

The cold water caused Kora to shiver. She backed out of the stream. The next thing she knew, clothes covered her. She looked down at her black garments then up at Derek .

" I have magic," he said as he moved to stand before her once more. " More than what the cuff does. I should've told you."

Now he wanted to share his secrets. Kora waved his words away. " It doesn't matter. I have bigger problems. I found Villette , but when I tried to attack, I ended up here. Wherever here is. She knows what I am. She's the one who sent the dragon. You should get far from me before you're killed."

He put a finger under her chin and gently lifted until she met his gaze. " I'm not going anywhere."

" There's nowhere for me to go. The dragons will find me."

" I know of a place."

Kora was tired and emotionally drained. She needed time to collect her thoughts. Derek offered that. She was tired of being alone, tired of carrying her worry on her own. Now wasn't the time to give in to the yearning to share some of her burdens. That wasn't fair to anyone. This was her mess.

" Trust me," he urged and held out a hand.