“I can’t be for certain, but I’m guessing it means they’re gettin’ rid of evidence.” Euless’s bushy brows jacked up to his hairline. “You better hurry.”
“Oh, my gosh, okay. Thanks, Euless.” She strode away as fast as she could without drawing attention, but no one stopped her as she made her way to the elevator that would take her to the lower levels. However, when she swiped her card into the reader, it read ERROR.
“Oh no. No, no, come on,” she muttered, swiping it again with the same result.
Three more times got three more error messages, and now she was panicking. She needed to find someone with lower level clearance right freaking now. But when she turned to track down someone to help, she ran into a solid wall of muscle. Hank Butted gripped her arms. At first, she thought he was steadying her with those cold, clammy hands of his, but then he swiped his card and shoved her into the elevator with him before she could even protest.
Horrified, she backed into the opposite corner of the small space. The lights dimmed and the elevator slowed with the power that pulsed from her. Fear did that.
“Settle down, witch. I’m not going to kill you. And you’re welcome. The New IESA doesn’t like spies, and I’m getting you down to the action. That’s where you want to be…right? Front row seat to the show?”
“W-what show?”
“They’re going to kill Vyr’s crew in front of him…and then they’re going to kill Vyr. And I’m gonna love watching your face when they do it.”
The power surged and the elevator dipped so fast her stomach lurched.
“Steady, witch. I’m not the one you’re after. I’m here to witness, just like you.”
She trusted him about as far as she could throw him though, so she remained plastered to the wall as he strode out of the elevator. With a steadying breath, she followed him out, but Butte rounded on her so suddenly he blurred. And then he slammed a needle into the side of her neck as he smiled like a demon. “Gotcha.”
Riyah’s legs buckled, but he held her upright and dragged her down the hallway, singing “ding-dong, the witch is dead,” in a gravelly, off-key voice.
She was having trouble controlling her body, and her legs wouldn’t hold her weight. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you fixed up in no time,” he murmured as they reached Vyr’s lair. He swiped his card into the two entryways. And as he dragged her into the sprawling room with the scorch marks and plastic stars that had fallen all over the floor, he whispered in her ear, “I wasn’t lying when I told you I wasn’t going to kill you. Not right away at least. First, I want to give you something worse than death.”
He turned her in his arms, and there were Vyr, Nox, and Torren, looking like they’d been through ten rounds of a boxing match, on their knees, hands cuffed behind their backs.
“No,” Vyr growled through a split lip.
“Don’t worry,” Butte sang. “She made it just in time.”
“Worse than death,” she slurred.
“That’s right, Witch. I’m going to Turn you.” Without another second of warning, Butte opened his mouth and sank his teeth into the side of her neck. Pain blasted through her, the arms of the burn spreading from where his teeth pierced her skin downward. He released her just as she screamed at the fiery pain, and he said, “Now you’re one of the things that killed your dad. Enjoy the bear while you can.”
The roaring in her ears drowned out everything. Warmth trickled down the side of her neck, and time slowed to a crawl as she fell to her knees, tear-filled eyes on the Sons of Beasts. Nox and Torren were fighting the hand-cuffs, yelling something at her she couldn’t understand. And Vyr…her Vyr…was glaring behind her at Butte with the promise of death in his blue eyes. There were a dozen guards with their weapons trained on Riyah, Vyr, Nox, and Torren, but all she could hear was Butte’s laughter behind her.
Emmitt was giving an order. What order? He was jamming his finger at Vyr, and the guards aimed.
No. No, no, no, this wasn’t Vyr’s fate. Better things were coming. They had to be.
She needed fire. She needed Damon and Dark Kane. She needed Roe, Harper, and Diem to rain hell down on this place and save them, but they weren’t here. They hadn’t made it in time.
She needed dragon’s fire.
Fire.
The Red Dragon had fire.
Everyone was yelling—everyone but Vyr. He was looking right at her.
“Can you feel it?”
“Feel w-what?” she asked, tears streaming down her cheeks as she resisted curling around the pain in her middle. Something awful was growing inside of her.
“Look at me. Really look.”
She did, but Vyr was blurry. His edges were too soft, and there was a smoke-gray fog rolling from him into her.
“Take it, Riyah. Take it and get out of here. Everything is going to be okay.”
It was those last words that snapped her out of it. Mom had said that too, and it hadn’t been okay. It hadn’t. She’d lost too much, and she would be good-goddamned if she lost Vyr and his crew, too.
Red Dragon.
Fire. Fire everywhere.
And it hit her what she was supposed to do.
No more hating his reflection. No more broken mirrors. No more frozen silver eyes.
No. More. Half-life.
The New IESA owed Vyr a dragon.
Closing her eyes, she reached out with her mind, down the hallway to the lab. In through the doors, through the maze of tables, past the lab equipment and to the room they’d locked up tight. The room where they kept the dragon-in-a-syringe. Power throbbed from her skin. She was bloated with it thanks to Vyr dumping his into her. She smiled as she touched the metal canister that held Vyr’s future.
Fuck consequences.
She lifted her hand into the air and pulled with all her power. The crashing sounds were deafening, and the cavernous room shook. When she opened her eyes, Vyr was dropping guards. One by one, they were going limp, slamming against the concrete. Butte roared a challenge behind her, and Emmitt was screaming orders, but she couldn’t take her eyes from the building fury in Vyr’s face. With one last twitch of her hand, Riyah pulled a hole through the cement and steel rebar. The banged-up canister slammed onto the ground and skidded right to Vyr.
Shocked, he looked down at it. “What are you doing?” he asked.
Her body hurt so bad. Sooo bad. She was breaking from the inside out as a smattering of pops sounded. Were those her bones? Through clenched teeth, she gritted out, “I’m giving you the sky.” And then such agonizing pain rippled through her she couldn’t do more than lay there on the cold concrete and stare helplessly at the man she loved.
There was a single second of hesitation before Vyr turned to Torren and Nox. “Change now! Protect Riyah!” He twitched his fingers and the metal canister ripped away and a single syringe fell to the concrete.