Their panic only fueled Lexi’s as anotherbeam crashed to the ground. She coughed as the thickening smokeburned her throat and lungs. Varo and Maverick closed the opendoors before either of them could return to their stalls.
“We have to go!” Orin shouted.
He grasped Lexi’s hand and started pullingher toward the portal. For once, her father agreed with him as hetook her elbow and rushed her forward.
“No!” she yelled. “I can withstand theflames. You go! I’ll get them out of here!”
Sahira and Kaylia stood in the doorway of thefeed room. Shade remained nestled in Sahira’s arms; his tailtwitched as he watched them.
Kaylia broke away, and jogging over to themain door, she grasped it. If she opened that door, the horsesmight run out. Right now, they were avoiding the portal as the heatof the fire increased.
Lexi could barely see more than a few feet infront of her as she tore her arms away from Orin and her dad.Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she whistled for the horses.Cricket turned toward her, but Darby was too terrified toreact.
“Open the door!” Lexi shouted.
She sprinted toward Kaylia. It was her lasthope of getting the animals to safety. Theyhadto take it.She couldn’t stand to watch them burn in this barn or to abandonthem to the fire.
“Get in the portal!” she shouted at Sahira asshe ran past her aunt.
“Lexi, no!” Sahira shouted after her, butLexi didn’t stop as Cricket’s hoofbeats followed her down theshedrow.
Drawn by the sound and movement of hisfriend, Darby fell in behind Cricket. When Kaylia pulled the dooropen, Lexi skidded to a halt as she inhaled gulps of the fresh airbeyond.
Darby and Cricket shot out the door, drawingthe attention of the Lord’s men. Many of them turned toward her,some of them shouted and pointed, and then a green dragon soaredinto view.
A burst of dragon fire seared the earth as itcame straight at her.
CHAPTER 65
None of the stable boys were present whenCole, Brokk, and Niall entered the barn. They’d probably all gonescrambling for their parents the second the dragons arrived, or atleast he hoped they had.
The three of them opened the stall doors asthey ran through the stables. Most of the horses wandered out ontheir own, but they pulled a few of the more frightened ones fromtheir stalls and sent them running for the doors.
When they finished, Brokk opened a portal tothe prison realm and sent his horse, Aspri, through while Cole ledTorigon to it. He patted Torigon on the back before sending thehorse through.
Cole was about to open a portal to Underhillwhen dozens of the Lord’s guards poured into the stable as shadowsswept across the ceiling, coming toward him. He didn’t have timefor these assholes.
Either the men hadn’t been in the ballroom tosee what happened, or they mistakenly believed they could get toCole and the others before he destroyed them. As he drew theshadows toward him, their power swelled inside, and their darknessseeped in to touch his soul.
That touch spread out to corrupt his soul,but he didn’t care. He welcomed their power and wrath because itfueledhispower and wrath. The more he drew on them, themore like them he became, and he was starting tolikeit.
The shadows gave him the ability to take downhis enemies, and he gave them blood. It was a good, symbioticrelationship.
A part of him knew they were corrupting him,but he welcomed the corruption.
When he unleashed the shadows on the guards,he smiled at their screams and tasted their blood in the air beforehe turned back to his brother and Niall.
Niall looked on in horror while an almostresolved look had settled over Brokk’s face. He ignored both ofthem as he opened the portal to Underhill.
“Go,” Cole commanded.
Niall closed his mouth, and with a glanceback at the men, whose screams were fading, he walked into theportal; Brokk followed.
Cole watched as the guards fell silent. Whenthe shadows pulled back to reveal the destruction they’d wrought,he smiled.
***
Lunging to the side, Lexi yanked the dooraway from Kaylia, but the flame hit her before she could get itclosed. It blew her hair back and scorched her dress.
