“Breaking the curse,” Estelle said calmly. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“You don’t have the book. You don’t have the selkie. This is impossible.”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps we found another way.”
Alessandro felt the illusion ripple between them, convincing enough to buy time, he hoped. Every second Malachar spent here was a second Marina and Dante had to reach the lighthouse.
He could feel Marina running. Her fear pulsed against his ribs, but she wasn’t slowing down. If anything, she was running faster.
Almost there, he sent.Keep going.
“This is a trick,” Malachar snarled, advancing on them. “A distraction.”
“Is it?” Alessandro let more fire flow into the illusion, making it brighter, more convincing. “Are you willing to take that risk? If this works, you lose everything.”
The demon’s eyes narrowed. For a moment, Alessandro saw calculation behind the fury: Malachar weighing his options, trying to decide if this was real or a trap.
The hesitation bought them precious seconds.
Then Malachar smiled. Cold, cruel.
“The selkie,” he said. “She’s going for her pelt. How predictable.”
He vanished.
Alessandro’s blood went cold. Malachar was gone, and he was moving toward Marina. The demon’s presence was a cold spot in his awareness, racing across town toward the cliffs.
“MARINA!” Alessandro shouted through the bond. “HE’S COMING!”
He was already shifting as he ran. Wings burst from his back, shredding his shirt. Scales rippled across his skin. The dragon form he usually held back, controlled, contained; he let it loose now. Let it consume him in fire and fury.
“Go!” Estelle commanded. “I’ll maintain the illusion as long as I can to draw out any allies he might have watching.”
Alessandro didn’t need to be told twice. He launched himself into the storm-dark sky, wings catching the wind, fire building in his chest. The town blurred beneath him as he flew.
Hold on, he sent.I’m coming.
MARINA
She was fifty feet from the lighthouse when she felt Malachar arrive.
She could sense Alessandro closing the distance, flying hard from the town square, eating up the miles between them. The familiar ache in her skull that marked the bond’s limit was fading as he approached, the tether between them strengthening with every wingbeat. He’d be within range in moments.
The demon materialized between her and the door, his true form flickering beneath the human mask. Behind him, the lighthouse rose against the storming sky, her pelt waiting somewhere inside.
“Little seal.” His voice scraped like glass on stone. “Did you really think it would be that easy?”
Marina stopped. Her pulse hammered in her ears.
But she wasn’t running. And she wasn’t alone, not really. Alessandro’s presence burned at the edge of her awareness, drawing closer every second.
“I thought you’d be distracted,” she said. Her voice held steady. A small victory.
“I was. For about thirty seconds.” Malachar stepped toward her, and the air grew cold. “Your dragon’s illusion was impressive. But I’ve been playing this game for two centuries. I know when I’m being manipulated.”
Alessandro’s panic seared through the bond. She felt his hands clench, felt his pulse spike, felt the rage of being too far away to help.
Stay there, she sent.I can handle this.
