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“I said, get the fuck out here.” And there he was—standing not ten feet away. I could see the glimmer of his robes.
Hell, what was I going to do now?
He swung around and then stopped, staring in my direction. A low, throaty chuckle told me the jig was up. “Well, well. There she is.” He started for me and I backed up, fumbling in my robe for the unicorn horn. It still had some energy left in it—probably enough for one big blast. If I had to, I could bring down the cavern on both of us, and I was considering doing just that. The thought of being buried under tons of rubble wasn’t all that appealing, but the thought of Hyto putting his hands on me again was even less savory.
“Leave her alone!” Smoky’s voice came from the front of the cavern and then I could see him—my eyes were adjusting. “You wanted me. You have me. Let her go and I’ll stay.”
“No!” I shouted at him, realizing he was getting ready to make a trade. “Don’t you dare! He’ll kill me after he kills you. It’s both of us or neither.”
Hyto let out a loud snort. “She’s smart for her kind. I’ll give her that. She’s also sweet. Her meat will be tender and delicate . . . or maybe I’ll keep her around to be my toy for a while. She’s very amusing when she’s in pain.” And then he lashed out. A jagged spear of ice came reaming out of his palms, aimed directly for my husband.
I screamed and thrust the horn in the air. Maybe none of us would come out of this alive, but Hyto would die. “Lady of the Land, hear me!”
The cavern shook violently and the spell Hyto had cast slid off target by a mere inch, but it was enough to give Smoky time to dodge it. Hyto let out a string of curses in what I could only imagine was dragonese. I grabbed for the wall as a low rumble began to shift through the cavern. There was a roar behind me, and I screamed again as rocks and rubble began to fall.
“Camille!” Smoky shouted at me, and I tried to make my way around Hyto, but the damned dragon caught hold of me with his hair and drew me toward him.
“You decide to play for keeps, then you take the consequences, girl.” He wrapped his hair tight around me and I screamed as he squeezed until I could barely breathe.
The shaking went on and on, and the ceiling began to cave in, stalactites crumbling to the floor from where they had hung for a thousand years. A cloud of dust began to rise and I started to cough. I could hear Smoky shouting my name, and Hyto’s horrible laughter as the world started to spin.>My stomach lurched. He was right. They were no match for Hyto. Even with Smoky, Vishana, and Shade, Delilah and Iris weren’t equipped to take him on. I turned to them.
“He’s right. Get out of the way. Now.”
“We aren’t leaving you.” Iris held firmly to her wand.
“This isn’t a question of loyalty. It’s a question of self-preservation. Move, now. And if things go wrong, run as hard as you can and hope to hell you can reach the barrow before Hyto does.” Pale as night, I turned away.
Delilah took Iris’s hand. I could feel her watching me but didn’t turn around. “Come on, Iris. Let’s move back a little. She’s right.”
Hyto stopped about twenty yards from us, and there was a sudden shifting as he began to transform. Out of a cloud of mist and snow, a white dragon—twice as large as Smoky—rose up before us. He looked like Smoky, only his skin was more white than opalescent, and his horns were far longer; the mane on his back whipped back and forth. He crouched on all fours, staring at us, and split the air with a violent chuckle.
Terror struck me through and I stood rooted to the ground. I’d thought Smoky huge when he was in dragon form, but now I realized he was still young—he wasn’t nearly the stature of his father.
Holy crap. This wasn’t going to end well. I could feel it in my bones.
Vishana turned to me. “Back away. Now. Let us have room.”
I realized she and Smoky were getting ready to change. Shade grabbed my hand and moved to drag me out of the way, but before he could, there was a rustle in the woods behind us. I heard Delilah let out a long cry. Iris, too.
Turning, I saw someone rushing forward. Someone I recognized.
Oh, no. Please, no. Please, don’t let this happen.
There, in full battle armor, with sword held high, raced Georgio. St. George, come to battle the dragon. He stared up at Hyto, his eyes wide with wonder and anger.
“You will not pass, serpent! You will not pass! Leave the winsome Lady Camille alone.”
“No! Shade, help him.” I pushed Shade away from me and simultaneously yanked the unicorn horn out of my pocket, aiming it at Hyto. The winds had not worked, but he was on the ground now.
Hyto was eyeing St. George with the look of a kid eyeing a Popsicle. His long neck coiled and—
Lady of the Land, take him down!
There was a roar as the ground began to shake and the snow fell from the branches of the trees to land with a plop on the ground. A low rumble filled the area as an earthquake echoed through the valley. The ground shifted in tortuous bends, like the waves off the ocean whipped up by a gale.
Below us, on the slope, I could hear the roar of an avalanche, and I prayed no one else had been coming up the mountain. Hyto shifted from side to side, dancing as nimbly as a dragon could dance, to keep his balance as the ground rocked back and forth.
Shade raced forward, grabbing Georgio before he could take on the dragon of his dreams, and practically flew with him to where Delilah and Iris waited. I glanced back, making sure that Georgio was safe. He seemed to have fainted, which was probably for the best. The last thing we needed was his interference.
