Page 97

Judging.

RADA

“Lex,” I whispered, pressing my hands to what I’d assumed was a boulder. But it was smooth and oblong, and almost exactly as long as my best friend had been tall. “Is he alive?”

Someone dropped to his knees beside me. “Yes. At least, he was when Edan exploded the mountain to bring him into the moonlight.”

“Serak?”

“For now,” he said grimly. His nails were shaped into talons, and his eyes had slitted pupils. Edan was still there, listening. Watching. “There was a hole before. Somehow it sealed up.” He shifted his grip, his muscles bulging as he tried to tear open the rock. “Alexios only needs to be exposed to moonlight, or so Edan thinks. Damnit!” One of his claws had split, and the curse had more than a hint of Edan’s bass rumble.

But the way he blew a frustrated breath out and kept trying was all Serak. I stared at him for a moment, taking in all the other changes from the last time I’d seen him.

“Huh.”

A furrow creased his brow. His deep blue eyes flashed as I kept staring. “What?”

“Edan must be vain as all hell,” I said at last, waving at his naked body. “You didn’t look like this before.” Serak’s hair had grown back, but now the strands were a mixture of mahogany, gold, and the orange-red of a crackling fire. The rest of him was just as altered. I tried not to stare at the tightly corded muscles of his arms, the smooth, hard planes of his chest and stomach, the bronzed flesh of his thighs, bent beneath him… and the ridiculously thick cock hanging between them.

I twisted my head to see Goran standing on his feet, supported by Lachlan and Kellin on either side. “Help me get him out of this damned coffin.”

“I’ll try, but the stone is strong,” Goran replied once they’d settled around me. “Edan failed to remove more than a small section.”

“Where did this material come from?” Lusca murmured. He’d moved down by the narrower end and ran his hands over it. “I can’t feel him inside.”

Kellin grunted, working with his knife at the bottom. The blade bent like a leaf when he tried a new angle. “This can’t be stone. It’s too hard.”

I didn’t speak, but handed him one of the extra blades I carried.

Goran answered, “It seems the Goddess created a shield to protect Alexios when he fell. Edan said Her power mixed with the molten stone somehow. There was a hole before, which would be fucking useful now.” I handed him another knife, then ran my hands over the surface, looking for a crack.

Serak spoke while Goran worked. “I’ve been feeding him enough to keep him alive for the past”—he glanced at the full moon—“ten days or so. We were alone inside what’s left of the Alldyns Vug, until Goran came down and found us.”

“Feeding him what?”

Goran’s knife broke in half, and he threw the pieces on the ground in quiet frustration. “Fruit, mainly. Frol brought food to the only opening in the whole damned ant mound. I wasn’t sure which priest he claimed to be feeding, but I took a chance it was Alexios.” He laid a hand on the stone beside mine. “He was alive when I got down there. I don’t think I’ll ever want to crawl through caverns again, though.” He shuddered. I kissed him for a long moment, relief filling me as his mate mark pulsed with pleasure instead of pain.

“Why’d you come back here, you big idiot?”

“You asked me to, ma bohinya. You said to help Lex, back on Menthera. I told you I’d always follow your orders. You’re my Warqueen.” He pressed his lips to my forehead, and I felt a little of my fear subside.

“Serak, tell Edan next time he’s thinking about blowing up half the island, stop and count to three. Maybe give the people around a minute to get clear.”

“You know he’s still listening,” Serak hissed. Or I thought it was Serak.

“I’m just saying it might be time for an old dragon to learn some tricks, if he wants to turn over a new scale.”

Skadi choked off a laugh. He was using some of his ice power on the opposite side to freeze a small part of the stone, with no luck. Kellin and Lachlan sat side by side, holding each other up. I held my hand out to Skadi, who handed me another knife. Within seconds, the blade broke with a dull twang.

Skadi gave me one more. “Last one, little spy.”

I took a moment to look at all my mates. They were paler than they should be. Weaker. All of them.

When the third knife broke in my hand, I cursed. “My dagger,” I demanded.

“No,” Serak whispered.

“We’ve tried everything else.”