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“If it wasn’t for Bennu’s sake, believe me, I would,” she chuckled.
She gave the former djinn one more long, cool look. “Did you hear what I said about staying close?”
“Fine.” Jezebeth rested her cheek against Horatiu’s back, snuggling against him with a coy smile. “I’ll stay close, so long as you don’t drag your feet down there.”
The only one dragging will be you, witch,Tan’yi’nug bellowed before lurching into the sky.
Jezebeth gasped, her nephews roared, and Eilea smiled, clutching the horn as Tan’yi’nug displaced air with the heavy beating of his wings, flapping harder and harder until they were streaming through the sky like a rocket, the thin air compressing on her lungs and whipping her hair behind her.
They passed over the massive cobalt blue lake, the waters sparkling under the rays of the faux moon. They flew over sand dunes that gave way to mountain crags. Then they flew past the wastelands, which lead to the fiery pit, what had been considered the forbidden zone, where outcast demons tortured the damned and hunters harvested souls for the beast. She tensed when a gargoyle flew beneath them, its tattered wings barely keeping it above the flames. The gargoyles and their ilk had always been considered the outcasts. She was glad to see they still were after their role in helping the Vindictus overthrow them.
They flew higher and higher above the flames until they were encompassed by darkness. She wasn’t sure how Tan’yi’nug was able to find the portals in the sky, for Eilea couldn’t see or smell them until they were actually in one. Dragons were the only creatures able to fly between dimensions, a sixth sense enabling them to find the way.
Then the air changed, feeling so heavy, her heartrate slowed, and each breath had to be dragged out of her lungs. They’d reached a portal. Tan’yi’nug’s roar echoed around them like it was bouncing off walls, and it felt like they were soaring through soup.
I’m coming, my sons. I’m coming.
* * *
STAY BACK!Cadmus called in Phoenix’s mind. Giving her a wide berth, he shifted into demon form and circled Tigress, his palms outstretched and his magical wind whipping around his body.
Tigress was sprawled out in the sand, her body twitching as if she was having a seizure. Her hand uncurled beside her, and the crystal shard fell into the sand.
Cadmus lunged forward, kicking the crystal away from her.
Magic tickled Phoenix’s fingers.Let me heal her.
No!His bellow echoed through her skull.
But then Tigress started convulsing harder, white foam spilling from her mouth, and Phoenix refused to do nothing.
She sprinted toward her, then sucked in a scream when Cadmus knocked her back with his wind, sending her sliding into the dirt. Damon let out a wolf yelp when she barreled into his legs.
She didn’t know if she was more shocked or angry as she jumped to her feet, dusting sand off her jeans. “How dare you!” Though she wasn’t injured, her feelings sure were.
When he lifted his palms again, she ducked, snarling at her mate.
Damon snarled at his brother, too, the fur on his neck standing on end.
And to think, only a few hours before they had been tenderly making love. Now he was throwing her across the desert like a discarded doll!
“She may be contagious!” Cadmus bellowed.
Phoenix’s eyes bulged when Tigress rolled onto her side, revealing a big, red abdomen that looked like a squishy balloon. Tatiana had the same thing happen to her when she’d been infected by a jorogumo.
“She has a jorogumo bite,” she said to her mates as Cadmus continued to circle the supine feline.
Tigress stopped flopping and laid eerily still for several tense heartbeats. And then her eyes opened, glowing red and bloodshot. She let out a searing hiss, like the sound of sizzling bacon.
Gnawing her lip, she recalled what her mother had to do to heal Tatiana when she’d been bit. “We must stab her with a jorogumo fang to heal her.”
Cadmus threw up his hands. “Where are we going to get one of those?”
She pointed a shaky finger at Tigress. “From her.”
Tigress howled as her face shifted into a bulbous, grotesque thing and thick, black needles sprouted down her spine.
Cadmus lunged for the crystal that was half buried in the sand and sprinted back to her while Tigress writhed on the ground.
