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“I’m pretty fucking sure you aren’t fireproof.”
The demon gives me a stubborn glare and refuses to go. “You’re wounded.”
“Don’t be so goddamn noble!”
I lunge through the destroyed roof. Clay tiles break beneath my claws and tumble to the ground below. Outside, townspeople gather around the inn. They scream and point at me.
A church bell begins to ring, punctuated by shouts of, “Dragon!”
Fuck this.
I pump my wings hard and kick off from the roof. Once I’m in the air, I spot the guardsmen armed with crossbows. Bolts whistle past me and pierce my wings.
A growl rumbles from my chest. Circling back, I breathe out a rush of hottest flame. It billows along the street and sets the guardsmen ablaze. They scatter and stumble away on fire. The luckiest plunge into a fountain in the town square.
I fly higher into the sky. I’m tempted to burn Havenwold to the ground, but I can’t. Not without killing Rook, too.
Beneath my molten rage flows an undercurrent of icy dread. Have the knights captured him already? Killed him? If he dies, I will be completely alone once more, without a friend in this world.
I spiral higher over the rooftops. Below, in the town square, a strange violet glow catches my eye. Magic. Never a good sign.
A sorceress stands boldly in the middle of the square, defiant, heedless of the danger that flies overhead. Her wild black hair flies in the wind like a ragged flag. She’s holding violet magic between her hands, shaping it into an enchantment, and she’s casting it in my direction.
I’ve never fought a sorceress before, since none of them have been stupid enough to invade my cave. She must have come with the queen’s knights.
The sorceress lifts the magic to her lips as if blowing me a kiss.
Her enchantment arcs through the sky like a falling star. I fold my wings and try to dive out of the way. Too late.
Magic splashes against me and soaks me with glittering light. It’s pretty, an instant before the enchantment hits. But then a breathtaking, bone-deep cold freezes my muscles.
I plummet from the air with a scream locked in my throat. The town square rushes up to meet me.
When I fall to the ground, my head hits the cobblestones so hard my jaw clacks. I tumble across the square and skid to a halt by the fountain. The iron taste of blood fills my mouth. I must have bitten my tongue.
I struggle to lift my head. Pain throbs in my skull with every heartbeat.
The sorceress strides across the stones. “Sleep,” she murmurs.
I bare my teeth at her, but she’s fearless. She reaches between my eyes and touches me with her fingertips.
Darkness devours me.
* * *
When I wake,I regret it. Everything hurts. Groaning, I open my eyes. We’re in a forest, thick with trees and shadows.
I’m a woman, not a dragon.
Worse, I’m naked in a cage. Golden chains press into my flesh. Aellurium. One chain crisscrosses between my breasts; another loops around my throat, just shy of choking me.
God, my head hurts. The dull ache is punctuated by the agony in my hand. Even though the knight stabbed me when I was a dragon, the injury lingered after I shifted back to human form. Phantom pain throbs where the crossbow bolts shredded my wings.
Maybe I was better off unconscious.
The sorceress walks over to my cage. I slump back against the bars and wait for her to touch me again, but she weaves her fingers together. She’s pretty, in an evil sort of a way. Dark eyes and cheekbones like knives.
“Who are you?” I ask. My voice sounds rusty.
