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Chapter Thirty
Rowan
My magic transports us to the forest, to the place the horned beast had taken me. I step away from Xander as soon as my feet touch the ground, my eyes scanning for signs of Ven. I will never forgive myself if she’s not okay.
“I smell fire,” Xander says a moment later.
We look at each other, bewildered, because clearly there’s no fire anywhere in sight. I raise my hand and summon the symbol again, willing it to guide us. It floats in the air, moving deeper into the woods, and we follow it. We haven’t walked a dozen steps before we come across a large boulder. The glowing symbol moves lower to the ground, and then I see it. A yawning hole at the base of the thing.
Xander and I approach it, and stare down. A curl of smoke rises from the hole. It’s impossible to know how deep it is. It could be ten feet, it could be fifty.
“Wait, Rowan, I’ll go first,” Xander says.
At that moment, a scream echoes up out of the hole. Ven.
I don’t hesitate. I jump in, feet first.
Darkness whooshes past me, and I call on my magic to shield me and slow my fall. I hit the ground a few moments later, landing on my feet with the cushion of my power to protect me. I’m in a small cavern, perhaps fifty paces across; the ceiling a couple dozen feet above my head. The cloaked man and the horned beast stand at the far end. Ven is tied to a wooden post against the back wall of the cave, a bonfire built beneath her, the flames flaring up around her feet. She lets out another scream as her skin begins to burn.
Moving on instinct, I fly across the cavern on a wave of magic, shielding Ven’s body, calling the fire to me instead of her. It comes to me gladly, sensing my kinship with the flames. Ven’s eyes widen as she sees me hovering before her. I can see myself reflected in her gaze, a thing of heat and fury, burning gold and red. My relief that we arrived in time is overwhelming. But this isn’t over yet.
There’s a roar behind me and a crash. I pivot in midair, still holding onto the fire, and I see Xander in dragon form rolling across the floor with the horned beast. They slash at each other with teeth and claws, brutal and deadly. I recall the words of the vanquishing spell in my head, and I begin to recite them out loud.
“Sun and fire, moon and stars, banish this evil, vanquish the dark.”
My magic builds within me as I speak the words, a pressure like a storm front rolling in.
“Sun and fire, moon and stars, banish this evil, vanquish the dark!”
I’m crackling with lightning now, my magic creating a cyclone of wind that spins around the cavern. A glow pours off me that’s even brighter than the fire I stand in.
“Sun and fire, moon and stars, banish this evil, vanquish the dark!” I cry a final time.
A pulse of power rockets out from me. The horned beast lets out a terrible wail, and then it bursts into a thousand points of light, as if my magic exploded it from the inside out. I watch as the last of it dissipates in the dim light of the cave. Behind me, Ven lets out a shuddering breath of relief.
The demon may be gone, but its master remains. The one who’s truly behind the murders.
Xander doesn’t waste any time. He leaps for the cloaked man, shifting forms as he goes. His hands wrap around the murderer’s throat, and he lifts him into the air above his head.
“Who are you?” he yells, shaking the walls of the cavern with his rage. “And why are you using the mark of the Nobilis Draco?”
“Because it is my mark,” the cloaked man says, half gasp and half hiss. “You would think you’d recognize one of your own, knight.”
“Show your face, coward,” Xander demands, trembling with fury.
The man reaches up and pulls back his cloak. As he does, the mist and darkness masking him vanish. Xander stares at him in confusion. And I do, too.
Because the man Xander has by the throat is Sheriff Johnson.
“I—I don’t understand,” I stammer. The sheriff of Raven’s Roost is the serial killer we’ve been hunting? It doesn’t make any sense.
“You are no member of the Nobilis Draco,” Xander says, his voice low and threatening. “I know each and every member. We fought many battles together. Brought justice to those who needed it. Protected the weak. We are family in a bond thicker than blood.”
“Then it’s a shame you don’t recognize your own family,” the sheriff says. “When was the last time you saw your brothers in arms? Perhaps you should question whether you are the loyal and honorable dragon you claim to be. Hiding here with the witches all this time.”
“Quit playing games!” Xander bellows.
I reach out a hand and send a pulse of magic at the cloaked man. “Reveal your truth,” I growl.
