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Every one of Caro’s senses heightened while she scanned the room the team had entered. The space had been configured to look like a call center if the cube set up with a small desk, chair, computer, and headset were to be believed.
Charl and Ryn swept right down the aisle followed by Hayden, with spells primed in her hands. Miren and Caro stopped at the far side of a transecting walkway, intent on the vast area yet unsearched.
Prickles started at the back of her neck, something she’d learned when she was human meant trouble. Her gaze darted around the area and detected nothing. Her instincts screamedBehind.
She pivoted, bringing her weapon with her. A swirling black circle at the corner of the ceiling hovered over the door where the team made entry. Adrenaline singed a path through her veins as gray smoke joined the mass in an ominous whirlpool.
“Threat,” she said to alert the team while she fired two rounds into the cloud. A roar vibrated her body as if the sound could jar loose her fangs. If the howl came after her shots, she hadn’t stopped whatever lurked inside. Yet.
Another thirteen rounds in succession from her weapon joined those the other three sent into the black hole growing at an alarming pace. “Cover.” She took a knee, thumbed her magazine release to allow the empty metal to hit the floor, then reinserted a fresh one she’d retrieved from a carrier at her waist. She stayed kneeling and while she brought her loaded pistol back to the target, a ball of energy zipped from Caro’s left.Yes.Hayden had joined the fight.
The ball disappeared into the hole—correction—the vortex. Another and another joined the same trajectory, all as spelled bullets zipped in like furious murder hornets. Another roar shook every atom in Caro’s body, and she fought the urge to cover her ears. What in the hell was in there? And where in the hellwas‘there?’
She glanced at Ryn, whose lips formed a word indiscernible in the all-encompassing sound. Before she could process, a jet of blue-white-yellow flame jetted from the hole, sweeping the floor in a deadly arc.
Dragon.
Did dragons exist? Or was it a dragon shifter? Trepidation welled in her gut. Caro leapt back from the burning cubicles, joining her team in retreat as the hole continued to widen, now almost spanning from floor to ceiling. Dammit. According to Mel’s spec list, spelled bullets would bounce off a dragon’s armor plating, but she’d said they were so rare, Caro shouldn’t worry about it. Uh huh. Not so rare after all. Caro stopped pulling the trigger. No use wasting ammo.
Water from overhead sprinklers rained down on them. Good. Maybe the suppression equipment could keep the fire from spreading.
“Close the vortex,” she shouted at the elf, while she ducked behind one of the fabric-covered cube walls, like that would stop a dragon’s flame. Jenkins’s tactics were brilliant. There was one way to kill a demon or vampire, taking out their heart. Didn’t mean they couldn’t burn and become incapacitated long enough to be easily killed. Unfortunately, immolation by dragon fire worked to burn a Sanguisian to a crisp. Purpose cemented in her gut. She wasn’t ready to die a second time.
Charl took a position behind a bump-out in the wall and pounded twice with his fist. When no hole in the drywall occurred for an escape hatch, his features grew grim. Dragons could kill elves too. “I can’t close the vortex because I didn’t create it. I’d call my own to get us out if possible, but something’s dampening my power.”
Dammit. Jenkins had thought of everything. Another jet burst forth, forcing her and the team to fall back further.
“Hayden?” Ryn yelled.
The sorcerer hustled with them to the next aisle of cubes, spells bouncing off the walls with zero effect. “I can’t close the vortex, and until the damn thing emerges, I can’t target the eyes. Can’t make a personal vortex since I’m not a mage. Can’t break through the walls. The forcefield at the door is now working against us to keep us in. No contact with operations. Someone’s spelled this room.”
Translation—they were trapped. Caro’s mouth dried. The dragon could shoot fire at them indiscriminately and probably burn the damn building down with them inside. If blood victims were here, they’d die too.
“No doors?”
Miren, who stood tall enough to see over the cubicles, said, “None other than the one we entered.” Which had disappeared behind the vortex containing the dragon inside.
If only they could get the monster to come out. All their spelled bullets wouldn’t make the damn thing emerge. How could…
Duh. The C-4.
She hastily slid the pack from her shoulders.
Ryn dropped to a knee next to her. “What are you doing?”
“The explosive.” She grasped the tabs and opened the zipper to the back compartment.
“I’ve never heard of anyone trying to blow up a dragon.”
Her fingers worked at the straps holding the components secure, removing one of the bricks. “I don’t think the dragon will be killed, but maybe we can coax it out to give Hayden a chance.”
Ryn glanced around the group. “Anyone have a better idea?”
The beast on the other side of the vortex interrupted the chorus of ‘nos’ with another flaming attack. Caro and the team retreated once more.
While she unsheathed her knife, she said, “Tell me if we have to move. I’m going to be concentrating on putting these together.” She couldn’t wait for an acknowledgement. The dragon’s roars and the acrid smoke’s tang receded. She cut the plastic explosive into two equal pieces, then placed a detonator in each. Batteries went into each of the timers, then she twisted the wires to the detonators. Almost done. Now to set—
“We need to move.”
