AERYN'S POV

Serene bounded over to me, and I grabbed her horns, hefting myself onto her neck. I pulled back and tilted her head to the opening in the ceiling, commanding, "Follow them."

A scream below captured my attention, and I glanced down to find Racquel stumble as a demon hurtled its body at Misty, sinking its talons into her shoulders. The naked Cursed demon's bones prodded against its translucent skin marked by dark veins, and both eyes were entirely black with burning red pupils as it hissed in Misty's ear. Racquel lost his hold on her, and she crashed to the floor, taking them both down together. The demon landed on Misty's back and hunched over, unhinging its jaw in an unnatural angle as it lowered its needle-like fangs to her neck.

Neither a shifter nor summoner, the demon had no semblance of humanity. It was created by the Ravos Kingdom to infect us with the Curse and damn us to a horrifying fate worse than death with its venom – and Racquel had tried to infect Zoran with the demonic substance.

Uncertainty gnawed at me. I couldn't decide whether to go after Penn or help Racquel and Misty. There was no sign of Penn or the shifter who had taken her and they could have been halfway back to Ravos by now.

Racquel dug a hand into his pocket and removed a yellow dragon scale, summoning his dragon. Rays materialized in a gaseous plume of swirling yellows and greens, and hurled a ball of gas from his mouth as he roared. Racquel scrambled to unhook the gas mask hanging from his belt as he held his breath, cheeks puffing and face turning red with the effort. His eyes watered as he dodged between his dragon's massive legs and dove after Misty. The demon on her back cracked its neck in Racquel's direction as he approached and it released a shrilling shriek, venom dripping from its fangs as it disregarded Misty. Bending its knees, the Cursed demon jumped off her back and flew at Racquel.

Rays aimed a stream of noxious gas at the demon as it soared toward his summoner.

"Racquel!" I shouted, "Catch!"

Racquel's brown eyes found mine and he raised his hand, expertly snatching the ruben dagger I tossed at him out of the air. In the same movement, he swiped the blade across the demon's throat as it burst through the cloud of gas and its talons scraped down the length of his torso, shredding his shirt and clawing the skin underneath.

Black blood spurted from the demon's neck, and it collapsed in a lifeless heap. Racquel dropped to a knee as the demon disintegrated to a puddle of its bubbling blood. Racquel's own blood streamed down his chest as the shirt flapped, but he paid it no attention as he forced himself to his feet and pulled the gas mask over Misty's face. Her eyes widened and her immediate reaction was to shove it off. Racquel placed his hands over hers on the sides of the mask and shook his head as his dragon released more gas at the demons closing in around them.

His mouth opened and he sucked in a breath as the gas washed over him, keeping his eyes on Misty for another second before he wavered a step back and collapsed, dagger slipping between his fingers as he fainted. His dragon's essence whooshed back into the dragon scale as his owner lost consciousness and failed to keep the summon present.

Serene lowered her neck to the ground, making the decision for me. I slid off and jumped over the carnage of demons spasming on the ground as the remnants of Rays' gas dissipated. Kneeling next to Racquel's fallen body, I sucked in a sharp breath as I scanned his mutilated torso. Six ragged claw marks streaked from his chest to the midsection of his abdomen and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Pressing an ear to his chest, I heard the faint beating of his heart and sighed in relief.

"Aeryn!" Misty yelled; voice muffled by the mask. "Behind you!"

I just could not catch a break.

My cheek struck the ground as a suffocating weight rammed into my back. The putrid stench of decaying flesh assaulted my nostrils as the hot, pungent breath of the demon hit my face. I recoiled under the constraint as the demon howled, rattling my eardrum with its proximity. 

The demons littered across the floor around us stilled and awoke from the temporary coma Rays' poison gas had caused. Their naked forms hauntingly rose to their feet as they formed a tight circle around me.

"You should be worshipping the ground I walk upon-" I griped as the demon pressed a hand against the base of my skull, shoving my face into the mat as it leaned forward and brought its eyes to mine.

"-not using me to wipe it," I finished, oozing sarcasm. I was a princess, but I was also the only adult Draconian in existence to not have an Insignia. I did not expect anyone to treat me as royalty, much less a Cursed demon that lacked any sort of consciousness. The crazed demon's red pupils churned as its lips spread in a terrifying grin and its forked tongue flicked my forehead.

Seething with madness, it twisted its neck until its head was upside down and its forehead was resting on the mat in front of my face. Its feet dug into my back and obstructed my airways, making it difficult to breathe. The demons around me wailed in a simultaneous uproar of unrestrained excitement as the demon on my back unhooked its jaw and filled my vision with its deadly fangs dripping with the Curse.

Enormous, white jaws lined with rows of sharp teeth appeared in front of me, clamping around the demon's head to pluck it off the ground. The weight on my back lifted and I took several greedy breaths of air as I flipped onto my back. Serene swung her neck left and right, shaking the demon as its body hung between her teeth. She released the demon, flinging it towards the ceiling as she widened her mouth, and a spark of blue ignited in the back of her throat. The demon spun, flailing its arms as its shrill cry was cut short.

Frost fire blasted the demon, incinerating the abnormal creature with the icy hot flames. I pushed to my feet and ducked beneath Serene's torso as the demon's body melted, translucent skin raining down on the demons circling us. The demons were pelted with the molten dribbles. Serene stomped on the remaining demons, crushing them beneath her feet as their black blood sprayed between her talons.

Shame washed over me at my helplessness. The adrenaline rush faded to fatigue and severe exhaustion had me leaning against Serene's leg for support. Knowing I could not keep Serene summoned in this realm for much longer without passing out, I pulled out her scale and rubbed the surface, recalling her white essence into the scale.

I stumbled as her leg dispersed into a white trail of mist and my dragon disappeared. I collapsed in a heap and pressed my hands against the floor to hold myself up as my legs folded underneath me. My chest heaved and sweat glided down my spine.

The collar of my shirt got yanked and I was lifted off the ground until my feet were dangling. Startled, I sent a blind punch over my head at the demon and wrapped a hand around its wrist at my collar.

"Now you decide to fight back?" An angry, deep voice rumbled behind me as my fist was caught and an arm fastened around my midsection, pulling my back flush against the attacker's front. The familiar scent of pine wafted around me, and I stiffened as he snapped, "You couldn't have done so before you made a run for the exit? Or when you let your friend get captured? How about when you nearly got killed by a demon?"

I craned my neck, and my eyes clashed with the intense, green-eyed gaze of Zoran Masters. The amber hue around his irises grew as he narrowed his dark brows and the muscle in his jaw jumped in irritation. A thin line of blood beaded on his cheek from a shallow cut as he shoved my hand back at me and clicked his tongue.

It felt as though frost fire was coursing through my veins. His cold words and icy regard for me made me shiver while the fiery blush staining my cheeks contradicted with the heat rising as I became conscious of every inch our bodies came into contact.

The man infuriated me to my core and my knuckles whitened as I clenched my hands, digging my fingernails into the palms of my hands.

"I'd rather take my chances with a demon than with you," I fired back.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was an insult."

"The only insult is the one you give to Draconians by calling yourself one of us," he countered, dropping me in the most demeaning fashion.

I slid down his entire front in what felt like slow motion and staggered back against him from the unexpected release.

Planting his hands on my shoulders, he steadied me and warned, "The war and those demons will wound you far worse than any jab I can ever say to you. If what I just said offended you, then you're not strong enough for the Force. Give up before you get yourself or someone else killed."

I bit my lip and ripped myself out of his hold, whipping around to face him in unrestrained anger just as a robed figure soared at Zoran's unsuspecting back with its wings curling in toward its body as it descended upon him. Zoran's eyes widened in shock as I reached in my boot and withdrew a knife, hooking my foot around his ankle as I swiped him off his feet.

Zoran hit the ground and the demon shifter's hood fell back as it landed in front of me.

"Miss me?" he asked with a cheeky grin, fangs indenting his bottom lip as the corners of his eyes crinkled. White streaked through his strawberry blonde hair and a faint red outlined his navy-blue irises.

"Bastion?" 

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