The garden gives way to a sloping lawn, and the crowd spreads out. Someone calls my name behind me and to my right. Mack! She’s trapped behind a trio of three girls who keep tripping.
“No!” Ruby yells as I swerve to meet Mack.
Ignoring the enraged sprite digging her toes into my temples, I swoop next to Mack, grab her arm, and drag her around the trio.
Mack’s eyes are wide as she pumps her arms, struggling to catch up. “Summer! I thought—”
A roar splits the night. We both look to see one of the girls from the tree get taken down by a dark, hulking beast. My fear ratchets up a notch as I see how the wolfish creature tosses her around like a rag doll, too overcome with its predatory instinct to remember she’s mortal and therefore breakable.
“Lycan,” Mack hisses.
The shaggy creature is about to slip its chain around the girl’s neck when another fully shifted lycan slams into the beast. They explode into a violent brawl over the girl.
“Asher will find me,” Mack pants. “We just need to not get taken until then.”
The mist is growing thicker. The shadows are slowing, disoriented by the chaotic crush of bodies and fog. Screams pepper the air all around us as the Evermore begin picking off the stragglers.
“Ditch this herd of bumbling idiots,” Ruby orders.
I’m not sure when my drunken sprite became the de facto leader of this shitshow, but she’s right. I spot a path into the woods up ahead on the left. Grabbing Mack’s hand, I cut sideways, my bare feet pounding the lawn. Mack struggles to keep up with my pace, but I drag her along with sheer willpower.
The mist lessens inside the forest, enough that I can pick out the path. Moonlight filters down softly. The horrifying din of growls and cries fade until I can almost pretend it’s coming from some bad horror movie and not real life.
This isn’t happening. We’re not being chased by crazed half-shifted Fae and hellhounds on a Wild Hunt with chains.
That delusion gets ripped to shreds as the forest explodes behind us, followed by a howl so loud it shakes the trees.
“Faster!” Ruby orders, kicking her heels into my head.
A few other shadows followed us, and we all sprint down the trail as the hound gains on us. Branches scratch at my face and arms, brambles gouging my bare legs and tearing my dress. My bare feet slip and slide over mud and moss and rocks.
A sudden clearing opens up. A few feet in the distance, the earth gives way. A churning river burbles below the cliffs, the dark blue ribbon cutting through the canyon. The river ends abruptly . . .
A waterfall. A really high waterfall, from the loud roar of the crashing water.
“We’re trapped,” Mack pants.
Limbs crack in the woods behind us as the hound closes in. I glance around, desperate for a way to escape, and spot something dark shooting from the sky straight toward us.
Valerian! The figure’s wings flare out as he slows his descent to land. As I make out the leathery gray wings and green markings, disappointment fills me.
Not Valerian.
Pushing aside my emotions, I insert myself in front of Mack as the dragon shifter prowls toward us. I scan his face for signs his predatory nature has taken over completely.
Yellow, bestial eyes watch Mack, their pupils slit down the middle. Other than his wings, he’s managed to halt his transformation to full dragon.
“Stop right there!” I yell as the others all huddle behind me. Besides Mack and the sprite now attached to my head, three shadows—two girls and a boy—are trapped on the cliff.
Slowly, he drags his intense gaze off Mack. Recognition flares in those eerie dragon eyes—too slow for comfort, but he may be our only hope.
“You’re both coming with me,” he orders, holding his large hands out in front of him. “I’m taking you both to safety.”
“No.” I jerk my head toward the woods. “Not until you fly everyone to the other side first.”
His nostrils flare, and I see him fighting his inner dragon as his attention keeps gravitating to Mack.
Mack steps forward. “Please, Asher. Take them first and then come back for us. I swear, once we’re all safely on the other side, you can have me.”