Alyx could feel Braeden tense.
“I couldn't take out Steele,” he said. “Alyx was in danger. They held her captive. I had to bring her to safety first.”
The chimera roared. “It's important we deal with Steele. The danger is greater than you can imagine—”
“No.” Braeden’s voice carried through the cave. “I know just how dangerous he is. When I was escaping from their lair, he wounded me. It wasn't just fire. There was darkness in it.”
“Smoke and shadows,” the chimera growled. “Yes. The same thing the others sensed.”
“The darkness is still inside me. I can feel it in my chest. Sometimes, I can hear his voice.”
The shadows before them flickered rapidly. Alyx could make out the head of a lion—and then, the head of a goat, so that she blinked in surprise.
A heartbeat later, the shadows had moved again, swirling in the darkness before them.
“That is new,” the chimera hissed. “Come forward, dragon of fire. Alone. Let me look at you.”
Alyx swallowed, but nodded at Braeden to go ahead.
With her heart beating in her throat, she watched as Braeden approached the shadows, then stopped.
The strange feeling of power intensified. The shadows moved again—and then, at once, seemed to reach out for Braeden, who suddenly tensed and groaned, but held still as the chimera's power surrounded him.
Through the warm, reassuring glow of the mate bond, Alyx felt what Braeden felt. A vast, incredibly old power holding him pinned in place, searching him—and then recoiling so suddenly that Braeden groaned again and grasped his chest.
She could feel that, too. A shadow inside him, dark and cold. A place where even the light of the mate bond couldn't reach.
“You couldn't force it out, then?” Braeden asked the shadows, panting.
For the first time, there was something close to sorrow in the chimera's voice when he answered. “Even my strength isn't enough for that. To rip it out, you must defeat Steele.”
“Oh, good.” Braeden grimaced as he returned to Alyx's side. “That was the plan all along.”
“Tell me,” the chimera demanded, “was there more? This isn't the power a fire dragon should wield. This is something old and powerful and very, very dangerous. Anything you remember might help.”
“He felt off,” Braeden said, frowning. “But you knew that already. He was almost as much shadow as fire.”
“Were there others with him? Others who felt like him?”
Braeden shook his head. “The others were only his lackeys. They were weak.”
“The firebird,” Alyx added, suddenly remembering Zena, who'd helped her—and betrayed her. “Lady Zena, they called her.”
“A firebird?” the chimera boomed from the shadows, so loud that Alyx recoiled. “Impossible! There are none left. Or perhaps—”
“She seemed powerful.” Braeden wrapped his arm around Alyx to hold her close. “Old, in any case. I couldn't feel any of Steele's taint in her.”
“She seemed unhappy. Unhappy and lonely.” Alyx pressed her lips together. “I used to wonder if she was a prisoner like me—they called her a guest, but I don't think she wanted to be there.”
“But she was still their ally. And when we tried to flee, she offered to hide us—only to lead Steele right to us,” Braeden said grimly.
“Lady Zena, th
e firebird,” the chimera mused. “What a strange event. I have to think...”
Again Alyx could see the shadow of a writhing serpent's tail, then in rapid succession there followed the horns of a goat and a lion’s mane.
A heartbeat later, the end of the cave was plunged into darkness, all shadows swallowed. The strange aura of power had disappeared as well.