Now Ere, the Black Dragon, one of the most powerful beings in the universe, was on a loss-fueled rampage. Ben was certain of it.
Another roar shook the very foundations of the skyscraper, as if they were in the middle of a category seven earthquake. The walls of the corridors started to fissure and crack. Dust rained from the ceilings.
The thundering boom was both primitively animal and profoundly human. An agonized hopeless combination of the two.
It made goosebumps break out all over Ben’s flesh. Made his blood run cold and drain from the surface of his skin.
What would the most powerful dragon in the universe do if his Mate was gone?
Ere had always been a barely balanced combination of Darkness and Light. And now, all Ben felt, all he heard in that anguished cry, was pure, unmitigated darkness.
Ben staggered across the shaking, uneven floors and stumbled toward Tal and Ishtar’s apartment, which used to be the central atrium for the base, containing a private spiral staircase that led to a rooftop garden.
He wasn’t the only one with the idea. Half of the Elite warriors quickly rounded up the injured, while the other half ran with weapons drawn toward the apartment. Ben could see the blinking red light on the invisible schematics of the Shield that now lit up on the walls of the corridors as inhabitants were guided to evacuate.
He was up there; he had to be.
Erebu.
Ere.
The Black Dragon.
Chapter One
“First came the Cosmos, then the Gods. Their untamed powers manifested in magical beings—the first Beasts of Air, Water and Earth; Raptors, Serpents and Feline Predators. Then came the strongest of all: Dragons. Who combined the magic of Beasts and Elements and rose to defeat the Gods themselves, only to disappear from the Universe to usher in a new Age. The Age of the Dark Ones…”
—From the lost oral histories of the Zodiac Scrolls
“Don’t! Wait!”
Ben shouted the command before he had fully scrambled onto the rooftop terrace. His legs were shaking. His whole body seemed to rattle like a beat-up old truck. Or perhaps it was the ground beneath him that shook.
Didn’t matter. He had to get closer.
Gritting his teeth, he staggered like a drunken man navigating the planks of a ship tossed at sea toward the gathered constituents of the Shield.
Who surrounded Ere in his half-form—gigantic bat-like black wings spread behind him, hands and feet turned into claws, chest bare, pants still on, but shredded in several places, as if his muscles were on the verge of transforming fully and bursting free of their confinement.
Ere’s long black hair waved around him as if he was standing in his own wind tunnel. Sharp, Dark One fangs glinted in the night as his face twisted in a savage snarl.
But it was his blood-filled glowing red eyes that Ben couldn’t look away from. Twin tracks of blood tears slid down his sharp, pale cheeks, made even sharper by the haunted, hopeless fury in his expression.
The gathered Pure warriors weren’t doing anything to Ere—yet. They merely surrounded him as he balanced on the edge of the terrace wall.
There were the Elite warriors Valerius, Dalair and Cloud. Ben’s adopted parents, Inanna and Gabriel were present as well, along with the General, Tal-Telal, and his Mate Ishtar, Ben’s grandparents. Sophia stood next to Dalair, face pale, eyes wide, one hand outstretched toward Ere, as if she wanted to grab hold of him and bring him back into the fold.
Most of thefighterswere here, which was why Ben had blurted the words in desperation. Ere was on a hair trigger, he could see. Even if the warriors didn’t do anything, their crowding of a hopeless, desperate, half-crazed dragon could very well push Ere (metaphorically and literally) over the edge.
“Ben…”
It might have been Sophia who spoke to him; it might have been Inanna. He ignored it, his attention solely focused on the savage creature before him, balanced precariously on the wall.
He pushed past the others and got within two feet of the wall before Ere shifted a couple inches back, half of his feet balancing off the edge.
“Okay,” Ben said softly, holding up his hands, palms toward Ere.
“No need to step off the ledge. I mean, you can if you want, I suppose, since you have those big fucking wings. But I’d rather you didn’t. I’d rather you stay put. Stay here.”