The girl grinned up at her mother. “See.”
For a moment, the battle paused. An Amazon was the first to recover. She hurried over and twisted the knob. That knob held.
“Gotta use the key, dummy,” Isla taunted, revealing the length of ornately carved silver in her palm.
Roux flashed over and tore the Amazon away from the door, allowing Blythe to transport her daughter there. Isla inserted the key, twisted, and removed the key. A click sounded, the knob turning on its own. Hinges creaked as the block opened, again on its own, welcoming the scent of honeysuckle and roses and revealing a bedroom Roux had seen in the Harpinian palace. A room he knew to be Blythe’s. The king-size bed was unmade, the dresser scattered with weapons. Heaps of ash filled the hearth. A portrait of Roux graced the center of the mantel, a cluster of darts embedded into both of his eyes.
A giant rock fell, barely missing the dais. Mother and daughter stumbled to the side. The Amazon wrenched free and soared through the doorway without bouncing back. Roux almost couldn’t process the feat.
The other councilmembers forgot all about their opponents and attempted to follow the Amazon through the opening. Before they could make it, he flashed inside the entrance, dragged the Amazon from the room, then herded the others backward.
“Go,” he shouted to Blythe, fighting off the enemy as the shaking worsened. “Get Isla to safety. I’ll follow you as soon as I keep the promise I made to these women.”
She looked ready to protest until a bigger rock smacked into the stands. She scooped the girl into her arms and, as he turned to the side, she zoomed past him, shooting through the opening.
Relief bathed him. His girls were safe.
The councilmembers were undeterred. They sprang forward, attempting to claw their way past him. Without Blythe and Isla to worry about, he altered the air, ensuring his foes inhaled the same poison he’d fed the combatants.
One by one, his tormentors screamed and collapsed, writhing on the floor. Wounds appeared. Blood poured.
A delightful sight indeed. “For days you did your best to harm my female. Now you will learn the error of your ways.” He unleashed his worst power, forcing their spirits to rise from their bodies. Drawing those spirits closer. Absorbing each one in his skin. What were a few more prisoners?
The other inmates recognized what was happening and screamed protests about overcrowding. He didn’t care. As if fettered by an invisible chain, the radiant spirits whisked to him and absorbed through his pores. Inside his head, he was right there to greet them with another smile before tossing them into cells. Their screams joined the chorus of noise, and satisfaction filled him.
The cavern shook with far more force, rock after rock tumbling. A serenade of roars erupted in every direction. Distinct roars Roux recognized. Dragons. Not exterminated, after all, but hiding.
The monsters in the underground.
Roux pivoted on his heel, ready to return to Harpina and—the door had vanished.
He patted the air, but it was gone. Either it had faded...or Isla had closed it. Her version of payback? No matter. Working his jaw, he flashed topside, into the sunlight to await the dragons. As the ground beneath his feet quaked and cracked, he summoned his backpack and the array of weapons inside it.
Perfect timing. The first dragon burst from the earth, flinging large clumps of dirt. With a flap of its wings, the horned, scaled creature the size of a cottage launched into the air and spewed a stream of fire. Another dragon followed suit a few yards away.
Aggression and malice prickled Roux’s skin. Focused on his goals, he withdrew a retractable spear. After he killed the fiends, he was getting off this realm. One way or another.
29
THE CULMINATION
Blythe’s eyes widened as ferocious roars filled the bedroom.What wasthat?
She stood in front of Isla with her daggers steady. She would slay anyone who came through that mystical door. Not that she believed a councilmember would get past Roux. The giant Astra blocked the entrance, his back to her. Before him, the females dropped and screamed. The cavern shook with increasing force. Dust blustered into the bedroom, tickling her nose.
“Roux!” she shouted. “Finish them and come on!” Wait. “The door. It’s fading.” She gasped. Wrong. The door was just...gone. No more roars. No more cavern or dust. Panic overtook her. She dropped the daggers and slapped at the air, searching for some remnant. Nothing. A whimper escaped. “Where did the door go, sweetheart?”
“I think I ran out of power,” Isla replied, her voice strained.
Stomach churning, heart thundering, Blythe crouched before her daughter. The darling had grown pale and trembly. “Are you all right? Were you hurt?”
“I’m okay.” Despite the hint of weakness, the little girl flipped her fall of dark hair over her shoulder, as sassy as ever. “Told you I could do it.”
“Yes, buthowdid you do it? And can you do it again after you power up?”
“’Course I can do it again.” Isla puffed up her chest. “Creating the door was as easy as I expected. The key was the only hard part. I had to design it myself, since Grandpa Bus never crafted one. But I don’t need to make another door and key, Momma. You’re home.”
“I’m not leaving the Astra behind.” Today, Blythe had made some life-changing decisions. As she’d fought the Phoenix, she’d known Roux would protect her daughter until his last breath. Then. That moment. She’d had no more hate to give, the root of bitterness in her heart withered. And when she’d proved victorious and glanced up, catching the Astra’s eye, desire for him—for a future with him—had overwhelmed her.