“We’ve taken out two of the dragons,” Steven said. “We should—”

  Heat, unbearable heat, swept over them. The entire front of the dollar store became a black inferno. ShadowFire. Another Exhalant and a supremely powerful one.

  Aria went from shivering to screaming in pain. Tessa smelled burning hair and realized it was from her. Then they were caught in a swamp of burning plastic. Just being so close to the black fire made everything melt or catch fire.

  Mouse, still an amber-colored dragon, leapt over them, curling herself around them, shielding them from the most intense portion of the blaze. She opened her mouth and breathed lightning that struck the wall of the dollar store. The electricity blasted a hole as wide as a fucking redwood. The ElectroArc lightning sizzled through the wall of the antique store as well.

  Steven and Aria went Homo Draconis—some protection from the hellish inferno. Steven plucked Tessa up with ease, cradling her against his broad, scaly chest, then bolted toward the impromptu exit, leaving the burning dollar store and bursting into Nadine’s Knick-Knacks. Mouse followed, also in her half-dragon state. Once they were through, and away from the churning blaze, Steven set Tessa down and beelined toward the shop’s rear entry.

  The only had half a heartbeat, however, before the attacks started falling once more. This time, sheets of lightning burst through the windows—first from the front then from the back—sparking off everything metal in the place and demolishing the scores of antiques lining the walls. Outside, the pearl dragon was hitting them from the rear while Judith pummeled them from the front. Son of a bitch!

  Steven just kept moving, legs churning, ducking and dodging the wild lightning, the shelves toppling over, and the glass display cases exploding like deadly fireworks. An old-timey, upright piano was hit by skeins of electricity. Piano keys and piano debris went flying.

  Steven simply barreled through the hail of ivory shrapnel, protecting his Escort from the worst of the damage, though staggering on unsteady feet from the damage. But they didn’t have time to stop. Seriously, they couldn’t afford to linger even a single second, so Tessa shoved him forward. From behind, Mouse exhaled another burst of crackling lightning, punching a hole through the other wall, creating a readymade exit. Too bad the Terror Trio were dead ahead, blocking their getaway …

  Bad news there. But there was a glimmer of good news. The trio looked as beaten and bloodied as Tessa and her friends. At least they had given as good as they got. Gideon’s chest was red with blood, one arm hanging limply at his side—her pistol work, Tessa was sure—his face blackened and burned. Kai Charon’s nose twisted to the side, and he looked like he was wearing a mask made of bits of bone and blood. Butcher was also bloodstained, hacked, and shot.

  Steven, Tessa, and Aria struck all at once. Tessa fired at Gideon to add another bullet to his collection. Steven cast a force field, and a dark square launched itself toward Kai Charon. Aria breathed fire on the Morphling.

  Mouse, taking the rear, kept their flank protected.

  Aria’s flames swept around Butcher. Half man, half boar, he cooked up like Carolina BBQ. Steven’s force field struck Kai Charon like a wall flung by a pissed-off frost giant. He was taken out of the equation, maybe permanently.

  As for Tessa’s bullet, the pink flash struck Gideon on the upper left side of his body, knocking him back. Tessa waited for a blast of Animus to hit her, but it never came. How could that bastard survive being shot in the chest? Dammit!

  No time to wonder. Most likely, she’d missed his heart.

  Tessa and her friends burst from the ruined antique store, but then, every single building in Ash Hollow had been destroyed. It wasn’t a town anymore. It was a graveyard. The Conoco and dollar store continued to burn as merrily as a pair of yuletide logs; one burned with red and yellow flames while the other was lost in a shadowy, violet blaze that was midnight personified.

  The pearl dragon came storming over, screaming, mouth open. Tessa stared down that encroaching fanged maw and didn’t blink. Not even once. She mustered what little strength she had left and threw the Slayer Blade to her left. Mouse, such an unexpected badass, anticipated the move and moved like the wind made flesh. The amber dragon morphed into a naked petite blonde and snatched the sword out of the air. With a flick of her wrist, she twirled the blade in a fanciful flourish before driving it into the heart of the pearl dragon. Mulk’s wife turned into a Japanese woman. A clearly dead Japanese woman.

  Don’t fuck with the Slayer Blade, or with an underdog who isn’t afraid to use it.

  Tessa glanced to where the Terror Trio had been. No sign of the bodies. Impossibly, they’d skedaddled.

  But the massive dark green dragon remained. Judith let loose a ferocious roar from the main street, one so powerful the ground quivered beneath Tessa’s feet.

  “I’ll take care of Judith,” Steven called out, glancing over one shoulder. “You three need to run before the Terror Trio hits us again.”

  “I’m not leaving you!” Aria spat in return.

  Tessa had to agree. “Yeah, Steven, we’re in this together.”

  “Not this time.” Steven slammed his force field spell into the middle of the alley, cutting them off. Then he took off running onto the main street, not even bothering to look back.

  Aria and Mouse transformed back into dragons. The Slayer Blade clattered to the ground.

  “What about me, guys!” Tessa yelled, cupping one hand around her mouth to be heard over the din of battle. Seriously, so not cool being left behind.

  Instead of abandoning her, however, Mouse—in her amber dragon form once more—again gave her a lift up and over Steven’s shield spell. With three sinuous steps, Mouse launched herself into the air, wings pumping as they rose. They cleared the buildings and quickly found Steven in his True Form, going toe-to-toe against Judith. They were about the same size, a black dragon and a green dragon, surrounded by fire and carnage, duking it out on the main street.

  Judith struck, but not before Tessa cast another shield spell. Steven still had his own magic barrier, so when the green dragon chomped at them, her nose smashed against the force fields, one black and one pink.

  Aria and Mouse darted in, harrying the mighty creature from either flank, tearing into Judith’s wings and back. When she turned to bite at them, Steven latched onto her exposed neck, sinking his fangs in deep.

  Which left Tessa. She took in a deep breath, leveled the remaining pistol in both hands, and took aim. It had to be a perfect shot. If she missed, there was a good chance she’d hit one of her three dragon friends. Inhale, exhale. Nice and slow. Wait for the moment. The opening. And then it happened. Judith shook Steven free and inhaled, clearly preparing to unleash another breath-based attack.

  But in doing so, Judith also arched her neck back, offering Tessa a perfect shot—one right in the kisser. Tessa lined up her sights and squeezed the trigger. The pistol kicked in her hand and pink flashed from the muzzle. The round flew true, clipping the green dragon on the chin, tearing off a good portion of her jaw just as Steven ripped out her throat. Whatever horror Judith was about to breathe on them would remain a mystery. She slumped to the ground.

  Steven, Aria, and Mouse transformed back into humans.

  Poor timing. A Lexus SUV sped up, the doors open. Before they could stop him, Butcher, back to being a snake, swept his coils around Judith and pulled her into the vehicle. With Kai Charon driving, the Terror Trio sped away, leaving twin streaks of burnt rubber on the road.

  The clouds broke at once. Sunshine streamed down.

  Tessa covered her face with a hand. Dammit. They’d been so close to taking out a major threat.

  “Ready, Aria?” Mouse asked.

  Aria winced. “This is going to hurt.”

  “Yeah,” Steven said. “But we have to do it.”

  Tessa didn’t know what they meant. Then all three of them shouted, “Magica Defensio!”

  All three sent out a wave of energy, wiping the minds of anyone still alive who might guess that Ash Hollow had been destroyed by battling dragons.

  Tessa watched in wonder as all three fell to the pavement. The barista alone was left standing.

  She sighed. Well, at least they were alive.

  FIFTEEN

  Steven woke in the back of the Orange Crush. He’d been having wild dreams about being baked in a witch’s oven—some total Hansel and Gretel shit right there. Then he knew why. The Bronco had been basted and blasted by the Conoco fire, but it was still, miraculously, running. The body was scorched, the seats smelled like a campfire, but the old girl was still puttering along. Classic American engineering at its finest.

  Steven wondered what was on his face until he grabbed it and found it to be Mouse’s arm. He was caught in a tangle of women’s arms and legs, which all belonged to Aria and Mouse. They were in the back with him, along with Tessa’s leather satchel, which held the Drokharis Grimoire. And what hard thing was he lying on? Oh, yeah, he’d taken a nap on the Slayer Blade. Ouch.

  Tessa drove. Her hair was shorter. Oh yeah, it had nearly been burned off by Judith’s ShadowFire. She seemed tired and a bit worse for the wear, but she was alive, and whatever damage had been done, he could fix given enough time and Animus.

  With a groan, Steven eased himself from under the women and crawled naked into the passenger seat.

  “You okay?” Tessa asked him, before stifling a yawn with one closed fist.

  He nodded. He was thirsty, hungry, and sore. Every inch of him ached. “Do you think we killed Judith?”

  Tessa shook her head, keeping her gaze locked on the road. “I don’t think so. After I shot her, I didn’t feel the Animus from the kill. So she’s still breathing. They were tough, Steven. I shot Gideon in the chest, and it was like I’d only thrown decaf coffee on him. We were lucky.”

  Steven shook his head. “No, not lucky. We’re tough too, Tessa. Really tough. Uh, where are you driving to?”

  “We went through Lewellen a while back. I’m just driving, waiting for you all to wake up. They ambushed us, Steven. I don’t know how, but they can find us now.”

  Steven thought about that for a minute. “Good,” he finally said, savoring the word.

  “Good?” Tessa asked, exasperated. “We just destroyed a town, and Nebraska doesn’t have that many to lose. We were nearly killed back there. Or did you not notice since you were trying to be heroic?”

  “I care about you guys,” Steven protested.

  “We’re here because of you,” Tessa shot back. “If you die, what was the point of all this? It’ll kill Aria, I can tell you that. She loves us both. Like a lot. You saw how she was back at that crappy hotel room in Ogallala. Did you see that one, womanly tear? Ms. Tough actually cried.”

  “That was over you, not me.” Steven fell silent. He wanted to keep his family safe, and that meant he had to take out anything that threatened them.

  “Why is it good that Mulk can track us?” Tessa asked.

  “If he’s tracking us, he won’t go after our families. He’ll go after us. And after killing three of his wives, you can bet he’ll come himself next time.”

  “Kinda wondering why he wasn’t there today,” Mouse said from the back seat. She lifted Aria’s arm off her with some distaste. “Ugh, women’s bodies are so … so … not for me.”

  “I’ll take your share,” Tessa offered.

  “If we live that long.” Mouse squinted, looking at the fields flashing by. The storm was gone, blown west by the continental winds. “Where in the fuck are we? And if you say Nebraska I will lose my shit.”

  “Good morning, sweetie,” Tessa said. “It’s nice that you’re so friendly when you first wake up. From there it’s all downhill.”

  Mouse flipped her the bird. She then gave Steven a long, withering look. “Listen, Prime o’ mine, if you ever try that great self-sacrifice shit again, I’ll beat your ass ten ways from Sunday. Do you get me?”

  “We all thought you gave up your life for us at the Lookout Mountain Aerie. If you can do it, so can I.”

  “Listen, Prime, I’m part of your Escort. It’s my sworn duty to sacrifice myself for you. You have the penis, after all.”

  Steven chuckled. “You’re right, Tessa. Mouse is such a doll first thing in the morning.”

  “It’s three o’clock in the afternoon, and I’m not drinking. I can be a bitch. We need to go to Liam Strider’s place. Actually, we need to call him. He won’t like it if we pull up to his Aerie with Mulk watching our every move.”

  Tessa gave Mouse her phone, and the petite blonde sent a series of texts. “He’s going to meet us in Lewellen, at a bar called the Blind Goose. We’ll need clothes. I’m not going to walk around rural Nebraska with my tits out.”

  “But you have such nice tits,” Tessa said, pouting.

  Mouse gave her another wave of her middle finger. Then the blonde put on a dress about a dozen sizes too big for her. Where they’d gotten it, Steven had no ideas. “I’m not even going to bother with a bra. Raisins are on the menu today.”

  “Raisins?” Steven wondered.

  “Her nipples,” Tessa explained. “Hey, Mouse, what happened? Where were you?”

  “Exploring Denver’s Dragonsoul underground scene. I’d made some contacts with some Ronins and some humans who hated Mulk. They helped me heal, got me some Elftears, and then when I got my head on straight, I went to Mulk at Steven’s mom’s house. I tried to make a deal with him, but no, he’s all pissed off and manly. He was never going to take me up on my offer.”

  Doubt filled Steven. “What kind of deal?”

  “I promised I’d go back to him and help him take over the Rocky Mountain Primacy if he swore to leave you alone. He said no. Hijinks ensued. Did you hire those security guys?”

  Steven nodded. “We’re getting help from Bud. Turns out, he has this whole secret identity as a poor little rich lawyer in training.”

  “That guy is brave, if stupid. I’ll never forget his whole pizza-delivery bit. He was lucky Mulk’s mercs didn’t shove that pizza up his ass.” Mouse leaned forward and kissed Steven’s cheek. “Look, I had to try and do what I could to save you. You saw what happened back in that town … they nearly tore us to bits.”

  Tessa tapped the wheel. “The news is saying that a tornado touched down and caused a fire. It seems your Mind Wipe spells did the trick.” She found a turnout and they spun around, heading back to Lewellen.

  “Good,” Mouse said. “We don’t want other Dragonsouls coming after us. Mulk is enough for now. But Steven, once we kill him, you’ll own the Great Plains Primacy. After that, I’m going to want to kill the Rocky Mountain Prime. Cassius Pine murdered my parents, and I want to return the favor.”

  The idea of lording over two Primes made Steven a tad uncomfortable. He hadn’t chosen the route of empire-building. In a sense, he hadn’t chosen anything. The whole strange situation had been thrust on him. Yet, he wasn’t going to run away, either.

  Mouse frowned at his silence. “So you don’t like the idea?”

  Aria stirred. “I told you, Steven, being a Dragonsoul means constant warfare. Mulk and his Primacy are only the beginning.”

  “Maybe that’s why Liam Strider became a Ronin,” Steven whispered. “Maybe he just got tired of all this war bullshit and wanted something different.”

  “Well,” Aria said, groaning a little as she stretched, “you can ask him. But why would anyone name their bar The Blind Goose?”

  “Isn’t life just so mysterious?” Tessa quipped.

  Steven sat back and pulled up the skill tree.

  His Animus was low, no real surprise there, but he hadn’t leveled yet. He was so close, but he’d only had one kill during the Ash Hollow fight. He remembered the satisfaction of chomping down on the throat of the brown dragon and the burst of Animus. Such a kill must’ve pushed him forward, but he wasn’t there yet. If only they knew more about how all the magic worked.

  Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of the bar. It was a big, square barn structure plastered with Bud Light signs, “Welcome Hunters!” signs, and a promise that every Sunday was Game Day, complete with pool, darts, and football on the big screen.

  Downtown Lewellen was a carbon copy of Ash Hollow, only Lewellen hadn’t been destroyed by Dragonsouls. Steven put on jeans and T-shirt, while Aria only had a red dress better suited for New York City than a small Nebraska town. They were going to create quite a stir since Mouse looked like she was wearing her obese grandmother’s hand-me-down.

  When they parked, a giant of a man stepped out of a Ford F-150 streaked with mud.

  “That’s him,” Aria said.

  Liam Strider was close to seven feet tall, with a huge blond beard and long blond hair. He was dressed in jeans, boots, and a cowboy shirt, relatively subdued, but still a blinding pattern of various shades of yellow. He moved like a panther.

  Steven got out and eyed the man.

  Liam eyeballed him right back. “Last time we met, you jumped out of a speeding car to say hello. I hope your manners have improved.”

  “And I hope we can trust you,” Steven said.

  Liam took in Tessa, Mouse, and Aria. “You can trust me. But I cannot the trust the fashion sense of your Escort. Luckily, I don’t want us to linger too long in public.” He tipped his head to Aria. “Namaste, Ms. Khat.”

  Aria put her hands in front of her. “Namaste.”

  “I can’t wait until this yoga craze is over,” Mouse said.

  “It’s only been around for a few thousand years,” Aria said. “I’m sure it will be gone by Christmas.”

  Mouse rolled her eyes. “Anyway. Thanks, Liam, for taking us in. We’re going to owe you.”

  Liam smiled. “Rhaegen Mulk wants me dead. I assure you, this is an act of self-preservation. Actually, I’m also curious to get to know the dragons that managed to deal with me so quickly and efficiently. I don’t like losing fights, and yet, I lost two—back to back no less. In the end, I might owe you for executing Edgar Vale. When I heard of his final fate as a wet spot on the pavement in downtown Denver, I must admit I opened up a bottle of Dom to celebrate the occasion.” The Ronin snapped his fingers. “Come with me. You can ride in the back of my truck since we are not going far.”