She turned. Lightning exploded out of her mouth and fried an incoming ninja. The skeins of electricity added to Tessa’s pink light. The ninjas fell back at the onslaught.

  The Dragonskins were momentarily distracted, and Steven exploited the opening. He charged forward, legs pumping, then leapt with a grunt, aiming at where the kusarigama’s chain disappeared into the foliage.

  Bull’s-eye. He hit the Japanese woman like a freight train, and his weight and momentum drove her to the ground. She thrashed, frantically trying to free herself, and Steven lashed out with his fangs, hoping to put her down with one ferocious bite. But she caught his jaw, one hand gripping his upper lip and the other grasping his bottom. She must’ve been using a combination of DarkArmor and DragonStrength. She surged and hurled Steven away with a grunt of effort. Steven went smashing through the palm trees. Coconuts came tumbling down on top of him.

  He gained his feet and whirled to meet her next attack. Her sickle-chain screamed through the air, on a crash course with Steven’s skull. Steven flicked out his tail and batted it aside. She sped across the ground, using SerpentGrace to close the distance between them. Well, two could play at that game

  She slashed at him with the sickle, but he caught it on the thick scales on a forearm. Then she scampered up his own fucking body, leaping from his knee to his hip, then flipping over, attempting to land squarely on his back. The sickle gleamed a rose color in the light of Tessa’s shield.

  Steven knew he couldn’t let her get on his back. If she landed there, she could use that sickle-chain to strangle him—it was certainly long enough to do the deed—or to cut his throat.

  Too bad the half-dragon ninja hadn’t remembered he had a tail. He spun and swatted her out of the air. She slammed into the ground. Before she could get up and speed off again, restarting the cycle once more, he lunged and chomped down on the Japanese woman. Blood squirted across his mouth. Even though he wanted to bite her in half, he stopped himself. Instead, he bashed the squirming woman into the ground, let go of her, and then shifted into his half-dragon state. He put two claws to her throat.

  “Call off your people,” he said, “or I will kill you.” For a moment she didn’t speak, so Steven squeezed down, his talons penetrating flesh and scale with ease, drawing blood. “I mean it. You’re nothing to me. I won’t shed a single tear over your corpse. Call them off. Now.” Another ounce of pressure.

  She relented at last and barked out a harsh order in Japanese. Wings overhead fluttered away, and he heard the whisper of the shadow warriors falling back.

  “We don’t have a fight with you,” Steven growled. “Let us pass. We have business with Old Matchstick.”

  “If you call him that, he will kill you,” the woman snarled.

  “Thanks, but I’m not here for advice.”

  Aria and Mouse, both in their Homo Draconis forms, crowded around him. Tessa kept watch, her shield spell giving her light enough to see.

  “I came here to find Mathaal, and nothing is going to stop me. Not even a bunch of asshole, black-clad ninjas.”

  “You do not understand,” she rasped. His claws were still pressed deep into her throat. “I am Uchiko, of the Onari Guard. We were given the task of keeping everyone, human and Dragonsoul alike, away from Mathaal. We will not fail in this task as we have failed before. We will fight you every step of the way if we must.”

  He sighed, but it came out as more of a snarl. “Then we’ll have no choice but to destroy you all.”

  Uchiko spit blood, her eyes narrowed in determination. “You will try, but you can’t fly above the trees, not with the mystic barrier in place. Which means you will have to make your way in the darkness. And my assassins will take you out, one by one. It is our way. Our duty. But we have no wish to kill you if you do not force our hand. Turn back now and live, Dragonsoul.”

  Steven had a million questions about the Onari Guard, what they were, why they had failed before, and why they were given the task of guarding the ancient insane dragon. However, he and his Escort were under a time crunch.

  “Just kill her,” Aria said. “You will take the Animus and we will have one less foe to face.”

  “Uh, yeah, no-brainer,” Mouse agreed, bobbing her chin.

  “No, you guys,” Tessa said. “They’re just doing their job. We need to think this through.”

  Uchiko blinked. “It is not in the nature of Dragonsouls to pause in killing lesser creatures. We should mean nothing to you. We are only Dragonskins, after all.”

  So that was it. Were they still in the middle of the rituals? Was that why they weren’t quite human and not yet dragons?

  “Where is Mathaal?” Steven asked.

  Uchiko didn’t answer that. She merely grinned, half of her lips human, half of them reptilian. Her nose was also split down the middle—one side had a nostril, the other a slit. “Pray you don’t find him. Pray he is still sleeping. Pray to whatever gods you worship while you can, for if you wake the beast, he will murder them after he murders you.”

  “For the love of biscuits, she’s not going to help us,” Mouse growled. She’d retrieved the Slayer Blade and held it in her talons.

  “Kill her,” Aria insisted.

  Steven pressed down just a little more. With another ounce of pressure, he would pierce her jugular and end her life. Uchiko didn’t plead for mercy. She only waited to die.

  “No,” Steven said. “I have a better idea. Tessa, get your guns out. You’re gonna get some target practice.”

  TWENTY-TWO

  Steven told his Escort the plan.

  Aria wasn’t exactly convinced, and Mouse sighed, her eyes fluttering closed in annoyed disbelief.

  But Steven didn’t care. He had a feeling that Uchiko and her Onari Guard might prove useful in the future. In the end, they weren’t their true enemies.

  “Just keep your eyes out,” he said. He tightened the kusarigama’s chains around Uchiko. Mouse welded some of the links together with her Inferno Exhalant. She was definitely the best breather among them.

  Uchiko didn’t fight them. He kept the sickle at her neck.

  They found a stone path, carefully laid in the wet earth, overgrown with vines and creeping plants. The track led somewhere, and the island wasn’t all that big. Chances were Mathaal was at the end of that path, but that also meant the Onari Guard would be guarding it every step of the way.

  Steven pushed Uchiko forward. He was in his Homo Draconis form with Tessa on his right. She kept her left hand up, fingers splayed back, maintaining the pink shield so they had some small measure of protection and a light source. One of her Colt Peacekeepers filled her other hand, the barrel outthrust and level. Ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

  Aria and Mouse trailed behind, both in their True Forms—one scarlet and smelling like cinnamon, the other amber-colored with the odor of almonds. It smelled the like a damn bakery, and Steven felt his hunger keenly. The two dragons took special care to be vigilant of any attackers who meant to backstab them or flank them from the sides. Steven knew the Onari Guard would likely strike from behind, but to do it, they would have to get through his Escort’s Exhalants.

  There was a flutter of movement overhead as a winged Dragonskin swooped down from the dense canopy. Tessa flung her left hand up, swatting him from the air with her shield. The magical barrier hit like a pretty-in-pink sledgehammer, and the Dragonskin toppled, unconscious. At the same time, a warrior leapt off a fat tree bough up ahead. He looked human enough except for his serpentine eyes peering through the black slit in his mask. The scales around those eyes were a bright green color.

  Tessa fired her Colt and dropped him in a spray of crimson blood. Half of his face was simply gone, obliterated by the round. Steven knew it hurt her to do so, but they had no choice. That Animus would go into Tessa to refuel her so she could keep her shield spell up.

  A throwing star, glowing green, spun out of the jungle. It would’ve struck Tessa’s skull if Steven hadn’t had an invisible shield protecting that side of the path. The star dropped to the ground in a flash of black.

  Pow! Tessa spun and sent a bullet into the darkness from whence the shuriken had come. But she was aiming high, and the shot thudded harmlessly into a gnarled trunk.

  “Tell them to back off,” Steven hissed at Uchiko. “We don’t want to kill them.”

  “You can say that again,” Tessa agreed. “This sucks. Come on, Uchiko. Trust us. We’re the good guys. We just have to get to Mathaal. If he’s as bad as you say, we won’t survive him anyway. And you and your friends can go back to sitting around, swapping fashion tips. What goes good with black? Yes! More black!”

  Half of Uchiko’s face paled. She was wrapped in her own chains, with the sickle to her neck, yet her mouth disappeared in a line of determination. Or was that doubt?

  They continued to walk down the path. Another ninja warrior slid from the trees, hurling himself at them, wicked talons extended and ready to draw blood and rend flesh. Tessa swept her shield into him with a flick of her wrist and dropped his ass to the ground, just like the rest of his buddies.

  At the same time, Steven maneuvered his shield to catch a spear flung at Tessa. Even with the attacks, they kept moving.

  From behind, a lizard-tailed ninja leaped from the brush to roll across the ground. He came up with his bow, arrow nocked. He aimed at Aria, but Mouse was ready. She let out a flash of lightning to send him shuddering across the ground. He finally fell limp.

  Mouse let out a chuckle. “Oh, that Animus feels good,” she practically purred. “Don’t tell your people to stop, Uchiko. Keep sending them on to the slaughter. I’ll gladly drink up every last drop of their energy.”

  They stopped walking. They’d gone at least a half-mile, if not a mile. Were they halfway to the center of the island? That felt right.

  “Why didn’t you kill me?” Uchiko screeched. “Why are you torturing me like this? We can’t let you pass. We’ve already dishonored our families. This was our way of winning back the favor of the Dragonsoul Primes in Japan.”

  “Tell us more,” Steven said. “What’s your story?’

  Arrows spat from the jungle, but Steven and Tessa took care of them easily with their shields. A warrior stormed forward with a spear, and Tessa was forced to shoot him. Her pink shield brightened.

  It was odd that ninjas would be sent to guard anything. They should’ve been assassins, not defenders.

  “Tell us your history,” Steven demanded.

  “I can’t,” Uchiko breathed, clearly warring with herself. “I swore. I gave them my word I wouldn’t tell. And we were sent here. I don’t want you to kill any more of my people. But what choice do I have? What choice? This is madness. I will have to kill myself.”

  “Or join me,” Steven offered. “I’m looking for vassals.”

  Uchiko let out a howl of crazed laughter. “You? You have no beard. You would show me mercy. You are as young as you are stupid.”

  Steven hooked her sickle into her throat and blood dripped down her chest. “I’m young but far from stupid. It sounds like I’ve put you in an impossible position. Call off your friends. You all will walk away from this alive, and if you ever need protection, you can come to me. I’m Steven Drokharis, and I’ve come to bring revolution to the Dragonsouls.”

  He wasn’t sure what kind of revolution, but it felt right to say.

  “Impossible,” Uchiko hissed. “You lie!” And yet she called out in Japanese. They heard the sound of dozens of bodies slipping away in the darkness.

  Then she turned to face him. She was beaten, bloody, full of doubt, and tortured by having to break her word. She gazed on him in wonder, though wonder tinged with fear. “Rhaegen Mulk wiped the Drokharis clan from the world. They are all dead. They have to be dead.”

  “Why?” Steven asked.

  Uchiko blinked, her mouth working. “They would bring doom upon us. Stefan Drokharis was delving into forbidden magic. In Nippon, we heard dark whispers of him, and we knew he had to be killed. The entire world of Dragonsouls wanted him dead.”

  “And now they’ll want me dead,” Steven said. “Because I’m not stopping. First things first, though. Uchiko, if I let you go free, do you swear not to hurt me or my Escort?”

  “You have a Primacy?” Uchiko gasped.

  “Not yet,” Steven said with a wry grin and a wink. “But I’m working on it. I’m offering you mercy, and mercy to your people. But I need to know you won’t return to stab us in the back. Swear to me.”

  Uchiko closed her eyes. The ache of her sadness was clear. “That’s just it, Dragonsoul, after this, my word will mean nothing. Yes, you didn’t kill me or my friends, and yes, we live, but you have damned us as well.”

  Steven didn’t know what to say, but he knew he need to find Mathaal no matter the cost.

  Tessa did though. “Uchiko, this island is your home, right? But really, it sounds like you were exiled here. Who told you to guard Old Matchstick?”

  “Twenty years ago …” the woman whispered. “Yes, we were exiled here. Dragonsoul Primes are constantly warring, but every so often, they come together in peace. We call them Conclaves. A Dragonsoul Conclave met in Tokyo, and our fates were decided. We were Dragonskins who failed the final rituals, and while most wanted death for us, for our failure and our dishonor, a few of the Primes suggested we be sent to keep Mathaal safe from outsiders. They didn’t want anyone waking him, for obvious reasons. Most of the time he sleeps, but sometimes he wakes, and that is when we know the true meaning of fear. He is insane. He is all-powerful. If you go to him, you will all die.”

  “Broken fucking record,” Mouse growled. She and Aria switched to their human forms, naked now, not that anyone cared. Steven sure didn’t. “We get that Mathaal is bad.”

  Aria stood tall, her face troubled.

  Tessa couldn’t hold back, and a single tear tracked down her face. “I’m sorry I had to shoot your friends. You failed the Dragonskin rituals, and now you failed this one task. But come on, Uchiko, living here, on this island, guarding a monster? No way is that ideal. It’s barely living. What about healing you so you’re human again? Or maybe we can find a way to complete the ritual. The magic might be complex, but Steven and I kick ass at magic.” She paused and stole a sidelong glance at Steven. “Though I’m better.”

  “Whatever,” Steven mumbled. He kept his focus on the Japanese woman, who was so strange, half in the world of the Dragonsouls and half out of it.

  “There is nothing that can be done for us,” Uchiko said. “We are damned. And now we are doubly doomed. We didn’t have much on this island, but at least we had each other. We grew close, as close as any family could be. Which is why I couldn’t watch you murder my friends, my lovers, my people.”

  Something about what she was saying disturbed Steven. Who gave the Dragon Conclave the right to decide the fate of people? And knowing modern Dragonsouls, they’d been so scared of magic that they didn’t even try to help these poor Dragonskins. They’d created this bullshit Onari Guard and stuck them out in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Such bullshit.

  “Why ninjas?” Steven asked. “How did that come about?”

  “It was I,” Uchiko said. “I taught them the art of assassination, moving silently, using Animus to improve our reflexes, harden our skin, and give us strength.”

  She had fought like a demon all right, but Steven had the idea she was more of a Warling than anything else.

  “And who taught you?” Aria asked suspiciously.

  “My story is long,” Uchiko said. “And it is my own to know and no one else’s.”

  “Poetic. Cryptic. I’m just so curious.” Mouse couldn’t have said any of those words more sarcastically. She stood naked, with the Slayer Blade slung over her chest … a chest Steven had a hard time keeping his eyes off.

  Aria was just as impatient. Standing next to Mouse, Aria seemed like she was eight feet tall. The two were as a different as peanut butter and palak paneer.

  Steven took the chains binding Uchiko and broke the welds Mouse had created. “Tessa, would you mind healing her, please?”

  Uchiko’s eyes widened. “But why are you doing this? Why would you heal me?”

  “Magica Cura,” Tessa whispered.

  Steven shrugged. “We didn’t come here to kill anyone. We only needed to get to Old Matchstick.”

  “Yeah, Uchiko, and we’re sorry,” Tessa said. “After hearing about your whole experience with the Dragon Conclave, being sent here, becoming such a tight family, well, now I feel awful.” The barista’s eyebrows were furrowed.

  Steven let out a long sigh. How many of the Onari Guard had he killed? He didn’t know. He was just glad he hadn’t gone along with Aria’s and Mouse’s suggestion to cut Uchiko’s throat. At least she was alive, and she had called off her ninjas.

  Hope sparkled in her eyes. “You truly are a different sort of dragon. It is unfortunate that you will most likely die if you go forward. Yet then the Dragon Conclave wouldn’t know about our failure.” She faltered, chewing on her bottom lip. “Why is it you seek Mathaal?”

  He answered, “We think he has information about my father’s murder. And he just might have another volume of the Drokharis Grimoire.”

  “Mathaal might,” Uchiko said, nodding slowly. “His library is vast. He hoards knowledge above all else. Yet now he slumbers. You might be able to steal away with a book. But if he awakes, you will not survive. And we might also die. Should he wake, he will try to leave, but that is impossible. There is a shield spell stopping any flight on this island. I saw you feel the effects of that.”

  He rubbed his bruised chin. Ouch.

  Uchiko continued. “If Mathaal falls into a murderous rage, he will devour every tree, every animal, everything within reach. That will include the Onari Guard and me. Promise me that won’t happen. Promise.”

  “I can’t,” Steven said. “But I will say we will do our best to put him down if he loses control.”

  Uchiko laughed. It was a surprisingly musical sound. “And I thought you might not be young and stupid. Go forward. I will not stop you. But I may mourn you. I just may do that.” She gave him a long, slow look. One eye was brown and human, with a round iris. The other, on her serpentine face, was a bright yellow color with a vertical slit up the middle. In both eyes, there was some heat. Of course. She was a woman, and she was being drawn to him.