The elf queen shoved herself away from him. She walked into the water, hands fisted at her sides. He couldn’t help but admire the wobbling globes of her slim ass. She wasn’t speaking.

  There was nothing Steven could say. He kept his mouth shut. His mother had taught him that sometimes in a bad argument, the wrong word was far worse than silence.

  She turned. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Icharaam begged me to help him. He too wanted to end the Zothoric. Back then, we knew the danger. I said I would help him with some magic—the Americos Chambers. I did help. That is all I was willing to do. Vandrus and I spoke for centuries about what we might do. We spent years in dreams, trying to unravel the mysteries, and we knew there was only one solution. You have robbed of us of that. The deaths of billions should lay heavy on your conscience.”

  “Fuck you!” Steven spat. “Your plan was shit from the very beginning. Do you really think Zothora will ever eat all realities?”

  The elf queen charged out of the lake. “You curse me? You dare to speak your vile, human filth to me?”

  “I’m not human,” Steven said. “I’m a Dragonsoul. We can win, but we need your help.”

  Quinnestri threw a fist at him.

  He dodged it and grabbed her arm. Damn, that soft skin felt good in his grip.

  She whipped herself away from him and staggered back. “You are not even an Alpheros. You are some creature descended from apes. You are a monkey with delusions of grandeur.”

  He smiled at that. “True enough. But the past is the past. You don’t have a choice. You have to help us.”

  She calmed herself, approached him, and then circled him. “I smell Attur Dro on you. Yes, a Drokharis, but there’s more. Morta. You yourself have been corrupted. You have been sent to kill me by Zothora. You serve the Utereich, or I am a fool.”

  Steven stood still. “That’s not true and you know it. And I’m not going to call you a fool.”

  “You already have. You said my plan was excrement. You cursed me.” The elf queen stopped in front of him. “So, Steven Drokharis, you seem to have the upper hand.”

  “Help us,” Steven said again. “Together, we can free all worlds everywhere.”

  Quinnestri cleared her face of tears. “The solution is simple. I wake my people. I destroy you and the Myriad on Aqualyra. We return to our slumber. Yes, the deaths of innocents are unfortunate, but I do not think you are innocent. Overconfident, foolish, someone who curses a great deal, and far from innocent.”

  “I’m guilty of not being afraid.” Steven matched her gaze. “I’m guilty of trying to change things. Sure. I’ll take that. Yet, I don’t think it will take long for Zothora to find your world. She knows about you.” He wasn’t sure it was the truth. And yet, there were some benefits to having a gambler as a stepfather. He knew how to bluff.

  Quinnestri opened her mouth to say something.

  His Divination spell failed, and he was back in the throne room of the palace. The elf queen slept on. Steven sniffed and smelled rotten oranges.

  He whirled. And there stood Ven Dro, alone, battle-ax dangling from his hands.

  “So, an elf queen. She’s hot.” Ven Dro smiled with his torn lips. “How about we take turns on her before I kill you.”

  Steven shifted human and unsheathed Samael’s Lash. “Excrucior.” The chain-whip sword thunked to the ground. “What made you this way? I can’t believe any version of me would be such a douche.”

  “Daddy loved me too much,” Ven Dro said. “You didn’t have that. You had your perfect little human life. Gideon and I talked about you. Did your ears burn?”

  “It was the wolves.” Steven felt anger fill his Morta core. “You saw the wolves fly down out of the sky. You knew something was up there.”

  “Yeah,” Ven Dro agreed. “And we had a helluva time down there. More puppies, only these were kissed by evil. And elves with the heads of crows. How fucked up is that?”

  “Where are your friends?” Steven asked.

  “My friends? No, we’re brothers. Same mother. The new and improved Terror Trio are around with more Zothoric than you can fight. I used a nice shield spell to bring up our Zalarfang. I love those guys.” Ven Dro swiped his ax through the air. The blade glowed green, leaving trails of evil light in the gray gloom. Shaze covered the windows, scurrying around on top of each other.

  That was probably why his Escort was hanging back, waiting on his signal. Steven laughed. “You said I had a perfect life. You have no idea. Not that you care, not really. You sold out our father. You betrayed your real friends. I saw you during the Battle of Denver.”

  “A little of the Divination magic? Sure.” Ven Dro nodded. “Now, are you going to step aside while I kill the queen?”

  “You know that’s not going to happen.” Steven wondered what Quinnestri would’ve said to him if they’d had more time. Would she try and fall back asleep? Or would she wake her people? If she did, there was a good chance they’d try and kill Steven and his Escort.

  An idea came to him. Another bluff. “I talked with Quinnestri. She’s going to wake up, and she’ll have more than enough soldiers to wipe the Myriad off this world. She’ll kill you, Gideon, and Butcher first.”

  Ven Dro squinted his one good eye closed. The other stared on, lidless. “Or, you can join us. The Drokharis brothers, together again, for the first time. We can end the war, maybe cut a deal with Mother. She’s not unreasonable.”

  That made Steven laugh. “She’s a soulless demon. All she wants is to eat. You must see that.”

  The false knight shrugged. “In the end, I don’t care. I want to win. You’ve won, over and over, and I haven’t. You don’t know what that’s like.”

  Talking with this idiot was wasting everyone’s time. Steven had never felt very grateful for the rough years with his mother, working every job he could get his hands on just so they wouldn’t lose the house. While other kids hung out with their dads, playing catch or video games, Steven had worked. Yet, now, seeing this asshole in front of him, those days of hardship seemed like a definite gift. Chazzie had pointed that out.

  “You’re right,” Steven agreed. “I don’t know what it’s like to be you. Thank God, I’ll never find out.” He whipped Samael’s Lash into the false knight. The blade slashed down the ichor-splattered golden armor, doing no damage. Another flick, and Steven sliced off one of Ven Dro’s ears.

  Hearing him squeal was a true delight.

  “Magica Defensio!” Both summoned shields.

  Ven Dro hurled Impetim stars. They winked off on Steven’s shield.

  “Pax aeternam.” Steven retracted his whip then shifted into his True Form, breathing lightning. The fingers of electricity raked down the false knight’s body, forcing him to stagger back. With each step he grew, until he stood as a black-scaled dragon.

  The top of Ven Dro’s head glowed yellow, and that light traveled down his body into his lungs. He exhaled ShadowFlame. The black fire streaked toward Quinnestri, asleep on her throne.

  Steven flung his shield, keeping her and the throne safe. The carpet around her smoked and burst into flames.

  The false knight had given him a vital clue into what Icharaam’s Crown could do. He filed the information away.

  The windows above burst inward. Shaze buzzed down, their wings whirring. Whistles filled the chamber. The massive doors at the entrance were pulled open. Two Zalarfang crept forward on their millipede legs. The long white teeth sealing their bodies shut pulled open to vomit out hundreds of Shaze.

  Steven exhaled Toxicity in a cloud he directed toward Ven Dro and the incoming Shaze. The false knight squealed, sweeping his wings. The cloud was dispersed upward. It still brought down Shaze in a rain of gasping bodies.

  Steven whirled, plucked the sleeping Quinnestri off her throne, and held her to his chest. He shot fire from his mouth, clearing a path, adding more flame to the burning throne room.

  Shaze struck him. He covered himself with both the Baxter armor and BlackBlood spikes. Dozens of the demons impaled themselves on the spears of Morta sticking out of his body. Their deaths sucked Animus from him but gave him Morta at the same time. If he could figure out how to turn the Morta into Animus he’d be unstoppable. He’d have to add that to the list of what he needed to learn.

  Steven charged forward.

  Ven Dro tried ArcticWind on him. Steven still had his shield spell. The cold encrusted the edges of the force field but kept him safe.

  Steven barreled into the false knight. His Morta spikes found new flesh to pierce. They slid through Ven Dro’s scales, and the fiend shrieked.

  Up close, Ven Dro scratched at Steven’s armor but his talons couldn’t pierce the thick metal. The green fire on his head scorched Steven, singeing his long beard. The pain wasn’t a problem—more important was the life of the elf queen in his claws.

  Steven found the other dragon’s long neck and ripped out a chunk. He spat it onto the floor. Then Steven did three things. First, he sucked away a large portion of Ven Dro’s energy using AnimusChain. He added insult to injury by yanking away the false knight’s muscle power with ShadowStrength. Then, as a final fuck you, he channeled IonClaws into his right talons. He ripped the false knight’s belly open.

  Ven Dro shrieked and fell in a pile of blood and torn muscle, lifeless. He shifted human. His golden armor blinked off. Good. Steven didn’t like the idea of an asshole like that polluting his universe. If Steven did ever talk with the Battle World’s Stefan Drokharis, he’d have a long conversation on his parenting skills.

  Steven sped toward the Zalarfang blocking his way. The armor clanked as he ran, heavy, but so effective in keeping him safe. His Inferno Exhalant cooked more of the Shaze going for him—armored, spiked, breathing fire, those demons weren’t about to stop him.

  “Love!” Steven thundered. His revolver came into his right hand. He fired, and a big bullet struck the front teeth of the transport monster. The fangs were blown apart. Its tentacles, writhing off the fleshy part on top of the creature, shuddered and went limp. The Zalarfang were basically mouths with legs. All their organs must be on top.

  Steven still had the strength and power he’d stolen from Ven Dro. Steven leapt onto the Zalarfang he’d wounded. The thing yelped from some mouth somewhere. Steven put a dog-sized hole in the top of the thing, silencing it. He whirled. The tentacles of the other transport lashed out.

  Steven fired two bullets into the top of the other monster. The thing opened its rows of fangs, showing a red maw, like the inside of a throat. Steven’s last bullet blasted the guts out of the fucker.

  With both Zalarfang out, he dashed past them to get to the square out front. The blizzard had hit. Hurricane winds threw snowflakes, making it almost impossible to see. His Escort might’ve been close, but Steven couldn’t see them. The elf queen in his arms didn’t stir. He didn’t think she’d wake until the fighting was over.

  He heard barks, whines, and the unearthly cries of Splackers. From out of the blizzard came dozens of the suicide dogs, wiggling and shaking, ready to explode and cover him in acid.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  UCHIKO RODE MOUSE, racing under the city with a storm of Shaze chasing after them. Right after Steven had contacted Mouse, the Shaze had attacked, scattering the women—the twins went one way, the blonde and the ninja another.

  Nefri had refused to ride with them. She would be above, with the Hellstring, fighting from the shadows.

  To her surprise, the ninja didn’t envy the Shadow Archer. Fighting alone wasn’t as much fun as fighting with their sisters.

  Uchiko had her kusarigama in her hands. Vine-covered stone flashed above. The blizzarding winds were pushing them, faster, faster, and she couldn’t believe the speed. And this was slow compared to dragon flight. She didn’t feel the cold—too much adrenaline flooded her system.

  Mouse whooshed up the eastern side of the city and into a blinding snowstorm.

  Shaze left the top of the palace. Mouse wheeled around and breathed fire into the incoming cloud. From behind, the buzzing demons attacked. Uchiko spun her sickle-chain around them. She hacked through wings with the curved blade and bashed in skulls with the lead weight. Every kill took Animus. It hurt. It was worth it.

  Mouse flew off again, increasing her speed and nearly losing Uchiko. She bent and grabbed a spike, clutching it for all she was worth. They topped the spires of the palace and then dove toward the square below.

  Steven was there, in his True Form, covered in a powerful combination of metal and black spikes, surrounded by Splackers.

  “I fucking hate those dogs,” Mouse growled. She let loose with ShadowFlame, careful not to hit Steven. The unnatural fire melted the stone even as it ignited the Splackers. They popped, one after another, pop, pop, pop.

  The Lyra were going to have a lot of masonry work to do when they woke up.

  Steven joined them in the sky. They flew between more buildings, sliding under sky bridges and streaking through alleys. One was so narrow, Mouse had to fly through sideways. Uchiko clung to the spikes on Mouse’s back.

  In the park, where they had seen the winged wolves, were Chazzie and Pru. The twins had returned there and were fighting, back to back, two pink dragon women, tails intertwined. Pru had the SMAW, while Chazzie rattled her machine gun, blowing holes in Shaze and Splackers, keeping them clear, or so it seemed. The swirling snow of the blizzard made everything indistinct.

  The twins teleporting around didn’t help things. Pru would balance the SMAW on her shoulder while hurling pink Impetim blasts. She’d appear, smack down a demon with the bazooka, or cook it with her Inferno Exhalant. Chazzie flashed around. The muzzle of her machine gun flashed pink as she riddled Shaze with enchanted bullets.

  The twins would come back together again, fighting on.

  Then from out of the ice burst a Zalarfang, its millipede legs working its toothy body up onto the pathway. The flesh on the thing’s top waved black tentacles like a sea anemone.

  Uchiko leapt from Mouse’s back, coiling her sickle-chain over a shoulder and reaching for her bow. She fitted an ElectroArc arrow to the string. She landed next to the twins and fired the lightning into the Zalarfang. Teeth went clattering across the stone pathway. Better yet, the monstrous transport shivered from the attack, the water conducting the electricity

  Pru turned the SMAW’s muzzle on the thing.

  “Hold up, sis,” Chazzie warned. “That’s our last rocket. Waste not, want not.”

  Steven and Mouse both saw how effective electricity was against the wet Zalarfang. They dipped down. Crackling lightning struck the transport, frying flesh and disintegrating teeth. The Shaze inside whistled in pain as the ElectroArc Exhalants arced into them.

  The black dragon and the amber dragon were forced to pull away, fighting Shaze as they went careening around the park.

  Uchiko fired two more lightning arrows. The deaths of the Shaze pinched her core, drawing away Animus. The Zalarfang slid back into the cold water of the lake and disappeared.

  A Splacker bolted forward and exploded. Its acid hit a pink shield, saving the twins and Uchiko. Pru breathed fire on two more of the dogs, forcing them to erupt.

  Chazzie and Pru froze. Their pink scales were covered in smoke. Their yellow eyes were black.

  “Chaz!” Pru gasped. “What’s going on? I can’t. I can’t stop...” She dropped the rocket launcher.

  The other Texan couldn’t speak at all. She lifted the machine gun and fired on Mouse. Bullets punched into her amber scales. She struck a tree and fell to the ground. Steven spun away from the unexpected barrage and went flying over the walls and out of sight.

  Nefri came somersaulting through the air. Her BlackBlood tentacles plucked the gun out of Chazzie’s hands. The pink Homo Draconis staggered back and fell into the lake. Pru slashed at the dark elf, but she was too fast for the remaining Texan. A Shaze flew in. A black bolt from Nefri’s Hellstring brought it rolling onto the path.

  Uchiko had no idea why the twins had turned on them. Then she found herself wrapped in the coils of a snake, the rough edges of its scales cutting through her gi and ripping into her flesh. Butcher squeezed her. Uchiko’s bones crunched painfully. Where had he come from? Out of the storm itself, or that was how it felt.

  On Butcher’s back was the Magician, Gideon Scaramanga, his eyes as black as Pru’s. That was the answer. Gideon was using a spell against them. He was controlling the twins.

  Nefri screamed and sank to her knees. Her mouth worked and then she fell to the side. Gideon laughed. He was doing something to the dark elf.

  Mouse was down. Steven was gone. Uchiko was weak from killing Zothoric, caught in the clutches of the insect serpent. Sweat dripped in her eyes. It was up to her to save them. How could she?

  An idea came to her. She yanked an arrow from her quiver, an Inferno arrow, and she drove it into the snake. Fire flashed, scorching her. She smelled her hair burning. Yes, it hurt, but Butcher hissed and dropped her onto the pathway.

  Uchiko used the last of her energy to haul herself to her feet. She saw the SMAW lying on the ground. She skittered toward it. Chazzie had showed her the basic operation. And she’d explained that SMAW stood for Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon. It was a favorite weapon of the United States Marine Corp.

  Pru turned human and pulled a pistol from a holster on her belt. “Sorry, Uchiko, I’m so sorry. But I can’t help it.” She fired at Uchiko.

  The round whined off the stone path. The ninja used her last bit of Animus for SerpentGrace. She rolled under the twin, snatched up the SMAW, and whirled, down on one knee.

  Too late.

  Pru was also imbued with SerpentGrace. She pressed her pistol against Uchiko’s forehead. “I’m sorry.”

  She pulled the trigger.

  WITH SHAZE CHASING him, Steven raced along the walls of Eleesia, still holding the sleeping Quinnestri to his scaled chest. Maybe the queen wasn’t going to help them. That was a shame. They’d have to figure things out on their own.

  As for the twins, they must be under the control of Gideon. Corropor—he’d corrupted Chazzie and Pru using Morta. Steven hoped the effects were temporary. He had to hurry back to the park. Chazzie had slipped into the lake. Mouse was down and needed healing. He was losing Animus and healing her would be problematic. Again, this was why Icharaam’s Orb was so key. They all needed energy.