Liam Strider, Paanga Komang, and Abner Savedra, along with any number of Primes, had secret meetings with Robert Stains, who was the government’s liaison with the dragon community. Skylar Blacke and Eve Downfyre had joined in the conversation. They all agreed to bring in the humans. This was a fight that affected everything living on Gaia Alpha.

  The entire area had been shut down, and the U.S. had helped with that. Every soldier on the field had been sworn to secrecy, and they didn’t get leave, so they wouldn’t spread any secrets. Bob Stains claimed they had the best of the best, handpicked from every branch of the American military.

  Steven realized, and not for the first time, they were going all in on this fight. He couldn’t lose.

  Not just America, my Prime, but we have U.N. forces here from nearly every country on the globe. I hear French a lot. I hate the French. I hope you’re not mad we brought in the monkeys. I mean, Liam couldn’t just call you. They had to make the big decision without you.

  It was a big decision, Steven sent. I’m not mad. They were right to make that call. We need every gun, every soldier, we can get.

  It gets better. Teegan chuckled. Paanga Komang has continued Dragonskin training. A lot of the monkey soldiers want to become Dragonskins. Be all you can be, right?

  I hope it’s enough.

  Teegan paused. You mean it might not be? You have tens of thousands of vassals here, all ready to give up their lives to fucking end the Zothoric. We have tanks. Like big tanks. And all sorts of shit. I think we might have a nuke lying around. I heard rumors. Your bitches like to gossip.

  Steven wasn’t sure nuclear weapons were a good idea. They hadn’t been used on the Battle World, and he didn’t know why. Spider Finger had died before he could tell them.

  Steven’s spell was almost over. He felt the Animus draining from him. I have to go. I will be in touch. Keep the army together there, Teegan. Don’t let a single soldier leave. The Zothoric seem undefeatable. I don’t think they are. Still, it’s going to be a hard fucking fight to win.

  I will, my Prime. Teegan grew serious. Watch your ass, Steven. I love it. I love you. Hurry up so you and I can be together.

  I will.

  Both his Divinatio and his Defensio spells ended. He swam back up through the portal and emerged, dripping, in the Americos Chamber.

  Why hadn’t the Gaia Beta version of Stefan Drokharis used nuclear weapons? And did they try and activate the Americos Chambers? He didn’t know. And he had other things to worry about.

  “Good news?” Mouse asked. “Even as a Homo Draconis, I can see you thinking up a storm.”

  “That’s what he looks like when he’s thinking?” Chazzie fluttered her eyelashes. “I thought he was just horny.”

  “I’m always horny,” Steven growled. He told them about the army he’d seen.

  “More guns! Yay!” Chazzie cheered.

  Nefri glowered at him. She walked up and stuck the jeweled flower in his face. She blinked her annoyance.

  Steven eased her back. He addressed the twins, Mouse, and Uchiko in the corner. “Okay, people, are we ready to do a little traveling?”

  They all saluted. “Sir, yes, sir!”

  Pru grinned. “Might as well get used to being army girls. Damn, looks like we’ve been drafted.”

  Steven shook his head. “No, they didn’t draft us. We drafted them. I don’t think it will be enough. We need the elves.”

  “Then let’s quit talking,” Mouse said nervously. “Let’s get our fucking asses to Rivendell.”

  There was the Tolkien reference.

  “Nerd,” Chazzie coughed into her hand.

  Pru chewed a fingernail. That was a shame. She’d spent so much time working on them.

  “I hope their cookies are good,” Steven muttered. “Not sure how I feel about eating shit made in a tree, though.”

  No one got the joke.

  Chapter Ten

  STEVEN NODDED AT NEFRI. “You use the petals on the rose to open portals, right?”

  “Don’t answer that,” Chazzie countered. Then she collapsed into giggles. “Wait, you can’t, because the whole mute thing. I must say, I like a lady who can keep her trap shut.”

  Pru was strangely quiet.

  Chazzie gave her a glance, a little baffled, before galloping on. “Mouse and Tessa do enough talking for all of us. Good thing Prudence Pride and I are quiet, like church mice.”

  “Like wilting flowers.” Mouse put her hand up to her forehead.

  Chazzie’s smile lit up her face. “Yeah, Steven, Nefrinasia here used a petal to travel to Earth about a thousand years ago. And she used another petal to come here. Here’s what I’m worried about.”

  “About me talking too much?” Mouse asked. “Because, bitch, please, Tessa and I have our witty repartee, but we never actively shush people.”

  “Shush now.” Pru looked edgy.

  Nefri had her eyes closed, with her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

  Chazzie hefted a bag. “For one, we do not want Zothora finding this other world. And for two, we’re going to have to keep the portal open long enough to get all of our gear through.”

  There were five big duffels and a couple of gun cases.

  Nefri snapped open her eyes. She struck her head, violently, and then just as vehemently pointed a blue finger at Steven.

  That was his signal to cast another Divination spell. But he was already low on Animus. That damn Morta core was stealing his mojo.

  “I’m not up for it,” Steven said.

  Chazzie bent and grabbed a pink pearl-handled .45 out of her duffle. Across the slide was the phrase “Good Girl.” She fired point-blank at Steven. There was a flash of pink light, and he felt Animus fill him. It still fucking stung, being up so close. “Okay, Stevie, talk to Lady Blue here.”

  Nefri nodded.

  Steven’s ears rang. He touched them, thinking he might find blood. “That shit is loud. Divinatio.”

  Nefri didn’t pause. Yes, I’ve used two of the petals. The aberrations are correct.

  Aberrations? Steven wondered.

  Twins are an aberration. Every child should be unique. Those women are the same. On my world, twins are bad luck. And later, we destroyed them. Later. A hurt look haunted her eyes. She shook away her emotions.

  Steven wasn’t about to tell the Wayne sisters what Nefri just said.

  Mouse’s eyes went back and forth, from Steven to Nefri. “Wow, there’s a lot going on there. Nefri is upset. And Steven kind of turned pale. Maybe they’re talking dirty.”

  “Not fair!” Chazzie said. “We want in!”

  Nefri sighed again, like it was taking all her patience not to start firing arrows.

  Uchiko remained in the corner, arms crossed.

  Steven ignored them. So when you used the petals, did you try and hide your portals?

  Nefri shook her head. Fear painted her face. She took in a shuddering breath. We... the Ohkreela, we found another solution. There wasn’t a danger to us. As for your world? I didn’t care. I risked it and won.

  Steven didn’t need the Wayne twins to put things together. So, going to Aqualyra should be okay. Coming back here won’t matter since the Battle World has already been destroyed.

  Nefri nodded. And again shook the flower.

  Steven didn’t like the idea that the Horror Mother and her minions, including the Prosha Ulita Rozhenko, might know they’d left Gaia Beta. I’d like you to cast your portal inside the basin there. We’ve used the static doorway before to hide our tracks. I think it’s safer.

  It’s useless. However, I will take your suggestion. Nefri held the flower in her left hand. With her right, she snapped off a petal and tossed it into the water.

  Immediately, a whirlwind of light swirled up from the water, starting off white, but breaking into every color in the spectrum. Crystal-clear water, as warm as a July lake, gushed out of the portal and started filling the chamber. However, that water was spun in the rainbow scintillation of the cyclone.

  Nefri ran and dove into the whirlwind, and she was sucked down into the depths. Uchiko screamed, “It’s a trick! We cannot follow her into that chaos!”

  Mouse glanced at Steven. “Well, my Prime, this shit isn’t what I expected. But this water is warm. I like warm.”

  Pru had been trying to keep a brave face. That cracked open wide as she wailed, “Chazzie! What. In. The. Hell?”

  Steven wasn’t about to back down now. “Follow me!”

  Before he could move, Uchiko ran, leapt, and flipped her body into the storm of color and water. She was gone in an instant.

  Mouse touched her head. “I’m not fucking up my hair.” She shifted into her partial form and dove into the maelstrom.

  Steven was left alone with the twins.

  Pru’s eyes were wide with terror. “I can’t... I’m not... I wanna go back to Texas!”

  Chazzie grabbed her sister’s head and pushed her face into Pru’s. “Baby, we’re Bob Wayne’s daughters, and we don’t ever say die, and quit just ain’t in our vocabulary. If we want it all, and if we want it now, we gotta do this. You get me?”

  Pru nodded miserably.

  Chazzie bent and cast a Defensio spell on the duffel bags, before tossing them into the wind and water. The ones on the bottom had already gotten wet. The top ones might still be dry.

  The warm water was up to their knees now.

  “Pru! Now! We’ve kicked ass on two worlds now. Baby? Let’s make it three!”

  Pru didn’t shift. As a human, she ran and hurled herself into the vortex. Chazzie went after her.

  Steven didn’t waste a second. He transformed into a Homo Draconis and leapt. The results were immediate.

  He was knocked ass over teakettle, spun around, submerged, and when he thought he’d never breathe again, wind swirled the water away, and he took in a breath before plunging into the drink again.

  He went from warm bathwater to the sharp shock of frigid temperatures.

  Light. There was light, above him.

  He swam upward and burst from the surface of a lake into weak sunshine.

  The first thing he noticed was the smell, sagebrush and yellowing grasses, nearly asleep as the first cold of the year found them. Those were the autumn smells of a living planet.

  Chazzie and Pru both had finally become Homo Draconi to push their pink bubble shield to the banks. They unloaded their duffel bags, tossing them into the weeds. When they’d gotten their gear out of the lake, they shifted into their human forms. Both were sopping wet, with long stringy hair falling down their backs. Their makeup was smeared. And while Chazzie had a grim look on her face, Pru looked as if she wanted to bolt and never stop running.

  Mouse, as a human, stood on the bank, the hilt of her sword rising up from her back. She was bone dry, fingering the teardrop amulet on her chest. “Hey, twins, you gotta use our magic to keep dry. Being wet is fun, don’t get me wrong, but not when the ambient temperature is a hair above freezing.”

  Pru sighed and closed her eyes.

  Chazzie stuck out a middle finger. “Go easy on us, Melissa Craygore. We’re new to this stuff. For us, an adventure meant going to Fifth Avenue in New York with only a thousand dollars in cash.”

  “I miss New York.” Pru gulped in a sob. “I miss cash. I miss shopping. I miss scheming. What are we doing here, Chaz? What in the fuck are we doing here?”

  “Cowgirl up, bitch,” Chazzie said in a kind voice. “We’re Waynes. We eat lead and shit bullets.”

  Steven stomped out of the lake, using his tail for balance.

  He went and slipped a claw into Pru’s hand. He wasn’t sure he could say anything to soothe her. He hoped his touch and his presence was enough. He was a little surprised at her reaction. Then again, the Wayne twins had spent most of their lives in comfort, working their schemes and planning. That included what they’d done to Zoey’s mother. He wasn’t sure if Zoey had told her or not, and yet, she seemed uncomfortable around the bear girl.

  Yes, the Texas machine-gun twins had fought before, of course; the lives of dragons made that unavoidable. But being on the front lines, in the mud of battle, was different than standing back, on the perimeter, shooting people.

  And both sisters were intensely pragmatic, not liking movies or books much. Tessa, on the other hand, would’ve loved to explore a new world, like something out of a movie or a book. Steven promised himself he’d bring the barista to Aqualyra and show her around. Once the Zothoric were dealt with, entire universes would be theirs to explore.

  Nefri approached them in her drenched robes. She unfurled her middle finger and then looked questioningly at Steven. Her face showed her confusion.

  Mouse laughed. “It’s an obscene gesture. Basically, you show someone your middle finger, and it’s shorthand for ‘fuck you.’”

  Nefri looked at her finger and then poked it in the air, in a definite thrusting motion.

  “Bingo,” Mouse touched her nose. “It looks like you’ve done a little finger-banging before, so you know the basic concept.”

  Uchiko wasn’t about to stand around for the cultural exchange. She swept up into her dragon form and took to the skies.

  Steven took a moment to glance around. There was a sun, rising on the eastern horizon, so the time zones seemed similar to those of the Battle World. However, was that a red sun trailing the yellow one? It looked like it. Maybe a big red star? Unexpected, but not strange considering they were on a different world.

  Dry plains of sagebrush and grasses surrounded the lake. On the south bank stood a stand of what looked like cottonwoods shedding yellow leaves, though something was off about those trees. Their trunks were black, not the gray he was used to.

  To the east were structures, white spires, though even at a distance, he could see the cracks in the walls. Some of the buildings were merely stacks of rubble. Lyra ruins?

  Mountains lay to the west, rocky peaks rising out of thick forests of green pines.

  Steven left Pru and walked to a stand of sagebrush. The low tangle of branches was covered with dusky gray-purple leaves. Okay, that looked like normal sage.

  But a dark purple bud was nestled inside the rough limbs. Steven watched as a big fly buzzed forward. It landed on a branch. The bud opened and snapped forward on a long gray throat. A mouth opened on the bud as it munched down on the insect. Both mouth and throat retracted into the sage. The bush shivered from the effort. Carnivorous sagebrush? That was new.

  This was like his home. It seemed like Colorado. But in the end, so very, very different.

  Steven still had some Animus left. He opened a connection with Nefri. Okay, we’re here, he sent. Where do we go now?

  Nefri shook her head. I do not know. The Lyra are hidden. And I have no idea where to find them.

  Steven’s heart fell into his stomach. He hadn’t counted on that. They were on a world, strange and new, and they didn’t have months to search. It was only a matter of time before the Battle World ran out of oxygen or the Zothoric found their base at the Denver airport. On top of that, his armies were ready on Gaia Alpha. How could he possibly find Quinnestri in time to utilize them?

  Chapter Eleven

  GIDEON SCARAMANGA MERGED with a shadow and waited in the darkness. They’d found a last outpost of humans in a prison in the west Denver suburbs, near the ridges of the foothills. The humans had guns. That wouldn’t help them, not against the new Terror Trio.

  There were only humans left on the Battle World because the Dragonsouls had all been killed, devoured by the Zothoric, and the Dragonkind had been taken and shoved into pods, to turn them into Hybrith. The poor monkeys had been left alone.

  The Dragonknight thought the humans might know where Steven Drokharis was, so they couldn’t murder them all. It was disappointing, but also, it gave the fight a certain spice that Gideon enjoyed. Torture was something he still loved despite all of the transformation he’d experienced.

  Then sun was almost at its zenith, and shadows would be harder to find. They had to strike.

  A woman was in a tower, keeping watch.

  Inside that tower, yes, a shadow.

  Gideon considered his new Morta skills. He used Transvexri to cross the shadows, moving from his corner outside the prison and into the tower.

  He stepped from the darkness and triggered his BlackBlood ability. An oozing tentacle grabbed her around her throat. “Sound the alarm,” he whispered. “Bring your people out.”

  The woman spit in his face.

  Gideon smiled and licked at the saliva with a black tongue. He opened his mouth, revealing his needle teeth, and hissed at her.

  She would fight him to the death, he knew that, because she didn’t want to lead her comrades into an ambush.

  “Corropor!” He took control of her consciousness.

  She went and touched a button under a control panel in front of her. Klaxons blared, throwing sound across the dead fields around the prison.

  Doors were thrown open as the prison emptied of its soldiers, rough looking men and women in ragged Kevlar. They carried automatic weapons.

  Butcher tore through them, a huge boar covered in insect chitin, razor-sharp tusks, and spiked hooves. Bullets sparked off his armor as he slew the humans by the dozen.

  The Dragonknight hurled black Impetim missiles that ate through their Kevlar to melt their internal organs. His cloak spun around him, and with the gold armor drenched in Morta juices, he looked like a specter of hell.

  More rounds slammed into the armor, ricocheting off it in long whines. From out of his cloak, the Dragonknight drew a twin-bladed battle-ax, jagged and cruel, marked with silver runes. Morta ichor oozed down the haft.

  He hacked through the people easily, and when they tried to run, he teleported to them, appearing out of thin air. He cut off heads and axed through hearts, appearing and disappearing at will.

  Those fools. They were killing all the monkey soldiers. They needed one alive.

  Well, Gideon already had a prisoner. This guard would do, but to be safe, they should probably have at least two.

  The Magician drew the woman into the shadow and appeared in the shadow by the prison walls.