Emery grabbed Penny and yanked her after me. Darius ran a moment later, in his monster form and covered in goo. More vampires joined us, Cahal amongst them. He’d traded up for a larger sword, and he swung it like it was an extension of his body.
Another pasty-white vampire—Ja—filed in at my side, sparing a moment to rip the middle out of a smaller demon. Without missing a step, her monster feet turned into human feet and she changed into a petite woman form…with vicious claws.
“Will your whole party take to the dragons?” she asked on the run.
I magically shoved demons out of the way as Penny and Emery fired off spells, toppling bodies. Fire rose behind us, as hot as I could make it given my dwindling energy. We made it outside as a dragon roar tried to freeze me up before the effect slid off—Archion, soaring overhead. Emery staggered, Darius bumping into him, but Penny shoved them both.
“Fight it—it’s just magic. Here, look.” She conjured a spell before the roar subsided and threw it wide, blanketing the throng of demons in front of us, trying to hurl spears up at the dragons like idiots. The spell hit them hard, their already slowed bodies turning to lead and stopping completely.
Sparkling white scales caught my eye as Saphira dove and unleashed a white-hot lick of fire. It rolled over a group of demons, as near to hellfire as non-hellfire could get. It seared those in its path, sending everyone running out of the way. She beat her large wings to lift higher into the sky before she trumpeted, her bowel-shaking roar filling the air.
“Wow,” Penny said on a release of breath, staring up at the dragon with wide, adoring eyes.
“I so called it,” I murmured, not quite sure how I was going to get everyone loaded up. To Ja I said, “Yes, we’ll double up on the dragons. We’ll go out the way we came in. You should take another exit, though, straight to the Edges. Lucifer is coming. We’ll tear down the containment spell, but he might be hot on our heels.”
“Noted. We’ll work out the particulars on the other side.” She meant about who owed whom. She put a hand to my shoulder, her eyes serious. “Get out of here alive, heir. Get to the Brink. There is no other option.”
She morphed into her other form and sped away, her people with her.
I shepherded the others to the side of the building, away from the panicked crowd trying to fight three dragons. No one else came out of the building after us. The conspector had clearly thought better about killing one of my people and going up against three powerful dragons. Wise.
Archion, I thought with everything I had. But he was across what had turned into a battlefield, cleaning up the perimeter with bursts of flame.
“Stay here,” I told Darius, sweeping my gaze to Cahal.
“No.” Penny reached forward to grab me, her eyes wild. “No! Not this time. If we go anywhere, we go together. I’m not leaving you alone in danger.”
I didn’t have time to argue, and it would be funny to give her what she wanted. I’d say I’d be going to hell but…it seemed I was already there.
“Suit yourself.” I yanked her toward me, and up we went, hovering over the battlefield to my dragon.
“Not what I meant,” she yelled, looking down as we lifted farther and farther off the ground. “Why aren’t the other demons hovering?”
“Did you just call me a demon?”
“If the shoe fits, you know what I mean?”
I laughed, thinking Archion’s name again. “They don’t have enough power, I imagine. Or don’t want to actually get eaten by the dragons. I’m not sure why they’re even fighting.”
Coppelia dove to my right before snapping out her wings and watching us. She was off a moment later, toward Archion. He gained altitude after a burst of fire before he got the message.
A spot of black on the horizon caught my attention. I squinted into the growing light of the day, trying to make it out. A black blob against the bluish sky. Was it a trick of my eyes, or had Daddy Dearest finally caught on?
“We need to make shapes,” I said softly as Archion sped toward me. A spear flew past him.
“Why? What is it?” Penny asked, following my gaze. She didn’t squint, which meant her strictly human eyes couldn’t make out what I was looking at. That was good news, at least. We had some time. Not much, but some.
Archion swooped down below us, and I let go of the hover.
“Holy fart bags,” Penny shouted before landing behind me on Archion’s back.
“Really? After all this, you still can’t swear?” I asked, thinking, We need to drop Penny on Saphira’s back. Then we have to grab the others and go. Lucifer is coming.