When I reached the kneeling elf, I kicked it in the face and lit it on fire before running toward Vlad, smashing the second elf between two bursts of air.
“Push them away,” I yelled, grabbing one with magic and tossing it into the air. Archion swooped down just in time, like a dog after a ball, and cracked bones between his teeth. We might not be great at midair landings, but that move had to earn us some style points. “Or crowd together, and I can cover you with ice.”
Vlad stuck an elf in the middle with his claws and ripped upward. He flung the creature off and grabbed another to fling, apparently for me. I lit it on fire. Easy-peasy.
He darted toward the others, barking a few words I didn’t understand, and they broke away from their fights. Once they were close enough, I covered us all with ice and stuck up a thumb for Archion to go scorched earth. Or…scorched Realm, I guess.
“Dragons are quite the asset,” Vlad said, in his human form again. He stood naked and slightly disheveled beside me, blood leaking down his arm. “You have…three, correct?”
“We don’t have any of them. We work with three of them. How many do you work with?”
His gaze was cool as fire coated the group, flaying the elves on the outside of my spell.
“You made quite the impression on Lucifer when you were down there,” he said as Archion passed. The vampires rushed forward, killing the elves while they were down.
“Yes, I did,” I replied, stepping farther away. “Take a hint.”
The island’s illusion continued to unravel, but no enemies remained standing. The elves lay in twisted, blackened messes along the charred sand.
Silence settled around us, the vampires catching their breath. One zoomed away as a few changed back into their human forms, and I assumed he was going for clothes. Vlad wouldn’t be so stupid as to pick a fight with us right now.
He put out his hand, indicating the barren ground. “Thank you,” he said, his voice smooth and silky, his stupid face unbearably handsome. It was very disconcerting, like appreciating the look of a lion. Dazzled one minute, dead the next.
Archion landed not far away with a rumble in his throat and smoke coming out of his nostrils. It was a warning for Vlad.
“For helping us protect the unicorns,” Vlad continued. “I know that you hoped to win them, or some of them, to your side. And you might’ve, but now they are beyond your reach.”
There it was—there was the dig.
“The elves are clearly starting to play dirty,” I responded, ignoring it. “And I don’t have a side. Apparently I’ll be standing in the middle.”
Darius ran into the area, slowing when he saw us. The dragons sailed lazily overhead, Penny and Emery on Saphira and Cahal on Coppelia.
“The elves are starting to play dirty, yes,” Vlad said, glancing at Darius. “From reports I’ve received, their…foul play won’t be relegated to the Realm. If you truly plan to stand in the middle, you might watch yourself.”
Darius tilted his head down a bit, coming to a stop next to me.
“One last thing.” Vlad shifted his weight a bit, his gaze on Darius now. “Who led the other vampire group into the Underworld?”
Darius’s arm came around my waist. “Someone who isn’t to be trifled with. Someone who doesn’t have a side in this conflict but is pretending to choose ours at present.”
Vlad’s eyes sparkled, and I bet that he knew it had been Ja. I mean, who else could it be? Ever since Penny had awakened the extreme elder from her old-age fugue, she’d been sticking her fingers in everyone’s affairs.
“We should go,” Darius murmured to me.
Before I turned, I looked Vlad straight in the eye and said, “I didn’t tear down the whole illusion. But the elves might do so on the battlefield.” I looked up at the sky, then back down at him. “Choose my father if you want to, but I guarantee he won’t protect you if the sun makes an appearance. Not if he doesn’t have to. I, on the other hand, will give my life to protect Darius. If you stand next to me, you will stand in shade. Either way, you will never sit on the throne.”
Ten
Charity stood at the front of the gathering and looked at the assembled troops. Shifters in animal form waited in a horizontal line of ten, facing the portal within the shifter compound. Two lines of warrior fae stood beyond them. After that stood a row of grim-faced mages, the Bankses included. They wouldn’t be kept away, no matter their age…or sweat suit clothing choices.
This crew wasn’t their full arsenal by a long shot, but these individuals had been handpicked for their experience, power, and determination under fire. They didn’t need many right now—they needed a quick, hard punch to create an opening, and then intense cover while Reagan and the others made the journey into the Brink.