As Zayne and I approached them, I saw only Dez and Nic were there, standing as far away as they could from the other three. I really couldn’t blame them since one of them was Lucifer, who... I squinted. Who was apparently watching something on an iPad.
“You guys are here.” Nicolai turned to us, and there was no mistaking the relief in his voice.
“Where is everyone else?” I asked.
“We figured it would be better if the others hung back,” Nicolai explained, glancing toward the fallen tree Lucifer was perched on. “Less chance for things to go south.”
“It’s a good call,” Layla said. “His legion of unwanted houseguests is also staying back.”
“I don’t think any of that is really necessary,” Roth said. “Like Lucifer is even aware of what is happening right now.”
Lucifer didn’t even appear to hear us.
“He has earbuds in,” Zayne explained. “Let me guess—Supernatural?”
Layla nodded.
“I can’t believe Lucifer is sitting over there with an iPad,” murmured Dez. “This feels like a lucid dream.”
“The last several days of my life have felt like a lucid dream,” Layla replied.
Grinning at her, Roth then turned to me. “You ready to do this?”
My heart skipped a beat. “Yes. Is he?”
“He is. He knows the plan. Backup is here. Well, almost all backup.” Roth dragged a hand over the center of his chest. “Time to play.”
Wispy black smoke floated out from underneath Roth’s shirt, spilling into the air beside him. The shadows shifted into thousands of little black dots spinning in the air, like minicyclones.
Bambi was the first to come off his skin and take form. The giant snake immediately slithered her way over to Zayne and I.
Three shadows formed from the spinning beads, dropping to the ground—black, white and a mixture of both. Above them, I saw iridescent blue and gold...scales that appeared along the belly and the back of the dragon.
Holy crap, it was the dragon I’d heard about. Excitement filled me, because dragon.
My eyes widened as deep red wings sprouted, along with a long, proud snout and clawed hind legs. Its eyes matched Roth’s, a bright yellow.
But...but it was, like, the size of a small dog.
I looked down. Three kittens toddled about, one all white, one completely black and a third that was black and white. The white one pounced on the black-and-white kitten, knocking it over and falling over onto its back in the process. The black one jumped, sweeping at the baby dragon’s tail.
Slowly, I lifted my head to Roth. I’d never been more disappointed in my life.
“They don’t get out much,” he said with a shrug.
“Kittens?” I whispered. “And a baby dragon? Seriously? You brought kittens and a baby dragon as backup? Are they a snack for Bambi?”
The black kitten hissed at me.
“Just wait,” Layla said as Bambi slid over my foot, lifting her diamond-shaped head. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be waiting for as Bambi nudged my hand, obviously wanting pets. I patted her head, my hand freezing when the white kitten stretched out its teeny, tiny paws and yawned.
Actually yawned.
“Nitro’s just getting warmed up,” he said as Dez and Nicolai stared.
“Do you think they can speed this up?” Zayne said under his breath. “Because this is getting awkward.”
The little fluff of fur mewled as the fur stood up along the center of its back. It opened its mouth again, and I swore to God, if it yawned once more, I was just going to kick Roth.
In the face.
And then grab the little guys and hide them before they ended up getting trampled to death.
Except what came out of it was a meow that rose and deepened into a guttural growl that raised the hairs all over my body. The black one let out a snarl that didn’t match its body, and the black-and-white one hissed like a very large, very angry predator.
And then they changed.
The ball of white fur grew and expanded, legs lengthening and shoulders widening. Sleek muscles appeared and fragile claws grew into thick, sharp ones. That cute mewl turned into a roar as Nitro’s snout lengthened, mouth opening to bare shark-size fangs.
On four legs, the kittens reached my waist. Totally large enough to eat me.
“Holy crap,” I whispered.
Roth stroked a hand down the center of the black-and-white one while the dragon remained pint-size as it sat on Layla’s shoulder. “This is Fury. The black one is Thor,” Roth said. “And they like to eat things they’re normally not supposed to, don’t they? Like Wardens?”
“Roth,” Layla warned before turning to the Wardens. “He’s just kidding.”
The way the one named Fury stared at the two Wardens told me not to be so sure about that.
Time to redirect attention. “What about Robin?” I asked. “Does he get bigger?” The image of a giant fox creeped me out.
“He will once he gets older,” Layla said, touching her covered arm. “He’s still a baby, though. If I let him off, all he would do is chase his tail.”