A Dawn of Onyx (The Sacred Stones, #1)(102)

Lazarus was in front of me now, with the glittering silver dagger. I braced myself for the inevitable searing pain.

A sharp gust of wind and the sound of sparks on metal knocked me off my feet, and I toppled backward onto Leigh and the soldiers that held us.

I clamped down on the relief—

Free. We were free.

When I sat up, my vision still blurred from the force, Kane was gone.

In his place on the sand, beside three eviscerated soldiers that were just moments ago holding him down…

Was the dragon from the very first night I was flown to Onyx.

All sleek black lines and glistening scales—it seemed ridiculous I hadn’t known all along. Kane in his dragon form was the same: a mind-bendingly beautiful, terrifying creature of wicked power.

My heart froze solid.

Then, without a beat, Lazarus shifted as well.

The power of his transformation forced sand into my eyes, and I coughed against the biting taste of lighte on my tongue, shielding Leigh in my arms.

Lazarus’ shifted form was a gruesome, gray-scaled wyvern. Larger than Kane’s dragon by more than half, and twice as frightening. While Kane’s shifted self still retained some warmth, some humanity, Lazarus was all monster. Nothing but cold, unfeeling violence.

The pointed ridges down his long back and across a swiping tail glinted in the white sun, and a ragged pink scar sailed along his scaled rib cage. Rows of teeth shone like stalagmites in a crowded, treacherous cave. Bright red eyes like fresh blood shot to me only once, before lunging toward Kane. His claws slashed through the air as he took Kane’s dragon form in his jaws by the neck and shot into the sky.

I squinted up at the early dawn light above the battle-torn beach. Like a horrific domino effect, a handful of the Fae soldiers around us shifted as well and shot upward after the two of them.

Sphinxes, hydras, harpies.

All fae mercenaries as Kane had told me, taking off after their King.

Kane didn’t have a chance.

A hideous and bewildering celestial battle waged above us among the stars that mingled with early, pale light, but I didn’t wait to see what might happen next.

I grabbed for my sword and swung at the soldiers that surrounded Leigh and me. I knew we were outnumbered. Still, I had to try.

“Stay with me,” I barked at Leigh, as I drove my blade into a Fae soldier’s neck.

I parried and blocked, moved through soldier after soldier.

But something wasn’t right.

Why had nobody so much as touched me?

I wasn’t that good. These were Fae soldiers, supposedly the deadliest men ever to have existed, and they were trained for battle.

“What are you doing?” Leigh asked, her voice small.

“I was taught to wield a sword. It’s a long story.”

“I’m not talking about that.”

Then I saw it.

The sand below our feet as we moved was dented inward. Each soldier that attempted to touch us was blasted back by a glass-thin protective burst of light.

“That can’t be me,” I said, but my voice was softer than a whisper. The final Fae of full-blood born at last. Images of the warm glow and strength I felt when I fought the wolfbeast flooded my mind. “But let’s not stick around to find out.”

I sheathed my sword and raced for the ship, carrying Leigh in my arms. The golden arc around us was a second sun to the bare blue light on the beach giving way to morning.

“What about the king?” Leigh screamed as we bowled over soldiers of every creed and kingdom.

“Which one?”

“Your king!” she cried.

“Leave him.” At the thought of Kane, a thundercloud of fury settled over me. He had lied to me from the very first moment we met.

Used me.

If he lived, I was going to choke the life out of him myself.

Upon reaching the ship, Leigh ran up the gangway.

There they were.

My mother and Ryder, their faces bathed in relief.

Leigh fell into their arms and a tiny part of my shattered heart healed.

“Thank the Stones,” said my mother, holding Leigh to her chest.

The deck was strewn with fallen Amber bodies—Griffin and Eryx must have taken the ship from them while we were held by Lazarus. A hum of triumph sailed through me at their success.

But Peridot and Onyx soldiers were barely keeping Lazarus’ men from boarding the ship. Amelia and Mari helped to untangle ropes and unfurl sails as swords clanged and voices bellowed. The fiery roars in my ears signaled the salamanders were coming.

Our steel was going to be no match for a firefight.

“You have to go, now!” I called to the Onyx soldier captaining the ship. The sun was just rising over the sea, and we were losing the cover of darkness we would need to sail away and not be followed. I helped a young Peridot man clad in armored pants and tattoos hoist the anchor aboard. Griffin gave the signal to the captain, the vessel creaked into motion, and I sprinted back down the gangway, ignoring the pleas of my family.

No matter how much their voices crushed my heart.

Ripped it in two.

I had to help, to do something. I scrambled down into the shallow water, planted my feet in the sand beside the other Onyx warriors, and raised my sword.

Two clawed feet landed beside me.

I swung the metal in my hands to attack but recognized the sea glass eyes immediately.