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“Oh, would you?” I replied through my teeth. “For real?”

“But I know you need me, cock-swan.” He patted my cheek. “I’m here for you.”

“Coxswain.” My lids squeezed together, and a bellow threatened to roar from me, shaking the ground underfoot.

“I have honey,” AB sang out.

“See ya, assbandit! Honeyhoneyhoneyhoneyhoneyhoney!” Sprig leaped for AB, the black underwear sailing behind him as he jumped on Churro, patting the horse on the head and scrambling to the frail blonde. Every day AB seemed to get thinner, paler, and weaker. It was probably my imagination, but I was so hyperaware of Annabeth’s sickness that it was like I could see her deteriorating before my eyes, which only drove me faster to the caves.

Getting this nectar wasn’t just to save Katrina or fulfill Kat’s vow; it was to save Annabeth’s life. Our only chance.

The ghost of Lexie whispered in my ear, telling me to save Annabeth, to protect her at all costs. To do for AB what I couldn’t do for her.

I pushed my horse into a full gallop, and Tootsie stayed right up next to Caramel. Kat’s horse didn’t even need to be tied to mine; she stayed right on my side, neighing and huffing, like she knew her rider was in trouble too, wanting to get to her. Katrina’s boots and jacket were stuffed in the saddle bag, waiting for their owner to return and claim them.

Annabeth’s horse, Churro, stayed close to me while Cooper remained a little behind us to make sure no one was following, sniffing the air, his senses on alert.

We spotted camping sites along the way, as groups of treasure seekers clustered more and more frequently as we got to our location. It felt odd to see all the people who were going after the same thing still being civil to each other. Soon they would be rivals. Threats. How long until this politeness turned to bloodshed?

Following a gushing river, we came into a clearing, my head turning to the side. Tugging back on the reins, I urged Caramel to a stop as I took in the awe-inspiring view.

“Damn,” I muttered. I didn’t believe in many things, didn’t care about much more, but nature, whether on sea or land, was where I saw true magic. A spirituality I felt and respected.

My head tipped back, my gaze going up high into the sky, the Tenglong Cave kissing the clouds. The width of it was so broad I felt like an ant, inconsequential to its mere existence. I understood why dragons chose this as their home. It was one of those places that dotted your flesh with goosebumps as you got lost in the grandeur.

Only years ago, hundreds of tourists milled around, touring, helicopters flying in and out of the massive caverns, a pebble compared to what used to reside in these caves centuries ago. Tour guides kept you on a certain path, telling you tales of “mythical dragons inhabiting these caves.” Humans would walk along, imagining these Hollywood creations, as if it were some high fantasy story they could indulge in,pretend, when it was actually true.

The creatures were solitary animals who, only when threatened, would attack. But then humans turned them into killing monsters who were destroyed. They slaughtered them by the thousands, hunting them down in their caves when they were asleep and most vulnerable. And slowly the dragons and dragon-shifters went extinct.

Yet, even after generations, I still felt their magic humming from the cave, the crackle against my skin which told me to not enter, to turn around and run. Even now, humans would feel a little rush of anxiety, an overwhelming sensation of nervousness on entering the caves, a nip of warning at the back of their necks. When dragons were still around, their magic would keep most from even discovering the cave, magic that protected themselves and their treasure.

Slipping off Caramel, I slowly approached the entrance. A few groups were already making their way down the well-worn trail carved for the tours, their lanterns, axes, and shovels in their hands.

“Fuck.” Cooper’s voice startled me, whipping my head to the man standing beside me, a strange expression on his face.

“What?”

His eyes still moved over the entrance, a pool of water glinting from deeper in the fissure. “I’ve felt this magic before.”

“Really? When?”

“In Greece. When we went hunting for the Sword of Nuada. It was hidden deep in a cave dragons also used to inhabit. The magic wasa lotweaker there than here, so I didn’t even think about why the sword was hidden there. Now it makes sense.” He shifted his shoulders like the intensity bothered him. “The dragon magic had concealed it for millennia until it started to fade away.”

The Sword of Nuada was one of the four treasures of Tuatha dé Danann. Sword, stone, cauldron, and spear. When gods and goddesses gave a select group of witches power that even fae could not challenge, Druids were created. They crafted such powerful objects they could destroy the world, their magic too much for even the strongest of fae.

They had a lot to do with why the Otherworld (Tuatha dé Danann) did not exist anymore and why Lexie and so many others had died when Stavros tried to take Lars’s throne. The greed to obtain these objects, to rule, had been the downfall of the fae world and the reason they should never be found by fae or humans.

And here we were, trying to find one that might hold evenmorepower and be even more critical if it fell into the wrong hands.

Cooper exhaled, his gaze darting back to where Annabeth was watering and feeding the horses, Sprig on her shoulder. I could feel his anxiety, his need to grab her and walk her right on out of here, keeping her clear of any danger.

“I know.” I followed his line of sight. “But it’s too late now. You know she will never let us go without her.”

“For such a little thing, she is far more stubborn than people think.” Cooper rubbed his brow.

“And it’s why you love her.” I smirked.

A hint of a smile played on Cooper’s mouth, knowing I was right. He loved that about her. She challenged him, kept him in line. As sweet as AB was, she was alsofiercelyloyal and tenacious when it came to her family. I think because all she had gone through, losing her parents, her grandparents not really wanting her, she put her entire heart and soul into her “found” family. Into Cooper, Zoey, Ryker, Wyatt, Sprig, and me. And she put her heart into the orphanage she and Zoey ran.