Page 13

13

HAILEY

The autumn air hung heavy with an unseasonal heat as I stared down the being who had just appeared in our backyard.

He stood there, entirely too calm for someone confronted by a crowd of angry supernaturals, with an otherworldly shimmer to his skin that made my stomach turn.

His emerald eyes gleamed with a twisted intensity I immediately distrusted.

I could practically feel the waves of wrongness emanating from him, even before he opened his mouth to explain his despicable plans.

"I suppose introductions are in order," the man-dragon began.

"I am Vaelog, the true savior of dragon-kind. And you, my dear Hailey, are an interloper in matters far beyond your comprehension."

Jax tensed beside me, his energy thrumming with barely contained fury.

I placed a steadying hand on his arm, never taking my eyes off Vaelog.

Around us, the others shifted uneasily.

Kendra, her hands sparking with offensive magic; Luke, fangs bared; Ransom and Izora, ancient power rolling off them in waves; Zara, a coiled spring ready to launch herself at the threat.

But it was Adalinda who spoke next.

"Vaelog? I thought you were lost centuries ago. What madness is this? What have you done?"

A grotesque smile stretched across Vaelog's too-perfect features. "What have I done? Oh, my dear misguided queen, I've only ever acted in the best interests of our kind. While you were content to hide in shadows, to mingle with lesser beings, I saw the truth. That dragons were meant to rule."

He began to pace, his movements fluid and hypnotic. "I was there at the beginning. Awakened by the same divine power that created you. But unlike you, I had to take our power. But I had to do it because I alone understood our true purpose. We are not meant to serve, to integrate, to submit. We are apex beings, destined to reign over this world."

My mind raced to put the pieces together. This creature, this twisted mockery of a dragon, had been there since the start? But Adalinda's shock painted a different picture.

"You were never chosen," she breathed, realization dawning in her eyes. "You stole the ritual, corrupted it for your own gain. Quetzalcoatl had no hand in your creation."

Vaelog snarled, his facade of calm shattering. "Quetzalcoatl was a fool, content to let our potential rot! I took what was rightfully mine, and I emerged stronger for it. Strong enough to correct the mistakes of the past."

A cold dread settled in my gut as the implications became clear. "You killed them," I growled, my own dragon wanting to rise to the surface. "The other dragons. You slaughtered them in some twisted bid for purity."

"I cleansed our bloodline of weakness," Vaelog spat. "And I would have rebuilt it, stronger than ever, if not for Adalinda's stubbornness. Together, we could have birthed a new age of dragons, an unstoppable force to claim dominion over this world."

Bile rose in my throat at the implications. This monster had planned to forcibly breed Adalinda, to twist her into some broodmare for his deranged vision. Beside me, Jax let out a rumble that promised violence.

Adalinda's face contorted with disgust. "You could've just asked me out," she muttered darkly.

Vaelog ignored her, his focus zeroing in on me. "And now you dare to interfere with destiny? You, an abomination of vampire and dragon? You cannot stand against me. None of you can."

His form shimmered, then exploded outward in a mass of scales and shadow. Where the man had stood, a dragon now loomed, but a dragon unlike any I'd seen, which to be fair was only me, Jax, Adalinda, and little Flint. This was larger, darker, its very being radiating an aura of divine corruption and rage.

Crap. We were in for the fight of our lives. Thank goodness Flint and Goldie were asleep inside the house.

"Adalinda, the daggers!" I shouted, even as I reached for my power.

In a flash, Adalinda darted forward, grabbing one of the ancient blades. Jax and I moved as one, our human forms melting away to be replaced by scales and wings and raw, primal strength.

The battle erupted around us, a whirlwind of claws and magic and desperate determination. Kendra's wards flared to life, shielding us from human eyes as we unleashed hell upon the monstrosity that was Vaelog. Luke and Ransom fought with the savage grace of vampires, their blows blurring with speed. Izora's power crackled through the air, searing and deadly. Zara, Paige, Claudia, Grim, Nash... they all threw themselves into the fray with reckless abandon.

But even with all our strengths combined, Vaelog was a force of nature. His physical might dwarfed ours, his corrupted form shrugging off blows that would've felled a lesser being. He tossed us aside like ragdolls, sending bodies crashing into trees and fences with sickening crunches.

Claudia hit the ground hard, Paige instantly at her side. Grim and Nash closed ranks around Cleo, their focus torn between the fight and her safety. We were losing ground, and fast.

In a desperate gambit, I reached out with my mind, finding Adalinda's familiar presence. "The medallion," I urged, pouring every ounce of my fear and determination into the thought. "The one from Bruce. Please tell me you still have it."

For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then, a surge of startled realization. "It's at home," she replied. "I'd forgotten all about it."

Exasperation warred with hope in my chest. "Get it!" I threw myself back into the fray to buy her time. " Go!"

And she was gone, a streak of silver light vanishing into the night. Jax and I redoubled our efforts, a united front of fang and flame against the overwhelming force that was Vaelog. The others rallied around us, battered but unbroken, fighting with a ferocity born of desperation.

It could have been minutes or hours, time lost all meaning in the chaos of the battle. But just as my strength began to falter, just as Vaelog's claws found purchase in Jax's scaly shoulder, a blinding flare of power lit up the night.

Adalinda had returned, the amulet clutched in her determined grip. She raised it high. "Vaelog! I command you to stand down!"

For a single, breathless moment, nothing happened. Vaelog froze mid-lunge, his grotesque form straining against invisible bonds. A howl of fury and disbelief tore from his throat, but he was powerless to resist.

In a move almost too fast to follow, Adalinda lunged forward and yanked the other dagger from the box. My strength waned as the ward blinked out.

The nullifying dagger flashed as she buried it to the hilt in Vaelog's heaving chest. The scream that followed was a thing of nightmares, a sound that would haunt my dreams for years to come. But as it reached its crescendo, a change rippled through the air.

The sky above us split open, a swirling vortex of light and color that seared my enhanced vision. It was a portal, I realized, to another realm.

Okay. I was getting a little bit sick of portals to other realms.

Through the shimmering gateway, I glimpsed soaring peaks and lush valleys, the distant forms of dragons wheeling through an untouched sky.

"A hidden world," Adalinda whispered with wonder and grief. "One of the realms lost to time and treachery."

Kendra took off running to the other side of the yard. When she was far enough away, she threw up the ward again, higher and farther so the dagger wouldn't kill it again.

Flint and Goldie ran outside, looking up. Flint took off, landing on my scaly back as he trilled in excitement, his small form wriggling with barely contained glee. Despite the chaos, I couldn't help but smile. If the little guy's reaction was anything to go by, we were witnessing something truly extraordinary.

Vaelog's form shuddered and convulsed, his power and might leeching away with every passing second. Adalinda stood over him, the bloodied dagger clenched in a white-knuckled grip.

"The dagger strips away all magic when it pierces flesh," she explained, her eyes never leaving Vaelog's writhing form. "Your ability to shift, your stolen power, it's gone. You're mortal now. Powerless."

As if on cue, Vaelog's dragon form melted away, leaving behind a broken, pathetic figure of a man. He stared up at us with eyes that burned with impotent rage, but there was fear there too, the fear of one who'd flown too close to the sun and felt his wings turn to ash.

The portal pulsed and shimmered, a silent reminder of the wonders and horrors that lay just beyond our reach.

A heavy silence settled over the battlefield as we took stock of our losses and triumphs. Claudia leaned heavily on Paige. Grim and Nash hovered over Cleo, their normally stoic facades cracked with concern. Luke and Ransom looked like they'd gone ten rounds with a woodchipper, but their eyes glinted with grim satisfaction.

And at the center of it all, Jax and I shifted back to our vampire forms and stood shoulder to shoulder, battered but unbroken. Our eyes met, a silent conversation passing between us in a heartbeat.

We had a more immediate problem to deal with. What to do with the self-styled savior turned genocidal maniac?

Adalinda gazed down at Vaelog's prone form, her expression unreadable. "We could end it here," she murmured, the dagger still clutched in her hand. "After everything he's done..."

"No." Jax was firm, resolute. "Death is too easy an escape. He needs to face the consequences of his actions. To understand the depth of his crimes."

I nodded slowly, an idea taking shape. "The vampire rehab program. Dominic and Amaya have experience dealing with dangerous, unhinged individuals. They could hold him, evaluate him..."

Jax was already reaching for his phone, quickly filling in our fellow councilmates on the situation. In a matter of minutes, it was settled. Kendra opened a portal to Milan, and Ransom and Paige hauled a snarling, struggling Vaelog through to face his new reality.

As the portal winked out of existence, I let out a big breath. It was over. The immediate threat was contained, and we could begin the long process of picking up the pieces.