Page 46 of Heart of Fire (Royal Ice Dragons #3)

DARE

As Hanna stirred in my arms, I cradled her head to my chest. “That’s my girl. Come back to me.”

Then Baelur moved toward us, opening his mouth in a scream. Kaelan moved to meet him, small compared to the god that towered above him but fearless.

The same sense of dread washed over me. Waking these emotions must be this god’s power.

I always felt so close to the edge of that ocean of dread within me as it was. It always lapped at the shores of my mind, ever since my parents died, inviting me to wade in and let the water close over my head.

My eyes flooded with tears. Sometimes, I just wanted to stop fighting. It had been so long; I’d been fighting since I was ten years old, and I was no closer to winning. But I couldn’t stop fighting, not with Hanna in my arms and Kaelan facing down a god.

Then there was a hand on my cheek. Hanna’s voice was soft and tender. “Dare?”

I caught the first glimpse of her now-awake face through a blur, and then I felt the smile spread across my face in relief. “Hanna.”

Her hand fell to my shoulder, steadying herself, even though I was still holding her, and I knew she wanted me to set her on her feet. Reluctantly, I did so, but I was keenly aware of Baelur and Kaelan facing off.

“I need to help Kaelan,” I told her.

“Get her out of here,” Thorne said behind me. He stalked toward us from the wreckage of the temple, carrying his bloodied sword. “I’ll help Kaelan.”

“Neither of you can face a god and win,” she said, and her voice didn’t seem quite her own.

Fear rocked the world beneath my feet. “Hanna?”

“Yes,” she said, her eyes lighting in exasperation that was all Hanna. “It’s me. And I need to face this asshole god.”

“Why?” Thorne demanded. “You’re hurt, you need to?—”

I studied her face; I no longer heard anything he was saying as my mind tried to track what had happened. She looked so certain of herself. She must have struggled with the goddess; I’d seen the way she had been locked in her own mind.

But she had emerged. She was victorious.

“She said she needs to be the one to face him,” I interrupted Thorne, as understanding finally clicked into place for me. To her, I said, “I’ll make sure you aren’t interrupted.”

By Baelur’s side—or by our own.

Either way, she rewarded me with a smile. “I love you, Dare. Do you know that?”

My heart soared. “Why don’t you save our asses and then tell me sweet things when we’ve got time, Hanna?”

Thorne’s dark eyes blazed, but Hanna let out a trill of a laugh.

Then she turned to face the god, moving in a few strides toward Kaelan’s side.

He realized she was coming and threw up an arm as if to push her back. He didn’t dare to take his eyes off the form of the god. Even Kaelan looked like a child before him.

“Trust me, Kae.”

“Hanna!” He reached for her.

Somehow, she seemed to slip out of his grip. She gave him a quick glance over her shoulder. “If you’re going to love me, you’re going to have to see me.”

The god stared down at her. “So, you think you can fight me because you defeated the Shadow Weaver? She’s always been weak. Just like a woman.”

“And yet, you wanted her powers,” Hanna said.

Dragons dove down toward Baelur.

Baelur raised a hand, and the two dragons paused in midair. They hung there for a perilous second.

Hanna’s gaze swept upward, and she let out a sound that was half a scream of fear and half a shout of defiance. Her fire magic blasted toward Baelur. The flames beat against his body, and for a second, we could see nothing but the orange fire rising around him.

When the flames died, he was still standing. He still towered over us all.

He closed his fist, and the two dragons crumpled as if they had been made of paper. They plummeted toward the ground.

Kaelan leapt toward her. I grabbed him to stop him—or at least to slow him down. No one could keep him away from Hanna long.

Kaelan turned on me, sharp and dangerous. He didn’t need to voice his demand for an explanation; it was there in the way he gripped his sword and the tension of his tall, broad-shouldered frame.

“She’s got the goddess on her side. Hold on. Let her go.”

“How the fuck would you know that?” he demanded.

“She said so,” I said. “She always has a plan. We need to follow it.”

“And just like you, it’s usually a stupid one,” Kaelan muttered.

When he pulled out of my grip, I didn’t try to hold him, but he hesitated.

For a moment, at least, he gave her the space to be…Hanna.

I held my breath, too, not sure how the goddesses’ powers could help her.

Hanna advanced on him, raising her fire magic again.

“Your flames have no effect on me, little girl,” he told her.

“I didn’t expect the flames to hurt you,” she answered.

The flames surrounding Baelur flickered and rose high, like pillars reaching toward the sky. He let out a laugh, and then the gentle flickering shadows that were caused by the flame swirled around him. He stopped, choking, as the shadows dove down his throat.

“The Shadow Weaver’s powers,” I told Kaelan.

“What the hell is going on?”

“They tried to sacrifice her to a goddess. And somehow, she faced the goddess and came out on top. She’s wielding the goddess’s powers.”

Kaelan’s jaw was tight, and I could tell he was barely keeping himself from rushing to her side.

“You’ll only distract her,” I warned. “Let her fight.”

“I know,” he gritted. “That’s the only reason I’m still standing here. Hating you. Because I thought I left her with you to keep her safe.”

“It’s not that easy to keep Hanna safe,” I told him.

“Oh, I am keenly aware.”

Baelur opened his mouth, and the shadows billowed out of it. He raised his hands and swept them away, and they dissipated in the air. Her flames had already died, but as they faded, she raced toward him.

Hanna raised new pillars of fire, new shadows. The shadow that she cast stretched in front of her, growing longer and taller, until it slammed into Baelur. He stumbled back.

Then he swept his arms forward. The ground shook beneath our feet. The temple walls began to crumble inward, and Hanna let out a cry of alarm.

As the temple crumpled inward, dragons soared out of the wreckage. Hanna’s brothers-in-law emerged and headed toward us.

Hanna screamed. It wasn’t like her, that sound full of agony, and at first I thought there must be someone she loved still in the temple. And then I realized, it must just be the goddess’s influence, devastated over the loss of her temple.

Baelur took advantage of her distraction and grabbed her tiny form. She looked so small in his fists. But her shadows rose and fought him.

“Hanna!” Branok screamed, clearly afraid seeing her in the grip of the towering god. He raced for her, and I was too late to stop him.

Baelur swept out an arm and knocked Branok backward. He tumbled end over end, and when he landed on his feet, he was shifting into a dragon already.

Hanna’s shadow slammed into Baelur and sent him falling backward. She leapt free.

Baelur rose with supernatural ease, and as Hanna raised her fire and her shadows again, he turned and blasted all his energy toward Branok.

Branok breathed fire back at him, but the flames rebounded on his dragon form.Hanna whipped her shadows between them, protecting Branok.

I was afraid that the god would see her weakness.

Her greatest weakness was us.

There were a dozen people she loved in the clearing now outside the collapsed temple. A dozen targets that Baelur could strike out at. He could keep her distracted.

“Branok, break away!” I shouted at him. “Give her space!”

Kaelan drew his sword. “For the first time, I’m on Branok’s side.”

“You’re both being fools. She doesn’t need us to save her, she needs us to stay out of the way!”

But as Branok and his people, and Kaelan and Thorne advanced to help, Baelur flashed a grin at Hanna. The triumphant look in his eyes terrified me.

“It looks as if we both have our own cults,” he said. “Let me offer a sacrifice to yours.”

He reached out, and some kind of magic crackled between him and Kae, who had just reached him.

Kaelan froze in midair, paused in the act of raising his sword.