Page 66 of Dragons Of Shadow and Sea

The portal opens before me just as the first guards pour into the creepy orb room. I step through before I can second guess myself, trying my best to close the magic behind me.

I emerge into the cold, dark prison.

Delaynie shouts in surprise. I'm a bit taken aback, too, to find myself in the same cell with them.

Mariutza on the other hand seems completely at ease. "Faltine, dearie, you're back."

"Ember," I remind her.

"Oh, yes, I remember, I remember." As she regards me, her eyes widen, and she beams. "You've been to see your parents."

Something in my heart cracks open. "Yeah. I have."

"Good, good." Mariutza takes my hand and clasps it in both of hers. "They've been so worried about you."

I share a glance at Delaynie, but she just shrugs.

"Come on." I shake off the tide of feelings threatening to overwhelm me, talking about my parents. "I'm here to rescue you. We have to get out of here."

That gets Delaynie's attention. She rises to her feet and moves to help her grandmother up, too. "You know a way out?"

"Sort of?"

The only good thing about being back in a prison cell is that nobody's looking for me here. I have time to breathe and try to center myself.

Air and water, water and air. Both elements are strong in my blood. I have a closer affinity to water, thanks to my bond with Malik. I try to focus on the feeling of it, somewhere in the distance, but it's not enough to target a portal with.

Sweat runs down my brow. I wish I'd had more time to train with High Priestess Fang--or with anybody, really. What would I give to have Rhiannon here, guiding me in the use of Shadow Magic?

I try yet again to reach out for my mates, but the castle walls block any contact, and I'm left with a cold emptiness seeping into my bones.

And I don't want to. Gods above, I do not want to.

But I focus on the Air Dragon inside of me. I spent half my life in the Air Dragon Kingdom. I've suppressed most of it, but I learned plenty about the magic of the high desert winds.

Storm's face flashes into my vision, and I wince. His brother Fury's twisted, snarling visage is there, too, and the idea that either of them could be my final mate makes my throat clamp up and my stomach churn.

I focus on the feeling of hot air swirling up from Air Dragons' wings.

And there--I've got it.

"Come here." I hold out my hands.

Delaynie places her grandmother's palm in mine before taking my other hand with her own.

And this is literally the fourth time I've ever created a portal. I've only taken someone through a portal with me once before, and that was when I pulled my mates through an opening in space to escape from a rampaging horde of Shadow Dragons.

Mariutza and Delaynie may not be my mates. But the threat of being attacked by Shadow Dragons again is very, very real.

I summon all the magic I have and bend it toward the strongest flicker of Air Dragon magic I can find.

The shimmering, violet portal swirls into being. I feel the first crack in my composure. My bracer burns, but in a stuttering way. My magic is nearing its limit. I just have to hope I have enough.

"Oh, what a lovely door," Mariutza marvels.

And then I'm guiding Mariutza and Delaynie out and through, and hopefully one step closer to freedom.

But instead of some airy, window-lined hall--or better yet the unguarded, secret exit at the northwest corner of the citadel--we emerge into a large bedroom. It's sumptuously decorated in tapestries and furs, and a bright fire burns in the hearth. But all the soft furnishings and warm fires in the world are no match for the oppressive, cold, hollowness of the obsidian walls.

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