Page 42 of Dragons Of Shadow and Sea

Her tone darkens, filling with regret. "They know, Malik."

"What?" My ribs are a cage, crushing my lungs. "What do they know?"

She drops her head into her hands. "They know about your mate."

EMBER

"Who's there?" I cross my arms and peer into the dimness. My mind races, trying to come up with explanations that don't involve me being horribly murdered right now. Crap--what were the names of Malik's scary, grumpy friends? "Obi? Zahra?"

There's a dark echo of a laugh. A man's voice sneers, "Really? You don't recognize me? After we spent so much time together and became such good friends?"

The man pulls back his hood, and I take a step backward.

"Li." I swallow, my throat grating. Despite the terror and anger racing through my veins, I force myself to stand tall. "If that's even your real name."

I first met Li as Jianyu's assistant. He was small and meek and wore glasses, and I honestly kind of ignored him. He blended into the background so easily.

Right until the moment he and Rafe's aide Atina confronted me outside the Fire King's castle. First they accused my best friend Amy of sabotaging the peace summit between the Fire and Stone Kingdoms. Then, when Jianyu and Rafe showed up, they changed their tune and tried to frame me for the attack.

It didn't work, of course. For a few bleak moments, I feared my mates would abandon me, but they stood beside me, putting their doubts aside.

Then I realized who had actually carried out the bombing: Li and Atina themselves.

It was at that point, of course, that Li threw off the meek, timid act. He revealed himself as a hulking brute of a man--and a Shadow Dragon to boot.

The bracer on my wrist crackles with energy. There's a dark aura surrounding Li that raises the hairs on the back of my neck.

Even more terrifying, it whispers in my ear. Speaking to something deep inside of me--some power awakened by the bracer but which has only become stronger as I've learned how to use it.

"My true name is no concern of yours," Li says, taking a step forward.

My gaze flits around the balcony. I need to get out of here. Not for the first time, I curse my inability to shift. Turning into a dragon and flying away would be really freaking helpful right now.

I am what I am, though.

If I ran, could I make it to the door before Li could reach me? Even if I did, would Malik's home really offer any safety? A wall of sheer, pane glass wouldn't hold Li back for long. Even if I could escape out onto the street, I don't know my way around. Malik said that there are guards posted at the entrance. Surely, they'd help me.

My chest constricts. What I really need are my mates. I hate that that makes me some sort of damsel in distress, but it's not my fault that they're powerful dragons and I'm just...not. Not yet, at least.

Instinctively, I reach out for them through our bond, but even as I do, my stomach sinks. Jianyu and Rafe are being held prisoner--I don't even know where. Maybe Malik is close enough to hear me and get to me.

But before I can form any kind of coherent message, Li narrows his eyes. "No one is coming to help you, this time."

Then he lifts his hands to the side.

The very light of the sun seems to dim as he pulls dark energy into his palms. My throat closes, panic clawing at me, but my dragon roars inside my chest. He hurls the first ball of shadows at me, and I throw up my arm.

A giant purple bubble of shimmering light appears around me, and I could cry for relief. My protection spells are a work in progress; I've really never learned to properly control them, but they've always come through for me in moments of desperation.

As his first few bolts of darkness hit the sphere and dissipate into nothingness, Li snarls. "Child’s play. In the Shadow Realm, our whelps learn such parlor tricks before they can even fly."

I don't have time to be bewildered by the insult, but my mind spins all the same. He's seen this kind of magic before? In the Shadow Realm?

If he weren't trying to kill me, I'd have a hell of a lot of questions for him.

As it is, he keeps hurling fistful after fistful of dark energy at me. While the first few shattered harmlessly, as he continues his assault, I begin to feel the way they're weakening my defenses. I concentrate harder, trying to adopt the stances High Priestess Fang of the Stone Kingdom taught me. My bracer hums hotter, and my own hands crackle with darkness and light, but I can't withstand this forever.

What happens when my defenses fail? Can I afford to find out?

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