Page 86 of The Broken Prince

She raised her voice a little more. “Get your ass over here.”

Jeremiah and I looked at each other again, both of us knowing it was probably a trap.

She threw her arms down. “Then run!” She took off, running behind a pile of rubble and then disappearing.

“Where’d she go?” Jeremiah asked.

I didn’t give a shit. “Let’s run back to the dragons.” We left the rubble and started to run, and that was when the ground directly beneath our feet began to shake, to shake so hard that walking was impossible. I hit the dirt and caught myself with my arms.

Jeremiah’s dragon landed beside him, and he was able to pull himself onto the beast.

I pushed myself back to my feet and saw Nightshade fly toward me, flapping his wings hard to reach me.

Behind you!

I looked over my shoulder and almost fell from the shakes, seeing a group of men a foot taller than me approach, their skin dark like ash, their exposed flesh showing veins of fire. They weren’t men at all…

Run.

I tried to run, but the ground was so uneven that I shifted from left to right, tripping over my own feet. But the demons walked effortlessly, like they and the ground were the same. They were close behind me, just a few feet away. Leave me.

Nightshade flew straight toward me. No.

I looked behind me, seeing one of them had a crossbow, and it wasn’t aimed at me, but at Nightshade’s face, its mark on one of his eyes. I pulled out my blade and turned around, doing my best to handle the sword when standing on an earthquake. I aimed for the crossbow, missing the mark but causing him to turn and miss, hitting Nightshade’s armor. Leave. Tell Huntley what happened.

One of them sneered, looking at Nightshade like dinner.

It made me sick to my stomach, so I screamed. “I said leave, Nightshade!” The men didn’t care about me, deflecting my blades without even looking at me, their hungry eyes on the brilliant dragon right before them. I swiped at one, drawing blood from the arm that smoked as it flowed out, and he didn’t seem to feel it.

Then they sprinted, ready to jump on Nightshade and force him to the ground.

“Nightshade!”

He launched from the ground and into the sky, his powerful wings lifting him high into the air, the arrow from the crossbow bouncing off the steel my sister had outfitted him with. He was a dot quickly, safe from the demons on the ground. I will return for you.

I know.

The ground had stopped shaking, so I ran for it.

I ran faster than I ever had in my life, knowing I had mere seconds as a head start.

I thought of Avice. Lila. Huntley.

Everyone I would never see again.

And then a fucking miracle happened.

The girl from before popped up from beneath the ground, opening a steel hatch right in front of me, like my path was meant to take me straight here. “Jump.”

I didn’t hesitate before I dropped into the hole, hitting steel as I crumpled to the ground.

“We’ve got to run.” She grabbed my wrist and forced me up. “Now.”

I was on my feet, surged with adrenaline, and running as fast as I could.

The tremors in the earth returned, and I could feel the steel implode behind us as the tunnel caved in. It was too narrow to run side by side, so I ran behind her, following her into the darkness…having no idea where we would end up.

TWENTY-ONE

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