Page 11 of I Am the Night

"What the hell just happened?" I ask nobody in particular.

Elijah grins. "I think you just became the most powerful person in this world."

"Shit."

Sebastian runs a hand through his hair, a frown tugging at his lips. "This is… complicated. You bought us time, but if we don't solve this murder, she'll hold you personally responsible."

"I'm not sure how that's any worse than her destroying the world today with us in it," I point out as we walk back to the carriage.

"Good point," Sebastian says, though the worry has not left his face.

I look down at the rings lining my fingers. All six of the dragon rings plus Cole's ring. I can feel the power in them all zinging through my flesh, sending goosebumps up my arms. "We need to get Ana and Zara home," I say. "And then we've got to get to work."

We also need to talk about the oaths they all just took, but right now isn't the time. First, I need to find out more from Callia about how she can kill dragons.

"Explain," I tell her, and the brothers glance at me, then realize I'm talking to an invisible unicorn and studiously ignore us.

"The only way to kill a dragon—other than being a dragon yourself—is to puncture their heart with a unicorn horn," she says.

She glances away, as if caught in a long-forgotten memory. "There were many of us once upon a time. We galloped over the lands free and wild. Until one day, a unicorn and a dragon got into an argument, and the unicorn ran the dragon through with his horn. The dragon died, shocking everyone. This was so long ago most on this world wouldn't remember it, but still the story spread, and then we were hunted, our horns fetching top price from illegal traders. The dragons, fearing the risk we posed, even those of us loyal to the Council, did the unspeakable. They quietly had all the unicorns killed and had all our horns destroyed by dragon fire."

"Did they kill you?" I ask, stunned by the cruelty of it all.

"Yes." But she doesn't expand as we reach the carriage.

I leave the questions for later as I examine the busted wheel. "Couldn't earth magic fix this?" I ask Sebastian.

"No, this is dead wood. I can't manipulate something that has no life left in it."

"You can," Callia whispers into my ear. "You have all the elements and can therefore sing to the parts that are dead, and the parts that yet live."

I'm used to these impromptu lessons from her, and I love stretching my powers, so I concentrate and focus on the wheel, on the molecules that form it, and I visualize it repairing itself like a broken bone. As I do, the wheel shifts, shakes, and begins to move together, the splintered pieces fusing back into one seamlessly, until it's entirely restored.

"Is there any limit to your power?" Sebastian asks, in awe.

"I don't know. How would I fare in a straight up fight with the Mother of Dragons?" I ask. "Because if we don't do what she wants, it might come to that."

They all look like they're about to shit themselves at the suggestion. Even Callia shakes her head.

"You are not ready to face her," Callia says. "She's much more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

I detect equal measure awe and fear in her voice, and I wonder how well she knows the golden dragon. I'm still not entirely used to dealing with beings who have lived such ancient lives. It's a perspective that's hard to fit into a human-sized lifespan.

"You cannot fight her," Elijah says, speaking over Callia.

"Yeah, I just got the lecture from the unicorn. I get it. Let's do our jobs so I don't have to." I reach for the carriage to get in, when Callia passes a hand over mine and a flash grips me so hard my stomach clenches and I double over in pain, vomiting what little food is in my stomach.

Liam rushes to my side, holding my hips as I continue to heave.

He's speaking, but I can't hear him, as my head pounds with the grip of a vision I can't stop or control.

Callia stands before me, but she looks different. Her horn is missing, shaved off at the base. And then the vision shifts and I see a rider on horseback, making a mad dash through the woods towards the portal. He wears a black cloak and at his hip is a dagger that glows silver, made from unicorn horn.

And he's trying to leave the Otherworld. Ahead of him the Dragon's Breath wall looms large, and he's heading straight towards it.

The vision begins to fade, and through the pounding in my head, I force it to last just a little longer. I need to get a closer look. To see who's on the horse.

Something burns my eyes and just before I slam back into my own body, I see his face.

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