Page 12 of Centaur Bolt

I froze, pushing back on the Deranger as the chains dropped from me, one by one. Why was he removing them? He was alone, and close enough—I could shred him so fast his power wouldn’t stand a chance.

But he’d given back the one thing that would buy him safety. Fang’s little legs tickled my neck.

As the last chain fell, Rafael met my glower and raised his chin.

Brave? Or foolish?

“I am setting you free,” he said. “But I need your word that you’ll help me. We have to rescue someone else before we can bolt. And it means going up against Isobel and the other Dragons, as well as the Bellatis.”

That sounded bad. What was the point in being freed, if I ended up going against Isobel? I could lie. Pretend to be on board until I was out of this cell.

But from what I’d seen, Rafael was as trapped by this situation as I was.

And he’d saved Fang.

“Who is this person?”

“Marcus.”

I frowned. “That’s the Centaur that escaped?”

“Yes. She’s recaptured him.”

I felt for the guy. But we had a problem if he was counting on me for brawn. “Even at full strength, I cannot fight that bitch,” I said. “And I am a fucking weakling at the moment. Not even sure I can shift form.”

He handed me a bit of wrapped cloth. Within it, Dragon gold—crystal dust.

“I will keep Isobel occupied,” he replied. “You need to grab Marcus and get him out of here. Take him through the gate.”

I inhaled the dust and felt its tingle course through me. But it was a fraction of what I needed. I opened my mouth to repeat the “fucking weakling” point, but then closed it again.

Because this crazy plan got me out of this cage. “Where are we going?”

“Anywhere but here.” His fingers clenched around the crystal.

I could manage that. Dragons didn’t need location crystals to travel the gates, not if I took him somewhere I’d been before. But I hesitated.

“You are going up against Isobel?” No way he’d survive that. Seriously though, why did that bother me?

For a moment, his eyes glowed. Frosty blue and gold. Riveting.

I blinked. Riveting? What the fucking hell was wrong with me?

“If I don’t make it through with you—the town below us is Murnia,” he whispered. “In the realm called Gafriki.”

My brows rose. The Sorceress had selected a particularly dark place for her hideaway. “How are you going to get us past the Bellatis?” I asked.

“Leave that to me,” he said. “Do I have your word?”

My brows rose. He had a high opinion of his powers if he thought he could get us past ‘em. But could he really keep Isobel off me while I rescued this captive?

It didn’t matter, really. He wasn’t likely to survive this crazy plan, and neither was I. But the alternative was even worse.

“Yes,” I told him.

A scream echoed through the cave. It quickly rose to a shriek that hurt my ears. Followed by shouts…

“What the—”

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