Page 91 of Lost in Fire

I won’t let them take you from me again.

The door explodes inward.

Metal crashes against stone with enough force to shake dust from the ceiling. Harsh fluorescent light floods our sanctuary, and I’m already moving, adrenaline slamming through me asfour armed guards pour into the cell. Behind them stalks Vex, his cold eyes taking in our entangled forms with disgust.

“Time to wake up, traitor,” Vex’s voice cuts through the chaos like a blade. “Your special day has arrived.”

But Hargen is already rising, his body coiled like a spring between me and the threat. When the first guard reaches for me, Hargen moves without hesitation. His fist connects with the man’s throat, dropping him instantly. The second guard fires his electric baton, but Hargen twists away, grabbing the weapon and driving his elbow into the man’s temple.

“You want her?” Hargen’s voice is a growl. “Come through me first.”

Two more guards rush him. Hargen throws one against the wall hard enough to crack stone, but the other manages to get behind him with a restraint collar. The moment it snaps around his neck, Hargen staggers as the magic drains from him.

“Hargen!” I lunge forward, but hands seize my arms, dragging me back. I twist viciously, feeling my nails—partially shifted to claws—rake across someone’s face. Blood splatters the floor.

A guard raises his baton toward me, but Hargen roars—a sound that shouldn’t be possible in human form—and breaks free from his captors long enough to tackle the man away from me. They go down hard, but more guards swarm him, batons crackling with electricity.

“Stop!” The word tears from my throat as they shock him repeatedly. His body convulses, but even then, he’s trying to crawl toward me, his eyes locked on mine with desperate fury.

“Get away from her,” he snarls, blood trickling from his mouth where someone’s boot found its mark. “I’ll kill every one of you bastards—”

A baton catches him across the skull, and he crumples.

“No!” I throw myself forward with enough force to knock one guard off balance, but more hands grab me, lifting me bodily from the ground. “If you’ve killed him—”

“Relax,” Vex says, stepping over Hargen’s prone form like he’s debris. “He’s just unconscious. Though I can’t promise he’ll remain that way for long.”

They drag me from the cell, and I crane my neck for one last look at Hargen. He’s stirring, trying to push himself up on shaking arms, and our eyes meet for a split second.

The promise in his gaze is fierce and unwavering:I’ll find you.

The corridor stretches endlessly before us, sterile white walls reflecting the harsh overhead lights. Vex walks beside me as I’m half pushed, half dragged, his posture radiating satisfaction as I struggle against the guards’ grip.

“You know,” he says conversationally, “I’ve been looking forward to this moment for some time. The infamous Shadowhand, revealed at last.”

“Whatever you’re planning, Vex, it won’t work,” I spit, still fighting the hands that hold me. “You can’t break us.”

His laugh is soft and genuinely amused. “Break you? My dear Vanya, I have no intention of breaking you. That would be far too merciful.”

We turn a corner, and the temperature drops noticeably. The walls here are older, carved from black stone that seems to absorb light rather than reflect it. Ancient runes spiral across the surfaces—binding symbols that make my skin crawl.

“Do you know what disgusts me most about you?” Vex asks, his voice taking on a contemplative tone. “It’s not your betrayal of the Syndicate. It’s not even your obscene relationship with that witch-blooded mongrel.”

I bare my teeth. “Careful, Vex.”

“It’s the waste,” he continues as if I hadn’t spoken. “You were born pure. A precious bloodline. Perfect genetics. And you threwit all away to create something vile.” He stops walking and turns to face me fully. “You had a duty to preserve the sanctity of our race, and instead you chose to corrupt it.”

“My daughter is not vile.”

“Your daughter is exactly what’s wrong with dragonkind.” His eyes flash with fanatic fervor. “Mixed blood weakens the entire network. Every hybrid born diminishes our collective power.”

The ceremonial chamber doors loom ahead of us, carved with serpentine figures that seem to writhe in the flickering torchlight. Inside, I can hear the murmur of assembled voices—Syndicate officials gathered for what I can only assume is meant to be a show.

“You want to know what your punishment is?” Vex asks as we pause before the doors. “Death would be too simple. Too clean. Too merciful for someone who’s betrayed everything sacred about our heritage.”

Dread pools in my stomach, cold and heavy. “Just get on with it.”

“Hargen Cole will face execution by dragon fire at noon,” he says, watching my face carefully for my reaction. “Poetic justice, don’t you think? The same fate you supposedly suffered.”

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