Page 85 of Her Dragon Daddy Disaster
“Yes,” I said. “I recognize the uniforms. Which means they’re already inside the palace. We have to be careful.”
The shouts from behind lessened and then vanished entirely as I guided us around several corners, all of which were thankfully empty. We were close to the throne room now. Just one stairwell and a corner to go before we reached the side doors. I’d chosen them instead of the main entrance, hoping Malakai would leave them less guarded.
I slowed as we approached the broad staircase that led down a level. Its wide steps curved down to the right and out of sight, preventing anyone at the top from seeing the bottom. It also was perfectly smooth-walled. No decorations, just a hollow tube, perfect for channeling flame. One of the hidden defensive measures of the palace.
It would be very easy for anyone down below to burn me alive while I tried to descend, catching me in a wave of flame I couldn’t avoid. Which meant there was only one way for me to go.
“Wait until I give the all-clear,” I whispered, ushering Sarah and Jakub off to one side, hidden behind a statue of one of our earliest sovereigns, the cool marble more than enough to keep them safe.
“What are you doing?” Sarah asked as I backed up down the hallway we’d come from.
“Slow won’t work,” I said simply before taking off at a run.
Straight for the stairs. I reached them at full speed and kept going. My feet found the corner where the wall met the stair, and I rocketed down the spiral at a forty-five-degree angle, barely slowing.
Even so, my presence was noted by whoever was below. A gust of fire greeted me an instant before I slammed into the navy-blue uniformed traitor. I knew the impact was coming and thrust an elbow up and into his neck. Bone snapped, and the body went limp as I rode it to the floor, bouncing off and into a crouch as I slid down the shiny tile floor, looking back the way I’d come.
The other guard was already coming at me, inhaling deep to breathe fire. I dodged it and leaped for him, spitting a fireball at his face. It wasn’t enough to kill or even badly hurt. Rather, it was an instinctive reaction when something comes at your face.
He ducked and blocked the fire. And while it might have missed him, I didn’t. We went down in a pile, and I didn’t hold back. It was a life-or-death fight. My fingers found his balls, and I made a fist with all the force I could muster.
His scream was cut off as my shoulder clipped his jaw, snapping it closed. It popped back open as the guard reeled woozily, and I yanked it down farther, unhinging it, and then breathed dragonfire down his throat. Flesh melted and sizzled, and the guard died as I melted his insides.
“All clear,” I called. “But it’s not pretty.”
“Understood,” Sarah replied as they came down to join me.
Even she kept her eyes averted, but I saw her nose curl upward in disgust. I couldn’t blame her. The smell of burned flesh was anything but pleasant.
There was no time to waste, however, and I charged straight through the thick metal door, bending it in the process as it screeched in protest before swinging open, leaving a long thick scratch in the immaculate tile.
“DON’T SIT DOWN!” I bellowed, lifting a hand.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Levi
The sovereign paused, halfway up the quartet of stairs that elevated her throne above the rest of the room. With all the regality of one born into her position, she managed to make the cessation of motion and subsequent turn into a planned, purposeful event.
Platinum-blonde hair swirled softly around her rich robes of state, the yellows and bright blues mixed with the orange of her bloodline and the red of most dragons, creating an artfully designed blending of the various colors. Above it all, the brilliant green eyes of the ruler of all dragonkind stared back at me, twin emeralds that werenothappy.
“This is a closed session of the Council. Get out.”
My eyes swiveled to the speaker, who spoke from his spot at the head of a grand table arrayed at the base of the sovereign’s throne.
“I mean, I could go,” I said lightly, shrugging off all the eyes focused on me. “Then she can sit down, and five seconds after that, the sovereign and all of you will be blown to pieces.Oryou can stop for a second and try to think why I might just barge in here to warn you. And also, why none of her guards were at the doors to stop me.”
The sovereign looked past me in consternation just as the guards on either side of her throne stepped forward, flanking her. Other guards from various positions inside the hall reacted to that, hurrying closer to her person, forming around her protectively.
“Speak,” the sovereign said calmly. “Explain yourself.”
“Have one of your guards look under your throne. Around it. Some of you look at your chairs.Carefully. I don’t know how he did it, but they’re filled with explosives.”
One of the guards, at a nod from the sovereign, moved toward her chair. I held my breath. If I were wrong, if Malakai had somethingelseplanned, then I was about to lose all credibility.
The wait crept on as the guardverycarefully inspected the throne. My heart rate inched upward. My palms grew clammy, my mouth dry. I was wrong. He was planning something else. But the men in the hallway, the attack, it couldn’t all be—
“He’s right! Get her out of here!” the guard cried suddenly, shattering the silence.
