Page 44 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
We’d arrived a few minutes ago with the shifter female shooting me skeptical looks the whole time. She didn’t particularly appreciate my plan. Every sorcerer was tied up for one reason or another despite me pleading with many of them for assistance, including all the ones at the fortress. I’d even tried Verena, but the woman—who I still found rather untrustworthy despite saving me years ago—had gone south to help extend the shield through Faegud territory. No one expected her back for a few days.
I’d hoped Danae could have assisted us, but she had a sprained ankle and numerous gashes from the explosion. As ahealer, she would recover faster than a regular human, but she was also using all her energy to help the other wounded. It was draining her. I couldn’t ask her to do more, no matter the urgency. To top it off, Javier and his people still weren’t back from their shield work after two days of waiting for them. They were concentrating on some of the farthest points in northern Oklahoma that required more extended travel, so it could take several more days before they returned. Finally, at my wits’ end, I had to take drastic measures since we couldn’t delay the mission anymore.
I shrugged. “We don’t have a choice and just have to hope this works.”
A black Friesian horse appeared up the road with a female rider on his bare back. Onyx was moving at a canter with his long mane and tail blowing in the breeze. It was the most majestic horse I’d ever seen, and it had an attitude to go with it. Conrad could testify to that.
Rayna sat on top of him with her coppery-brown hair falling loose a few inches past her shoulders, and she wore black camrium clothes that showed off her toned body. She looked relaxed as she rode toward us, as if the world's fate didn’t hang in the balance right now. I’d never seen a slayer with a more carefree spirit than her and wondered how she did it.
I waved. “Thanks for coming.”
“No problem.” Rayna dismounted and let the horse wander to graze on some nearby grass. “I didn’t have anything else important to do today anyway.”
Rayna was an underutilized asset because of her background. Too many people distrusted her and found her suspicious, so most wouldn’t ask for her help. Even Aidan didn’tassign her tasks despite being short-handed for all he needed to be done. She didn’t deserve that sort of treatment since she’d proven herself already—at least to some of us. But of course, it had taken me a long time to win over the shifters and people of Norman, too, so it wasn’t a surprise.
The sorcerers were allowing her to fuel the barrier spell with power a couple of times a week, but otherwise, she just had to slay dragons often enough to keep the killing urge at bay. It left her with little else to do as we waited for the Kandoran invasion.
One day, when I’d dropped by Conrad’s house—the same place where Aidan and I used to live together—I caught Rayna reading a romance novel. It served as her home as well for the time being. There she had sat, comfy in a chair by the window, engrossed with the book in her hand. She’d mentioned it was the only way she got any spice in her life. I couldn’t imagine her loneliness with no friends or family nearby, and she didn’t get out to socialize often either.
Freya grimaced. “You’re a slayer. Can you even remove black magic from humans?”
Rayna sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m also a sorceress—as I keep reminding everyone. Maybe I don’t have as much power as some people, but it’s a basic spell. I’ve extracted dark magic infections several times without a hitch.”
“If it’s too hard for you to trust her,” I said, putting a hand on Freya’s arm. “Then trust me. Rayna has had my back numerous times and wants to help. She can do this.”
“Fine. Let’s go inside.” The shifter spun on her heels and jerked the blue metal door open.
It was surprisingly cooler inside. We followed a corridor with white tiles and beige walls until we hit the wing with the jail cells. A mid-thirties human guard in jeans and a black T-shirt with a pistol holstered at his belt stood at the barred entry and snapped his attention toward us as we approached. I recognized him from my previous visit. He ran his gaze over our group, each of us revealing our torsos to show we were uninfected, before settling on me.
“I have orders to let you inside,” he said, glancing at the sturdy black door behind him that could have doubled for a bank vault. “But I have to log the names of everyone who enters and what you plan to do while you’re here.”
It was standard procedure, and I appreciated the security precautions. “I’ve got a sorceress to extract the dark magic from the prisoners. Then we’ll question them, but no promises about how that goes. There could be some dead bodies at the end.”
I didn’t see a point in sugarcoating what we planned to do.
“Fine by me. We’re used to that sort of thing lately.” He pointed at a small table with a clipboard a few feet away. “Just sign in first.”
I almost laughed. As long as we filled out the necessary paperwork, we could torture prisoners, and no one would bat an eyelash. Of course, these were extenuating circumstances. Normal humans had more rights.
I wrote my name and then our reason for visiting. While Rayna and Freya took their turn—the shifter pulling a special pen from shiggara—I returned my attention to the guard. “Have they caused much trouble?”
“Oh, yeah. They’ve been loud, banging on the bars and shouting threats about how we’re all going to die.” He shrugged. “Nothing I haven’t heard before.”
He’d clearly grown blasé about the situation, which made me wonder how many infected humans had been captured in recent weeks. Javier had set up the town’s jail before all that started, but he must have taken great care choosing who worked at the facility to ensure the guards didn’t get rattled easily. The sorcerer had an uncanny knack for being prepared for anything and ensuring his people were as well.
“Did they cause any damage?” I asked, casting a worried glance at the heavy door.
He grimaced. “The bars are a little bent for one cell. I’m willing to bet that guy has been infected longer than his buddies. Enhanced strength is a red flag that they’re close or past saving.” He shuddered. “I’m glad we don’t get too many of those because they’re the worst.”
I’d noticed the same thing when we captured them and knew which prisoner he meant, but the man still wasn’t a match for a slayer, so I didn’t worry too much.
“With luck, this won’t take long or get too out of hand.”
He rubbed his hand through his spiky brown hair. “Yeah. I hope so.”
We waited for him to undo several locks and bolts before opening the door. Two more guards stood inside at the opposite end, straightening as we entered. I stepped inside and scanned the prison wing, trying not to shudder at the pervading evilness that thickened the air, along with the stench of urine and feces.
A shudder ran through me.
