Page 86 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
Dread coiled in her stomach.
"Hello, ladies." Georgiana stopped several feet away. Her shoulder length brown hair and bangs were perfectly groomed with a sheen that made her hair look shellacked into place.
A ring of magical blue fire surrounded all three of them, separating them from the fight.
"Why am I not surprised to see you here, Georgiana?" Cora asked.
Georgiana ignored her. "Are you Madeline?"
"Who exactly are you?" Madeline asked.
A gleeful expression crossed Georgiana’s face. "Perfect. I’ll eliminate you and these three brothers sofinallythey can stop interrupting my work."
Protective anger fueled Madeline.You will not touch them.
Georgiana snapped her fingers to make the blue flame burn higher. She uttered a spell.
Madeline felt her lungs heaving as if the air disappeared. Without thinking Madeline strode forward and punched Georgiana in the face.
The witch squealed and covered her nose. "What the hell?"
A snort-laugh erupted from Cora that sounded part surprise and part mirth.
Yeah, witches usually tried to keep apart when it came to fighting but Madeline had learned a thing or two on the streets. Seemed more effective to simply make this physical.
The flames fell lower. Madeline tugged in a refreshing breath.
"You’re behind all this? These facilities and the mind control techniques?" Madeline asked. She threw another punch, catching Georgiana in the cheek.
"This isn’t how we do it," Georgiana said as she rubbed her face. "Not how we’re supposed to fight."
"I didn’t know there were rules for beings like you."
A laugh started deep inside Georgiana as she stood upright. "You care too much about those lycans that you screwed over. That’s pitiful. Lycans are the enemy. And, look." She waved toward the fight. The blue flame lowered to improve the visual. "They’re dying, if not already dead. Getting that disc was a brilliant idea on my part."
Shane lay on the ground, not moving.
Madeline lifted the pendant Shane had given her off her neck and held it close to her mouth. "Angel, if you care at all about these lycans you chose, then you—and maybe your friends—better choose now to show up. They’re worthy. All so worthy of life. Look at them fighting to save the world.Please."
"What are you muttering over there?" Georgiana asked.
A blue hue that had nothing to do with the fire lit the night. She could’ve sworn a guy with wild blond hair in a T-shirt and distressed jeans glowed as he moved toward the fight. Madeline couldn’t see what he did as the flame around them went high again. Please let that be the angels coming to help their chosen lycan warriors.
The dragon stone in her front pants pocket burned against her body. That was good, right? She pulled it out and held it against her chest. A sensation of peace filled her. And safety.
A loud trumpet noise battered her eardrums.
Both Georgiana and Cora stared in horror at her. No, they were focused behind her. The noise…she glanced over her shoulder to find the gigantic brown body with green flecks. Aldri. Tension inside her released as tears sprang across her eyelids.
Aldri bellowed again. As he landed, he snatched Georgiana off the ground. The blue flames disappeared. He said, "I destroy all who endanger my healer."
Not that she thought anyone but her understood his guttural language.
Georgiana screamed and waved her hands, attempting to weave spells. Then she was pleading at Madeline to tell the dragon to let her free.
For an instant, she felt pity for the witch for being out of her depth, but then remembered all she’d done. This witch had jumped off the cliff of sanity and posed a danger to the world.
With a bone crunching chomp that sent chills down her spine, reminding her of the power of these creatures and her mortality, Georgiana was no longer. As in literally inside the dragon's belly.
