Page 35 of Broken Kingdom

Inside the space, the air is filled with a thick, acrid blue smoke. I gag, then start to cough as I pull my shirt up around my mouth and nose. Catherine slaps a hand over her face, groaning as she’s assaulted by the smell. It’s like a mixture of rotten eggs and charred wood, but worse, and Juliet is the only one of us not slowed by the stink.

Maybe her phoenix has more tolerance for terrible smelling things or maybe she’s simply made of tougher stuff than the rest of us. I wouldn’t be surprised. My mate is badass, a fact she proves by flying straight at the glowing yellow orb floating above the hot tub in the corner.

It’s the source of the smell, there’s no doubt in my mind about that, even before a fresh rush of flame surges into the room from the other side, followed closely by more foul-smelling smoke and the snout of something scaly and way too big to be a shifter.

Or of this world at all.

At least not the world as we know it.

Though…Layla did say that dragon shifters weren’t extinct, at least not in the Parallel. Maybe Hammer managed to bridge the gap between our world and the parallel dimension, after all. Or maybe this fire-breathing monster is from another universe altogether.

I don’t suppose it really matters right now. All that matters is that we get the portal closed before this thing figures out how to get out of its world and into this one.

As Juliet swiftly closes the distance between herself and the dragon’s nose, it shoves forward, straining the sides of the portal and sending another tremor rocking through the earth. When it pulls back, the portal is a little bigger, allowing the thing to hook a claw around the bottom, just below its snout.

The only good thing about any of this is that the creature can’t see through the portal just yet. It’s completely unaware that it’s about to get a taste of its own medicine until Juliet has already shot a stream of fire into its nostrils.

The dragon lets out a piercing scream that makes Catherine flinch beside me as Juliet wheels around, flying hard back toward us. Run, she shouts, Run and get help! If I burn, I’ll come back. You won’t. Get Hermione and the others. I’ll stay and do my best to keep it from getting out.

Before I can demand that she come with us, the dragon screams again and sprays enough fire to make the water in the pool start to evaporate. Soon, the room is filled with a toxic mixture of smoke and glowing blue mist. I can barely make out the shape of the dragon’s snout as it wiggles forward, clearly not in the mood to back down from a fight.

I reach for Catherine blindly, but she’s not beside me anymore.

My fingers swipe through empty air before knocking against my thigh and then going through my own skin and bone, like a ghost passing through a wall, as the blue glow gets brighter.

I have a split second to realize something deeply fucked up is happening and then I’m gone, blinking out of our world, and spinning through a tunnel of light and fire.

Twenty

Juliet

One second, I’m flying as hard as I can toward Ford and Catherine, determined to herd them back toward the relative safety of the lobby, the next I’m falling off the edge of a cliff.

No, off the edge of the world…

My wings spread wide and my claws scrabble for something to hold onto, but I’m spinning too fast, sucked into a tunnel so bright I have to close my eyes against the glare before I go blind. Just a few moments later, I make impact with the ground and go rolling across warm, damp grass, the smell of it a relief after the stink of the dragon’s smoke.

I open my eyes and hop to my feet, shaking off my wings as I glance around to find myself in a large field. It’s dusk here, with the first stars popping out in the sky above the hundreds of people huddled together in small groups across the grass. Some of them look angry, some like they’re going into shock, but most of the men, women, and children are clearly terrified.

And they have reason to be.

Far across the field, by a bright yellow circle glowing in the pink, sunset-streaked sky, a dragon as big as a two-story building is trying to shove itself through a tiny opening between worlds. It’s the rest of the monster whose snout we encountered in the pool area.

That would be terrifying enough, but the dragon isn’t alone. Another creature, even bigger than the first, crouches behind it, snarling and scratching at the ground, as if it can’t wait for its turn to shove through the portal.

Above the mountains in the distance, more dragons wheel in circles, their massive bodies silhouetted against the clouds as they dip and swoop. There are at least half a dozen, maybe more, and they seem keen to get out of here.

Wherever here is…

All I know is that something about this place is familiar. The smell of it, the feel of the warm, damp air… I haven’t been here before, but something in my core recognizes it as a place I once belonged.

“Juliet!”

I spin toward the sound of Ford’s voice to see him hurrying across the grass, with Catherine close behind him. It’s only then that I notice the stage set up on the other side of the open field, though “stage” is probably too generous a word.

It’s a rough wooden platform raised about five feet off the ground with a ladder propped against one side. On top, there’s just enough room for Hammer and two men in long black robes who hold my mother captive between them. Coralie’s wearing a long, sleeveless white dress, with her hair pulled back in a tight bun with one dark black line drawn across her throat.

She’s also gagged with a scrap of white fabric tied tightly around her mouth, making it clear who will be doing the talking around here.

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