Page 56 of A Fury Of Shadows

“Oh, hey Serena,” Leah said innocently. “How’s New York?”

“We’re in Budapest!” Serena snarled.

“Isn’t it morning there?” Haruki said.

Serena pinched the bridge of her nose and started counting to ten.

“This is making me wish it were five o’clock so I could drink,” Lou said morosely.

Mae shrugged. “Like my grandma says, it’s five o’clock somewhere.”

Serena cut her eyes to them.

“Sorry,” they murmured.

“I’m afraid we have to go,” Leah said breezily. “The kids are getting sleepy. They say they wanna hear the story of how their favorite Lion bagged her Dragon.”

“Should you be taunting her like—?” Haruki started worriedly.

The call disconnected.

Mae bit her lip. Lou sighed.

A murderous light brightened Serena’s eyes. “I’m gonna skin that lizard and his lion and feed them to Vannog,” she vowed fervently.

“Who’s Vannog?” Mae asked Lou quizzically.

“He’s a helldragon.”

CHAPTER21

Wake up.

A silent scream wheezed out of Nikolai as he bolted upright, a woman’s voice fading in his ears. Pale sheets tumbled past his waist. He grasped them with a white-knuckled fist and looked around wildly, his heart thundering against his ribs.

He was in an infirmary.

His pulse slowed when he recognized the walls of the castle the Dark Council was currently occupying. His gaze landed on the figure in the bed next to him.

It was Oscar. He was fast asleep, his lynx Drabek curled next to his pillow. Fury burned Nikolai’s throat. His muscles bunched as he prepared to lunge at the sorcerer. A vice-like pain gripped his skull with his next breath.

He gasped and winced, hands rising to clutch his temples. The frenzied wrath bubbling through his veins faded. A different memory from the one that had tormented him in his sleep rose before his mind’s eye.

It showed him Mae Jin killing his mother. He flinched.

Yes.Nikolai swallowed.That’s how—that’s how she died. The Witch Queen killed her. What I saw just now was only a nightmare!

His nails sank into his flesh as he tried to separate his bad dream from the reality he knew to be true. Alastair stirred beside him. The crow made a worried sound.

“You’re awake,” someone said in a voice full of relief.

Nikolai twisted around. A sorcerer had gotten up from the table where he’d been writing some notes.

He approached the bed briskly. “How do you feel?”

“My head hurts,” Nikolai muttered.

“That’s to be expected. You’ve been asleep for over twenty-four hours. I’ll bring you a light meal and something to make you feel better.”

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