Page 34 of Magic Betrayed

“No,” he said. “How do you feel about improvising?”

I hesitated only for a moment. “I trust you.”

“You really do, don’t you?” he murmured oddly. “Then I guess let’s see who’s out there.”

Despite my fear of whatever remaining traps Grandma Pearl might have set, we made our way to the exit without incident, but just before we reached the door, Callum’s phone buzzed.

He pulled it out and glanced at the screen, and I watched as his expression froze.

“What’s up?”

“Text from Kira. Just says ‘Come to the bookstore.’”

“Is that good or bad?”

“I think,” he guessed, “she has information. And she wants us to hear it in person. Which means…”

It probably wasn’t good news.

He looked at me, amber eyes hard and direct, his entire posture shifting to something focused and predatory. The dragon was awake, and it was not feeling patient.

“Change of plans.”

“I thought we didn’t have one.”

“We do now.”

“Don’t forget we have people outside who might want to kill us.”

“They’re welcome to try,” he said, and pulled open the door.

EIGHT

He’d shovedhis phone into my hands and disappeared into the darkness before I could even gather my courage to step out into the stairwell. After all, we were below ground, and our enemies could simply be staring down at us, waiting to pounce.

Should I go outside and risk an attack or stay inside and wait for this ramshackle construction to collapse?

Outside it was.

I’d set my foot on the first stair when an impossibly loud roar split the air. It pierced to the core of my brain, my body, my very viscera, and nearly dropped me to my knees.

Somehow, somewhere, I’d heard that sound before, just not like this…

I took the stairs two at a time, hoping Grandma Pearl hadn’t been lying about disabling her traps. Even if she had… Nope, wasn’t going to think about it. I forced myself to keep moving while calling up my fae magic and letting it hover at my fingertips. It was the one aspect of my power that I’d practiced with, so if someone tried to jump me in the dark, they would be getting a vicious surprise.

But no attack came. I reached the top of the stairs, took three steps towards the parking lot, and then skidded to a stop as I saw what awaited me.

Callum hadn’t been kidding when he said there was a change of plans.

In the faint glow of a single flickering light, a gargantuan black dragon crouched, wings held ready, tail lashing as it confronted a lone enemy. Its glittering eyes were narrowed in anger, its mouth partially open to reveal fangs as long as my arm. A pair of elegant horns curved back over a sinuous, muscular neck, strangely incongruous against the armor-plated mountain of black scales.

I heard the screech of brakes from passing traffic—human drivers realizing what was happening and stopping to gawk—but I was too busy with my own gawking to pay much attention.

Technically, I’d seen Callum’s dragon form before—on the day I’d agreed to work for him. But there had been no lights on the Assemblage rooftop that night, and I’d been too terrified for my life to notice details.

Now, my jaw tried to drop as I took in the dragon’s true size for the first time. He was bigger than Ryker by at least fifty percent, and all of it armored for battle, with wings, teeth, and claws ready to rend and tear. He was death embodied—built to take on armies and come away unscathed.

But there was no army awaiting us. Just a single slender figure dressed in simple, dark clothing, backlit by the lone light pole in the parking lot. His short white hair glowed faintly, but his face remained in shadow as power crackled from the edges of twin swords that shimmered with blue.

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