Page 40 of Dragon's Golden Mate
The banshee shook her head and sputtered. She swiped the slime from her face, flinging it off herfingertips to splatter it against the floor and pews. It kept her from giving specific commands, but the young witches and shifters still had general orders. Iris continued with her shield. Brilliant white light from Nia, Zoe, and Colette still launched through the room.
A piece of the floor fell away under the weight of Kendrick’s back foot. The portal throbbed and pulsed just behind him, a heat radiating outward from it. Suddenly, he knew exactly what he had to do.
“Hold her back!” he called out. “I’m going to destroy the portal!” Kendrick turned and flew into the open basement.
“Like hell you are!” Cassandra took the bait. She jumped down after him. Her hair flew, and her eyes sparked.
Kendrick dove for her. His hands nearly closed in on her legs.
She aimed a blasting scream at the ground, which sent her hurtling backward. Cassandra landed on her feet in the corner, bracing herself against the wall.
He moved to his right, along the wall furthest from the portal, trying to position Cassandra between himself and the swirling vortex. She tookthe bait, and they circled each other like a couple of boxers.
They fought in the small space, with Kendrick lunging and striking and Cassandra using her sonic waves against him. Overhead, the fight among the rest of them continued. Fire and energy flew, and heavy thuds hit the floor. He’d gotten her down there, as he’d intended. His plan had been to push her into the portal, to let that power she was so obsessed with consume her, but she was far more nimble than he’d imagined.
Cassandra’s words from earlier echoed in his mind.A place where no mortal could live.The portal was dangerous enough that it’d been kept hidden under this church and protected by sacred guardians for a long time, probably even longer than the church had been there. Cassandra had used its power, but she didn’t understand it. Only the gargoyles knew something about it, and what they’d shown Kendrick and Maeve in their mental images had been devastating. Flesh burned from bone, a shearing wind so powerful that a body couldn’t remain in it without being destroyed.
“What do you think you can even do, dragon?” she snapped. The current from the portal lifted her hair, making it move as though it were alive. “Blowflame at it? This portal is stronger than either one of us.”
“I’m counting on that.” With every bit of strength and speed he had, Kendrick shot forward. He wrapped his arms tightly around Cassandra and beat his wings, speeding straight into the portal.
I’m sorry, Maeve, but this is worth it if it means you get to live.
Deep horror reached his mind from hers.Kendrick, no!
More words tried to come through after that, but Kendrick couldn’t hear them anymore. He was surrounded by the rushing light and speeding wind of the vortex. Though he beat his wings, the wind pushed back on him hard. He couldn’t tell how far he’d gone into the portal, nor how much further he’d have left to go. What awaited him on the other side? Certain death, of that he had no doubt.
But he’d be leaving behind a world that was safe from Cassandra, where supernaturals like himself and the rest of those he loved couldn’t be used for her gain.
Kendrick’s scales lifted and peeled back. His wings could no longer beat as their leathery skin grew tattered and torn, leaving only the long fingers of the bones in between. The portal was tearing hisbody apart, but it was also ripping his soul away from his physical self.
He held on tight to Cassandra, who raged and thrashed. She beat him with her fists. She opened her mouth to scream, but he couldn’t hear any of it above the roar of the wind. Her hair shriveled, and her eyes sank into her head. Her flesh shredded, and bits of it went flying somewhere behind them. Her face contorted with pain, and then her head lolled on her shoulders. The only movements left in her body were those made by the wind.
Something hard clamped around his back left foot. It was cold and grinding, not at all like the searing air that existed there in the portal. Kendrick didn’t have the energy to fight it off, but what was the point? He knew he was going to die anyway.
Another vice closed around his back right foot. It smashed down hard, as if the pain of the portal wasn’t enough punishment for him. Kendrick could barely keep his eyes open, but he was determined to. He had to see what happened. He’d lived too long to just close his eyes and ignore his own death.
Now, something fastened down hard on the very tip of his tail and yanked backward. Whatever had a hold of him was pulling against the strength of the portal.
Scenes from his life flickered in and out of his mind as he fought against losing consciousness. He remembered his time as a youth in Scotland, when the clan was still large enough to have its own territory and not be bothered by the surrounding humans. There were his travels throughout Europe, exploring the art and architecture that’d been left behind by generations of geniuses. Even as two powerful forces threatened to split his body in two, he knew how it felt to sail on a ship in the open sea, to dip down below it and explore the wonder of a whole new world, to fly so high on his own wings that he could see the curvature of the Earth. He saw the faces of all those he’d loved. Friends, lovers, mates, family.
Maeve. Dear, wonderful Maeve. He let the other images pass, observing them for what they were, but he held Maeve in his mind. They’d had so little time together. He’d gotten to know her, yes, but he’d wasted time worrying. He’d spent hundreds of years of his life truly living, but in those few days with Maeve, he’d allowed himself to stop. What was the point in any of it if you weren’t enjoying it?
He could repair old buildings and preserve them against years of damage, but there were some mistakes he couldn’t fix.
Kendrick! Oh, Goddess! Kendrick!
Her voice rushed to his mind, and he realized that he was no longer flying further into the portal. Whatever had a hold of him was dragging him backward. The strength of the vortex was trying to hold onto him, but something else wanted him more. He watched with a churning stomach as Cassandra’s inert body shivered and shook in his grip. Her skin crusted over and desiccated. The puckering around her gaping mouth and the holes where her eyes had been made her look like precisely the kind of haunted creature banshees had always been depicted as. Then her body burst into a fine powder, blowing away in the portal like a mist.
He felt a final heave on the back of his body, and Kendrick fell to the floor in front of the portal. Blood dripped onto the floor around him, and he could feel the places where he no longer had scales. His wings and hands stung, and his eyes were so dry he could barely open them.
Whatever had a hold of his legs and tail had let go. Movement and the quiet grinding noises that accompanied it were all around him, and then the heat and light of the portal were gone.
A heavy thud vibrated the floor. “Kendrick!” Beck’s voice. “Are you alive? Please be alive.”
Pain throbbed throughout his body. He barely had enough energy to breathe, much less speak, but he needed to make sense of the world. “I’m not supposed to be.”
Beck laughed, and then there were more of those little grinding noises. “The gargoyles had other plans. They saved your ass.”
