Every cell in his body was screaming to obliterate the woman in front of him. Tessa had broken him once, but she was not going to do it again. She couldn’t be reasoned with or stopped with words. It would take force to bring her down. He knew that now.

He should have listened to his brothers when they warned him.

Juliana stood in front of him her arms outstretched as if she was trying to protect him from her. Sweet and strong. She shouldn’t be here in this room with Tessa poised to kill. She was too vulnerable.

But if he fired on Tessa now, Juliana would get hurt. He needed to communicate to her somehow that she had to get out of the way in case she got hurt.

He stomped his foot on the ground making the walls and ceiling shake. Tessa looked up nervously then laughed again. “You think that scares me? You won’t hurt me, Mac. You don’t have it in you.”

She pulled a long thin bazooka from behind her back. She played with it in her hands before arming it and placing it on her shoulder.

“No,” screamed Juliana again.

Mac roared, lowering his head to nudge Juliana out of the way. She needed to run. She didn’t. Instead, she began to advance toward Tessa with her hands outstretched.

He opened his mouth to speak, forgetting that he couldn't.

A bellow of fire erupted from his mouth instead.

Thick hot flames directed straight toward the two women.

He hadn’t meant to do it. He wanted to warn her.

The fire was going to hit Juliana.

No.

The flames engulfed her back. Splintering out like a fan when it hit her body and sparking in all directions.

She fell from the force, pushed to her knees on the ground.

Oh god, what had he done?

The shocked look on Tessa’s face was enough for him to realize that she had received none of the flames, that Juliana’s body had shielded the fire from her.

No not shielded.

It looked like …

Like …

The fire sucked into her body like a vacuum.

Oh god, was she dead? Had he killed her?

No. Not her. Not Juliana.

No! NO.

He thrashed his tail hard into the wall. Sparks and rock flew everywhere.

Tessa staggered backward. Her face a mix of horror and surprise.

Slowly the body on the ground moved.

With steady slowness, she put one foot down and the other as she rose.

She was still alive.

Juliana stood up. Smoke flew off her body, charred clothes clung to her flesh. But her skin…

Her skin was unmarked.

Tessa struggled to bring the bazooka back to her shoulder, her hands shaking as she steadied the weapon.

“Stop.” Juliana’s voice croaked dry as if every bit of moisture was sucked from her throat.

She pushed her hand out.

A bolt of fire emerged from her palm and headed straight for Tessa.

Tessa squeezed the trigger.

The flame slammed into the bullet as it emerged from the launcher. It exploded in front of Tessa pushing her backward.

Tessa slammed into the floor behind.

Juliana stared at her hand. She yelped and turned to face Mac.

She was alive.

Mac didn’t wait to find out what had just happened. He pushed Juliana out of the way with his face and advanced on Tessa.

Tessa scrambled to her feet. “You win. Don’t kill me, Mac, you know you can’t. Blaze would never forgive you.”

He didn’t care. Mac opened his maw exposing his sharp teeth. He could snap her in two and this would be over.

“Mac don’t. She’s right. Think of Blaze.” Juliana’s scorching hand was on his skin.

He didn’t know Blaze. He knew the people here. They were more important.

He swooped down ready to destroy the enemy.

Juliana fired a flame into the side of his face causing him to unsteady and miss killing Tessa.

Tessa growled low and scrambled to her feet. The few seconds was all she needed to escape back through the door.

He bellowed in frustration.

He had her.

He turned to Juliana. She held still, her fists steaming, her face red. What was she?

Secrets. Lies.

“We’ll deal with this later,” she said her face a mask of control. “Go get your brothers and get back here.”

She pointed out of the mountain and ran through the door back into Dragonspark and after Tessa.