We returned to the Protectorate as the night started to turn gray with dawn. Ana and I hurried out of the forest. I hesitated at the edge, the cliffs calling me.

I wanted to fly, even though I was exhausted.

“I’ll meet you later, okay?” I said.

“Sure.”

I gave her a quick hug, then went toward the cliffs.

If I was going to use my wings to fight the final battle, I needed the practice. And frankly, I just wanted to fly.

The ocean waves crashing against the cliffs sounded louder as I approached the edge. I sped up to a run, sprinting toward the edge of the cliffs as I commanded my wings to grow. They ached as they sprouted out of my back, but I felt them flare wide, felt the wind rustle through the feathers.

I sucked in a deep breath and leapt off the edge of the cliff, my heart jumping into my throat. Fear shot through me just before my wings caught the air.

I glided, effortlessly soaring over the waves below.

Joy and strength surged, a strange combination with the pain in my wings. That pain was a constant reminder that I had to succeed at this.

But how?

Was it just winning?

No, it had to be more. Like the Valkyrie had said, I had to earn it. To prove that I was worthy.

And my greatest weakness was jumping too fast. Action before thought.

I winced.

Just like when I’d leapt off that cliff.

I wheeled on the air, joining the white gulls as they cawed and greeted the rising sun.

Your weakness is that you jump too quickly. Learn restraint. It will save that which you love most.

Sigrún’s words echoed in my mind. But what did I love most?

Ana. Rowan.

Maybe Cade.

I shook my head.

I didn’t love him yet. Not even close. I shoved the thought away, mulling over the fight to come, playing it over in my head. Trying to think of how I could help us win. How I could make such a difference that I earned my wings?

And who was that woman? She was a leader in the Rebel Gods. But what religion was she from? Her power was godly, that was for sure.

Could I really take her down?

Eventually, exhaustion pulled too hard at me. I headed back toward the cliff, the onshore wind helping to push me along.

A lone figure stood on the edge, the wind whipping his short hair back from his face.

Cade.

I landed next to him, my cheeks chilled from the wind. He looked tired, his eyes heavy and his hands tucked in his pockets.

“Hey,” I said.

“You looked good up there.”

“Thanks. Trying to get a handle on these things.” I pointed back to the wings.

“Succeed?”

“Maybe. I’m getting more control, but I don’t know how I’m going to prove that I’m worthy of these wings.” I sighed. “I’m just worried.”

“Don’t be.” He smiled. “You’re special, Bree. Not just because you’re a DragonGod. You’re brave, strong, smart.”

I nodded, grateful. Slightly perplexed, too. “I can’t be that special, though. You’re a god. Not to say you’re not special, too, but…”

His gaze softened. “I am one god. You have the powers of many gods. You are something rare and more powerful, with the potential to become one of the strongest supernaturals on Earth. Capable of almost any magic.”

I swallowed hard, the enormity of that sinking in. “I just have to succeed at the stronghold. Find a way to be worthy and keep my wings.”

“You will. You’re capable of anything, Bree.”

I smiled, warmed by his words.

“Tomorrow, you’ll have us by your side. The Protectorate. Me. Your friends from Magic’s Bend.”

“I like the sound of that.” I could do this. No matter what new magic was thrown at me, what challenges—I would succeed. Because I had to.

I’d find a way to be worthy. I wouldn’t settle for less.

I couldn’t.

I leaned slightly toward him, drawn by his strength and beauty and just because I liked him. A lot.

“Do you want to sleep at my place?” I held out my hands. “Just sleep, I mean. Sorry. Not propositioning you.”

He grinned, sending heat racing through me. “I wouldn’t mind if you did. But no. I have to go back to my place. Get some clean clothes and pick up some supplies from The Vaults.”

“Of course.” It was better that way. I really needed to get some solid sleep. “What supplies, though?”

“Comms charms. We’ll need them to keep in touch during our operations, and this is a bigger team than normal.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“No need. We’ll all play our role, and we’re happy to do it. We’re a team.”

I smiled, then leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Heat sizzled through me, but I ignored it. Or at least, I tried. Reluctantly, I broke contact and pulled back.

“I’ll see you later.” I skirted around him and headed toward the castle.

I only looked back once, just in time to see him disappear into the forest, headed toward the portal to Edinburgh. My heart seemed to sigh, just a little, at the sight of him.

My footsteps were heavy as I trudged through the main entry door to the castle.

When I reached my hallway, I saw Caro knocking on the door to my tower.

“Caro, hey.”

She turned, her face brightening. “Just the person I was looking for.”

“Really?”

“Yep.” She thrust out her hand. A thin leather cord dangled from it. “For you.”

I approached, taking the cord from her. A shiny black rock hung from the cord. “Thanks. What is it?”

“Good luck charm. I know it’s important that you succeed tomorrow. I think this might help.”

I smiled, my chest warming. “Thanks, Caro.”

“Anytime.” She grinned, her platinum hair gleaming in the light.

I hugged her, grateful to have made real friends here. They proved it every day—I belonged.

I’d finally found a place worth fighting for. Ana and I could be happy here. Safe. Now I just needed to make sure we held on to it.

Caro pulled back. “Okay, see ya tomorrow. Get your beauty sleep, because I think this one is going to be a doozy.”

I grinned and saluted, then headed up the stairs to my apartment. As soon as I entered, I caught sight of Mayhem flying by, an old piece of pizza in her mouth.

I squinted at it. “Where’d you get that?”

She yipped, a noise of definite denial, even though it didn’t answer my question. She spun around in the living room to look at me, stopping in front of the curtains.

“That slice has jalapenos on it. Only I order that kind.” I looked at the kitchen. “You flew through the fridge door, didn’t you?”

She yipped again—another denial—and shook her head.

I sighed. Her ability to fly through doors and bring corporeal objects had saved my butt in Svartálfar, so I wasn’t going to complain.

“Well, enjoy.” I headed toward the bedroom, but turned before entering. “Just don’t go after my PB&J.”

She yipped again, then farted, a little blast of fire emitting from her butt. The curtains lit on fire.

Ah, crap. The perils of owning a PugDragon.

I hurried to the kitchen sink and turned on the tap, then used my magic to direct the water at the small flame. It doused it.

“Just be careful, okay?” I said.

She yipped, a clear promise.

I nodded and turned off the water. Frankly, we both needed to practice our self-control.

* * *

That evening, after a long rest, Ana and I met up with Cade, Jude, Caro, Ali, and Haris in the main entry.

“Right, let’s go,” Cade said. “We’ll head directly to Edinburgh, where we’ll meet Bree’s allies. There, we’ll have a brief meeting to discuss roles, then it’s off to Kart-hadasht.”

Jude met everyone’s gazes. “Do you all understand that this is one of the most dangerous missions we’ve yet to undertake? You don’t have to participate.”

That didn’t mean me, obviously, since I’d be totally screwed if I didn’t prove myself and earn my wings. But everyone else…

Caro nodded enthusiastically. “I’m in. Bree needs us. And besides, it’ll be fun.”

Jude arched a brow. “Fun?”

“Dangerous,” Caro said. “But fun.”

“And what’s life without a little pain?” Ali said. “Getting blasted by a fire demon just reminds you that you’re alive!”

“I prefer acid myself.” Haris grinned.

Jude scowled. “I know you take this seriously, but Bree and Ana are new here. They don’t know how strange you are.”

Caro, Ali, and Haris sobered, then turned to me.

“We really do take this seriously,” Caro said.

I grinned. “I know. And I kind of prefer the levity. Makes things feel less terrifying”

“Right. Let’s go,” Cade said.

I started toward the main doors.

We walked quickly though the enchanted forest toward the portal to Edinburgh, Mayhem following alongside. Maybe I was being overly optimistic, but the damage from the dark curse seemed to be even more improved since this morning.

One by one, we crossed through the portal into the bustling evening street in Edinburgh. As usual, no one noticed us, since there was a concealment spell on the portal exit. I’d had to ask Caro the other day why we seemed to be able to appear in front of people and they didn’t blink.

There was a chilly bite to the morning air as we headed back into Little Grassmarket Close, the alley where we were scheduled to meet Cass, Nix, and Del.

Ten figures waited for us near the glowing orange portal. Four guards from the Protectorate, who were in charge of not letting anyone through to Kart-hadasht, along with Cass, Nix, Del, and three tall, muscular men.

I hadn’t seen them in years, but I immediately recognized them as the significant others of my friends. Aidan, Cass’s guy, was the Origin, the descendent of the first shifter. Roarke, Del’s guy, was the Warden of the Underworld, a dark-haired demon hybrid who was in charge of keeping order in the Underworld. Ares, Nix’s guy, was a half vampire, half mage who was one of the rulers of the Vampire realm.

I was glad they’d come to help. They’d make good backup.

Nix stepped forward and waved. “I’m Nix Knight.”

Everyone made introductions, then Cade stepped forward. “The plans are simple. We’ll go to Kart-hadasht, where we’ll then cross through the portal to the stronghold, which is a mirror of the ancient city on earth, but completely intact. Caro, Ali, and Haris will go to the accountant’s office to get whatever records they can about the Rebel Gods’ operations on Earth. Jude, you’ll lead Aidan, Roarke, and Ares toward the second location deeper in the city where we hope we’ll find more records. Once you’ve all completed your tasks, contact us on your comms charms, and then get out of there.” He handed around the comms charms he’d gotten last night. “The rest of us—myself, Bree, Ana, Nix, Cass, and Del—will head for the eternal flame in the Temple of Melqart to steal the power that fuels the stronghold in the ether. Once that’s done, we’ll run for it and get out before the stronghold is destroyed.”

“You’ll have to exit the way we came in,” Jude said. “The harbor at the stronghold should be the last place to be destroyed, as it is linked to the real world. If you’re fast, you should make it.”

We all nodded, and tied the comms charms around our necks.

“Be ready when we go through the portal,” I said. “There could be guards there. We caused a…um, bit of a fuss when we performed recon.”

Everyone drew their weapons, an assortment of swords, daggers, and bows. I chose my daggers, since I’d be fighting from the air.

A tornado of gray light formed around Roarke, the Warden of the Underworld, and he shifted into his demon form. His skin turned a dark gray while wings of the same color sprouted from his back. His eyes turned black and his features sharper. Next to him, Ares adopted his vampire form, a bigger, harsher-featured version of himself. Del, the half-Phantom, shimmered and turned a transparent blue. Nothing could hurt her in that form.

I let my wings unfurl. “Everyone ready?”

They all nodded.

I led the way through the orange portal, Mayhem at my side. The ether sucked me in, spitting me out in the harbor at Kart-hadasht. I shot straight into the air to clear the way at the portal, then wheeled around and looked down, searching for any threats.

There were a dozen demons below, all waiting for us, I had to assume. Each was a hulking demon with pale white skin and huge red horns. I debated shielding us with invisibility, but we could beat them without it. I had to save my power for the big fights.

I hurled my dagger at the closest one. The blade sank into his eye. Blood spurted. The demon next to him shot a blast of blue light at me. I dodged, narrowly avoiding the electric shock.

Cade leapt from the portal next, going straight for a demon on the right. Then Jude, Ana, and the rest. One by one, they broke off and went on the attack.

I aimed for the last demon, but Mayhem got there first, landing a massive blow of fire to his chest. He whirled around, alight, and I threw my dagger at him. It plunged into his neck, and he collapsed backward.

The demons were all down, their bodies disappearing back to their underworlds.

I landed amongst the group. “I don’t think any of them had comms charms. Hopefully they didn’t set off any alert.”

“Fingers crossed,” Del said, her face glowing a pale blue. “I prefer stealth.”

“We’ll likely face more demon guards,” I said. “But if we’re lucky, the Rebel Gods won’t show.”

“How are we getting to the stronghold in the ether?” Nix asked.

“We’ve got a ride.” I turned to Cade. “Will you go up and trigger the hippokampoi?”

As Cade ran up the stairs to the temple, Cass looked at me. “A real hippokampoi?”

“If we’re lucky.”

At that moment, Cade stepped out of the appropriate door from the temple, re-triggering the magic that called our ride. It glowed gold, then the light shot through the stones on the floor and down into the water.

I watched the harbor, my shoulders tense.

Little waves appeared, then a shimmering green horse’s head broke the surface. Wings unfurled, and the creature neighed.

“Whoa,” Caro said.

The hippokampoi eyed us all, clearly doing some mental math. Cade approached and pulled a ham out of the big bag on his shoulder. The hippokampoi neighed again, then whistled.

Four more hippokampoi appeared, swimming for the dock.

“Oh, thank fates,” I murmured. “That’ll make things easier.”

Cade and Mayhem set up an assembly line, with Mayhem using her fire breath to heat the hams and Cade tossing them to the horse-fishes.

Once they’d all swallowed them whole, they sidled up to the quay.

“All right, everyone,” I said. “Get on. They’ll take us through the portal. I’m going to use my gift over illusion to conceal us as we arrive in the other realm. I can’t keep it up for long, but hopefully it’ll give us enough time to take out any guards stationed at the entrance harbor. Once we’ve taken them out, it’s go time.”

There was a chorus of nods and agreements, then everyone climbed onto the hippokampoi in groups of three.

“This is pretty badass,” Del said, her black hair gleaming in the light of the moon.

I had to agree. Riding mythical beasts was high on my list of faves.

Once we were all seated, the animals took off through the water, heading in a line toward the portal.

They swam through, and magic prickled against my skin. The air went bright and golden briefly, and I called upon my gift of illusion, imagining all of us as invisible.

As soon as we arrived in the harbor filled with ancient boats, I leapt off the hippokampoi, my wings unfurling and carrying me high into the air.

I spotted a guard lounging on one of the boats, and drew my dagger from the ether. I hurled it, hitting him in the throat. He gurgled, blood spurting, then keeled over. All around, other guards fell, weapons protruding from their bodies.

The attack was silent, and since I couldn’t see any of my friends, it was also very strange. Like a weird plague of mysterious flying weapons.

Soon, all the demon guards were on the ground, their bodies disappearing back to their underworlds. It wouldn’t be so easy if we ran into any Rebel Gods, but I was going to take what I could get.

I landed on the stone quay and dropped the illusion. My friends appeared, scattered all over the quay and retrieving their weapons.

Without speaking, everyone gathered into their assigned teams and headed toward the city. Caro saluted just before she peeled off toward the accountant’s office, Ali and Haris in tow.

Jude led Aidan, Roarke, and Ares toward the part of town where we thought the other records would be held. Cade had given her a full rundown of everything we remembered from this place, so hopefully she’d be quick in finding it.

I joined Ana, Cade, Nix, Cass, and Del, then led them around the row of warehouses toward the main part of the city.

I led them in a single file line down the street, following the call of the eternal flame. Its magic was strong, the signature distinct. It was a mirror image of the flame in Kart-hadasht in the real world, and the magic felt exactly the same, drawing me forward. It was like the smell of bacon in the morning—easy to follow.

As agreed upon, we stuck to narrower streets and alleys—the places that were less likely to be inhabited or contain guards. With the city intact, it gave us many places to hide.

“That’s a strong magic,” Nix murmured from behind me. “And a strange one.”

She wasn’t wrong. It shivered across my skin, at once familiar and repellent.

The shadows deepened as we entered a narrower alley bordered on both sides by wooden houses. The city streets were quiet this time of night, and it was a bit strange to walk through something so historic.

When the first fireball exploded on the ground in front of me, I jumped.

“From above!” Cade said.

I looked up just as another sailed down, straight for me. I lunged left, but it hit my calf. Pain burned.

From behind me, Ana’s magic flared. Her glowing shield appeared overhead. A fireball slammed into it, sending white stress veins through the shield. I couldn’t see where the attacker was hiding exactly, but the fireballs seemed to be coming from only one source.

“I’ve got this.” I sprinted out from under Ana’s shield, then called my wings to action. I leapt into the sky, flying toward the roof two stories above.

A demon crouched there, so focused on my friends below that he didn’t see me. I drew my dagger from the ether and hurled it. As if he had super senses, he looked up just in time to dodge.

My dagger barely missed him.

He hissed, and threw a fireball at me. I lunged left, the flame barely glancing off my wings. The smell of burnt feathers turned my stomach, but I didn’t hesitate, just drew another dagger and threw.

This one sank into his eye.

Blood spurted and he fell backward, crashing onto the roof.

Ew.

As often as I pulled that move, I should’ve been used to the result. But that one had been particularly squishy.

I left the dagger in his head and flew back to my friends. It’d be gross when I called it back to the ether, but I didn’t have time to be persnickety.

I landed with my friends. Ana let her shield drop.

“Nice work,” Cass said.

“Thanks.” I turned and started down the alley again.

The buildings turned from wood to stone, indicating that we were probably entering a wealthier part of town. Maybe the business district, though I had no idea. Doug and Veronica would have loved this place.

Tension tugged at my muscles as we went. There would be more attacks—there was no way around it. I just wanted them to start already, and save me this suspense.

Eventually, we spilled out into a square. As soon as I stepped over the threshold and out into the alley, magic popped against my skin.

“Oh damn,” I murmured.

Next to me, Nix raised her bow and arrow. “Yep. That’s gonna be a problem.”

Cade joined me, smelling the air just slightly. “Demon beast.”

I sniffed, getting a hit of sulfur. I winced.

A roar sounded, deep and bellowing.

Yep. Our cover was shot.