As it turned out, we didn’t even have to visit the League of FireSouls to get their help. As soon as I’d shared my battle plan, Cass, Nix, and I sent a letter with Pond Flower, explaining the situation to the league and asking them to meet us at the battle location. There was no safer way to transport a letter than by hellhound.

The answer had returned almost immediately—an emphatic yes. Even Flora was going to come, though she was still pissed we’d escaped her freezing charm. Relief had made my shoulders sag. Not only did we have their desperately needed help, it also meant Cass, Nix, and I wouldn’t have to go recruit help the next day.

I spent the night with Roarke, though by unspoken agreement, we didn’t talk about the day to come. All of our friends would be off enlisting aid—and we’d only succeed if everyone we asked agreed to risk their lives for us in the battle the following day.

After the night with Roarke, while everyone was off recruiting help, I met Nix and Cass at P & P. As usual, Pond Flower followed along. Connor was quick with the coffee as well as the potions. We grabbed a quick bite, then bought three invisibility potions.

Out on the sidewalk, the morning was cold and clear. Oregon was beautiful on days like this.

“Ready?” Cass asked.

“Like a cat’s ready for tuna.” I called upon my dragon sense, feeding it my desire to find the Shadows.

We thought they’d show up at the battle—how could they resist, if we’d gathered all their demons in one place?—but since I was the only one capable of killing them, it’d be best if three didn’t attack me at once. That was a recipe for a disastrous death. So we planned to go to them, trying to kill at least one, if not more.

Finally, my dragon sense tugged. “Germany.”

Cass’s brows rose. “You think they’re in that castle where they kept Draka’s egg?”

“We’re too far away to tell exactly, but I’d bet on it. It was heavily fortified and almost impenetrable. They’d have to let us in—or screw up royally—to allow outsiders to breach the defenses.”

“We can make them screw up,” Nix said.

At my side, Pond Flower gave a low woof. I glanced down at her, an idea forming in my mind. “I think I know just how to do that.”

“How?” Nix asked. “I’d rather plot here and be ready to go as soon as we get there.”

“Pond Flower here will be a distraction. The demons’ magic and weapons can’t hurt her when she surrounds herself with her protective flame. So she’ll set up a racket outside the gate, howling to high heaven. When they come out of the building to stop her, we sneak in through the open gate.” I held up the vial of invisibility potion that Connor had given me. “We knew these would come in handy, right?”

They grinned. I looked down at Pond Flower. “You in?”

She gave a low woof. I nodded gratefully.

“I like it,” Nix said. “You find the Shadow you want to kill, we’ll keep his demon guards off your tail.”

“Good plan.” Cass held out her hands. “Let’s get a move on. I’ll take us to the forest about two hundred yards away from the castle. Close to that cave you stayed in with Roarke.”

Nix gave a dramatic swoon. “Such a romantic first vacation.”

I laughed, punched her lightly in the arm, then grabbed Cass’s hand. Nix did the same, and Pond Flower pressed herself against my side.

Cass used her teleportation magic to take us through the ether. We arrived in Germany a moment later. Snow drifted down lightly from the sky. That was good. It could only help our cause, giving us just a bit more camouflage.

“I think we should take the potions now.” I uncorked mine.

The others nodded, downing theirs quickly. Almost immediately, they disappeared. I drank the little vial, shuddering at the horrible muddy taste, and waited for the icy magic to flow through my veins. It did, quickly, and soon I could see Cass and Nix.

“Ready?”

They nodded.

“Then let’s go.” I hurried through the forest, following my dragon sense.

The gray exterior wall loomed out of the distance, and we headed for the heavy gate. I turned to Pond Flower and whispered, “Hide and howl, okay? Be super annoying.”

She gave an understanding jerk of her head, then turned and ran into the trees. We crept up to the very edge of the gate, which was a massive iron and wooden affair that would lift vertically into the castle wall when a lever was pulled. We pressed our backs to the stone. I used my gift over ice to call down more snow, enough to cover our tracks and make it hard to see much of anything at all.

As if on cue, Pond Flower set up a racket, howling like a banshee possessed. There was a scuffle from inside the castle walls.

“Wot the bloody ‘ell is that racket?” growled a low voice.

“Some kinda mutt.” A little wooden door in the gate creaked open. I could just barely make out part of a demon’s head as he stuck it through. “I can’t see it.”

“Shoot it.” The demand was grumpy.

I scowled. Jerk.

“I said I can’t see it!”

A fist hit flesh. Demons were dumb.

“Well, if you won’t shoot it, I will,” said the grumpy voice.

Good luck with that.

Another head poked out the little window. I could only see the tips of the demon’s horns, which were charred black. Finally, he grumbled, “Damn it, you’re right.”

“Maybe it’ll shut up,” said the other demon.

As if she’d heard the words, Pond Flower howled again, giving it an extra dose of something shrieky. It needed to be louder though—something that forced them out of the cabin.

I remembered the Whispa demon I’d killed last week in the bar in Darklane while I’d been collecting powers. That creepy, eyeless bastard had possessed the ability to make or muffle sound. I called on that power, directing toward Pond Flower and envisioning her howls becoming louder and louder.

It worked. Her howls were now so annoying and so loud that it was painful. I flew my hands up to cover my ears, and Nix and Cass did the same. It was the worst noise ever.

The demons definitely agreed, because they groaned.

“Shut that beast up!” a low, sonorous voice drifted across the castle walls.

I shuddered. That was a Shadow, no doubt about it. And he did not like Pond Flower.

And the demons didn’t like disobeying the Shadow. They rushed to open the gate. From the sound of it, they stumbled over each other and fought to be the one to crank the lever.

Finally, the heavy iron door creaked open, the sound of rusty metal chains shrieking. Pond Flower kept up her racket, but the noise sounded like it was getting farther away. She’d probably led them from the castle, and if they got too close, she could always pull her disappearing trick.

I knew she could take care of herself, especially against two particularly dumb demons, but I knocked on my head anyway.

As the gate rose, I called upon a bit more snow, creating a heavy storm right over the castle. The gate reached its zenith, and the demons hurried through. Immediately, the gate creaked and began lowering. We slipped inside. I was careful to use my ice magic to cover our tracks with snow.

The courtyard looked as I’d remembered it. Large and barren, with demons on the ramparts high above. Fortunately, they were all watching their brethren fail to hunt a hellhound.

Since it was important to get where we would leave no hastily covered tracks in the snow, we raced to the main building where we’d been before. I checked to make sure all the demons’ backs were turned—which they were—and cracked open the door so we could slip inside.

As before, the foyer was large and empty. I sagged against the wall, finally breathing properly for the first time since we’d approached the castle. Nix and Cass leaned next to me, panting.

“Give me a moment,” I whispered, calling upon my dragon sense.

My deirfiúr’s magic swelled as they used their own dragon senses.

After a moment, mine tugged in two directions. “Shit. Two of them are somewhere in the labyrinth, I think.”

Nix shook her head. “Not interested in going that direction.”

“Yeah, we barely made it out last time,” Cass said.

“Agreed. Even if we could make it through, we don’t have a ton of time. We can’t risk getting caught before the battle.” I pointed left toward a long hall. “The other Shadow is that way. High up, I think. In a tower.”

“Of course he’s lurking in a tower,” Nix muttered.

“The only other logical option is the dungeons,” Cass said with a low laugh. “Bad guys never hang out in normal rooms watching TV.”

“True enough. Let’s go.” I hurried through the empty foyer toward the hallway. It was a warmer space, with wooden floors and silk paneled walls. Upon further inspection, the silk was tattered and moldy and the floors had lost all their sheen, but it was better than the cold stone foyer. That place reminded me of how my parent’s castle used to be. Yikes.

We passed by several rooms on silent feet. We were so used to creeping quietly that I didn’t even need to use the Whispa demon power to muffle our footsteps. Though we saw no demons, I occasionally felt creepy magical signatures. They were here, guards lurking in corners and behind closed doors. Minions who wouldn’t leave their masters’ sides.

We reached the base of a wide tower. Spiral stone stairs wound upward. They were wider than most I’d seen—at least five feet across—and it was impossible to tell how many floors up they went. I recalled some fairly large towers, so it could be quite high.

“This way.” I crept up the tower stairs, careful to keep my footsteps silent and my ears alert for guards.

We reached a small landing. There might have once been a room here, but now it was empty. We continued onto the next flight of stairs, continuing ever upward. It stayed silent, and the higher we got, the fewer the windows. It was shadowy and dark, very fitting for the Shadow’s lair.

I focused on the magic that hung heavy in the air. It prickled against my skin, a familiar warning. There was a protective charm here. My heart raced. Something was happening. But what?

Stones in the walls began to shift, scraping against each other.

“Watch the walls!” I whispered.

“Could be murder holes,” Nix said.

We’d seen the horrible things back at the castle in England, ages ago. They’d shot arrows at us, which was totally unwelcome.

But then, the castle had thought the same about us.

As soon as Nix had spoken the words, the stone by my ear emitted the faintest scraping sound. I ducked, moving on instinct. The low shriek of metal sounded over my head. I looked up. A sharp metal spear had shot out of the wall, right where my temple would have been.

I shuddered. “That’s a new kind of murder hole.”

Nix and Del crouched low, freezing. As long as we stayed still, we wouldn’t set off any more of the iron spikes. But that wouldn’t get us very far. We needed a way up.

I shifted into my Phantom form, letting the icy magic flow though me. Once I was fully transparent, I reached up to touch the metal spike. It was cold and solid beneath my touch. Shocked, I pressed my palm hard against it. But nothing happened. My hand didn’t drift through as it should have while I was a Phantom.

“It looks like they may have been expecting you,” Cass whispered.

Nix whistled low. “However they enchanted that, it’s a strong magic if it could pierce your Phantom form.”

“No kidding.” But they were one of the very few types of supernaturals that could hurt me while I was in a Phantom, so it made sense they possessed magic that could do the same. And of course they’d want to protect themselves. They were my number one targets after all the horrible shit they’d done.

Nix’s magic swelled, the scent of flowers filling the stairwell. I turned, and she thrust two heavy iron shields at me. “Protect yourself with these.”

I hefted them. They were so heavy they made my arms ache, but the spears wouldn’t be able to pierce iron this thick. When the metal collided, it’d be loud as hell, though.

We’d need the Whispa demon’s power to muffle the sound. No way I wanted demon guards chasing us up these stairs. I called upon it, letting it fill me. It was a difficult power to use and I couldn’t be entirely sure that I was doing it correctly, but I envisioned the stairwell becoming completely silent no matter what happened.

“Thanks.” The muscles in my arms trembled as I lifted the shields to protect my head and torso and hurried up the stairs.

My deirfiúr followed on silent feet. The stones shifted as I ran, but it was fairly quiet. The first spear that struck my shield threw me against the opposite wall. The force was enormous. My shoulder sang with pain where it’d crashed into the stone wall, but I righted myself.

At least the sound was just a dull clang instead of a loud one. Behind me, there was another dull thud, and another. The spears were hitting Nix and Cass’s shields as well.

We struggled up the stairs, fighting our way past the battering rams of steel spikes that threw us about. But we were lucky—we made it to the top without being skewered. Bruised, sure. But skewered, no.

I considered it a win.

“That was rough.” Nix panted as we hurried across the landing to the next winding flight of stairs. The magic changed here, the signature more of a slimy burn than the prickle that I was used to.

“This is different,” I murmured.

“Yeah.” Cass lowered her shield. “I don’t think it’s going to be spikes.”

“No, they’d want to keep us on our toes.” But I held on to my shield as I crept up the stairs, my senses alert for any change in the magic that might signal what was coming at us.

This time when the stones shifted, it happened below our feet. The stairs right in front of me fell away.

“Shit!” I leapt to the next step.

Nix jumped up behind me, dropping her shields with a clang. In my shock, I’d lost control of the Whispa demon’s control over sound. Everything was happening so fast that I didn’t have time to pick it back up again.

Cass’s magic swelled behind me, but I didn’t turn to look. I raced up the stairs.

It took only a second for the stairs to fall away once I stepped on them, sometimes less. I had to be fast if my deirfiúr were going to be able to run up to safety behind me. I shifted back to human form, hoping to give Nix something solid to grab onto if she fell. We sprinted up the stairs, barely keeping ahead of the disappearing stairs.

Beside me, an enormous spider scuttled along the wall. An involuntary shriek escaped me as it brushed past. I cringed away, then glanced frantically behind to make sure Cass and Nix were okay.

Cass was gone.

“The spider is Cass!” Nix said, eyes wide.

Cass had shifted into an animal form

Go, Cass.

Nix and I raced upwards. We were almost to the top when the step beneath me fell away too soon. I fell, scrabbling to catch the stair in front of me. I gripped it with my fingertips as Nix grabbed onto me from behind. There was nothing but air beneath my feet. My muscles burned.

I held us aloft, just barely. If I could just scramble up…

The stair that I clung to dropped away entirely. We plummeted. My heart leapt into my throat. Something caught us hard. A sticky net of some kind. We yanked to a stop, dangling in the stairwell, and bumping against the wall.

Panic beat in my chest. Had the Shadows caught us?

The stones whirled around us as we spun in our trap, caught up in a net that began to hoist us up the now-hollow stairwell. I looked up to see what had trapped us and saw the back of an enormous spider on the ceiling.

I nearly shrieked, unable to help myself. I did not like spiders, even if they were family. This one was even bigger than Cass’s first attempt at shifting into an arachnid.

But it was still her. I drew in a ragged breath. It had to be. There couldn’t be that many altruistic giant spiders in a murderer’s castle. She must have shifted again, knowing she’d need to be bigger to save us.

Slowly, she hauled us up to the landing, performing a feat of spider strength that wowed me. Truthfully, I had no idea how strong spiders were, but Cass’s magic was seriously impressive.

Nix and I tumbled onto the stone floor, trapped in her webbing.

“Ew, ew, ew.” Now that we were safe, I was desperate to escape the sticky web. I drew my sword from the ether, slicing free from my side of the net, while Nix conjured a dagger and cut herself out.

We rolled away from the web, batting it away from our bodies. My skin crawled as I tore the sticky stuff off.

“If I didn’t have such high self-esteem, I’d think you didn’t like me in my spider form,” Cass said.

Gasping, I spun to see her leaning against the wall, grinning.

Normally, she had to be near Aidan to use her Mirror Mage powers to copy his ability to shift into any animal, but she could also store up a bit of his gift to use later if she wanted. She’d probably blown it all in that one show, but it’d been…

“That was amazing.” I held up my hand for a high five. “Gross, but amazing.”

“Seconded.” Nix tore some web from her hair. “But we need to get a move on. We’ve been loud as hell, and there’s no way that there aren’t guards on the way.”

“Right.” I called upon the Whispa demon’s power again, muffling sound and hoping that if we were quiet as we climbed, they’d think we’d fallen and died in their stair trap.

I hurried toward the stairs, pulling to a stop as soon as I reached them. What fresh hell would this flight bring? I prayed we were near the top.

Fortunately, it was a challenge that I was up for. We’d only traveled five stairs when a noise sounded from above. I jumped back just as a heavy iron gate slammed down. It was quiet, but still shocking.

“Wow, this guy is ready for intruders,” I muttered.

“That’s a serious gate,” Nix said. “Del, you could drift through in Phantom form, Cass could crawl through as a mouse, but I’m stuck.”

“Not for long.” No way was I leaving Nix behind. Splitting up was a terrible idea. “Step down a few stairs.”

They obeyed, retreating. I reached out and called on my iron magic, touching the metal with my palm and envisioning it melting in a puddle. It worked quickly, the metal turning bright red, then orange, before dripping down to the floor.

I stood toward the side, making sure it didn’t melt through my boots. Once I’d created a hole big enough to pass through, I pulled away. I gave the metal a moment to stop actively dripping, then I jumped over the pile of molten metal and hurried up the stairs.

Nix and Cass followed. Two more iron gates stopped us, but I melted them both.

By the time we reached the top, the sound of pounding footsteps sounded from below.

“Looks like they’ve figured out we’re here,” I said.

Fortunately, we’d reached a heavy wooden and iron door. This had to be the Shadow’s lair. My dragon sense confirmed it, pulling hard toward the door.

“You get the Shadow. We’ll get your back,” Nix said.

“Good luck,” Cass said.

“Thanks.” As the footsteps pounded ever upward, I shifted into my Phantom form and tried to drift through the door.

The metal straps on the wooden door stopped me, however. They were enchanted with whatever had made the iron spikes so dangerous. Damn it.

We didn’t have time for delays.

We also didn’t have a choice.

I reached out, using my iron magic to melt the metal. Once it was gone, I waved goodbye to my deirfiúr. They were no longer looking at me. Instead, they’d taken up battle positions, Nix with a sword and Cass with her magical flame hovering around her hand.

I turned back and drifted through the door, dodging a hard left as soon as I’d made it through. Something heavy thudded into the door, piercing it like a fork into steak.

An iron spike—just like the ones from down below.

The Shadow who’d hurled it was on the other side of the room, waiting for me to enter. His dark cloak floated around him, like he was the Grim Reaper underwater. Malevolence drifted off him, a feeling that was impossible to ignore.

The Shadow threw another enchanted spear. It hurtled through the air, and I barely dodged in time, throwing myself farther left, behind a heavy wooden chair.

My heart raced as I took stock of my situation.

Throwing enchanted metal bolts was this Shadow’s magical gift. Which explained how they’d gotten the rare magic to enchant the spikes that could hurt a Phantom. He’d made them. I scrambled along the floor as he threw his iron bolts, one after the other.

So far, this wasn’t going well for me. I was scuttling about like a frightened rat. I needed to get it together and use some of the magical arsenal I’d collected over the last couple weeks. There was no other way I’d get close enough to kill this bastard before he skewered me like a kebab.

Frantic, I called upon my telekinesis, envisioning hurling a table at him. The heavy wooden table against the far window shot across the room, flying through the Shadow. It didn’t hurt him—only I could do that—but it startled him. He couldn’t see through a table, after all.

“Weren’t expecting that, were you?” I said.

He just hissed, throwing spear after spear toward me.

One after the other, I threw every piece of furniture in the room at him. Once it’d all splintered against the stone walls, I moved on to the tapestries. They obscured his vision even better. All the while, I crept closer, drawing my sword from the ether as I got within striking distance.

Finally, I was near enough that I could attack. I swept out with my blade, slicing his legs. As he toppled, I leapt to my feet and lunged for him, sinking my blade into his stomach.

With the last of his strength, he hurled an iron spear at me. I dodged, but not well enough. It didn’t skewer me, but it took a chunk out of my upper arm as it flew past.

Pain flared through me, burning and hot. I ignored it in favor of sinking my blade through his throat, finishing the job.

His shadowy form collapsed.

Dead.

The door behind me exploded in a ball of flame. The heat seared my back and I whirled, blade raised. Nix and Cass hurtled in, panting and wild-eyed.

“You done?” Nix demanded.

“Yep!”

“Let’s go, then!” Cass raced for me, Nix at her heels. We collided together, clutching each other close. Cass called on her teleportation magic and zapped us out of there, taking us back to Ancient Magic.

Pond Flower sat on the stoop, grinning at us with her tongue lolling out.

* * *

Later that night, after saying goodbye to Nix and Cass and letting Aidan heal my wounded arm, I sat in my apartment with Pond Flower, waiting for Roarke to arrive. Pond Flower was curled up on the couch, way too big for it.

Roarke knocked on my apartment door. I knew it was him without even opening it. I could just barely smell the sandalwood scent of his magic. Pond Flower stayed on the couch, entirely uninterested in Roarke.

I’d insisted we spend the night here. I didn’t want to be too far from my deirfiúr the night before the battle that could signal my ultimate defeat.

I pulled open the door, grinning at the sight of Roarke. He wore dark jeans and a black sweater. The whole effect somehow made him even more attractive, with his black hair and eyes and killer body.

“Hey.” I gestured him inside.

He stepped in, pulling me forward for a kiss. When his lips pressed to mine, my heartbeat thundered. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, taking the kiss deeper.

Instead of kissing me more, though, he groaned and pulled away.

“Hang on,” he said. “I want to make sure this place is safe for the night.”

“You mean, in case the Shadows send their demons after me again?”

“Exactly. I know you said that your apartments were well warded against break-ins, but you should have an escape route in case they do manage to make it in.”

I gestured to the living room windows, which looked out on the main street, right over Ancient Magic and into the park. “There’s those.”

“That could work. I’ve stationed guard demons on the street, just in case. And in the alley near your bedroom.”

“Really?” My heart warmed as I walked over to the windows and looked down. A line of demons loitered on the sidewalk, trying to look non-threatening in case the cops showed up. Demons shouldn’t really be hanging around like that—especially since most people were like I had been and didn’t realize that there were actually quite a few good demons out there. Fortunately, these guys didn’t look super intimidating.

“Is there a back entrance?” Roarke asked. “To the alley out back?”

There was, through the windows in my trove.

I glanced at him, suddenly wondering if he knew about my trove. I’d never told him, though he might know that FireSouls had troves. We were dragons after all. Sort of, at least.

I suddenly felt compelled to share it all with him. It was important to me, after all. And so was he.

“There is.” I started toward the bedroom and gestured for him to follow. “Come on, there’s something I want to show you.”

I led him back and stood in front of the empty wall to my trove. Normally I’d just walk through in Phantom form, but he wouldn’t be able to follow if I did that. So I pressed my hand to the wall and fed it my magic. A door appeared, and I opened it, then stepped inside.

I flicked on the lights as he entered. His eyes widened.

“This is…” He searched for words. “Impressive.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s your trove?”

I nodded. “So you knew about them? That FireSouls have them?”

He slowly wandered into the space, careful not to knock over any piles of books. “I do. Once you told me what you were, I did more research. There isn’t much about your kind, but I did learn about this.”

“Yet you never asked to see it?”

He turned to me, the understanding and love in his gaze so clear. I stepped back, startled.

“You’re always wary, Del. Understandably. You don’t need me pushing you for more. I was content to wait.” He smiled. “You needed me to wait. I knew it wouldn’t be forever, so I did. But damn, I wanted you to tell me.”

And that was why I loved him. Among the many other reasons why—his kindness, intelligence, and strength—he cared about me more than himself.

It was obvious now—I loved Roarke.

That was crazy. But it was true. I’d barely known him two months, but it was now so obvious to me that we’d spend the rest of our lives together.

How had I not realized it sooner? It felt like I should have known it the moment he’d walked into Ancient Magic, intent on dragging me back to the Underworld.

I walked to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning up to kiss him. I pressed my lips to his, just briefly, then pulled away. “You’re the best man I’ve ever met.”

The corner of his mouth cocked up in a smile so charming that it made my heart race. “I don’t know if I’d say that.”

I laughed softly. “Well, I would. And I love you.”

Joy spread across his face, warming his eyes. “About time.”

I laughed.

“I’ve loved you forever, I think,” Roarke said. “Since well before this moment.”

“Really? And you didn’t say anything?”

He shrugged, looping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer. “Didn’t want to scare you off.”

I smiled. “Impossible.”

“I know that now.” He picked me up, sweeping me into his arms, and carried me to the couch in the middle of the trove.

“There are windows in the back of the trove that lead to the alley?” he asked as he walked.

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ve already stationed demons out there anyway. We should be safe.”

“Thank you.”

He sat on the couch, and I curled up next to him. My heart felt so full all of a sudden. I had my deirfiúr, my other friends, and now Roarke. I had everything. I just had to make sure I kept it.

It was vital that we win tomorrow, for so many reasons. Now that I’d found Roarke—found love—I didn’t want to lose it.

“So this means you’ll move in with me?” Roarke asked.

I lay my head on his shoulder. “You don’t mind being pushy about that, do you?”

“No.” He wrapped an arm around me. “Not now that you’ve confessed to loving me.”

“I guess I did, didn’t I?” I leaned up and kissed his neck.

“Oh, you did.”

“Then okay, I’ll move in with you. Half-time. The other time, we’re here.” It was the perfect solution.

He smiled. “I can live with that. Compromise.”

“Oh, and I have a dog.”

“I’m okay with that.” He glanced down at me, his dark gaze wry. “Though I’m not sure I’d call Pond Flower a dog.”

“She’s certainly not a regular dog. But she’s mine.” I looked around at the trove, at the piles of books and lucky charms. “You really don’t think this place is too weird? I’m basically a hoarder.”

“Oh, it’s weird.”

I punched him in the shoulder.

He grinned down at me. “Good weird, though.”

With that, he leaned down and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him and sank into the kiss, welcoming his touch. If this was the way I was going to spend what might be my last night on Earth, I was totally okay with it.