Nero shifted and realized his butt had fallen asleep while sitting on the cell floor. The agony searing through his body had changed to a soul-deep ache in his chest that he knew was his spirit trying to adjust to the loss of the dugga’s magic. Soon the ache would be gone and so would any possibility of regaining his power.

The three of them had spent the last twenty minutes brainstorming ideas for a plan, and it had taken everything in Nero’s power to concentrate on coming up with something and not wrap his arms around Becca and hold her close. She was alive, and even though he’d known in his soul that she was, he’d still been terrified he was wrong. She was also unhurt, and he couldn’t thank the Mother enough for that.

Unfortunately, that probably wouldn’t last. With their limited time and resources, the best plan they could come up with was to move fast, strike hard, and hope like hell.

According to Werner, there was access to a stairwell at the end of the hall to the left, and a bank of elevators down the hall and around the corner to the right. He also said there was another stairwell on the other side of the building, but it would be hard to get to. Becca had been unconscious when they’d brought her in, so she couldn’t confirm anything, and Nero could only confirm the location of the elevators, which meant he was going to have to trust that Werner’s sense of self-preservation was stronger than his hate for all things dragon.

Nero also knew there were security cameras in the elevators and the halls, but a quick glance proved there were none in the cell. That suggested the security system might be tight, but it wasn’t over the top. There were also most likely cameras in the stairwell, and if Stanbury was smart — and he’d be smart to assume she was — her security probably had remote access to the elevator controls. So if they were going anywhere, they’d have to take the stairs.

He still didn’t like the idea of Becca coming with him, but he recognized a losing battle when he saw one. And really, as if his soul would pick some pushover. She might be human, but she still needed to be ferocious enough to stand up against his dragon spirit. There was no way she was going to leave the facility without him. Hell, she’d accidentally gated to him when he’d been ambushed — no doubt thanks to having all her earth magic awakened by the surge. That determination to get to him had to explain why she’d been able to rapid free gate before she even knew she could gate, and that spoke to a fierce determination.

The other thing he found shocking was Werner’s state of sanity. The human didn’t seem to be struggling with soul sickness, and if— no, when Nero got his dugga’s magic back and Becca to safety, he was going to look into the cause for Werner’s sanity. With luck, it was due to something Raven could use to help the remaining few of Zenobia’s victims he had yet to bring in.

“Okay.” He glanced at Becca, but he didn’t need to look at her to know she was ready. He could feel it in the re-established mental connection between them. It was faint, and when she spoke mind to mind with him she sounded like she was at the end of a long hall, but their mental connection was back. And thank the Mother! He never wanted to feel that kind of emptiness again.

“Let’s do this,” Becca said. As soon as I’m free of the null spell, I’ll try to pinpoint Stanbury. She’d assured him she could figure out how to do this and wouldn’t let the other voices overwhelm her.

You get two minutes. No more. And any sign the voices are too strong, you stop.

We have to confirm where she is or we could waste all our time searching for her.

He wanted to disagree but he couldn’t. Werner had suggested Stanbury might be in her office, but he really didn’t know.

Werner squared his shoulders. “Let’s not and we just get the hell out of here, Becca.”

“No.” She matched his stance and raised an eyebrow, her expression daring him to keep pressing. “I’m helping Nero. You get the others to safety.”

“This is a terrible plan,” he grumbled.

“It is.” And as much as Nero wanted to argue with that, he couldn’t. “But I have less than half an hour to stop Stanbury from permanently gaining the dugga’s magic, so it’s now or never.” It didn’t matter that he wasn’t fully healed from having his magic ripped from his essence. If he was going to get it back, or in the very least, prevent Stanbury from learning about the members of the Asar Nergal and the puzur, he needed to act now.

“I still don’t trust you.”

“You don’t have to.” The ache in Nero’s chest billowed and he ground his teeth. “You just have to get everyone we find in this hall out of the building and some place safe. I’ll find you when we’re done.”

“A part of me hopes you don’t.” Werner pressed his cheek against the Plexiglas and glanced down the hall. “Looks clear.”

“Good.” Nero crouched in front of the door and hissed his power word. A yell would have been better to bolster his will against the weight of the null magic, but he didn’t want to alert anyone they might not have seen farther down the hall about what he was doing.

His magic, a tiny ball within the core of his being, strained against the null magic. The spell wasn’t as strong as the one in the room where Stanbury had taken his dugga’s magic. A different sorcerer had cast it, or she hadn’t put in the same amount of time creating the glyphs to maintain its strength. But still, Mother of All, it had been easier to summon his wind when he’d been pissed and had all that emotion to add power to his magic.

He clenched his jaw, fighting to bring a small breath of wind forward. He didn’t need much, just enough to slip under the door and depress five buttons on the keypad.

“Any day now,” Werner hissed.

“I’m trying.”

Werner checked the other direction of the hall. “I thought you said your ancient dragon magic was more powerful than the null spell on the cell?”

“It was more powerful when I was about to lose my temper.” Nero’s pulse pounded in agonizing beats through his head, and the ache in his chest billowed again.

“Well, Stanbury is going to find and torture all of your kids if you don’t get that door open,” Becca said. “Get pissed about that.”

“I am.” But his wind still wasn’t breaking through the spell.

“Come on,” Werner growled. “You promised me a great escape.” He seized Nero’s shoulder and shoved him against the door. “I’m tired of waiting.” He rammed his fist into Nero’s gut, and the force stole his breath.

“Werner.” Becca grabbed his arm, but he wrenched from her grip and jerked his elbow toward her face.

Power erupted in Nero’s soul and exploded from his hands in a wild gale. He snapped it into a whip and seized Werner’s arm before he could hit Becca, slamming the other man against the Plexiglas.

Werner raised his other hand, palm up in submission. “Now use that wind to unlock the door.”

Nero wrenched his wind from Werner and shoved it under the door. He didn’t like Werner’s style, but it had gotten the job done, and fast. Lucky for Werner, Nero had just enough self-control not to break his neck when he’d threatened Becca.

“Get ready to move.” Becca glared at Werner and shifted closer to Nero. He could feel her tension, a quiet far-off ripple at the edge of his senses, mixed with determination and exhilaration. They didn’t know if unlocking the door would set off an alert and security would know right away they’d escaped, or if they had a few seconds before being spotted in the hall on a monitor.

“Was before and still am,” Werner said.

Nero pressed his face against the Plexiglas to get the best view he could of the panel. He could perform any number of amazing fine-detailed things with his wind, but what he didn’t have was a sense of touch, which meant he had to use the memory of his quick glance at the keypad to assume where the numbers were. He should have tried to rip the bolts out of the hinges but that required brute force, and he didn’t know if he’d be able to summon enough wind against the null magic spell for that. Guess that was plan B, since he was pretty sure a failed code would alert someone monitoring security about their escape attempt.

You’ve got this, Becca whispered in his head, her essence warming his soul.

He had to have this. For her.

For your kids.

For all of you. He drew in a quick breath, created a square of wind the size of the security panel and aligned the two. With the image of the keypad in his mind’s eye, he extended a knob of wind aligned with the first number of the code and depressed the button, then the next and the next until all five digits had been entered.

The lock clicked, and Becca eased the door open. No one came running and no alarms sounded. Which didn’t mean their escape hadn’t been noticed.

Nero released his wind and ran out, followed by Becca and Werner. The weight of the null magic spell vanished, and Becca’s presence rushed into his head, solid and sure, where she was supposed to be, along with a sudden blast of voices all clamoring for her attention. His own magic, the promise of his magical wind, tickled over his forearms, as if it hadn’t been fully released or he was a young drake again and not in full control. Not ideal, and he wasn’t a hundred percent, but he was determined to put up one hell of a fight.

The ache in his chest swelled again, the pulsing coming faster and stronger than before. He didn’t know if that was because he was free of the null magic and whether the spell had somehow also been affecting his soul. And he wasn’t going to spend a lot of time thinking about it. Stop Stanbury. Get his dugga’s magic back. That was the plan.

He called his wind again, savoring the feel of its strength surging through his limbs and gusting around him, and turned his attention toward the elevators to cover Werner — who was checking the other cells — and Becca — while she tried to focus inward and find Stanbury.

Werner ran to the next cell over and staggered to a stop. “Another keypad.”

Inside, a man stood with one hand pressed against the glass and pointing into the hall with the other. His hair and beard were matted like Werner’s, and his expression was wild.

“Get the others. Theirs is just a deadbolt,” he yelled through the glass.

Becca jerked toward him, and Nero felt her concentration on her magic vanished. “Glenn.”

“Get the others.” Glenn pointed again, his movements shaky and desperate.

Five people in the other cell hurried forward. They all wore hospital gowns, like Becca had when Nero had first found her, and while their hands and faces were clean, their hair was unkempt and they were all undernourished. They also all had the flickering aura of human mages, none as powerful as Becca or even Werner, but all had fully developed magic.

“I’m not leaving you,” Becca said to the guy with the beard.

“Neither am I.” Werner glared at the keypad.

“Becca, get back and find Stanbury.” Nero gathered his wind. “Werner, get the others in the cell. I’ve got this.”

You don’t know the code. But she rushed out of the way toward the stairs.

I don’t need the code. “I’m going with plan B.”

Werner frowned. “What’s plan B?”

“Get the others and get them clear,” Nero growled. “Now.”

Werner unlocked the door and hurried the five others toward Becca as Nero surged his wind into the door’s hinges. He yanked out the bolts then wrenched the door free and tossed it down the hall toward the elevators. Two men in tactical gear with Tasers scrambled out of the way, one of them screaming for backup with M4s and a tranq gun.

“Crap. I was hoping it would take them longer to get to us,” Becca said. Nero couldn’t tell if she’d begun to focus her magic again or not.

“Focus.” Please. Nero didn’t want to end up running all around the building looking for Stanbury, and he could only hope Becca could control her earth magic long enough to find her. She’d said before she’d gated to help him that she’d almost found Grey with her telepathy. She was certain she could do it now.

I have to. I won’t let Stanbury hurt your family. She wouldn’t be responsible for anyone losing their family again.

I know you won’t. With his wind, Nero heaved the door up and slammed it into the two men again, ramming them against the wall at the end of the hall.

“Becca. Location?” He didn’t want to make her run and concentrate at the same time, but they were going to have to get moving soon or switch to the plan where they captured one of the security guards and hoped he knew Stanbury’s location.

The ache in his chest billowed again, and the searing pain from Stanbury’s spell flared with it. His wind stuttered. Mother of All. He squeezed his will into his magic, fighting to keep it activated.

“Come on, Becca,” Werner said, ushering the escapees to the stairwell at the end of the hall. “Let’s get the hell out of here, for good this time.”

“Not without stopping Stanbury first.” Her mind squeezed around Nero’s essence like it had before when she’d been clinging to her sanity, making it hard to breathe and concentrate.

The men in the hall shoved the door aside and staggered to their feet.

Where is she? Where? The force of Becca’s will tightened.

Nero blasted a wall of wind into the security guards. His heart raced— no, her heart. There were so many voices, yelling, screaming, filling him— her.

“I’ve almost got it.”

But he could sense she was barely holding on to herself among all the voices, let alone able to find one specific mind, and he was barely holding on to himself, too. This wasn’t going to work. If she didn’t shut her magic off, she was going to lose her essence to the force of her power and never get it back.