CHAPTER 4

He grabbed my arms, unceremoniously hoisting me up. My foot caught on something and dragged over it, my busted ankle screaming at me. My sides ached, my back pounded, and my body was covered in stings from where I'd scraped stone. But I was alive. I'd made it down. "He was worried about her losing a leg, but then he threw her down the fucking steps? He could've killed her."

A tug on my hip registered before I heard the slide of my sword against the scabbard. Gio pushed it down to make sure it was secure. He must've grabbed it when it landed, possibly saving me from impalement.

"Not our problem."

A strong smell drifted from Gio. He had a decent amount of power. More than the other.

I grunted as I spied what I'd landed on. Luru, who hadn't fared as well as I had. He lay with a cracked skull and a chest glistening with blood. Something must've broken internally and punctured his skin.

Gio pulled me back to the wall at the other side of the landing, forcing me to step on my injured leg and nearly dragging a strangled cry from my throat.

"There, see?" Gio said as the second demon, a broad-faced creature with a wide nose, stepped in front of me and looked me over.

Broad Face zeroed in on my ankle, held off the ground and throbbing. "She's fucked up," he confirmed.

"Ah, well. She'll heal. When their magic isn't suppressed, dragons heal quick."

"What's to stop her from shifting? I never had the guts to ask the higher-ups on the way here. Seems stupid to let a dragon shift. They're enormous and mean."

"This particular one hasn't ever shifted before, I guess. She'll need to be guided through it or she could die, from what I understand."

"What about the dragons in the dungeon? How are we going to stop them now that the magic has been released?"

Gio, more human looking than the other but with slightly gray skin, scratched his chin. "Only some of them are from her kingdom. From what I've gathered, the suppression magic is gone, but they still need their alpha to draw out their animals. They won't get any shifter benefits until that happens. She may smell like the alpha, but she's not him. And even if she could free their dragons, they'd still be trapped in the dungeon, and we'd have them killed before they made it far. They aren't indestructible."

I stayed very still and ensured I had an entirely blank face. They'd just confirmed there were dragons in the dungeon. The ones from our kingdom must have been taken without Neff's knowledge. That or he hadn't been able to tell me because of the magical gag woven into the curse. Regardless, this meant I had help. It meant I'd have allies.

Broad Face shook his head, eyeing my body and then my face. "It's going to take an awful lot to clean this thing up. She's a mess."

"Not our problem, like you said."

Legs appeared in the blackness crowding the stairwell, the magic hovering like a blanket. Jandry came into view with a fresh welt on his cheek. He'd probably tried to resist, and they'd slapped him around. The magic above must've deadened sound, though, because we hadn't heard any of it.

The leader, Reno, emerged on the stairs, his hand on Jandry's shoulder. His gaze darted around the landing, pausing on Lufin's broken body. Panic crept into his expression before easing into plain anxiety. He must've realized who it was. The next moment, his gaze hit me and a look of relief followed. He'd clearly regretted giving in to his stupid impulse. That was good. I hoped a lot of them gave in to moments of stupidity. Dumb creatures, even if they only acted foolish sometimes, were easier to fool.

The rest of the demons followed Reno, a good few of them looking me over for damage as they descended. When Reno reached the bottom, he reached for me.

"Her ankle is messed up," Gio said, still holding me up. "Like her face and a handful of other issues from her fall."

His voice didn't hold accusation, but Reno bristled all the same.

"She'll heal," Reno said, grabbing me and jerking me toward the tunnel. I tried to step-hop, but to keep from falling, I had to put weight on the bad ankle. Agony blasted through me, and I couldn't stifle a cry as I hopped on the other foot, trying to keep from going down. But I could already tell it was too late.

As I pitched forward, I threw out my hands to catch myself—just as a strong arm wrapped around my middle and pulled me up and against a chest.

"Fucking idiot," Gio mumbled softly, holding me so I could put my good foot on the ground. "Denski, get her other side. Let's get this done. I'm sick of this journey."

A thin demon emerged from the gathering, his smell suggesting his power was about the same as Gio's, which was higher than that of Broad Face and probably Reno, though it was hard to tell with so many of them gathered around.

They each took hold of one of my arms, and I hop/hobbled with them down the corridor, the sound of shuffling feet behind me indicating the others were coming along.

We followed the curve of the hallway, everyone obviously able to see in the darkness except for Jedrek, who stumbled within his captors' hold. The curse's suppression had been lifted from him, just like the rest of us from Wyvern, but I hadn't used my power to help yank his animal out of the darkness. I was worried he'd freak out and try to shift.

Up ahead, the low-hanging domed ceiling had an opening at the top that let in a slice of dusty, crimson-tinged white light. I looked up as we passed, but couldn't see anything through the hole. Onward we walked, darkness crowding in once again.

A bit farther in, the tunnel narrowed slightly, seemingly ending at a set of bars, the gaps between them slightly illuminated in that same reddish light. Through them were more rough-hewn walls, no difference from the hallway we'd walked down.

Gio stopped before it, saying nothing. In a moment, Reno walked around us, a key in hand. He glanced down at my feet before unlocking the door. He gave Gio a hard look, then headed through the opening and turned right.