“Instead of heckling, woman, you could try helping.”
She flashed a grin to expose a hint of fang that for some insane reason he found adorable. “I am helping. I’m giving you encouragement, dragonfly.”
His jaw out of joint, he turned toward Urian. “Would you consider this encouraging?”
“Coming from my sister? Yeah. She’s not throwing things at you or directly insulting us and our parentage. Hell of an improvement, if you ask me. Makes me wonder what you’ve done to her that she actually located some semblance of humor and good nature.”
Medea shot a blast at Urian, who deftly dodged it and laughed before returning it with one of his own.
“Hey!” Falcyn snapped, shoving Urian aside. “Play nice! You hurt your sister and I’ll fry your ass. Ash or no Ash.”
Medea righted herself from where she’d dived to miss Urian’s blast. “You tell him, sweet cheeks.”
Urian scowled. “Is she drunk?” He glanced back at Blaise and Brandor. “What did you throw on her again?”
“Water.” Brandor wiped at his brow.
Medea scoffed. “I’m fine. We’re just enjoying the sight of male stubbornness at its prime best, and wondering at what point the lot of you will cede defeat to the Penmerlin’s shield.” She glanced over to Brogan. “How long have they been pounding this poor defenseless shell now?”
“At least an hour.” Brogan wrinkled her nose.
Blaise shot a sudden blast at it that ricocheted and hit Brandor squarely in the chest. The blast knocked him back fifteen feet and sent him head over heels until he landed on his side, in a smoking heap.
Medea burst out laughing again.
With a groan, he pushed himself into a seated position to glare at Blaise. “Really, mandrake? Really?”
Squeaking in fear for her brother, Brogan scrambled to her feet to check on Brandor and to make sure he didn’t attack Blaise out of anger over his indignity.
Medea opened her mouth and rubbed her thumb against her fang. “You know, Falcyn, I think that puts the wall over for bonus points on all your sorry hides.”
“At least we’re doing something. You could try your hand at it, you know?”
“Why? It’s obviously not budging. If sheer force of will could open it, I’d give it to you and it would have surrendered ten hours ago.”
“One hour ago.”
“Tomato. Tahmahto.” Leaning on her side, she propped her head on her hand and rested her other arm in the hollow of her narrow waist. “I should go ahead and take a nap while the lot of you waste your time.”
He wasn’t sure if it was the words or her new position, but right then a nap was the last thing he could think about.
Medea naked under him …
Yeah, that image was vivid and sharp. And it made his pants uncomfortably tight in the crotch.
Even more agitated, he turned his back to her and considered kicking the shield. It wouldn’t do any good, but at this point, he’d be willing to throw a shoe just to get some satisfaction from the aggravating bastard thing.
At least that was his thought until a sharp light almost blinded him.
Summoning his dragonfyre, he was about to release it when the shadow took the form of a man he knew well.
One he trusted not at all.
The moment he saw the glow engulfing Falcyn’s hand, Shadow drew up short and set fire to his own hands as if to retaliate. “Whoa, dragon! Down, boy!”
“What are you doing here?”
After allowing the fire in his hands to go out, Shadow tugged one of the three amulets he wore about his neck over his head. “I have a present for you.” As he spoke those words, another form appeared by Shadow’s side.
Since Shadow didn’t react to the peculiar gargoyle with him, Falcyn assumed they must be allies as Shadow tolerated few to stand that far back in his peripheral where they might attack unseen. Especially since the gargoyle stayed back and crossed his arms over his muscled chest as if content to wait for them to finish their business.
Yeah, they were definitely allies of some sort.
“It’s a portal key,” Blaise said instantly. “I can feel it on him.”
“The mandrake would be correct. Varian sent me to escort the lot of you out of here.”
“We need to get back to Sanctuary.” Medea rose to her feet. “We’ve wasted enough time.”
“First we have to free the dragons at Camelot,” Blaise reminded her.
Medea rolled her eyes. “They’re statues, right? Been that way for centuries. What’s a few more days? Meanwhile my people are dying even as we speak. We need to save them!”
Blaise approached her with angry strides. The fact that he could walk so assuredly while blind amazed Falcyn. It always had. Yet he stopped right in front of her so that he could speak in sharp staccato beats. “If Morgen frees the dragons, she’ll tear through your Daimons. They’ll die anyway.”
“And Falcyn’s sister is among those being held at Camelot. She’ll be the first Morgen will slaughter should she wake her. Would you condemn her, too?”
Falcyn arched a brow at Brandor’s unexpected disclosure. He’d had no idea that Xyn was one of the dragons frozen beneath Camelot. And it stunned him that the fey courtesan would know of her presence there when he’d just learned it.
Shadow frowned as he listened to them arguing. After a second round of their escalating pitches, he whistled. “While this argument is really unamusing and unproductive, and I couldn’t care less about the outcome, I feel obligated to mention something you might find interesting.” He waited until all of them were facing him before he spoke again. “Why would Morgen summon Maddor for this? Seems a massive waste of his talents, if you ask me.”
Falcyn felt the color drain from his face. “What delusions are you suffering?”
“No delusions, friend. Right before I left, they sent a guard after him. Knowing her, it wasn’t for coffee or tea, or for an afternoon snack. While he does bear some similar characteristics with her past lovers”—he cut a meaningful glance to Brandor—“he’s not her usual fare, and she normally keeps him on a short leash, at a long distance from her, as he hates the bitch with a desperate passion and is likely to tear out her throat one day. But neither of us could figure out why she’d want him. She usually only calls him out for war.”
Medea cursed under her breath as a bad feeling went through her. Only one thing came to mind.
And the moment she met Falcyn’s steely gaze, she knew he held the same dreaded thought she did. “They’re planning to use him to lure you, aren’t they?”
Falcyn nodded. “He’s walking into a trap.”
By the expression on his face, she knew the pain in his heart.
And what she needed to do.
“Urian?” She pulled the ring from her pinkie and held it out to him. “Go to Davyn and make sure he’s all right. Tell him I’ll be there with the dragonstone as soon as I can. Please keep him safe for me.”
Falcyn gave her a puzzled stare. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not about to let you walk into that nightmare without someone at your back. God or whatever you are, you’ll still need some support you can count on.”