Ember stabbed through the scaly breast of one opponent, and as it fell, she used the gap to peer through the rest. The dragon witch had a bag tied around its waist. The rest wore nothing, so she wouldn’t lose the witch in the crowd. “Yes.”

  “Here.”

  Ember grabbed the object Rowena pressed into her hand. She recognized it as a yew stick spotted with cold iron, good for blocking spells, though it wouldn’t prevent their casting. She held it in her off hand like a dagger.

  “Ready?” Rowena asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Go.” A column of smoke sprung from the ground as Rowena cast a spell.

  Ember dove around it, using it to screen her rush. The dragon witch turned her way and flung a small blob of fire. Ember swung the yew stick and knocked the blob out of the air, the magical fire fluttering and dying as the yew and iron negated it. The dragon witch stumbled back and brought up its claws. Both hands flared with a blue-white flame.

  Heartfire.

  Ember blocked the strike, all the more delighted that the dragon witch could cast both creative and destructive magic, though it seemed weaker than Rowena and Sydney. As if responding to a signal, some of the other dragon people brought heartfire to life as well. They might be weaker than some of the knights, but that didn’t mean the others couldn’t be overwhelmed.

  Ember slashed faster, not trying to connect as solidly, going for as many cuts as she could land in as little time. The dragon witch faltered, Ember ripped the bag from its waist, and it stumbled back, getting lost in the fray.

  Across the cavern, Sydney called for retreat as another knight fell before the onslaught. The closest knights bunched together, lifting their injured as they moved toward Sydney’s position. Ember began to work her way to Rowena, hoping to shepherd her in the same direction. Rowena would definitely need to spend more time with Sydney if they were going to become used to one another. They both might have maddening qualities, but Ember wasn’t ready to let either of them out of her life, especially since Sydney had apologized and stood up for witches.

  Ember’s grin was back. As long as too many of the knights didn’t die, the future would remain bright.

  A tremendous roar echoed through the cavern, bringing several people to their knees as the hideous noise reverberated upon stone. Rocks and pieces of earth began to rain down, and a tremendous shadow blocked the sun.

  The real dragon. At last.

  The enemies pressed their attack. It became difficult to keep track of Rowena and Sydney, fight, keep hold of the bag, and watch for the dragon she’d been waiting for. Some of the knights fled down the nearest tunnels along with the villagers, retreating in small groups. Rowena had come closer to Sydney, but a cluster of enemies still blocked Ember’s path.

  “Rowena!” Ember leaped straight up and flung the witch’s bag. She saw Rowena clutch it before a set of claws grasped Ember’s shoulder as she landed. Ember twisted, shaking off her attacker and slicing them across the belly as she spun. The debris fell faster, though the shadow didn’t seem any closer. Maybe the dragon was happy burying them while staying out of harm’s way.

  Ahead, Camille was helping a wounded knight into another tunnel, but the boulder tumbling from above would squash her flat.

  Rowena would be sad.

  Ember bashed her opponent in the face and turned. She ran, pulling on all her speed, and the cavern became a blur. She smacked into Camille and the knight and sent all three of them flying into the tunnel so quickly, their feet left the ground. She turned in midair and tried to cushion their landing but only managed to shield a bit of them. The impact with the wall rattled her teeth.

  It was all very fascinating and required further experimentation.

  Some other time.

  Camille and the knight let out cries that cut short when they hit the ground, and Ember heard the air leaving their lungs in a rush. She sat up and looked back to see the boulder sitting where Camille had been, blocking the exit. She ran to it and stood on tiptoe, peering over the top, watching the debris continue to fall as Sydney, Rowena, and the knights with them made it to safety before a rain of stones filled the entrance to the tunnel and blocked her view.

  Camille was coughing, a good sign. The knight wheezed and moaned. Not so good. Ember could barely see them, which meant Camille and the knight probably couldn’t see at all. Ember kneeled beside them, touching each on the shoulder.

  “Are you all right?” she asked. “I mean, obviously you’re not completely all right because you were attacked by dragon people, and then I tackled you into this cavern, but I really mean, do either of you feel as if you’re going to die soon?”

  When neither answered, she bit her lip. “If you can’t talk, touch my hand to let me know you’re dying, and I’ll try to think of something. I never paid much attention to Rowena’s lessons on anatomy and medicine because I didn’t care. I never get sick, and I don’t get hurt that often, and when I have been hurt, Rowena’s always fixed me.”

  “I’m…fine,” Camille said between gasps.

  “Okay.” That didn’t make Ember as happy as the thought of Rowena and Sydney being fine, but she’d told herself she had to save Camille for Rowena’s sake, so she supposed she had to be at peace with Camille’s good condition. If Camille decided to try to win Sydney back, though, she’d rethink that. “And you?” She gave the knight a gentle squeeze, but he only moaned again. “I think he’s not fine.”

  Camille’s big eyes roamed the gloom before she reached out as if trying to feel her way to the knight. “Here.” Ember took her hand and put it on the knight’s shoulder.

  “You can see?” Camille asked.

  “A little.”

  Camille felt along the knight’s body. “He had a head wound before, but he was conscious. It seems like he’s passed out, or maybe he’s barely aware.” She sighed. “I only know a little about healing from books, so I’m at a loss.” She put a hand to her forehead. “And I left my stupid pack in that horrid workshop.”

  Ember watched her think. She felt a little thrill at being able to see someone who couldn’t see her. Camille couldn’t complain about her staring if she couldn’t see it. She was very pretty with her mass of curls, curvy body, and big cheeks. Ember’s ire grew a little, but she pushed it down. “The way is blocked, but I saw Sydney and Rowena make it out as well as many of the knights.”

  “Good, that’s good.” Camille closed her eyes as if she needed even more dark to think. “Well, it seems like all these tunnels are interconnected, so I say we find a way to the surface and look for the others up there where we can both see.”

  “Agreed.” Ember looked to the knight. She could probably carry him, though with him being taller, it would be awkward, and Camille would need her to guide them. “Can you get him under an arm?”

  Camille nodded and stood, wincing as if she was injured. Ember wanted to ask what was wrong but didn’t. Curious. Was her hesitation because of Rowena’s words about respecting privacy or something different? She didn’t really care about Camille’s privacy, didn’t care if Camille liked her or not. Her hesitation had to be something else.

  Fear. Not of Camille or of her relationship with Sydney, but that Camille’s injury would make Ember happy somehow. Curiouser. Even though the connection told her that Rowena and Camille had grown closer, supplanting Sydney, Ember’s resentful leanings toward Camille remained.

  She sighed again. Rowena was right. Feelings were often stupid.

  * * *

  Camille’s left side burned like fire. She’d read about broken ribs and supposed she could have one, but she could still move. Probably just deeply bruised. Being tackled into a wall by a homunculus certainly hadn’t helped. And it was too dark to see, yet Ember seemed to be doing fine. And they had to aid a semi-conscious knight who also hadn’t been helped by that same tackle. And on top of all that, her eyes ached as Rowena warned they would when the augmentation magic wore off. Camille couldn’t help feeling as if the lack of even one of these problems would make her life so much easier.

  The knight shuffled along, still groaning, with his arms slung over Camille’s and Ember’s shoulders. Camille couldn’t help a bit of groaning herself every time she put weight on her left leg, and jolts of pain ran up and down her side. Ember wasn’t even breathing hard, and though Rowena said Ember had a tendency to be overly chatty, she hadn’t made a peep since they’d started walking.

  “You all right over there?” Camille said, desperate for something other than wheezing to fill the dark silence.

  “Fine.”

  Camille rolled her eyes. Maybe the tendency to become tighter than a clamshell was a trait Rowena had passed to her. “Rowena’s told me quite a bit about you.”

  Silence for a moment, then, “She did?”

  “How you like to spar with the husks, how you’re very curious.” She mentally prodded her to take the hint, but no such luck. “I noticed you came in with Sydney. Did you get sent to her like I got sent to Rowena?”

  “Yes.” She stretched the word out as if filling in a gap before blurting, “I kissed her. She kissed me, I mean. Well, we kissed, and I want to do it again.” The words had a note of challenge that nearly made Camille laugh. Did she think Camille would stop her?

  Would she do something to make sure that didn’t happen?

  Camille swallowed. “Oh, good.”

  “Good? Aren’t you…mad?”

  “Well, since I’ve been kissing Rowena, and she’s been kissing me, no, I don’t see how I can be mad.” Though anger would be easier to deal with than guilt. Unwarranted guilt, it seemed. Still, she had to wonder what Ember would do if she said yes, she was mad.

  No, she didn’t want to find out, not after remembering Ember’s skill in a fight and the force with which she could hurl herself at someone else.

  “I thought you might have,” Ember said quickly, and now she sounded happier. “There’s a large rock in your path. Scoot this way.”

  Camille followed instructions, happy they were talking if only to be warned of further obstacles. “I care about Sydney, of course, but I’m not usually one for…long-term love affairs. Though, I really want to get to know Rowena better,” she added quickly.

  “Sydney wants someone to love her. I can tell.”

  “Ah. Good.” Another small wave of guilt passed through Camille. She’d sort of had the same sense about Sydney but knew she couldn’t provide that love. Ah well, it wasn’t as if she’d made promises. They’d both had their eyes open.

  She hoped.

  “I’m sure you’ll be good together,” Camille said.

  “How?” Ember asked. “Is that a sense you have? Can you always tell just by hearing about a relationship? Are you ever wrong?”

  Camille nearly staggered under the barrage of questions. “Um…that’s just a platitude, sorry.”

  “Rowena says platitudes are a buggery waste of time.”

  Camille snorted a laugh. “Sounds like her. It’s what people say when they don’t know what else to say. It means something like, I hope it’ll turn out okay.”

  Ember repeated this softly. “Why don’t you say that, then?”

  After a sigh, Camille said, “I hope it’ll turn out okay.” She sensed one had to carefully pick their battles with Ember.

  “I hope you’ll turn out okay, too. Rowena will be fun for you to get to know when we aren’t being attacked by things that want to kill us. She has layers.”

  “Don’t I know it.”

  “You do? That’ll help. I love Rowena.”

  Camille smiled, about to stay silent, but the dark lent her courage. “I think I could, too.”

  Ember made a happy little squeal. “I hope that’ll turn out okay.”

  “Shh,” Camille said through a laugh. “There’s bound to be more than knights in these tunnels, and we don’t know how keen dragon hearing is.”

  “You know about the dragon, too?” Ember said quietly.

  “The dragon?” Camille said, her heart beating faster. She tried to turn her head to look Ember in the eye, but she still couldn’t see a cursed thing, and the knight groaned with the movement. “You’ve seen an actual dragon? I just guessed because the creatures who’ve attacked us seemed to have human and dragon characteristics.”

  “A Kell told Sydney and me that a dragon is in charge of them, and I saw its shadow when it knocked that cave in on us. It was huge. And I’ve seen big footprints.”

  Camille archived this information and tried to make orderly rows of it in her mind. “The Kells working with a dragon.”

  “He called it Nightmare. Said it and the Kells were asleep, and everyone they encountered was just a dream and didn’t matter.” Her voice took on a tinge of sadness. “But even if we are dreams, we still matter. They attacked a village, and I saw a little girl, and she was…”

  Camille’s eyes stung anew as they teared up from the pain in Ember’s voice. “How horrible, Ember. I’m so sorry.” She could only imagine what had been done, but with what she’d read about Kells, it couldn’t be good.

  “Thank you. I’m…sorry I had mean thoughts about you.”

  “Ha. You won’t be the last, I’m sure.”

  Ember huffed. “Are other people having mean thoughts about you? Do you know who they are? Did you do something to them, or are they making assumptions like I was? I didn’t enjoy it. It made me feel quite nasty. So, maybe I can talk to these people, or you can, and then they won’t have to feel nasty or have mean thoughts, and that can all be okay, too.”

  “It…I…” Camille chuckled as her head swam again. “I was speaking hypothetically.”

  “Aha. I can do that, too, if you want.”

  She launched into theories about Kells and dragons, some of which made sense—that the dragon wanted to kill humans out of revenge for the rest of its kin—and some that were too farfetched—the dragon had fallen in love with the Kells and would do anything to help them.

  “Did you tell any of this to Sydney?” Camille said when Ember finally took a breath.

  “She doesn’t want to talk about dragons,” Ember said with a sigh. “She thought the idea was stupid and embarrassing when we met some knights, then she came around when the soldiers saw a dragon footprint, but I think she’s still skeptical. She’s probably telling herself that the giant shadow that knocked the cavern down was a really big bird or something.”

  Camille scoffed. “Rowena tried to deny it, too, saying all the dragons are dead. As if once a thing is commonly accepted, that makes it the truth forever. But those of us who read a lot know that there are always more discoveries to be made, and that theories require testing before they can be labeled truth.” She nodded, feeling smug.

  “I like that. I want to read the books and find out all the things.” She sighed. “Even if Sydney doesn’t believe them first.”

  “Well, there’s two things we have in common,” Camille said, her affection growing. “We both like to uncover the truth, and we both have our sights set on very stubborn women.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Rowena was getting tired of bullying the wounded knights into letting her help them. Ever since her sight augmentation spell had worn off, her eyes had throbbed with pain, and the knights’ stubbornness compounded that annoyance into a right bloody headache. Plus, the bite wound on her arm ached anew at all the casting she’d been doing.

  It all added up to one simmering pit of anger in her belly that wouldn’t go away easily.

  “Yes, I’m a witch,” she said to a knight who flinched away from her. Many of those she or Sydney had already helped were limping down the tunnel, and only a few left needed a hand getting to their feet. “Yes, I might use magic to help you, but lucky for you, most healing magic is temporary, so it’ll get you out of here, then you can get back to nonmagical suffering, all shiny and pure.”

  This one reluctantly relaxed like some of the others, and she wanted to laugh in his face if he actually believed that magic wearing off was preferable to magic actually healing him.

  The lot of them were a waste of life force.

  For the hundredth time, she asked herself why she was even doing it. Would they do the same for her? Doubtful. Together, she and the knights had a better chance of defeating any enemies, but the knights no doubt thought they didn’t need a witch’s help. Bloody ingrates.

  She sighed, knowing it was more than just safety that prompted her. She’d wanted to find Ember. Mission accomplished, except now, she’d lost Ember again. At least she knew Ember was alive. Their connection had gotten weaker as they’d ventured farther apart, but it was still there.

  Ember wasn’t the only reason she was helping the knights. It was because Camille would have helped them. Oh, she’d understand if Rowena wanted to leave them behind, but she’d never do such a thing. She’d bite her lip, deliver a scathing recrimination or two, and pitch in. And it would have shamed Rowena not to do the same. Besides Ember, no one had ever inspired her before.

  Even to do something for someone so bloody asinine.

  “Are you all right?” Sydney asked, and Rowena knew she’d been muttering under her breath.

  “Fine.” She finished bandaging the knight’s leg and smearing the outside with a bit of clay. When infused with life force, it would act as a stabilizer, a temporary muscle to use instead of the injured one. Maybe when it gave out and the knight dropped like a wet sack, he wouldn’t be so quick to flinch from magic. “This one’s done.”

  Sydney pulled the knight to his feet and sent him lumbering after the others. The uninjured few stood at intervals down the tunnel, helping the shufflers move faster before catching up. Their row of lanterns looked like a sparkling bridge in the dark.

  “The way to the cavern is blocked,” Sydney said. “I tried to find a way through, but every time we shifted some stones, others tumbled down.” She stared at the rock just a few feet above their heads as if it might collapse, too. “I hope everyone found a way out. I hope…they got out.”

  Rowena didn’t have to ask who they were. “Ember is alive. She’ll head for the surface. We’ll have a better chance of finding them there.” She included Camille without even thinking about it. Her being dead was an impossibility.

 

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