“Mom!” I gasped. “What happened?”

She didn’t reply as she flung herself next into my father’s arms. Her body shook against him as she broke down sobbing against his chest.

“Darling?” he asked, brushing back her sticky hair from her face. “Where were you? What’s been going on?”

She seemed to be too hysterical to answer even him. In many ways, her non-answer was more terrifying than if she’d just explained. Terrifying scenario after scenario began to blast through my mind until I found tears streaming down my own cheeks. I was already prepared for the worst.

Caleb ran up to me and gathered me to him. It was as if he’d read my mind.

“Remember what I told you, my love,” he said softly, planting a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t fear what-ifs.”

Biting my lip, I gulped back a sob. “But you saw what happened, didn’t you?”

He swallowed hard before nodding. “But you didn’t. And now you have to stay strong.”

“I know,” I said, trying to steady my breathing. “I know.”

I stepped away from him and dried my eyes with the back of my hand.

Even if everyone who didn’t show up here was taken by the flames, I had to shut down my emotions if I wanted to save the people I had left—surrounding me and within the mountains. If we survived this final battle, I would have a lifetime to mourn those we’d lost.

Right now, I had to turn the grief debilitating me into rage.

I straightened my shoulders, willing the heat to begin coursing through my body and swelling beneath my fingertips. I looked back at the dragons, still standing in the same spot in the clearing, waiting patiently for my next instruction.

With fire and sweat, we will win this battle.

Chapter 35: Rose

Once my mother had calmed down a little and my father briefed everyone about why these dragons were present, he addressed the witches. “The fire is still spreading rampant throughout the island. You need to go and start extinguishing the flames.”

Ibrahim looked shocked. “At least a few of us should stay here.”

“You can, Ibrahim,” my father replied. “But I want everyone else to deal with the fire. We’re in the company of dragons now and your help is less useful here.”

Corrine hugged Ibrahim and kissed him passionately before stepping away and vanishing along with the other witches.

Then my father turned to the rest of us. “Those black witches might arrive through those trees at any moment now. I suggest we all climb aboard our new allies and continue this conversation in the air.”

And so it was done. Caleb and I hurried back to Jeriad and pulled ourselves onto his back. My mother and father mounted Ridan, while Gavin and Zinnia climbed atop Neros. There were more than enough dragons to go round, but—other than Kiev, Yuri, Ibrahim and Xavier who took a dragon for themselves—the rest of the couples shared.

The ogres remained on the ground, dipping into their barrels and equipping everyone with four guns each. They both had looks of sheer terror as they gaped up at the dragons.

“What about Bella and Brett?” I called to my parents while we all launched into the sky. “We can’t just leave them there.”

“We don’t want to call anyone to open up the mountain entrance at a time like this,” my father replied. He stared down at the two of them. “Brett,” he called, pointing toward the distance. “Do you see that cabin up there on the mountainside? Take Bella with you and hurry there now.”

Brett didn’t need to be asked twice. They both dropped the barrels and went trundling off.

“Gather round,” my father called as we rose higher and higher. The dragons positioned themselves over the treetops nearby, rather than directly above the clearing, so as to not cast shadows down and draw attention. I was tempted to look toward the direction of the devastation, but I stopped myself just in time.

Focus, Rose. Focus.

“We’ll wait up here until they enter the clearing,” my father continued. “Then we’ll take them by surprise.”

The wait that followed was agonizing. We all attempted to remain deathly silent, and thankfully, even the dragons had no problem with this. Their wings beat quietly around us for such large creatures.

“You’re going to have to crawl back once I start shooting fire,” I murmured to Caleb. “Or I’ll burn you alive.”

He nodded, his eyes fixed on the clearing.

“Do you hear that?” Xavier breathed beside us after several minutes. He looked at my father, who nodded slowly.

“They’re approaching,” he mouthed back. He met eyes with everyone, and being vampires, they’d already heard and understood.

“Okay, Jeriad,” I whispered, tightening my grip on his scales. “Here we go.”

My hands were beginning to shake again from the pressure of the fire building behind them. Actually, being atop a dragon now, I would be better served firing guns at them—something the dragons couldn’t do—but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop myself sending flames down all the same. My heart was drowning in fury.

The moment the first of the crowd of black witches stepped into the clearing, Caleb moved backward, away from me along the dragon’s back, and began positioning his guns, while all the dragons lowered closer against the treetops. The dragons waited until the entire army of witches had gathered—followed by a dozen or so of their vampires—before they all swooped down. My eardrums ached from the explosion of gunshots.