Brow wrinkled, Chico said, “I’m seriously doubting my darts are going to get through their scales.”

“That is an issue,” said Sam. “But Lazarus told us that it’s hard for these shifters to maintain their dragon form if they’re weak. If any are shot down and return to their human form, kill them.”

“Remember that they don’t just breathe heat, smoke, and fire,” Jared warned. “They can breathe air so cold it encases whatever their breath touches in ice.”

Denny rocked on his heels. “I have a feeling this will be the hardest battle we’ve ever fought.”

A small smile graced Sam’s mouth. “Are you sorry you wanted some action?”

“I will be if I become encased in ice.”

Harvey frowned at Denny. “If you’re encased in ice, you probably won’t think or feel shit.”

Denny snorted. “Whatever.”

“I doubt it’ll be easy to target them,” said Jared. “They probably fly pretty fast. We’ll have to—” He stopped as Sebastian appeared at his side with a blonde Pagori female who couldn’t have been much more than five foot tall. I instinctively moved closer to Imani. Unsurprisingly, Paige did the same.

Sam smiled at the newcomers. “Sebastian, I take it Keeley’s made up her mind.”

“Keeley?” echoed David, brow raised.

“Well, I knew that fire-breathing creatures were going to be a big problem,” said Sam. “And they say fight fire with fire, right? But that ain’t gonna work here. What we need is someone who can put out the fire. Those within the legion who can create or call on water will have to do our best to calm the flames, but there aren’t enough of us for that. So Mona and Cedric checked the register for any vampires with gifts that can help. Sebastian then tracked down Keeley for us.”

“You can create water?” Imani asked.

Sam’s smile widened. “She can do something even better. She can create rainstorms.”

It was hard to imagine that a little thing like her had that kind of power. “Storms powerful enough to put out a bushfire? Because it’s a big possibility that the dragon attack will have the same effect.”

Keeley’s voice was strong and confident as she replied, “I can create rain so heavy, it’ll feel more like rocks hitting your flesh.” Impressive. So impressive that all the females smiled.

“You must have some kind of limitation,” insisted Max.

“The rainstorms never last long,” Keeley reluctantly admitted. “It’s pretty tiring to keep them going.”

“But if Reuben amplifies her gift, we won’t have to worry about that,” Sam pointed out.

“Are you combat trained?” Chico asked her.

Keeley lifted her chin. “Enough to hold my own.”

“Does that mean you’re joining the battle?” Sam asked her. “If I didn’t need to concentrate on keeping up my shield, I could feed on the small amount of energy leaking from you and have your gift for a while. I’ve created a storm before, though it wasn’t a rainstorm. But I can’t concentrate on creating, sustaining, and containing a rainstorm when I have to focus on my shield.”

Keeley was silent for a moment. “I’ll join the battle.”

“You’ll have protection at all times,” Jared assured her.

I had one concern. “You can keep the storm under control?”

She nodded curtly.

“What happens if you’re hurt?” I asked. “Will it go out of control?” That would be seriously bad and possibly make a shit situation even worse.

“If I’m hurt or killed, it will quickly die off.”

Fair enough.

“When do you think the dragon shifters will come?” Sebastian asked Sam and Jared.

“As soon as The Order realises its members are being hunted,” Jared replied. “It will be the only way they can stop us from going after them.”

Ava kicked at the sand. “How will we know when they’ve figured it out?”

“When the squads can no longer find the members they’ve been assigned to kill,” said Salem. “It will mean they’re in hiding.”

“According to the register,” began Jared, “one of the vamps at the top of the list is a telepath. He’ll have psychically warned the others before he died. They’ll be angry, scared, and they’ll feel forced to move forward with their plans and kill all of us before we kill the rest of them. I’d say we have twenty-four hours at most before the dragons arrive.”

Sam nodded her agreement. “All of you go have a long rest and tank yourselves up on NSTs. Or, in Imani’s case, have a little munch on Butch. Meet us outside the mansion at dusk.”

(Imani)

Later on, I was snuggled into Butch’s side while he lay in bed, his fingers brushing through my hair. Deliciously sated, I was on the verge of falling asleep when he spoke.

“It’s at times like this, when there’s a battle coming, that I wish we were officially mated.”

Instantly awake, I blinked. “What?”

“If I hadn’t messed up a year ago, we’d have been together long enough for you to feel secure and so sure of my commitment to you that you’d have agreed to Bind with me by now.”

I knew that part of the reason he was worrying so much was that Jared had ordered Butch to personally guard Sam throughout the battle. Vampirekind knew plenty about Sam’s abilities, and The Order will have passed on that knowledge to the dragons. That meant that as soon as an energy shield covered the island and trapped them, they would know that the shield was hers. They would do their best to get to her. Butch’s shield would keep her safe while she concentrated on maintaining her own shield.

His strategic mind would understand and agree with Jared’s decision. But the rest of Butch was no doubt balking at the thought of parting from me during the battle. I’d promised him I’d stay close enough for him to see me at all times—not just to placate him, but because I didn’t want him distracted, wondering where I was. He still wasn’t happy about it.

“I know that’s not a reason to Bind with someone, but we both know that’s not why I want to Bind with you. It’s just a plus.” He tapped my lower lip. “But you’re not quite there yet, baby.” There was no judgement in his tone.