Outrage washed over Fenn’s features before he went truly feral. Claws flying, he somehow connected a blow with Larek, fangs snapping as if he’d rip out his throat.

Something inside of Serenna cracked, carving into her heart. Fenn wasn’t battling to escape the magma or the reavers. He was fighting to reach her. To protect her, even though he was the one in danger. The one who was hurt.

Hands trembling uncontrollably, Serenna crushed her fingers into knots, fists leeching white. Blood from the gashes Larek had scored into her flesh crept down to her wrists, dripping off her knuckles. Fury crystalized in the fractures of her chest, forging fear into something else. Something stronger.

Forcing a calming breath down her throat, Serenna released her terror.

“Let him go,” she commanded, her words echoing across the cavern.

The reavers didn’t acknowledge her.

Disbelief punched Serenna in the gut like the blows pummeling Fenn. They don’t see me as a threat.

She took in another breath.

The world went still.

A gentle breeze stirred, the wind beckoning to her. Flaming plumes pulsed, beacons flaring to life.

Serenna channeled her perception into the stream of magma.

In the space of a heartbeat, the earth answered her call. Magic uncoiled in her chest, singing through her veins as the ancient power rose in response, spreading its wings.

Serenna heaved on the inferno. A burst of flame streaked out of the magma, racing into her palm. Too busy wrestling with Fenn, the reavers didn’t notice. She stared at the fire dancing above her fingertips before riveting her focus on Larek, his attention still on beating Fenn half-senseless.

Serenna’s fury simmered, boiling over.

Throwing out her hand, she launched the fiery comet across the cavern.

The flaming orb punched into Larek’s back. He roared, stumbling forward. The fire fizzled out, disintegrating into his shoulder in a hiss of burning armor and flesh. Spinning around, Larek’s volcanic eyes latched onto her with blood-lusting wrath. Serenna bared her teeth, tearing more of the blaze toward her.

Whipping a column of twisting flame from the magma’s depths, Serenna forced the magic to separate. Five. She could manage five flaming spheres. It would have to be enough. She flung the fiery orbs at the reavers.

Dodging the flames, the wraith warped out of the way, evading the smoldering globes before any could land. Serenna wrenched the fire to a halt before the conflagration converged on Fenn, who had collapsed near the fiery river. Whipping her hands around, Serenna searched for her target.

Larek unfolded from a shadow in front of her. Serenna’s stomach heaved as the smell of cooked flesh snaked up her nose.

Larek snarled, seizing her throat, forcing Serenna to scramble to her toes. Her control over the fire guttered, the flames snuffing out as they plunged to the floor.

Gasping to fill her lungs, Serenna’s vision blurred as Larek’s claw tightened. He yanked her off her feet, his superior strength forcing her body into compliance.

Serenna snatched at a jet of fire at the edge of her vision. A blazing whip cleaved the air with a crack, wrapping around Larek’s neck.

He dropped her. Back arching, Larek clawed at his throat, scorching his hands on the flaming noose as he emitted mindless, strangled screams.

Serenna fell to the ground, catching herself with her palms. Coughing, she panted to catch her breath. Her eyes dashed around the chamber to account for the reavers. Clearly still believing their leader would be the victor, they circled her like a cloud of vultures, waiting for an impending death.

It wouldn’t be hers—she wasn’t finished.

Swaying to her feet, Serenna riveted her gaze on Larek, reattuning herself with the scorching heat. Greasy fat glistened as it weeped from his seared flesh. Clutching his charred, blistered neck, Larek’s eyes widened with a wild terror.

A column of fire reared up behind Serenna, flickering and crackling. Consumed by instinct, her rage flared like a spark igniting oil. With a blast of power, she twisted the inferno into a violent assault.

Larek didn’t have time to warp.

Channeling the flaming whirlwind, fire collided with the reaver. The other wraith warped out of the way, scattering like shattered glass. Serenna stoked the torrent with coils of wind, engulfing him in a spinning vortex. Conjuring another gout of flame, she punched out a tidal wave, forcing the other wraith further back with the threat of the same fate.

Howls echoing around the caverns, Larek thrashed like he could throw the flames off. His body smoked and writhed while the cyclone spiraled around him, consuming him, spurting hissing black smoke. The stench of burning leather and flesh invaded the air as his armor charred, skin melting and sloughing off bones.

The flaming funnel of death smothered Larek’s screams too soon.

Pulse thrashing frantically in her head, Serenna poured her entire strength into the fire. Her breathing turned ragged as the chamber flickered in her vision, faded slowly, like the beat of Larek’s dying heart.

Serenna heard Fenn stumbling to her. He reached out, pulling her away from the flames threatening to lick her boots. The reavers had fled, leaving the caverns as quiet as a tomb.

Fenn grimaced, clutching his ribs, weaving his fingers through hers. With a squeeze, the offered comfort anchored Serenna’s senses back to her body, cooling the firestorm in her blood.

The world came back into focus one breath at a time as her erratic heartbeat settled. Emerging from her trance, Serenna felt no whisper of remorse, no regret for her actions. I should’ve ended Larek sooner, before he harmed those starving humans. His death was bound to give life to others.

Wincing, Fenn wiped the blood away from his broken nose. He glared at Larek’s charred corpse, the splashes of fire dying around his blackened bones.

Turning back to her, Fenn retracted his fangs, giving her a crooked smile. Serenna cringed as his lip split further and then lunged forward to steady him as he staggered.

Something like reverent pride and awe glowed in his unswollen eye. Fenn hooked an arm around her shoulder, still grinning, his words mangled in his swollen mouth. “I’m in your debt, she-dragon.”

CHAPTER 38

SERENNA

Fenn transported Serenna to the safety of the Aerie with a handful of sickening warps. She wasted no time steering him upstairs to the bathing chambers to tend to his wounds.

When they reached the obsidian marble tile, Fenn stumbled, luckily catching himself on a standing towel rack. Serenna would’ve undoubtedly been crushed under his towering form if she tried to support him.

Sleet pelted the icy windows while humidity clung to the black walls. Heat from the vents whistled softly through the room, the temperature balmy like the shores next to the castle she’d once called home.

Serenna selected the rectangular tub instead of the central rain shower. Both were large enough to accommodate a druid’s unfolded wings. Or so Fenn had claimed.

This had better not become routine. I’ve had my fill of stitching males back together. The memory of the prince’s blood splattered over his bathing chambers in the Spire resurrected a rising tide of concern. Serenna recalled fumbling over Vesryn’s injuries—Jassyn wouldn’t be saving the day this time. She forcibly anchored those unhelpful thoughts away.

Turning a series of valves, Serenna filled the bottom of the marble bath. Steaming water spouted from the pipes, ushered in from hot springs within the depths of the keep.

“Sit on the edge,” Serenna ordered, grabbing a few cloths to submerge. “I can’t reach you when you’re hovering like that.”

Arm braced around his ribs, Fenn gritted his teeth. “We’re dressing your wounds first.”

“I’ll be fine.” Serenna raised her brows as he nearly lost his balance. “I’m not the one about to fall on my face.”

Clenching his jaw, Fenn’s unswollen eye flared as he focused on the gashes in her arms.