Green light flared again and Will transformed into his gargoyle form, dropping close to the waves. When Kit appeared below the surface, he pulled him from the water. Becks shifted into cat form and dug her claws into the deck, her fur standing on end. We were closer to the river than I’d realised, and if we weren’t careful, we’d crash right into the bridge. “Off the boat!” I said, inspired. “I’m going to set it on fire. Nobody else is aboard, right?”

  “No,” growled Astor, grabbing at me as we skidded across the deck. “Shift, before I have to fish you out of the sea.”

  “Yeah, right. I’d be the one fishing your sorry neck out, Astor.”

  I shifted into dragon form, grabbing him in one hand. The salt-laden breeze caught my wings and damn near knocked me off course, but I breathed a sigh of relief when Will took flight with Kit clinging to his back and Becks gripping his talon.

  The fire was ready, even if the inside of my mouth tasted like sea salt, and I aimed my attack at the rocking ship. A fireball grew and engulfed the boat. Wood splintered, and a plume of smoke rose as the fire ate through the construction. Bye, bye, kraken.

  “Dramatic,” said Astor, dangling from my claw. “Damn, woman, put me on your back.”

  “Scared, Astor?”

  He glared at me, though surely he couldn’t understand me in this form. “If you drop me in the sea—”

  I placed him between my wings and flew on, behind Will. Within minutes, we were close to Tower Bridge and the tentacled beast set on dragging people into the water. Did the hunters give this thing bait too? It wouldn’t surprise me.

  Lighting arced down from the sky, striking a tentacle with enough force to shake the bridge. The water rippled as the creature was sucked back into its depths. The mages were on the case, ready to fight. Good, because I couldn’t fight the hunters alone.

  But to fulfil my bargain, I needed to find the prisoners—and ensure the mages didn’t spot Astor riding on my back. The battle occupied their attention, but even past the bridge, the mages seemed to be everywhere. On the northern side, in the place where the boat had been, the hunters had come out for real, complete with guns and armour. Mages faced off against them, throwing fire and ice, lightning and water. But they appeared to be at a stalemate. Apparently the Elites’ magic-repelling armour applied to mage magic, too.

  I grabbed two hunters in my claws and threw them into the river’s gaping mouth. Without stopping, I flew past, my tail lashing at the row of fighting hunters and breaking up their group. I needed to put Astor out of harm’s way. But where—?

  A gargoyle appeared, on collision course with me. Too fast for me to dodge. We collided hard, and I flew off course. My claws dug into the stone roof of a nearby building, halting my fall. Astor swore loudly. “There’s a dozen gargoyles behind you. Move it!”

  The gargoyles closed in, blocking my escape route. Oh, hell.

  21

  Fire rumbled in my chest. I glared at the gargoyles, giving them my most furious dragon stare.

  As one, they froze. As though caught under a spell, every gargoyle within my peripheral vision paused in mid-air. I shivered. This is my power… I can frighten them in their tracks.

  A whirring noise broke the silence. Astor swore again, pushing my head down as a small helicopter flew past, landing in the middle of the roof.

  “Ember, get away. It’s—”

  Malkin. He appeared to be flying the helicopter himself. At least, nobody else was inside. The whirring died down, and I still didn’t move. Neither did the gargoyles, though surely the spell I had them under would stop soon. But I needed to get the Moonbeam from Malkin. Why was he following me up here? He must have a plan.

  I’ve got him on his own. It’s perfect. Too perfect.

  I watched him, not moving, as he climbed out of the helicopter. Malkin held the Moonbeam in his hands.

  “Let me kill him,” growled Astor. “I don’t need a weapon. I can push him off the roof with my bare hands.”

  As though he won’t have thought of that. I remained still, letting the fire build in my chest. My claws were strong enough to crush a human, even him. He wasn’t wearing armour, though I didn’t doubt his clothes were doctored with that supernatural-proof crap.

  I growled a warning, knowing my eyes were glowing with the power that kept the gargoyles under its spell. But he kept walking towards me. Did the Moonbeam protect him from the influence of my fear effect? Maybe.

  Give me that. I growled, low and menacing, making my meaning as clear as possible.

  “You’re a remarkable creature, aren’t you?” Malkin paused. “What would you give me for this, I wonder? The gargoyles were supposed to take you apart. And your friend. But their days are numbered. I wonder if I can find another use for you. You’ve given me enough trouble.”

  Astor leaped from my back to land at my side.

  “Number 308,” said Malkin coldly. “You’re of no interest to me whatsoever.” He eyed the nearest gargoyle and pointed the Moonbeam at it. A jet of pure white light shot from the stone, igniting the stone statue, and the gargoyle broke free of the spell, diving at Astor.

  I lunged forward, grabbing the struggling gargoyle in my claws. It bucked and fought, but I pinned it with my foot, claws sinking into its neck with just enough force to show it I’d kill it if it attacked Astor.

  “So it’s true,” said Malkin. “You are in alliance with abominations, Number 308. I hoped that part wasn’t true. You were valuable to my cause, for all that you betrayed us in the end. I’d like to know how you escaped our bullets…”

  Astor growled under his breath, producing a knife from somewhere—I could only assume he’d stolen it on the boat. He threw the knife, not at the gargoyle, but at Malkin. It should have been fatal. Instead, the Moonbeam lit up again. The knife disintegrated before it made contact.

  “This item does have its uses,” said Malkin. “It’s the reason I began to experiment with supernatural DNA. Something makes unnaturals able to do things which are simply incomprehensible to most humans. Gargoyles are born of a mutation, similar to faeries and other shifters. A disease. Even you, Ember, are a poison, a mark of corruption on humanity.”

  I growled, gripping the gargoyle’s neck harder.

  “You forced the shifters to turn on humans yourself, didn’t you?” Astor addressed Malkin. “You tricked us. Every recruit who came under your wing was the survivor of a shifter attack. That’s no coincidence.”

  What? I stared at him a moment, uncomprehending. Okay, it was true that a lot of hunter recruits had had family members fall victim to shifters who’d gone rogue.

  But… even amongst wild shifters, attacks on humans were rare.

  A deep chill ran through my body. The Moonbeam allowed control over shifters. Which meant…

  Malkin set him up. He set everyone up.

  “Tell me the truth, you fucker,” said Astor. “Did you order a shifter to kill my family?”

  My heart dropped, my chest tightening. Malkin didn’t need to answer for me to know the truth. He’d set Astor up, like everyone else. If he could personally engineer shifter attacks against humans, he could make anyone see them as evil. And once he had them under his wing, he could make them do anything to wipe us off the face of the earth.

  I didn’t dare shift back. Not when the fear effect of my dragon form was the only thing keeping the gargoyles from killing us. But the longing to burn Malkin to ashes was almost stronger, building higher…

  Malkin pointed the Moonbeam at me. “Kill him.”

  My mind blanked, and glorious calm settled over me. I let go of the struggling gargoyle, and went for Astor’s throat.

  He jumped, just in time. My claws scraped the roof’s flat surface as he rolled to the side, too close to the edge. I snagged the back of his coat with my claw and flung him aside. Like a cat playing with a toy mouse. He was my prey. Never mind the gargoyles, never mind the man watching us. I had to kill him.

  Astor dodged again, backing towards the roof’s edge. He caught my claw as I swatted at him, and kicked me in the arm. I hardly felt it, but I roared in anger. How dare this human attack me. I was a predator, and he was nothing more than an ant. I lunged, but he evaded me. He moved quickly for a human, skirting the edge of the roof. I hit out and smacked him with my claw. This time, the momentum caught him full in the face and knocked him off the roof. My claw shot out and caught him. Watching him fall to his death wouldn’t be nearly as fun as taking him to pieces myself.

  The man squirmed and leaped from my claws, grabbing onto the building’s side. Hey!

  We crashed through a window, me landing on top of him in a shower of glass. He rolled aside as my claws stabbed where his head had been seconds before, clawing, biting, tearing at the air. Another roar escaped my chest, reverberating from the walls. The tight space wasn’t built for a predator like me, and he rolled underneath a desk. I ripped it aside, claws gouging at the walls.

  A voice in the back of my head—

  Shift, Ember. Shift back. Now!

  “Ember!” growled Astor. “Turn human again, damn you.” He stood just out of reach, not running away. His words trickled through the command lodged in my mind. Kill him. But the bright light of the Moonbeam no longer shone on me. I paused, my mind going fuzzy.

  “You said you wanted me,” he purred.

  Something in my memory jolted. Standing close enough to touch him, both of us human. Wanting him. I edged closer, back stooped under the low ceiling. He didn’t take his eyes off me.

  “Come back, Ember,” he said, resting a palm on my claw. An image shot through my head—two humans, locked together on the edge of a roof.

  I stumbled on human legs, falling into him. The blank need to kill had gone, replaced by raw need and heat. I fastened my lips to his and gave into the new fire roaring through me, shattering every nerve, consuming every other instinct.

  Astor shoved at my shoulders, turning his head to the side. “Ember, Malkin’s outside. Alive. We need to kill him.”

  I blinked, dazed. “What?”

  “Malkin,” said Astor. “Up there. Alive. With the Moonbeam.”

  Shock punched me in the chest, like I’d fallen into the river all over again. Dazedness fought with the lingering burning sensation in my chest. “I can’t shift.”

  “Neither can I, darling. Improvise.”

  “Damn you.” Think. The gargoyles would have been released from my dragon spell, which meant they’d attack… unless Malkin was controlling them, too.

  I let my claws slide out. “If you want to climb, get behind me. I can’t promise he won’t use the Moonbeam on me again. And those gargoyles are out there.”

  “He’ll get bored with them,” said Astor. “Come on.”

  I’d never scaled a building before, not like this. My claws dug gouges in the stone, and worry for Astor fluttered through my chest even though I damn well knew he’d been climbing buildings longer than I had. The helicopter remained silent, and the gargoyles weren’t in the air. Instead, they stood on the roof, surrounding Malkin. Like a small army. In the seconds of climbing, my gaze caught on the river, and the flashes of mage magic rising below. My friends were down there somewhere, fighting for their lives.

  “So this is how it’s going to be,” he said, watching me climb with a bored expression on his face.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  The gargoyles didn’t attack me as I approached him, but I didn’t trust him for a second.

  “I can’t control you in human form,” he mused. “I wondered if you’d figure it out. Get him.” He pointed to two gargoyles, who converged on Astor, hauling him into the air.

  Dammit.

  “Ember,” said Malkin. “I’ve thought of a use for you after all. You see… I’m without a dragon shifter, and as it happens, I have the means for waking your sister right here. So you’re going to tell me where she is, or I’ll order the gargoyles to tear the traitor to pieces.”

  “You’ll do it anyway, you scumbag.”

  He sighed. “You’re right.”

  A scream caught in my throat as one of the gargoyles aimed a killing blow at Astor, but Astor broke free, falling towards the earth.

  I made to jump and shift, but Malkin shook his head, waving the Moonbeam. His meaning was clear. If I jumped… he’d make me kill Astor myself.

  Another gargoyle shot underneath, catching Astor in mid-air. My breath stopped. Will? I turned back to Malkin, hoping against hope the gargoyle who’d caught Astor was on our side. The other two followed in pursuit, and my hands curled into fists.

  But even when I was in human form, I had the speed and strength of a shifter. Malkin, whatever he’d done to himself, would never understand that.

  I launched myself at him and lunged for the Moonbeam with my free hand. He didn’t fight, to my intense surprise, but pain shocked my body the second my fist connected with his chest. I fell sideways onto the roof. Ouch. My skin burned like I’d stepped into the path of a mage’s lightning bolt.

  Malkin didn’t look fazed at all. “If you live, you’ll be useful to me. I know all about your people, Ember. The Moonbeam can illuminate everything. Tell me where your sister is hiding. I want to make sure no dragon shifter ever stands against me again.”

  I jumped and grabbed for the Moonbeam. Light spilled from it as my hands got within reach—it reacts to shifters. Malkin might be able to use it, but he wasn’t one of us. I had the right to take it more than he did. It’s mine. The fire in my chest hummed in resonance as silver-white light bathed both of us.

  Malkin pulled out his gun. “I really wouldn’t, Ember.” He pointed the weapon at my chest. “You’re going to tell me where your sister is, or I’ll pry the information from you while you scream for mercy. It’s not worth fighting against me.”

  Several more clicking noises indicated a number of other guns. More hunters had climbed onto the neighbouring roofs. I was surrounded. Worse, Astor and the gargoyle carrying him had disappeared. Without the Moonbeam, I’d never escape.

  “Tell me where she is, Ember, or die.”

  22

  Think, Ember. I needed to figure out a way to get back to Cori. I didn’t care what happened to the Moonbeam after that.

  No. I do. It’s not Malkin’s, and I’ll never let him use it to hurt people.

  “How do you even know how to use it?” I asked him, stalling for time.

  “I already knew some of its secrets, though there was considerable information in that notebook of yours.”

  The notebook.

  “You—”

  He must have made a copy of the notebook for himself. Of course he had. As though he needed any more information to hold against me.

  “Don’t you want to know what else it said? About the others?”

  Screw you. “Not from you.”

  He laughed. “It’s irrelevant, Ember, when you’re going to die anyway. I know you’re not living anywhere in the city centre, so your sister isn’t with you. The gargoyles would have killed you if you did. You’re not using the tunnels, so you travel by air. You’re hiding outside the city, I’d guess.”

  “That leaves an awful lot of options open,” I said, thinking frantically. As fun as it would be to send him on a wild chase to the other side of the country, I’d doubted he’d fall for it. But I didn’t know Giselle’s address. “It’s somewhere the faeries destroyed, mostly. Outside London. Look, I can find it from above, but not on the ground. Astor’s the one who could drive.”

  His mouth pinched. “I wish you wouldn’t lie to me, Ember. We’re wasting time.” He gestured, and a bullet clipped over my head.” My heart jolted. Are those the same guns Astor switched out? Maybe. I didn’t want to risk it either way, and I knew Malkin’s weapon was the real deal.

  I turned around on the pretext of looking for the person who’d shot me… and spotted Astor, pointing a gun at me from the roof. For all the world like another sniper. His head moved imperceptibly. Waiting for the signal.

  All right, then.

  “What makes you think Cori will cooperate with you?” I wouldn’t have an opportunity to get any more answers from him, and I desperately needed to know where to find the other dragons. He’d translated the notebook. My notebook. So did that mean he’d found them already? “She knows you’re a liar and you tortured the other dragon shifter.”

  “Give me an answer, Ember.”

  Another bullet clipped my ear. I took in a breath. “You won’t win this. The mages outnumber your people. The supernaturals are winning the war. If you can call it a war, considering you spend most of the time hiding away.”

  “Humans once ruled this world,” he said. “They built empires. The mages took what wasn’t theirs.”

  “The mages saved the humans who survived the faeries’ carnage,” I said. “You’ve done nothing but slaughter, and you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

  “We will control the world ourselves, with no magical blood to corrupt us.”

  “You’re already corrupt.” I didn’t take my eyes off Malkin. I trusted Astor not to hit me anywhere fatal, but I flinched at the sound of the bullet as it embedded itself in my arm.

  Then I made one last desperate lunge at Malkin, arms folded so my hands wouldn’t brush his armour again. The movement was wild and desperate, sending us both falling off the building.

  The air whipped around me as I free-fell, oddly like I was caught in slow motion. Malkin caught the edge of the building with one hand, yelling at the nearest gargoyle.

  I shifted into dragon form, then rose on strong wing beats, and grabbed the Moonbeam from his other hand. Malkin let out a furious bellow, shooting with the gun in his free hand, but the shot missed.

  I ignored it. I had more than enough firepower of my own.

  I breathed dragonfire. The fireball hit the building, ripping through the stone, melting, scorching. That did it for the remaining gargoyles, who took flight with cries of terror. A cloud of dust exploded outward as the building’s roof collapsed, choking my lungs and forcing me to fly out of range. The fireball had passed through the spot where Malkin had been hanging, but I hadn’t seen him burn.

 

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