Chapter 1

“People who tell you that things ‘could be worse’ should be kicked in the junk. I don’t care what kind of junk they have, it should be kicked. What is the point of telling someone things ‘could be worse’? Does it really make the current situation any better? Hell to the no. So take your ‘could be worse’ and shove it down your ‘never had to save the world’ throat.” ~ Perizada

There was a pause as the two factions stared at one another. The calm before the storm while they sized each other up. Decebel could feel his wolf shaking with rage inside of him as he stared at those responsible for the countless deaths of innocent people, human and supernatural alike.

Decebel didn’t hesitate as Vasile roared, “ATTACK!”

They’d been on the battlefield maybe a half a minute, and now they were running full speed at the enemy who wasn’t supposed to be waiting on them. They had a traitor. Another pack mate willing to throw their own family away for a cause that would destroy the world as they knew it.

Decebel noticed dark storm clouds beginning to form overhead and realized the elemental sprites were doing their thing. There was a huge boom of thunder, and then right on the heels, flashes of lightning hit the ground where their enemy stood. The earth beneath his feet shook, and Decebel jumped to keep from being thrown off balance. When he landed, he pulled on the power of his wolf to give him the sure footing of his beast.

A couple of vampires went up in flames thanks to the lightning. Now that was cool. The next flash of lightning seemed to be even brighter than the first. The luminous sprites were adding their own magic to the mix. The Order’s army seemed momentarily blinded, and for that brief second their guard was down. It made taking out the first couple of vamps a little easier.

Decebel slashed his sword through the air as he reached his first foe. His wolf preferred to fight in his fur, but Decebel liked wielding a blade as much as he did his claws. The vampire hissed like an angry cat and dodged the blade, but Decebel was older and much faster than the young vamp. He whipped around, his weapon following effortlessly and managed to catch the vampire right at the neck, removing the head in one clean sweep. One down. Only a couple hundred more to go.

The next warrior he faced was a fae. The supernatural moved with a grace matched only by the elves. In one hand he held a short sword, and in the other, a ball of light was forming. The fae moved forward and lunged with the sword. Decebel ducked under the strike and pivoted around. He instinctively raised the blade he held in front of him and felt the fae’s magic hit it. The sword seemed to absorb the spell, warming slightly in Decebel’s hand.

The fae’s face hardened as he realized that Decebel’s blade wasn’t just a mundane weapon. “Our brethren disgrace us by letting you mutts wield our weapons,” the fae spat at him.

Decebel’s wolf growled. He hated when an enemy tried to have a conversation while they were fighting. The wolf didn’t want to throw insults. He wanted flesh, bone, and blood clutched in his jaws. Without responding, Decebel leapt forward, but at the last minute, he knelt down, sweeping his blade at the fae’s knees. He felt the resistance as the weapon made contact.

The fae stumbled forward, but he caught himself before he fell to the ground. Decebel didn’t give him time to recover. He jumped and slashed the sword down just as the fae raised the hand that was filling with light once again. The fae bellowed as his hand was severed at the wrist and dropped, hitting the ground unceremoniously.

Decebel wished he was in his wolf form so he could take down his foe by his neck and give it a good shake until it broke. But a blade across the throat and then a stab to the heart would have to suffice. When the warrior was on his back staring up lifelessly at the grey sky, Decebel’s wolf threw his head back and howled in victory. As if the sprites agreed with him, more thunder rolled and flashes of lightning joined their applause.

He didn’t take more than a few seconds to enjoy the kill before another enemy was in his face. This time it was two vamps. Decebel glanced around to see if he could make out any pack mates. He located Fane and Cypher about twenty feet away, but that was all the time he could take because one of the vamps had landed on his back.

The stench of old blood clung to the bloodsucker and made Decebel’s wolf want to sneeze to rid himself of the smell. He felt the bite of sharp fingernails digging into the flesh on his shoulders. Decebel dropped forward into a roll, effectively catching the vamp off guard. His hold loosened, and the wolf managed to get free. When he was back on his feet he reached out with his bare hand and wrapped it around the other vamp’s neck who’d gotten too close and gave his wrist a sharp twist. The vamp’s neck broke, and he collapsed to the ground as Decebel released him. Then Decebel brought his sword down and cut off his head.

The vampire who had jumped on Decebel’s back, hissed. He really hated the hissing. Before he could engage the creature again, Vale, the fae warrior who had joined their side, stepped in between them to cut off the vampire's head with the two short swords he held in each hand. Without so much as a “you’re welcome,” he kept moving, slicing through foe after foe. His moves were so smooth that he appeared to be dancing instead of fighting.

“That’s just not right,” Drake said, panting, as he stepped up next to Decebel. He was watching Vale with no doubt the same dumbstruck expression Decebel had. “When you fight, you should not look like you’re frolicking.”

Decebel couldn’t help chuckling. “Please let me be there when you tell him that he looks like a frolicking dancer when he fights.”

Just then Vale jabbed one sword into the ground and raised his free hand. Light shot from it, flying across the field. It hit a troll in the face, and the being turned to ash.

“On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t tell him that he frolics when he fights,” Decebel corrected.

“Agreed,” Drake said. “Watch out.” His words were spoken so calmly and matter-of-fact like that Decebel wouldn’t have thought two vampires and two trolls were closing in on them.

“Does going into battle always get you this excited?” he asked Drake.

“After going toe to toe with my enraged mate, this is child's play.” Drake grinned.

They both lunged forward at the same time, side by side, and plunged their swords into the impetuous vamps.

“Okay,” Decebel said through gritted teeth as he pulled his sword back and then sliced it across the vampire’s throat. “This is much easier than fighting with Jennifer. At least with this fight we get to kill something.”

“Exactly.” Drake beheaded the second vampire attacking him and then faced off with one of the two trolls as Decebel did the same with the other.

Peri used her magic to propel herself forward, jumping as far into the battlefield as she could. The instant her feet hit the ground, she was surrounded by struggling fae, vampires, and even a warlock. She held up her hands, which glowed with power. Like an automatic weapon, she shot out pulse after pulse of her magic, hitting the vampires in the chest, disintegrating their hearts and then burning their bodies from the inside out. She saw the warlock’s eyes widen before he turned and ran the other direction. Peri would have laughed if three fae males hadn’t begun attacking her, making her focus once again on those who weren’t surprised by her display of power.

The fae circled Peri, attempting to get behind her. She’d be damned if she was going to let that happen. Instead of shooting for the obvious spot, center mass, Peri sent her power down to their feet. If she aimed for their chests, they would either block it with the fae blades they held or their own magic. But they wouldn’t expect her to knock them on their asses with her magic. Sure enough, once the white light hit their feet, they fell like three bags of rocks.

As soon as they were on the ground, Peri kicked the sword out of the hand of the closest male. Then she stomped her foot down on his chest and sent her power down through her leg. Yes, she could do that. When he was dead, she moved on to the next one. He attempted to jump to his feet, but Peri was there the second he was in the air. She grabbed the hand that held his blade, pulled it around behind him, and jammed it into his spine. Without a second thought, she let the male fall. Now, the third male was back on his feet, and he looked quite pissed. That was good. Intense emotion caused mistakes in battle.

He roared as he lunged for her. Peri manifested her own blade just as he reached her, and it slid into his chest as if he were made of butter. The man’s mouth dropped open, blood spilling out and down his chin as he looked at her.

“You chose the wrong side,” Peri said and then lifted her foot and placed it on his hip. She shoved hard and pushed him off her blade.

“Peri, behind you!”

She heard Fane’s voice, and her head whipped around while she swung her blade upward. The side of the sword landed against a vampire’s neck and cut straight through, removing the bloodsucker's head. She’d have to remember to thank Jacque’s mate for giving her a heads up. She was not in the mood to be a vampire’s snack.

Peri took the momentary reprieve from an enemy attacking her to look around the battlefield. She pushed the wet hair that had escaped her high ponytail out of her face. Lightning cast from elemental sprites lit up the sky, and she saw the carnage around her. It wasn’t only water on the ground forming puddles. There were little streams of blood running across the dirt collecting in small pools. The dirt bore black scorches where lightning had struck it, and piles of ashes that were formerly vampires littered the turf. She also smelled burning, but she couldn’t see anything on fire.

Peri looked over to where the elemental sprites were standing. They were doing their thing—wind pushing back any foe that tried to get near them. And every time a fae threw magic at them, one of the sprites shot up a wall of ice to block it.

“Damn,” Peri muttered. She’d forgotten how formidable the sprites could be.

Her eyes caught sight of Vasile. Side by side with Fane, they battled two large warlocks. Peri saw a couple more warlocks coming up behind the male wolves, and she started their way. But before she took more than a few steps, Cypher, king of the warlocks, was there. He took out the two sneaking up behind Vasile and Fane with one swipe of his huge sword. His eyes met Peri’s, and he gave her a nod. He was making it clear he was keeping an eye on the Romanian alpha and his son. Not that Vasile needed it, but there was no such thing as too many allies.

Movement from the corner of Peri’s eye made her turn to see a female vampire running toward her, teeth bared. It was attractive. Not. Peri held up her hand and shot a bolt of light at her, stopping the vamp in her tracks. Peri let out a breath as she realized they were winning. There were definitely more piles of ashes on the ground than vampires still standing. As soon as the thought filled her mind, she knew she should have ripped it back.

Suddenly there was a loud buzzing noise, like hundreds of locusts swarming in a small area.

“What the…” Peri heard Riven, who was only a few feet away, say and then he added, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Peri looked up and saw what had caused her fae comrade to grumble. Coming toward them, flying through the air like angry Tinkerbells, were the pixie warriors … or at least the ones that could fly. They might be small, but pixies were no joke. Just like any supernatural race, they were supernatural for a reason; they had powers humans did not possess.

Peri glanced at the elemental sprites. “Light up the sky!” she yelled at them and pointed. One of the sprites looked where Peri was indicating. The sprite nudged the woman next to her and motioned up. A moment later, more lightning arced through the air. Peri saw Ainsel, king of the pixies, take to the air and join with his warriors. She was glad he was helping, but it would make it challenging for the sprites to not hit any of Ainsel’s people.

Pixies began to fall, but when they realized what was happening, they began bobbing and weaving through the air like drunk bumblebees.

A bolt of fire soared through the air, and Peri turned to see Cypher forming another ball of fire in his hand. She knew the warlocks could wield the elements, though it wasn’t something they did often because they believed strongly in fighting a fair fight. A battle of swords. Cypher was smart. He knew that sometimes you fought dirty. Especially when a legion of pixies was about to rain down hell on you.

Other warriors of Cypher’s warlock army began to do the same, but even with their fire, some of the pixies made it down low enough to use their magic. Peri lifted her hands and began to speak in her language. She caused the air around them to be charged with more static electricity. She had to be careful because too much, and she would cause the lightning the sprites were shooting to become a threat to everyone, not just their enemy.

Riven must have realized what she was doing because she saw the male warrior take up arms beside her. “I will keep the enemy from you. You focus so you don’t kill us all.”

Peri laughed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” She began to speak in her language again and focused on her power. The lightning shooting in sharp slashes through the sky seemed to suddenly be drawn toward her, and at the last moment, she pushed her power toward a group of pixies flying straight for the sprites. The pixies fell lifelessly from the sky.

Peri didn’t feel victorious. She’d taken their lives, and it wasn’t something she ever did lightly.

“Incoming,” Riven yelled, pulling Peri from her thoughts.

Peri quickly reined her power in and turned to see what Riven was bellowing about. Her mouth dropped open. “Bloody hell,” she said through gritted teeth as she stared in disbelief. Because it really shouldn’t have been possible.

“Is he riding a draheim?” Lilly asked, coming up beside them, breathless and looking a little worse for wear but showing no serious injuries. Her mate had trained her well.

“You tell us,” Peri said. “You’re the one that has experience with these things.” Not that Peri didn’t know what it was, but she was feeling a little snappish.

“It seems a little small,” Lilly said, tilting her head sideways as if that might somehow explain what she was seeing.

“That’s because it’s not a mature adult,” Riven said. “It’s an adolescent dragon.”

“Are they as temperamental as human teenagers?” Lilly asked.

“Worse,” Peri and Riven said at the same time.

“And who is that on its back?” said Lilly.

“My father,” Thalion said as he appeared on Riven’s other side. “Ludcarab, former king of the elves.”

“Riven, get as many of the fae focused on the dragon as possible,” Peri said quickly. “Thalion, keep the enemy occupied to give my warriors some time to deal with Ludcarab without distraction.”

“On it,” Thalion said as he turned and shouted out to his warriors.

“What should I do?” Lilly asked her.

“Don’t die,” Peri answered as she magicked away her sword and pulled as much power into her body as she could. It was going to take a lot to deal with a draheim, even a young one.

Just as she was about to allow her light to begin to fill the night, she heard her mate's voice in her mind. “Come and get us. And you’d better bring Kale with you.” Peri didn’t take time to look around. She couldn’t let herself think about the fact that she was leaving her comrades to face a dragon. Her mate had called, and she would answer. That was the way it was with true mates. She’d known when she went into this that she might have to leave at a moment's notice. She flashed and prayed to the Great Luna that all her friends would be all right.

Riven’s eyes widened as Peri disappeared from beside him. He looked around the battlefield, allowing himself a moment to take his eyes off of Ludcarab and his new pet to see if the high fae reappeared somewhere else. He didn’t see Peri anywhere, but he couldn’t keep searching. He had to focus on the biggest threat: the former elf king riding a bloody draheim.

Ludcarab circled around them, his draheim moving slowly, as if he wasn’t looming over a battlefield but instead out for a leisurely flight.

“Where the hell is Peri?” Vale asked as he came up beside Riven.

“I don’t know and don’t have time to care. We need to get a shield up, now,” Riven said as he began to use his power to build a ward over them. It would trap them inside with their enemy on the ground, but it would hopefully protect them from the flames the flying draheim sent their way.

Vale raised his hands and began to chant. He was the offspring of a high fae and that meant his own power was even greater than Riven’s.

Jareth, the djinn, stepped up and joined them. “I can offer some of my power to aid yours.”

Other fae warriors noticed what they were doing and began to chant. The wolves, warlocks, and elves followed Cypher, Thalion, and Vasile’s lead as they formed a circle to protect them while they were focused on building the ward. Riven could also hear the voices of the sprites, who seemed to be focusing on the pixies.

As he saw the power crackle in the air, he noticed the weaving of their combined magic. It began along the ground throughout the battlefield and rose quickly, forming a capsule around them. Maybe they had a chance, Riven thought to himself as he took a deep breath, feeling more confident as the ward formed over their head and nearly closed completely. His lips were turning up in a smile as the strands inched closer together, but before the smile could fully form, a huge burst of light flashed, and the ward crumbled.

A massive gust of wind threw them back, and Riven stumbled. His arms swung, windmilling backward as he forced himself to stay upright. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that others weren’t so lucky and had ended up on the ground, though most were scampering to their feet.

The clouds that had seemed dark before began to grow in their blackness. The lightning cracked across the sky and somehow felt sinister. The magic filling the air was no longer that of the sprites but was evil. It slid over Riven’s skin like thick oil. He threw up a shield around himself and then glanced around to see how the magic was affecting the others. Jareth was doing something that was making his skin glow. His jaw was tense and his back ramrod straight. Riven decided the djinn must be trying to control his power so that he didn’t destroy the city. Movement beyond Jareth caught Riven’s eye. Thalion had his bow drawn and double arrows ready to fly at the draheim, as did the other elves.

“Aim for under the neck,” Thalion yelled. The arrows released, soaring through the air. But before they could hit their mark, the projectiles froze and then fell. Jareth whipped out his hand, using his power to push the arrows away so they didn’t accidentally impale anyone not on team Ludcarab. Riven continued to watch the elf king, trying to figure out how he’d stopped the arrows. That wasn’t elf magic. He didn’t have to wonder long. He got his answer a moment later when Alston appeared, and he wasn’t alone.