Brannie felt a muscle in her neck twitch. “She was captured?”

“No.”

She took in a breath. “We need to get them out.” Brannie pointed at the bars. “I can try and melt them but—”

“Uther! Caswyn! Cage!”

The two lumbering oxen made their way over to the cage and Brannie tossed keys to Aidan. “Get as many out as you can.”

As soon as Aidan began the process, Brannie heard a horrible wrenching noise and turned in time to see Uther and Caswyn ripping apart the cage with only the help of their human hands.

Even the Riders were impressed. Well, all except Zoya.

“At least these two men have some skills.”

“Males,” Nina corrected.

“What?”

“They’re not men. They’re males. Dragons. Remember?”

Zoya stepped out of the open cage, eyeing the two males before loudly announcing, “Then I would expect more of them! Such weak dragons! Dragons!” she exclaimed, walking past the shocked—and hurt—pair.

“We could have left you in there, you know,” Uther reminded her.

“The great dragon captain would not have allowed that, would you, Branwen the Awful?”

“Well—”

“Exactly!” She pushed past Aidan and, with her bare hands, began prying open doors that, unlike hers, hadn’t been melted shut.

Aidan didn’t bother to argue with the Rider. He didn’t bother to argue with anyone really. Instead, he just made his way over to the other cages and worked with Kachka to release everyone else.

Nina Chechneva didn’t help anyone—as was her way—but instead stared at the sigil burned into the wall.

“Did you know that mark keeps you and your friends from shifting to dragon, Branwen the Awful?”

“What? Oh . . . no. I didn’t. But I hadn’t tried either.”

“You do not feel weak?”

“No.” She faced the strange and, frankly, unpleasant witch and added, “I’m sure we can still murder anyone in our way and burn the flesh from their bones for a tasty meal. You know, in case you were wondering.”

Dark, dark eyes studied Brannie but, after facing “Auntie” Brigida’s soulless stare on occasion, Brannie had learned not to show any fear to the magick wielders.

She flashed Nina a smile before giving her a hearty slap on her back. The witch stumbled forward, shocked, and Brannie announced, “But we’re all friends here, aren’t we, Nina Chechneva?”

“All friends!” Zoya agreed as she hustled the few weakened humans that were let out of their cages. “Some of these humans we may want to kill now. They are too weak to travel.”

“No, Zoya Kolesova,” Aidan said before Brannie had the chance. “We’ll not do that.”

“I do not listen to you, penis haver.”

“Then I’ll say it,” Brannie cut in, using her firmest captain voice. “We kill no one. If someone can’t travel out of this fort on their own, you can carry them on your strong Kolesova back.”

Zoya nodded. “All right.”