I was a long way up, so I had a long time to contemplate my death as I fell. I saw Braxton react, his dragon twisting, prepared to dive after me. I had no idea if he could reach me fast enough, but I spread my body eagle-style to slow the descent. I had to give him a chance.

He moved swiftly, his bulk cutting the distance between us like a bullet, rapid and lethal. A sliver of hope lit up my heart, then something smashed into Braxton again and knocked him off course – another large creature, bigger than the eagles the harpies had used. Probably the thing which had knocked me off his back.

The ground was closing in, I could see the ocean and tree line. I was about to become intimately acquainted with one of them very soon. I shut my eyes, the descent making me dizzy. Inside, my dragon raised her head and growled.

I knew immediately she wanted me to shift into her and save all our asses. My wolf joined in with the growling, her hackles raising along her silky back fur.

Well … right now the Four were not my biggest worry, and who even knew if they could feel energy in Faerie.

I reached for the dragon energy the same way I would my wolf’s. I couldn’t remember what I’d done the one other time I’d dragon shifted. There had been so much panic and pain in the prison, but surely it was simple.

Nope.

The energy was there – I could feel it, but it didn’t encase me as my wolf did. The dragon growled again, bashing against the cage which held her. At this stage, even if I managed to shift into her, we wouldn’t have the space to prevent the inevitable smash into the ground. My only other hope was the dragon’s strength. She could possibly survive this plunge, which was going to kill me in my humanoid form.

I reached for her again, and at the same time she gnashed her teeth and lunged for me. We collided against the barrier. What the hell? Was this the protection from Louis? I thought he said he was just hiding the energy, not locking it away.

No … I was pretty sure it was something else.

I still had my eyes closed. I didn’t know how far until my life ended, but it had to be soon. I screamed as something wrapped around me. I was jerked to a grinding halt. Well, actually, I was still descending, just slower this time. I opened my eyes to find a pair of talons wrapped tightly around my middle. I was going to be very sore and sorry tomorrow. But Braxton had saved my life, so I couldn’t really complain.