“You don’t seem worried,” I finally said. He smiled slyly at me, picking himself off the edge of the building and standing in front of me. He held my face as he pressed his mouth to mine, groaning.

“You curious about what’s in my head?” He purred with amusement. Puca hummed and leaned in, his tongue dragging across my bottom lip as if he were tasting me instead of kissing me. He sunk his teeth in gently, holding my mouth captive for a moment before he let me go and actually kissed me, his tongue diving into my mouth to explore my flavor further.

I sagged against him, draping my arms across his shoulders. Might as well enjoy our last moments alive.

“Should we fuck?” I asked.

“Hmm, not sure there’s time,” he said. “Perhaps I should finally eat you,” he said, smiling deviously against my mouth.

“If there isn’t time to fuck, there’s certainly not time to gorge yourself on my body.”

“What a pity,” he said with a chuckle. The elevator to the roof opened with a ding. Lorcan and Dullahan came walking out to join us. They tipped their heads up to the sky.

“It’s the end of the world, boys,” Puca said flippantly, his arms wrapping around my waist so that he could squeeze me against him.

“I fucked up,” Dullahan sighed. “I really thought we could win.”

“You underestimated how much the Council wants us dead,” Puca said, pulling away from me and walking to the edge of the building. He prowled the very end like a cat on a fence, his predatory golden eyes sweeping across Neo Atlantis as if looking for prey.

An alarm started to blare across the city, a frantic wail screaming from megaphones across the entire island.

“Guess my luck has limits,” I said with a smirk that was trying its hardest to turn into a frown. I wouldn’t let it and I certainly wouldn’t cry, even if my eyes were watering. I hated losing and this was one big fucking loss.

Puca sighed loudly and we all looked at him.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said in annoyance. “Since no one else seems up to the task.”

“What do you mean?” Dullahan growled, looking furious. “You better not have some idea about becoming a martyr.”

“Guess we’ll see,” Puca said, walking backwards, towards the edge of the building. He winked at us and gave a little wave before dropping off the side of the building. We were silent, listening to the wail of the siren and watching the empty air for a bird that wasn’t coming.

A moment later something massive shot up beside the building. Its shadow cast over us as it ascended with leathery wings outstretched hundreds of feet. The beast was the most massive living thing I’d ever seen. Its smooth pale belly rippled in front of us as it stretched upwards toward the sky. It felt like time crawled as we watched the entire length of it climb in front of us, its body revealed in slow motion until we were watching the long tail thin to a point.