“How are we going to get the ship in the sky before that thing takes it down, with us inside?” Andi asked through the com in their suits.

She had a point. The beast could fly, and if this transport went down, they’d either be dragon food, or scorched to death if the ship blew. Either way, dead was dead.

Dex got to the loading ramp first, shooting rounds at the beast to give Andi and Lon time to board. Finally, the two of them reached the ramp. Lon dumped the backpack on the floor as he slumped into a chair, breathing heavily.

Blood pooled from his suit.

“Now what?” Andi panted, ripping a medkit from the paneled wall as she turned to Lon.

“We fly this bird,” Dex said, racing to the front of the hull. He buckled himself into the pilot’s chair and turned on the engines. They made a satisfying hum.

“It’s almost on top of us!” Andi shouted in warning.

Havoc screeched, claws lacerating a hole through the backpack as the dragon’s roar closed in.

“Andi,” Dex heard Lon say. “It’s useless.”

“No,” she growled. Dex looked over his shoulder to see her hands shaking as she sliced Lon’s suit leg open wide and frantically pressed gauze to his wound. The gauze soaked through instantly, and she cursed. “Dex! Get us the hell out of here!”

Dex punched the throttle and lifted the ship into the air. But it wasn’t fast enough.

The dragon’s claws raked down the open ramp, lurching the ship back toward the ground. Dex pushed the thrusters to full power, but it did little to dislodge the beast.

“Andi! Get over here now!”

He heard her muttering under her breath as she joined him. Together, they searched the console for something, anything that might help them fight back, until Dex heard Lon’s weak voice behind them.

“Tell Lira I love her, and I will see her in our next life,” he said. Dex jerked his head around just in time to see Lon pull a grenade from the backpack. Havoc launched out as well, scurrying into the shadows beneath the dash.

“Lon, what are you—” Andi started.

The Sentinel met Dex’s gaze. “Tell her the truth, Dex. Tell her what she truly is.” His eyes flitted toward Andi briefly. Then he turned, before either of them could stop him, and launched himself out of the transport, toward the beast.

Andi screamed as the dragon swallowed Lon whole and released its grip on the transport.

Then the beast exploded into flames as the transport took to the sky.

CHAPTER 10

VALEN —THREE YEARS AGO

Today, Nor gave him the sun.

Or, at the very least, she’d tried to.