Everest’s gaze snapped in my direction instantly. His eyes widened. His face paled.

That one milli-second distraction was all they needed. Three of the Unseelie knights threw their hands together. Time slowed. I held my breath. Magic sparkled like a firework and then one of those dragons made of black smoke flew straight for Everest.

Saber screamed and leapt over a table to get to him, but she was never going to make it.

The Prince held me tight in his grip. Tears spilled down my cheeks. Those smoke-dragons were lethal. They’d taken out half the people in the infirmary. It was happening in mere seconds yet time stretched on. Everest frowned and turned toward the smoke-dragon and cursed. He dove out of the way, but the smoke-dragon followed him.

Light flashed in my peripheral vision as something flew down and leapt in front of Everest—the smoke-dragon slammed into the chest of a giant eagle.

Saber screamed again, sliding in to catch her father and the giant eagle just as they were about to hit the ground. The Unseelie knights gasped and flinched. They leapt backwards and looked up to the sky. Their black soulless eyes widened.

Dragons dove head-first for us, swallowing the sky with their massive bodies.

Koth was larger than the others by far, yet he was nearly impossible to see, his black scales blending seamlessly into the night sky. Only the violet sparkle of his eyes and the stream of fire from his mouth made him visible. I spotted Silas, Tyce, and Dace behind him. The others I hadn’t learned the names of, but I counted ten of them in total, including a brown one with a vicious tail, a pretty green one, then four smaller ones.

They flew with blinding speed, swooping in without mercy.

Koth landed right in front of Everest and the eagle, drenching those two dozen knights in flames faster than my eyes could even track. The other dragons dove for the other Unseelie. Most of them ripped heads off or threw them into walls. Silas was smashing them under his feet. One of the smaller dragons ate one.

The rest of the Unseelie fled.

The Prince lifted me off my feet.

“EVEREST!” I screamed as we headed for the sky.

From beneath the giant eagle, Everest threw his hand out and thick black smoke slammed into the Prince’s face. At the same time, rainbow magic swirled around my body where he held me. He cursed and dropped me. Rainbow lightning streaked across what was left of the cafeteria.

Tennessee lunged from the chaos and caught me mid-air in the cradle of his tan arms. “I’ve got you. Breathe.”

I sucked in a deep breath and the fire in my lungs cooled.