Chapter Sixty-Five

Daegal.

Everything in the castle that wasn’t bolted began to circulate around the room. The sound was almost worse than the fear of being struck.

I felt like we’d been tossed into a movie. One that played everything in slow motion as the villain began to rip the house apart.

Poppy’s heartbeat thundered in my mind. I could feel every ounce of fear and pain inside of her. We were trapped in this sinking castle with the devil reincarnated here to torture us.

In the midst of the thundering wind, I felt Jeremiah’s heartbeat. It was quicker than Poppy’s but I knew it instantly in my body.

It put a newfound desperation inside of me.

Melinda had Poppy barricaded underneath her wings while I attempted to grasp a plan to get them out of this house. The only place in the house where magic was unusable was the dungeon.

At that moment, I wished someone had blocked our entire castle from the use of the devilish stuff. But the dungeon was a dungeon for a reason. It would be hard to get out of it. There were no windows. Only thick cement bricks and bars.

And it was on the bottom floor. If the castle collapsed before they got out they’d be crushed within seconds.

I ground my teeth together and leaned toward Selena. “We need to get Poppy to the dungeon. It’s the only place she can’t use her magic.

Perhaps they could use force to push the bricks open. I don’t know another way to get Poppy out of here.”

Selena nodded. “We have to distract her which isn’t going to be easy,” Selena whispered.

The wind speed increased and I braced my forearms to take the force of a giant china cabinet hurling at us. The broken wood pierced my skin and I felt my blood racing down my arm.

I moved behind Selena and whispered for the guards to get Poppy to the dungeon. They didn’t argue but I could see the fear on both of their faces. I turned my attention to Kelli, bracing my legs, I reached for a piece of furniture and hauled it through the growing wind.

It hit Kelli unexpectedly and she stepped to the side, her gaze shifted toward mine. Her infamous smile pulled at her mouth.

Melinda released Poppy and Jeremiah as the guards ushered her around the walls of the room toward the hallway.

Selena and I both hit Kelli with every piece of furniture we could grab and it seemed to bounce off her like a ball. My fingers and hands were bleeding from the force of catching the moving objects but I couldn't feel them.

I sighed once the three of them disappeared down the hallway without Kelli noticing. Her head was lifted upward and her hands outstretched as if she was in control of all things.

I hated the power she had.

The look of darkness inched around her like a shadow that followed her every move. Selena looked over. “She didn’t see her but I’m afraid for when she does. We need to get close enough to stake her. We will have to break off some furniture. All the stakes are out of reach.”

This hadn’t been the plan. There were so many stakes waiting for us and we couldn’t get to any.

I shielded my eyes with my forearm, as the tornado tripled in speed and I reached for something spinning in the madness.

Something hit my wrist and I felt the bone snap into pieces. I inwardly groaned, attempting to keep myself from howling at the pain and searched again.

The shadow of something larger came near and I snagged it, pulling back a side table from the living room. It was in half, but I tore off each leg and handed one to Selena.

Melinda stepped behind us. “How are we going to get close enough to kill her?”

The castle shook again beneath our feet, and I watched as the crack split the front door in half. Panic formed in my stomach. Poppy and Jeremiah were with the guards in the dungeon. I had no idea what was going on or any way to find out.

How soon would the ground completely split and the remains of our castle tumble on top of us? Melinda put her palm on my shoulder, surely sensing my panic, and squeezed my shoulder. “You can do this, Daegal. I’ve known you since you were small. You endured so much. You can again.”

Her words traveled along my skin and I felt adrenaline surge through me.

I looked at Selena. “Do what you can to stop the tornado. I’m going to go after her.”

I took a step into the growing wind feeling Selena reach for me but I stepped away from her. Bracing myself against the brutal force, I lifted my forearm to take the brute of the objects flying at me.

The ground shook again and I closed my eyes with each step, imagining what it would be like when this was all over with.

What would Jeremiah look like when he got older?

Would he have more human characteristics than dragon?

How would he take to his human grandparents, and how would we keep them from finding out about the realm?

I let random thoughts cloud my mind until I made it within feet of Kelli. The smug smile on her face as she lifted her head toward the sky, twisted my stomach into a hate-filled knot.

I broke free of the wind and soared at her, knocking her off her feet. The tornado stopped and all the furniture dropped to the floor as I tumbled on top of her.

She caught me with her palms on my shoulders, and for the first time, I looked into a human’s eyes and saw nothing.

No soul.

No emotion.

Selena had been right when she said Kelli would sell her soul to get back. Because there was nothing inside of her but hate.

Revenge.

Kelli kicked me off of her and I flew back to hit the wall across from us. She flicked her wrist and debris and furniture began to fly at me.

The sharp end of a piece of wood flew at my face and I caught it inches away and tossed it back at her. Kelli laughed and her gaze shifted toward the living room where Poppy had been.

“Are you hiding your little queen, Daegal?” she asked. “Do you think she’ll make it out of here alive? You’re wrong, Dragon King”

Selena stepped toward me, her hands raised as Kelli eyed her. “You think you can outsmart me? Beat me? Neither of you know what you’re in for.”

She shoved Selena against the wall and dragged her toward the ceiling. I caught her ankle and pulled with all my might, attempting to bring her down to no avail.

Kelli laughed and watched as Selena began to grab her throat. She was choking her. My vision turned red and I felt my dragon scorching my insides. He wanted out but I knew she’d tear him to shreds.

Like the dragon tearing apart our courtyard. Size didn’t always matter, especially in a situation like this.

Melinda moved from the living room and tossed a piece of a broken vase at Kelli’s head. She easily maneuvered out of the way and hit Melinda in the stomach with a force of energy.

Melinda toppled over and held her stomach. She was hundreds of years old and it hurt the little boy inside of me to see her in pain.

Poppy’s heartbeat increased from the dungeon. It took everything in me not to go check on her. Instead, I turned my attention to Selena and pretended to pull her down, swinging around swiftly, I slung the broken table leg at Kelli’s head.

It sliced her cheek and I saw a glimpse of fear flicker across her face.

Blood dripped down her skin and soaked into her T-shirt.

“Looks like you do bleed,” I said, turning to face her.

Selena fell to the ground, hitting it with a giant thud, and crawled to her feet. “I’ve never been one to hit a woman, but for you, I think I’ll make an exception.”