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“Dacia, you have to wake up.” Malcolm sounded frazzled. “We have to leave here. This place has been compromised.”
I tried to pull my eyelids apart, but they felt like they weighed a ton. They barely fluttered.
“Come on, Dacia.” Cash growled, and his energy flowed into me. I tugged on it, drawing it into me. He groaned, but he didn’t stop me from siphoning his power.
I opened my eyes, and relief flashed through his amethyst ones. “She’s awake.” He lifted me into his arms and teleported away.
My insides spun, and my stomach heaved.
“Don’t throw up on me.” Laughter filled his voice as he set me down. We were inside a different cavern. Treasure was heaped all around, reminding me of Aurelia’s den, but this was different. It was easily twice the size of the chamber with the underground lake. The ceiling was at least a football field or more above my head. The air was dry, and the cave was free of stalactites and stalagmites.
Cash knelt down next to me, and Cody and Malcolm stood behind him. “You took a lot of my strength. So, how are you doing?”
I tried to sit up, but my arms gave out. “Not great.” I sank back down, and the coins shifted beneath me. Bloody bandages wrapped my torso. “How long?”
Dark bags circled Cody’s eyes, and I knew the answer. Far too long.
“Two days,” Cash answered. “It would’ve been longer if you wouldn’t have leached onto me.”
My mouth felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. “Drink?”
Malcolm slid a backpack off his shoulders and rummaged through it, handing a bottle of water to Cash. “Slowly,” he said.
Cody started to walk toward me, but Malcolm stretched his arm in front of him and shook his head.
“Why?” Cody’s voice was a plea.
Malcolm’s eyes were sympathetic when he said, “You know why.”
Cash lifted my head and held the water up to my lips. I took small sips of it. “What’d I do to him?”
“Same thing you did to me.” Cash looked over his shoulder at Malcolm and Cody. “You pulled too much from both of them. When I got to the cavern, all three of you were zombies.”
My heart clenched, and I felt the urge to throw up again. “I’m a menace. You should let the Nephilim take me.”
Cody fell to his knees. “What happened?”
“Mavros and a silver dragon.”
Cash’s pupils turned to slits, and fangs jutted from his mouth.
As I explained what had happened, both dragons fought to keep their human form. When I finished, Malcolm said, “We promised to protect Dacia. How could one of the elders have broken his vow?”
“Did the elders make the vow?” Cody asked. “Or did they just make you?”
Cash and Malcolm looked at each other. Anger flashed through their eyes. “Aurelia needs to know,” Malcolm said, and Cash nodded his agreement.
“They’ll know we’ve been with her.” Cash held the water out to me, and I propped myself up on my elbows to have another drink.
As I sipped at the water, I remembered the silver dragon lowering its head to lick up my blood. My heart plummeted.
“What?” Cash clenched the bottle, and water squirted all over me. “Sorry.” He wiped it off of me with his sleeve.
“The dragon tasted my blood. It was on the ground beside me when Mavros turned me invisible.”
Malcolm and Cash shared a knowing glance. “That’s how they knew where to find her.” Cash’s voice barely held any of its humanity.
Malcolm nodded. “We can only hope the fairies can convince them of her innocence.”
“In a dream, Mavros told me he could track me.” My voice was faint, but they heard.
Cash’s head whipped toward me. “How?”
“His venom.”
Malcolm and Cash leaned in, talking to each other. I couldn’t make out their words and didn’t have the energy to try.
While they talked, Cody darted around them, coming to my side. He sat next to me, stretching his hand forward but stopping before his skin met mine. “Worried me.”
“I’m so sorry, Cody. I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t control my powers.”
“Not your fault.” He brushed my hair back from my face, and Malcolm growled at him. “I’m fine. She’s conscious now.”
I closed my eyes. “I probably could kill you if I take too much. You can’t let me, Cody.” I looked up at him and saw pain flicker across his face.
“Can’t let you suffer.”
“You can.” I took his hand in mine, twining our fingers together. “You can’t let me kill you. I’ll heal eventually. I couldn’t live with your death at my hands.”
The dragons watched us. Their features were caught somewhere between human and dragon. Cash said, “I’ll go back, say I stumbled on her scent. They’ll never believe you weren’t helping her, but there’s a chance they’ll believe me. If not, I owe her.”
He disappeared before any of us had a chance to argue with him.
Malcolm sat next to me. His face appeared more human, but anger lingered in his eyes. “Argentum betrayed us all. He was once wise and just, but he’s outlived his usefulness.”
“He probably fears me like Cash did.”
He dipped his head, then flashed his fangs. “Yes, but fear is not reason enough to betray an ally. I must warn Aurelia of his deceit.”
Within minutes, Aurelia and Arion stood in the lair with us. Aurelia knelt beside me and took my hand. “Show me,” she said as she sent healing energy flowing through me.
Closing my eyes, I remembered my encounter with Mavros. When Argentum licked my blood off the ground, she squeezed my hand hard enough that I whimpered.
“I am sorry, Dacia.” She unclenched my fingers. “He has betrayed not only you but all dragons.”
Arion bowed his head. His white coat shimmered. “I tried to speak to the Nephilim on your behalf, but because of my connection to Aurelia, they would not listen to me.”
“Thanks.” My tongue
