Brandon, emboldened by the presence of the Drakaar, moved toward Rafe.
Tristan glanced at me hurriedly. “Go help him. I will hold them off.” He lunged at the Drakaar at the same time I did.
I slashed and swerved, cutting through the arm of one Drakaar who got in my way. He staggered backward as I shot through the crowd—there was no time to kill him. I had to get to Rafe before Brandon did.
Rafe fell to his knees as Lilith’s shadows completely surrounded him while her dark magic held him in place. He struggled to free himself. Brandon drew his sword as he advanced on Rafe. A soldier with the chain still around his neck lay dead beside the prince. Rafe’s hands were still bound, but he managed to pick up the fallen guard’s sword.
This time I didn’t even need to think. My hands lit up as I flung out a bolt of white light at Lilith, pushing her back. She screeched and stumbled, falling to the floor. Abraxas had told me the light magic of the Dawnstar would only harm demons, but I didn’t want to risk killing her while she was still in Calisto’s body. If I could get my hands on her, I might be able to remove the Dark Queen from her host and save Calisto.
The shadows withdrew their hold on Rafe, freeing him and returning hurriedly to their queen. She wrapped herself in a cocoon of darkness.
Brandon brought his sword down on Rafe’s head.
Metal clashed as Rafe held up the sword of the fallen guard, blocking Brandon’s blow.
I flung a small strike of magic at the chains that held him, and the manacles fell away. Rafe pushed himself up swiftly as Brandon struck again. The fight was short, as Rafe swiftly disarmed his enemy and Brandon’s sword clattered away from him. Brandon scrambled backward.
A powerful bolt of dark magic hit me in the back. I cried out, falling to my knees.
Drakaar!
“Aurora!” Rafe shouted and ran toward me.
“Don’t let them get away,” shouted Brandon from the dais. “Bring me Rafael’s head!”
I was winded, but I quickly healed myself and pushed myself up in time to avoid an obsidian sword that came whizzing toward me. Tristan was engaged in battle with three of the Drakaar, but the one I had cut on the arm was targeting me.
I spun and ducked. Magic sizzled in my hands and I unleashed it on my attacker. The Drakaar’s mouth opened in a silent scream, sharp canines flashing as a blast of white light hit him squarely in the chest, burning him from the inside out.
Rafe ran up beside me, his gray eyes smoldering as they locked with mine. “I’m glad you made it.”
“Don’t look so surprised. Did you think I would leave you here?”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” he muttered, looking over at Tristan, who was busy dismembering guards and Drakaar alike. Two of the Drakaar were on the ground, their heads severed from their bodies, but one managed to slip away into the crowd.
I smiled faintly as I slashed my sword across an oncoming guard’s chest. “We need to get to the gate.”
“Go!” Tristan growled and turned to re-engage the guards. Tristan Nightshade on a killing spree was not someone to mess with.
More guards had lined up, blocking our path to the doors. I raised my hand and pushed. My magic erupted in a flash of light, and the guards were thrown out of the way. We dashed through the large arched doors leading out to the gardens.
“Archers!” someone shouted as dozens of arrows released from their bows and came flying at us from all sides. I raised my hands and the arrows stopped mid-flight, dropping like stones around us as we ran.
“Not fast enough,” said Tristan, appearing on the other side of me, swords blazing in both hands. “You should have stopped the arrows as soon as they left their bows.”
I glared at Tristan as I slashed and twirled, cutting down a guard and flinging my magic at others as they got in our way. “Sorry, I was a bit preoccupied with the dozens of guards chasing us,” I snapped as we raced through the gardens and past the gurgling fountains, trampling flowering bushes as the guards pursued us relentlessly.
He glared back at me, cutting down two guards at the same time. “Then you should always be on guard,” he growled, always the critic, always pushing me to be better.
Rafe cleared his throat. “If you two have finished, we still have to get through those gates.”
Soldiers swarmed around us as we backed each other and fought for our lives, but the guards kept coming. The inner gate was shut, and a heavy iron portcullis barred our path to the outer bailey. Arrows rained down on us from the walls, but I had created a shield to cover all three of us. My hands shook as I struggled with the power it took to hold it and fight at the same time. Beads of sweat had formed on my brow, and I felt my shield flicker. We had to get through the gate—it was the only way out.
Shadow Demons started to appear around us, and my shield fell. Tristan’s swords had already started slashing through them as I directed bolts of white light with one hand and kept a grip on my sword with the other.
From the corner of my eye I saw a dark shape, moving faster than an ordinary mortal, come up behind Rafe.
Before I could warn him, the Drakaar had Rafe in a stranglehold, his knife at Rafe's throat. “Curb your magic, Dawnstar, or I will cut him from ear to ear.”
I stopped dead in my tracks as a mind-numbing fear pooled in my stomach. One wrong
