Page 76 of Red Dragon’s Flame

“It doesn’t matter,” Devon said wearily. “As soon as they start the ritual and the phoenix leaves me—or even if she doesn’t—I’m dead anyway.”

She hated that. She hated that she was never going to see Mikah again, that they’d snatched her just on the brink of her finally being free. But that was life. She should have known it was all too good to be true.

“Hey.” Michelangela gave her a little shake, through the bars. “You can’t give up. We have to hold on. They’ll be coming for us.”

“How? How could they possibly find us?” It was impossible.

“They will.” Michelangela sounded positive. “They’ll find a way. My parents will move heaven and earth to find me. And Mikah will tear all the worlds apart to find you—and so will his clan.”

Her hero. Devon wished so hard it were true. “But that doesn’t mean he can,” she said.

Michelangela got up on her knees, facing the bars. “Listen. You two are mates, and nothing is stronger than the mating bond. My friends Colt and Remy McCall—when their parents first bonded, their mom was kidnapped, and their dad followed their mating bond through the spirit world all the way from Tennessee to fucking Afghanistan, and brought her back.”

“That’s crazy.” It couldn’t be possible—not for her, anyway.

“It’s real. And Mikah has that dragon statue he made. He keyed it to you—to your heart. Don’t give up before he gets here. Don’t let him down. He’ll find us.”

Back at the Greystones’ lair, they were gathering an army. Kira had tracked the Allohim back to their world, and Brock and Mikah had helped direct her through the spirit world to the place on its borders where they could sense Devon and Michelangela on the other side, and marked the spot.

Mikah had wanted to bust in then and there, but they had no idea what they were up against, and they couldn’t take the chance of someone killing the girls before they could get to them.

So they’d gone back and reported. By that time, Tristan’s Ops team had mustered and were racing through the portal from Al-Maddeiri, with an arsenal of weapons and magical devices. They were ready to travel back to the Allohim world and rescue Devon and Michelangela—and the male phoenix, if they could.

If the ritual hadn’t started. If they were still alive. If, if, if.

They’d been joined by Kira’s mate Flynn, lion alpha of the Bad Blood crew, who had his own way of worldwalking. He’d swung by the Silverlake territory and brought Michelangela’s parents, Rafe and Terin, their alpha Jace, and their pack Enforcer, Kane, with some of his men.

“Everyone wanted to come,” he said. “They all love Mikey. I brought the best.”

Mikah couldn’t even talk to Rafe—he felt too guilty and worried—but Flynn spoke to him. “We’ll get your girl back,” he said. “And we’ll kill the fuckers that took her.”

Rafe growled. “Damn right. Then you can lock her in the shed forever.” Flynn put his hand reassuringly on Rafe’s shoulder for a moment, before walking off to finalize the plans.

It seemed to take an eternity, but finally they were ready to leave. Emon and Kira led the way, Mikah near the front with his brothers at his back.

Kira led them through the portal, to the place where it had been breached. Thorne muttered angrily about his wards. From there they moved in between worlds, in a dark fun-house netherworld where shapes and perspectives and size were nauseatingly skewed.

Finally they were on the edge of the Allohim world. Once more, Mikah and Brock used their bonds with Devon and Mikey to make sure they were as close to them as possible. Kira moved them through the netherworld until they saw a shining dome of magic.

“Here,” Kira said. “They’re inside that.”

“Okay, then,” Emon said. “Sorcerers, ready. Let’s get some vision spells going, scout the interior of this sucker, and deploy our troops. Then Kira and Flynn will gate us through.”

“And then we kill everybody,” Rafe said.

“Right there with you,” said Mikah.

Chapter 35

Inside the cages, time dragged on. Devon could feel the phoenix getting agitated, flames building up inside her, held back by Mikah’s pendant.

The Allohim must not have understood the pendant was magical, since they hadn’t taken it from her. She was grateful for that; the weight of it made her feel closer to Mikah.

Michelangela still had absolute faith that an army of shifters was coming after them. And as time went on, Devon somehow felt that same faith creeping into her as well. It was as if the necklace were whispering to her, We came the last time, didn’t we?

They had. Mikah and his dragon had come for her once when she was in trouble—they would do it again. The more she believed it, the louder the necklace whispered.

Suddenly Michelangela sat up and cocked her head, like a dog hearing a strange sound. She turned towards one of the large openings along the side of the cavern.