air turned hotter than a Florida summer in August. I felt the heat of their energy from a mile away. And I knew he wasn’t alone.
“Koth, Silas, and Maddox are coming,” Chutney said softly. “Maddox is pissed. Koth is so far just worried.”
“And Silas?”
Chutney smirked. “Annoyed, but that’s normal.”
The air pulsed…and then a twenty-two-foot black dragon slammed into the yard in front of us. Koth. The ground rumbled under our feet. A light gray dragon that looked like stone landed beside him, standing only a few inches shorter. Silas. The third dragon was half Koth’s size and a deep navy blue, but he cracked the ground when he landed. Ah, Maddox.
“Get to it. They’re imagining the worst,” Chutney whispered in a rush.
The worst? I knew she meant death, but honestly, this was a close, close second. I took a step forward and massive violet eyes snapped up. I swallowed a rush of nerves. It wasn’t that I was afraid of them, but I knew Landy had been in my care, My protection, and I’d failed her. I failed them. And that was never something a person wanted to say.
I held my hands up. “There’s no danger. She’s alive. But we need to have a conversation.”
Saffie? Tegan whispered in our minds. Landy IS alive still, right?
I glanced back at her and she nodded. I sighed. Probably should have confirmed that before I said it.
Light flashed around him…and then Koth stood before us in his human form. Despite the fact I was now six-foot-five, he still towered over me. His hair was longer than before and windblown. He was shirtless as usual, wearing only dark jeans and dark boots. He walked up and stopped a few feet in front of me, then nodded his head. “Emperor.”
I bowed my head. “King.”
Koth’s violet gaze swept over my crew behind me and a deep growl rumbled in his chest. He glanced over his shoulder to Maddox and snarled, “I said shift.”
The navy-blue dragon huffed but then light flashed and swirled around him. It took a few seconds longer than it did for Koth, but soon a sixteen-year-old boy with fury pouring out of his light blue eyes stood behind his king.
Koth turned back to me. “If it’s all right with you, I’d like Silas to remain in dragon form so we know if we’re needed back home.”
“Of course.”
Koth balled his hands into fists. “Shit, just tell me. What’s going on here, Tennessee?”
“It literally just happened so we’re all a bit panicked still and we don’t have answers, but I wanted you to be here for the conversation.” I took a deep breath. “Princess Sage of the Seelie Court appeared right at the end of a massive battle with no less than sixty demons and kidnapped five people. One of whom…was Landy.”
“WHAT?” Maddox screamed and charged forward. Navy-blue wings sprouted from his back as he started to shift. In the blink of an eye Maddox was a dragon and shooting into the sky.
Koth snarled. Without looking he threw his hand out — and caught him by the tail. He growled and yanked Maddox back down. “SIT DOWN.”
Silas closed his yellow eyes and shook his head.
“I will not tell you again, cousin,” Koth snarled. “You think you’re the only one with things to be mad at? Huh? I will not have my own blood acting a fool.”
Deacon exhaled behind me.
Silas growled, but it sounded like he was saying something.
Maddox growled but he quickly changed back into human form. He turned his gaze to me and nodded. “I. Apologize…for my anger and disrespect.”
I blinked. What the hell do I say to that. I cleared my throat. “Um, thank you. It’s…all right.”
Koth glared at him a long minute before turning back to me. Then he took a deep breath and scrubbed his face with his hands. “Let me get this right, so you all were attacked by dozens of demons at once and Landy was there? I thought she was here for a party or something?”
“It’s a long story, involving a shadow demon invading that birthday party and then possessing Henley. That demon then ambushed us with more demons than we’ve fought at once since Samhain. We had the fight under control. It was over in…two minutes at most. Neither Amelia nor Landy did any fighting…” I pointed to Cooper behind me. “Cooper made sure of that. Along with his own little brother Bentley—”
“The young Hierophant?”
I nodded. “A morpher demon finished the show so Tegan and I forced everyone