Brilliance (Circle of the Stars #4) - Sadie Jacks Page 0,10

tone. “I will be crossing with you. But I suggest you take all the help you can. If there are foes or enemies to dispense, you will need more than three of you.”

I looked at everyone else. Got their nods.

Drace smiled. “We’ve got your back, corcra. Lead on, mighty warrior.”

“I guess we’re going together then.”

“We will wait here with the two remaining teams,” Garreth said. “Giulio and Sophia will remain with me. Esmerelda will travel with this contingent.”

The dragons all nodded.

Everyone linked up, skin to skin. We were a big bundle of throbbing magic that felt both chaotic and harmonious. As Jeremiah and Lukas both laid their hands on my arms, it took me a moment to sort through it all.

“Anytime, babe,” Drace called.

I took a deep breath and raised my hands, palms out. Please let this work. Please let us put a stop to this. Please let us all come out of this alive.

I settled my hand on the rock, the sharp flash of chilled stone settled across my senses just as an eruption of heat burst forth as if I’d just leapt into a volcano.

“Oh, shit sticks.”

Chapter 5 – Hollyn

As if greedy fingers tore at my clothes, I was sucked into the wall. Into the Veil. An explosion of memory ripped through my consciousness.

I saw myself standing in the Veil not even a handful of days ago. Three gods, a bubbling cauldron, and the inanimate body of Patrick dumped in the pot like he was a cinnamon stick in a mulled cider.

Keep going, cheeks. Keep going, Grumpy called out mentally.

I forced myself to ignore the memories, to put one foot in front of the other. What had felt like someone ripping and pulling at me before, now felt like I was trying to force my way through a mostly frozen lake. Complete with shivers and shudders.

Just when I thought I couldn’t take another step, I pushed through some kind of barrier and fell through to the forest floor of the Valley. Jeremiah and Lukas kept their grips on me as my knees gave out. They helped haul me back up as we walked far enough into the Valley to allow the rest of our group to join us.

As soon as I felt the last person in our group—Drace, in this case—slide free of the Veil, all hell broke loose.

Spinning around, I saw Drace and Finn shatter into the magic that accompanied their transformations. They lifted into the air as if they were puppets being called by their master. One second they were on the ground, the next they were darting through the sky.

I looked at Esmerelda. “What’s going on?”

She was looking up at the flying dragons. She winced before she looked back at me. “Whatever magic is barring the entrance seems to have…” she grimaced, “started a mating frenzy. I’ll try to get them back down and out of here. There is a lot of magic that gets…expelled as part of a dragon mating.”

She looked to one of her cadre. “Callum, let’s go get them.” She shed her clothes and hopped into the air in one smooth motion.

Her dragon was a beautiful iridescent shade that reminded me of pearls. The subtle shifting of colors under the layer of milky white. Much like her hair in human form.

The man next to her didn’t bother to ditch his clothing before he launched himself into the sky. His dragon was huge enough to cast a massive shadow on those of us still on the ground. A deep twilight blue with spikes of sparkling gold.

Grumpy shifted into his hybrid form. “This way I can keep track—” His words cut off as he rolled his eyes. “Sweet fucking Pete, I do not need to hear Drace’s inner commentary as she gets her giggles.”

I chuckled at his expressions. I kind of wished I could hear her. Might give me some insight on how to flirt with my men. Oh, well.

I looked to the rest of the dragons. “Are any of you feeling the mating frenzy?”

All of them shook their heads.

I smiled. “Wonderful. As long as those in the sky are safe, I suggest we keep going.” I turned back to the forest that had been my refuge and my cage.

Tove came up and gripped my hand. “Let’s go kick some Villager ass, Hols.”

Jeremiah held up a hand. “The magic here is wrong. Can you not feel it?” He looked at me, his eyes narrowed as if searching for something.

I sent my senses out, felt