then tried to hide the flinch. He was hurting.
I stepped beside Maya. I was terrified, having no defenses at the present time against the goddess. I could only hope that she was weakened, being outside the vortex and possessing Amy’s very human body.
Mick came up right behind us, not letting me an inch away from him. I sensed Drake’s aura become more fiery, a dragon gearing up for a fight.
“No,” Amy said. “I don’t think we’ll have that.”
She opened her hand, and sent a shaft of light streaking right for me.
Mick grabbed me and hauled me down. The light sailed overhead and struck Maya’s truck, shimmering electric arcs through it like frenetic blue snakes. Drake hauled ass away from the pickup just before it exploded.
The fireball of the truck roared into the air, a wash of heat swamping me as I lay flat, Mick on top of me. Maya screamed and started to swear.
I struggled to raise my head and look around. Mick eased off, but didn’t let me up.
Drake had moved to take a protective stance next to Maya. He’d pulled off the T-shirt, the dragon wing tatts that hugged his torso moving with his anger.
Nash stared at the burning truck for a heartbeat of astonishment, then he turned around and pointed his pistol at Amy. “What the hell did you just do?”
“Maya,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “You should run.”
“Damned if I will,” Maya said, though she remained close to Drake. “I’m not letting this woman hurt Nash.”
“I won’t let her,” I promised.
“How will you stop her? You’re not yourself, and Mick isn’t either.”
“Mick, let me get up,” I said. At his growl, I added. “Please.”
He didn’t want to. The Mick of the past knew all about the Beneath goddess. He knew exactly how dangerous she was and exactly how vulnerable we were.
Mick, though, knew how to make the most of a bad situation. He growled again but helped me to my feet, keeping hold of my hand. He might not have dragon in him anymore, but he was physically strong, and I felt his earth magics solidly within him.
“Maya,” I tried again. “You go, and I’ll get Nash to safety. Drake, will you take her?”
“No,” Mick countermanded me, the general in him emerging. “We’ll need Drake here. You—” He pointed at Nash. “Take Maya out. Arrest her if you need to. But go.”
Nash didn’t like being given orders. “I’ll arrest all of you. In fact, why don’t we take a walk?” He pulled out his cell phone with the hand not holding the gun and flipped it open.
A white light cut it out of his hands and sent it flying. “Why don’t we all stay here instead?” Amy said.
Drake clapped a fireball into his hands and sent it straight at Amy. No warning, no preliminary.
A white wall of magic halted the fireball then batted it away. The fire landed in the desert beyond the house, bursting weeds into flame.
Amy laughed. “That was fun.”
Drake sent another fireball, and another, each one swatted aside. I gathered what magic I could, ready to help him, but Mick closed strong fingers over mine.
“We do it together,” he said. “Like I showed you.”
His dragon might be gone, but I felt his latent power tingle through my blood, touching my own, which he’d instructed me how to tap without endangering myself. He’d taught me so much, my man of fire.
I nodded, letting him know I understood. We tightened our clasped hands, and Mick closed his eyes, dredging up all the magics that were still a part of him.
His aura pulled at mine, twining with it, building our power into a whole greater than the sum of its parts. This is what he’d been teaching me all this time, that the two of us together were far stronger than we’d ever be apart.
Mick opened his eyes, which were the blue of deep waters, and looked straight at me. I smiled, feeling the joy of him.
We turned as one, hands joined, and sent everything we had at the white wall in front of Amy.
The wall shimmered and crumpled, and Amy let out a shout of alarm. Drake’s next fireball caught Amy and engulfed her in flames. Nash, without a word, turned around and shot Drake.
Drake wasn’t there, having hit the dirt as soon as he’d seen Nash pivot. The bullet sailed past him and struck Maya, who’d jumped forward, as though trying to stop Nash.
She gave a soft grunt of pain and