Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)

by Rebecca Yarros

“Do you know where the ward chamber opens to the sky?” I ask Tairn as my boots pound the stone floor of the corridor. It has to, if it’s constructed anything like Aretia. “According to you, I cannot supply fire to more than one—” He pauses as though taking stock of my situation. “On my way.” “No!” Mom’s shout sends chills down my spine as she and Mira make it to the chamber ahead of us, both charging left, weapons high. The rest of us reach the chamber, and before I can assess the situation, Xaden’s shadows jerk me off my feet and into his chest as he spins us backward, pressing my spine against the wall of the archway as the points of an orange’s scorpiontail swing through the very place I’d been standing. There’s a fucking dragon in there? “Are you…” His eyes fly wide. “Didn’t get me,” I assure him. He nods, relief shifting his gaze from worried to alert, and we both turn into the entrance, quickly joined by Ridoc, Rhiannon, and Dain. My mouth drops, and power charges through my veins, so potent my hands buzz.