Page 133 of Avalon Tower
“What about Nia?” Serana asks.
I clear my throat. “Raphael and I will buy you time.” I raise Tana’s binoculars. “Mind if I borrow these?”
“Take them,” she says.
The dragons are looming closer, and I can make out the foremost ships and the glint of weapons on their decks. Immediately, my quiver of arrows feels wildly inadequate. “I know we’re spies and not soldiers, but this really would be a great time to have some gun training,” I say.
Raphael slides me a worried look. “Today, we are soldiers, it seems. We’re heading to battle, whether we’re prepared or not. I want you to stay close to me the whole time, do you understand? I can’t have anything happen to you.”
Fear flickers in his eyes, and I remember a time when I thought the man didn’t feel emotions at all.
CHAPTER 46
Raphael and I charge up the narrow stone stairs at Dover Castle behind a line of British troops. I’ve hardly slept in the past few days, and my breath is wheezing, but adrenaline is spurring me on.
As I run, my steps echo to the beat of my pounding heart.
At the top of the stairs, the door opens onto sun-washed battlements. The autumn breeze whips at my hair, and I stare out at the gold-dappled sea. The sight of the incoming fleet steals my breath. So many clipper ships, each with three masts and at least twenty sails. They’re racing closer, a legion of them, each one packed with armored Fey soldiers. Dragons fill the skies, their scales gleaming with ruddy light. Their wingspan is the width of a house. Fear trembles along my ribs.
Through the binoculars, I see one of the dragons unleash a gout of fire into the pearlescent sky, and the sight makes my stomach clench. Three of these dragons could raze Dover in an hour. I count fifteen.
Between the clipper ships, sea serpents undulate rhythmically, monsters from another world. Feyhorns blare on the ships. Their war trumpets are six feet high, rising into the air above the soldiers’ heads, with bells at the end shaped like wild beasts. Their haunting, sonorous call floats along the marine wind, and a chill seeps under my skin.
We’re not ready for them. England isn’t ready for them.
Atkinson is standing by one of the cannons, barking orders at his men.
“Wait until they’re close enough,” he shouts. “I want each of the ADGs aimed at a different one. Coordinate with the other towers. We have six guns. That should be enough to take those beasts out of the sky before they reach us.”
ADGs. Anti-Dragon Guns. I remember Tana’s words from months ago. Spy boys and their acronyms. That was the day I met the spies, and it feels like years ago. It’s hard to even imagine myself as the person I was at the start of that day, a chick on vacation who just wanted birthday cake and a teensy bit of champagne on the beach.
And now I’m watching a fleet of Fey warships and a squadron of fire-breathing dragons race toward the Cliffs of Dover, hellbent on destruction.
But there’s no going back.
I turn to Atkinson. “Those dragon scales are thicker than tank armor. All you’ll do is irritate them.”
“I swear I told you to fuck off,” he spits at me.
“You need to listen to her.” Raphael’s voice is pure steel. “She knows more about this invasion force than anyone else.”
“Both of you, get off the battlements!”
I consider arguing, but there’s no time. The dragons are getting closer.
“I’m sorry,” I say in a low voice.
The captain’s eyebrows rise. “For being a pain in my arse?”
“No, for this.” I reach out and touch his cheek, already channeling my powers at him.
I see it all. A boy growing up on stories of heroics during the Fey invasion. He joined the army for adventure, but by the time he was ready to fight, they’d already reached a ceasefire. And then constant disappointment. His career stalled because he never knew the right guy, was never good enough. Finally, he ended up commanding the defense force in Dover—a force that never did anything.
This was his big chance, at last. The damn Fey don’t know what they’re in for. I’ve been waiting for the chance to become a hero my entire life.
He’s thrilled at the size of the fleet, by the soaring dragons. He’ll be known as the commander who stopped the Fey, even when he was vastly outnumbered.
I clench my jaw. One man’s ego will lay waste to every civilian in the area.