Dragons Luck

“I had to, it was the only way. You or Valerie, a broken neck would stop you. Not this one. You have to hit her and hit her until she is unable to repair anything at all.”

Griffen snarled, waving his hand.

“She’s gone now!”

“No, she’s not. Not her. She won’t stop now till everyone here is dead.”

“Too right!” Lizzy shouted.

She appeared behind Val, and unless she could teleport, she had to have gone from a few inches to her full height in an eyeblink. She swung both hands like a hammer and slammed them into Valerie’s shoulder. Val yelled and turned, only to get the upswing of both fists under her chin. This time Val sailed through the air and landed in the crowd.

And Lizzy, laughing her mad laugh, took two steps to the nearest person, broke his arm, and threw him at Valerie just as she was getting her feet back.

“Thanks for the idea, El Zero. You are all dead. You were all dead the day you decided to bother me!”

Up till now, the group hadn’t panicked. Griffen hadn’t noticed that while his sister was in a fight for her life, but now it struck him all at once. Any other group of people would have been screaming at the fist sign of violence, running around like sheep. The conclave members had kept their heads till now, if only because the sight of two dragons battling head to head had most too shocked to move.

Now everyone was in motion.

Few panicked as most would, screaming or running about, though there were some.

Several, like Kane and Tail, stepped toward the fray. But braced as they were, something in their posture told Griffen they intended to go down fighting but knew they were going down.

The changelings exchanged a glance, and vanished.

Among the screams and shouts, Griffen could hear chanting. The vodoun and other human practitioners casting . . . something. He didn’t know and didn’t care what.

He was pushing through the people roughly, heedless of any damage he might do, intent on getting to Lizzy.

Val scrambled to her feet, but he knew he would reach Lizzy first this time.

But someone was already there, Lowell, and two other vampires. Whether they had just been close, or had come close to act, they leaned toward Lizzy, and Griffen could see them drinking her energy. A swirl of air, a press of heat, a taste of madness spread from her to them, and the strength of it had her down on one knee, shaking.

“Vampires . . . Dragons hanging out with . . . vampires?!” Lizzy said.

“Didn’t do your homework, did you? Ahhh . . . such despairing madness,” Lowell said, and for the first time he looked dangerous.

His eyes were a dark, smoky red. No other physical changes showed, but his shadow seemed to boil, as alive and moving as the fog on the floor.

Lizzy snarled and picked up a piece of debris from the fight, a table leg. She lunged forward and slammed it into Lowell’s chest. Lowell vanished.

The vampires’ connection with her snapped almost audibly, but Val was there by now, and rammed into Lizzy. She hit her hard and fast, sending her back to her knees, then to the floor. She straddled Lizzy and struck down with all her weight behind her fist.

And Lizzy moved as if her bones were liquid. Val’s fist cracked the marble floor, and Lizzy kicked her knees out from under her. There was a brief struggle, and their positions were reversed.

Lizzy straddled Val from behind and took Val’s head in her hands.

And Griffen yanked her off by her throat. His hand was a claw, his arm covered in thick scales. He could feel his tail thrashing behind him. Lizzy’s feet dangled high above the ground, kicking.

It had worked on George, but George wasn’t a dragon. Lizzy pried Griffen’s fingers free with strength that should have been impossible. She held his wrist in her hands, put a foot to his chest, and kicked, sending him tripping over his sister and flying through the air herself.

She landed gracefully several feet away and actually bowed.

“Oh, this is fun! None of you can stop me, no one can ever stop me! Screw it all, this is too much fun to stop! First one to die loses!”

Lizzy laughed, and for just a moment Griffen felt despair. It actually looked as if even he and Val couldn’t stop this lunatic dragon.

Then again, it wasn’t just Val and him.

“I can stop you.”

Lizzy turned, and so did everyone else. There was no one there, just a vague disturbance of the air. Then Hobb stood there, dropping whatever glamour the fey used to hide. Robin appeared as well, several feet behind him, fear plain on her face.

“You?! You?! How do you think you can stop Lizzy?”

“With this,” Hobb said.

He held up a small pocketknife.

Griffen expected her to laugh, she should have laughed. Instead, she looked insulted. Claws grew again at the ends of her fingers, and Griffen knew with a certainty the changeling had just committed suicide.

“With that, you would take a dragon with a letter opener? You are too stupid to live,” said Lizzy.

“Well, you would know all about that,” Hobb said.