"Get down!" I shouted.

Dad didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Mom's arm and chucked her into the snow, then lay on top of her. I marched across the yard. I had no idea what to do about protecting my family.

But my dragon did.

Fire swirled around me, glittering orange and red. I felt the magic in these flames. Sybina's soul was there, too. She refused to be taken. To be destroyed.

My fire song changed to Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." I recognized the familiar guitar chords, but there were no words.

Just the driving beat of the music.

Listening to my dragon, I lifted my arms and a big column of flames shot upward. The dragons parted and the fire blasted into the night sky, dissipating into mere wisps of black smoke.

Son of a b.i.t.c.h. I'd missed them. Both of them. So much for the paranormal power of friggin' dragonfire. I lifted my arms to gather the fire again, but it wouldn't . . . well, gather. No amount of mental cajoling helped, either. If I had known that I'd only get one chance to use my mojo, I might've aimed better. Oh, who am I kidding? I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, much less the leathery flank of a dragon.

The red dragon broke pattern and blew fire at a circle of women who looked like Desperate Housewives without the Botox treatments and Prada accessories.

I realized they were the Wiccans. Not one flinched. But why would they? Whatever spells they cast vanquished the dragon's fire instantly.

Synd circled lazily above me. Why should he worry about when to fry me? It was obvious he had more power than I did, and probably far better aim.

My fire song grew more and more faint.

"Liberty!" called Dad.

I didn't have the energy to turn around. I felt so drained. What was going on? I fell to my knees and, though it took a lot of effort, I managed to look up.

I could see my orange-red energy flowing toward Synd's dragon form. His song rose in a crescendo, so loud it made my ears ring.

I felt clammy, light-headed. I was tethered to the blue dragon. He was somehow sucking the life right out of me.

"Dad," I said, my voice quivering. "Do you have a lighter?"

I didn't know why the red dragon was bothering with the Wiccans, when I was obviously the prime target. Maybe it needed toys to play with while Synd killed me. Because I felt very much like I was dying.

Mom and Dad low-crawled toward me. When they reached me, Mom draped her arms around my shoulders. "How can we help?"

You gotta love my parents. They were the ultimate in going with the flow.

My throat clogged. I felt my blood thickening. All the warmth in my body was being siphoned away. "Need. Fire."

Dad flicked a lighter near my fingertips. His hand shook as his gaze met mine. It was obvious he couldn't set his little girl on fire. He looked scared, and that scared me. Dad was never afraid.

"Light. Me."

"Are you sure, honey?"

"Elmore, give me that!" My mother yanked the lighter out of his hand and stuck it under my arm. The tiny flame offered a pianississimo note, so soft I could barely hear it. But it was there. I listened hard and welcomed its song.

"C'mon, Sybina," I whispered. "Don't let your brother win. Don't let us die."

My arm ignited. My mother dragged my father backward, away from me. The fire song surged through me as the flames rejoined my dragon soul. The rope of magic between me and Synd lengthened, getting thinner and thinner. His obnoxious music-Sheesh, what was that c.r.a.p? Motley Crue on an elevator with ten seconds to live?-started to fade.

Synd bellowed and dove toward me.

Chapter 20

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The blue dragon screeched as it jerked in rhythm to each sharp crack. Several more shots were fired from invisible sources, and each one found a thigh, a wing, a leg. Wailing pathetically, Synd soared up into the inky dark and disappeared.

The red dragon stopped lobbing fireb.a.l.l.s at the Wiccans. Roaring, it twisted around and flapped leathery wings double-time to catch up with its retreating companion.

"And don't come back," I shouted, shaking my fist. But I knew they would return, which in an odd way was a good thing because we still needed to get dragon spit.

In front of me, four large green bubbles, all emitting an electric hum, emerged out of thin air. Brady and his three-man rescue team appeared; all were dressed in a strange black material that couldn't be burned, torn, or cut. They also held submachine guns of a make and model that did not technically exist. Both the outfits and the weapons were just more secrets Brady had brought with him from his mysterious government job.

The team surrounded me, Mom, and Dad, and took aim at the sky. If Synd made the mistake of returning, he'd get another round of bullets-hopefully in his big, stupid skull.

Brady stepped toward me and took off his headgear. His face was painted black. His brown eyes looked me over. His form of concern was to ascertain if there were injuries, and if so, how to treat them. That was about it. Brady was not an emotive man.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Peachy," I said. My fire went out, my song shut up, and exhaustion poured through me.

"You're naked," he said. "And your hair's on fire."

I touched the top of my head and felt the heat of the flames still flickering there. I patted them out. d.a.m.n it. My body suffered no ill effects from the fire, but obviously I needed to rethink my wardrobe. Where could a girl buy clothes that were dragon-proof?

Without my dragonfire, I got cold, and quick. Brady removed his flak jacket and slung it over my shoulders. It was heavy but not warm. Then Dad wrapped his coat around me. I was buried to my ankles in snow. Very cold, icy snow.

I shivered and my teeth chattered.

"What's the plan?" asked Brady.

"We get our daughter the h.e.l.l out of here," said Dad gruffly.

"I think we should stay," said Mom.

"What for?" asked Dad.

"To meet vampires and werewolves. To study this fascinating town. To find out how our daughter became a dragon." She looked at me, her brown eyes twinkling. "What else could you be? But mostly, Elmore, I think we should stay because the nice people headed this way probably won't let us leave."

"Men, move out." Brady dropped his headgear and lifted his gun. "We'll find you and get you out."

He pushed a b.u.t.ton on a wrist gadget. In the blink of an eye and a flash of sizzling green, he and his team disappeared.

"Wait!" yelled Patsy. She was followed by Gabriel, Lorcan, and several others. Behind them was a mud-splattered white Mercedes. On the other side of the yard, the triplets were herding the Wiccans into a large paneled truck.

"Oh for f.u.c.k's sake!" She marched up to us. "Who were those guys? Where did they go?"

"Brady and his team go wherever they like," said my mother. She was not the kind of woman who could be bossed around by anyone.

"Not in Broken Heart," snapped Patsy. "Call them back now."

Mom turned her dark eyes on the vampire queen. "No."

Patsy's mouth dropped open. It took a full minute for her to grasp my mother's unorthodox response to facing the ruler of vampires and werewolves. Then Patsy's eyes went red and she pointed at Mom.

Mom raised her palm in a "stop" gesture. "Don't bother with the glamour. I'm immune. We all are."

"How the h.e.l.l-"

"Can we save the interrogation until we get Liberty out of the snow and into some clothes?"

Patsy blinked, her ire cooled by my mother's practicality. "Yeah. Sure."

"Where's the compound?" I asked.

"On the other side of town. Don't worry, Ralph and his boys made it. They're safe." Patsy gestured to Lorcan. "Can you do that wooky-woo stuff and clothe the woman?"

"What the h.e.l.l is wooky-woo?" I asked, alarmed. I stepped back, my gaze zeroing in on Lorcan. "Does it hurt?"

"No," said Lorcan. "I can create clothing with my magic. Would you like to go somewhere private?"

Well, yeah. I think I'd been more naked in Broken Heart than I ever had at the nudist colony. Quite frankly, the only person in this town I wanted to see me naked was on the other side of town. I was so relieved that Ralph and the boys were okay, and yet a selfish part of me wished Ralph was here. Or I was there. I just wanted to see him with my own eyes.

Lorcan escorted me inside the smoldering house. The kitchen was intact, so we went in there.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'll have to look at you in order to . . . er, do the wooky-woo."

"Hey, I'm not the one who has to explain it to your wife," I said, shucking off the coat and flak jacket.

He flinched. "Don't remind me."

Lorcan pointed his pale fingers at me, and gold sparkles shot out and wove around me. The first items that appeared were a white lace bra and matching panties. Thick socks and leather ankle boots materialized next, then faded jeans and a brown cashmere sweater. He'd even managed a long wool coat with a hood, and gloves-both a luxurious cream color.

"Wow," I said. "That's the most awesome power I've seen yet. You're like a walking Saks Fifth Avenue."

"You don't know the half of it." He gestured for me to walk ahead of him. I didn't know if he was being a gentleman or just cautious.

When I got back outside, my parents were gone, and so was everyone else. Only Gabriel and Patsy waited near the Mercedes.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" I asked. Trepidation echoed in my voice.

"Don't get your knickers in a knot," said Patsy. "We sent them off to the compound. You can ride with us and tell me what the h.e.l.l's going on."

Lorcan still walked behind me. Gabriel was on the other side of the Mercedes, his hand on the opened driver's door. Patsy was in front of me, just a couple of feet away from the car.

I don't know why I didn't hear the fire song in time; the fireball that exploded the Mercedes was certainly screeching loudly enough.

Patsy was knocked to the ground in front me. Gabriel flew backward, across the street and into a copse of trees. I had no idea what had happened to Lorcan. Given the blaze, he might be ash. But Patsy wasn't.

I grabbed her by the arms and dragged her away from the burning car. Heat buzzed in my spine and flared out to every nerve ending. Sybina was angry.

So was I.

My whole body quaked with a new power, a different energy I didn't understand and wasn't exactly controlling. I stared up at the creature as the electric heat whipped around me and Patsy.

When I looked up, I saw that the red dragon had returned. I hoped Synd was bleeding somewhere. And that he was in pain. Not very nice thoughts. Bad karma thoughts, but deserved, d.a.m.n it.

The dragon flew backward and landed on the street. An Asian woman dressed in red leather slid off its back. Again with the leather! Ugh. She sashayed toward me, her smirk ruining an otherwise pretty face. Her aura was blue. I was beginning to understand the auras seen by my dragon half. Vampires were blue, werewolves were red, and, well, I wasn't quite sure what purple or gold meant yet.

"Who are you?" she asked, though her tone indicated she couldn't care less. Her gaze flicked to Patsy and her smarmy grin widened.

Energy crackled inside me. I felt encased in a tornado of heat, but the swirling power didn't seem to impress the woman. She put her palms about a foot apart. A ball of fire formed in the s.p.a.ce between her hands.

"Lia! Don't!"

The shout came from above. A man dropped from the sky, landing deftly between the woman and the bubble of electricity around me and Patsy. I remembered seeing him at the meeting. He was dressed in a T-shirt, jeans, and Converses; his dark hair was savaged by my whirlwind.

"h.e.l.lo, Ruadan." Lia tossed the fireball at him.

The ground shook under our feet and split open.

From the gap rose a huge wave of water, which doused the fire and soaked Lia. She spluttered angrily, backing toward her dragon. The creature raised its head; smoke curled from its nostrils.

A well-dressed man, shorter than Ruadan, with curly hair and dark eyes, walked toward us. His hands were aimed at the water, and I realized he was manipulating it. I recognized him from the meeting, too.

"Velthur, you a.s.s!" Lia screeched. "Do you know how much this outfit cost?"

I gaped at her. The woman was psychotic. She obviously didn't value life, especially if she wore some poor cow's tanned and colored skin. I bet she had killed the animal she was wearing. Argh! When it dried, I hoped it tightened to the point of cutting off her circulation. Well, if she had circulation.

Following the man named Velthur were three black wolves. The triplets, I was sure. I heard growls and snarls to the left of me; a really huge white wolf loped across the street. Its aura was purple, and I knew it was Gabriel.

The other three lycanthropes surrounded Lia.

"Libby," yelled an Irish voice behind me. Lorcan. He was okay! I couldn't believe how relieved I felt. "You have to stop," he continued to yell, "so we can get to Patsy."