Another round of arrows came, but they bounced off an unseen barrier. “Thank you, Elle and Disir,” Decebel yelled.
Elle smirked. “I’m more than just a pretty face.”
Decebel crawled forward, keeping his body as close to the ground as possible. The fae might have put a protection spell over them, but he had no desire to test its competency. “Can we fight back while you guys are protecting us?”
Disir nodded. “Absolutely.”
Decebel felt a hand on his ankle and looked down to see Elle signaling for his attention.
“Don’t freak out, but I’m not crawling like a damn bug to these traitors. I’m flashing us, so be ready to attack.”
A second later, they reappeared, and Decebel’s eyes landed on an elf that stood just inside another tunnel. The male’s eyes widened, and Decebel grinned. The beta pulled a knife from his hip and threw it with such speed that the elf didn’t have time to do more than take one step back. The blade embedded itself in the elf’s neck. He dropped the bow he’d been holding and grabbed at his throat, gurgling as he tried to stop the blood spouting from the wound. Then a ball of light hit the male, and he fell to the ground in a heap. Disir was on his feet, his hands raised toward the elf.
“We won’t let them suffer,” the high fae said.
Decebel nodded. “That wasn’t my intention. Unfortunately, death by throwing a knife isn’t always quick.”
Disir held his hand out, and Decebel grabbed it, letting the male help him to his feet. Balls of light flew past him as Elle rained down her power on the attacking Order members. A couple minutes later, Decebel and his team were the only ones left standing.
“You guys are going to have to step up your game.” Elle pretended to dust her hands off. “I’d hate to tell the pack all about how I protected your supernatural asses.”
Clarion raised his hand. “If I step up my game, there will be no telling anyone anything because we will have our final resting place under the crumbled mountain.”
She sighed. “Are all djinn such major downers?”
Decebel rolled his eyes. “Let’s keep moving. Elle, you’re a kick-ass warrior. Thank you for having our backs.”
“Yes, yes I am.” She smirked.
Decebel decided that his mate had way too much of an influence on the females of their pack, and he might need to recommend supervised visits with her instead of just allowing the others free access. He chuckled to himself at the thought of her reaction if he told her his idea. The consequences might be worth it just to get her riled up. His mate had a penchant for angry sex. Did that mean he purposely prodded her? Absolutely.
Pushing away the amusing thoughts, he focused on the mission at hand. As they continued forward, he attempted over and over to reach out to Fane, but Decebel still could not connect with his alpha. He led the group through many twists and turns and occasionally saw the shimmer of the protection spell the fae kept around them. Elle and Disir’s balls of light lit their way, moving ahead of the group, taking the quick turns as if they knew the direction before Decebel even moved.
Suddenly, he heard voices and came to an abrupt halt. His wolf perked, and Decebel stretched his beast’s hearing to determine the direction of the sound. He strained to see if he recognized the voices.
“I swear, when I find Alston, I’m going to cook his organs from the inside out.”
“That’s Peri.” Elle took off, her feet moving much faster than before. Decebel and the others ran after her.
Soon, Decebel saw an opening at the end of the tunnel. They all ran toward it. As soon as Elle entered the chamber, he heard Peri’s voice again. “STOP!”
The beta tried to slam on the brakes, but it was too late. He’d been moving too fast. But as he barreled forward, Decebel managed to twist and shove at whoever was behind him. That happened to be Clarion. Decebel’s hands pushed off the djinn’s chest, and they fell in opposite directions. Clarion hit the ground with a loud, “Umph,” but he landed outside the room.
“Do not come in here,” Decebel told him.
When Decebel attempted to move forward, he found he couldn’t lift his legs. His head snapped around the room, and he saw Fane’s group. “I’m assuming none of you can move either?”
Peri shook her head. “Nah, we’re just playing a game. It’s called ‘let’s see who can stand still the longest although we need to murder a psychotic high fae because we’re stupid like that.’” She shrugged. “The name needs work, but it’s still a new game, so you can’t really expect us to have perfected it yet.”
“How long have you been stuck here?” Elle ignored Peri.
Fane glanced at his watch. “Half hour.”
“Feels like it’s been longer than that,” Thalion said.
Disir looked around and then at Peri. “It’s a nulling spell.”
Peri nodded. “I hate the fact that Alston has a modicum of intelligence.”
