“Come on, let’s–” She cut off with a high-pitched gasp as the ground began to shake. Her silver eyes were wide in fear, looking to me. I shook my head. This wasn’t me. My affinity was hiding, it seemed. I couldn’t summon even the barest amount of dirt to try smothering the fire.
Skye scrambled up off of me, reaching for my arm, then gasped again. She draped herself over me protectively, and I looked up to see the entire dungeon wall was being held up above her.
Skye, while hunched over me, had a hand in the air, trembling as it held thousands of pounds of stone above us. She whimpered, then raised her left hand to join her right, and I realized that for the first time I’d seen, she was struggling. Her affinity was buckling under the weight of the stone, and I was powerless to stop it.
“Wyatt,” she croaked. “I c-can’t–”
“You can,” I said, throwing my hand out again, trying to force myaffinity to help. This time, it reacted, gripping onto the stone and allowing me to help her. “Fuck, there’s metal in there.”
Skye breathed a sigh of relief as my affinity took some of the weight, though, then she twisted her wrists. The stone moved slowly, and when the moonlight from overhead illuminated us, she allowed the stones to drop. Her hands slapped over her ears just in time to protect her from the loud boom of thousands of tons of rocks slamming into the ground.
Fresh air filled my lungs as the smoke had a new outlet, now wafting into the sky. I breathed in deeply as Skye did the same, her chest heaving. She looked me over, her eyes tracing down to my leg.
Her stunning dress was completely trashed. Torn and tattered, stained from who-knows-what. One of her straps had popped, and the top of the dress was sagging, nearly revealing one of her breasts. The diamonds were still firmly in place, glinting in the firelight.
She looked like an avenging angel.
“You oka–”
She cut off with a shriek as the ground rumbled beneath us. Skye toppled over me, and in slow motion, I watched the closest wall begin to sway.
Every protective instinct inside me flared like an explosion.
Skye couldn’t die here.
Rafe and Aiden needed her.
Willow needed her.
Mia, too.
But then, the walls began to crumble, and I didn’t wait.
I’d told her I had faith in her, but I lost it in an instant.
I didn’t count on her affinity.
I didn’t count on mine.
I threw myself at Skye, knocking her into the ground as I covered her body with my own.
Chapter 55
River
I crouched down,sighing deeply as I looked at the face of Avery’s latest victim. I cringed at the purple and blue veins seeping down his temple onto his cheeks. I’d seen this injury dozens of time, maybe hundreds, and it still freaked me out. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to it.
“How awful,” the most annoying voice I’d ever heard in my fucking life crooned from beside me. “He was such a sweet man, you know.”
“And why the fuck would I know that?” I drawled as I stood.
Lucille Brandt gasped at my language, and it was almost enough to set me off. She clutched her lab-created sapphire necklace like I’d said something truly obscene, and I couldn’t find it in me to care. I actually wasn’t sure if the two had been carrying on an affair or not, but whatever.
I looked back down at the man before me, shaking my head.
Alexander Sombra was a stupid son of a bitch, but he didn’t deserve to die. He was one of Avery’s closest friends, and he hadn’t known who Skye was anymore than the rest of us. Even Avery hadn’t known until tonight.
I flexed my hand, the new affinity bouncing through me almostangrily, like a caged kitten. I could imagine it hissing and spitting at me while sinking tiny little needle-claws into my forearm.
