A bunch of quick muffled responses was music to my throbbing ears. I couldn’t make out what everyone was saying, but I heard them. The dragon’s tail retreated, and sweltering heat built in the room. A huge figure seemed to pulse rapidly. Fear slammed into me until I realized the growing flame was Payne. He just looked like a giant male form on fire.
“Get your weapons ready,” was all Payne said as he jumped out of the hole.
I heard Payne roar, but I returned my attention to Barron. “Are you okay?”
“Your forehead’s bleeding,” Barron said. “Are you good?”
I didn’t realize I had been hurt. I couldn’t feel anything beyond my urgency to get Barron free, reach my weapon, and make sure everyone was okay.
I unlatched his restraints, and he fell on his side to the ground. As soon as he was free, he touched my forehead. “Kitty, look at me.”
“What?” I asked, touching my face, only to realize how wet my fingers were. Blood ran down my cheek. “It’s fine. It must have been a stone.”
Barron eyes widened at something behind me. “Get down!” He threw himself on top of me.
Above him, I saw a giant clawed hand scrapping against the ceiling. More rubble tumbled around us as the giant arm twisted its wrist. A palm with sharp claws descended over us.
“We have to move!” I yelled.
Before the talons tore us into pieces, the entire hand burst apart into meaty chunks. Nova. The beast roared outside the cave.
“Over here,” August said as he yanked at Barron’s shoulder to lift him, then did the same for me. “Do you know where your weapons are?”
“I—” My vision blurred when something thwacked me in the head.
“Shit,” August muttered.
“Here,” Nova whispered. A giant yellow oval barrier erected around us. The rubble bounced off her magic.
“Kitty.” Barron yanked at my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. All six of his eyes to be exact. “She already had a head injury. You good?”
It might not be a good time to say I saw three of him.
A roar was the only warming we got. The dragon’s arm swept through the room again. That time, the castle collapsed. The floor beneath my feet dipped and I plunged for a good three seconds before my knees cracked against the wreckage beneath us.
I cried out and groaned as giant stones smacked into my shoulders and head. Pure instinct and adrenaline were the only things keeping my hands above my head, but it didn’t matter. So much debris kept hitting me.
Each time I cracked my eyes open; I saw a fog of dust.
“Kitty!” Barron screamed.
“Here,” I croaked, sinking into the stones surrounding me.
Fatigue came so swift and suddenly. My brain told me that it wasn’t good. Everything went black for a second. Somehow, I opened my lids and frowned as a shadowy mass rushed through the dust, straight toward me. Shadow was so different than the smoke it stood out. I fought to stay conscious. I felt its cold ghostly touch. The weight of the stones lifted.
“Kara!” Large hands plucked me up by the armpit. The sheer panic in Luke’s voice and shock of seeing him forced my eyes open again.
I was in Hell again. With him.
“Why won’t you listen to me?” His hands shook as he held me up, our breaths mingling as he held us nose to nose. Then just as quickly as he crushed me to his chest I had a random thought. Luke had a heart. Or maybe it wasn’t so random since I felt it hammering against my own. But I had a crazy assumption that its quickening sounds were for me. His eyes were flashinga bright red as he glared. “Don’t close your eyes. You can’t go to sleep.”
“How…” My lids fluttered. Seeing Luke and being there didn’t make much sense. I was supposed to be crushed beneath rubble. The bracelet? But what about Shadow?
Shadow brought me to Hell. To him?
“Don’t.” Luke warned.
I cracked my lids enough to see the absolute torture morphing the Devil’s face. Crazy how he looked terrified. Even crazier was the shadowy figure slinking into Luke from behind.
