This time I attacked, following his little light. The darkness hid me, and right now that was a weakness for Uriel. Our hits were matched, each of us landing a few and blocking others. His strength gave him an advantage, but my fury masked my pain and adrenaline gave me strength to land more than one solid blow.
My roundhouse kick managed to hit his already injured ribs, and for the first time, he landed on the ground, a huff escaping him. Just as I was moving in for the kill, Jordan and Rafe burst into the tunnel, finally finding the right path to me.
Guess our fighting hadn’t been quiet.
Uriel's light vanished. As I dashed toward the last place I'd seen him, a much larger illumination lit up the area.
Jordan had a flashlight in his hands, lighting up Rafe's furious face as he strode right to my side. Huffing, I looked around for Uriel, but he'd disappeared into the shadows.
"He’s been here all along," I huffed, wiping at the blood trickling from a cut on my lip. "Learning these secret tunnels, existing in the shadows, biding his time."
Rafe turned all of his attention on me. Jordan too. The pair of them examined every inch of my skin, noting the bruises and marks littered across my body.
"I'm fine," I said, as their angry expressions grew darker and breathing heavier. "I got him just as good, don't you worry."
Uriel hadn't been at the top of his game, and that might have saved me.
"Broke his finger and a few ribs," I added, when they didn't immediately congratulate me for finally having the lady-balls to fucking throw a hundred and ten percent into killing my former master.
I'd feared Uriel for as long as I’d known him. This was a huge milestone for me.
"We need to get her out of here," Rafe said to Jordan, not quite ignoring me, since his hands were still all over my body, checking for injuries. "Who knows what traps he might have set in here. We're fighting blind."
My feeling was that he wouldn't be back tonight. Three against one when he was injured were odds not even Uriel would take—not if he knew how my boys fought, and something told me he had studied them closely.
Tomorrow we'd be on a plane, so he was too late.
Rafe lifted me into his arms and started sprinting through the tunnels, Jordan and the light right on our heels. I hadn't realized just how far I'd been taken by Uriel until I traversed the way back… with my eyes, of course, because this asshole of a prince wouldn't let me walk.
"I'm fine, Rafe," I said to him when a more familiar tunnel came into view. "Let me down."
All I got in reply was a rumble in his chest. Great, we were back to caveman talk.
When we exited the secret entrance, the hall was thankfully empty, so a ton of awkward stares and questions would be avoided. "We can't stay in any of our rooms tonight," Rafe said in a tumble of angry words. Lifting his palm reader, he quickly called Mattie. "I'm bringing the flight in early," he snapped as soon as she answered. "Pack your bags and meet us at the front in thirty minutes."
"Sure," she said quickly. "Is everything okay? Is Violet okay?"
"Fine," Rafe barked, then hung up before she could say another word.
"That was rude," I said, trying to keep my tone light.
The adrenaline was wearing off now, and my body ached as he continued along the hall until we reached his room. I'd be in a world of hurt tomorrow, that much was clear.
Once inside, the silent prince walked me into the bathroom, the third in our trio trailing behind. Rafe placed me on my feet, his movements gentle, despite the rigid fury in his face. "Strip," he said. My lips twitched as I thought about the last time he'd said that. This time, though, there was definitely nothing sexy about it.
I didn't argue. He needed this from me, and I personally needed to assess the damage as well. Not just to the gorgeous dress gifted from Jax, but to my body.
As the silver silk slid to the ground, Rafe's teeth clanked together as he glared. Looking down at the wisps of lace that my barely-there underwear set consisted of, I knew immediately his reaction had nothing to do with my thong and everything to do with the bruises already on my body.
"What the fuck, Violet!" he cursed. "How long were you fighting him before we found you?"
"How did you even get there so quickly?" I asked, suddenly remembering he hadn't been in the tunnel with us.
"Jordan activated his distress signal, and I found him in the halls." He glared down at me. "Why didn't you activate yours?"
Right… The distress button thing that I had completely forgotten about.
"No time," I said, crossing my arms to hide some of the damage. "Uriel wasn't really there for a tea and chat. Dude was trying to kick the fuck out of me and then drag me off to his secret lair so we could take over the world."
