“Des,” she said dryly, “pretty sure we’ve got time for you to find some pants.”
We movedthrough the trees in a tight line, careful and quiet, every step placed with purpose. The solid rock face we’d watched him enter was just ahead. No guards. No movement. Just stillness.
Nick crouched near the entrance, eyes gleaming. “Right here,” he whispered. “Marked a few lines of sight so I wouldn’t lose it.”
Nova nodded, studying the rock face. “Good thinking, Nick.”
He straightened up a little too fast, shoulders pulling back, pride flickering across his face. When he caught me watching, he forced a frown, but it didn’t quite stick.
“Deslen,” Nova murmured, eyes still on the cave. “You feel any of that ancient magic?”
He shook his head. “No. Just regular runes. Mage work, nothing fae.”
She inhaled, rolling her shoulders once before stepping closer to the rock. “Stick with me, boys,” she said, a crooked grin tugging at her mouth. “I’ll go slow.”
The chuckle that followed wasn’t much, but it broke the tension just enough. Her confidence, her steadiness, was the thread holding us all together. Without her, this team would unravel in seconds. Nick would be dead for sure, trying to go into this place on his own like he was on some cop show.
When she pressed forward, crossing the threshold of the illusion, magic tore away like fabric. We followed close behind, stepping into a hollow that smelled of damp stone and desperation.
The cavern opened wide, stone walls curving overhead in a low-ceiling dome. No sound. No movement. No life. The silence was so complete it felt wrong, like the cave itself had died.
Nova raised her hand and motioned us forward, her steps light but sure. We followed the narrow passage deeper until she froze, one fist lifted.
Instantly, we stilled.
She pressed herself flat against the wall, head tilted, listening.
“Did you see how fast Netch bolted to the boss?” someone muttered. “Wonder what happened.”
Nova looked at me and flicked a finger, giving me the signal. Closing my eyes, I eased my power out like a searching hand and let it creep along the floor.
There were four relaxed but annoyed signatures. The two closest to us were vampires, then there were two further inside, but they were surrounded by a massive crowd of fear and pain. It was so thick I could taste it on the tip of my tongue, so I pulled my magic back.
I held up two fingers and made a fist, then two more and pointed forward, signaling where our targets were.
A rough laugh sounded. “Nah. That idiot’s on his last leg. Been messing up jobs, not bringing in quality products. Slipping. This was his last chance to prove himself, and if he fails, he’s toast.”
Another voice, softer and meaner, chimed in. “Nah, his task was the hard one, rounding up the subjects. Our job’s simple, keep ‘em here until Doc picks one. Poor bastards. Have you seen what the doc does?” His disgust slid through the words, and it made me curious. If idiots like them were queasy about it, then whatever this “doc” did had to be bad.
Nova’s hand stabbed toward Conrad and Deslen, and she mouthed an order to take out the guards closest to us when she gave the signal.
Chains clinked down the corridor, a metallic staccato. One of the voices snapped, “Shut the hell up! This fighting crap stops now.Accept it’s over for you and sit the fuck down, or I’ll go in and break you.”
“Dude,” the quieter one hissed, “you can’t touch the merch.”
“He can’t hear a thing,” the angry one scoffed.
“He’s just down the hall.” The nervous voice dipped lower, speaking more urgently. “He could call Doc, and then you’ll be the one in the cage.”
Nova traced a cuffing motion around her wrists then pointed to me and Nick—free the prisoners.
I tapped her hand to get her attention, my expression asking what she was going to do. A dangerous grin spread across her face as she ran a finger over her throat. No words needed. She was going to find the head of this mess and give him exactly what he deserved.
Nova motioned to all of us once, then nodded. When the voices down the hall moved away, she gave us the signal, and we silently moved into position and followed her.
Deslen blurred out of formation first. Fur and teeth swallowed his human frame in a blink. Outside of Nova, I’d never seen anyone shift that fast. Launching forward like a bullet, his jaws clamped around his target’s face. The sound of cracking bone bounced off the wall, followed by the wet squelching of bodies being torn apart.
Conrad zipped past me, fingers clenched around another vampire guard’s throat in an iron grip. He lifted the man until his feet kicked uselessly.
