"Time for boom?" Max asked hopefully.
Gio huffed out a distracted laugh. "Sure, time for boom. Make sure you can get to me in a hurry if we have to make a fast exit."
Max crouched down, opened the satchel, and armed the detonator. She had learned how to do this as a young woman, but it had been a very long time since her blasting practice under Uncle Tomas's direction, and these were far from ideal conditions. She hoped she did it right.
The catwalk tilted again. Max looked up and realized that while she was distracted, stone walls had enclosed them on both sides.
The cultist suddenly appeared in view, standing on top of a rock platform jutting out from the wall. "Surrender!" he snapped. It seemed to be directed at Gio; he was ignoring Max, which she felt was incredibly rude. "You're the one we want! Surrender to us or we'll kill the woman."
"Thewomanhas a bomb," Max said calmly, standing up. She held out the satchel, dangling from a strap. She hadn't set the timer yet, but he didn't need to know that. "It's armed. Attack me and you'll regret it."
The cultist hesitated. Clearly he hadn't anticipated this. "Drop it immediately," he ordered.
"Really? Down here?" She leaned over, holding the satchel above the plunge into the pit.
"Don't!"
It was a standoff to buy them time at best. And she had no idea how long it would be before reinforcements arrived. She glanced toward Gio, whose eyes suddenly snapped open, calm and decisive.
"Do as the man says," he said with a slight sideways smile. "Drop it."
Max smiled back, meeting the cool confidence in those lovely brown-gold eyes. She clicked the timer to ten seconds and flung the satchel over the edge.
The cultist gave a yell. Beneath her feet, the catwalk began to tilt, tipping her off into the abyss.
For a terrible instant, she could feel herself about to fall. She tried to leap away, but there was nowhere to go.
Then Gio's arm wrapped around her, pulling her to him.
He had one hand buried in the wall as if it had turned to putty, anchoring him securely.
There was a tremendous shudder all around them. The shockwave hit next, and Max was nearly wrenched out of Gio's arms. She had a glimpse of cracks spreading throughout the surrounding rocks. It wasn't just the bomb, she thought; Gio was doing that.
Then the ceiling came down with a terrific roar, the cultist gave a despairing cry, and they stonewalked out.
GIO
Gio broughtthem back to the same flagged passage they had departed from. It turned out that targeting an exact location was a lot easier than it used to be, especially now that he had been there before.
There was a faint smell of smoke in the air, but otherwise things were quiet—and then the realization hit him abruptly that he could tell there were no enemies near because he could feel it through the rock. He wobbled a little.
Max unwound her arms from around his neck. "Are you okay?" she asked anxiously.
"Yes, fine." He held her for a moment, burying his face in her hair. The events at the cultists' cave were branded vividly into his mind. The rock had responded to him, in the end, like a living extension of his body. He was coated in sweat as if he had been running. Max's bomb had helped, but it was mainly that he had found the weak places in the cavern walls—and brought part of a mountain down with his bare hands.
He could tell he was going to need awhile to cope with it. But right now he just wanted to hold Max and feel the relief of having her safe in his arms. Watching her almost fall into that gaping hole in the earth was a nightmare that would replay in his head for a long time.
"Are you all right?" he finally, belatedly remembered to ask. There was no need, though. He could tell that she was fine in some way he couldn't even put his finger on. She smelled fine, she sounded fine, she just ... felt fine, in the same way he had been able to feel the cracks in the mountain and tell that it was one small push away from collapsing.
"Yes, I'm good." Max's voice was a little muffled. She drew herself out of his embrace. "Sounds like the fighting is over here, too. Let's go find everyone."
They went into the main courtyard. It was deserted, but they could hear voices on the roof.
When they climbed up, it looked like most of the clan was up here. There were people everywhere, spread across two adjacent rooftops. Gio noticed Max looking around anxiously, but it didn't look to Gio as if anyone was badly hurt. Half-dressed people were bandaging each other's injuries while talking cheerfully of their exploits or hastily shimmying into pants. Coffee, food, soft drinks, and wine floated freely around the gathering.
As soon as the other shifters noticed them, there was an outburst of excited voices. Gio found himself being patted and back-slapped, while Max was hugged from all sides.
"You were the only one we couldn't find,mijita!" Max's mother, scuffed and smelling of smoke, embraced her wildly. Max carefully hugged her back. "We were so worried!"
