He wanted to put a bullet in the man, a mercy killing—not that the bastard deserved any mercy. Still, at least it would shut him the hell up.
A thunderous popping drew his eye up. Cracks spiderwebbed across the waterfall. More sections fell away, crashing with massive explosions. It finally drove him back. It would do no good if he was crushed to death.
“It’s all coming down,” Tucker warned. “We should get on the stairs.”
Gray waved to him. “Go. Get everyone moving up.”
Tucker stared at him, recognizing that Gray intended to stay here. But the Ranger finally nodded, turned, and started shouting orders.
Gray took a deep breath. The others had told him how Seichan had lured Valya and her cohort down the side tunnel that led to the steaming garden. He took solace in the fact that those two mercenaries had also not returned.
He took a step toward the nearest throne, eyeing the gap behind it. Tucker had stopped him from entering earlier. Gray could barely walk, let alone offer any true back up. Tucker summarized it best:You’ll only make matters worse. Trust your woman.
Tucker even offered to go in with his dogs, but Gray knew he could not endanger more lives. Seichan had risked her life to save those behind him. He wasn’t about to send any back in.
He took a deep breath, a mantra repeating in his head.
Trust your woman.
Still, as more massive sections broke from above and crashed hard, spilling ice across the neighboring city, he found it harder and harder. The floor had filled with slush and mountains of shattered ice. The far throne was already buried. The gap behind the closer one was only open because a fat plate of ice had fallen over it, forming a roof, sheltering the opening.
He shifted to peer along it when a shout rose behind him.
“Gray!” Tucker bellowed. “Above you!”
He craned his neck. A gargantuan slab of ice tilted away from the waterfall. He fled backward, hobbling on his bad ankle. Then Tucker joined him, hooked an arm under Gray’s shoulder, and dragged him away.
The thunderous boom sounded like a cannon blast behind them. Cold air and shattered ice threw them both forward. They hit hard and slid. By the time they stopped, their bodies were coated in a layer of powdery ice.
Gray shoved up, shaking his coat free. He turned and searched through the frosted air. When some of it settled, the view opened, and his heart sank. The nearest throne was gone, crushed and buried.
Tucker joined him. “I... I’m sorry.”
Gray shook his head, refusing to accept this.
Trust your woman.
He did.
He stumbled forward. The cold numbed his ankle—or maybe it was due to the adrenaline. He forded through a crush of knee-deep ice and around jagged boulders until he could reach the wall. The latest collapse had deeply scraped the base of the waterfall, leaving a crystal-blue surface.
His reflection mirrored off it as he stumbled closer.
Then, through the translucency, a shadow appeared on the far side, rushing forward, merging with his reflection. He recognized that silhouette. His hands had explored its every curve.
“Seichan...”
He rushed up and put his palms against the ice.
A meter away, she did the same.
“No,” he gasped out.
This wasn’t an utterance of defeat, but defiance.
I won’t lose her.
He waved to her, yelling. “Get back!”
