“What do we do?” Sakane whispers as we huddle.
A dozen guards stare at their leader as he takes his last breath, then their eyes move up to us as one.
“They killed the High Commander,” one of them snarls.
We step back until we hit the wall.
There’s nowhere left to run.
“I think I’ll take the pretty one for myself,” another taunts.
“They’re all pretty. I bet the blue one fights more than the big ones, though.” He lunges for Ego but freezes, and for a moment, I can’t comprehend what I’m seeing.
His face goes slack and blood sprays from his neck before his body thuds to the ground, head separated in a clean swipe.
A monster like nothing I’ve ever seen before steps from the shadows beyond him.
Shoulder-length gold-spun curls line his head, and his skin shimmers with the same metallic glow.
He’senormous.
His gilded eyes move over our group as he flings the blood from his sword, then turns with a sweep. He cuts through the neck of the second guard that flanked the first, then focuses on us again.
“Can you fight?” he asks in a thundering voice, his gaze dropping to Xeni groaning in my arms.
Ego recovers first.
“Fuck yes, I can.”
She pulls a knife off her belt and launches it toward the one at the front. His hands fly to his neck as he gurgles a shout, the hilt protruding from his skin with the blade stuck deep. The squelch of it being ripped from his throat breaks the standoff, and the guards charge.
I twist, shielding Xeni with my body as Cato sprints into the mix with a roar, joined by our new anonymous savior. Sakane sneaks around the outside, using the shadows and chaos to jump in and jab through calves and arms before disappearing again.
I wait, tense and ready to protect my mate, but in mere minutes, the anarchy disappears and is replaced by stifling silence. Xeni groans, and I glance down to find his eye fluttering open.
“Hey, princess,” I whisper.
He tries to sit, but shivers with the effort, so I grip him tighter until I’m sure he’s stable. His gaze sweeps the tunnel, clocking the bodies that litter the ground before fixating on his father’s bloody back.
“What…” he mumbles in a slur.
“We must hurry,” the golden monster commands as he steps closer. He’s half a head over Cato’s six-foot-two frame, with a square jaw and strong nose framed on a stony face.
“Come.”
He turns and walks away as if there’s no question we’ll follow, and a shared glance with the others confirms we have no other option. Xeni is barely able to get on his feet, and the rest of us are exhausted.
Once these bodies are discovered, the demand for our heads will only get worse.
Cato nods at me, and Ego and Sakane fall in line as I support Xeni. The monster leads us into another tunnel before unlocking a door that’s nearly invisible in the shadows.
He holds it open as we enter, and I glance around at what appears to be an old control facility with a long, thin beam of moonlight pouring through a high grate. An archway splits the far wall, though it’s too dark beyond for me to see anything.
Our panting breaths are the only sound as the monster turns toward us, barely more than a phantom in the dim light.
Xeni leans against a table, pushing his hair from his sweat-damp skin with shaky hands as he breaks the silence.
“Who are you?” Xeni demands.
