Janie stilled. “Kalin? Why are you here?”
The Kurjan smiled with blood-red lips. “I’m just passing through.” His image faded in and out. “This isn’t how I saw destiny.”
“Thank you for saving me,” Janie said, rubbing her belly. “For saving us.”
Zane cleared his throat. “Thank you.”
Kalin gave a short bow. “Life. What a surprise. I see the future, and it’s a shocker. Thank you both for being the closest to childhood friends I ever had. Live well.” He flickered in and out, his gaze dropping to Janie’s stomach. “Maybe tell your babe about me, so someone remembers me?” His voice trailed off at the end, and he disappeared.
The ocean began to boil and turn black.
Suri leaped to his feet.
Zane shoved Janie behind him. “But you’re dead—”
Suri smiled. “Kind of.”
Janie grabbed the back of Zane’s demolished vest. “I forced us all in here to keep the world from exploding.”
Suri advanced. “In the dream world all rules are gone.”
Thunder bellowed into a shriek. Lava bubbled up through the sand, hissing toward the ocean. The environment rose under pressure, pushing in, adding gravity to the very oxygen.
Zane faltered.
Red filled the sky and spiraled down, thundering through the heavy atmosphere. He sensed that the second its energy touched the lava, the dream world would detonate. By taking Suri’s power from the real world, Janie had sacrificed their dream world.
Suri snarled, his face contorting.
Zane turned and grabbed Janie close, opening up a space in time and dimensions. One more jump. Just one more to save his mate. The dream world exploded, burning his feet just as they jumped through.
He turned instinctively to land on his back and cushion Janie’s fall. The ground rocked beneath him. He opened his eyes, his nose filled with the scents of dirt and death. “We’re back in the cavern. Damn it all to hell.” Struggling to his feet, he fell. His head dropped to his chest.
Janie struggled to stand and grabbed his arm. “We have to get out of here.”
The earth continued to rumble, even with the power surge caused by Suri’s death removed. Zane nodded, blood sliding from his ears. “I’m not gonna make it, Belle.”
“The hell you’re not.” She propelled him toward the lift and around the opening schisms in the ground.
He glanced down to see lava and red core. The physics keeping the cavern safe were about to fail, and his woman was fighting to get him to the lift. Taking a deep breath of heat, he forced himself to put one foot in front of the other. Reaching down, he grabbed Suri’s head by the hair.
Janie blanched.
“Trust me.” He moved like an old man onto the lift and sat.
Janie sat and then stood back up. “I need the book.”
He grabbed her arm just as the book spun round and round, finally dropping into the largest schism.
“No,” Janie cried, struggling.
“Yes. Let’s go, Janie.”
She shook her head but tugged the gate closed. “Well, I guess we figured out my big destiny,” she groaned, sliding onto the seat next to him.
Zane closed his eyes and surprised himself by grinning. “Saving millions of humans by forcing Suri’s power into the dream world is a hell of a destiny.” He slipped an arm around his woman. “Although, don’t take this wrong, I figure you have more than one destiny.”
She paused. “I have more to do?”
