Zane growled. “Traitor.”
Nick shrugged. “Says who?”
Suri tucked his gun at the back of his waist and stepped into Zane’s space. He inhaled, his nostrils flaring. “You mated the human bitch.”
Fire ripped through Zane’s blood. “Watch how you talk about my mate.”
Suri growled. “Considering she’s dead in about an hour, you might want to lose the posturing.”
Zane’s head jerked up. Dread whipped down his spine. “What are you doing?”
Nick sighed. “The trap is a bit bigger than just you. We’re taking your mate right about now.”
God. The king and two of his brothers waited harmlessly outside for Zane’s signal, leaving Realm headquarters three soldiers down.
“Why, Nick?” Zane asked, his gaze remaining on his uncle.
Suri snarled in a parody of a smile. “I have the only person Nick has ever cared about secured in a concrete cell lined with phanakite three stories down.”
A muscle in Nick’s jaw twitched. “And here I thought we called it planekite. Did you get that, Zane?”
It had been surprisingly easy to discover Simone’s location. Suri was losing his edge. Zane nodded and threw himself into his buddy, yanking power up through his toes.
Lights flashed in wild succession as they tumbled through time and space to land in the dungeon below.
Zane landed on his back, and Nick fell into the wall.
God. Air. Zane needed air. He gasped in, his kidneys and spleen swelling with pain. At some point, he’d figured the numerous jumps would catch up to him. Apparently that time was now. Slowly, he rolled to his feet, his gut lurching. He ripped open the ties binding him.
Nick grasped metal bars to pull himself up. “Simone?” he called.
The witch paced the small cell, her features pale, her eyes a wild black. “Get me out of here.” Her voice emerged weak.
Zane glanced at the walls. Yep. Pure phanakite—the mineral that negated a witch’s powers. If ingested, the harmless looking sparkles could maim or kill.
Nick growled and aimed a well-placed kick against the metal lock. The door swung open.
Men shouted far above, and heavy boot steps pounded down the stairs.
Nick tugged Simone from the cell and shoved her into Zane’s arms. “Take her.”
“No.” Simone struggled against him, but she hadn’t regained her strength, and Zane easily overpowered her. She tried to reach for Nick, who shook his head.
Bodies fell down the stairs, landing hard. The King of the Realm straddled a demon and neatly sliced off his head. A smattering of power rushed out. Dage turned, blood sliding out of his left eye.
“Hi, Simone,” he said.
Simone winced and nodded. “King.”
An explosion rocked the building, spinning shards of wood and Sheetrock down. One cut into Zane’s neck, and he grimaced. Damn good thing the dead demon hadn’t had much power.
Nick punched Zane in the arm. “Get the hell out of here.”
Zane tried to catch his breath and reduce his internal injuries as he focused on the king through the raining debris. “Get to headquarters. Big trap.”
Dage’s eyes shot silver through the blue. “I’ll grab my brothers and meet you there.”
Zane ducked as a beam slammed into his shoulder.
