“I don’t know,” he said through pants, and Irealized he was just as tired as me. “Either I can’t sense them all; or they keep sending in more.”
Judging by our fatigue and the dimming light, we’d be at it for a while and I was starting to worry when we’d run out of magic.
“This isn’t working,” I said, throwing daggers and what felt like the hundredth firewall.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Other than waking up from this nightmare?” I quipped, grasping for ideas that were better thantry and survive—and with that thought, the primordial power in me stretched long and loud like a feline finally intrigued enough to wake.
“What just happened?” Kaelun asked, voice uncertain.
“What just happened,” I said, “is that it’s bloody-well time to play offense.”
Chapter 49
The Trade
“Make sure you’re in physical contact with me the whole time—no matter what, Kaelun,” I said, giving him a hard look.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” he asked for the tenth time with fear in his eyes; the same fear that jolted through me as I let the horde of hellhounds break our barrier.
“Gods, I hope so,” I muttered, which did nothing to assuage his doubt. “Just remember?—”
“Hand on you at all times,” he finished. “You’re sure your magic won’t hurt me?” His mocha eyes searched mine for any reassurance I could offer him.
“Honestly?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, I’d really appreciate it if you just lied to me right now,” he said with a straight face.
“We’re gonna be fine. Trust me.” I winked.
“Gods, they’re gettingreallyclose,” he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
My heart pounded in my chest, the tremor of seemingly endless beasts bounding full-tilt toward us was deafening.
This was a stupid, stupid plan,I thought, suddenly overwhelmed.
Well, it’s too fucken late to change your mind,the other side of me chided.
Taking a deep breath, I put my hands out to the sides, closed my eyes, and like I’d done under the protection of Endymion’s dome, I allowed the spark to stir from where she slumbered.
The weight of Kaelun’s hand on my shoulder was welcomed as the full well of my power flooded into my veins, infusing every cell with pure, raw, untapped, arcane magic.
“Wow,” he breathed in awe.
At first my hand tingled just enough to tickle, but as it pooled—readying for a command—it shifted to a sharpness until my fingers were painfully numb.
“Lady Ny?—”
“Not yet,” I gritted, staring down the horde of beasts now only twenty paces away.
My power continued to build.
Fifteen paces.
More power.
Ten paces.
