He got in.
“Elora.”
Violette was already moving, slipping her blades free as she stalked toward the broken door. Symond was right behind her, hand gripping his weapon like he was itching to use it.
Rell’s mind raced, his pulse hammering in his ears as his boots pounded over the bloodstained floor.Elora is down there. Alone.And if Fane had made it this far, then—
No.He wouldn’t let himself finish the thought.
His grip tightened on his dagger as he stormed through the ruined entryway.
They reached the stairwell leading down to the hidden outpost, and the second door—the reinforced door—was nothing more than shredded wood and splinters. The jagged edges of the broken frame clawed at his vision like a goddamn warning.
Then he heard it.
The faint sounds of commotion. A muffled crash. A scream.
Somethingdeepinside him turned to ice.
Violette was already descending, silent and deadly, but Rell didn’t wait. He took the stairsfast, nearly barreling into her as they reached the underground level.
The bounty hunter rounded the corner ahead, hulking and impossibly large in the dying firelight. And he wasn’t alone.
Rell’s stomach twisted into a knot so tight it threatened to crush his ribs.
Fane hadElora.
Her dark hair was fisted tightly in his massive grip, her body half-dragged, half-stumbling behind him. She thrashed, wild and desperate, her teeth bared in a snarl that was morebeastthan human. But it didn’t matter—Fane wastoo strong. Her feet barely scraped against the stone floor as he hauled her forward like she weighed nothing.
Elora let out a strangled scream, kicking wildly.
Fane justlaughed.
Rell didn’t think. He didn’t breathe.
“Elora!” he snarled, guttural and raw, as rage flooded through him. His dagger was already in his hand, his knuckles white around the hilt.
Fane’s head snapped up, his slitted eyes locking onto them. His lip curled into a feral snarl, muscles tensing as he took them in. He was outnumbered.
HethrewElora.
She hit the wall hard, the sickening crack of impact echoing through the corridor. A strangled gasp escaped her lips as she crumpled to the ground, her body folding in on itself.
Rell saw red.
He surged forward, but Fane moved fast, stepping into the narrow space between them like a living barricade, his massive frame a wall of solid muscle and raw menace.
Then his hand shot to his belt.
Shit.
Rell barely had time to register the glint of alchemical shards before Fane hurled them straight at their feet.
“Move!” Rell roared, shoving Violette back as he dove sideways.
The explosion hithard.
The worldcrackedapart as the shards detonated, ripping through the already-broken walls and sending a shockwave of heat and debris through the hall. Stone fractured, splinters of wood and metal flying through the air like shrapnel.
