Jon glanced up at the cloudless sky, his gaze following an eagle soaring overhead. “Have been for an hour now.”
“Guys.” Mace moved toward the tree, its gnarled trunk twisted into a display of arboreal agony. “Check this out.” He stopped at its base, his fingers tracing a swirly pattern carved deeply into the bark. “It’s a symbol. An Aegis ward against evil.”
“They’re probably everywhere.” Jon’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the surroundings. “Be careful. Aegis wards don’t usually discriminate.”
That was a lesson they’d all learned too well. To The Aegis, allsupernatural beings—except angels—were enemies, from demons and vampires to werewolves and shifters.
“There’s another on that rotten stump.” Mace leaped over a fallen log with panther-like grace and started up the slope, whipping aside scraggly brush as he trudged closer. “The symbol is different.”
Skoll turned in a slow circle, his sharp gaze raking the forest and the trail ahead and behind. “The music changed. It’s ominous now. Be careful.”
Blade scowled at the werewolf. “What?”
“His music is like an early warning system,” Jon explained. Except his explanation didn’t help at all.
“I always have music in my head.” Skoll’s fingers skimmed over the machete at his hip as he continued to monitor the area. “Like an earworm, except the music changes depending on the situation. It’s like my life has a soundtrack.”
That would be awesome.
Blade disagreed. “Sounds annoying.”
Jon shifted to the rear, keeping an eye on the trail behind them. “You seem like the type who gets easily annoyed.”
“You seem like the type who gets punched in the face a lot,” Blade shot back.
Ooh, things were getting spicy. Scotty loved a good conflict, but maybe they should wait until they got to the cabin.
Skoll halted mid-step, alarm etched in his expression. “The tempo’s picking up. Music’s getting louder. More intense.” He spun around to Mace. “Mace. Don’t!”
Too late. Mace’s boot crunched down on a mossy log, and in a silent explosion, he went airborne. His pained yelp was cut short when he struck a tree with the sickening crack of both branches and bones. He slid down the trunk and hit the ground with a thud, leaving a trail of blood behind on the bark.
“Mace!” Scotty raced toward where he’d crumpled into a mangled heap in the ferns, fear clawing at her with icy fingers. They’d all been injured before, had gotten way too intimate with near-death close calls. But something about the way Mace lay like a broken, discarded doll terrified the hell out of her.
She crashed to her knees next to him. “Hey.” Holy shit, so much blood.
“I’m…fine,” Mace groaned, struggling weakly to roll onto his back.
“Hold him still.” Skoll shrugged off his backpack. “He’s going tomake it worse.” He grabbed a first aid kit from one of the pockets and crouched next to her, just as Blade took a knee across from her.
“Blade,” she begged. “Do something.”
Their gazes met over their teammate’s writhing body, and her gut sank. Blade’s grim expression confirmed her fears. This was beyond bad.
He clamped his right hand down on Mace’s wrist, and a hot glow lit up hisdermoire, starting at his personal symbol and flowing down the dark lines all the way to his fingertips. Mace hissed through clenched teeth as Blade’s healing power reversed the damage.
Tossing aside his useless medical kit, Skoll watched in fascination. “I spent a lot of time at Underworld General as a kid, but I’ve never seen a Seminus demon in action before.”
“I’venever seen a trap that can do this kind of damage.” Sweat beaded on Blade’s brow, and his breath came in shallow spurts. The process wasn’t easy on him, either. It sometimes left him drained for days.
Scotty contemplated the trap and the utter destruction it had wreaked on Mace. Not an inch of his body had been spared.
“It was a bone-crusher spell,” she murmured. “Had to be.”
Clearly, Nathan meant business. She gave Mace’s hand a gentle squeeze and had to bite back a cry at the way it felt less like a body part and more like a bag full of the D&D dice the guys were always playing with.
“Blade,” she croaked, “how many bones are broken?”
“All of them,” Mace groaned. “Feels like all of them.”
