There’s no real trigger, no silent planning that takes place. But if every book and movie ever has taught us anything, it’s that waiting until the end of the evil monologue to do something never ends well. Ethan shifts without a word, his russet wolf bolting to the side rather than charging head on, putting a row of cages between him and the men that would mean to attack him.
I don’t even get the chance to free my wrists before needing to fling a shield up between him and Rheyas, the guard that led us down here not pulling any punches. The mage that attacked us back in Shady Grove was pathetic in comparison, and even his assault on my shield nearly caused it to shatter. I’m not even surprised when it cracks within seconds, giving us only enough time to retreat a few steps for a better angle.
Gripping the back of my shirt, Rheyas jerks me to the side, saving me from the blast aimed at my chest as my shield disintegrates. Now at the beginning of the line of cages, he grips my hips, boosting me up to climb on top.
“Find the others. Don’t engage, just dodge.” The command rolls over me until I nearly whimper, annoyed because I’m not even a shifter and the alpha bullshit shouldn’t affect me.
It doesn’t nearly to the same degree that it would if I wasn’t a mage, but it does squash any protest I might have considered. It cuts right through the reckless impulses that adrenaline induces, giving me a sense of determined focus, something to latch onto so I can think clearly.
“If you die, I’m going to be incredibly disappointed.”
Knees digging into the metal as I clamber up, I risk a quick glance back at him before stretching out onto my stomach to make myself a smaller target. The cages are as tall as the shifter currently checking out my ass, so it’s a terrible angle for any of the mages to hurl attacks at unless they want to risk blasting a cage open or toppling it over.
“Don’t worry about me; just keep yourself alive so I can focus.”He slams down a mental block on our connection, shutting me out so that he isn’t distracted.
Snarls sound from up ahead along with shouts, giving me a sense of Ethan’s location so I don’t need to risk lifting my head and getting hit. Rheyas clearly shifts a moment later, heavy footsteps thudding down before a low warning growl makes the metal beneath my hands vibrate. But rather than worry about if he simply made himself a bigger target, I army crawl forward, glancing at the cells on my left as I go in search of a familiar face.
I know that neither of my mates are in the row beneath me already from my vantage point when we walked in, nor are they in the first row to my right. But as I reach the end of this line of cages and still don’t see them, I internally cringe, knowing I need to make a call. There’s one more row farther to my left, or one far to the right, but it’s hard to make out faces from here with people curled in on themselves.
Hawk, I could really use a tip here. Could you wake the hell up already?
But only silence meets me and I curse. Closing my eyes and praying I don’t get shot, I turn my focus inward, coaxing my magic not to be on the defensive, but to seek out the mate that I’ve still yet to bond with. It’s settled down quite a bit over recent weeks, seemingly giving up on the hope as we dragged our feet about this whole thing. Responding to my anxiety, it reacts, torn between the threats around us and the desire to protect our mates.
Either it’s inching towards Rhey, or I need to go right. But seeing as I have some incredibly shitty luck, I’m guessing it’s a good bet that I need to cross the central battlefield to get to Ian and Hawk. A gunshot reverberates around the room and I startle, but my panic doesn’t take over like it might have if Rheyas hadn’t pressed his command onto me. While shifters are a stronger breed and can heal from almost anything with some time, they aren’t immortal. A bullet to the heart or brain, enough damage before their body can heal, and it’ll still kill them. And me? Well, I know from experience that it’ll knock me out for the count for a while, if I even manage to cheat death twice.
Taking a deep breath, I try to think of the best way to go about this. I’m near the woman bound to the chair, Ethan should be right around here, but also the majority of the mages will be too. There might be a few straggling guards between the rows of cages or elsewhere in this massive space since we haven’t explored and the scent of blood was blocking Rheyas’ sense of the space.
Chances are that almost all of them will have rushed forward to take point on the largest threats in the room. If I go sprinting behind enemy lines, when just one guy managed to destroy my shield, I really don’t stand much of a chance against multiple supercharged mages, and I’ll only distract the two people on our team that are actually giving us a shot of walking out of here alive.
My eyes widen as an idea forms. It’s likely stupid, but when has that ever really stopped me before? Taking a deep breath, I pull the energy churning in my gut to the forefront as I push myself up. One knee digs into the metal as I attempt to stay as low as possible, getting a foot under me and bracing my weight on my toes.
I’ve never been much of a fighter, always low on reserves and forced to get creative in order to survive. But for the first time in my life, a healthy amount of energy thrums through my veins. Not only my own, but traces of Hawk’s and Rheyas’. I don’t want to pull anything from them unless absolutely necessary, so I’m hoping that I’m topped up enough that I can do this on my own.
Without being able to get a running start, I channel a small burst of energy into my foot, helping me launch off of the cage. As I start to fall, I steal Ian’s idea from when he saved me from breaking a leg in the woods, casting a domed shield in the air beneath me. Holding my breath, it rushes out of me in relief when my foot sinks an inch into the barrier, but no farther. I push off of it as hard as I can, doing it three more times and refusing to look down at the chaos happening beneath me.
My foot slips as something slams into my shoulder, the burning pain a second later similar to an energy ball rather than a bullet, thankfully. He was too late though, and as I fall, I slam onto the top of the row of cages, rolling sideways across the top before plummeting off the other side.
“Motherfucker.”
Groaning, I push myself up, lifting a hand to the back of my head where it smacked against the concrete floor. My fingers come away wet, sticky with blood, but it feels worse than it actually is. Head wounds always bleed a lot, even small cuts. The ringing in my ears takes longer to shake off as I get to my feet, risking a look through the bars separating me from everyone else.
The body running in my direction goes down with a sickening thud as Ethan launches himself at the man’s back, teeth sinking into his neck from behind. Blood sprays out as the mage’s face drives into the ground, and with a snarling jerk of his head, the wolf snaps his neck.
“Are you alright?”Rhey demands, and I start running towards the end of the aisle away from the mages.
You kidding me? Tell me that wasn’t one of the most badass things you’ve ever seen?
“You’re bleeding,”he growls, sounding livid.
Not even the most blood I’ve lost this month. You worry about what’s in front of you; the wolf is starting to show you up.Now it’s my turn to slam down the mental block, not wanting him to be caught up worrying about me and leave himself open to getting shot. The man’s a fucking polar bear; unless these people can’t hit the broad side of a barn, he needs to keep his head in the game.
Gripping the bars so I don’t wipe out, I use my hold to swing around to the next row. A door halfway down flies open and I skid to a stop, only to break into a sprint when a familiar mage stumbles out and collapses. Chest heaving, Ian’s grey eyes are clouded over with pupils the size of pinpricks. Sliding to my knees beside him, it’s clear he’s out of it, not registering that he can hear me.
I gently smack his good cheek a few times, before doing it again, a bit harder. He blinks several times, scrubbing a shaky hand over his face. “Rel?”
“I’m here, it’s okay now. I just need to get Hawk and we’re going to find a way out.”
From the way he was talking before he passed out, Hawk was able to see Ian, so he’s got to be in this row. My eyes run the line of cages, quickly spotting the brindled wolf slumped on the ground beside the door currently hanging open, and I put two and two together.
