Chapter 19 #2
So Eviana gave Corbin a sharp, curt nod, and he pushed off the wall.
She stayed rooted to the spot, watching him approach Lange.
Watched as he reached out and tilted the male’s face up to his own.
Watched as some silent exchange happened between them before he bent down, brushing his lips against his.
Then he held out a hand, pulling Lange to his feet. She wasn’t sure what they were doing as they stood on one side of the truck before rushing to the other. Back and forth they went, throwing all of themselves into the sides.
And the truck started rocking.
It was like they were on a godsdamn boat with the full strength of two Fae males going back and forth. Eviana stumbled, dropping to her knees at one point, splitting them open, but she scrambled back to her feet. Grappling for the glove, she crouched near the doors, trying to keep her footing.
Someone in the truck cab pounded on the box, a muffled order to “Knock it the fuck off,” carrying to them, but they didn’t stop. Even when the truck slowed, pulling off to the side. Even when they were panting with exertion, they didn’t stop.
And when the truck stilled completely, Eviana pressed the bloodied glove to the doors, hearing the latches click.
She pushed a door open and hopped out, moving quickly.
The sentinels weren’t even fully out of the cab yet when she conjured vines and snapped them out, wrapping around their necks and yanking them to the ground.
She dropped low, pressing her hand to the asphalt.
Her power delighted as it called up roots from the nearby trees, the streets buckling under their strength and the cement exploding around them.
Fragments of rock rained down, but the roots rose up like a dome, keeping her protected.
Wrapping around the bound bodies. Dragging them down through the rubble to the earth below, strangled cries dying out.
The escort vehicles were screeching to a halt, and she knew they had only seconds. Eviana whirled back to the truck, finding Lange and Corbin wide-eyed.
“Holy fuck,” Lange murmured.
She quickly made her way over to them, reaching into the truck and grabbing the pack she’d left just inside. Pulling out her makeshift weapons, she passed one to Lange, keeping the dagger she’d taken from Raven Harbor for herself.
“Are the winds warning you of anything we can’t see?” she asked, pulling the pack onto her back while they jumped down to the rubble-strewn ground.
“Why do you keep asking that?” Lange demanded. “And why didn’t you give Corbin a weapon?”
“You have your powers, but Corbin is more. You know it. I know it,” she retorted, moving to Lange’s side. “We need a shield to buy us time. Now.”
Lange didn’t argue, throwing up a hand and creating a hard shield of wind. She watched the sentinels struggle against it, one with air magic trying to counter Lange. He was more powerful though, even if he grunted softly at the exertion.
“Valter is nearby. I need you to find out which direction,” she said, using her magic to draw up more tree roots. The element of surprise was gone now though, and they were actively combating her too.
“I don’t—”
“Do it, Lange,” Corbin cut in.
Lange was quiet, his jaw clenching before he said, “I can’t do that and keep this shield in place. I haven’t had enough practice. It’s too much.”
“Then your lover will need to shift,” she said simply, tightening her grip on the dagger as the sentinels moved closer.
“But mark my words, if Valter gets to us first, death would be a kindness. He knows what you both are. He has plans. You wonder why I am the way I am? You would find out firsthand how I became one of the monsters.”
“If we do what you say, then what?” Lange countered. “We’re still fucked.”
“We go to the woods. They won’t follow, and even if they do—”
“We are not going into the Dreamlock Woods,” Corbin interjected.
“Then we may as well let them take us to Valter,” she replied. “Choose your nightmare.”
Corbin cursed under his breath, shoving a hand through his hair.
“Apparently you’re my fucking nightmare,” he muttered, straightening again.
He glanced at Lange, so focused on holding that shield in place, before he said, “What I said in the truck stands. Get us out of this, and then you tell us everything.”
Eviana didn’t bother answering, drawing up her magic to the tips of fingers in one hand and tightening her grip on the dagger in the other.
It was the only weapon they had that could actually kill a Legacy, but she didn’t want to kill them.
She wanted them incapacitated so they could slip bands on them.
If they couldn’t use their magic, they would be no match for her, Lange, or Corbin.
The problem was they were outnumbered and only had so many sets of bands.
Which is why Corbin needed to shift.
“I need to know where Valter is so I know which direction to go,” Eviana said. “If Lange needs to lower the shield to focus on that, we need to be ready. At our strongest.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Corbin muttered, stretching his neck from side to side. “You ready, Lange?”
The male nodded, small beads of sweat at his hairline.
“Protect him like you care for him,” Eviana said.
“I love him,” Corbin snapped.
That would do. She assumed that meant he would do whatever was necessary to keep him safe.
With a nod, Lange lowered his shields. The sentinels wasted no time, power racing for them. The earth magic wasn’t an issue. She was stronger than anyone here. More than that, she didn’t need the roots and plants around her. Using them simply didn’t drain her reserves as quickly.
The water attacks were harder to dodge. Snares of water and knives of ice. Corbin was able to fend off most of those, although she felt the sharp slice of magic more than once as they fought.
“Where is he?” she demanded, needing Lange to hurry the fuck up.
“He’s trying,” Corbin snapped, freezing a whip of water while Eviana struck out with her foot, shattering the ice.
“He needs to try harder,” she retorted, rallying her magic. Her palm facedown, she raised her arm. The rocks and rubble around them rose with it, hovering in the air above their heads. The sentinels panicked, covering their heads, but they didn’t veer away. Too close. They were too close.
With a surge of strength, she brought the debris closer, concentrating it above the closest two before letting it fall. One sentinel went down, buried beneath the asphalt pieces. The other took a hit to the head, a wide gash cut down the side of his face, now dripping blood.
“You fucking bitch,” he seethed as she planted her feet, needing him close to plunge her dagger into his heart.
Until a giant mountain cat appeared, mauling the male and taking him to the ground.
About godsdamn time.
Sleek and powerful, the mountain cat’s jaws clamped around the male’s throat. An Anahita Legacy, daggers of ice appeared in his hand, but they became water before they could be plunged into the cat’s side. Apparently, Corbin could control his water element while in his shifted form.
Interesting.
Eviana whirled to Lange, finding him with his eyes closed. She opened her mouth, ready to berate him for not knowing yet, but he held up a hand.
“Don’t say a fucking word,” he muttered, brow pinched in concentration.
Corbin prowled over, his massive paws silent on the rubble, and he planted himself between her and Lange. His feline eyes narrowed, a faint golden glow pulsing around them.
“We don’t have time. We’re out of it,” she said, knowing more sentinels would appear any second. Not to mention Lev.
“He’s to the south. Waiting,” Lange said, his eyes snapping open.
“He won’t once he learns we’ve stopped and there’s been an incident,” Eviana said. “We need to run. Now. To the woods.”
They took off, Lange snatching the pack right off her back, allowing her to move faster while he carried that weight.
Corbin went ahead, taking down a sentinel while she combined her power with a gust of air from Lange, rubble slamming into another sentinel so violently, he was thrown feet into the air.
The males were faster, their strides longer, but she pushed herself harder. Once they made it past the tree line, they could slow. She could tell Corbin was holding back to stay by Lange’s side, and they were so close.
But not close enough.
She could see the shadows thickening. Knew Valter had been told what was happening.
Then she was crying out as she was lifted from the ground before she was choking on a lungful of water. Lev was walking calmly towards her, one hand raised and the other in his pocket, and she was trapped in a fucking orb of water.
Corbin and Lange skidded to a halt, spinning back to see what was going on, and she wanted to scream that they were being idiots. That they needed to keep going, keep running.
But then they did just that. A look passed between them, and they turned, racing for the woods and leaving her behind. It was what they should do. Every person for themselves and all that. It was the way of Devram, and yet…
Pushing down whatever it was she was trying to feel, she focused on Lev.
Her features became impassive and unreadable as she stared back at him.
Her lungs were burning now, unable to pull in oxygen, and she ground her teeth, refusing or unable to show her discomfort.
She wasn’t entirely sure. She’d spent too many decades training herself not to show the pain but to endure it silently.
Too many of the people she was forced to spend time with got off on inflicting pain, including her Master.
Deep blue eyes held hers, and he rotated his palm, the orb she was in spinning with the movement, making her disoriented.
Fucking prick.