Chapter 13 #2
Careful not to disturb the rubble, he stepped closer to the looming rocks and the yawning basin of obsidian surrounded by heated mist, and his fingers dug into the crystal.
He hadn’t paid the gateway much heed when he’d leaped through several days ago to find Ash after fucking Skaldr had abducted her—he’d been too furious. Now, staring at it, a slow burn of fury started deep in his gut at the savage destruction of the portal.
At its center, a chest-high splinter hovered in the air—no glow, just a serrated gap between veils, light skittering along its edges, flickering like a wound that never healed.
Around it, iron stakes jutted like rotten teeth, each crowned with a thumb-sized red light, pulsing slowly and steadily like hellish coals—
Wards. Godsdammit.
Two guards in Malcarion’s dulled gold armor patrolled the perimeter, their scaled breastplates catching the setting sun in bloody streaks.
C’mon, you assholes, give us a fucking break. Take a piss.
Ash crept closer to him, her breath a soft, strangled sound as she stared at the gateway.
“We should get an opening about now,” he warned, grasping her hand.
“How do we know if we’ll end up on Earth?” she whispered.
“With portals, thought becomes anchor. Hesitate, and the veil throws you somewhere else—”
Voices in the old draconic tongue drifted across the caldera.
“Need a drink,” one guard grumbled. “Stinking heat.”
“We just came on duty,” the other snorted.
“Fuck!” Race swore. “They’ve already changed the guard rotation.” His grip tightened on Ash’s hand. Her foot slipped, scattering crystal shards like broken glass.
The guards wheeled around. “Get them!”
Boots thundered across crystallized ash.
There was no time to let her recover. “Hold on—”
A lookout on the ridge lunged into view in mid-shift, his body warping, bones cracking, scales erupting. Race drew his obsidian dagger from his boot and hurled it straight into the male’s heart before the shift completed.
A shriek split the air as the part dragon, part man collapsed.
Race grabbed Ash and dematerialized them once more. The strain hit harder this time, his power already taxed from the earlier jump. Their molecules dragged, the resistance clawing at him. Ash’s essence trembled against his, or maybe it was his own power faltering…
They reformed somewhere deep in a dense forest, back into midday, and his knees nearly buckled. Ash stumbled against him, her breath coming in sharp gasps.
“We need to walk the rest of the way,” he rasped, forcing his lungs to work.
Her fingers tightened around his arm as they started up the slope. “What’s wrong?” she panted, worry bright in her eyes. “You’re pale. What happened?”
“Too far,” he rasped. “Dematerializing isn’t meant for such distances, especially both ways, and before you ask, unlike Earth, I can’t…I can’t just open portals here. The air’s different, saturated with magic—will resonate, bringing Malcarion’s entire battalion after us.”
“Your dagger! You left it behind.”
“Will get it back… No one can steal it. Bound to me—” His head swam, and he grabbed a low-hanging branch to stop from swaying.
“Race!” she gasped, slipping her arm around his waist. “Let me help.”
“I’m fine.”
“Oh, stop being such a bear.”
He huffed and pushed on without her help. A part of him longed for her arm around him again, because even breathing was a struggle—hell, his entire fucking being shook like jelly. He had no idea how far they walked—only that every step felt like dragging himself through sludge.
Ash’s breathing grew harsher, faster, but he didn’t dare stop. In his current state, if they were attacked, he’d lose control and burn down this mountain, and she would get caught in the crossfire.
Finally, he forced himself to slow near a bubbling creek and let her take a few minutes’ rest. “We’re close to the cave.”
With a groan, Ash dropped to the damp bank, scooped up fresh water, and gulped it down.
His brain rattled inside his skull, and his temples throbbed, as if a fog had settled in there. He crouched near her, splashed icy water on his face, then drank some water too, but it did little to calm him.
He slicked back his damp hair and found her watching him. “Ready?”
She nodded.
He grasped her hand, and they pushed on, up the slope. The higher they went, the thinner the air became, and the trees grew denser, their white-veined black trunks slick with moss—
The sharp clang of metal split the air. The drawing of swords…
The three shifters stood braced for action. At the sight of Ash and Race, they resheathed their weapons.
Race kept his expression even despite the crushing pain building behind his eyes. He’d rather face Tartarus again than show weakness in front of these males. Centuries of torture had burned that lesson deep.
Ash stayed close, her fingers tight around his.
“What happened?” Attor’s gaze flickered skyward, scanning the haze. “Were you attacked?”
“They’ve altered the guard rotation.” Race forced the words past gritted teeth, raking back his hair again so he wouldn’t rub his pounding temples. “We’ll need another way to access the portal.”
“Best to find out the guards’ rotation list,” Koal told him. “You’ll have to head into town for that.”
For once, Skaldr shut his trap.
Good. Because Race couldn’t deal with him right now. Even his enhanced senses were shot—the world dulled to a muffled blur of sound and scent.
Only Ash’s summer-rain scent remained lodged in his senses, as if his mind refused to lose track of her even in this state.
He pulled her along into the cave. The moment he released her, she stumbled to the firepit and collapsed to the ground, where her coat still lay, her head tipping back against the rock as her backrest, her eyes fluttering shut.
Race sank onto the cold stone bench near the pit, the faint embers throwing weak shadows. The chill seeping through his clothes was the only thing keeping him upright.
Gods, he just needed silence. One damn minute to breathe. To stop feeling like his body was nothing but splintered pieces barely held together.
“Race, you aren’t well.”
Her words hit like a blade between his ribs. Memories clawed free—
“Maybe the prince is sick…” Malcarion’s voice taunted, echoing across centuries, as Race lay paralyzed, a spelled arrow lodged in his spine. “Or inept? Where’s all that powerful blood now?”
Race clenched his fists, forcing the past away, fighting not to drown in it.
“You think I’m weak because I didn’t fight those guards and get you through the damned portal?”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” she snapped. “I’m worried about you, but you have a darn stick shoved so far up your backside—ugh! Forget I said anything.” Lips thinning, she scrambled to her feet and stomped for the cave’s entrance.
Hell, she was an innocent trapped in this quicksand nightmare dragging him down. “Ash, wait—”
She didn’t.
Fuck. He rubbed his temples. “We’re leaving in a few minutes—”
“Oh. Found another hole to shove me into?” She spun around, her expression like stone.
“Don’t you dare tell me it’s to keep me safe, because we both know what this is!
A few kisses, and you think I’m about to demand more?
You know what, Race? You do what you want, I’m too bloody tired.
I’m not going anywhere right now—unless you plan to carry me. ”
His tightly held control cracked. In a burst of power, he flashed over, blocking her path.
She didn’t move, her eyes flaying him like razors. “Get out of my way.”
“Stop fighting me.” With a frustrated growl, he grasped her arm, but she yanked free, and her back hit the wall. He caged her in with his hands on either side of her head. “Listen—”
“If you don’t let me go, I swear you’ll regret it.”
“Go ahead,” he snapped, his anger flaring. “I’m eons old, what can you do that I haven’t already paid for…” in blood!
She kneed him—
He caught her thigh before she damaged his balls, holding it fast. “You can’t hurt me, little vixen, so listen well.
” His gaze held her furious, champagne ones.
“Where we’re going, if you’re not marked, you will be claimed.
The males there won’t wait for an invitation.
So, choose. You have the three unmated shifters outside.
They’re assholes, but they won’t hurt you. ”
Her delicate jaw tightened. “Let me get this straight. To stay safe from other shifters, I must get marked by one of them outside?”
Just not you?
She didn’t have to say it, but the accusation hung heavy between them. She straightened her spine. “Thank you for the incredibly generous offer. I. Decline!”
“Dammit, Ash. This isn’t a damn game—”
“I’m not tying myself to any bloody one.” Her mouth thinned, mutiny in every delectable inch of her.
“You’re godsdamned impossible.”
“And you’re a pain in my backside. I won’t do it.”
By the useless fucking gods. He shut his eyes briefly. No female had ever challenged him like this. Yet here she stood, this mortal who’d somehow wormed her way under his skin.
“I’m trying to keep you alive,” he bit out. “The towns we must go to, to search for those guards’ schedules, you’ll be exposed. Humans are sought after. Stolen.”
Her chest heaved, her chin tipped up in that stubborn tilt.
He was fast losing the battle, and he knew it. “You want me, is that it? Damned if I know why. I’m a walking billboard for blood and gore. I enjoy my enemies’ terror before they die.” He hardened his expression. “Last chance, vixen, choose.”
Her heart thudded behind her breastbone, calling to both man and beast as he dragged her close. “Very well—”
She slammed her palms against his chest and shoved hard. “Go to hell!”
“Been there,” he shot back. “Don’t recommend.”
“Why in God’s name would I want someone who considers me an afterthought?” she yelled. “Who always pushes me aside?”
A growl escaped him, anger and hunger for her colliding. “So be it, vixen.”