Chapter 59
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
Ellery
Knocking away the hands trying to rip me away from Ryker, I sent a wave of lightning up and over my arm to keep the soldiers at bay as I turned to find Ryker’s arm dripping blood.
A guard lifted his bloody blade and was about to bring it down when Ryker lifted his foot, planted it in the man’s gut, and shoved him back.
The man stumbled before tripping over his feet and sprawling across the ground. But they kept coming; like starved, feral animals, the scent of the blood drove them into a killing frenzy.
If they killed him…. If I lost him….
My heart raced, my hands trembled, and adrenaline fueled every burst of lightning I unleashed as I tried to keep these fuckers off him. Hands tangled in my hair, pulling my head back as they tried to yank me away.
A blade pressed against my throat and bit into my skin. As blood trickled from the cut, Ryker’s face contorted, and he seized the blade.
Lightning fired through his black eyes as he shocked the man into releasing me. He didn’t flinch when more blood spilled from his palm.
We shouldn’t have come here. I should have said no to this plan and insisted we leave until he had fully recuperated. What was I thinking to agree to this when he was still weakened from his ordeal in the dungeon?
I’d just wanted this over, and now it might end in the worst possible way.
Behind us, someone pushed against the door again as they tried to break free of the passage. I’d been sure it was Scarlet, but somehow, Samael managed to shove the door open enough to enter the hallway.
My gaze briefly met his as Ryker’s blood dripped onto my throat. Samael didn’t say anything, but when one of the guards lunged for him, he plunged his sword into the man’s belly.
My tornado continued to tear up the hallway. It lifted more of the soldiers out of the way and spun them around before shooting them back out. They crashed into walls and scurried to get out of the way.
But it wasn’t enough as another fighter sliced his sword across Samael’s arm. His other arm held his sword, and he thrust it into the man’s belly, but more soldiers were already shoving the wounded soldier out of the way and coming at us. They ripped Samael’s sword away with the guard.
“Traitor,” someone spat as their blade whistled toward the sheriff.
Grabbing Samael, I jerked him back and shoved him behind me. At one time, the idea of doing anything to help the sheriff would have made my skin crawl, but while I still despised the man, he’d freed Ryker and gotten us this far… even if this far resulted in our deaths.
The sword crashed into the wall next to my head, and my eyes crossed as I stared at the blade that narrowly missed me. Samael was still staggering behind me when I knelt, slapped my hand off the ground, and released a thunderbolt.
It tore across the floor, ripped it apart, and plunged our enemies into the abyss that opened beneath them. Their screams followed to what I hoped was their deaths.
The thunder zigzagged toward the end of the hall and the door separating us from the duke. I couldn’t see beyond that as everything collapsed, and more screams filled the air.
I had no idea what happened to the duke. I was still kneeling when a heavy weight shoved against me, pushing me forward.
The black hole loomed too close, and I planted my hands against the ground to keep from plunging over the edge.
I twisted as Ryker pushed away from me and lifted his blade to deflect a combatant’s blow, but as his steel kissed off the other’s sword, another combatant lunged forward, plunging his weapon into Ryker’s stomach.
The sound he released echoed the agony in my heart. “NO!” I screamed.