Chapter 16 #3
"Did it get there?" I asked Dante.
"It did. I've got my family and the fae here to figure out what to do with them as they transition back."
"Thank you."
"Don't. I'm fucking livid. There's hell to pay for you when this is over."
I grimaced. "You're really convincing me to bring that elevator back down."
"Don't test me right now. It's ready. Bring me down."
Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and focused on the magic.
It took a solid two minutes to get the weave done, but the magic burst to life, and the elevator finally descended.
I held my breath until the doors opened.
There was an audible gasp when Dante stepped out, his furious gaze sweeping over me before he took in the crowd behind me.
"Who the fuck touched you?" he asked aloud, his voice deadly as he stepped up behind me, wrapping a possessive arm carefully over my chest.
"Reaper."
"He's dead."
"Next time," I said into Dante's mind.
"We'll see." He refocused on the crowd. Everyone was still silent. "My mate snuck down here to break you fuckers out without my permission," he said flatly.
Suddenly, everyone was looking at me differently.
Very differently.
"You choose whether you give her the space and time to make it happen, or lose the chance. As soon as she's in danger, I'm getting her out. You can bring your questions to me. Disrupt Ophelia, and you go to the back of the line."
No one said a word.
Dante looked at me again. "Do you have the power to send it up yet?"
I shook my head. "I need a few minutes to unravel magic in the hallway."
"Smith!" Dante barked.
"Yes sir!" Smith yelled from the end of the hallway.
"What does the clock say?"
"We've got an hour until the cells unlock."
"Spend thirty minutes refueling," Dante instructed me. "We're going to need you to build a wall, Angel."
"If I make it strong enough to keep people out, it will probably kill anyone who touches it," I warned.
"Good."
I grimaced.
Dante looked at the guy behind me. The one with the most bruises. "You protected my mate, Willard? I can smell you on her."
He dipped his head. "I protected her."
"Good. Go with her to the solitary hallway. Roe and Yule, you're there for backup. If anything happens to her, I'll throw you to Reaper."
All three men jerked their heads, their skin paling with the threat.
I agreed with them. Reaper was definitely scarier than Dante.
"I'm going to have to lean on him again," I warned Dante, through the bond.
"Do what you have to. Right now, we just need to survive. I'll be checking in through the mate bond every few minutes. Answer when I do."
I nodded.
Willard pulled my arm over his shoulder again, basically dragging my shaky, exhausted ass down the hallway.
The guys spoke in low voices while I focused on unraveling the spells that kept the solitary confinement hallway running.
When the doors opened because I demolished that part of the magic, a couple stumbled out of one of the rooms, clearly confused.
My guards had them unconscious in a heartbeat, and were dragging them off toward Dante just as fast. I wasn't sure if the couple would be joining the escape party or staying behind, but I couldn't worry about it in the moment.
Unraveling magic was fucking exhausting, and it hurt, too.
I was dripping with sweat the whole time. Dante kept appearing in the hallway to growl at me and fuss over me, as if there was anything he could do to make me more comfortable.
There wasn't.
I was going to have to hurt until it was over.
The empty chamber where my magic usually lived was slowly replenishing, though. Which was as terrifying as it was relieving, honestly.
I'd cope with the effect of that later. Assuming we survived.
Eventually, Dante interrupted me with both hands on my face.
I slowly released the threads I'd been holding.
"Time to build a wall?" I panted.
He nodded.
The man was still bubbling with rage. That hadn't changed since he found out what I was doing a few hours earlier.
Rather than helping me walk, he whisked me off my feet and jogged me back to the place the hallways met the dayroom. Everyone had packed themselves into the elevator hall far enough that I could seal it off with a wall—but there was going to be a problem.
I still didn't have enough power to send the elevator up nearly as many times as I'd need to.
"I'm going to need a big wall," I whispered. "I have to block off the solitary hallway, too."
"Is there anywhere else you can pull the magic from?"
"Not really."
"What about the elevator?" Dante asked.
I gave him a look that said he was insane. "That's the most complex magic here. If I fuck with it, there's no telling what will happen."
I pressed against the bond between our minds. "There's a ladder in the elevator shaft. If I take down the elevator's magic, we can get out, but Reaper can too."
"So we don't touch the elevator," Dante said aloud.
"Not unless we have to."
He looked back at the dayroom. "Alright. We need a big wall. Can you do it?"
"Of course I can. We'll need people watching it, though. I don't know how long it'll survive Reaper." I wiped away a few beads of sweat. "He has these cold, magic tendrils that are really dangerous. As soon as there's a crack, he'll get through."
"I'll figure out the guards. You just need to get it up."
"I think that's my line, Inferno." I looked back at the space, lifting my hands, and Dante almost snorted.
Almost.
"I'll add your doubt in my ability to get an erection to the reasons I'm furious with you," he said into my mind.
"Can we fuck it out instead of talking?"
"Not a chance." He dragged a hand slowly over my hip before heading back to the group and barking more instructions while I built the wall.
It was far from my best magic, but when I tested it with my power, I was confident it would hold. I had enough magic left, so I jogged back to the elevator, and managed to send another group up before the cells unlocked.
I could tell everyone behind me was worried as the elevator came back down, under my control. I didn't have much power left, but it was enough for another trip.
There was chaos on the other side of my wall, halfway through me getting the elevator going again. When I looked back, Dante growled at me to focus.
Another fourteen men made it up to the surface.
We were almost halfway through.
I silently counted the prisoners.
Four more trips.
I'd need four more trips.
Fuck.
I let myself lean against the wall for thirty whole seconds, before I saw a heavy mass of magic crash into my wall.
I felt the impact in my chest, and started unweaving magic again as I stumbled toward the barrier.
"No cracks yet," Dante assured me mentally, though he sounded grim.
It would crack.
It was only a matter of time.
I pressed my hands against the wall of the solitary hallway and focused everything I had on taking the magic down. Dante stayed with me, his back pressed to mine as he watched the hall.
The pain was fierce.
The drain was intense.
And the pressure was utterly hellish.
But I took down the magic, thread by thread, until there was nothing in the hallway but walls and doors.
"Take—me—back." I took deep gasps between every word. My lungs were on fire. Hell, every part of me was on fire.