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“What are your names?” I asked.
The taller boy swallowed hard. “Teos.” His head twitched toward his brother. “This is Dorn.”
“Hi.” I clambered between two beams. “I’m Gwyneira. Is that your mother?”
Teos nodded.
“Okay, so—” Footsteps crunched on gravel behind me. I threw a glance over my shoulder.
Roan was there.
I blinked, shocked that of everyone, he’d been the one to follow me. He didn’t look disgusted with me either.
Just very, very concerned.
“I need to get them out of here,” I said, trying to preempt any snide comments.
He only nodded. “Agreed.” Without another word, he started picking his way through the rubble toward me.
I stared. This… was odd.
A whimper from one of the boys snapped me back to the situation at hand. Turning, I forced my smile back in place. “It’s okay. This is my, uh… my friend. Roan. He’s here to help too.”
Shockingly.
I tried to keep my thoughts from my expression while I ducked beneath another beam. “Now, I want you both to do something for me. You see how I just crawled through here? Can you do the same beneath those beams near you?”
Dorn’s wide eyes grew rounder. “What about Momma?”
“I’ll help your momma. Just crawl this way and?—”
Another screech came, closer, followed by a crash that shook the house. The beams creaked. Ash rained down and a chunk of roof tile fell, shattering only a few inches away from me.
Roan was moving before the crumbling pieces hit the ground. Despite the fact he was over six and a half feet tall, he maneuvered agilely between the fallen beams without disturbing any of them, ending up at my side with incredible speed. “You good?”
My mouth moved. “Uh, yeah.”
Except for being dumbstruck because he gave a damn.
He nodded as if my confirmation reassured him. “Back wall.”
I regrouped, following his gaze. Past the boys, a crack had formed between the stones of the wall, spilling a trace of light into the room. It didn’t look like fire, but rather like the glow of dawn.
And that was more than good enough.
“Right.” I slipped past the last beam and crouched down by the boys. “Don’t be scared, okay? We’re getting you out of here.”
I glanced at the woman, drawing on my heightened senses. Her heart was still beating. She might just have been knocked out by the impact.
I hoped.
Burying the worry, I aimed a reassuring look at the children again. “And we’re going to save your mother.”
Roan crouched down by the beam, running his hands along the charred wood for a moment before a smile tugged at his lips.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. It’s just… my power’s on its own again.”
