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Daniel sent three of his slaves in front, however, shouting directions. The moment one of them hit an electrical field and fell, Daniel leapfrogged then ordered more of his people forward. He’d brought a hundred, at least, and he’d use all of them if he had to just to keep testing the path in front of him. If they died, Daniel just didn’t give rat’s ass.
Lucian heard the first scream and set his vision forward. He’d trained for centuries in how to battle with single-minded purpose, and he let all that training serve him now.
Ignore those sounds, Claire. There’s nothing either of us can do for those lost souls.
I know. Patch of light coming up. She leaned over him, covering as much of his face as she could, but sunlight streamed, burning through his clothes; he hurt at every point that Claire didn’t cover him.
He took deep, heavy breaths as he pushed forward.
Behind him, more screams hit the air as Daniel’s slaves formed a shield for him through the distance of several feet of sunlight.
Am I smelling flesh burning?
Yes, you are.
I knew the sunlight-thing was true, but I had no idea.
It’s bad. We live out our lives at night.
In caves.
Yep.
In extraordinary caves.
It helped to have her in his head, making bland conversation when screams of the innocent filled the air and he had a huge pit to traverse with great care. The heat from the lava flow below would scorch Claire’s body, and if he hit the electricity above, they’d both be dead.
He stopped at the edge. Do you trust me?
Hell yeah.
Lucian smiled. She did that for him, made his heart light. Okay, I’m going to levitate like I did while you were on the platform, stretching out prone, remember?
She purred softly and tweaked his ear. You gonna take your clothes off? I wouldn’t advise it. I can feel the heat from here and I’d hate to think of your c**k unable to function even a little.
You done, Claire? But he smiled a little more despite the fact that he could see Daniel gaining on him, using up his slaves, plowing through the obstacle course.
Do it.
He stretched out and her body slid out to lie the length of his. Still, he knew parts of her would be burned after this. Hang on. This will be brutal.
He felt her take a deep breath then he shot forward.
The heat was furnace hot but he got to the other side.
Claire whimpered. My arms.
Damn. I’m sorry.
Just go. I can take the pain.
His heart swelled as he moved forward, levitating past a patch of sunlight. His hands were blistered, probably like hers. He sent as much of his power as he could to her, to heal her. But he was damn proud of her.
Thank you. That’s better. She rose up to piggyback him again.
How much farther? Can you feel the distance?
I think it’s a quarter mile. Is that what you’re getting?
Yes. The word came out with a slight hiss. He ran now, having gained a better feel for the path, and the mind that had set up the horrendous obstacles in the first place.
He got zapped just a little by an electrical field, but it didn’t stop him; he’d only caught the edge.
The dirt gave way to sharp rock and he levitated now, summoning his Ancestral power, breathing hard. Claire held on tight, but she’d stopped joking. He knew why. He could feel she was in a mountain of pain, again.
When he reached the next pit of fire, he didn’t need to warn her. He could feel she was ready.
Lucian, it’s okay. Do it. I’m good. Holding steady.
And she was. God, he was proud of her.
He stretched out and as soon as he felt that she was balanced he shot forward, faster this time. She didn’t cry out or whimper, but her whole body had tensed.
She held him around his chest, with the pressure of her wrists. He didn’t want to look at her hands.
He moved faster now, especially since he could see Daniel and a handful of slaves racing along the far-left track. He carried ten of them with him over the pits, but lost at least two each time he had to pass beneath sunlight.
He kept pace with his father through the next eighth of a mile. He kept his head down and ignored the severe blisters on his hands and the deep burns through the parts of the clothing that Claire’s body couldn’t block.
She shivered now. Burns would do that, send a body into shock. He wanted to offer her more power, but he needed to beat Daniel to the weapon.
We’re close, Lucian, closer than I thought. There’s a disguise around the weapon that has altered the sense of direction and location. We’re close. You need to pull up.
If I stop, Daniel will know something’s going on. He’ll shift course.
Keep going, but I’m going to start fake-screaming, which will give you a reason to start slowing down, like you’re worried about me.
Got it.
Claire let out a scream and held up her hands, which were bloody now. Lucian shifted his gaze toward Daniel as he called out, “Claire. My God, Claire.” All a fake, of course. The pain was real, but the ruse worked; Daniel took the bait and raced forward.
Where’s the weapon?
Claire slid off him and continued to scream, then let her screams fall to outright sobs. Off to your right. I’m going to give you directions, but I’m staying put. I’m in a lot of pain.
Got it.
All you need to do is take ten steps straight ahead.
There’s a rock wall in front of me.
No, there’s not. Just do it.
Lucian felt like something of a fool. He was sure he was going to slam into the wall and end up with a bloody nose, but the disguises he’d seen today were way beyond anything he’d seen before, except in Siberia.
He walked straight ahead. The next moment he passed through the fog and there it was. Now to do the transport and do it quick. Daniel would figure this out and he would be pissed as hell.
Get over here, Claire. We need to leave. Now. I can haul this with one hand if you can hop on my back again.
She was already with him and jumped up, surrounding his neck with her arms and his waist with her legs.
Hold on tight.
I am and I’m ready.
He took hold of the iron loop on top with both hands, felt the weight, then hefted it into the air. The weapon was four feet tall and three feet wide. He levitated and once he knew that Claire was stuck to him like glue and that he could manage the weight of the machine, he used his goddamn righteous Ancestral speed and took the weapon and Claire straight out the side of the mountain.
And nothing followed him.
Daniel had fallen for the trick.
Lucian sped west, past two continents then through the Middle East, heading to the northern regions of Egypt.
