He only made it one step before he collapsed on the ground next to the entrance. The coldness of the snow seeped through his jeans as he bent his head. The fingers of his good hand found the back of his skull and the shattered, mushy bone. It was healing, but not fast enough for his liking.
“It’s good to see you.” Nathan knelt beside him and clasped him on the shoulder.
“You also,” Saxon said.
“Declan and Lucien?”
“They’re below.”
“Ronan thinks you’re dead.”
“Ronan’s alive?”
“Yes. Killean had to get some help to dig him out, and he’s pretty pissed, but he’s alive.”
“Thank God,” Saxon breathed.
He hadn’t let himself think too much about the possibility Ronan was dead. He didn’t know what he would have done without his leader and friend. The Alliance would have continued because there was no other choice, but it never would have been the same.
Feeling a little less dizzy, Saxon leaned back over the tunnel entrance and called to the others, “Come on up.”
Lucien stepped into the circle of sunlight, grasped the rungs, and rapidly ascended the ladder.
“What happened to you guys in there?” Nathan asked. “You look like shit.”
“I feel like shit,” Saxon admitted.
When Lucien pulled himself free of the bunker, he revealed Declan only a few feet behind him on the ladder. As soon as the sunlight hit Declan, smoke spiraled from the body draped over his shoulder before flames erupted from the cloak. Declan yelped when the fire brushed against his cheek.
Shrugging the thing off his shoulder, Declan released it, and it hit the ground with a loud thud. Flames burst from its back and shot up the ladder to nip at Declan’s heels as he climbed. Lucien and Saxon each grasped an arm and helped pull him out; he collapsed on the ground next to Saxon.
The fire consuming the creature spread to the other bodies until an inferno raged beneath them. Smoke poured from the exit and coiled into the air as the flames crackled and popped with increasing intensity. Lucien fell back to sprawl across the snow.
Turning away from the bunker, Saxon rubbed at his temples while he tried to process everything he’d seen and experienced since entering the shithole beneath them. He wanted to get as far from these tunnels as he could, but he didn’t have the energy to move.
“Whatwas that?” Nathan asked.
“That,” Declan said, “was our beginning, and it just might be our end.”
Nathan stared at him like he was talking gibberish, but Saxon understood what he meant. He couldn’t help thinking that as unnerving as it was, Declan might be right.
The crunch of footsteps drew Saxon’s attention, and he lifted his head to blink against the light. Black and white spots filled his vision as the healing process in his skull caused something to misfire in his brain. It took a couple of seconds for his sight to readjust, and when it did, he smiled when he spotted Ronan and Killean running toward them.
“What happened?” Ronan demanded as he knelt at Lucien’s side. “Are you okay?”
Seeming to lack the energy to speak, Lucien raised his hand and gave a thumbs-up.
Ronan turned to Saxon next. “Do you want me to fix your shoulder?”
“Yes,” he said.
Saxon braced himself when Ronan grasped his shoulder and arm. When he yanked on it, a sharp crack filled the air as the joint went back into place. The only sound Saxon issued was a loud grunt. When Ronan released him, he gingerly rotated his arm; the bone and cartilage grated against each other, but it would heal soon.
Ronan leaned over to gaze into the hole as smoke continued to pour out and the crackle of the flames died down a little. He sat back and turned to Declan. “What happened?”
“We managed to get into one of the side tunnels before the collapse buried us,” Declan said. “We ran into some trouble while there.”
Declan ran down the details of what happened and the creature they encountered below. While Declan spoke, everyone else gathered around them; they shifted back and forth as their uneasiness grew.
