His hands fumbled at the place where his eyes used to be as he reeled back from me. Planting my elbows on the ground, I scrambled backward and went for the sword.
I grasped the sword and lifted it as the thud of more feet sounded from the tunnel. A few seconds later, three more guards came into view.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Ellery
My heartand shoulders sank as they skidded to a halt. Callan was still fighting off the other guard and now more had arrived.
I wasn’t defeated yet, and I wouldn’t be. As I rose, the guard I’d blinded rolled to the side and nearly knocked me off my feet, but I staggered back to avoid him.
When I hit the wall, he screamed inarticulate nonsense as he lunged at me. Lifting the sword over my head, I brought it down, knocking him to the ground as I sliced across his back.
I tore the sword free of where it had embedded, planted my foot against his side, and shoved him away. The one who’d gone after Callan had pushed him deeper into the tunnels; I ran after them.
Unlike these incompetent assholes, my steps were soundless as I came up behind the guard and plunged my sword into his back. I didn’t know if I’d succeeded in hitting his heart, but blood sprayed me when I ripped the sword free again.
As the guard crumpled to the ground, he revealed Callan on the other side. Callan’s eyes widened on me. “Ellery?”
Blood covered me, and my bodice had been torn open. While I wore a bra, I felt exposed, but he didn’t eye me lustfully. I knew I wasn’t exactly the image of the woman he remembered from our school days, but we didn’t have time for him to come to terms with that.
“There’s more coming,” I told him.
Neither of us said another word as we turned and sprinted down the tunnel. My wet skirt hampered my movements, and I’d give anything to cut it free, but we couldn’t stop.
At a fork in the tunnels, Callan went to the right and then to the left at another fork. When we rounded a bend, a solid rock wall came into view.
“Shit,” Callan breathed.
Panic threatened to overwhelm me as I stared helplessly at the rock walls surrounding us. Were they closing in?
That was impossible, but it sure felt like it.
“Where’s the exit?” I demanded.
“It should be right here.” Callan stepped forward and placed his hands against the wall. “I must have taken a wrong turn.”
His frantic movements only heightened my growing terror.
“What?” I demanded.
“I went the wrong way.”
I gawked at him, but there was no denying the proof… right in front of me… blocking the way to freedom. I could stand here and gape at a wall that wouldn’t vanish or find another way out.
“There was a door back there!” I cried.
Lifting my dress, I ran for the door and skidded to a halt in front of it. I placed my sword against the wall and fumbled for the knob, but it didn’t turn.
Callan arrived at my side and nudged me out of the way. He grasped the knob, but it still didn’t turn.
With a frustrated cry, he threw his shoulder into the door. It shuddered, but the thick, wooden structure held firm.
Time was rapidly slipping away, and judging by the increasing thuds of the guards’ feet, they were gaining ground on us. I reclaimed my sword, turned it, and used the blade to slice my skirt.
I felt bad destroying Scarlet’s beautiful creation, but I refused to be hindered by the thick, wet material anymore. I cut across the other side as the guards rounded the corner and came into view.
Callan threw himself against the door again, but it still held firm. I grasped what remained of my skirt and tore the rest away before tossing aside the material.
