Stuffing the pain down, I compelled movement back into my body as I gripped his hands, and my nails tore into his flesh.His arm tightened around me as he twisted the blade in my ribs.
This time, I couldn’t stop the blood from spraying from my lips as the dagger forced a burst of air out of me.He pulled the knife up until I was nearly on my toes to escape it from slicing across my skin and bone.
I tore away more of his flesh in a desperate attempt to make him hurt as badly as I did.I failed.
Then, with a savage yank, he pulled the dagger free.Air didn’t rush back into my brutalized lung as more blood spilled free, but I was finally able to get at least some breath back into me.
Gaius flipped the blade and threw it.The knife spun through the air before slamming into Ianto and knocking the giant back a step.
He’d twisted to avoid the blade but hadn’t been fast enough.Blood spread out from the weapon embedded in his chest.If I could have breathed, I would have screamed as Ianto’s mouth parted and his eyes widened in horror.
His fingers clawed at the blade protruding from his chest, but it was Scarlet who tore it free.With her hand on his waist, she helped him sink to his knees as each beat of his heart pulsed more blood from the hole.
I struggled to wheeze in air as, with the knife free of my ribs, I could move a little more freely again.Every part of me still felt as if someone had lit it on fire, but I managed to kick my foot back and connect with his shin as I swung my head again.
With no weapon to hold him at bay, Callan charged us again.Determination etched his features, but I didn’t know if he’d make it in time as Gaius threw himself backward.
A scream of sorrow reverberated through my head as I fell into the oblivion of Gaius’s portal.My racing heart pumped more blood out of me with every beat as blackness engulfed us.
Desperate to be free before the portal closed, I shoved against Gaius.His hold tightened as weakness seeped through my extremities.
I fumbled to regain control of myself, but blood loss had turned my fingers to ice and my legs to rubber.Breaking free was becoming an impossible dream; once the portal closed, I was doomed.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Ryker
Luna had openedthe portal behind Scarlet’s home, and we emerged beneath the trees.We stood in their shadows while we surveyed the day.Birds sang as they flitted through the oaks overhead, but nothing else stirred as the sun beat down on the land.
I scented the air as I listened for anything stalking toward us, but I didn’t detect anything unusual nearby.When I was sure nothing was preparing to attack us, I prowled the cottage’s exterior and peered in the windows while Tucker and Luna knocked on the back door.
We made our way around the house, but when we arrived in the front, and no one answered, I paused to survey the land.There wasn’t any movement around Ellery’s manor either.
No lights shone in the windows, and nothing moved through the harvested fields.Despite the quiet day, the horses in the paddock lifted their tails over their heads, snorted loudly, and took off running.
Their hooves thundered across the ground as they fled to the far end of the paddock, away from the barn.Ruby emerged from the shadows of the building with Billy clutched against her chest; she huddled in the open doorway as the distant roar of a tornado drifted across the land.
Thatwas why the horses were fleeing.And if there was a tornado, something was wrong, but no flashes of lightning lit the barn.
Where is Ellery?
“Tucker,” I growled.
“I’m on it.”
Waving his hands before him, he created a portal with an opening that materialized outside the barn doors.Ruby twisted toward it and pulled Billy away, vanishing into the barn again.
I didn’t wait for Tucker or Luna as I ran into the opening and out the other side.When I emerged outside the stable, Ruby stood in the shadows with her shoulders back and a sword in hand.
I suspected she’d pushed Billy into the stall behind her but didn’t see the boy.When she saw me, relief flooded her features, and she lowered the sword.
“Help her.”
The tornado swallowed her words, but I understood the movement of her lips.The sucking power of the tornado battered me as I ran past her.
Chaos ruled as the barn doors battered the walls.One broke free and flew toward me; I ducked in time to avoid having the top of my skull caved in by it.
Despite the destructive power, this wasn’t Ellery’s creation.I’d have sensed her somewhere in this wind, but I felt nothing but its brutal lashing.
