Even before he released his first lightning bolt, I knew we weren’t alone in the hallway. The clatter of metal and iron alerted me to that before screams filled the passage as Ryker unleashed more lightning.
He killed more of the guards, but my heart sank when I realized a sea of them crowded the passage. I had no idea why there was such a heavy presence here, but they packed the small space.
What did we step into?
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Ellery
The guards filled the space so thickly that it was almost impossible to move. Is this a trap? Was this Samael’s plan all along? Did he bring us here so they could capture me?
But that didn’t make sense. Samael didn’t want to return here; he also had no way of knowing I would make my way into the palace with the gargoyles. He never could have planned this, and neither could the duke.
Emerging into this crowded hall had been nothing but damn bad luck. Lightning smashed off armor, flung some of the combatants back, and tore holes through their chests.
I didn’t look at the crowd surrounding us before unleashing my lightning too. Screams and shouts rang out; pain and terror filled some of them, but others possessed the wrath of a wild animal backed into a corner.
Those angry, bitter screams mirrored my feelings. I didn’t like killing, but they’d pushed us into a corner, and we’d come out swinging.
Despite our determination to destroy them, they outnumbered us and pushed us back against the door as Samael and Scarlet tried to enter the hall. Swords swung, arcing across the distance as they tried to slice us to pieces or, at the very least, take us down.
My lightning crashed against blades, knocking them back. Sparks flew off the steel and around the room as Ryker took out more of the guards. Swords flew from the hands of soldiers, but more continued to fly toward us.
The weight of the guards, the smell of them, all of it pressed against me, making the hall far smaller and causing sweat to coat my body. When lightning burst from my fingertips, it took out more of our enemies when it struck them in the head or chest.
While we defeated more of the guards, there were still so many that I couldn’t see beyond the crush of their metal-covered bodies. Their swords glinted in the lanterns lining the walls, creating a dazzling cascade of light that bounced around the hallway.
It almost would have been beautiful if it weren’t so terrifying. As the fighters fell, more of them swarmed forward as they stepped over and onto the bodies of their comrades.
They ignored the screams of the dying and did nothing to aid those who might have a chance of survival. It wasn’t just us they had no concern for; it was everyone.
They were too petrified to care or enjoy it. Either way, we had to stop them.
I flung my hands out to the side as, behind me, the door opened a little and Scarlet shouted my name. When a soldier crashed into Ryker, throwing him back, the door slammed shut again.
I grasped the hilt of the guard’s sword and funneled my lightning into him. The man opened his mouth to scream but never got the chance as lightning exploded from his eyes, erupted out of his head, and shot out his back to hit more of our foe.
His hair was on fire and his eyes smoked when I finally released the sword, and he crumpled to the ground. “Fuck you!” I spat as Ryker chuckled.
His laughter faded fast as more of the duke’s men crowded us. If they were surprised to see Ryker and me together, they didn’t show it, as their hands clawed at my clothing and hair.
I bit back a shriek when one of them tore a fistful of hair from my head before Ryker pummeled him. Beneath the impact of his two blows, the guard’s face caved in, and he collapsed.
Lifting my hands, I threw out ten bolts from my fingers, striking down the combatants closest to us, while Ryker unleashed a thick, lethal bolt that he moved over the crowd. Despite their determination to get to us, soldiers screamed while they were struck down or scampered to get out of the way.
The respite of not having them pressing against us gave me a little more room to move, and I stepped away from the door. When I did so, the crowd of guards parted enough for me to see a cluster of them ushering someone toward the doorway at the end of the hall.
My blood ran cold and rage filled me when I recognized Gaius as one of the guards. He had his shoulder turned toward us and sword drawn.
His smirk turned my blood to lava when our gazes met. He was such an asshole.
And I’ll make his asshole smile with a bolt of lightning.
The idea of carving a smirk across Gaius’s ass had me grinning. Gaius kept his smile in place, but wariness crept into his golden-brown eyes as he ushered the duke toward the door at the end of the hall.
They were both so close, yet so far away. I didn’t know where they were going, but I worried it was somewhere beyond our grasp. If they somehow managed to escape or got to a place where they could hide from us, this war would continue, and I couldn’t handle any more of the fighting and fear.
This has to end.
