“It’s dark. If we dematerialize to the front of the gate, we can use the cipher to pass through,” Gabriel decided. “Stick close, move fast, follow my lead.”
I didn’t have a chance to argue because we were already moving from roof to cobblestones, then through the gate itself, cold magic clawing at my face, stealing the air from my lungs before the gate vomited me out into blinding darkness.
A rough hand caught the back of my coat, swung me around, and pinned me face-first to the ground, where I tried to get my bearings, which was kind of difficult with a mouthful of fucking sand. The shit was even in my eyes.
“Stay down,” Nico ordered. “As flat as you can be. Don’t fucking move.”
“Gods, that’s all you had to say.” I groaned, one leg bent at an unnatural, painful angle, my neck twisted the wrong direction. “Did we all make it through the gate in one piece?”
“In a manner of speaking.” Gabriel’s strained voice came from somewhere to my right, sounding as if he had his teeth clenched together against unbearable pain.
“Dare I ask why we’re face down in the darkness? Theycan’t possibly see us; there’s not a shred of light.” My eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, and panic rippled through me as I realized I might have grossly oversold my skills for this mission.
“Because the guards posted at night are nocturnal,” Nico whispered. “They’ve already picked up movement and are heading this way.”
Terror stabbed my heart as the swish, swish, swish drew closer—because what I thought was wind was actually boots slogging through heavy sand, and as I squinted at the horizon, four impossibly huge silhouettes took shape against the star-flecked sky.
“They’ll be on us in less than a minute,” Nico said matter-of-factly while my heart hammered away in my chest. “I’ll take care of them, then we have to cross another two hundred feet of wide-open ground before we reach cover.”
“But I can…” I wiggled, still trapped beneath his hand.
“Stay the fuck down, principessa, or I’ll bind and gag you and leave you here.”
Nico melted into the night, and because I couldn’t follow directions to save my life, I lifted my head enough to discern that the four enormous, hulking shapes were outfitted in heavy metal armor that clanked with every movement, their faces covered in hideous masks.
Hiding everything but their eyes.
And those eyes—gods, their eyes—were all wrong. Glowing white against the darkness all around us. I flattened myself back down and reached into my boot, drawing a blade without a sound.
Gabriel’s breathing was labored, but I couldn’t risk moving any closer to check on him.
A lithe, dark form streaked across the horizon line,straight toward the group. There was a flurry of activity, followed by the clanking of armor and the hushed sounds of a scuffle. One of the huge forms went down, then a second.
Before I realized it, I was up on my knees, watching Nico and the third guard circle each other, arms held wide, ready to engage. My breath caught when the fourth crept behind Nico, silent, pale eyes glowing unnaturally, as if they’d gathered all the light from the stars.
I had to warn him.
I sucked in a quick breath, and those glowing eyes laser focused on me. A second later, a flash of silver spun past my face, carrying a whiff of a foul scent, then another ugly groan tore out of Gabriel.
I drew my arm back, measured the distance… and threw.
Without a sound, that fourth guard dropped.
16
EMBERLINE
Nico finished off the final guard, the enormous male hitting the ground with the soft hissing thump of five hundred pounds of flesh and metal meeting sand.
For a heartbeat, nothing moved.
Then the wind shifted, and the stink of the Fossa rolled over us—a choking mix of old blood and urine and excrement, like something dead left too long in the sun. My stomach turned over and over, uselessly, while I tried not to gag.
I stayed low and crawled through the sand to Gabriel, forcing my breathing to even out into something that didn’t sound so desperate. Or so loud.
Inhale. Exhale. Quiet, or we’re going to die.
“Are you okay?” I whispered, running my hands over him, trying to discern black clothing from shadows, the small amount of starlight no help when it came to detecting what was wrong. When I pressed on his shoulder, he let out a rasping groan that made me frantic.
