“I told those fuckers to time out the missiles,” Gabriel growled, “No surprise they can’t follow simple fucking orders.”
I didn’t have a chance to answer as the roof above us collapsed with a deafening roar, crushing bodies, pandemonium reigning as prisoners rioted in every direction. Guards kept shouting orders, trying to hold the line against the stampede, unaffected by the danger.
“It’s like they don’t even notice the roof is collapsing,” I groaned as Nico bucked, nearly dislodging us both. “Like they’ve been glamoured or something.”
“Or something.Bella,” Gabriel gritted out, voice low, urgent. “Leave us here and save yourself. This is a deathtrap.”
“If I leave, he’ll carve you apart with that sword,” I argued, completely flattened across Nico’s legs now. My fingers were numb. And I was losing a lot of blood from the cut on my neck.
“Just… justwork,damn it.”
Finally, Nico’s snarls turned to ragged breaths. His thrashing began to lessen.
Then his expression… shifted.
His brow furrowed in confusion as he searched my face, then Gabriel’s, the sword falling from his hand. “Princessa, is that you?” he rasped, the sound broken.
My heart nearly burst. “Yes,” I whispered, voice shaking. “Yes. I’m here. We’re both here.”
Nico blinked, his eyes found mine, still glassy, stillconfused, then his gaze fell to my throat. “You’re bleeding.” His brow wrinkled. “You’re fuckingbleeding.”
“Yeah, I know, but…” Another chunk of stone slammed down, close enough to hurl sand over us. “We have to get out of here before we’re crushed. You have to move, Nico.Now.”
The three of us scrambled across the pit in a messy half-crawl as the rock plummeted down, while inmates screamed and impassive guards fought to keep them corralled, while dust choked the air, and the Fossa tried to bury us alive.
I scanned the chaos for Dante, hoping he would magically appear, but there was no sign of him. No sign of the Overseer, either. I kept my head low until the three of us cleared the danger zone, looking back at the carnage, realizing we’d simply gotten lucky. The pit was filled with dead guards, crushed prisoners, flattened bodies, and the roof was crashing down, one layer at a time.
Nico’s breathing turned erratic as he studied my neck, the gash on my forehead, awareness returning in pieces, horror dawning on his face. “N-No,” Nico whispered, voice thick. “What… what did I?—”
“We’ll deal with all that later,” I gripped his arms. “We have to find Dante and get the fuck out of here.”
Gabriel bent down beside a dead guard and slipped a set of keys off his belt, reaching them out to me. With shaking hands, I unlocked his shackles, swallowing down bile at how they’d rubbed his wrists raw, touching his brutalized face.
He managed a faint smile. “Don’t look at me like that,bella.Like you said, we’ll deal with this later. Let’s find my brother. The last time I saw him was over…”
My stomach dropped as I followed his gaze.
Dante was being led up onto the platform, hands bound behind him, the Overseer beside him, barking orders, guards scrambling like ants around their king. For one fraught second, that bastard’s eyes met mine, then he pointed to a spot.
My pulse pounded as they forced my husband to his knees.
Nico’s gaze was focused on Dante, too, something dark and terrible settling into his expression, replacing the ruined, wounded look from earlier.
“Dante,” he breathed hoarsely. “They… they’re going to execute him.”
“No, they aren’t,” I said, voice steady as purpose snapped back into place. “We’re stopping this.”
“Gather any weapons you can from the dead guards,” Gabriel ordered, looking over at Nico, calculating, assessing. “You with us?” he demanded. “If you’re not, stay here. Keep your head down.”
Nico’s gaze flicked to me. To my bloodied throat. To Dante up on the platform, shoved to his knees, a brutish guard coming into position behind him with an axe in his hand.
“I’m good,” he whispered.
“My brother’s not dying today,” Gabriel breathed, eyes clear as he scanned the chaos like he was mapping a path straight through it. “Let’s go.”
I scrambled behind him, snatching a short knife from a downed guard. Inelegant, heavy, but it would do the trick in close quarters. I reached up and ran my fingers through my tangled hair. I still had my needle. And the blades in my boots.
“There are two more explosions,” Gabriel cautioned as we dodged prisoners and guards and chunks of fallen stone. “Five minutes until the next one.Ifthe mortals stick to the fucking schedule. It’ll probably bring down the rest of the roof but give us time to escape.” His blue eyes flashed. “That fucking Overseer is mine if I get the chance.”
