The others yelled a battle cry at the seething white bodies of their enemies who were spitting and clawing at ground as they stood guard at the base of a spiral staircase.
Asherah is up there.
Heath knew it in his soul and attacked with a viciousness like never before. Swinging his blades left and right, up and down, Wraith and his shadows dance around his head. Each thrust culled a screech; each stab brought the satisfying scent of blood and death. He didn’t care how many times the Hollows clawed him or about the pain or the endless mass of fur-covered bodies.
All he cared about was Ash.
At Heath’s side, Teague shot magic with his voice to take out the next enemy in their way. When the creatures redoubled their efforts, Teague shifted to using his gauntlet. Eiravel was not to be outdone, and he pulled a blade he carried on his side and cut his way through bodies. Kallan dodged in and out with his spear, piercing weakened spots before streaking away.
The four whirled together as Cynes provided cover fire, none speaking as they fought. It was a deadly dance of glinting steel, flying pieces of flesh, and spraying blood. Each Hollow that fell meant Heath was closer to Ash, closer to getting out of there.
Their death screams spurred him on. Heath fought with everything he had, faster and faster, until he felt light as air.
The sky began to rumble loudly.
What the fuck?
Gray storm clouds gathered, morphed and twisted until they covered the ceiling.
Inside the gods damned Tower.
Lightning streaked, thunder boomed, and each sound drove Heath harder, empowered him.
I am not leaving her here.
He felt strengthened by the storm. The sky opened up, and a torrent of rain pelted the battlefield. Heath slid in the bloody muck but stayed on his feet. Even as the Hollows tried to retreat, he ripped through them. Every one of them would die. Every. Last. One.
They kept him from Ash and stood in his way. A lightning streak descended from the clouds and hit Heath’s blade. He held on, feeling the burn as it whipped through his body. Such power. He roared with it, his blood boiling in his veins.
Okay, like that isn’t weird. At. All.
But he used it, whatever help he was getting. When he swung his blade again, it cut through the Hollows’ bodies, cleaving them in two. He laughed evilly as they died before him, melting into masses of singed fur and meat. Eiravel slid to a halt, staring at Heath, but Heath didn’t stop. Die. They all had to die. The rage of the storm matched his turbulent emotions, rolling yet focused on one goal: to save the life of his mate.
“Berserk,” Eiravel whispered.
Heath heard it on the edges of the wind, and the word shocked through him. If anyone in here would be taken by that sort of rage and go berserk, it would be Eiravel. But Heath couldn’t deny he wanted more of a battle, more to fight.
“He won’t fall to it, I swear it.” Kallan shot magic at Heath, calming some of the rage seething through his veins, enough to clear his head.
Heath grunted a thanks to his friend, and they all raced up the stairs.
“You will find your truth, Kieran of the Shadow.”
That same voice he’d heard when he came here boomed through his head, and Heath held on. If he was getting help from her, he’d accept it.
“Yes. Thank the gods,” Heath prayed. “I need to get to Ash!”
Power swelled through him once more. The onyx of the tower was no longer a beautiful masterpiece of darkness and light. It had become a desolate battlefield of darkness and storms, of terror and death, the very manifestation of war that Heath had invoked. So be it. Whatever aid he received, whatever the tools, he would get to Ash.
When the last body fell, Heath stood before a massive door inlaid with glittering stones.
“You cannot have her.”
A blast sent him flying into Eiravel and Cynes. The two Fae held him from falling over, and he faced a beautiful woman with cherry-red lips, pale skin, white horns around her ears, and cascading black hair down around her waist. Teague and Kallan stayed behind in the corridor, braced for what may come.
“She is mine.”
“No!” Heath raged. “She belongs to me.”
