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Finally, I ignored his teeth entirely and just met his mouth. His fangs pierced my upper lip and he almost tore it off, but as my tongue trailed along his lower lip, he started to relax. The process was way faster this time; I assumed it was because of the amount of blood involved, but it could also have been the fact that we’d done this before.
As soon as he started to kiss me back, I ripped my mouth away from his before the depth and sweetness of the kiss could consume me. I needed to stay sharp, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t afford to get lost in Kai right now.
I moved into a crouch and peered over Xero’s head. Gavriel was taking his sweet time as he moved toward us, his remaining minions gathered around him.
Basking in his own genius, I bet. Savoring the moment before the final kill.
“Keep savoring, old man,” I muttered. Then I turned to all my men.
A wave of relief surged through me as their gazes met mine—they were all as beat up and bloodied as I was, but their eyes were clear, their expressions determined. I wasn’t in this alone. We were together.
I jerked my head down the passageway, gesturing deeper into the massive cave. “Come on. Quickly. Quietly. Watch our backs. Run.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
We crept quickly and quietly down the dim passage until Gavriel’s hideous roar exploded behind us, then we broke into an all-out run.
Kingston snatched up a torch without breaking stride, dimly illuminating the space immediately in front of us. We stumbled and slid, but we managed to stay ahead of Gavriel and his fiendish duo. I was trusting Kingston to lead us to the stones, knowing his dragon’s love of treasure would guide him there. Meanwhile, all of my attention was on our backs, where I could feel Gavriel closing the gap.
“Faster!” I gasped.
The space between my ribs was on fire and I could barely catch a breath, but the roiling black magic at my heels spurred me on faster and faster. The magic grew stronger around us until it was a palpable mist in the air, which grew thicker with every step until I could barely see Kingston in front of me. Then, with a startled yelp, he disappeared entirely.
I didn’t have time to process what’d just happened before I stepped off the same ledge he had and slid down the same steep slope that’d snatched him away. I fell on top of him, then rolled us both out of the way as Xero, Jayce, and Kai tumbled down after us.
“Over there,” Kingston rasped, gasping for breath.
I followed his pointing finger to a large dip in the ground that reminded me, ridiculously, of a model of a dinosaur nest I’d seen in elementary school. It was perfectly round and piled with egg-shaped stones of all sizes and colors. Kingston pulled the precious list out of his pocket.
“Empty your bags,” I panted. “Everything, leave everything. Take the rocks.”
Dumping our things caused a racket, the sounds seeming even louder as they bounced off the high ceiling and cave walls. I winced, wishing I had considered that, but we didn’t have time to worry about it. I started counting the rocks in each color as the guys shoved them in their bags. They filled theirs, then I filled mine.
Then I panicked.
“Who has the little blue one?” I hissed.
A fiend shrieked as it slid down the slope behind us.
“We got company,” Jayce called, glancing up with wide eyes.
“Who has the little blue rock?”
“Shit.” Xero snatched Kai’s bags as the vampire leapt over us to fight off the fiend. A second shriek shattered my concentration, and I lost count again.
Motherfucker. Why did it have to be twenty-four damn rocks? Who needs that many rocks?!
Swearing, I emptied my bag into the center again and separated the rocks by color. Jayce ran to help Kai. Kingston was very carefully taking each stone out of his bag and lining it up with the others. I snatched his bag out of his hands.
“What the fuck?” His eyes flashed fire for an instant, and I shot him a look to cool his dragon rage. Now probably wasn’t the time to remind him he wouldn’t get to keep the stones anyway.
“We don’t have time for this, Kingston. Chill your dragon out. Go help the others.”
“But…the stones…”
“Go!”
Xero and I counted and sorted the rocks as fast as we could as the sounds of battle grew louder behind us. I counted twice, then again as we were putting the rocks away. We had them all, and just in time too. Gavriel was floating down the slope, his feet barely touching the rough stone, purple fire burning on his fingertips.
