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“Set the charge still in my bag. I’ve got him,” he growled softly.
Caelan nodded and grabbed the bag sitting just a few feet away from Eno and worked on the charge. He only glanced back when he heard a sickening crunch of bone and a wet tear. Eno was still standing while the soldier slid to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Bastard came out of nowhere,” Eno grumbled as he took the empty bag from Caelan.
He didn’t look at his friend, only glanced at his watch to check the time as he set the timer on the bomb. They were down to less than a minute.
“We need to move,” Caelan whispered. “Less than forty-five seconds.”
“Shit,” Eno swore before they took off together toward the far edge of the southern barracks. They needed to get hidden. They needed—
A burst of gunfire shattered the silence of the base on their left, and Eno’s pace slowed sharply.
“Rayne!” he cried out softly.
The fighting sounded like it was coming from the direction of the eastern barracks, which was where Rayne was supposed to be setting his charges. Caelan grabbed Eno’s arm when he took his first step toward the barracks. Lights were popping on around them, and they were out in the fucking open. There was no way anyone was going to miss them in a second. They needed cover if they were going to help Rayne.
“This way!” Caelan hissed, trying to pull Eno behind the barracks so they could move along the southern wall. They were still too damn close to the charges on the warehouse.
As if waking from his dark thoughts, Eno nodded and they ran together past the barracks.
But they were already out of time.
An explosion rocked the northwest corner of the base. The tower and Drayce’s charges. Caelan’s knees wobbled as he thought of Drayce on his own. Or just Drayce with explosives. If he got his best friend back in one piece, it would be a fucking miracle.
Just as the thought passed through his brain, a massive explosion plowed through the eastern barracks, knocking Caelan to his knees. Eno’s strong hand wrapped around his biceps and hauled him to his feet so they could continue running, but that wasn’t an option.
Soldiers were pouring out of the remaining two barracks. Sirens filled the air, shrieking above the roar of flames and shouts of men. Both he and Eno drew their swords and started cutting through soldiers as soon as they spotted them.
Pure adrenaline replaced fear, blotting out thoughts and worries. It didn’t matter that they were horribly outnumbered. He slashed, blocked, parried, and slashed again. The only way to stay alive was to keep moving and let the rest of the world fall away. He pulled on the ball of anger that crackled in the pit of his stomach to fuel him when his arms trembled and his muscles ached. The Empire had stolen everything from him. He was going to steal it all back one life at a time if he had to.
For every one that fell, three more sprang up in their place. Sweat slipped down the sides of Caelan’s face and soaked into his shirt. The slightly cool night air had become a furnace.
In the chaos, the only bright side was that Rayne made it to where they were fighting soldiers. He was splattered with blood, but Caelan couldn’t tell if it belonged to him or the men he’d killed.
The final explosion of the command center and warehouse ripped the base apart. Some of the soldiers peeled off from the fight, likely to see if there were more intruders and to find their commanders, but there were still too many for just the three of them.
The Empire forces were slowly pushing them backward toward the flames. They were either going to be skewered, shot, or flame-roasted.
Swearing under his breath, Caelan knew they needed another option. Or at least a moment to think. He retreated a step and plunged his arm into the flames of the closest burning building. A laugh almost escaped him as he realized he hadn’t even thought of the possibility of his power not being there despite his family’s loss of the Godstone.
He simply pulled on the power from the flames, letting it wash through him and connect with the power from the Godstone that still crackled and hummed in every cell of his body. With little effort, the same protective bubble he’d placed over the camp in the Ordas fell over himself and his companions. He watched as Eno and Rayne easily finished off the few Empire soldiers who’d gotten trapped inside with them and then stopped. The soldiers fired on them, but the bullets couldn’t penetrate the bubble.
“What now?” Eno gasped, struggling to catch his breath.
“We can’t remain in this spell indefinitely. We’re trapped,” Rayne said.
