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“I am Finn, son of Michael, brother to Skye,” he answered solemnly.
“It is your family who lost the portal.” The sun god’s eyebrows closed together, his expression fierce as his face darkened. “Your line has grown weak.” He nodded to the rest of them, a snarl ripped from his throat as his eyes passed over Julian and Jaden. “And now you consort with the likes of them? Jaguars? The very people who’ve hunted our own for these last centuries? Our enemy?”
Nanauatl took another step, but Finn remained silent though Julian observed the clenched hands at his sides. He knew that the eagle knight was no match for any of them, without the strength he drew from the sun—he couldn’t shift, and his power was diminished—but it didn’t keep him from the fight.
Finn had honor.
“Who let you loose?” Finn asked abruptly. “I thought you were cursed to spend eternity etched in stone.”
The sun god roared his displeasure as did his followers. Julian eyed them cautiously and noticed that Nico had been able to move closer to his position. The shadelike warriors were focused on the drama being played out between Finn and Nanauatl.
If the jaguars were going to make some kind of move, it would have to be soon. Jaden’s warm hand dug into him once more as she knelt beside him. He noticed, for the first time, more bruising along her cheek and her neck. Blood ran from both her nose and her mouth, and he fought the urge to rub his head against her.
She looked at him, her large eyes dark as the night sky, and he thought they softened a bit. “Why is it every time we get together, I end up all bloody and shit?”
Julian growled softly and stilled as she grabbed him close, her scent invading his nostrils and pulling such savage need from him, that he barked and tried to back away.
She held fast, ignoring his action, and whispered hoarsely, “We need to get to Declan . . .” She pushed at him hard. “Now!” She glanced at Nico before pushing away and screamed like a banshee as she leapt forward, the dagger raised in front of her as if it were a shield.
Julian froze, for just a second, his mind not believing what he was seeing. Jaden twisted in the air, yelling at Finn to run, as she arced gracefully her face set in a feral grin.
“Hey asshole,” she yelled, “eat this.”
Declan shot a bolt of energy at Jaden, and it enveloped the dagger, burning an intricate series of etchings into the metal. The sorcerer shouted, “Julian, now!” It kick-started him into action.
His feet dug in, but he snarled as pain lanced across his back end. He whipped his head around, canines exposed and deadly. One of the shadelike creatures grinned at him, but then Nico ripped into the side of its neck, and though no real damage was done, the eagle knight faltered enough that Julian was able to escape.
Julian whirled back and glanced up, his heart nearly beating out of his chest as Jaden sailed through the air, end over end. Her arm was extended and the dagger sliced through Nanauatl, eliciting such a roar of pain and anger that the walls shook from the force of it.
She landed on the other side with a jarring jolt, and Julian was there in an instant, avoiding a blow from the sun god as he streaked by. Finn leapt in front of him, took the hit, and went flying from the force of it.
A great rumbling began underneath their feet and Declan’s eyes burned a savage red as he held his hands aloft, glistening symbols dancing on the air in a strangely beautiful arrangement.
The phantom eagle knights bellowed as they tried to run past their sun god, but an invisible wall held them back.
The air was rank with dark energy. It rolled off Declan in waves, and Julian didn’t care to know what he’d tapped into in order to gain such power.
“Finn!” Jaden shouted, and she would have moved past Julian, but he held her still, his massive body shoved against hers even as she pounded her fist into his side.
“Get the hell out of my way,” she screamed. “He’s one of my men!”
Mist crawled along his body, and as the earth continued to groan beneath him, he let the magick take hold and pushed her toward Declan as his body shifted, the jaguar falling from his skin as his human form took over.
He ran toward the fallen man. Nico was there, and the two of them grabbed the eagle shifter as an incredible ripping sound sliced through the air. It was a sharp, keening noise, like nails raking along glass, and he shook his head as it pounded against his brain.
They reached Declan just as a massive hole opened beneath them, and the world fell away.
Chapter 16
Jaden came awake with a start.
At first she was disoriented, then slowly her mind cleared, and she became aware of a few things. One: it was cold, damp, and the air was stale, full of the smell of ancient earth. Two: there was a complete and utter lack of noise, which was eerie. And three: her body was pressed tight against a hard-bodied male.
The scent that flowed into her lungs was Julian’s. She lay across his chest and felt each and every breath that he took. They were slow, measured, and even though she couldn’t see his face, she was pretty sure he was unconscious.
To be truthful, she had no clue where she was or how long she’d been there. The last thing she remembered was the floor opening up and falling through, like a crazed Alice in Wonderland.
Except she was no Alice, and it wasn’t a rabbit hole she’d slipped down.
