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Boots crunched on the fallen dirt as someone approached. A hand brushed mine, and sparks lit up on my skin.Phantom. He’d come!Not for me, though. But still, it showed me he’d never let me down.
“Roll it to your left,” Phantom instructed.
I heaved as we shifted it together.
Someone else arrived by my side. The hand on the small of my back told me it was Shadow. A thrill danced along my spine at the thought of the two of them reunited with me.Concentrate, woman!
Teeny moaned as the rock rolled off his foot.
“Can he walk?” Shadow asked.
“No way,” Teeny replied. “Foot’s broken.”
“How many others are injured?” Grim shouted.
Three people called out, “Me!”
Flipping hell.We couldn’t afford for our numbers to dwindle anymore when we were already so few against so many. Now, we’d lose a few more to help Teeny and the rest of the injured back to the resistance. They couldn’t stay here with the walls crumbling and all the gas poisoning them. The odds of our success had shrunk even further…along with my stomach to the back of my spine.
“Can we spare three volunteers for the injured?” Grimm asked.
“What if the tunnels collapse?” someone asked.
“If there’s no more rumbling, that’s a good sign,” Grimm replied.
“I’ll do it,” one of the resistance members offered.
“Me too,” another chimed in.
I gritted my teeth at the loss.
“I can carry two,” the second volunteer offered.
“Snow, you want to take Teeny back?” Phantom asked me.
Why did he even bother? He knew I wasn’t turning back. Knew I wasn’t leaving him here. This girl kept her word.
“No,” Teeny argued in a low, dire voice. “You need her. I saw what she did back there. Those shifters need her.”
Flipping hell.He’d seen my magic. I hated to admit it, but he was right. Any way I could help, I would. It wasn’t like I was a great fighter who could combat the mercenaries, or stealthy like the panthers. But I had some tricks up my sleeve. I just hoped we didn’t encounter my stepmother because then we’d really be fucked.
“Go.” Teeny shoved me in the arm.
Gravel scraped as I climbed to my feet.
“Hurry and get them back,” Grimm said. “Then meet up with us as soon as you can.”
Minerals in the ceiling winked as the dust had settled, allowing a fraction of light. I caught Shadow’s and Phantom’s concerned faces smeared with dirt. Still sexy as hell. I’d love to clean them up, but now wasn’t the time.
Phantom gave me a fleeting smile as he left me with Shadow.
“Let’s keep moving,” Shadow said, dragging me forward.
I glanced over my shoulder as one of the resistance members lifted Teeny to his feet. The dwarf’s face scrunched in pain.
The group continued on in silence, accompanied by the sound of our footsteps crunching across the dirt and our ragged breathing as we fought for air amid all the grime.
With each step, the weight of danger pressed down heavier on my shoulders. Already, we’d had two nasty incidents. How in the seven seas were we going to get all the shifters safely back to the resistance without further incident? If our journey to the slave camps was fraught with danger, what was the return trip going to be like? We were quickly running out of options. Across land wasn’t safe. Neither was underground. What did that leave us?
