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“At least stay behind us,” he replies, his tone harsh and unyielding. “We cannot assume it’s only Ariman and Rune. They have not only legions of Dark Fae supporters, but Ariman can twist damned souls into demons.”
Finley tosses Cato’s lightning bolt in the air where it flips twice before she easily catches it. It glows bright in her hand and I’m impressed. “I’ll blast them all back to hell,” she says defiantly.
Carrick sighs and wraps a hand around the back of Finley’s neck before pulling her in to kiss her forehead. “Don’t you get killed.”
“I’m immortal,” she murmurs. “It’s fine.”
“We’re all immortal, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be destroyed. Please, be careful.”
“You be careful,” she says back and then goes on tiptoes for a brush of her mouth against his.
There was a time, only a few days ago, that watching their affection left me yearning for the same, but I don’t feel it now. While I very much want to save Zora, and the other gods if we can, I know she and I don’t have a future together. She made that quite clear, so after we get her the hell out of here, I’ll move on with my immortal life without another thought for her.
“Let’s go,” Amell says, and he disappears.
I bend distance to the designated point, appearing right before Carrick and Finley do. Without discussion or hesitation, we hug as tight to the rocks as we can, rounding our way into the cave mouth. I lead the group, peering around the edge to look inside.
Luckily, the Crimson River casts enough light that I can see it’s empty. There’s nothing but a large table with a chair turned on its side. That’s where Micah was reported to have cried into the Blood Stone chalice each night as he stared out at the desolate landscape.
I growl in frustration as I walk around the table. The others follow me in, pacing the perimeter of the chamber.
“Here,” Amell says, and I whirl his way. “There’s an opening. I feel a draft.”
Sure enough, there’s a narrow tunnel between two sheets of rock. Looks innocuous at first glance, but as my eyes adjust to the dim, I see a glow beyond it. It’s a tight fit, but I turn sideways to scuttle through and thankfully end up in a wider tunnel. In the lead, I cautiously follow the path that curves and winds with periodic sconces attached to the rock walls, lit with magical energy.
It’s the first real sign that someone is, in fact, here, and I’m heartened. Behind me comes Amell, Carrick and then Finley. I know Carrick will stay last because no matter how much he wants to save Zora, his primary goal will always be to protect his wife.
The path seems to go on forever and inclines upward, leading us from the belly into the heart of the mountain. I pick up the pace, frustrated with not knowing what lies before us, but then it starts to lighten up ahead indicating perhaps another opening in the mountain.
A scream pierces the air, ladened with fear and pain. It echoes down the tunnel, washing over me and prickling my skin with goose bumps.
Zora.
I take off running toward the sound of her voice, the thunderous beat of footsteps pounding behind me.
Without warning, I round a corner and the tunnel opens into a massive cavern. I take in a wide opening to my left, the reddish glow indicating we’re in the part of the mountain where the Crimson River flows outside. I spot four gold cages before zeroing in on what is no doubt a sacrificial altar.
There’s no time to analyze the blinding rage that sweeps through me when I see Zora lying on it with Rune atop her. I don’t even slow my pace, sprinting toward them… three, four, five more strides… and I launch my spear at Rune, continuing to run at them.
It slices through the air so fast, it projects a whistling, which unfortunately gets Rune’s attention. The javelin was on track to catch him in the temple, hopefully obliterating his brain, but he throws up his arm at the last second so the eight-inch steel tip buries deep in his biceps.
The force is enough to knock him off Zora and it’s only then that I notice the beam of red light connecting his chest to hers with a stream of misty white in the center. I have no clue what it is but the connection holds physical hostage over her body so when Rune flies off, her body arches toward him as if being pulled by the red light.
She screams again in pain and I see that her arms and legs are shackled. The pull on her muscles and bones must be excruciating.
A bolt of lightning whizzes by me, so close and powerful that my hair lifts. Finley has let loose the power of Cato’s weapon and I think it’s to hit Rune, now standing, but instead it slices through the stream of light connecting his body to Zora’s.
The tether breaks and Rune roars with fury as he pulls the spear from his arm and tosses it aside. The wound heals up so quickly and thoroughly, I’m stunned beyond measure. Even the blood disappears, but that’s not what seizes my attention.
It’s the pulsing red gemstone lodged in the center of his chest, right where the light connected to Zora emanated from. Was he using that to kill her?
Or rather… take her powers back into himself? Did he succeed?
Rune pins his murderous gaze on Finley, overcome by rage that she broke his link to Zora. He conjures up a swirling mass of writhing light in his palm and doesn’t even need to cock his arm to launch it. It flies at her faster than any bullet, catching her square in the chest. She’s lifted from the ground and thrown backward across the cavern where she skids to a halt mere feet from the cave opening. It’s her lifeless body that has Carrick sprinting past me toward Rune, bellowing curses. Rune’s attention turns to the one living being he hates the most in this world and shoots the same orbs of energy at him.
Carrick uses the battle-ax to swat each one away as he hurtles toward the former god of Life. Every time Rune’s magic hits the weapon, it explodes into a million sparks. Given that, and the fact that Cato’s bolt fractured the energy of the Blood Stone, tells me the gods’ weapons can at least stand up to this new power Rune has.
I glance at Finley, intent on checking on her, but Zora yells, “Maddox, watch out!”
