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And in a blink, faster than a body should be able to move, he lunged and drew his sword in a single gesture and stabbed Hector straight through the heart.
Chapter XI
Phaidros was gone, devouredby darkness, before we could so much as react.
Hector fell forward onto the ground, a pool of blood pouring from his chest. Daphne surged for him, rolling him on his back. His lifeless eyes looked back up.
“Save him, Avery,” she sobbed. “Do something, please!”
I was already moving, trying to gather my wisps of power and shove them into his body. I gripped his shoulders, shuddering as my magic tried to knit him together. It couldn’t find a purchase within him. His soul was already gone.
“I’m sorry.” The words tasted like failure. Yet again, someone I cared about had been hurt. Because he was here, with me, and Phaidros had wanted to hurt me for spite.
Her hand flew to her mouth as she muffled a sob, shoving me out of the way as she clutched his body in goodbye. But even that was denied—in a matter of seconds, he crumbled to dust. It was a twisted kind of sense. His real body had died centuries ago when he’d come to my kingdom.
And now he was doomed to the pits. Bile rose in my throat.
“He was a good man,” she growled. “He didn’t deserve this.”
“We’ll avenge him,” I vowed.
Her eyes flashed, her wolf flickering behind them. “I’ll rip his goddess-damned throat out.”
“He was a good male,” Xander said, tension rolling off of him. The alpha in him was obviously furious at having his territory invaded and threatened. “Unfortunately, there’s no time to mourn. I need to get back to help my pack, and unless you want to be lost down here, you’ll want to follow me.”
I shook my head. “I can do one better. I’ll teleport us back there, and then immediately take a portal back to Hell.”
I was loathe to risk entering the fray with Cole barely breathing and my own magic resources depleted, but it was my fault Xander’s territory was attacked. My own moon-cursed mate was leading the charge.
Hecate had warned me they’d sense my arrival and charge after us.
Xander nodded.
I helped Cole to his feet, supporting him as he wrapped one blistered arm over my shoulders for stability. I gathered my magic and imagined the center of Wind-Blood territory, where we’d first emerged.
A blink later, we were there.
The sky was burned with a red sunset, as if drenched in blood. For the briefest moment, I thought we were back in Hell.
Then the din of war pierced the air, battles raging around us. All around, shifters fought. Some with fists, some with claws.
Xander didn’t hesitate to shift, leaping on a nearby foe.
I summoned my magic, forming the green sparks of a portal with practiced ease even as I struggled with my fatigue. I’d be no help here. If I took another living life, then I’d put us back in the same place.Lingering was dangerous. Already, our sudden arrival had been noticed, and gazes shifted from current fights to decide if we were enemies to be prioritized. I didn’t care where we wound up in the underworld as long as we got there fast.
“Let’s go, Daphne,” I said, urging her as I took the first step through, clutching Cole’s body protectively.
Bloodlust lit her eyes. “I’m staying.”
There was no time to argue. And… my friend belonged in the world of the living, even if I no longer did. Even if it meant leaving her among this.
“I’ll find you again,” I promised.
She nodded, already shedding her human skin.
I pulled Cole the rest of the way through the portal, watching the battle desperately, helplessly.
Daphne bounded after Xander, who faced three wolves on his own. The elders were nowhere in sight.
