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“Who is she?” Maddy rasps.
Caleb’s eyes widen. “Sylvan’s wife!”
Maddy whirls to stare as Sylvan’s wife rushes at Orion. She presses her hands together and brings them apart. Orion falls back as though a series of spells slam into him. More follow.
“Cursed Fae wench,” Orion bellows.
“You! You are the one who did this.” She gestures to herself. “Malcolm kidnapped me and tortured me.” She tumbles to the ground as she weaves another spell, throwing it at Orion. “And now my husband is dead. He died at my feet to bring your cursed world to ours.” She slips to her knees and then the ground. “Oh, Sylvan.”
The bunker shakes as the words escape through her lips. The whole room flickers and then the walls seem to melt as though the magic surrounding them all is failing.
A moment later, a burned and battered Sylvan bursts in. He spies his wife on the ground, and he turns fury-filled eyes toward Orion. “You!”
Orion scowls at Sylvan. “You’re just another Fae peon in a world moving on without you.”
“Sylvan!” his wife cries out. “Thank the gods.”
“You don’t have control over me anymore, Orion,” Sylvan bellows. “I’ll stop you.”
“Think again.” With a sharp wave of his hands, he turns his back toward Sylvan and studies the maps once more. “Your freedom makes no difference to my plans.”
Sylvan freezes, his muscles straining. Maddy returns to fighting her own bonds, realizing they’re not any closer to escaping.
She stills again as Sylvan’s lips pucker. His hands twitch. Then he charges at Orion’s back. “You’ll pay!” Orion whirls and takes a step forward as Sylvan’s mouth twists into a grim smile. “It takes all your strength to hold them in place, doesn’t it? You’re defenseless and losing control of those possessed.”
“Preposterous!” Orion yells as he scampers away. As he flees, he points to Sylvan, obviously trying to put his spell back on the marauding Fae.
Sylvan leaps toward Orion, barely missing his wife’s abuser. “We were never meant to be apart. She’s my mate, my queen, and you stole her so you could blackmail me.” He swings at the retreating Orion, clipping his chin.
The walls melt even more as the magic drips off them. Maddy shares a look with Caleb and then Cora. The bunker quakes once more. Sylvan is keeping Orion distracted.
Orion tosses a spell at Sylvan, and the skin on Sylvan’s cheeks bubble up as though he’s been tossed into an oven. But he still chases Orion.
Maddy struggles against the dampeners and the magical spells. Maybe if she’d taken time to eat again or… or…
No, she’s not giving in. There’s hope yet. Pushing forward is the only option.
She’s able to take two steps, one right after the other, and she’s jubilant. Their bonds are weakening. Five more steps bring her almost closer enough to the cot. She reaches for the stake. The dark metal sears her palm, but she doesn’t release it.
Sylvan leaps on Orion’s back, wrapping his long fingers around the Fae’s throat. But Orion spins and slams Sylvan into the map wall.
“Let me out, Maddy,” Caleb rasps. “We can take him.”
Maddy considers the stake and then Caleb, trying to decide which to do first. She pounces on the straps on Caleb’s legs, releases them, and hurries to his arms, releasing those, too.
Caleb sits up, but he wobbles slightly before hopping from the cot. He nods toward her. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” she whispers. “I’m ready.”
Cora’s managed one step toward them, but she’s not as free as either Maddy or Caleb is. If they can attack Orion together, maybe the magic will weaken enough for Cora to gain her freedom, too.
But they can’t wait.
It’s now or never.
Now or never…
“On three?” Caleb says.
