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He rushes back, hating the idea of leaving her without him even for a moment, finding Dinah standing beside her. Kira’s a few feet away, Laith’s chains now sitting in her hands as he rubs his wrists. Frowning at Dinah—the witch he’s still not sure they can trust—he tosses the gray sweatpants to Elara.
"Thanks," Elara says in a small voice, pulling the pants on. She straightens, somehow looking vulnerable and strong all at once.
Kade approaches her, ignoring Dinah. “Are you ready?”
Elara gazes up at him. “Yes,” she says as she shakes her head.
Impossibly, a smile tugs at his lips. “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he vows, the words a truth that’s etched into his marrow.
Elara’s hand brushes his. “And I won’t let anyone hurt you,” she promises back.
The words rock him. Warm him. Send his world off kilter.
No one has ever sworn to protect him. Not with the same depth of honesty shimmering in their eyes.
Kade allows himself the briefest of kisses. A soft caress of lips on lips. A touch he’s not entitled to. A touch he treasures, cherishes, tucks away into the folds of his memory in case it’s the last he’ll steal.
“Let’s go,” Dinah says grimly.
She breaks into a run and they follow. Kade. Elara. Laith. And Kira. A small group of souls linked by the legend of Excalibur itself.
Dinah weaves through the deepness of the woods, surefooted and fast. Kade counts the steps, tracking east and west and then north as they weave a strange pattern only she seems to know. He narrows his eyes at Dinah's form but says nothing.
He hopes everyone’s ready for what could be an ambush.
When the opening of a cave appears ahead, Kade tenses. Taking Elara toward it goes against every instinct but he doesn’t slow. Elara’s strong. Stronger than she or anyone else realizes. His role is letting her see that.
No matter how freaking hard that is.
They slow as they reach the cave. Everything is still. Everything is silent. Every fiber of Kade’s being is coiled and ready to spring. Prepared to protect Elara. He sniffs the air—soil, vegetation, the faint hint of vermin and bats.
Dinah enters the cave and nothing happens. No army of shifters. No explosions of magic.
Kade follows, Elara right behind him. Kira and Laith step beneath the shadowy lip.
Bats drop from the ceiling. Rats scuttle toward them. They all morph into humans as they surround Kade and the others. There’s no time to react. There’s little they can do. Rough hands grab them, yanking them further into the cave.
They were ambushed.
Kade yanks against the hard fingers clamped around his arms and the tip of a knife presses into his side. He calms, conscious he needs to choose his moment to retaliate. He tries to look back and catch Dinah’s eye, but he’s jerked forward. Did the witch plan this, or is she as surprised as they are?
They’re dragged into an antechamber where Kade’s roughly shoved against a boulder. Elara’s dragged to the opposite side, the others spread out. Everyone has several shifters surrounding them. They’re not taking any chances.
Two torches blaze merrily at the front of the antechamber, Chad and Ebony standing proudly between. Chad has red marks around his neck from Elara’s veins, but it’s Ebony who’s grinning the widest. She looks completely unharmed.
She turns her triumphant gaze to Kira’s, who’s pinned against the cave wall. "You have much potential, my dear, but still so much to learn. I knew what I was facing when you tried to use fire to defeat me."
Kade takes stock of everything. The number of shifters. The single exit into the main cave. The likelihood this is going to be a bloodbath.
"Your ability to wield fire with such accomplishment points to one thing," Ebony continues in her smooth as velvet voice. “You’re descended from a very special bloodline.”
Kira raises her chin as she glares back at Ebony. “Yes, I'm Arthurian as well. A descendant of Morgana."
Elara's gasp echoes through the cave, and Kade resists the urge to shove away the shifters surrounding him, knife or no knife. Their survival depends on careful thinking. Elara glances at Laith and Kade realizes she’s wondering who he’s descended from. If she’s Arthur’s lineage, then what is Laith?
"I wouldn’t if I were you," Ebony says, stalking over to Elara and grabbing her chin condescendingly. "I’d suggest not using magic. I’m quite adept at turning it against you," she warns. Yet, her tone is still deep and soft, the menace powered by the knowledge she’s already survived Kira’s fiery onslaught. “Good girl,” Ebony murmurs.
She turns away and Kade registers Elara’s shoulders sagging. She can’t see a way out of this, either. Her eyes lift to Dinah and Kade wants to scream at her not to trust the witch.
