Nika was sure there was no way they could kill all of these things. “Maybe I can teleport us again, next to Tori. You can hold them off while we grab her and I teleport everyone away again.”
“I felt how much power it took you to do that the first time. You may be able to get us over there, but I don’t think you’ll be able to get us back out. And there’s no way I can fight them off if I’m surrounded.”
“Just take me,” said Tynan. “If there are fewer of us, it’ll be easier.”
“You’ll have to be quick,” said Madoc. “They’ll tear into you in seconds. You puke, you die.”
“Right. No more puking.”
“All right. Tell me when you’re going and I’ll draw them over here.”
Nika gathered Madoc’s power into her and said, “On three. One . . . two ...”
Chapter 25
Gilda, Angus, Drake, and Helen had been driven back to where the single Theronai guarded their exit.
Exhaustion bore down at Gilda. She kept trying to pull more power into herself, but it was like trying to breathe through a narrow straw. She couldn’t get enough flow to catch her breath, much less slay Synestryn.
She felt Angus’s frustration pounding at her, but there was nothing she could do about it. He was right. She’d been foolish in pushing him away and now they were left weaker because of her lies and pride. Because he could not come to terms with her betrayal. Not that she could blame him.
Another pillar of fire gushed out of Helen, but she was sagging with effort. She turned to Gilda, panting. Twin tears of flame slid from her bloodshot eyes. “I’m almost out of juice. We’ve got to get out of here.”
Normally, Gilda would have stepped up and taken over, but there was no point in that. Even as tired as Helen was, she was still stronger than Gilda right now.
From behind her, she heard a commotion and turned in time to see Nicholas herding half a dozen dirty humans into the safety of the corridor.
“There are more kids in here. Iain went to find them. I need to go help.”
“Retreat,” bellowed Angus. “Get the humans out. We’ll protect your backs.”
Liam led the way, but he came to a quick, sudden halt and drew his sword. “Too late. They must have come in from another passage or outside. The way out’s blocked.”
Gilda sagged against the wall in regret. They were dead. Unless Andra suddenly showed up, they were out of firepower and out of options. She was going to have to watch more of her family die.
Angus’s spark of anger and determination flared through their connection. “Drake, Helen, you two blast us a way out. Gilda, you and I are going to hold this tunnel and give them time to get free.”
“How?” she asked him. “I have no strength.”
He looked into her eyes, and for the first time in years, she saw something truly frightening in his expression. He backed her against the stone wall, towering over her. “Then I suggest you find some. I’m not letting these innocents die because of the mistakes we’ve made.”
“It’s not as if I can simply will them away.”
“Maybe you should give that a try and see if it works, because you and I are doing this. Now.” He grabbed her arm and stepped up behind Helen. She had set a fire along the pathway, but right on the other side of those flames were dozens of hungry Synestryn.
“Go,” Angus bellowed. “Get them out.”
“What about you?” asked Helen.
“Gilda will teleport us out. Don’t wait for us.”
Gilda wasn’t sure if Angus was being optimistic about her strength or if he just said that to get the others moving, but whatever his reason, it worked. Drake and Helen left, disappearing down the tunnel with the rest of the group.
The flames filled the space, wavering with unnatural heat. One of the demons poked a paw through and it screamed in pain.
“You know I’m too weak to teleport,” she told her husband.
“I know.”
“So you’re content to die down here?”
“No. I simply know that you’re at your best when the stakes are highest. I thought the situation might motivate you to pull your head out of your ass.”
Shock rattled her, but she didn’t let it show. Angus never spoke to her like that.
“Maybe I should have,” he said. “Maybe if I hadn’t coddled you all these years, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
“I didn’t plan any of this.”
“I sure as hell hope not.”
“How do we undo years of damage in the time it takes for those flames to wink out?”
Angus shook his head, staring down at her. The sadness in his blue eyes was enough to make her cry. He was too good a man to be suffering like this, too kind.
She didn’t deserve him, but she loved him. So much. She would do anything for him—anything to make up for the harm she’d caused.
Time to show it. Time to let go of what she wanted and give him what he wanted for a change. She owed him at least that much.
She grabbed his face and pulled him down for a kiss. He was stiff at first, but it didn’t take long for that to change. Heat flared between them and his tongue swept in to taste her, as if he’d been dying to do it for way too long.
A rough groan of need rose out of his chest and she felt a faint tickling at her throat. She was too busy enjoying his mouth to worry about it. They had only a few seconds before they had to get back to work. It might be the last few seconds they ever spent together.
Angus pulled away, breathing hard. He pressed his forehead to hers, and the firelight shadowed the deep lines in his face.
“I love you, woman.”