“Fuck you, Kendrick,” he whispered. “I’ll see you in the Summerland—and I’ll best you there.”
“You’ll see me,” Kendrick said. “Goddess go with you, Lachlan.”
Kendrick touched Lachlan’s face. Lachlan, who’d moved feebly to bite him, suddenly sank back, the enraged expression vanishing from his face. He gazed up at Kendrick with pain in his gray eyes, and sudden loneliness and need.
“Guardian,” Lachlan said, his voice fading. “Don’t leave me this time.”
Kendrick brushed Lachlan’s hair from his forehead. “I won’t,” he promised, his voice gentling. “See you on the other side, my old friend.”
Lachlan gave one feeble, very brief nod.
Kendrick drew a long breath. He raised the Sword of the Guardian, which flared anew, lighting every facet in the rocks around them and making them glitter like jewels.
He thrust the sword unerringly into Lachlan’s chest. Lachlan flinched, then breathed a sigh, and smiled. “Thank you, Kendrick,” he whispered. Then his eyes closed, his body shimmered, and he slowly dissolved into dust.
Kendrick bowed his head, the sword point resting where Lachlan’s body had lain. A moment later, Kendrick threw his head back and roared, a sound of grief and pain so heart-wrenching that tears sprang to Addie’s eyes.
She wrapped her arms around him from behind, resting her head between his broad shoulders. Kendrick’s roar died into a moan and tears wet his face.
“He was my friend, once,” Kendrick said, then he drooped, falling against Addie, who fought to hold him.
Kendrick lost his grip on the sword, which fell full-length with a clatter, the brilliant light fading until it was only a faint glow. Kendrick’s breath rattled in his throat, and he sagged down into the rubble, Addie clinging to him all the way.
“No, Kendrick,” she sobbed. “Don’t leave me.”
“Love you,” Kendrick whispered. He squeezed his eyes shut, taking shuddering breaths.
Addie held him, anguish gouging her. “We have to get out of here. Kendrick.”
“The sword,” Kendrick managed. “Get the sword.”
Addie groped for it, her heart pounding. Did he mean for her to use it on him? Or to take it out to the other Shifters?
“Keep it for me,” Kendrick said, his voice ragged. “And hold me again, Addison. I need you to.”
Addie lay down right beside him and wrapped him in her arms, clutching the glowing sword tightly in one hand.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Kendrick lay very still for a moment. Then his body shuddered, moved.
He was shifting. For a few seconds, Addie lay half on Kendrick’s human body, then she was lifted from the rock as he expanded into the form of his tiger.
Addie found herself on the white tiger’s back, her fingers sinking into his warm fur. With a grunt and huff of breath, the tiger moved painfully forward, stumbling over the rocks to the opening Lachlan had made.
Though he limped, and one paw dragged, Kendrick slunk out into the tunnels so adeptly that Addie never brushed any of the low ceilings or fallen debris. She hung on to him, feeling every move of his body as he crept on elastic muscles.
The tunnel outside went on, up and up, the tiger flowing like water, his footfalls silent. Addie felt as though she moved under the deep night sky on the back of a magic beast. The Sword of the Guardian was still in her hand, the rocks above her reflecting its light like twinkling stars.
When the tunnel finally ended at a narrow opening, through which came night air and true starlight, Kendrick stopped, his sides heaving. He collapsed just inside the tunnel, Addie with him.