Page 58 of Hell Kissed
She has always been the strong one.
Always.
Anger soars through me, and I shift in the blink of an eye. The heated air is a caress against my bare skin that mimics the warmth I blanket over my wolf, locking her safely away in the center of my chest, shielding that sweet bond I have with my protective wolf who has saved me time and time again in my life.
It’s my turn to save her.
A slick trickle slips down my ear and along my neck, but the noise of the giant is nothing more than a stabbing numbness that sinks all the way through my skull.
The others look like my wolf felt.
Loki screeches with a pain filled cry as the hellcat scrambles back. Latham is curled on the ground with his hands tightly over his ears. The fierce dragon has it’s flaming tail curled around his friend, but the misery on the creature’s face is clear as it roars and flinches with each new wave of magical pain that’s sent out to them.
And Torben. Torben is crawling on his knees. Blood covers his neck and chest, but he relentlessly crawls through the flames to the monster attacking us with little effort.
With all my waning strength, I run.
My feet rush over the quaking ground. In a blur of speed, I run past the giant, leap over the lines dividing the ground, and skid to a stop right in front of the two shifters who need me most right now.
My heart soars, and with a sweep of my hand, I pick up the one thing that seems important to our attacker.
That fucking broken stick.
“Hey!” I scream. “Hey, ogre!” I shake the battered, fiery branch at him.
The shaking stops.
“Me giant!” he roars in correction, though I can barely make out his words over the ringing in my ears.
“Yeah?” I walk casually across the dry land. Everything is numb, and even my balance feels off without the sound of the rushing fire in the swift moving river as I stride closer to it. The tips of my toes stop just an inch from the edge of the cliff, just near the descent of licking flames and molten fire.
I look up at the confusion in the giant’s eyes. My hands lift high, and his gaze follows that motion.
“Go fetch, ogre.” And then I release his beloved branch over the fiery falls.
That painful roar of magic rips from his lips once more, and I fall to my knees with the slicing pain bleeding from my ears. Urgent footfalls shake the ground even stronger. My hands fumble against the dirt as I’m swayed toward the edge of the cliff.
The giant leaps right over me. His shadow is the last I see of him as he chases after his precious weapon. His slicing screams carry on though, crashing waves of magic all through the hot air.
The land shakes from the sounds of his misery. The ground splits open even more. There is no up or down. Everything teeters.
The last thing I see is a widening flash of blue eyes.
And then I fall too.
Chapter Twenty
A Hard Night
Rhys
Hot wind rips at my hair. The world is a haze of many shades of red, but I can’t open my eyes to any of it. My senses are numb and battered. My body isn’t much better.
I tense all over.
And wait for impact.
The slamming collision comes from above instead. A man drops from the sky and strong arms wrap all around me. My lashes lift just slightly, and Torben’s bloodied face is the first thing I see. His beard whips in the wind just as much as his long hair. His gaze never once looks my way.
