Page 45 of Broken Souls
Running for the stairs as Antonio finishes her off, I head for the basement. A wolf darts in front of me, coming in through a hole in the wall, but it didn’t look both ways. It hasn’t seen me, its focus entirely on the basement stairs, no doubt able to smell the fear coming up from it as Khalid’s girl, a woman without magic, cowers inside.
By the time I make it to the top of the stairs, it’s already at the bottom, trying to tear its way inside. The magic in the wood is stopping it though. As long as the ward is activated, no one is getting through but Shadow blood. Which means I have to bring the ward down if I want to get inside. For a second, I hesitate – wondering if I should risk Khalid’s girl for my own safety. As long as she’s in there and the ward is up, she’ll be safe. She won’t survive with it down.
But I don’t want to die, especially not if she tells Varius I’m the one who took the ward down. If he thinks I am the traitor due to whatever lies Sau told her.
I will trade the entire fucking world to keep what I have with my mate, and so I press my palm against the wall and push my fire into the runes.
It takes everything I have, all the energy holding my legs up, all the strength keeping my arm from wavering. Sweat pours down my face, and the pounding in my skull from my earlier fall intensifies. I am giving it every last drop I have, and yet, it is not enough. My fire eats magic, but the wards protecting the safe room are powerful.
Too fucking powerful.
Gritting my teeth, pulling on the fear of death, I open myself up to my flames. Pain shoots through my kidneys, my fire turning back on me. Eating me like it’s eating the runes, and I falter, my legs giving out. I tumble down the stairs, smacking my head and every other part of me.
But there is a beautiful sound in my ears. The sound of splitting wood as the wolf tears through the door in its frenzy. I’ve broken the ward.
If I can just get to my feet and get inside, we still have a chance of surviving until the boys get here. Varius has to know something is wrong. He will have rushed back; he’s probably coming up the drive now. I just need to buy us a few more minutes, and I can do that with the arsenal of potions in the basement.
Dragging myself to my feet, I watch as the wolf shoves its arm through the door, finally breaking through. It pulls back, then places its eye against the hole, only to jerk away again on a high-pitched howl, its fur smoldering as a smell so fucking nauseating and sweet fills the air. A potion has been tossed in her face, and it’s burning through her like acid. She’ll be dead in a few seconds when the potion eats its way to her brain.
Still, I don’t think I have a few seconds to spare. I have already taken too long breaking through the ward. Antonio has to be finished with Sau already, even if she somehow managed to heal from when I last saw her. She’s a strong witch, named when he is not. It is possible she survived, is still alive, but if by some miracle she is, she can’t be for much longer. I can’t rely on her buying me anymore time.
So I place my hand on the back of the wolf’s chest, right behind her heart, and push my fire into her. Pain shoots across my kidneys, and I know my magic is eating me alive. Not for the first time, I wished our magic worked like it did on TV, where we could use it without risk, without worry. But Hollywood always lies. If we use it too much, it’ll kill us like it’s currently killing me.
I’ll recover. Eventually. Unless I push it too far, too fast.
So I need the potions. I need to get into the basement.
As I start to drag the wolf out of the way, a white arm reaches through the hole in the door. Khalid’s girl pours another vial of acidic magic onto the wolf, finally stopping its screams.
I don’t have the energy to tell her I’m coming in. I can’t figure out what words it’ll take for her to believe I’m not going to hurt her, assuming Sau told her I would. Instead, I just shove the door open as soon as she pulls her arm back and stride in.
She tries to throw a whole handful of potions at my face. Expecting something of the sort, I throw up a shield. The vials hit it and fall to the floor as she stumbles back, her eyes wide in terror. She trips over her feet, then lands on her ass just as the glass potions shatter in front of her.
I am protected from the splashes of acid due to my full-length shield. She, however, is not, and as drops of the red liquid eat through her legs, she starts to scream. Then jerk, the pain all too crippling and sending her into shock.
Turning from her, I concentrate on the open entry in front of me. She might think I’m a bitch for not helping her, but I need to prioritize my jobs, or neither of us are going to be alive long enough to argue over my choices.
Pulling on my last reserves, I throw up a ward over the door. It isn’t as strong as the one that was there before, and any sup other than a werewolf can now enter, but it’ll buy us time, and that’s all I need. Just more time. The boys are on their way. They’ll be here soon.
Rushing over to the shelf of potions, I grab a healing potion and neck it. Grab another and do the same. The icy-blue liquid slides down my throat, then expands with the warmth of a hug. The pounding in my skull starts to fade, and the cut in my leg threads itself back together. A burst of energy fills me, giving me my second wind, and I grab a few more vials of various types, then kneel down beside Khalid’s girl. I pop off the cork of a healing potion and hold it to her lips.
“Drink,” I demand. “It’ll stop the pain.”
She groans as her body jerks in utter agony. She doesn’t raise an arm to grab the vial, perhaps she can’t, but she does open her mouth, so I pour it in.
She shudders once, then her shaking stops. She opens her eyes and looks at me. But I’m already leaving her, on my feet and heading for the door. I don’t have time for niceties, don’t have time to ask her how she is. I need to build up our defense before the next wolf comes down.
“Why did you save me?” she asks.
I don’t turn to her, don’t look at her, my eyes on the only door in and out of the basement. Thumps and snarls come from above, just out of sight. Sau must still be alive if the wolves are still fighting up there. Unless the boys are back…
Hope jumps into my throat, but I squash it down. I can’t get lax until I see one of them for myself. So I place all the vials but two attack potions down on the ground beside me.
“Micha?” she asks hesitantly.
Hating that I have to even defend myself, I say, “Because we’re on the same side.”
“Then why did you take down the wards?”
