by Sharon Kay
Searching for the next demon, he heard Enza shriek. He spun back around and received a punch that made his head spin to one side…but he didn’t care. A Ghaszul had grabbed Enza, holding her arms and keeping her close to his chest.
But determination flared in her eyes as she turned her head up to study the sky. Utterly focused, her energy crackled in the air. The same energy that he’d felt when she used her power outside Java Genie.
Rhys grunted as the demon socked him in the abs. Dumb ass. He grabbed the Ghaszul by the sides of his head and twisted. With a crunch, the male went down.
Enza’s power built as Rhys went for the next Ghaszul, who glared in anger. Yellow eyes bounced from Enza to Rhys. He charged.
Rhys was ready, taking the full force of the male’s weight and whirling him around so he slammed into the rock face. His opponent wheezed and brandished a knife in a shaking hand.
As if that would help him. Ready to end the idiot, Rhys heard Enza yell something. Get away?
Get away! Back up! Her voice was in his head. He didn’t stop to question the magnitude of that fact. He only listened. His feet stumbled back a step, two, three.
The male advanced, dagger out, grinning.
A flash of lightning lit the sky, and Enza’s power surged in the air. A bolt streaked across the sky toward them. Rhys rolled away from the Ghaszul. A second later, precise and perfect, the lightning struck him and with a boom and flash, he was gone.
Holy shit. Rhys whirled and stared. Enza looked shocked. The male clutching her roared in fury.
Rhys leaped up and ran to Enza, wanting to high five her and kiss her senseless at the same time. But the Ghaszul holding her had tightened his grip and tried to pull her down the slope. She struggled against his stronger body.
Rhys vaulted down the uneven ground. Reaching them, he summoned a ball of demonfire and held it aloft. “Let her go,” he warned.
“You can’t take a shot. You’d risk hitting her,” the demon sneered.
Enza’s eyes were wide. Throw it and I’ll duck. Her voice was clear in his head. Sweet and beautiful, and unafraid. And he knew unequivocally, that she trusted him with her life.
Gods, that humbled him and made him want to roar with pride. Ready?
A tiny smile tugged at her lips and she gave a short nod.
Rhys threw his fire at the male’s head. Enza ducked low, curling her torso forward in a tight crunch.
The Ghaszul’s yell was cut off as he collapsed. Enza ran forward into Rhys’s arms.
He held her tightly, and it was the best feeling in the world. Mine. He didn’t know if she realized it or understood, and they’d have to talk about it later. “Enza. Holy hell.”
“Rhys.” She slipped her arms around his waist. “I…I...killed someone.” Her voice was muffled, buried in his chest.
“Baby, first of all, trust me, no one will miss that asshole.” He curled a finger under her chin, tilting her head up. “No one will fault you. He would have killed you, me, and as many Watchers as he could. This is my world. Our world. And it can be harsh.”
“I know, but still, I didn’t plan to.” She peeked up at him as droplets of water coursed down her cheeks. “But I did it. I aimed the lightning at him deliberately. I saw a chance and I took it. He-he was going to hurt you.” Horror filtered into her tone.
“We’re under attack. You fought back. It’s self defense. On Earth, people would do the same with guns.” He tucked a sopping lock of hair behind her ear.
“I guess.” She sagged against him. “It just feels so…final. No going back.”
He rubbed a hand down her back, soul filling with pride in her compassion, and tried to remember what it felt like to kill his first opponent. Though he had trained to take down the enemy, while Enza only wanted to make people’s lives sweeeter with her creations. “You’ve never been in this situation before. All your feelings are normal.”
She laid a hand on his jaw. “This is scary. But with you…it’s so much better.” Tenderness radiated from her as if draping him in a blanket.
“Enza.” He covered her hand with his. “Anything you need, I’ll—”
A jolt of panic spiked in the air between them and she gasped. “Rhys, oh my god!” She pointed with a shaky hand.
Rhys followed her gaze. A flat stretch of ground extended from the cave entrance, ending in an abrupt rough edge with nothing visible beyond it. At the precipice, fists flying and tails snapping, were Antonio and Soren.
CHAPTER 37
ENZA’S HEART HAMMERED IN HER chest as she stared at the man who was technically her father, fighting and about to fall off this god forsaken mountain. He pummeled his brother, not appearing at all like he’d been stabbed recently. Mixed feelings deluged her just like the unabating rain. He’d planned to bring her here, then sworn he wouldn’t.
Did she want him to die? He was a criminal, a kidnapper. But he’d had a change of heart. She believed him, though she had nothing more than a gut feeling to go on.
“Shit,” Rhys muttered. “Right now, I wouldn’t care if they both went over that edge. But they’re your family. Do you want me to—”
A roar split the air and the ground shook with the weight of a predator. The large demon that had been looming over Enza when Rhys walked in, now stalked them. Rhys tucked Enza behind him.
“That’s the leader,” she said. “Isrami.”
He was as tall as Rhys, and terrifying. Yellow eyes had narrowed to slits and up close, she could see scars crisscrossing his arms and face. “You,” he said, zeroing in on her. “You have an impressive power. I wasn’t sure if Soren was lying about you.”
“You have five seconds left to live,” Rhys growled. He summoned a ball of demonfire in his hand.
How did it not go out in the rain? Enza made a mental note to ask him later. Beyond Isrami, men still fought but it seemed like a lot fewer than in the cave. She peered up at the swirling gray sky. If Rhys wanted to fight this guy, fine. But she wouldn’t let Isrami win. Though she didn’t relish the idea of killing another person, she understood how vicious Splinter was.
She’d do anything for Rhys. Anything in the world. And that thought didn’t rattle her at all. It seemed like the most natural thing ever.
“Give her to me, and you can go. All of you Lash bastards.” Isrami held his hands at his sides, where Enza spied knives strapped to his thighs.
“You’re as stupid as you are ugly.” In a blur of movement, Rhys hurled his fire.
Isrami dodged to one side, faster than Enza would have thought a hulking creature like him could move.
“Get back by the wall,” Rhys shouted to her, and went for Isrami with a sword he grabbed off the ground.
Enza complied, trusting his fighting skills even though she secretly swore to be his backup. He moved with a lethal, fluid grace as he struck the demon repeatedly with blade and fists. The two of them rolled, Isrami bleeding heavily, but neither one letting up.
Tor appeared at her side. “You okay?”
She blinked up at him in surprise. How and when had the Chicago group come here? Never mind. Another question for later. “I’m good. But…” she swung back to Rhys and his opponent. “That’s the leader.”
“I’ll step in if I have to,” Tor growled. “Not letting these guys win.”
“Actually.” She flicked a gaze to the sky. “I think I can step in.”
A grin broke across Tor’s dark expression. “You got it. I’m happy to be your backup.”
Rhys and Isrami landed punch after punch, both staggering back from each impact only to hit harder the next time. Lightning flashed around them, but Enza let it be. How could she hit Isrami when he was in contact with Rhys? Electricity would travel from one body to the next, and she couldn’t take that chance.
Crack! Isrami landed a savage punch to Rhys’s jaw. Enza watched as if in a horror—slow motion, as blood spewed from Rhys’s mouth and he took a second to gulp air. “No!” she screamed. “Don’t touch him again!
”
Isrami straightened from his fighting stance to sneer at her. “I gave you a choice, female. Come with me and I’ll leave this loser alone.”
“Never.” Enza clenched her fists, silently cheering as Rhys leaped back toward the Ghaszul and tackled him to the ground. Emotions swirled around in her head and heart and adrenaline surged. She’d never thought watching a fight was interesting before. Now, it was her man and she was consumed with the need to see him victorious.
But the lightning intensified. Enza wasn’t sure if it was a natural progression of the storm, or if she was influencing it.
In the next flare of light, Enza saw Isrami reach for a sword on the ground. In a swift move, he grabbed it and had it at Rhys’s throat.
Enza clapped a hand over her mouth to cover her scream. No, no, no. She wouldn’t let Rhys die. Not here, when he’d come so far to save her. Not ever, if she had anything to say about it.
Breathing hard, she focused on the clouds above, peering deep inside to see the positive and negative charges. Slamming against one another, they were ready to produce more electricity. Now. Enza willed them into action and grabbed the bolt with her mind, sending it into the ground next to Rhys and Isrami.
The impact separated them and knocked Isrami several yards away, close to the edge of the cliff where Antonio and Soren still struggled.
Again. The hair on her arms stood on end as she grabbed hold of another bolt. This time, she had no fear of hitting the wrong person. Isrami was isolated as he staggered to his feet. Eyes wild, he charged toward her.
Lightning ripped from the sky and into his body, wrenching a scream from his gnarled lips. He fell to the ground and another bolt followed the first, hitting the ground near him. The impact kicked up a cloud of dirt and sent his body flying over the cliff edge.
Enza gasped. Rhys was on his feet and running to her like an action hero, like she was the beginning and end of his world. He wrapped her into his arms, lifting her off the ground. “Holy shit. Are you okay?”
“Y-yes.” She clutched his shoulders, drawing a deep breath. “I wasn’t going to let him hurt you.”
Rhys chuckled. “Baby, I—”
“No, I’m serious.” She pushed back and looked up into his face. Rain had soaked his eyelashes and turned them into spiky points like stars. “If I can protect you, I will. I-I…”
Love you?
Did she?
He yanked her flush against him and covered her mouth with his. Thank god, because she had no idea what to call the intensity of her feelings.
Beside them, Tor cleared his throat. “I hate to interrupt this greeting card moment, but you should check out what your dad and uncle are doing.”
As one, Enza and Rhys turned to the wide open space. Soren held Antonio down, a blade poised above his chest. But Antonio’s tail slithered along the muddy ground. Lightning flashed, and this time, it wasn’t Enza’s doing. The bolt struck the ground near them.
It rattled the earth hard—ground that was already unstable from explosions and lightning strikes. Soren lost his balance.
Antonio rolled away from the edge, and at the same time his tail snapped out, knocking the blade from his brother’s hand.
But Soren had fallen the wrong way, and the tail strike only destabilized him further. With a harsh cry and arms flailing, he fell backward over the edge.
“Soren!” Antonio yelled, throwing himself to his stomach at the jagged cliff.
Enza and Rhys ran to him and peered over.
Soren was nowhere in sight. And for that matter, neither was Isrami.
“Oh my god.” Enza clapped a hand over her heart.
Antonio lay with one arm extended into thin air, shock on his face.
Enza turned to Rhys. “He’s gone…they’re both gone. They couldn’t survive that fall, could they?”
Rhys took her hand. “Yeah, they could. Unless they landed in a fire, or unless a knife-shaped rock happened to sever their heads on the way down, they’ll likely live.”
“H-how?” She peeked over the edge again, seeing only boulders and scraggly trees, and not even the bottom of the mountain.
“Since we heal so fast, if they’re lying somewhere with broken bones? Odds are they’ll heal.”
Antonio got to his feet, face stricken and pale.
“I’m sorry,” Enza said, because it seemed like the right thing to say. If there was a right thing to say when one’s brother who was trying to kill you fell over the side of a mountain.
“He was my brother. Is my brother,” Antonio said roughly.
The earth shook, a treacherous reminder of its power. With a warning glower on his face, Tor crossed the debris-filled space. “Get away from the edge. We need to leave. This whole mountain might come down.”
“On it.” Rhys grabbed Enza’s hand. “Ready?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Wait. We can’t go. Where’s—”
“Whoever is left of Splinter ran away.” Brenin jogged over. “Fucking cowards. We killed a bunch, but we’re not going into unfamiliar tunnels to search for more. That’s a death trap.”
“But what about Cara? Isn’t she here?” Alarm pounded in Enza’s heart as she remembered the terrified expression on the nymph’s face. “And the other creatures that were kidnapped?”
All eyes swung to Antonio.
“Well?” Rhys said. “You guys brought them here. What happens after you collect your payment and leave?”
Antonio pushed a lock of dark hair out of his face. “Splinter uses them for their talent. They keep some of them here, I think. The unwilling ones.”
Rhys shook his head and clenched a fist. “You better find them. If it’s the last damn thing you do.”
Antonio nodded solemnly at Enza. “I couldn’t save my brother from the temptation to continue this. And I want to go down there and search for him, to try to make him understand, and to save him physically as well. But I know we’re almost out of time.” He swallowed hard. “If you want me to find the creatures we brought here, I will.”
“I do. You owe it to them. They’re here because of you.” Enza stared at him, as lightning struck the ground behind her. She wobbled and Rhys’s strong arm tucked her close.
“I have an idea of where they are.” Antonio turned and ran into the newly widened cave entrance, as rocks rained down from the jagged roof.
A fighter with short blond hair jogged over. He was as tall as Rhys and an air of command flowed around him. Was he the leader Rhys had mentioned?
“Where the fuck is he going?” The warrior glanced at Antonio. “Death wish?”
“He’s going back for the others. The other victims that he and his brother delivered here,” Enza said. “We can’t leave them.”
The male’s eyes flicked from Enza to Rhys. “How many prisoners?”
“No idea. All we know is that they delivered a nymph yesterday,” Rhys said. “Aleksai, meet Enza.”
“Nice to meet you, though I wish it were in more pleasant circumstances.” Aleksai nodded at her curtly then turned to Rhys. “We need to go. My team is ready to head back to HQ. You?”
“We were, but now…” Rhys grimaced. “How long can we wait for Antonio? We don’t know how many he’ll find. And by the way, what do you want to do with him?”
Aleksai’s crystal blue stare focused on Enza. “He’s your father?”
“Um, yeah, I just found out though.” Enza bit her lip. She had no idea what the supernatural justice system was like, or if there even was one. “Will he be killed?”
“Do you want him to be?” Aleksai asked.
“I don’t know.” Enza glanced up at Rhys. “He told me he wanted to get out of this deal he had with Splinter. That he didn’t want to kidnap and endanger more people. He tried to prevent Soren from taking me here.”
“Can we throw him in a cell until we decide?” Rhys asked.
“Arawn will love that, but yeah. Keep him alive and decide what to do later. We’re almost out of tim
e.” Aleksai turned to the cave. “He’s got one minute.”
A wave of relief spun through Enza’s mind. Antonio hadn’t been a father at all. But she wasn’t ready to say he should die, not when he really seemed to want to redeem himself. And if he could save the victims he had already taken…
“Look!” she shrieked, as several figures emerged from the darkened cave. Aleksai and his team ran to them.
Cara stumbled out, seeming dazed and unsure. Enza darted toward her. “Cara!” she yelled. “It’s okay! You’re safe.”
The petite nymph ran straight into Enza’s arms and sobbed. Enza clutched her and watched as more Watchers aided the small group of prisoners. “Is that everyone?” she asked Cara.
The nymph cried into her shoulder. “Yes. I was so scared when I saw that horrible Deserati again, the one who brought me here…but he l-led us out.”
Several other creatures huddled in the rain, and Enza had no idea what they were. Some had pointed ears, some had gray skin. All looked terrified.
The earth rumbled and a massive groan erupted from deep within the mountain. Rhys’s strong arms encircled both Enza and Cara. “We really need to go, bella,” he murmured in her ear. “Cara, we’re going back to Chicago. Would you like to go with us or stay on Torth?”
“Chicago,” she said in a small voice.
Aleksai and his team spoke to the other prisoners, who all elected to stay on Torth. “You’ll all come back to Watcher HQ for now. You too.” He glared at Antonio. “Then we’ll figure out where you go from there. Everyone, pair up with a Watcher.”
Antonio locked eyes with Enza across the group, gratitude in his dark gaze. “I’m honored to have met you,” he said.
She nodded, unable to say the same. He’d scared her, yet she felt the need to defend him, because she sensed his world had shifted as much as hers had.
“Ready? The three of us can go together.” Rhys’s tone turned urgent as the mountain shook again.
“Yes, please, let’s go home,” she said.
Brenin, Jude and Tor had already opened a portal. With a giant leap, they disappeared. Aleksai and four dark-clad men on his team did the same, with the rest of the prisoners.
