The implications of that hadn’t yet had time to settle in, but once they did, Serena knew she wouldn’t sleep for a week.
“Baby,” Link whispered through lips caked with dried blood.
He was delirious. The endearment proved he thought she belonged to him. Maybe that blow to his head had taken his memories of their last moments together. Maybe he didn’t remember that he’d walked away from her willingly.
“It’s okay,” she told him. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
“No, baby,” he insisted.
She wanted to tell him she wasn’t his baby, but didn’t waste her breath. She was still struggling to speed Morgan’s movements, and the strain was starting to show.
His swings were slower than they had been. He was still fast, but not fast enough.
Before Serena finished slicing through Link’s bonds, one of the daylight demons opened its mouth and let out a shrill cry of alarm.
In the distance, that cry was echoed, over and over again until the walls were shaking with the noise.
Every demon in this vast network of caverns and tunnels now knew the enemy was here.
Her plan had failed. There was no way she, Morgan or Link were going to make it out of here alive.
***
The moment Morgan felt Serena’s magic falter, he knew how bad things truly were. Demons were everywhere. More were coming—too many to fight.
He was too busy to look beyond what lay directly in front of him, but she could see everything. She knew they weren’t going to make it out of here alive. He could feel the dire nature of their situation shimmer between them, along the narrow walls of the link they shared.
He cut down another gray Synestryn, then another, moving faster than he ever had before in his life. Coupled with the burst of speed Serena fed him, he was still barely able to slay the monsters faster than they were flooding into the chamber.
His muscles burned with effort. His lungs felt like they were on fire as they struggled to funnel enough oxygen to his blood to fuel his body. Small cuts stung his skin, but there was no taint of poison running through his veins. That, at least, was a small blessing.
He wasn’t sure how much longer his body could keep going like this. His limbs weren’t designed to move at this pace. He could feel an unnatural heat building up inside his tissues.
She was struggling to rescue Link, all the way on the far side of the cavern. If anything broke through her defenses, there would be nothing he could do to stop it.
The idea of her falling in battle clogged his mind with worry. Even though he hadn’t promised to protect her with his life the way his people always did, the need to do so burned through him as clear and bright as the sun.
If anything happened to her…
The connection between them flared suddenly as she sucked in a huge gulp of his power. As soon as it passed out of him, he could hear her thoughts, clear and unfiltered.
She’d been masking how exhausted she was from wielding so much magic for so long. She didn’t want him to see her as weak. She didn’t want him to pity her or stay with her because he thought she needed protection.
She wanted him to see her as brave and strong, an equal partner. Because of that, she’d covered up just how much of a strain she was enduring.
He swore that if they got out of this alive, he was going to make sure she never hid anything from him ever again.
To that end, he shoved his way into her thoughts, demanding their link to expand even further to fit the force of his resolve.
What he saw inside her was so beautiful, he almost forgot he was in the middle of combat. His sword swung out of habit, hitting where it aimed. But his mind was reeling from the warmth and selflessness that made up Serena’s core.
She’d been forgotten, discarded and overlooked, but she hadn’t been broken. She was still strong, if a little dented. She was kind, though she tried not to let others know for fear they’d walk all over her. She was smart, but had hidden the trait because her mother had pounded into her head that no man wanted to be with a woman smarter than he was. Beauty was all men cared about.
What a load of bullshit.
As Morgan’s consciousness expanded inside of hers, he was instantly grateful that she had far more brainpower than he did. Because that was the only way they were getting out of here alive. He was too busy hacking down demons to come up with any brilliant ideas.
We’ll never get out alive. It’s impossible. Her words rang in his head, clear as if she’d spoken them.
Nothing is impossible for us, he told her. Just pull what you need from me. Everything I have is yours.
Her confidence faltered, but as fast as the speed of thought, she hardened her resolve to match his and started working on a plan to keep them all alive.
He didn’t question what it was. His only thought now was of getting back to her side.
If they didn’t stop more demons from flooding this room, there really was no hope.
As if responding to his thoughts, Serena aimed a quick burst of power at the opening of one of the tunnels. A deafening roar filled the space, followed by a deep, throaty rumble of rock on rock.
Tons of stone rained down just inside the opening of the tunnel. It crushed dozens of demons as it fell. They screamed and thrashed for only a moment before falling silent. Dark red blood leaked out from under the pile or rock which blocked the entrance completely.
Behind that wall, Morgan could hear Synestryn clawing and scrambling to find a way through the barricade. As many of them as there were, it wouldn’t take long for them to clear an opening.
Morgan altered the trajectory of battle, taking out the remaining monsters as fast as he could. They didn’t have much time before more found them, and they were going to need every second they could get.
Once the last gray giant fell, he rushed to Serena’s side.
The room stunk of blood and death. He was so starved for oxygen that he couldn’t help but gasp in the fetid stench with every breath his heaving lungs forced on him.
Every muscle and tendon in his body was on fire. Heat poured out of him, so hot that sweat rose from his skin in the form of steam. Everything around him seemed to be moving too fast, as if he could no longer handle time flowing in its usual manner.
Still, he regained his focus and assessed Link’s injuries in a glance. The man was barely conscious, much less coherent. The only way out of this cave for him was if he was carried out.
Serena wasn’t strong enough to do the job without magic, and every bit of magic she used had to count.
Right now, escape was their first priority.
Morgan flung the man over his left shoulder and nodded his head toward the exit.
“You go first,” she said. “I’m right behind you.”
That odd sense of vertigo hit him, and he knew that she was speeding their pace. Rock walls raced past them, faster than he could focus.
He was used to fighting in caves and tracking his path in so he could find his way out, but at this speed, the task was much harder.
He took one wrong turn, which landed them in a cavern filled with daylight demons.
As soon as they saw him, one of them let out that ear-splitting scream. The others joined in a second later, and after that, the whole cave began screaming like it had before.
They whirled around and headed back the right way, but now they had a shit load of demons right on their trail.
Serena was in front of him now. She stumbled on some loose rocks. The cave walls slowed as her magic faltered.
From their left, another tunnel connected, and a flood of daylight demons swarmed out as they passed.
Pain bit into Morgan’s calf. He didn’t slow down to see what had hit him or how bad it was. He knew that if they didn’t move faster, they were going to be overrun.
As if she’d heard him, Serena sucked in more of his power and they began to speed up again.
Link was a heavy, awkward weight on hi
s shoulder. To make matters worse, the man was pounding on Morgan’s back as if he wanted to be set down. The blows weren’t hard enough to injure him, but there was no time to stop and see what the man wanted.
Morgan thought he heard Link screaming about a baby, but the shrill cries of the demons echoing in the tunnels made it impossible to tell for sure.
Just when he thought they’d outrun the vast horde behind them, Serena skidded to a stop.
Morgan slammed into her, knocking her down.
A rusty metal blade swung in an arc where her head had been an instant before.
Had she not been unnaturally fast, that would have been the end of her life.
Once again Morgan was hit by how precious she was, how fragile. Sure, she was brave and strong and could kick his ass anytime she wanted, but her life was a thin tendril too easily severed. One wrong move and she’d be gone from this world.
Before he could drop Link and engage the enemy, the demon swung its sword again. This time, it bounced off of thin air, leaving behind pale blue sparks in its wake.
Serena had brought up a shield to fend off the blow, but it was too late.
There was an odd kind of pressure in the center of Morgan’s back. He looked down, confused at what he saw.
Something red and wet with blood stuck out of his abdomen.
It took him a moment to realize that he’d been stabbed by one of those rusty demon swords. The weapon had gone clean through, but Morgan couldn’t feel a thing.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Andra’s shield faltered for a split second, but it was enough for one of the daylight demons to slip in and charge her.
Its gaze was fixed on her belly and the tiny life pulsing within.
The thing’s eyes were huge, the same dark red as its blood. Its furless skin was knobby and bulbous over wide, thick joints. Heavy muscle covered its frame.
These things had been built for power, not grace. Every movement was a hard, jerky surge of strength meant to cut through flesh and bone. Even the swords they carried were clunky, dull and unrefined, but that didn’t stop them from smashing through everything from bodies to metal to tree trunks. Even solid stone was at risk from the blunt, heavy blades.
Weariness like she’d never felt before wound around her until she could barely breathe. Her power had grown considerably in the time since she’d bonded to Paul, but she could see now that it wasn’t going to be enough.
Already, she was slipping, letting in a random sword here or a long, gray arm there. Once, a demon’s head had made it through a broken spot in her forcefield only to be lopped off by Paul’s wickedly sharp sword.
But even he was growing tired. The strain of constantly feeding her his power was wearing on him, making him slower than usual. The casual grace she’d come to associate with his fighting style was gone now, leaving behind an almost frenetic rush to catch up to his enemy’s attacks.
He lunged toward the demon, using its own momentum to send it stumbling. Once it was off balance, he brought his sword down hard in a two-handed blow that severed the thing’s gray head. Dark red blood arced out to hit the blue dome of light before dripping to the cold ground.
Through the whole thing Zach stayed by Lexi’s side, only lifting his head to make sure that Paul had the situation handled.
It was over, but there was no sense of relief in Andra. She was nearly at the end of her strength. If they didn’t go inside and rest for a while, she was afraid she was going to get them all killed.
“Time to go!” Paul shouted to be heard over the snarling demons and sounds of battle all around them.
She couldn’t see what was going on—there were too many of the gray demons beating against the forcefield for her to see a thing—but she knew it wasn’t good. The volume of combat alone was enough to tell her that the place was being flooded with fresh Synestryn again.
Lexi didn’t respond. She was too deep in concentration to even acknowledge she’d heard Paul. But Zach had.
“Ten more minutes,” he called. “She needs ten more minutes.”
Andra honestly didn’t know if she could keep going that long, but if she didn’t, all of their work for the past few hours would be ruined. If Lexi didn’t finish, the demons would just tear the partially-repaired wall apart again and they’d have to start over.
Andra knew she didn’t have the strength for that. As it was, there was still over half a mile of wall to repair.
Even the thought was enough to make her want to cry.
Her baby needed a safe place to be born, to grow up. Dabyr was the only hope of that. She had to stay strong for him.
Her legs were trembling but she didn’t dare sit down. If she did, she knew she’d never be able to get back up again. She was too weak to push herself up, and Paul needed his sword arm free to fight, so he couldn’t carry her.
She was on her own.
She felt his warmth fill the luceria as he worked to reassure her, to encourage her.
She had to keep going no matter what. Her baby needed her to keep going.
Her eyes burned with the strain of channeling so much power. Like Lexi, her whites were shot through with angry red—a sign they’d been using too much magic.
Her body was shaky and uncharacteristically weak. She was used to being the strong one—the one her sisters leaned on for support. She’d always seen herself as capable of dealing with almost anything, but now…now she wasn’t sure if she could even stay standing.
A new wave of daylight demons charged toward the gap left by those that had just been killed. It seemed as though they all knew that what was happening inside this blue bubble was important. Either that or they smelled her baby.
The idea made her shudder and strengthen the shield along the side where the demons charged. Unfortunately, that left the far side weaker.
Another gray demon shoved through a flickering gap only to be trapped as she tightened her hold on her power once more.
The creature was pinned in place, thrashing and biting at the shimmering blue light. As Paul moved toward it to put it out of its misery, it lashed out with its sword.
Exhausted from his efforts, Paul was a split second too slow. The rusty demon blade sliced through his leather jacket and left a deep gash along his forearm.
He tossed his sword to his other hand and lopped off the demon’s head before it could get in another hit.
Without him saying a word, she could tell the injury was bad—bad enough that he couldn’t fight with his dominant hand. Some vital tendon or muscle had been severed, leaving him unable to hold his sword.
Zach saw the situation, but didn’t leave his post next to Lexi. “Nine more minutes.”
Andra wasn’t going to last that long. She just wasn’t. There was nothing left in her to give and she still had to hold this shield until they were safely off the battlefield.
She shrank the forcefield smaller, almost to the point that it brushed their heads.
There was no room to fight inside now, but there was no one in shape to do much fighting, so she guessed that was okay.
Sweat poured from Lexi’s brow. Her small body trembled like she was being shook. Zach’s hand seemed to be the only thing holding her up, but he was shaking almost as badly.
More demons surged on their position and began slamming those heavy swords into the dome. Each time they did, Andra weakened slightly.
She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t hold out for three more minutes, much less nine.
Paul stripped out of his jacket and T-shirt, then staunched the flow of blood with his shirt. Andra managed to tighten the knot around his arm, but it took three tries to manage the small task.
She couldn’t do this.
No choice, Paul whispered inside her mind. You’re strong. You can do this.
Her baby boy thrashed inside her belly as if to remind her he was there.
As if she could ever forget him.
She could feel him inside of her. The connection wasn�
�t as strong as the one she had with Paul, but it was there. She could feel his energy, his growing power.
She had to protect him at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing everyone else on the battlefield.
He punched at her ribs in denial.
If he were grown, she could imagine how he’d react to her willingness to let others die for him. He’d be as brave and honorable as his father, as strong and stubborn as his mother.
He’d fight to the death. She knew that as surely as she knew she loved him.
Andra focused her mind on him, on the miracle he was—the first male Theronai to be born in two centuries.
She’d do anything for him, including keeping up this damn shield as long as it took. Nine minutes, nine years. She didn’t care. She wasn’t going to let him down.
She could do this. She would do this.
Let the demons come. Let them hammer and claw and bite the blue dome all they liked. For her child, she’d keep up this shield until the sun burned itself out and all the stars went dark.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Serena knew the instant Morgan was hit.
She was still on her knees, trying to stand when the thick column of power fueling her magic sputtered.
The invisible shield she’d raised was gone. The magic that was helping cloak their presence and speed their exit—it was all gone.
For a split second, she was disconnected and alone, with no one to lean on and no one to give her strength.
In that instant, she realized just how empty her life before Morgan had been. Not because she didn’t have a man, but because she had no power. She was only half of the glorious, powerful creature she’d been born to be.
And she didn’t like it.
Without the magic he held, she was never going to be able to stop his bleeding and save his life.
And she had to save his life because she loved him.
How could she not? She’d seen inside of him, seen his honor and kindness. He’d shown her in a hundred different ways the kind of man he was—his honesty, loyalty and dedication. He’d opened himself up to her as much as he was able and given her everything he had to give, without reservation. He’d accepted her as she was without any thoughts as to how he might change her to better suit his wishes.
Saving Daylight Page 24
