Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series (Death Before Dragons #2) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,102
broken spheres. The lion shifter crouched to spring for me, but he broke out in coughs, his eyes tearing as if a baseball bat had slammed into his nose. His three buddies, including the two fastened to the orb, also started coughing.
“What is that stuff?”
“She’s in here,” the lion spat between coughs. He’d lost sight of me when I backed away, and his watering eyes scanned the chamber for me. “Get her!”
They swatted at the air with their claws, snot streaming from their noses and tears streaking down their cheeks.
So far, the gas didn’t bother me. With my grenades in hand, I rushed to the control box.
I couldn’t tell what Dob had done, and I didn’t care. I stuffed two grenades inside, pulled the pins, then whirled and ran around the orb, dropping the other two grenades under it. Whatever the artifact truly did, if the dark elves had made it, I was sure it was pure evil.
As I sprinted for the tunnel, I almost crashed into Kurt running back into the chamber. I was fast enough to dodge and flatten myself to the wall, but he was close enough to see through my charm. He whirled and grabbed my arm.
I slammed a palm into his nose. The blow would have flattened a normal human, but he didn’t let go as his head whipped back. He recovered with an angry snarl and raked a clawed hand at my face.
In the tight quarters, it was hard to bring my sword to bear, but I ducked his swipe and rammed my shoulder into his gut with all my strength. He slammed into the wall behind him, and his grip loosened. I twisted my wrist and tore it free, then sliced Chopper at him when he lunged at me. The blade flared blue and cut into the side of his neck, sinking in deeply.
As he screamed, the first two grenades went off.
The lavender light dimmed and went out, but before I could feel any triumph, it flared back up. Kurt, blood gushing from the side of his neck, was startled by the explosion. It gave me the opportunity to sink Chopper deep into his gut.
He roared, still not dead, and threw himself at me, but Sindari flew in from the side and crashed into him. His momentum knocked Kurt into the chamber as the third and fourth grenades blew. I had no doubt Sindari would finish off what I’d started. And I wouldn’t tell him to stop. There would be repercussions later, but if I wanted to get out of here, I couldn’t worry about killing these guys.
The lavender light went out again, this time for longer. Maybe the grenades I’d tossed right under the orb had taken it out.
I rushed down the tunnel toward the chamber with the dwarf, the faint light of Chopper guiding me as the thunderous sounds of stone cracking and snapping erupted back in the orb room. Rocks tumbled down in the tunnel behind me, and a sound like shattering glass rose over the cacophony. I hoped it was the orb being destroyed.
A snap came from right under me, and the tunnel floor shuddered. Only the dragon’s aura kept me from rushing straight out into the dwarf’s chamber. Dob was standing in there, right in front of the prisoner.
When I stepped warily out, he faced me, as if he knew exactly where I was. He probably did.
Behind me, Sindari roared, but it sounded like he was still back in the chamber. Maybe finishing off the shifters so they couldn’t get at my back while I faced Dob.
But Dob wasn’t alone. The bare-chested Otto and another shifter in tiger form stood near the door, blocking the exit. Hell.
The vault door was open, and the sounds of weapons fire came from the house above, but I couldn’t get out without going through the two shifters. Nor could I leave the dwarf. Dob held a palm face-down toward the bearded prisoner, who was alert now, the chain at his ankle snapped, but he was writhing in pain from whatever Dob was doing to him.
I wanted to help him, but the shifters had heard my footsteps. The tiger sprang into the air toward my face.
I dove under him, turning mid-roll to twist and jam Chopper upward. I caught the tiger in the belly. He screeched and raked me with his back legs before I could jump up and get out of the way. Pain blasted my side where the claws caught me.