combined anger, outrage, and worry for him.
“I have faith in you, Gabby,” he told her.
“Well, you shouldn’t,” she snapped. “In fact, you’d be better off putting your faith in an ape with a magic wand.”
“I’m not sure what an ape with a wand has to do with this,” Frost muttered.
“It has everything to do with this,” Gabby said, her voice rising an octave.
“Gabby,” Liam said gently.
“No,” Gabby said, holding up her hand to stop him. It was cute she thought he’d listen and obey, like a well-trained dog. She was going to learn that, though he might worship the ground she walked on, he wasn’t going to let her put herself down or believe the shit her parents had fed her.
“Listen to me,” Liam barked as he stepped closer to her. “We’re soul bonded. Our magic is powerful together. It’s meant to work together. Let your power flow into me and use it like you would to protect yourself.”
“I told you that just because you believe something doesn’t make it true,” she said as her eyes darted around, looking everywhere but at him.
“Why can’t you protect him?” Gabby asked Professor Frost for a second time.
“Oh, I can,” Professor Frost answered. “But I don’t have to. His soul bonded is here to do that for him.”
The expression on Gabby’s face was priceless, and Liam might have made a comment about it if they were in a different situation. But he currently felt like his insides were cooking. “Will you at least try?” he asked her.
Gabby’s eyes jumped to his, and he hated the fear he saw there. Liam didn’t know what she was afraid of, and that made it worse because he couldn’t fix it.
“If you two will excuse me for just a second,” Frost said as she opened a portal. “And Liam,” she said before stepping through, “please try not to die.”
“Did she seriously just leave us at the top of an active volcano?” Gabby gasped and her face paled even more, if that was possible. “This cannot be happening,” she muttered.
“What are you afraid of?” he asked as he tried not to waver on his feet. The heat nauseated him, and his head swam. But he was not about to pass out and leave Gabby alone while Frost was gone. Nor was he going to let himself cook on the side of a mountain.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said as she sniffed and raised her chin slightly.
“Right,” Liam scoffed. “And the Easter Bunny is real and is BFF with the tooth fairy.”
Gabby glanced at him and her eyes widened. She stepped closer to him. “You’re not looking too good,” she said.
“You really know how to make a guy feel wanted, Gabs.” Liam chuckled. He stumbled, despite his effort to stay still, but managed to stay on his feet. Liam lost his grip on her hand, the hand he had refused to relinquish since he’d grabbed it when they’d started on their trek. He felt the loss of her immediately.
“Liam?” she questioned as she reached for him. “Are you okay?”
“Honestly, babe, I don’t think I am,” he said. His heart was pounding painfully hard in his chest, and it was becoming difficult to breathe.
“Dammit. Dammit. Dammit it all to hell!” Gabby said as she stomped her foot. It would have been adorable if Liam could see straight, but his vision was blurry and he saw two of her.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to damn everyone to hell,” Liam pointed out. Was he slurring his words? He couldn’t tell because things were beginning to sound muffled. Maybe he really was dying. “Let’s just damn the people who deserve it. Although, I might be considered one of those people because I haven’t exactly been the most upstanding guy. So maybe let’s put some parameters around the people we consider damnable.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Gabby barked at him. She squeezed his arm. Liam thought she might be trying to steady him but couldn’t be sure. That was funny, too, because he was so much bigger than her. If he did fall over, there was no way she would be able to prevent it.
“Exactly that.” He tried to lift his hand to point at her, but it sort of just flopped. Awesome. A useless arm to go with the useless body. “I’m talking about hell and damnation because you were just dealing out damnation to the whole world,” he explained. For some reason, it seemed to make