take care of the machine,” Finn yelled. “I’ve got this.”
Caladh pointed the gun over his shoulder and pulled the trigger, firing blindly as he continued to run.
A bullet ricocheted off the rock wall near Finn, sending sharp shards of stone hurling toward his face. As a couple of them struck him, he grunted at the pain but didn’t slow his pace.
Another couple of shots. He heard Keira scream. As he slowed and looked over his shoulder, he saw her fall to the ground. He stopped short and headed back toward her. Caladh wouldn’t get away. Not from him. But right now all Finn could focus on was saving his woman.
Chapter Nineteen
Keira saw the indecision in the gazes of those gathered around, but there was nothing they could do for her. “Go,” she told them, trying not to cry at the agony. Keira pressed her hands against her wound and fought for breath. By Dagda’s balls, it hurt. As the iron from the bullet seeped into her blood, tendrils of fire licked outward from the wound. Keeping one hand on her injury, she placed the other one palm down on the packed dirt floor of the main shaft and tried to draw energy from the Earth.
It was like trying to strain peanut butter through cheesecloth. The iron in her bloodstream blocked almost all the absorption of any of nature’s vitality. Maybe if she could get outside, where there were plant roots to also draw from, it might be better. Right now she knew that moving would be a very bad idea. Without letting on how badly she was hurt, she said, “I’ll be all right.”
“Go,” Finn echoed as he knelt beside her. “I’ll stay with Keira.”
Tobias hesitated for one more second, then muttered “Come on” to his wife. The two vampires took off at a full-out run.
“Boy, I do not envy Caladh when those two catch up to him,” Finn said. “Ultimately it’s his fault that Nix was turned, since Caladh, as you so eloquently put it, was the one pulling Liuz’s strings.” He stared down at her and brushed her hair from her sweaty brow. “I’m so sorry, Keira. I should have done something, stopped him.”
She shook her head. “There wasn’t anything you could have done. You should go, help them,” she whispered. She struggled to sit up and bit back a cry. Her left arm was numb, but the wound pulsed with flashes of pain that she’d aggravated by moving.
Finn braced her with his bent leg behind her back. “A couple of vamps can handle one lone selkie.” His face was grim, his eyes churned with worry mixed with anger. “I’m not going to leave you while you’re hurt and unprotected.”
“Well, if it weren’t for this,” she said, dipping her chin toward her chest, “I could take care of myself.”
Finn’s grin lightened his beautiful eyes. “I have no doubt about that at all. I always figured you had some Boadicea in you. Tonight proved me right.” The smile left him and he stroked his fingers down her cheek. “God, you were gorgeous. A little scary, to be honest.”
She laughed and then grimaced as her chest hurt in protest. “You’ve never been scared of me.”
“You don’t think so?” He shook his head. “You’d be surprised.” He gave her a short, sweet smile and then stared down at her with eyes gone dark and tortured.
“Don’t, Finn,” she said. “This isn’t your fault.”
He didn’t say anything, but she could see by the look on his face that he didn’t agree with her.
From deeper in the mine came the sound of a struggle. When she thought she heard the snarls of wolves, Keira frowned. Within a few minutes, Caladh stumbled into view. His appearance was no longer crisp and neat. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth and stained the shoulder of his torn, dirty shirt. He was followed by Tobias and Nix. Behind them came a woman clad in a long shirt and a man wearing only pants. Both were barefooted.
She recognized the woman. It was Tori Joseph, one of the werewolf liaisons to the council. The man was familiar as well, but Keira couldn’t recall his name.
“Sorry we were late to the party,” Tori said. Her gaze strayed to the body of her cousin lying on the floor of the mine shaft. Her full lips tightened.
“Better late than never,” Finn responded. “Though you’re both a little underdressed.”
Tori looked at him, a slight blush staining her cheeks. “You know if we want