free. She was vaguely aware of someone else rushing toward them, but when Stephen raised his machete in preparation of another blow on Magnus, Allie reacted instinctively. Shrieking, “No!” she rushed forward and swung at his throat like it was a baseball and she held a bat. Unwilling to have to witness what was about to happen, she then closed her eyes just before the blade made contact. Allie felt it, though, and knew she’d hit her mark. She also heard a wet thud followed by another as the man fell.
Opening her eyes, she sought out Magnus, relief coursing through her when she saw he was getting to his feet. He was alive, but injured, his arm hanging at an odd angle.
“Are you all right?” Magnus asked with concern when she hurried to him.
“Me?” Allie asked with amazement. “You’re bleeding.”
“I am fine,” he assured her, his gaze sliding over her bloody face and then up to her head wound. “You are hurt.”
Allie opened her mouth to assure him she’d be fine, but then stiffened at the sound of the rusty hinges of the stairwell door squealing as it was opened in the room beyond this one. She hadn’t noticed it making noise when she’d crashed through it, but perhaps it had opened too quickly then to squeal.
“That’ll be Abaddon,” she whispered anxiously, and then a loud anguished roar echoed through the cavernous room.
Swallowing, Allie tightened her grip on the sword she held and spun around to face the rogue.
Abaddon stood frozen just feet away, horror and despair on his face as he stared down at Stephen, she saw, and then noticed Lucian Argeneau and a couple she didn’t know coming through the arch and approaching the rogue from behind. While Allie had never seen the couple before, the woman had the same white-blond hair and silver blue eyes as Lucian. A relative was her guess and she wondered if this was the couple everyone had been worried about. Basha and Marcus.
“You killed my life mate,” Abaddon growled, drawing Allie’s attention again. His eyes were glowing pure silver with emotion as he glared at her, and his fangs were even now sliding down out of his upper jaw, she saw with fascination, and then felt Magnus catch her arm and draw her back against him.
She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and looked around to see Tybo moving up beside her, but then the woman’s cold voice pierced the silence. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy, eh, Abby?”
Allie swung her gaze back to the man in time to see him spin around to face the newcomers. The men had stopped walking, leaving the woman to continue forward alone, and she was hefting a sword like the one Allie was holding.
“Basha!” The man spat the word even as the blonde swung her sword. The blade sliced clean through his neck, sending his head tumbling to the floor. His body remained upright for a moment, blood spurting from the open wound, and then dropped heavily to the ground.
“Ewww,” Allie said with disgust, whirling toward Magnus and burying her head in the uninjured side of his chest.
There was a moment of silence, and then Tybo gave a disbelieving laugh. “Ewww? You just did the same thing to his buddy over there not two minutes ago.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t look when I did it,” Allie muttered, easing back from Magnus a little, afraid she might cause him pain.
“What?” Tybo squawked with disbelief, even as Magnus peered down at her with shock.
Lifting her head, she turned to frown at the Enforcer and explained, “I closed my eyes.”
“You closed your eyes while cutting off a man’s head?” Tybo asked with horror.
“Well, I didn’t want to see his head come off,” she said defensively.
Tybo stared at her for a moment, and then turned his gaze to Magnus. “Magnus, buddy . . . she closed her eyes. I mean, who does that while wielding a sword?”
“My wife apparently,” Magnus said mildly.
Allie sighed with relief when she saw the grin pulling at his lips and pushing away his pained expression. He would be okay.
Raising his hand, Magnus brushed it lightly down her cheek and added, “Is she not magnificent?”
Allie smiled in surprise, and then reached up to cover his hand, her expression becoming solemn. “Magnus, I promised myself I’d tell you this if I survived today, so . . .” Pausing, she took a deep breath, and then blurted, “I think I might be falling in