Ethan's jaw hung wide open. "I can't believe it. Sam's queen of the Damned."
Neither could she. It was a miracle.
Dev shifted back into human form. Her stomach clenched at the sight of the bleeding wounds on his body. Still, he was gorgeous with his cheeks flushed from the fight and his muscles rigid from the blood pumping through them. "What else can you tell them to do?"
Before she could answer, the ground under their feet began shaking again. The hounds howled, then bolted.
Fang gave a low whistle as he manifested back into a human. "Anyone else think it might be a good idea to follow them?"
Dev nodded.
Fang returned to his wolf body to chase after the hounds.
In human form, Dev started after him, then slipped as the dirt under his feet parted and sent him sliding sideways. A sharp, pointed boulder shot up from the ground, gouging his side while the black soil under him literally evaporated. There was nothing to hold on to. No way to catch his fall. He was going down.
He knew it.
Sorry, Sam...
Suddenly something wrapped around his wrist. Something that stung like a scorpion strike and jerked his arm so hard, he was amazed it was still attached. He dangled precariously over a deep cavern where flames danced, licking at his boots.
Looking up, he saw Scorpio's determined grimace as he held tight to the whip he'd used to catch Dev before he'd fallen too deep to be saved. "Hold tight, Bear."
Even though his wrist and forearm were bleeding and burning, Dev wrapped one hand around the coarse, braided leather and grabbed tight with the other. He wasn't about to let go.
Sam came running. He saw the panic in her eyes that warmed him. Until the ground started shifting under Scorpio's feet. Gasping, Sam jumped back out of habit.
Ah, shit...
He heard the sound of the hounds screaming after they fell into the pits and were consumed.
Sam wanted to cry as fear ripped through her. She had to do something. Closing her eyes, she reached deep into her powers to pull Dev up. Because he had his own powers and he was a living organism, it wasn't as easy to lift him as it had been with the rock. It took a lot more power and she wasn't used to it.
"Ay Dios," Scorpio breathed as his feet started slipping. "I can't hold him."
The ground under Scorpio crumbled, sending dirt all over Dev. Sam wanted to scream as she saw images of Dev dying in the flames.
There was nothing she could do.
Out of nowhere, Fang shot forward. He knocked Scorpio sideways so hard that it cleared the shattering ground. But the jolt caused Scorpio to let loose the whip.
"Dev!" she screamed.
Ethon dove at the pit.
Sam couldn't breathe as she closed her eyes. But she couldn't be blind to Dev's suffering. He was in this because of her.
I've killed him.
Her premonition came back tenfold as bile rose in her throat. Tears scalded her eyes.
"Damn, Bear...what did you eat? How much do you weigh? Ever heard of Weight Watchers? Dude, diet is not a four-letter word for someone who weighs in at a solid freakin' ton."
She forced herself to look while Ethon continued berating Dev. To her complete shock, he had the whip and was trying to pull him up.
Fang and Scorpion grabbed Ethon by the waist and added their power to his.
She bit into her knuckle so hard, it bled. Please, please, please...