warden retreated, even as tendrils of his darkness lashed out and slapped against the light, only to sizzle, pop, and burn.
I couldn’t look away. It was kind of like staring into the sun during an eclipse. I was probably frying my retinas, but what was one more agony atop all the rest? A troll shrieked at the newcomer, and Viking-guy literally tore the guy in half and then ripped off one of his arms to beat another one.
“Well, better late than never,” Fin said cheerfully as he hooked his hands under my armpits and dragged me upward. With my back against his chest, he bound me with his arms around me, even as…
“That’s Rogue.” The two disparate pieces of information snapped together like a puzzle slotting into place.
“Yup,” Fin said, then nipped my ear. “We’ll discuss you being shadow-addicted later, it’s time to go.”
The sting of his teeth scraping my earlobe sent an answering wave to all my other hurts. Somewhere along the way, I’d torn up my palms. There were gouges in my side that oozed blood, and I was pretty sure I’d bitten the inside of my lip. The blood welling up just added to my starvation.
Maddox emerged from the dust clouds and darkness, coated in gray ash with blood running in rivulets through it. Filthy, but alive.
It was a good look. Somewhere, he’d lost his shirt, but his pants held up despite being utterly shredded from one thigh down.
This was a man who could easily walk around in a loincloth and totally get away with it. To be honest, he should absolutely be encouraged.
Then the noise just kind of faded. Maddox stared at me, chest heaving and eyes furious. What the fuck did he have to be so pissed about? I wasn’t the one who started all of this. If anything, I’d gotten dragged up those stairs.
Oh. Rescue effort.
Right.
I shook my head a little to try and clear more of the fog. Why it was so hard to focus all of a sudden, I didn’t know. To be honest, it was like being drunk and fighting a hangover in the same breath, without any of the fun stuff—you know, like alcohol.
Our latest arrival spun, and if he wasn’t a gruesome sight, I didn’t know what was. The light around him had at least dimmed to not eye-popping bright anymore. But what held my attention now wasn’t the gore on him or the light he’d extinguished, but the ferocity in those too blue eyes. They pinned me in place like an insect on a pegboard.
“He’s been feeding on her,” he said in a voice so rusty with disuse, it came out even deeper than Maddox’s. “She won’t leave willingly.”
“We noticed,” Fin stated almost idly. “Why do you think we’ve been trying to hang onto her?”
“Give her to me,” Rogue ordered, but rather than release me, Fin actually backed up a step dragging me with him.
“Fight over her later,” Maddox ordered. “We need to go now. The path is clear, but he’ll bring back reinforcements.”
“Let him,” Rogue said with so much arrogance, I believed he would relish the opportunity. “Killing him would be one way to free her.”
“While I don’t mind the fight, I’d rather get Kitten to somewhere secure and let her feed. She’s hungry.”
Thank you.
I almost said it aloud, but then thought better of it when Rogue seemed intent on boring his way into my soul, and the longer he stared, the more uneasy I became.
Mad-Dragon I got.
Astral-Boy? Him, too. Mostly.
Even Dorran—longing punched through me. I’d been so close to feeding, and now he was absent. If I followed through with their insane plan, I’d be out of his reach.
That was what I wanted, right?
I wanted out of that cell.
Out of this prison.
I wanted what remnants of my life were left to me.
All of those things were true. But so was the sudden anxiety swarming me. If we left, I’d never see Dorran again. I might…
What, Fi? What might I do? Die?
The thought was so patently ridiculous, I snorted, and yet the ever tautening ball of anxiety in my chest began to compress my lungs.
“Give her to me,” Rogue said taking a step toward us.
“No,” Fin began, but whatever else he might have said was lost in a whoosh of motion as Rogue suddenly wrenched Fin’s arms away from me and slid one of his gross, bloody hands to my waist. I slammed against him, and if Fin and Maddox were steely, Rogue was damn near diamond