behind the duplicitous old man. He snapped the man’s neck and dropped him to the dirt. Without a backward glance, Rune grabbed Teresa, who automatically reached down and snatched up their bag of supplies.
“Willful woman!” he muttered and flashed them from the village, leaving only the dead and the suddenly still, silent night behind them.
Chapter 24
“Chico!” Teresa exclaimed the minute Rune flashed them to the entrance of a cave. She looked back over her shoulder at the wide expanse of desert stretching out between them and the village. All she saw was darker shapes of yucca trees, sage bushes and the occasional saguaro cactus, looking like tall, thin men with arms raised to heaven.
Her heart still racing with the aftereffects of what had just happened, she took a long, deep breath and tried to find balance again. But that, it seemed, was impossible.
“Chico’s not with us.” She turned her gaze on Rune. “We left him behind in that damn village.”
Rune shot her a hard look and clapped one hand to the gaping slice on his arm. “The bird’s not an issue. For all we know, the federales have been called. Mexican feds could be crawling all over that village right now, looking to track us. And you’re worried about that bird?”
“Yes!” Furious, she whipped her hair back out of her eyes and tried to get a handle on the raw nerves still rippling through her.
He muttered something under his breath, but she didn’t catch it. Temper and a million other things combined in the pit of her stomach to build to a roiling mass. Only moments ago they had fought as a team, each of them feeding off the other, creating more powerful magic between them than either of them could claim singly. Maybe she should give them both a minute or two to breathe. Yes, Chico was out there and she would find a way to get him. She would. But for now …
Teresa couldn’t help feeling a wash of victory. She’d actually called down lightning out of a clear, starry sky. For the first time since her magic had awakened, she hadn’t had to wait for a storm. She’d created the storm with her own will. She’d felt the power, the surging charge of strength that held her in its tight, brutal grip. Inside her there was a fire burning that was as hot and fierce as the flames that made up the soul of her Eternal.
Residual magic still washed through her like tiny orgasms, making her tremble as she looked up at the man who had saved her life. As energized as she felt by the surge of magic she had wielded, she knew that if not for Rune, the old man from the store would have killed her.
And that thought was enough to leave her shaken. “You saved my life. Again.”
“I did.”
Her gaze went to his arm. “You’re injured.”
He shook his head. “Not injured. Just hurt. It will heal. Are you all right?”
“Yes,” she said, though she wasn’t sure of that answer. These had been the longest days of her life and the danger wasn’t over. Her mind was a tangled mass of thoughts, sensations, fears and worries. And overriding it all was the crushing knowledge of just what she was actually capable of. “Well, I will be. That was … awesome.” She scrubbed her hands up and down her arms, as if she could ease the chills racing across her skin. “I mean that in the literal sense of the word, too. Awesome.” She shook her head, amazed by what she’d done. “There was no storm—no clouds, even—and I still drew down the lightning.”
He blew out a breath and nodded before closing the small space separating them. “You did. You were … magnificent.”
She liked the praise but wasn’t entirely sure she deserved it. “It was impressive, sure. But I didn’t hit anything.”
“You didn’t have to. Your power terrified them.” He took the bag of supplies from her and steered her into the mouth of the cave.
“That’s probably not a good thing, either,” Teresa said, trying to look around but not seeing much beyond inky darkness and hard rock walls. Good thing they’d bought candles. “When word gets out about us being in the village, it will only be worse for us. They saw us using magic. Your fire, my lightning—”
He pulled her to a stop. In the darkness his gray eyes shone like beacons. The flames that were a part of him danced in their