His relief was short-lived. The rock face began to grind forward, closing the distance between the sides. A stone mouth with rebar teeth.
Sweat broke out on his body, dripping into his eyes. He reached for the steel rods above him ... stretching ... higher still...
Missed.
Again, he tried to climb. His muscles were too deadened, starved for blood. The urge to release his grip grew undeniable.
One finger slipped. Then another. ...
Chapter THIRTY-THREE
Battles. Everywhere. Directly in front of Regin and Natalya. But just out of reach.
As the mountain continued to rise, the entire building wobbled. The glass of other cel s succumbed to the pressure, but theirs held strong.
All she and the fey could do was watch the havoc outside their cel . Though all the creatures in the Vertas had their torques, none of the Pravus did.
Regin laid her palms against the glass. "Put me in, Coach ..."
"I'm bloody ready to play," Natalya finished.
Packs of shifters wrangled, the Vertas mammal shifters versus the Pravus amphibious ones.
Winged demons skulked through the ward, dragging humans into dark corners to share for sex. Horde vampires fed from the mortals at the same time.Volos thundered up and down the corridor, his long mane of hair tied back in a queue, his hooves matted with gristle.
Mere feet away, five starving succubae waylaid Uil eam MacRieve. The females were torqueless, which meant they were probably a hundred times stronger than the Lykae would be right now. They attacked as one, launching him directly into the glass wal of Regin's cell.
She cried, "Break the glass, MacRieve!"
His fists were flying, but the females were dusting off his blows. "Wee bit busy, Valkyrie!" He fought as if his life depended on it, roaring and flailing.
Regin murmured to Natalya, "Most guys aren't usual y too keen on getting away." The succubae had ways to make males crazed with lust. "If he fal s under their spell, I'm gonna look away. Really. I am."
"I bet he's fighting it because he's found his mate."
Regin frowned. Then it would destroy him to be with another female, even under these circumstances.
Eventual y the ravenous succubae took MacRieve-a Lykae male in his prime-down, pinning him to the ground. The shock he must be feeling ...
When one of them ripped off his shirt, he spat in her face. "You bluidy whores! Rot in hell!"
Beneath her hands, Regin felt the glass cel wal bulging out. More splinters fractured across it.
"Natalya, on the count of three, we charge the glass. Hard. You harder than me. Because of my recent fileting and all ."
Natalya nodded, and they crossed to the back of the cel . "One ... two ... three." They ran, ramming their shoulders against the glass. Impact. The wal shattered, sending them sprawling forward. The pressure shot shards like bul ets into the corridor, riddling the succubae, tearing them apart.
Lying flat on the ground, MacRieve was mostly unscathed. He leapt to his feet and attacked the five, his claws slashing through their necks, finishing them off one by one. "My thanks to you, Regin." Slash.
"And to your friend."
"De nada, werewolf," Regin said, scanning the area for a sword, a freaking pipe, anything.
Natalya snatched up larger shards of glass, stabbing them through her jacket sleeves for later use.
She col ected still more, carrying them between her knuckles, ready to throw.
Regin cocked her brow at a dead guard's machine gun. She hooked her foot under it, hiking it up to catch it.
Natalya said, "Have you ever fired one of those?"
Lorekind scorned them. The weapons were so tackily human. "Look, I've seen Terminator. How difficult can it be? Now, let's go find Tiger!"
MacRieve said, "Whoa, where are you going, Valkyrie? The exit's the other way. I'll help you get there safely."
"No dice. Got someone back there."
He pointed in the opposite direction. "And I've got someone up there. Gods speed, females." He loped off.
She and Natalya raced away as fast as Regin could manage. While they searched for Thad, Regin also had her eyes peeled for Fegley, Dixon, and most especial y Chase.
"Is that Tiger?" Regin pointed far down the corridor. "At the edge of that big gap?" Through the smoke, she couldn't be sure.
Natalya swiped her hair out of her face. "It's him. Wait ... what's he doing? Isn't that where Lothaire's been kept?"
"Yeah. Exactly where La Dorada was heading." They tried to get his attention, but there were too many skirmishes. "Nat, go snag him! Quick, I'm right behind you."
"I've got this!" Natalya bolted away, with Regin lagging behind, limping over uneven ground. The floor was still swel ing up and col apsing as if it bubbled. Flaming rafters had begun hurtling down all around them.
Yet even over the din, Regin's ears twitched. "We've got company," she cal ed to Natalya. Pravus shifters had picked up their scent and were trailing them.
Within moments, she and the fey were surrounded by the dregs of the Lore-a motley col ection of creatures with viper eyes, forked tongues, and scales. Some had crocodile fangs and plated skin.
Regin cocked her weapon, brought it to her hip. "You don't want to mess with us. I'm about to mince meat and make hay with this thing."
The largest one laughed. Until Natalya's glass shard plugged his jugular. Regin aimed and pulled the trigger. The gun kicked as bul ets sprayed.
It was shredding their torsos like cheese, halving their bodies. "Let's do this! Rock out with your cocks out!"
When they'd all been dropped, Regin's injured chest was screaming in pain, her ears ringing. Her gun was hot, and she thought she might be a little infatuated with it.
Natalya said, "Let's go!"
"Right behind you-"
Volos stepped in front of them, blocking their way, his body stretching nearly the width of the corridor.
"You killed that evil woman, Mister."
Lothaire gazed up, spied some young male peering past the edge of the overhang. In no way had Lothaire destroyed La Dorada. He'd only bought himself time.
"I saw you do it-we're going to be all right now!"
He wanted to sneer, "Do I look all right, boy?" But his cause was greater than merely himself. And now victory was possible. He simply needed assistance with this predicament.
His lips curled at the naive immortal above him. And then I need to replenish my strength. "A hand, if you please."
"Sure thing." He lay flat at the edge, extending his arm down. "I'm Thaddeus Brayden. Cal me Thad."