A faint whimper sounded. She got to him as fast as she could and brightened her light to see how badly he was injured. Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to hug him, but drew back when it was obvious he’d broken some ribs in the fall. And a leg. He panted, obviously in pain.
Should I jump us now, or Heal him first? Healing magic might draw attention, but if one of those ribs punctured a lung, he might die when she tried to get them out of there. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she knew she had to patch him up before she could do anything else.
“Ssssh. It will be all right. I’m going to help you.” She infused magic into the broken places in Rune’s body. Because she’d been there before, it was easier this time. And quicker. She was just finishing, congratulating herself for having escaped a speeding bullet one more time, when she felt something coming. Rune got to his feet and shook himself. He must have sensed it, too, because hackles went up along his spine.
Aislinn hoped it was Dewi. She’d been so intent on the wolf, she hadn’t noticed the stink of alien magic drawing near. Whatever it was was close. Too close for her to risk a jump. They’d nail her with her molecules half in and half out of the tunnel. She might never come out at her destination.
Knowing they’d been discovered, she let her light blaze so she could at least see what was after them. Damn! Lemurians. Aislinn readied her Hunter and Mage magic for a fight. She wondered if she could actually kill an Old One. No one had ever tried, that she knew.
“There you are, sweetling. Back for a visit so soon?” The honeyed tones belonged to Metae. Aislinn would have recognized her voice anywhere. “And you brought your wolf. Marvelous! That must mean you are planning to stay.”
Three Old Ones came closer. They shed plenty of luminosity, so Aislinn redirected all her magic into fight mode and let her mage light wink out. She waited. They needed to be closer still before she struck.
“You are coming with us, child. Aren’t you?” Metae was only about fifteen feet away. “Your place is here. I am so glad you realized that.”
That’s how she’s always gotten to me, by pretending to be kind. Aislinn urged herself not to fall for it. The Lemurian was infusing compulsion into her words. Aislinn could practically see the spell. Still, being wanted was seductive. No one had wanted her since her parents died—except Fionn, and he was gone.
Bullshit. That’s what she wants me to think. She walled her mind against Metae, even though a place inside her felt broken and bereft. Like losing her last friend.
Aislinn ginned up what she hoped looked like a convincing smile just before she lobbed a killing blow right for the Old One’s throat. Metae yelped and jumped aside. Aislinn’s magic barely grazed her. In the confusion, Rune launched himself at one of the others and sank his teeth into the side of its neck. Iridescent red and green blood geysered, spraying thickly through the air. The coppery smell was cloyingly sweet. It smelled like the promise of victory.
Thinking they just might win this one, if the Old Ones didn’t call for reinforcements, Aislinn sent another bolt of magic toward Metae and the other Lemurian. She ducked and wove, avoiding their magic as she chucked power their way. It didn’t seem like they were trying to kill her, only capture her, which made things easier.
Aislinn panted from fear and exertion. Her breath plumed white and frosty in the chilly subterranean air. Rune had killed one of them. The others danced out of his reach and erected magic barriers he couldn’t jump through. She opened a hole in one of them just for him. Leaping through it, Rune latched onto another’s throat, decimating it. Bones snapped. The wolf was coated in gore, but his eyes were alight with joy. This was what he’d been born for, and he knew it.
“Well,” she gasped, trying to get near Metae. “That just leaves the two of us. How do you want to die?”
“Why are you doing this, child?” The Old One sounded aggrieved. “Have we not been kind to you?”
Aislinn snarled. “Earth does not belong to you. You were barely noticeable down here before you teamed up with the dark. Either send them back where they came from, or leave.”
“But we taught you about your magic—”
“And killed everyone else.”
Metae’s body moved under her robes in the Lemurian version of a shrug. Because the Old One seemed more intent on conversation than killing, Aislinn blasted her with magic. Metae twirled to get away from it, and Aislinn jumped her. With her legs twined around Metae’s waist, she shoved her dirk home in the Old One’s neck. The sharp iron blade slid easily between scales, burying itself deep.