won’t be around to see them put to use, anyway. What a pity.” Nate turned to the nearest stone man, golem, whatever. “Keep her here, and do not let go of her. Don’t let her out of your sight. And, whatever you do, do not kill her.”
A cell phone trilled, its tinny song reverberating through the empty space. Nate removed the phone from his pocket, thumbed the screen, and listened to the voice on the other end. “Yes, I have her, and she is secure.” He listened again for a moment, grunted something affirmative, and ended the call. He raised his green-eyed gaze to mine. “We have visitors.”
“Helen?” I asked.
A slight twitch of Nate’s eyebrow and a devious smile provided all the confirmation I needed. Well, damn . Where there was a Helen, there was also a Skoll. If I was going to do anything to save myself, the time had come.
I gritted my teeth and glared at the stone horrors. I knew what I looked like: about as menacing as a wet cat. The three guards maintained their chiseled, stoic expressions. Maybe they had no other option. I snarled, an ineffable sound encompassing all my emotions. Heat and light leaked from my pores, from my hair, maybe from my mouth and eyes too. Everything went bright and hot.
“We’ve done this before,” Nate said. “You forsook those who would die on your behalf. It seems that, if given the chance, you would do it again. Your friends will die, Solina. All of them. If you abandon them again, Helen will certainly kill them. Are you prepared to live with those consequences? I think a woman who gave up her life to find her brother’s killer would not be so callous.”
A cold laugh resounded through my thoughts. Stupid man. How has he lived for eons without learning the danger of premature conclusions? He thinks he knows me. He thinks he can predict my decisions.
“Oh,” Nate said, chuckling. “The look on your face—such obstinacy! You think you’ll fight your way out of this? You think there’s a way you can still win? I hate to tell you…” Nate paused and pointed at the ceiling.
I looked up and recognized star-shaped sprinkler nozzles overhead. “How can I keep my fire in check when you put my life in the hands of a bunch of creatures who have stones for brains and expect them to know how hard they can squeeze before they kill me?”
As if proving my point, my stone captor tightened his hold, restricting my air supply. I let out a pitiful yelp. Maybe, just maybe, with enough time and effort, I could burn away his stony body. But I would probably run out of air and energy long before that happened. Fight smarter, not harder. “How are you going to explain it to Helen when one of these things squeezes me to pulp?”
Nate gritted his teeth. A muscle flexed in his jaw as he considered the possibility. Finally, he exhaled an irritable grunt and said, “Give the girl some breathing room.”
The cage of my captor’s arms relaxed, but I struggled and wheezed and gave Nate a pleading look, silently begging for more of his pity. He ignored me, which was fine. I had gained some precious wiggle room. It would have to be enough.
All my training with the Valkyries and Tre was preparation for a moment like this. Against a more formidable opponent, I would have never stood a chance, but a mindless block of rock was all brute and no cunning. Those odds favored me.
To conserve my energy, I drew my heat and light inside and put it away. The golem probably felt no pain, so classic techniques like smashing insteps and ball busting served no purpose. Regardless of the golem’s magic, if the laws of physics governed his movements, then I stood a chance of defeating him. The creature held me from behind, his arms crossed over my chest like a seatbelt, one arm reaching from left hip to my right shoulder, the other wrapped under my arms and around my ribs. And oh, dear Lord, how his grip hurt, but adrenaline was pumping through my bloodstream and numbing the worst of it.
Like an
A cell phone trilled, its tinny song reverberating through the empty space. Nate removed the phone from his pocket, thumbed the screen, and listened to the voice on the other end. “Yes, I have her, and she is secure.” He listened again for a moment, grunted something affirmative, and ended the call. He raised his green-eyed gaze to mine. “We have visitors.”
“Helen?” I asked.
A slight twitch of Nate’s eyebrow and a devious smile provided all the confirmation I needed. Well, damn . Where there was a Helen, there was also a Skoll. If I was going to do anything to save myself, the time had come.
I gritted my teeth and glared at the stone horrors. I knew what I looked like: about as menacing as a wet cat. The three guards maintained their chiseled, stoic expressions. Maybe they had no other option. I snarled, an ineffable sound encompassing all my emotions. Heat and light leaked from my pores, from my hair, maybe from my mouth and eyes too. Everything went bright and hot.
“We’ve done this before,” Nate said. “You forsook those who would die on your behalf. It seems that, if given the chance, you would do it again. Your friends will die, Solina. All of them. If you abandon them again, Helen will certainly kill them. Are you prepared to live with those consequences? I think a woman who gave up her life to find her brother’s killer would not be so callous.”
A cold laugh resounded through my thoughts. Stupid man. How has he lived for eons without learning the danger of premature conclusions? He thinks he knows me. He thinks he can predict my decisions.
“Oh,” Nate said, chuckling. “The look on your face—such obstinacy! You think you’ll fight your way out of this? You think there’s a way you can still win? I hate to tell you…” Nate paused and pointed at the ceiling.
I looked up and recognized star-shaped sprinkler nozzles overhead. “How can I keep my fire in check when you put my life in the hands of a bunch of creatures who have stones for brains and expect them to know how hard they can squeeze before they kill me?”
As if proving my point, my stone captor tightened his hold, restricting my air supply. I let out a pitiful yelp. Maybe, just maybe, with enough time and effort, I could burn away his stony body. But I would probably run out of air and energy long before that happened. Fight smarter, not harder. “How are you going to explain it to Helen when one of these things squeezes me to pulp?”
Nate gritted his teeth. A muscle flexed in his jaw as he considered the possibility. Finally, he exhaled an irritable grunt and said, “Give the girl some breathing room.”
The cage of my captor’s arms relaxed, but I struggled and wheezed and gave Nate a pleading look, silently begging for more of his pity. He ignored me, which was fine. I had gained some precious wiggle room. It would have to be enough.
All my training with the Valkyries and Tre was preparation for a moment like this. Against a more formidable opponent, I would have never stood a chance, but a mindless block of rock was all brute and no cunning. Those odds favored me.
To conserve my energy, I drew my heat and light inside and put it away. The golem probably felt no pain, so classic techniques like smashing insteps and ball busting served no purpose. Regardless of the golem’s magic, if the laws of physics governed his movements, then I stood a chance of defeating him. The creature held me from behind, his arms crossed over my chest like a seatbelt, one arm reaching from left hip to my right shoulder, the other wrapped under my arms and around my ribs. And oh, dear Lord, how his grip hurt, but adrenaline was pumping through my bloodstream and numbing the worst of it.
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