shade of silverâone color, unbrokenâshining brilliantly. As he stared in incomprehension, he could see . . . could see they were . . . mirrors . Nïxâs strange rhyme flashed in his mind, even as Mariketa was killing him.
With her other hand, the witch emitted a pulse of energy at Boweâa beam that made him feel as if heâd had a transfusion of acid. Turn your blood to acid, sheâd told him.
Rydstrom grabbed her wrists and moved to draw her magick from Boweâs direction, then frowned that he hadnât budged her thin arms. With both hands, he heaved back and finally got her to aim away from Boweâtoward the tomb.
Freed of her hold and the scalding pain, Bowe sucked in air, scrambling away. As he rubbed circulation back into his throat, her beam battered the stones. The entire structure trembled. The first rumble shook the trees growing over it. The second rattled them, stripping bare their swaying branches.
The witchâs eyes, so brilliant, appeared fascinated.
Rydstrom yelled, â Itâs going to blow! â He yanked Mariketa up to his side. The light from her ceased, and she fell limp.
But it was too late.
The tomb exploded with atomic forceâeven the greatfoundation stones erupted into the skyâleaving nothing but a gaping crater behind. Whatever lived inside had been annihilated.
With the witch in his arms, Rydstrom sprinted, following the others as they darted for cover from the plummeting stones. Though Bowe dashed off right behind them, for some reason, he lunged down and plucked the gold headpiece from the severed hand, then worked the heavy prize into his pack.
Just before Rydstrom reached the tree line, an immense stone landed on his leg, trapping him. The demon kept his hold on Mariketa, struggling to protect her head.
Bowe sensed what was about to happen, even before the towering hardwoods of the jungle began to bend and rock toward the crater where the tomb had once existed. âGive her to me!â
Rydstrom gritted out, âDirectly after . . . she was about to kill you?â
Bowe didnât have time to explain, so he simply snapped, âI vow Iâll get her to safety.â
âYou donât understand, MacRieve! She can fucking die ââ
âAye, mortal, now release her!â When Rydstrom still hesitated, Bowe said, âYou doona know whatâs coming?â The tomb had been a place of power. Extinguished power created a vacuum.
Rydstrom glanced back. He shook his head hard, and his grip on Mariketa eased. He eyed Bowe. âAnother scratch on her, and I will take your head, Lykae.â
*Â Â *Â Â *
Mari came to with a moan, blinking open her eyes to find herself firmly strapped over some maleâs brawny shoulderâandlooking straight down the side of a mountain. Hundreds of feet below, trees and earth poured into a vacuous chasm that used to be the tomb.
Shaking violently, she drew a breath to scream, but a rasping voice said, âHold your shrieks, and hold on to me. And doona dare try anything like before, witchânoâ if you want to get out of this alive.â
MacRieve. Hadnât she killed him? She clutched at his broad back for a hold. âWh-where are the others?â
âScrambling for safety below us.â
âWhy d-did you go up ?â Faced with her worst fear and forced to trust her life to this Lykae.
âDoona like heights, then? I went up because the humans canna.â
He was ascending by climbing a vine ? âYouâll drop usâyou only have one freaking hand!â Heâd been yanking down on the vine and catching it higher, propelling them up inch by inch.
âAye, and Iâll be havinâ it back. Along with my eye. Now. Remove your curse and heal me.â
âNever. I hope you die from it,â she hissed.
âThen also hope my hand does noâ slip any more on this slick vine. We go much
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