We will make it out of here together.
We have to.
It was her mantra as she ran with him, deeper into the darkness.
“There’s an old tower stairwell up here that’ll take us to the main floor,” Rune told her, glancing over his shoulder at her as they hurried along. “With any luck, we can make the climb before the guards think to block it. Promise me you won’t let me slow you down.”
“No,” she replied, refusing to even consider the thought. “We do this together. No matter what.”
She knew what he was telling her. Normally, with their Breed genetics, it would take no more than a few seconds to speed from one location to another, but Rune’s injuries would not permit that now. He was too depleted, and she wasn’t about to do it without him.
They reached the entry to the tower stairs. “This way, Carys.”
Rune went in ahead of her, holding his gun vertical in the confines of the narrow stairwell. The worn stone steps spiraled upward, around and around and around, one blind turn after another.
Low voices sounded from somewhere above now—urgent shouts coupled with the heavy pound of boots across the floors.
“Be ready,” Rune cautioned her. “We’re coming to the main floor now.”
“Okay. Let’s do this.”
No sooner had they reached the archway that opened out from the stairwell than they saw a pair of guards heading their way.
“There they are!” the men shouted, opening fire the instant they saw Rune and Carys.
“Get back!” Rune pulled her behind him as gunshots chewed into the stone beside their heads.
Flying shrapnel exploded, biting Carys’s cheek. She felt blood run in a warm trail down her face, just below her left eye.
Rune saw it too. Now, through his blood-bond to her, he would also feel her pain. Rage ignited in his eyes. On a bellowed roar, he returned a spray of gunfire.
“You have to run,” he growled at her. “Flash past the guards. I’ll cover you from here. Use the shadows, Carys. You have to make it through the great hall to get to the kitchens and the carriage house outside.”
She swiped at the streak of blood that dripped off her chin, peering around him as he continued to volley shots with the advancing guards. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“We only have one gun, Carys. Both of us can’t hope to make it past these two men. More will be coming any second. You have to try to get away, damn it!”
She didn’t answer him. He wouldn’t want to hear it anyway. No matter how bad their odds, she had no intention of leaving him behind to save her own life.
But maybe there was something she could do to help them both.
With Rune and the two guards alternating bursts of gunfire, Carys looked to the shadows around her and in the gloom of the tower. She gathered them close, concealing herself.
Then she slipped out from behind Rune and charged their assailants.
CHAPTER 38
She was gone even before he realized what she was doing.
“Carys!” Rune felt her whisk past him like a cool gust of air. He saw the formless drift of shadows move swiftly, stealthily, avoiding the gunfire. She was difficult to track, but Rune kept the gunmen busy dodging his bullets and drawing theirs to him instead of her.
Not even an instant later, one of the two guards was thrown across the room by invisible hands. His startled comrade pivoted around with his assault rifle to find the attacker.
Rune seized the opportunity. His bullet flew, nailing the guard in the back of the skull.
The gunmen dropped, lifeless.
Rune redirected his aim and shot the other one too.
Carys materialized that same moment. She quickly retrieved the fallen weapons, giving Rune a fangy smile as he ran over to meet her.
He couldn’t decide whether to kiss her or chew her a new one for the stunt she’d just pulled. While she was cool as could be, his heart was banging in his chest like a fucking jackhammer.
“Now we have two more guns,” she said, handing one of them to him.
He slung the backup rifle’s strap over his shoulder. “We’re gonna talk about this later,” he snarled, but he could hardly hold on to his anger when the fact was they made a damn good team.
But they still weren’t home free.
Not even close.
The commotion had drawn a lot of unwanted attention. Now, more guards started pouring in from other parts of the fortress. Amid the thunder of rushing boots and the jangle of weaponry, he heard his father’s furious voice, shouting kill orders to his men.
“This way. Hurry!” Rune grabbed Carys’s hand and led her through another antechamber that would skirt the main corridor and take them into the great hall. They barely made into the huge room before Riordan and half his garrison were on their heels.
Rune pulled Carys with him behind a stone alcove. They ducked as far as they could into the meager shelter as a fresh hail of bullets ripped through the air all around them.
Rune shot back, but only squeezed off a handful of rounds before his magazine emptied. He threw the rifle down and swung the backup into his hands to continue shooting at the dozen men now advancing into the great hall with his father.
“Give it up, boyo. You’re rats in a trap.” Riordan’s voice boomed over the staccato spurts of gunfire. “What’s it gonna be? You want us to shoot you like vermin, or take you alive and then lay waste to your woman while you watch?”
Rune glanced at Carys, neither of them acknowledging the threat. Their gazes locked in determination. They had their plan of escape. They had each other. All the rest was simply noise and obstacles to overcome.