Rhain charged his swords. “Good. First, let’s deal with our new friends.”
Chapter Ten
She officially hated hexids.
A big one ambled her way, upright, shoulders hunched, and its head cocked. Its dark eyes were filled with malice.
Mal’s sword glowed, the white turning to brilliant silver. Energy flowed back through her—dulling her aches and pains, shoving her exhaustion aside.
Beside her, Rhain looked like some god of war come to pillage and plunder. He spun his glowing kilwar blades. Hot. The guy was so hot and he wanted her.
She’d decided he could have her.
But first…
“Shall we do this?” she asked.
The faint smile on his face just made him look hotter. He nodded.
Mal ran, leaped onto a rock, then jumped off it. Her sword sliced through the air and she cut through the first hexid, but another was on her in a blink.
She fell into a wild rhythm of cutting, slashing, and stabbing.
She thrust her sword into the hexid’s chest. It bellowed, claws thrown wide. She twisted the blade and then pulled free.
Two hexids leapt off the rock, sprinting in her direction.
Rhain jumped in front of her. His powerful body fast and lethal. He cut down the hexids with powerful slashes.
The two of them kept fighting as more hexids rushed them. They ended up back to back, working together to take the enemy down.
Just like in their shared dream.
They moved as one unit. She whirled, and Rhain ducked and attacked. She slashed the side of the last hexid, and Rhain beheaded it.
“Nice work,” she said.
“You too.” Then he frowned, his head whipping around.
She felt it too. A ripple in the energy.
Something was coming.
“More hexids?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes, but they seem...different.”
The hexid that appeared was the same size as the others they’d fought, but this one was glowing molten red. Like it had dragged itself out of a lava pool.
More appeared, and even from a distance, she felt the heat emanating off them.
“Seriously?” she said. “They weren’t bad enough already?”
Rhain’s lips compressed into a firm line. “Krastin likes to experiment. These are blaze hexids. I’ve seen one once before. They are hot enough to melt your skin and bone.”
“Lovely.”
A blaze hexid moved toward them, picking up speed.
Rhain threw a hand out, and a blast of red energy pulsed through the air.
It hit the hexid and lifted it off its feet. It flew back and fell into the others.
More just walked over the top of their fallen comrades.
“We need to get out of here,” Rhain said.
Mal nodded, then ran for the rock wall. Rhain was right behind her.
He let off another blast of energy, but the blaze hexids kept coming.
She grabbed his hand and raised her other palm.
“Together,” she said.
He nodded.
They spun and released a dual blast of energy. Red and silver twined together.
It hit the hexids like a tidal wave, and they slammed into the far wall.
Then…boom.
Rhain swiveled and shielded her with his body, pressing her against the rock.
Mal felt a wash of intense heat.
“Are you okay?” she cried.
He gave her a clipped nod. “Climb. Now.”
Turning, she started up the rock wall. There were lots of handholds, but also lots of loose rocks, which made it slippery. She clung to the wall, moving slowly and steadily. Soon her arm and leg muscles started to burn, but she kept moving upward.
The patch of blue sky got bigger. When she pulled herself out of the cavern, she smiled.
Thank God.
They weren’t where they’d entered it. They were on higher ground, with the perfect view of the Barrens spreading out in all its rocky glory.
Rhain sank down next to her, breathing heavily.
She frowned. “Rhain?”
Lines bracketed his mouth, and his bronze skin was pale.
Her heart leaped into her throat. “Rhain, what’s wrong?” She shifted closer to him.
And saw his back.
He was burned badly. From the blast. Her gut curdled. From shielding her.
“You idiot!” She bent over him and touched his shoulder blade. His armor was melted in patches, and his skin was burned. In places, the metal was embedded in his skin. It had to be agony.
“What can I do?” She slid her hand around and stroked his jaw.
“Nothing.” He pulled in a shuddering breath. “We need to get out of here.”
He needed a damn medica.
Panic, hot and slick, filled her throat. There was nothing close by but rocks.
Wait.
She blinked. Those weren’t rocks. It was a Zhylaw raider ship parked close by.
“Come on, your Overlordness. I’ve found our ride home.”
She helped him up, which wasn’t easy. She got his arm around her shoulders and she almost collapsed under the weight of him. The man was solid muscle.
Together, they hobbled toward the ship. When he saw it, he groaned.
“You can’t fly that.”
“Watch me.”
As they neared the small ship, the dark glass canopy over the cockpit opened automatically.
Handy. Two black seats sat at the front, and the jagged back end really did look like the teeth of some giant monster. It was made of black matte metal.
She got Rhain into one of the seats. He dwarfed it.
“I take it the Zhylaw are small?”
He nodded, his eyes looking unfocused from the pain.
She settled into the pilot’s seat and stared at the control panel.
Uh-oh. It was filled with loads of black, jagged switches and levers. There were no labels—which wouldn’t have helped her anyway.
Oh, well. Flying was flying. She’d work it out.
She tapped at the switches, trying to assess what everything did. With the next press, the engine started.
Yes. Now they were cooking.
Rhain groaned. “You’ll kill us.”
“Have a little faith.” She glanced up and her muscles stiffened.
Several blaze hexids were running their way.
Crap.
She pressed a button and the glass canopy of the cockpit closed. A few more presses, and the ship shot forward, scraping over the rocky ground.
Oops. There was an obvious controller, similar to a joystick, and she pulled on it. The ship’s nose lifted.
They flew into the air.
“Hell, yeah.” She gently slapped Rhain’s arm. “I told you.”
He gave her a faint smile. “We need to head that way.” He pointed to the right.
It took Mal a few tries, which included some wobbly dips and stomach-shaking vibration, to set the path to Citadel.
God, it was nice to be back in the air.
“When we get back, you can enjoy Tavith bitching at you while he heals you,” she said.
Rhain gave a choked laugh. “Remember, I want you in my bed, Mal.”
Flames ignited in her belly. “I haven’t forgotten.”
His look warned her that the man had plans.
She glanced away, then she gasped. “Rhain, look.”
Ahead were endless green flower fields. And in the distance, the mountains of Citadel.
Suddenly, lights started blinking on the console and a strident noise filled the cockpit. She assumed it was an alarm.