Part 40 (1/2)

She felt enormous pressure building inside her, then a searing, ripping pain. Seconds later, it happened again, and this time, something slimy slid against her thighs onto the ground between her ankles.

Tori didn't look at it. She couldn't bear to see what it was that had been growing inside her for so long. It was gone now, and that was all that mattered.

The relief from the pain made her dizzy. She started to fall over and didn't bother to stop herself. She was out of strength and simply couldn't find enough energy to care what happened to her anymore.

Angus moved fast, thrusting himself in front of Gilda.

His heart bled anguish for his daughter. Even as his blade moved, he wondered what he could have done differently that would have proved his love to her.

He'd failed her as a father. Completely. Utterly. His sweet baby girl didn't even believe he loved her. How could he have been so blind to her needs?

Tears threatened to blur his vision. He blinked them away madly, using every bit of grief and remorse he felt to fuel his strength.

Power flowed out of him, but he couldn't tell what Gilda was doing with it. Seconds later, he saw Maura floating through the air, fighting and spitting and clawing at a nearly invisible fist of air around her middle.

Gilda wasn't letting their baby goa”not after she'd nearly gotten Maura to listen.

He couldn't agree more.

As soon as Maura pa.s.sed overhead he felt the ground tremble and shards of rock burst from below, blocking off the seemingly unending ma.s.s of Synestryn.

He finished off the last three beasts on this side of the barrier, turning toward his girls before the last creature to die had even finished twitching.

Gilda grabbed Maura by one ankle and pulled her to the ground. ”You're coming home and that's final.”

Maura screamed in outrage, stomping her dainty foot.

Behind them came the loud crash of metal on stone. The demons were battling their way through the spikes.

”Time to go,” he said, urging Gilda along.

They hurried down the hall toward the cavern they pa.s.sed on their way in. Angus kept a careful lookout behind them, making sure none of those things broke through. With any luck, the other Sentinels would have left one of the vehicles behind for them to use. If not, they'd have to call for a pickup. With all the magic Gilda had been slinging around, he didn't think she'd be up to any kind of portals, even with the restrengthening of their bond.

He'd have to make sure Maura was restrained enough to keep her from touching anyone on the way home. Gilda may have been able to combat whatever it was she'd done, but he wasn't convinced someone else would have the skill and power to do so.

He owed it to Maura to make sure she didn't kill anyone else and add to the guilt his little girl already carried around. She'd made so many bad decisions. It was going to take her a long time to forgive herself as it was, a.s.suming she ever could.

They'd find a way to help her. He wasn't sure how, but he'd give his last breath if it meant Maura would see how much she was loved, how valuable and precious she was to him.

Gilda was dragging Maura along. Angus wanted to help, but he was afraid it would complicate things if he touched her, so he left it to Gilda to control their daughter.

She'd just walked into the cavern when she came to a dead stop. A heavy wave of fear crashed out of her through their link, driving the breath from Angus's body.

He came up behind her, searching for the threat, following her gaze.

At least fifty of those too-human-looking, furless, sword-wielding Synestryn stood in formation, blocking the exit.

There was another tunnel on the far side of the chamber, but it, too, was blocked by at least another twenty guards.

Behind them, the pounding against rock stopped, and Angus heard the sound of hungry Synestryn growing louder. They'd broken through Gilda's stone barrier.

His family was surrounded, cut off from escape.

Only years of experience with hopeless situations allowed him not to panic. They'd find a way to get out of this somehow.

”There's no way out,” said Maura. ”Proof that no matter what you do, the future remains the same. Tonight you die.”

Chapter 27.

Madoc saw Nika hit the wall and nearly lost it. He bellowed in rage, speeding his attacks, cutting his way through Synestryn to get to her. As his body moved, his mind screamed at her to wake up. Get up.

He pushed power through their link, trying to give her what she needed to get back on her feet and protect herself.

One of the hairless things swung a blade at Madoc's head and he felt a sting burn along his scalp. The thing had scored a hit, and now Madoc had blood running into his eyes.

He couldn't take the time to wipe it away. Instead, he funneled his rage at the thing and lopped off the hand holding the sword.

The thing fell back, spewing blood, and a pile of furry, clawed demons fell on it, devouring it in seconds.

There was no time to celebrate. There were more things attacking him, trying to maneuver him away from the wall so they could get to his back.

Not going to happen. Madoc had to take the long way around to get to Nika or he wasn't going to get to her at all.

In fact, from the looks of things, Madoc wasn't sure any of them were going to make it out of this alive.

Gilda had no idea how they were going to find a way out. Maybe if they offered to trade Maura for their lives, they would be allowed to leave, but Gilda wasn't willing to use her daughter as currency. She was too precious for that.

Before the Synestryn could close in, Gilda surrounded the three of them with a ring of flame, giving her time to think.

They needed to go up. It was the only way not blocked. It was also incredibly difficult to break through the ceiling of a cave without killing them all in the process. Gilda wasn't sure she had enough strength left to do it, but she wasn't seeing any other options.

”Hold on,” she said, then packed a solid disk of air under them and lifted them toward the ceiling of the cave.

The acrid smell of smoke still hovered up here, but there was no help for that now. She needed every bit of strength to bash through the ceiling of the cave and get them out.

Gilda found what she hoped was a weak spot about ten feet to the left and battered it with a blast of energy.

Rocks spilled down. A crack formed along the ceiling. Gilda aimed for that crack and punched at it again.

The crack opened and huge chunks of rocks rained down on them. She pulled more power from Angus, hearing him groan at the strain, but she couldn't be gentle right now. She had to s.h.i.+eld them from the cascade of stone.

Tons of rock battered the s.h.i.+eld she'd thrown up, weakening her. Angus's warm hand cradled her neck, aiding her efforts. She felt him trying to help hera”pus.h.i.+ng as much energy into her as he could.

It wasn't enough. She couldn't keep them afloat. The weight drove them down onto the pile of rock that had already formed beneath them.

Synestryn that weren't crushed began to scurry up the sides of the mound to get to them.