There were three gates in this small section alone, eight guards, and the only one to even look twice at us was a female shifter, and she was immediately silenced by her partner with a right hook to the jaw. This was how all the female guards we’d seen had been subdued, which pissed me off so bad. The twins were manipulative assholes; they cared for no one but themselves. Typical sirens, so used to controlling males that they thought they could control everything.
When we reached the end of the path, there were no more bars, and no deviation off the path. It was a stone wall, dead end.
“So what’s the plan now?” I was quite proud by the level of sarcasm present in my words.
They turned and their twin grins were freaking unnerving. I wanted to punch both of them in the nose.
They spoke together. “Now, we open the wall.”
Sure, of course. Open the wall.
“How are you going to do that?” I asked. My hackles raised as the two of them closed in on either side of me. I backed up a little, both hands held slightly aloft so I could fight them if needed.
Orange flashed her dark eyes in my direction, followed by white teeth. “Easy, just a little blood offering.”
A little what the what? Not on my watch, sister, I bleed for no one. I never even donated blood to Maximus, and I loved him more than life. I started to back up faster, keeping a certain amount of distance between me and them. They stopped pursuing me about halfway along this small section, and I was just wondering what the hell they were doing when they both spun and pounced on my moronic sister.
I didn’t hesitate to change directions, but I knew I was too far away to get there in time. All I could do was watch in horror.
They were far more skilled than she was. It took no time for Orange to produce a knife, and with a move any expert would be proud of, she plunged it into Mischa’s side, sliding it between her ribs. A gasping yelp escaped from my twin’s mouth, and she collapsed immediately. I could hear her ragged breathing and knew they’d punctured her lung.
My initial fly kick smashed Lemon in the back of the head, slamming her face first into the stone. She bounced back up without pause and spun to engage me. A trickle of blood ran down her cheek, scraped from where she’d hit the wall. I growled, my hands shifting into claws as I gouged at her. I had to get to Mischa and Lemon was in my way.
Over her shoulder I noticed Orange reaching down to hoist my twin into her arms. Furious, I clocked Lemon, my elbow smashing her jaw. But again I couldn’t reach Mischa in time. Orange sent her flying toward the wall blocking the path.
Blood splattered as she hit the rock, and then I sensed the magic. A burst of power shot out through us, ancient, strong – like Louis’ magic always felt.
Lemon tried to duck by me. I swung around and punched her. I got a good hit in because she was distracted – trying to reach her sister. Perfect opportunity. I punched her again, dodging her feeble attempts to defend herself, and finally my elbow put her down. This time she stayed there. Kicking her once in the gut, I leapt across her body and moved to help Mischa.
The ground rumbled and I skidded over the rocks to reach my twin, yanking her into my arms, pulling her away from the falling debris. Whatever the bitch twins had done was bringing down the wall. With a bang it disintegrated, rocks rolling out across the floor, leaving behind an entrance into what looked like another small stone area.
The twins both stood above where I was cradling Mischa and stared down at me.
“Follow or your sister will die.” Orange looked excited, and that scared me more than her anger.
I could hear Mischa’s wheezing, her small whimpers sending panicky trills down my spine. I forced my panic into anger, sneering as growls fell from my mouth. “Marked can’t die.”
The twins glanced at each other before turning back to me and, synchronized, both laughed, the dead, empty laughter of crazy people. “Of course the marked can die, and the countdown is on for Mischa. You don’t want to delay.”
Truth. I knew those bitches held the key to our mortality.
Without removing my eyes from them, I slowly stood, my sister’s slender form cradled in my arms. “Hurry the fuck up, and you better hope and pray that Mischa is okay.”
I shut down my emotions, schooling my features, before following them through that entrance – I had to shift Mischa around so she would fit – and into the next tunnel. The moment I got a free hand I was going to activate my tracker. Mischa was fading, and something told me I was going to need help myself in the next few minutes.
Chapter 18
Mischa stared up at me, her wide green eyes glassy. Shock and pain had set in.
She blinked a few times, bubbles of watery blood forming at the corner of her mouth, and it took her more than one attempt to make a noise. I had to move very close to hear what she was saying.
“I’m … I … I’m sor … sorry, Jess. Said would … get … Max…” She trailed off, her head falling back against me as she ran out of steam.
I could feel the warmth of her blood still seeping out of her side. Her shifter healing should be slowing that flow. Why the heck was it taking so long? My eyes darted toward the twins. Was that knife infused with silver? I tilted my head over and sniffed at her wound. The burning tingle indicated there was definitely silver involved.
“Enough screwing around.” The command came from one of the fruity bitch twins. “Move your ass, Jessa.”
My head flew up, and for the first time I noticed the new area we’d stepped into.