Page 119 of Stealing Embers
“Don’t touch him!” Aurora screams.
Having the sense to know that Steel is about to do something very foolish, I step forward and place both hands on his back.
His body shakes in fury.
I slide my hands to grasp his biceps, not having any illusions that I’ll be able to hold him back if he decides to go all Rambo on me, but I’m crossing my fingers that the slight restraint will give him a moment’s pause.
Pressing up onto the balls of my feet, I rest my chin on Steel’s shoulder and whisper into his ear. “Shhhhh. Bring it down a notch, Cow Boy.”
Turning his head, our noses touch. He bares his teeth at me, but some of the tension eases from his body.
Mission accomplished.
Dropping down, I put space between us.
Steel presses his back to the rock wall. Resting his head against the hard surface, he squeezes his eyes shut. His jaw moves back and forth and I can see a vein pulsing in his neck.
When his eyes reopen, his irises glow teal. Fastening that blue blaze on me, he executes several quick hand movements.
Ummmmm . . . I have zero idea what they mean. Is he telling me to go long?
I’m sure there’s a look of utter confusion splashed across my face and it must convey my complete lack of understanding because with gritted teeth, Steel takes hold of my head and brings his face level to mine.
“Just follow my lead.”
Did he really need all those hand gestures for that simple command?
Taking a deep but silent breath, Steel turns toward the bend in the tunnel. He inches forward until he can peek around the corner. I tiptoe along with him, staying only a hair’s breadth away from his back.
Without warning, he charges forward and disappears around the corner.
Crap!
This is happening—without being able to phase or a single real weapon between the two of us.
We’re in so much trouble.
Steel’s angry battle cry spurs me into motion. Whipping around the corner only a few paces behind him, I watch Steel race forward with the rage of a rabid animal.
Thirty feet away, the tunnel opens to a circular cavern. Stalactites hang like muddy icicles from the rock ceiling several stories in the air.
Two large, bulky figures are crouched low in the middle of the space. Their animalistic stance tells me they have to be Forsaken. Their fingers are bent and ready to attack, but in the mortal realm they don’t have claws.
On the floor behind them, illuminating everything around it, is a ball of blue fire about the size of a volleyball. It’s hard to see the object clearly with the two Forsaken prowling in front of it, but I’d bet my gilded armor that isn’t a normal fire. It’s a perfect sphere of shining light that hasn’t even scorched the ground beneath it.
That’s some magic fire burning over there.
Steel lets out another angry yell and the Forsaken hiss back at him like the bottom-feeding creatures they are. As I was ogling the strange fire-orb, Steel engaged in battle.
The Forsaken saw us coming—it’s not as if our ambush was stealthy—but Steel’s wrath is palpable. He’s going to rip the two of them apart with his bare hands, which I fully approve of. He’s already bloodied one of the creatures up pretty badly.
Leaving the beasts to Steel—and forcing the strange fireball out of my mind—I search for the twins. They are huddled together on the opposite side of the cavern with their knees pressed to their chests. Aurora’s arms are locked around Blaze. One side of his face is swollen and there’s a trickle of blood flowing from his nose.
The sight of the two children causes fury to poison my blood. It runs hot through my veins, melting part of my rational being away. The familiar feeling of liquid fire races up and down my spine.
Am I phasing?
I don’t want to phase. Aurora and Blaze are in this reality, not the other one.