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The closer they got to Hyattown, the deeper the pain bit into Zach.
He tried not to let the girls see it, but apparently, Alex was used to looking with her boyfriend Sam. And Misty seemed to have a second sense when it came to Zach.
She draped his arm over her shoulders and kissed his cheek. “Feel free to lean all you want.”
“Okay.” He tried to smile at her suggestive tone, but it was enough of an effort to stay upright.
When he stumbled over nothing, Alex moved to his other side, her strong arms helping stabilize him. All three of them halted abruptly when the town sign came into view.
Sam stood there, inches from the wavering barrier, and shouting.
“No—” Alex let him go and sprinted forward, favoring her left leg. Zach could see the haze of pain surrounding it. He tried to block it, and this time what little control he still had failed completely. Alex’s voice yanked him back to the present. “Sam—calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
“Alex.” Sam hauled her into his arms, like she was a lifeline. Zach understood completely. He was hanging on to his right now.
After endless minutes, Sam managed to control the rage swirling around him. Alex reached up to cradle his scarred cheek.
“Talk to me, Sam.”
He took a shaky breath. Sweat glued his shirt to his back, like he’d been running hard. “The shield won’t let me through. It knocked me out cold the first time I touched it.”
“What the—” She reached toward it, and Sam yanked her away before she could touch. “Sam, I need to—”
“Like hell you do. It threw me all the way back to the underground entry. So don’t even think about it.”
Alex started checking him for injuries, and he grabbed her hands. “Sam—”
“Why are you here?” Sam looked at Zach when he asked the question. The tension from their first meeting had never dissolved. That Simon may be down here, trapped by something related to the haven that Sam’s family owned— “I told you not to come down here on your own, Alex. Not until all the renovations are finished.”
“I was meeting you, or did you conveniently forget that?”
“And I told you to meet me up there.”
Zach tried to take a step back, to give them as much privacy as he could without actually leaving. Misty tightened her grip on his waist.
“Stay put, golden boy. I’m not missing a second of this.”
Zach understood why when Alex yanked out of Sam’s grip. “You told me. Like you have the right to boss me around, tell me what to do, and where not to go? Is that the kind of telling you’re referring to, Sam?”
“She’s brilliant when she gets like this,” Misty whispered.
Zach agreed; he just wished Sam wasn’t shooting death glares at him, like this was his fault. Alex got Sam’s attention by slapping both hands against his chest, shoving him away from her. Sam stumbled, and he flung his arm out. Straight into the shield.
Agony ripped through Zach. His knees buckled, and he fell, taking Misty with him. Through the tearing pain, he heard her, felt her lift his head, her hands cool on his fire-hot skin.
“Zach, what’s going on—talk to me, Zach. Damn it, Alex, he’s burning up.”
He felt another hand on his shoulder. His body tried to recoil, and the hand tightened, keeping him in place.
“Zach.” Alex’s quiet voice soothed. “We’re going to get you away from the shield.” Her hand slid across his shoulder. “Just hold on—”
She let out a sharp gasp. Heat exploded at his throat—and he understood what happened. She’d touched his amethyst.
Zach felt her, through the agony trying to rip him apart. He used the last of his strength, his hand gripping her wrist, just before the darkness swallowed him.
***
Zach knew he was unconscious, but he could still see what was happening around him. Misty bent over him, her eyes wild with fear—and Alex, slumped over. Sam had his arms wrapped around her, shouting her name.
The shield almost took her as well. Zach managed to block it, force all its attention on him. When it did, his breath lodged in his throat.
Elias?
A face appeared in the shimmering wall. A familiar face.
“You made it, Zachariah. I did not think you had the strength to breach my defenses.”
“I had help,” he whispered. “What happened? We thought you—we thought you escaped.”
“I did. But Uriel found me at the last moment, and when he tried to stop me, I—lost control. I woke here, and I was not corporeal.” Bitterness cut through his voice. “I was nothing but a mass of emotions, with a fraction of the power I had Between.”
“You created a shield, for the haven.”
Zach could feel him shrug.
“I simply replaced the inelegant attempt that existed. It is what I am, Zachariah. I protect those who need it. These creatures needed it, desperately. I found—satisfaction in it. Until they deserted me.”
“That wasn’t by choice, Elias. You have to know—”
“I am dying, Zachariah.”
Zach closed his eyes. “You can’t have Simon. Not for this.” He looked at Elias, aching for his friend. “He deserves peace—he earned it. Please let him go.”
Pain lashed at him. He doubled over, fighting to breathe.
“He is mine, now. Leave, or I will be forced to harm you. All of you.”
Zach flinched. He’d spoken the same words, with the same desperation, when he was trying to escape.
He had no strength left to speak, so he threw his thoughts at Elias.
I was where you are now—if you still have any tie to yourself, they will hurt you—
An invisible fist slammed into his stomach.
“Last warning, Zachariah. I will not hesitate next time.”
He let go, and Zach tumbled toward the flickering light.