Saxon’s eyes flickered to the throne chair as the shuffling in the tunnels increased. All the tables circled the chair and dais. Whoever sat on the throne believed himself to be the ruler, if not the king of these Savages, and they followed him just as the vampires followed Ronan. That was if it was a him, maybe a woman ruled over these monsters.
No matter the sex of the ruler, they did rule here, and if they could keep a group of Savages underground and in control, they had to be powerful.
Saxon edged away from the others and toward the tunnel he was assigned to destroy as red eyes materialized in the shadows. The rats were here, and they’d come to play. Saxon smiled grimly as he tucked one of the grenades into his pocket and removed a crossbow. When the first Savage rushed out of the shadows, he fired the bolt into its chest and watched as it was lifted off its feet and flung back.
“Now!” Ronan shouted.
Saxon pulled the pin from his grenade and, lowering his shoulder, charged through the rush of Savages pouring out of the tunnel. He was only ten feet from the shaft when he planted his feet and threw the grenade into it. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the other bomb and let it fly as a Savage hit him in the chest.
Knocked off his feet, Saxon hit the ground with a thump. To evade the hands clawing at him, he rolled to the side as the first explosion rocked the cavern. Flames burst out of the tunnel Killean was assigned, but he didn’t see his friend.
The ground rocked beneath him as bits of debris rained down from above. Shit!
Saxon scrabbled for purchase on the floor and regained his feet when a Savage leapt onto his back. Before he could reach for it, a concussive boom lifted him off his feet and flung him onto a table.
The air rushed out of his brutalized lungs as two of his ribs cracked and he skidded over the surface to topple off the other side. When he hit the ground, he realized the Savage was still cleaving to him and shrieking as flames devoured its body.
Saxon seized one of its hands and pulled it over his shoulder before flinging it away. Screams rebounded off the walls, and he didn’t know if they were from the Savages or his friends as smoke clogged the air and burned his eyes.
He was just getting his bearings when another explosion rocked the cavern, followed by another and another.
Fissures raced up the side of the dome and spread across the ceiling. The falling fragments mixed with the smoke until the air was gray and heavy with it. Saxon leapt onto another table as chunks of concrete broke away and rained down from the ceiling.
When a boulder of concrete crashed beside him, it shattered the table and caused it to give out. His feet skidded out from under him, and he fell on top of the boulder. Saxon grunted as he placed a hand against his brutalized ribs and propelled himself back to his feet. He couldn’t stay down; the rubble of the collapsing dome would bury him if he didn’t keep moving.
The smoke was so thick he could barely see the remaining tunnel as he raced for it. He darted to the side before skidding to a stop to avoid the concrete falling and shattering around him. The cacophony of screams and crashing wreckage battered his eardrums as the stench of burning flesh, blood, and explosives choked the air.
When a Savage leapt out of the smoke at him, Saxon tore out its throat. The Savage’s hands clawed at its missing windpipe as it fell back before vanishing into the smoke. Through the cloud, Declan emerged; the blood and debris coating him turned him a strange combination of gray and red as he used one of his swords to slice through a Savage while another smashed into his side.
Saxon lost sight of the tunnel as he ran at Declan and the Savage. Declan hit the ground, and the Savage clawed its way over the top of him. Saxon seized the Savage’s hair and ripped it backward. He tore the creature off his friend and drove his stake into its chest before tossing it aside. He held his hand out to Declan who clasped it and allowed Saxon to pull him to his feet.
A thunderous crash rocked the cavern, and Saxon turned to discover a giant mass had fallen from the ceiling to crush the dais.
The whole place was about to come down.
“This way!” Declan shouted and jerked on his arm.
Saxon sprinted behind him as thuds and crashes resonated around them, and the ground quaked like an earthquake was occurring. Shards of debris bounced off his shoulders, calves, and the backs of his boots as the cacophony of the collapsing dome drowned out all other noise.
A chunk of concrete hit his calf and knocked him to his knees. He shoved aside the pile of rubble on him as Declan clutched his forearm and pulled him to his feet. Another boulder hit him in the shoulder, and he gritted his teeth against a shout of frustration.
Then, through the haze, Ronan and Killean emerged. They stood near the entrance of the tunnel, fighting back the Savages trying to flee. Where was Lucien?
“Hurry!” Ronan bellowed when he spotted them.
They were almost to him when a massive piece of the ceiling broke free and smashed to the ground in front of the tunnel. Saxon skidded to a halt and threw up his hands to protect his face as the dust and rock bursting out of the chunk sprayed outward to pelt his flesh. The debris sliced his skin until rivulets of blood ran free.
When the smoke cleared, he lowered his hands to gaze at the mound blocking their way. From above, dirt poured onto the concrete as the earth reclaimed the land stolen from it. Saxon turned away from the wreckage to search the cavern.
He couldn’t think about the fact Ronan was standing where the roof collapsed or Elyse waiting for him to return; if he did, he might lose his mind.
Spinning away, he frantically searched for some way out of this mess, but all he saw was a crumbling world and smoke. Still, there had to be something they could do. He promised Elyse he’d return, and he planned to keep that promise.
“This way!” he shouted at Declan and pointed toward the other tunnels.
The tunnels had probably collapsed where their grenades went off inside them, but they might be able to shelter in what remained of them. Sprinting toward the tunnels, he hoped he hadn’t gotten turned around and was now going in the opposite direction; if he had, they were as good as dead.
They were almost to where he believed the tunnels were when Lucien staggered out of the cloud. The dust covering him had turned him gray except for where blood spilled from an ugly gash on his temple to coat the side of his face and his clothes.
Lucien swayed and almost went down, but Saxon caught him before he hit the ground. Wrapping his arm around his waist, Saxon braced Lucien against his side while he ran forward. A growing rumble alerted him the whole thing was about to come down. Saxon lunged forward and rolled as the dome collapsed with a thunderous crash.