As the blade descended, Marian clenched her jaw and exerted all the power she had into Daz.
He turned into a ghost. The blade passed right through his neck and sank into the floor with the force of Richard’s blow.
“Holy fuck,” Daz whispered. He rolled to the side and snapped to his feet. “Marian?”
That was too much movement. She lost focus and dived out of Daz just before she became solid inside him.
She fell hard onto the floor, too exhausted to keep the phantom state. She blinked to clear her blurry vision. Her hands shook, the price of using her ability for so long.
When her vision cleared, all was chaos.
Richard cut a swath through the monks with the sword, striking them down left and right. Blood splashed against the walls. No more surfer dude, he was a warrior now, ducking one blow and releasing death with the next movement.
A monk rushed at him from the other side. He merely lifted the man and tossed him hard at his fellows, knocking them down like tenpins.
Daz, now armed with a dagger, stabbed a man attacking Richard from the rear.
Where was Rasputin?
“Daz!” Richard yelled. “Get Marian out of here and to the car! She’s exhausted.”
Daz scooped her off the floor just as someone crashed down next to her. Blood dripped on her cheek.
“What about you?” Daz yelled.
“I’m for Rasputin. Go! Help’s coming! Follow me when they get here.”
Richard kicked at the bricks in the fireplace, knocking an entire section aside and revealing a passageway beyond the fire.
He plunged into the opening.
Marian’s energy returned about the time Daz reached the car. He set her against the car while he opened the door. “Get in before they come after us. We need to get clear.”
“We can’t leave Richard!”
“We’re not, we’re just going to find some safe ground. You heard him. Help’s coming. I believe him.”
So do I but…
She took a deep breath, feeling energy return to her limbs. “He could be dead if we wait!”
“You’ve done your part. It’s his fight now and you’re in no shape to continue this.”
“The hell I’m not.”
Daz grabbed for her. She sidestepped him and ran back to the house, changing back to a phantom as she ran. She floated through the outer wall and into the living room. Robe-clad bodies littered the floor. Bile rose in her throat at the smell of spilled blood and urine.
She swallowed down the revulsion and floated through the gaping hole in the fireplace bricks.
It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the dim lights overhead. This tunnel was in better order than the one between the museum and the Church of the Rock. The sides were smooth and the lighting even.
A loud crash echoed up to her, as if rocks smashed against metal.
Richard.
She let go of her phantom form, saving that energy for later, and ran toward the sounds, never so glad that she was a practiced runner. When she heard voices, she slowed, not wanting to stumble into a fight unexpectedly.
At a curve in the tunnel, she went phantom again and poked her head around the corner.
Richard, still armed with the sword, faced off against Rasputin. The monk raised his hand, and a rock flew through the air. Richard batted it away with the sword.
Damn. Rasputin was a telekinetic, a foreseer, maybe a telepath and seemingly impossible to kill. How long could Richard last against the onslaught?
Rasputin laughed. “You’ve gambled and lost everything, Richard the Spare Prince, Richard the Forgotten. I wanted your alliance but I’ll settle for the destruction of your court. I should have known better than to trust a royal.”
Richard lunged for his opponent. Rasputin slashed a hand at the air, and fire engulfed the sword blade. Richard swore and tossed the weapon aside, his hand obviously seared by the heat.
“Richard the Strong,” Rasputin taunted again.
“Exactly.”
Richard leapt and tackled Rasputin, sending them both to the floor, hard. Richard’s fist came down on Rasputin’s face. Bones cracked. Marian cheered Richard on. Rasputin could rot in hell, as far as she was concerned.
There must be some way she could help beyond cheering from the sidelines.
The ground beneath them began to shake. Marian grabbed the wall for balance, lost her concentration and became solid again.
“Your woman is here. Good, you can die together,” Rasputin said.
The ground beneath them shook harder, sending Marian to her knees. A large piece of rock fell onto Richard’s back, knocking him away from Rasputin.
“Marian, get out of here,” Richard said through clenched teeth. He tossed the boulder away, rolled to the side, grabbed the still-flaming sword, stood and ran Rasputin through.
“Survive that, Monk.”
Rasputin collapsed against the wall, his hands clutching at the blade that impaled him. He gurgled low in his throat. “Now hell will rain on you, false prince. This has only started.” With every word, he spit out blood.
A fireball grew above the Mad Monk, blasting heat through the tunnel. Rasputin raised his arm. It was engulfed by flames that quickly spread around his whole body.
“Now who’s a fire demon?” Marian said.
Rasputin glanced at her but tossed the fireball at Richard.
Marian leaped into Richard, turning them both immaterial as the fire roared through them. Hot needles stabbed at every pore of her body. She closed her eyes, counting, all her focus on keeping them safe from the fire.
She looked up just as the ceiling came crashing down around them.
Richard woke coughing from the dust on his tongue. He opened his eyes to nothing but darkness.
“Don’t move,” Marian whispered.
She was curled against his side, her hands wrapped around him. He blinked again and still there was nothing but darkness.
“Where?” he whispered.
“We’re in an air pocket that’s about seven feet across and four feet deep. I couldn’t make my way to the surface, not carrying you, so as soon as I found a clear space, I rested.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, I should’ve gotten us out. But I didn’t know what way was up or down at that point. I just knew we needed air.”
She babbled. It meant she was nervous. Or terrified. How could she not be, after Rasputin dropped a mountain on them? If only Richard believed that had been his death throes. He didn’t, not after the madman seemed convinced he’d survive.
“Angel, it’s a miracle we’re alive. Thank you.”
“No, you saved me first.”
“A good partnership.”
He closed his eyes, thinking about his limbs, wondering how badly he was injured. Little pockets of healing energy tingled all over him, especially at the hip, but molten heat enveloped the hand that had grabbed the sword. Badly burned but healing, he thought.
“We might not be okay for long,” she whispered. “The pocket is unstable. It could collapse. And we’re going to run out of air soon.”
“How long have I been unconscious?”
“Not long, I think, but I don’t have a watch or my phone.”
“I could try and dig us out.”
“Do you think you could do that without somehow collapsing all this on us?”
“I don’t know.” Carefully, he reached his arm around to pull her closer. “Damn.” They could not die like this, trapped like animals in a lair. “There must be a way out. I would guess this is a collapsed shaft in one of the closed mines.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means there might be an easy way for searchers to find us by digging parallel to the old shaft.”
And there was no need for her to stay with him. “Angel, go,” he whispered. “You can make your way through the rock, to a clear shaft. He paused. “And then bring help to me.”
That was a lie. There was no guarantee she could bring searchers back. But she would be safe.
“I’m not leaving you.” She hugged him harder. “I don’t know which way is up. I could get lost searching for daylight and then die trapped inside the rocks. One of my ancestors died that way, or so I’m told. That story always gave me nightmares.”
“You will succeed and live.”
“Stop trying to get rid of me.”
In the darkness, he felt for her lips with his finger. He bent his head and kissed her.
She laid her head on his chest. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t talked you into doing things differently…”
“Then Daz would be dead and you would hate me.” He rested his hand on her curls. “I could never live with your hate, Angel.”
“I love you,” she said.
“That would be mutual.” He closed his eyes. Breathing seemed more difficult.
“If I go phantom in here, it will save air for as long as I can hold it. That could buy us more time, if you think they’re searching for us.”
“Excellent idea.” It would keep her alive longer.
Spots appeared before his eyes, a sure sign the air was getting thin. He felt Marian vanish from his arms but he still felt her presence. He could die here but, God’s eyes, she must live.
He clenched his fists, so angry that they would end this way, that he would never have a chance for so much with her and that she would never have the chance to live her own life, with her own choices.
I won’t leave you, she’d said.
“I love you, Angel.”
“Richard?”
He blinked. A voice inside his head? It must be a hallucination that signaled the onset of death.
“Richard, this is Beth Nakamora. I’m here with Alec and Daz, and we’re going to get you out.”
“Get Marian out first.”
“I can’t read or talk to Marian. Her mind is opaque to me. It has to be both of you or neither of you.”
“The air runs low. You don’t have much time.”
“We came as quickly as we could after your phone call last night. You can hold on. Alec is moving as fast as he can to find a way for his TK to pull you out. You have to hold on for just a few more minutes.”
He licked his lips. “Angel?”
“Yes?” She floated above him, living up to the name he’d given her.
“Help’s coming. Daz, Alec Farley and Beth Nakamora.”
“Okay.”
She doubted him. She thought he was hallucinating or making up something to comfort her. Maybe he was. But he would hold on to hope.
He felt the weight of her against him again, curled in his arms. “I couldn’t hold it,” she whispered. “I’m too exhausted.”
“Help is coming. Rest now.”
“Beth Nakamora? Still there?”
“Here. There’s a way but it’s tricky. About two feet below you is an underground river with headroom. Alec can drop you both into that. But the current’s fast, he says, and it will dump you out in the river underwater. He can try and hold on but there’s no guarantee of it. You might have to make it to the surface on your own.”
He could barely hear Marian breathe anymore. Time had run out. “Do it, Nakamora.”
He twisted Marian around, so her back was against his chest. If they ended up in the water, this was the best way to keep her head above the surface, at least until they hit the river.
It was also the best way to hold her and make for the surface.
And instant later, the ground crumbled under them. He fell, but in a split second, they plunged into cold water and went under. He kicked hard, his grip tight around her waist. They broke to the surface and its welcome air. His hair brushed lightly against the top of the underground channel where the stream flowed.
The stream swirled, turning them sideways. Nakamora had been right. It was a wicked current. Don’t fight it, he told himself, remembering Marshal’s advice about surrendering to the water rather than forcing control on it.
The stream dipped, and they went under once more. When they came up for air again, Marian sputtered.
“What’s going on?”
“Farley dropped us into an underground stream. We have air. For a moment, as we’re about to spilled out into the River Nehe.”
“What?” she asked. “Farley? He made it this fast?”
“Not now. Take a deep breath, suck in as much air as you can, Angel, and trust me.”
They filled their lungs just as they were dumped into a much larger body of water. He saw nothing but murky depths. Up, he thought, but which way? He kicked but it only spun them around. He felt Marian’s hold on his arm tighten.
Let the water be an extension of him. All right. He relaxed and felt them spin free of the depths. He kicked again, hoping he was going up. He caught the glimmer of sunlight above, or thought he did.
His lungs burned. Marian was limp and lifeless.
“Richard, hang in there. Alec’s trying to get you.”
He held Marian close. “I see the surface. I’m headed up.”
He kicked, over and over, hoping his new psychic strength was still in effect. The spots appeared before his eyes again, but he only kicked harder.
His head broke the surface.
Water spit into his eyes. He took a deep breath, holding Marian above the waves.
“Breathe, damn you, Angel! Breathe!”
He looked around. No boat, no helicopter. Marian needed resuscitation now!
As soon as he finished that thought, they were lifted out of the water. Farley.
Stellar.
In a few seconds, they landed on the river’s banks. Farley and Nakamora were there.
“Help her!”
Farley lifted Marian from Richard’s arms and began mouth-to-mouth. Impossibly long seconds passed by. Someone tried to slap an oxygen mask on him. He pushed the prying hand away.
Marian coughed and spit out water. Farley turned her on her side as she expelled the last of it. He moved over and held her head as she finished retching.
He pulled her against him. She still breathed heavily, but she breathed. She was alive.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Richard,” she said in a scratchy voice, “but maybe I’ll wait a while for you to teach me to surf.”
He just held her tighter.
He looked up after a moment. “Rasputin?
“No sign of him,” Farley said. “He was probably killed in the cave-in.”
“Did you find his body?”
“Not yet. It’s dangerous footing down there. I didn’t want to risk anyone being in those tunnels.”
Richard shook his head. “I sincerely doubt he’s dead. But at least his operation is exposed. Ms. Nakamora, did you sense him at all?”
She shook her head.
“Then he’s gone for now, at least until he decides to strike back.”
“Good,” Marian said.
Alec smiled and knelt next to them. “Either way, Rasputin’s done for today and we’ve cleaned out a monastery’s worth of evil monks. Let’s get the hell out of here and have a hospital look at your girl.”
“Excellent idea,” Richard said. But soon, he was going to find the madman who’d nearly killed his angel. The first step in that would be to find the traitor in his court.