Fangs of Fate (Untish #1)

Chapter 70

CHAPTER SEVENTY

CHANCE

The light faded and the crackle in the air dissipated. I stood up from behind the debris I used as cover and spotted Tate facing off with the monster. The entire field around her was bubbling. The seethings had been reduced to nothing but ashes and goo. The monster laughed as it stared at her.

“Maker,” it spoke to her.

Maker? Was it insinuating Tate’s magic was responsible for it? Impossible. And yet, I stared at the female who never so much as hinted at having magic and was dumbfounded. She had just leveled an entire field of at least a hundred seethings in one burst of power.

I clenched my jaw. It didn’t matter. Her secrets, her betrayal, none of it mattered right now.

Where was Shae? I looked past Tate who was now squaring her shoulders, ready to battle the beast of a creature until my eyes landed on Shae. She was inside a dome with one of Anax Mardi’s dokimoses.

I could make it to Shae from here. Blood help me, but there was nothing I could do for Tate. I didn’t even know who she was anymore. The amount of magic Tate was radiating was unnatural and undocumented.

I was close to a decimated building, the moment I left I’d be exposed. I moved forward quickly, but as quietly as possible. Thanks to Tate and what should have been impossible, the field was empty save for the beast she was currently facing off with.

I ducked behind a half-standing wall. Peering over it, I could see Anax Mardi blocking Tate from the monster. Good, let him die.

I took a breath and then ran, heading straight for Shae.

Her eyes widened as she saw me approaching. I ran across the yard, stepping in piles of goo and mud, unsure of what was what. Dokimos Eragon looked at me and raised her weapon. I didn’t slow down, I could hear seethings beginning to stir around, repopulating the field. Dokimos Eragon squeezed the trigger.

I winced, preparing to feel the bullet but instead, I heard it wiz by and then a guttural cry came from behind. She’d taken down a seething. She fired several more times and I continued rushing toward them.

The dome Shae was in was solid, it wouldn’t let me through.

“Drop the dome!” I commanded.

Dokimos Eragon simply raised an eyebrow at me. She spoke into her com before looking from Shae to me.

“All yours, buddy.” She shrugged at me before looking to Shae. “Good luck, and uh, do me a favor girl, stay alive.” With that, she touched the dome and then bolted through it heading for the forest’s edge about two hundred yards out.

I didn’t hesitate before pressing through the shield and falling inside the dome. Pounding and screeching from the other side told me those things had been right behind.

“Dale!” Shae called out but didn’t stand. Her left leg was at an unnatural angle. Broken.

“What the hell were you thinking?” I demanded, stalking toward her. The dome shuttered but held. I could see those things trying to get in. Thankfully, it appeared they couldn’t.

“I was doing the right thing you bastard. You were just going to leave her!” Shae accused me, waving a hand to the scene playing out behind me.

“Yeah, well look where your ‘ rescue,’ ” I air quoted the word, not caring how much of a jackass it made me, “got you.”

A guttural roar came from behind and I turned to see the monster being thrown backwards and landing in the crumpled remains of a warehouse. Anax Mardi was holding Tate who looked at him. They were focused on each other as if the whole fucking world wasn’t burning.

I turned away; I couldn’t stomach the sight.

“We need to go. Now.”

“What about Tate?”

“What about her?” I reached Shae and picked her up, holding her across my shoulder. I would carry her out of here.

“Dale, you’re better than this. She needs us. She saved me.”

“She’s not on her own. And there is nothing I can do for her. Did you see the way Mardi threw that thing back? He’s her best option and I’m yours.” I looked through the dome.

I’d left Holland and Damaris at the west side of the compound—they made it to the trees in the initial chaos after the explosion. Judging by the amount of seethings I could see tearing into the remains of some guaramen—along with blood knew what—retreating the way we came was not an option. Dokimos Eragon had run for the forest. That was our best option.

My core shook as I could feel my ire awakening. Something foreign was taking root. Impossibilities replaced the known. The whole compound was destroyed, along with my beliefs.

“Can you use a pistol from there?” I asked, handing her one and not waiting for a response.

“What do you think?” she asked, firing and shooting the two seethings who were still trying to get through the shield.

“Good. Holland, do you come in?” I spoke into the coms. Nothing, I couldn’t hear anything but static. “Hold on Shae, we’re going to make a run for it.”

I glanced one last time in the direction of the half-clothed female who had messed my moral code up so thoroughly. She was levitating, once again floating in midair while being held by Mardi.

I could taste the magic and feel it pulsing all around me. I had no idea what Tate was, but I knew it couldn’t be natural. The thought of her using dark magic made me sick. It made her an accomplice to those monsters—possibly even their creator. The whole sky turned from grey to golden white and I looked away, shielding my eyes. Red haloed them as I looked toward the tree line.

I swallowed the bitter sting of hate and ran through the shield. If I was going to make to the tree line, now was the time.