Chapter 19
Cyril’s Compound, Tetartos Realm
Alex moved in a blur of motion at the breached tunnels hidden in Cyril’s stronghold. Uri found himself at once aroused, filled with pride, then fucking horrified at her recklessness. She launched, teleported, and snapped necks at a rate that should not have made him want to fuck her up against the nearest wall, but she was incredible.
He’d never before been forced to fight with an erection, and he hoped the thing would calm the hell down, because his semi-hard cock was not making the battle easier. Sirena wasn’t kidding about the crazed distraction of the mating frenzy.
Before they’d even left the manor, his mate had been sending him visuals of her sucking his dick dry. He had been so caught off guard by the sights in his mind of her swallowing him down that he’d barely registered that Erik had completed his link with Sam. He’d been one step behind her as they teleported to Cyril’s stronghold.
He watched her take down another guard that dared go near Erik. The sounds of a low alarm, shouts of Mageias, and the slashing of blades filled the space. It wasn’t as easy to tune out the odor of burnt flesh, courtesy of a Mageia skilled in launching fireballs.
Their bond was distracting as fuck. He felt the mating connection like a living thing. Each time she tapped into his powers, they swelled for her, just like his unruly cock. He felt her use his own bond with his fellow Guardians to link with them. Hell, he’d even felt when she knew the spot to blow a hole in the mountain. That particular power was impressive. When they completed the mating ceremony, he wasn’t sure what it would become.
This was not the time or place to think about their connection; he had to get his head back in the game. Guards were flooding the tunnels in all directions. Whatever warriors Erik didn’t lay waste to, Alex or Vane, who flanked their brother, took out with their blades. Uri covered the rear, irritated that Cyril’s first line appeared to be predominately elemental Mageias. He envied his mate and her brothers’ ability to dispatch the mortals. He and his brethren weren’t so lucky, not with the curse of tenfold the pain.
The area they were in appeared to be a cafeteria or mess hall of some sort. Tables that were once laid out in lines were now overturned, damage wrought by the first air elemental that had come through. Erik was like a bullet, destroying anything in his path with single-minded focus on finding his female, his massive jaws tearing into anyone who dared block his path.
The Mageias seemed to have had their powers enhanced in the labs, effectively slowing him and his brethren. He growled as a blast of fire licked over his shoulder before he quickly took the bastard down with silver cuffs that would inhibit their powers.
Snarling in fury, he teleported behind an Aletheia who dared near Alex. In a flash of movement he grabbed the male by the throat. One harsh snap and sharp slice from his blade, and the male fell to a bloody heap on the ground.
Alex teleported behind another Mageia, slicing skin and bone until his head rolled to the ground as Vane snapped the neck of another who ventured too close to Erik. He dodged fireballs, still watching the back of his female. Another fucking air elemental whipped into the room, pulling power to suck air from their lungs before Erik’s claws slashed through the mortal’s chest, barely hesitating, too focused on a destination only he knew.
The corridors were crowded and loud with cries of battle rage. Erik had just gone through a tunnel to the side when Uri heard a furious roar and smelled the blood mixed with burnt flesh and fur. Without looking, he knew Erik had been hit by a fire elemental. Vane was there in a flash, slashing with his blade until the elemental littered the floor next to the others who’d already fallen.
Vane and Alex were a sight; hand-to-hand was not a problem for them. And Vane seemed to relish the fight; the male was impressive.
Once Erik accessed the tunnel to the right, he was a blur of movement, bounding down the nearly empty tunnel. Vane, Alex and Uri were forced to cover the influx of fighters at the corner. They didn’t want to let the battle get past the connection of paths leading four ways. There were fucking keypads to what appeared to be emergency doors hidden in the walls there. He quickly communicated the need to guard that spot or risk losing their exit.
He heard Alex using his link to Drake and Conn, giving them a mental image of a location she believed might hold Cyril. Another feeling she had about a tunnel they’d passed a few minutes before.
Her worry for Erik was relentlessly sliding through their bond, but she stayed near him. Stayed fighting against the hordes of Cyril’s warriors that wouldn’t stop coming. She and Vane were the only ones who could effectively dispatch this fucking many Mageia, and he knew they were aware of that shitty fact. And there were dozens mixed with Immortals. When one fell, another fought in its place, no matter how many dead bodies piled in the converging tunnels. He called for Gregoire, Sacha and Jax, who’d been battling soldiers in another tunnel.
When the other Guardians teleported to them, Uri directed Jax and Gregoire to follow Erik. Jax had the explosives in case they were needed.
Uri linked with Vane and Alex to inform them what the hell was going on as more cries of Mageia filled the space. He felt Alex’s relief that Erik was getting backup while Vane issued a grunt of acknowledgement. They were right in the middle of a cluster-fuck.
Sacha stayed to help fight back the horde coming at them. They still needed to make sure the enemy couldn’t throw the doors closed. Sacha and Bastian were the only ones able to teleport through metal, and they wouldn’t be able to take passengers. Blowing doors might take time they might not have if Cyril decided to blast the place to rubble now that his location was compromised. He had no doubt that could and would happen, sooner than later.
Alex and Vane were picking off elementals, leaving full Immortals to Uri and Sacha.
The hall they fought in couldn’t be more than six or eight feet wide, making it a bitch to use blades, though his beautiful mate wasn’t fazed by it. She used sleek fighting skills, opting for her long daggers. She slid low to hamstring a fighter only to come up and slice his throat before bashing the idiot behind him with the dying male’s head. She hadn’t been kidding about her abilities. He was enthralled by her graceful movements.
They were making progress in pushing the army back, thinning it. At that thought, a fire elemental in the furious rush of warriors landed a fireball against Vane’s shoulder. The Demi-God roared while busy cutting down another Mageia.
Uri felt Alex’s rage slamming through the link. Right before his eyes, she teleported into the middle of the enemy. Air hissed from his lungs as they surrounded her. He was already en route to her, his ears buzzing in the split second she took slicing the fire elemental’s throat. He used his weight and fury to slam the masses away from her before teleporting them back beside Vane, bleeding from a cut to her stomach.
Uri’s vision was burning red when he scented her blood and saw the cut on her stomach. He snapped the neck of a big Hippeus as he demanded, How serious is your wound? He was barely able to get the words out through the telepathic link; he was too enraged at the scent of her injury.
It’s fine. Just a flesh wound. You didn’t need to come after me. I was just leaving.
He couldn’t even speak. He was so damned furious she’d pulled such a reckless fucking move.
An Ailouros he was fighting obviously saw his distraction. The male sneered as he landed a bloody claw mark down Uri’s chest. The bastard was fighting in a partial cat form. The cut barely stung, but getting caught off guard battered his pride. It didn’t matter the cats were of the warrior class of Immortals. He was a fucking Guardian. The bulky bastard was a cheetah or some shit with speed and a good reach. Fighting in close quarters was a pain in the ass, but he finally saw his opportunity to finish it. He teleported behind the cat and smoothly avoided a head butt before snapping the male’s neck. He had a bit of time before he’d have to take the asshole’s head.
He looked around at the mass of fighters, who were already starting to lose their nerve. When they saw the cat go down, some finally began retreating. The lifeless bodies of Cyril’s warriors littered the floor, forcing them to fight over bodies in order to hold the line they needed to protect their exit route.
Drake, Bastian, and Conn must have cut a swath through their end since no more enemies were coming from that direction.
He felt Alex’s need to get to her brother.
“You and Vane go. Sacha and I can hold the route open.”
She gave him a grateful smile and ran in the direction Erik had gone.
Fuck, he didn’t like her off without him.
Sander, can you get down here and keep this exit clear? His need to protect his mate was growing fiercer by the minute. It didn’t matter that the tunnel looked empty.
On my way.
Once the other fighters realized that their buddies had retreated, the stragglers fell back as well, but Uri wouldn’t leave Sacha alone to cover their exit.
“I’ve got this. Go to your mate.”
He appreciated Sacha’s assurance, but he wasn’t leaving her. If the enemy returned with reinforcements, she’d be by herself. The fucking Mageia had made this battle far harder on his brethren than Alex and her brothers. The minute he saw Sander’s dark skin come into focus, he felt for Alex’s location. She was panicked.
He was nearly blinded by worry as he ported through the halls to get to her as quickly as he fucking could.