Nero fired again. Mother, how had that woman cast something so fast? His only hope was that the spell, being cast so fast, wouldn’t last long. But his second shot slammed into the magic protecting her and the bullet clattered to the floor.

Shit.

He had no idea if that was his thought or Becca’s.

The barrier was strong enough to buy Stanbury time to cast something else more dangerous.

He had to do something.

Now.

He hissed his power word and summoned his wind, but the woman slapped her hand to her hip pocket, yelled again, and the weight of a null magic spell swept around him. It snuffed out his wind and made Becca’s essence in his head vanish. A chill shuddered through him at the sudden loss of her presence, and the ache of his missing dugga’s magic swelled.

Son of a— In only a few seconds, Stanbury had eliminated their sidearms and his wind as if she had experience battling dragons… or in the very least, other magic.

“God damn it.” Becca holstered her Glock, drew the tactical knife from her hip sheath, and lunged at Stanbury.

With a growl, Nero did the same. Stanbury might have magic, but it was still two against one. Surely between them, they could grab her long enough for Nero to take the dugga’s magic back. Here was hoping the barrier spell was limited to projectiles and not everything else. He couldn’t imagine casting it so quickly if it was for everything.

Stanbury bolted to the other side of her desk, pulled two cards from her pocket, held up one, and yelled another power word. A bolt of lightning shot from the card and raced toward Becca.

Nero seized the back of Becca’s tactical vest and yanked her to the floor. The lightning exploded into the wall behind them, tearing through the dry wall and sending sparks flying when it hit the metal wall frame.

Another bolt streaked their way. Becca rolled to the side and wrenched Nero on top of her as the lightning exploded into the floor where he’d been.

Stanbury’s card blackened and crumbled, but she held up the other card. Nero scrambled off Becca as Stanbury drew breath to yell again. He rammed his shoulder into the desk and shoved it into Stanbury. With a gasp that didn’t activate the card, the woman staggered back.

Becca leapt onto the desk and dove for her, making Stanbury jerk back another step. Becca swiped at the hand holding the card with her knife. The tip caught the back of Stanbury’s hand — thank the Mother the blade got through the barrier spell — making her scream, and the card fluttered to the floor.

Stanbury’s gaze jumped to it, and for a split second, Nero prayed the woman would try and grab it. With it so close to Becca, that would give her the opportunity to grab her. But Stanbury jumped back instead and reached into her pocket again.

Nero bolted toward her as Becca dove at her from atop the desk. Stanbury screamed and pulled out another card. A gust of wind hit Becca, tossing her across the room and into the wall. She hit with a bone-breaking crunch and fell to the floor.

Pain sliced through Nero’s head, strong enough to cut through Stanbury’s null magic spell.

“Becca.” He jerked toward her. He couldn’t help himself, even if all his centuries of combat experience told him to stay focused on the enemy. Instinct overrode everything, and his inamorata was hurt.

“Eyes on the target,” Becca gasped, rising to her hands and knees. “I’m all right.”

He couldn’t believe that. His chest was on fire and it had to be her agony. But she was right. Stanbury was the danger, and he wrenched his attention back to her as another blast of wind shot from the card. Nero dove to the side. The wind slammed into the desk and tossed it toward Becca, who scrambled out of the way.

More pain burned into Nero, stealing his breath and dragging his attention back to Becca. She’d probably broken her ribs. Maybe punctured a lung.

But he knew this hadn’t been the first time, and from her memory of the attack in Afghanistan, she’d been through worse. Not to mention they were running out of time.

Becca staggered to her feet.

Stanbury shot a third blast of wind at Nero. He leapt to the side, but it caught his shoulder and jerked him around, back, and down to his hands and knees.

The card crumbled, the pieces fluttering to the floor, and Stanbury pulled another card from her pocket.

“Jeez. How many cards do you have?” Becca asked, her voice tight with pain.

“More than enough to deal with you and that monster.”

Which meant he had to get up and move. Now. Before Stanbury could cast anything else.

With a roar, he lunged at Stanbury. She jerked back, but he caught her wrist and yanked her hand from her pocket. She held four cards, and he twisted her wrist, forcing her to drop them instead of trying to stab her.

The cards tumbled to the floor and Nero plunged his knife toward her gut. She twisted, blocked his strike with the wrist of her free arm, and rammed her heel into the inside of his knee. The joint crunched and his leg buckled. He seized her free wrist and tightened his grip on the other one as he fought to regain his balance.

A wicked grin curled Stanbury’s lips. “I don’t need to hold one of my cards to activate it.” She pressed her elbow against her side and yelled another power word. “Now drop.”

A weight swept over Nero, everything went numb, and he collapsed. He fought to stand, to move, to do anything, but he could barely feel his body and couldn’t get even the smallest muscle to move.

“You honestly think you could win a fight against me?” Stanbury pressed her heel against his chest and leaned in. He fought to breathe. “You dragons think you’re so superior, that your very nature makes you special, but you’re not. You’re just beasts disguised as people.”

The weight on his chest increased, building with the aching loss of his dugga’s magic. Black specks danced across his vision and searing pain lanced through his head.

From above and behind him, Becca yelled.

Stanbury yanked a card from her pocket, barked her power word, and a gust of wind shot from the card. “I’m not ready for you.”

Nero strained to turn his head to see, but still couldn’t. There was only the weight and Becca’s pain, blazing through him. He didn’t even know if she was conscious.

I’m all right, she said, her mental voice pained and sounding far off, but still there along with a hint of her presence in his head.

A flash of relief flooded him. Thank the Mother, it looked like the null magic spell was starting to fade. That had to be the catch with the paper. The spell was fast to cast but didn’t last.

Except that didn’t help anything. Becca was still in danger, and Stanbury still had who-knew-how-many spell cards left.

You have to get out of here, he thought with as much force as he could, in hope of getting through the null magic. I’ll distract her, or something, but you have to run.

For the love of— Becca growled, and Stanbury’s gaze leapt from Nero back across the room again. We’re getting your magic back and protecting your kids. Now get off your ass and fight.

Except he couldn’t move and could barely breathe. All he could feel was Becca’s burning agony and little sharp bites in his arms and legs.

“You should stay down,” Stanbury said, crouching beside him. Another gust of wind exploded from the card.

Something crunched, Becca screamed, and more of her pain swept through him, their connection growing stronger. Mother, Stanbury was going to kill Becca, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He mentally wrenched against the paralysis spell. He had to get up. Help Becca. More agonizing bites sliced into him, as if his muscles were being stabbed with a thin blade.

Stanbury shot another blast of wind, and Nero jerked his head to follow it.

Becca scrambled from beside the desk, over a chair, and dove out of the way.

Stanbury swore. Nero heaved his attention back to her as the card crumbled. If she was going to cast again, she needed to activate another card. This was his chance to strike. He’d moved his head. He could move other muscles.

He heaved at his arm, willing himself to grab her wrist and stop her from drawing a card long enough for Becca to attack.

Stanbury sneered. “Please. Keep trying. I have more than enough time to kill Rebecca before my spell on you wears off.”

His hand twitched.

Stanbury’s eyes flashed wide as he forced his hand to her wrist and seized it. With a yelp, she fell back onto her butt.

About time, Becca said. She lunged at Stanbury, but the other woman wrenched free of Nero’s grasp and got out of the way. She scrambled to her feet, bolted to the back wall, and pressed a button. Half hidden by a tall leafy plant, a pair of elevator doors slid open, revealing a waiting car, and she rushed inside.

Becca raced after her and drew her Glock. Nero heaved to his hands and knees and drew his sidearm, as well. Stanbury yanked another card from her pocket, said the power word, and a wave of power slammed into them. Becca was thrown back, flying past Nero and tumbling across the floor into the broken desk. Nero managed to hug low to the floor and was shoved back, the force stealing his breath. His still partially paralyzed muscles trembled, and the force ripped the sidearm from his numb fingers, tossing the weapon into the broken furniture at the back of the room.

Pain radiated through him. He couldn’t tell if it was Becca’s agony or his, but it didn’t matter. Everything coming from Becca screamed. Whatever her injuries, they didn’t matter. He couldn’t let Stanbury get away. Becca wouldn’t be responsible for the deaths of any more children.

Nero glanced at her. She climbed to her feet, no longer holding her Glock — it must have been ripped from her hand like his — and ran toward him. But Stanbury sneered, and the elevator doors slid shut.