Heartless Villains (Ruthless Villains Book 3)

It surprised me that she trusted me enough to protect her like that. Especially since she had thought that I was going to let go of her hand when she fell into that first hole.

I could see it in her eyes. That grim acceptance when she realized that I held her life in my hand. Literally. That I could just let her fall down to be impaled on those stakes, and there was nothing she could do about it. Given our history, I supposed it made sense that she believed that I might actually do it. Which was why it stunned me now to realize that she was prepared to put herself in harm’s way again while she trusted me to handle the consequences.

“Alright,” I said in response to her previous statement. “Let me know when.”

She blew out a long breath and rolled back her shoulders while I let my hands drift closer together. Then she edged as close to the circle as she could get.

“Now,” she snapped.

Leaping forward, she snatched the Enhancer off the pedestal.

A click sounded from above us.

I slammed my palms together and hurled a massive force wall straight up right as that plain part of the ceiling slid aside.

Fire roared down from the hole.

“Go!” I yelled as Audrey darted back to the stone I was standing on.

Dark red flames crashed against my force wall and washed across it like a fiery river. Embers swirled in the air above and fire licked the walls of the cavern as the attack was redirected towards them.

Audrey flicked a glance at me.

“I said go!” I snapped.

Since I was holding off the fire that was still streaming down from the hole in the ceiling, I couldn’t risk moving yet. But she needed to get out before something else happened.

After one last hesitant look at me, she sprinted towards the doorway while clutching the golden glove close to her chest.

Heat washed over me as the flames continued rolling over my shield. I kept my eyes locked on the red fire pouring out of the hole while Audrey disappeared from the corner of my eye.

It had to stop soon.

Even if a fire mage had set the trap, the flames still needed fuel to burn since the mage wasn’t actually in the room. And whatever container of oil was up there had to run out at some point. Preferably before I had to resummon my force wall.

A bead of sweat ran down my spine as the temperature in the chamber continued climbing. I resisted the urge to wipe a hand over my brows and instead focused on keeping my magic up. But at that point, I was actually looking forward to the swim through the underwater tunnel.

Since Audrey was already out of the room, I shrank my force wall a little to preserve power. It left a gap between the shield and the walls, and fire immediately rushed down to fill it. Standing in the middle of the room, I watched as red flames spilled over the edges of my shield and ran down like a flaming red waterfall.

More heat washed over me.

I blew out a measured breath as the hot air stung my skin.

Just when I was considering whether I would have to shrink my shield yet again, the fuel from the trap ran dry. The fire grew smaller and smaller until it sputtered out completely. Another click sounded.

Panic shot through me as I braced myself for another attack, but the stone in the ceiling only slid back in place. A moment later, the ones on the floor did the same. I had already memorized the safe path back, so it didn’t bother me at all. In fact, I was glad that I wouldn’t have to keep looking at those damn stakes that had almost impaled Audrey.

After finally wiping that hand over my brow, I turned my attention towards the doorway.

A pair of piercing green eyes stared back at me. I started towards the door.

Audrey remained where she was, watching to make sure that I knew which path to take, until I reached the last few stones. Then she withdrew into the corridor. She moved to the side, so I couldn’t see her from inside the chamber, but I didn’t think much of it so I just walked the final distance and then stepped into the tunnel.

Glittering green mist swirled right before my face the moment I walked through.

I didn’t know whether to sigh or curse or roll my damn eyes. Fucking hell. Again?

Since the cloud was blocking my way, I stopped dead in my tracks while dragging my gaze to the vicious little poisoner a few steps away. “The hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Are you going to try to take the Enhancer and then have Lance use it against whoever you point to?”

“What?” I stared at her in disbelief. “If I gave Lance the Enhancer, he could bind my magic from afar too. So why the hell would I do something that stupid?”

“Are you going to try to take the Enhancer for yourself?”

I wanted to stab a hand towards her to make my point, but I was pretty sure that she would push that poison cloud down my throat if I moved my arms at all, so instead I just shot her an incredulous look. “You’re the one holding poisonous mist in front of my face.”

“Just answer the question.”

Her voice was coming out flat and emotionless. And I found that a lot stranger than the fact that she had suddenly decided to ambush me. After all, that was in line with her personality. She was power and fury and sharp-tongued remarks. Not the blank-faced person with a flat voice standing before me now.

“No, I’m not,” I answered simply.

Her eyes searched my face. “Why not?”

“I already told you. Giving Lance the Enhancer is a stupid move.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

I knew exactly what she meant, but the problem was that I couldn’t tell her the real reason that I no longer wanted to hurt her and betray her. I blew out a sigh. And then I went with a half-truth.

“Because until this mission is done, you are safe in my hands.” I held her gaze through the swirling mist. “And this mission isn’t done until we’ve stopped Eldar from attacking and wiping us all out.”

For a while, she just watched me in silence, as if trying to read the truths and lies on my face.

Then she let her poison fade out.

Raking a hand through my hair, I raised my eyebrows at her. “And you? Are you planning on betraying me and making a run for it with that?” I nodded towards the metal glove she was still holding.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“For the same reason as you.”

I prowled up to her. “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Then I guess we’re partners again.” Stopping before her, I raised my hand and grabbed her chin before tilting her head back. “But you’re racking up quite the debt with all of your ambushes and all the times I’ve had to save you. So when we’ve settled things with Eldar, you’ll have a lot of stuff to pay up for.”

“Likewise.” A sharp smile spread across her lips. “Except I get to call in one of mine much sooner.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Because there were only two kinds of traps in there.”

For a moment, I just blinked down at her uncomprehendingly. Then it clicked. Our bet.

She let out a dark laugh when she saw the understanding dawn in my eyes. Reaching up, she took my collar in a firm grip and pulled my face closer to hers.

“And I know just what I will make you do,” she whispered against my mouth.

“Well, I’m not one to welch on my bets.” I brushed my lips over hers. “So what do you want, sweetheart?”

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll let you know.” Releasing her grip on my collar, she stepped back. “But first, let’s get out of here.”

The quick shifts between ambushes and flirting and threats and joint schemes against the rest of the world should have made my head spin. But between Audrey and me, it had become natural at this point. So I just flashed her a smirk and then strode over to grab my pack.

We had at last gotten our hands on the Enhancer.

Now, all we had to do was get back out the same way that we had gotten in.

Through a bunch of traps.