From the corner of his eye, Gabriel saw Heather charge at the Ashman nearest her and stab him in the back with the bloody scissors.
And holy hell, he couldn’t help but think that was a little hot.
Yanking the scissors from the crumbling body of ash before her, Heather threw them to Gabriel and he snatched them out of the air. Holding them in his bound wrists, Gabriel swung through the remaining four Ashmen until all that was left were piles of Ash scattered about the warehouse floor.
Heather ran over to him as he was cutting off his ties and they quietly snuck from the warehouse room.
Gabriel led the way with his hand stretched out behind him as if to shield Heather from, well, he didn’t know. But he just felt safer with his hand in front of her.
Outside the room was a long, narrow hallway leading to a single door.
Freedom.
Looking from side to side, Gabriel saw no other Ashmen.
He gestured to Heather and they soundlessly padded to the door. Gabriel stopped for a moment and braced himself, sure there would be a slew of Ashmen guards outside.
He slowly pushed the door open into the morning light.
He saw another warehouse. And then another.
But no Ashmen.
Looking to the left and right, he realized they were in the warehouse district of Avalon. The sun was rising in the sky and warming the ground beneath their feet as Gabriel grabbed Heather’s hand behind him and pulled her out of the hostage warehouse and into the day.
Gabriel took a silent breath and tried to evaluate the best way out of there. Heather’s hand was cold and small in his own as he gripped it tighter than necessary.
He crept along the side wall of the warehouse they’re been trapped in until they stood in the shadows between warehouse and caught their breath. If he could just get them to the base of the nearby hill, he could hide Heather in the shadows of hill’s trees and come up with an awesome and foolproof let’s-get-the-hell-out-of-here plan.
But in order to do that, he’d need to turn the corner up ahead and cross the front of the warehouse. The odds of Raven having some of her foul helpers stationed out front were good and the only thing Gabriel had left for defense was the pair of scissors in his hand.
It would have to be enough.
Creeping to the edge of the corner, Gabriel glanced over his shoulder to check on Heather. She looked alert and ready and not at all like she was going to cry.
An odd sense of pride swelled in his chest as he turned and faced forward. She could do this.
“Okay,” he whispered, “When we turn this corner, I want you to run for the hill and hide in the trees, got it? I’ll take care of any Ashmen waiting out front and meet you at the top of the hill when it’s safe. If I don’t make it there, just run.”
“What do you mean?” she whispered with big eyes. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“That’s sweet and everything, but if I bust my ass to get you to safety, you sure as hell better run for your life. Do you understand?”
She glared at him. “Yes.”
He got the funny sensation that yes really meant no, but he didn’t have time to argue with the tiny blond. “Ready?”
She nodded and he faced forward, still gripping her hand as he moved toward the front of the building. When he reached the corner, he took a deep breath.
It was now or never.
“Go.” he whispered to Heather as he rushed around the corner to the front of the warehouse and thrust her hand in the direction of the trees.
There were only three Ashmen standing at the ready and Gabriel slashed through them easily.
Too easily.
He heard Heather squeal and turned around to see a caravan of black vans coming to a dusty stop at the base of the hill, Heather already caught in the arms of two Ashmen who’d jumped from the moving vehicles.
Raven exited the nearest black van with a tired expression on her face. “Seriously?”
She raised her arm and pointed a gun at Gabriel—was it a tranq gun? He couldn’t tell—as another dozen Ashmen poured from the van behind her, armed with Bluestone weapons. “You think I’d let you escape that easily?”
The side door of another black van stood open and Gabriel’s eyes darted around, trying to come up with a brilliant last-minute escape plan.
More Ashmen climbed from the vans and Gabriel realized Raven had an army of Ashmen loaded into her nondescript vehicles.
Well this sucked.
Raven sighed. “I really want to kill you right now, Gabriel. Mostly because you’ve just been so obnoxious for hundreds of years. But since killing you might mess up my plans…” She pointed the gun at Heather.
“No.” Gabriel shouted before thinking.
Raven narrowed her eyes at him. “Protecting the damsel in distress, are we? Interesting.” An evil smile spread across Raven’s lips. “You know what? You’re right. I shouldn’t shoot Heather.”
Raven walked up to Heather, who was caught in the stiff arms of two guards and punched her in the face, knocking Heather’s head back. Blood immediately began to spurt from her nose.
“What the hell, Raven?” Blood rushed through Gabriel’s ears, drowning out all other sounds as he tried to get control of his instant desire to kill something.
Raven spun to face Gabriel with angry eyes. “Try to escape again and I’ll break her fingers.”
On his way to the basement, Tristan walked past the den and stopped. Inside, Scarlet was lifting bows off his wall of weapons and testing them out, looking for one to pack.
He leaned against the doorframe. “Can I just say how hot it is to watch you riffle through my weapons?”
She smirked as she chose another bow from the wall. “Yes, well I feel like Goldie Locks over here. This one is too small, this one is too big.” She frowned at the longbow in her hand before placing it back on the wall beside the others.
Tristan walked around Scarlet to the other end of the room and grabbed a smaller bow. “Try this one.”
She took the bow in her hand and tested it out with a smile. “Just right.”
He smiled back and for a moment the air was electric.
Dropping her eyes to the bow, Scarlet cleared her throat. “Is Nate back yet?”
Tristan shifted his weight and took a step back. Not because he wanted to, but because he knew he’d been pushing it with her all morning and he didn’t want to set her off. As cute as she was when she was angry, he didn’t like being the recipient of her temper. Not usually, anyway.
“No,” he said. “He’s still at the shack grabbing more bloodstained weapons.”
Scarlet looked out the den window. “We need to hurry if we want to make it to the Avalon forest before sunset.”
Tristan eyed her carefully, watching her shoulders tense as she turned from the window. “Why are you nervous?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought you couldn’t feel my emotions anymore.”
“I can’t.” He cocked his head to the side. “But I know you, Scar. And your nervousness is making me nervous. What’s wrong?”
She ran a hand through her hair and let out a slow breath. “I just want to make sure we get Gabriel back.”
“I won’t let anything happen to Gabriel.”
No question.
“I know,” she said quickly. “I know. I just…we just need to make sure Raven doesn’t take off with him and flee into the woods or anything. I don’t want Gabriel to become an ingredient in one of her witch spells or anything.”
Tristan looked her over. “Stop it.”
“What?”
“Stop lying. Or pretending. Or whatever the hell it is you’re doing right now. What’s going on, Scar? What does Raven want with Gabriel?”
“Nothing.”
“This is Gabriel we’re talking about here. Stop lying to me.”