“Hiding behind a girl?” Riley hollered. “You coward!”
Balin apparently didn’t care what Riley thought of him. He forced Tegan forward as a shield and fired over her shoulder. Bits of wood, fabric, and stuffing flew in all directions, while Riley slid onto his back, hunkering down.
Jax crept closer to the summit. Riley had seconds, if that much, and cracks were still spreading across the sky.
“Go to sleep, Tegan!” Riley yelled. Tegan’s knees buckled. She pitched forward despite Balin’s grip on her arm. Balin tossed her aside with a curse. Riley took the opportunity to fire at Balin, winging his shoulder. Riley next aimed at Wylit, but the old man ducked behind Evangeline.
“Come out where I can see you, Wylit!” Riley commanded.
Jax could feel the force of Riley’s magic from where he stood, but Wylit merely laughed. “You haven’t got half the power of your father, boy. If you want to shoot me, put the bullet through her!”
Riley cursed and ducked as Balin fired at him again.
Ignoring the gunfire, Wylit ripped the gag from Evangeline’s mouth and grabbed her by her braid. “By my will this shall be done. Say it!” When she didn’t obey, Wylit slashed her other arm with Excalibur, then held the blade poised over her right eye. “You don’t need two eyes to serve your purpose for me. You don’t even need one. Say it. By my will this shall be done.”
Evangeline pressed her lips together and shook her head.
Jax clambered to his feet and surged upward, holding his dagger out in front of him. “Let her go, Fishface. Or I’ll put this through your eye!”
Wylit laughed at the sight of Jax. “You dare threaten me, whelp?”
“Let her go,” Jax repeated. He hadn’t quite made it to the level surface of the summit, and he struggled to keep his balance on the incline. Pebbles shifted beneath his feet.
Wylit noticed his trouble, and his mouth widened in an ugly smile. “I’ll kill her first.”
“Kill me and you have no spell caster,” Evangeline called out.
“I haven’t run through all your family members yet,” Wylit hissed. “Your brother was too weak. He died mewling. And you’re too stubborn. Perhaps your sister will be the one I need.”
Evangeline gasped. Jax growled, “You monster.”
“My lord!” Balin left the cover of the table, his gaze fixed on Jax. The exchange of gunfire between him and Riley had stopped. Jax caught a glimpse of Riley lying motionless behind the bullet-ridden chair. Either he’d been hit or he was out of ammunition.
Or he was playing possum.
Balin wasn’t certain either. He moved cautiously, keeping one eye on Riley while trying to find an angle to shoot Jax without risking Wylit. “My lord,” he said, “hold very still.”
Balin raised his gun, taking aim just as Miller charged the top of the pyramid, yelling like a berserker and running full tilt into Balin’s side. Balin fell with Miller on top of him. Someone’s gun went off.
Jax lunged forward and sliced his dagger through the twine binding Evangeline’s right hand. She snatched up Riley’s blade from the altar and hacked through the binding of her other arm. Then she grabbed Wylit’s shoulders with both hands and shoved him.
They tumbled past Jax, over the side of the pyramid.
38
EVANGELINE AND WYLIT HIT the stony hill with enough force to send them somersaulting down the incline in a tangle of arms and legs. Jax skidded after them, heedless of the winds still buffeting the pyramid. Wylit’s headdress flew off, and he landed on his back on the fifth-level terrace. Evangeline’s body struck him first before rolling off and coming to a stop inches from the edge.
Jax fell to his knees beside her. Her forehead was gashed, and her limbs were limp. “Evangeline!” He knew it wasn’t good to move someone with a head injury, but that didn’t apply to people fleeing homicidal maniacs, right? He slipped an arm under her shoulders and tried to lift her up.
Then her whole body jerked. She sat up, looking around wildly. “Where—?” Evangeline recoiled when she saw Wylit lying beside her.
Jax hadn’t given the old man a glance in his rush to reach Evangeline, but now he sucked in his breath when he saw what had happened. Somewhere in her tumble down the hill, Evangeline had lost her grip on Riley’s honor blade—and it had ended up in Wylit’s chest.
To Jax’s astonishment, Evangeline reached out and grabbed the dagger as if Wylit were trying to steal it from her. It didn’t come easily; she had to tug twice before she managed to pull it out of his body.
“You two all right?”
Jax looked up to see Riley limping down from the summit. He was bloodied, but his injuries looked more like grazes from flying debris than bullet holes. As he descended, he slammed a new magazine into the grip of his pistol with the palm of his hand. “Get back,” he said grimly, extending his arm and taking aim.
But it wasn’t necessary. Wylit stared sightlessly at the sky, the blue of his eyes already dimmed. Riley lowered the gun, his shoulders sagging in relief as he realized he wasn’t going to have to make his first kill after all. Jax sucked in a lungful of air and looked up, only to discover that the heavens still seemed seconds away from shattering into a thousand pieces. “Evangeline,” he whispered in horror.
“I see it.” She wiped the Pendragon dagger clean on the train of her dress and then turned it around and offered it to Riley hilt first. “Thank you for the use of your blade.”
Riley didn’t take it. “You can hang on to it if you like. I want this one.” He bent and picked up Excalibur.
Evangeline watched him examine the ancient relic. “Wylit didn’t complete his spell,” she said, “but it’s activated.”
“I know.” Riley gave her a sideways glance and said in a low voice, “Spell casting’s not my thing. I don’t know how to fix this.”
A figure appeared at the edge of the summit. Riley whipped around, Excalibur in one hand, the pistol in his other, and Jax stood in front of Evangeline, shielding her.
A.J. Crandall waved at them and called to someone behind him, “They’re here!” Then he turned to Riley. “The pyramid’s secure. The rest of the complex not so much, but Deidre’s men are cleaning up.”
“Tell Riley to get up here, now!” There was no mistaking Mr. Crandall’s bellow from the summit. A.J. turned, looking worried, then ran out of sight. Riley sprinted uphill after him.
Jax turned to Evangeline. “Do you want me to get you to a lower level, if it’s safe?”
“No, I need to get to the top.” She eyed the sky again, loose strands of hair whipping around her face in the wild wind.
Jax took her hand and helped her mount to the summit. In the center of the platform, two people lay on the ground next to each other: Balin and Miller. Both Crandalls were crouched beside Miller. Near the altar and the table, Thomas and his father were trying to rouse Tegan. Michael patted her cheeks anxiously to no avail. “Pendragon!” he hollered.
Riley was headed toward Miller, but he diverted his steps enough to bend and brush his fingertips across Tegan’s head. “Wake up, kid. You were very brave.”
Tegan’s eyes flew open, and her father nearly crushed her in a hug. Jax watched only for a second, then followed Riley with Evangeline still holding his hand. They had to step over Balin. His eyes were closed, thankfully, but his head was twisted in an unnatural way. Jax shuddered, realizing Miller had killed Balin with his bare hands.
Meanwhile, Riley was arguing with Mr. Crandall. “He said it was just a flesh wound—nothing serious. He was on his feet a minute ago.”