One shot to the chest rendered their bodies to ash.

If that stone rose any higher, the entire facility would be demolished. Declan wouldn't be able to save anyone on this island from the self-destruct. He wouldn't be able to save Regin.

Regin. Declan finally understood what his victims had felt when he'd tortured their mates.

A madness to protect.

Have to eliminate the Sorceri. He yel ed once more to the guards, "Hold the line!" then charged straight into hel .

As he tore through the riot, he dimly realized that the creatures without their torques were uniformly those from the Pravus all iance.

That "being" had come from the outside to free only one army.

Now the Pravus preyed on their weakened Vertas enemies.

Regin was injured and likely still wore her torque. If the glass of her cel shattered, she'd be left unprotected. As a Vertas, she'd be targeted. ...

Final y he garnered enough room to raise his rifle and take a bead on Portia. He squeezed the trigger and held it, but before the spray of bul ets could hit the female, Emberine melted them in midair.

Then the Queen of Flames turned on him, eyes fil ed with malice. A firebal blazed in her raised palm.

He leveled his aim at her, emptying a clip, but she'd already hurled the bal at him with the speed of a rocket.

A kil shot.

It took him right in the chest, exploding him across the facility.

Chapter THIRTY-TWO

Dorada is in the building. Lothaire mused. Here, just as he'd predicted.

His nemesis Nix might have her foresight, but Lothaire had insight. He could calculate what Loreans would do with exceptional accuracy.

The bitch had come for her ring-able to track whoever had touched it last over the entire earth. But she was also here for retribution. And she wouldn't give a damn that he'd been working for her side in the war between good and evil for mil ennia.

"I told you we'd escape soon," Lothaire grated to the demon male across the corridor. Since Malkom Slaine's arrival, Lothaire had tried coaxing him into an all egiance, patiently explaining the value of all ies in the Lore.

He himself had made pacts with all kinds-whatever the Endgame required. In ages past, he'd fought side by side with a Valkyrie when all he'd wanted to do was torment her. He'd aligned with various demonarchies that thought he was the devil incarnate.

He'd even quel ed his abundant pride and sworn fealty to a vampire king-one who sat upon Lothaire's own throne. ...

Yet though Slaine was part vampire, he hated all "leeches." He just sat there obsessing about his witch, plotting his revenge, refusing to all y with a red-eyed vampire.

Though I know everything about this world, and Slaine knows so little.

Though he was a slave in Oblivion, and I'm soon to reclaim my kingdom.

The ground quaked beneath him. So Portia was raising a mountain? Then the whispers were true-

Dorada was removing the prisoners' torques.

At least from the evil ones. He knew he'd receive no such boon from her.

Twisting metal clanged, echoing down the hal . The wal s began to warp. The glass of his cel couldn't take much more of this pressure.

Perhaps escape could be had before Dorada reached him?

No. She neared even now.

He'd brought her down upon himself recklessly, had known better. But he would have done anything for that ring-the Endgame demanded it-and he'd never imagined he'd have to contend with her in this state.

"One way or another, this ends tonight." Lothaire paced, as ready for battle as he could be, considering he still wore a torque-and was starving.

For weeks, he'd been denied blood, and Chase's torture had left him compromised, his skin still missing in places.

But at least that bastard had given him salt. Lothaire fil ed his pockets with it.

Everyone in the Lore knew that a Wendigo's contagious bite or scratch would transform even an immortal into one of its kind. But they didn't know much else because few survived an encounter with them intact.

Yet centuries ago, one wizard had discovered what salt did to those creatures-a wizard who'd died under Lothaire's fangs, unwil ingly yielding his memories and knowledge. ...

"I am ready to have done, Dorada!" Lothaire yel ed. "Face me, crone!"

Seconds later, he spotted her just outside Slaine's cel , a walking corpse, surrounded by a frothing pack of Wendigos.

She was even more hideous than the last time he'd seen her mere weeks ago. His eyes narrowed.

Though she should be invincible, scorch marks branded her decomposed skin. The mortals had shot- and wounded-her.

Why hadn't she regenerated to her ful power before she'd attacked? Too anxious to get to me?

Wait, Dorada was removing Slaine's collar? Lothaire hadn't thought Slaine was particularly evil. And he was usual y right about these things.

Who am I kidding? I'm always right.

Then Emberine appeared and shattered the demon's cel wal with her fire. Slaine the slave, freed of his torque and his jail? The injustice of it all.

Dorada swished to a stop in front of Lothaire's cel and shrieked, "RIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!"

"You know I don't have your ring, suka."

La Dorada raised her withered arm. In a wave, the Wendigos rushed the glass of his cel . As they repeatedly barreled against it, blood and contagious saliva smeared the fractured glass, their claws clattering down it. ...

The barrier shattered. The stench of them-of her-nearly fel ed him.

But as the creatures charged, Lothaire dug into his pockets, tossing salt. The granules burned their gaunt skin, shriveling it like a leech's.

He aimed for their faces to blind them. Putrid flesh gave up smoke, yet they kept advancing through that haze.

He dodged their knifelike claws, swinging his fists to send them flying. But they recouped in turns, continuing their attack.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spied Slaine climbing from the wreckage of his cel . As Lothaire clashed with the Wendigos, he bit out, "Slaine? A hand here."

Dorada swung her head at the demon to shriek, "RIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG?"

Slaine strode away, cal ing over his shoulder, "Where's your all egiance now, vampire?"

If you're not with me, you're against me, Lothaire thought as he repel ed another charge. You've erred for ill. ...

Again and again, he cast the rabid creatures out. But the quaking beneath his feet intensified, keeping him off balance. The roof began to sag above him as the facility threatened to col apse. He waged a him off balance. The roof began to sag above him as the facility threatened to col apse. He waged a losing battle.

Suddenly, the cement beneath the Wendigos fractured, the jagged line widening-

In a deafening rush, the ground opened up, creating a yawning ravine; five Wendigos plunged into that blackness. The others hung on to the edge, scrabbling for the steel rebar that jutted from broken concrete.

Under the immense pressure, the two rock faces of that new crevasse jerked forward and back as if the earth breathed.

Lothaire rammed the heel of his boot atop the Wendigos' elongated fingers, dropping them one by one.

Across the divide, La Dorada shrieked at him, her expression promising pain.

"Come and finish me, then!" he bel owed, but his muscles were shuddering, his body too weakened from the Wendigos. ... So this was how it would end?

Dorada would keep him from what he desired so violently? The centuries of toil, the sacrifice.

At the thought, fury spiked within him, coursing through his ancient royal blood. Think of her. So young, beautiful. Think of those innocent eyes gazing up at me with delightful fear.

A red haze covered his vision. The ground quaked once more. The crone teetered at the precipice.

With the last of his strength, he sprinted to the edge and vaulted to a ledge of rock just beneath her. His hand snaked out to seize her ankle. He gave a vicious yel and yanked.

La Dorada screamed as she crashed to her back.

Holding on by the fingertips of one hand, he pulled against her mighty strength ... dragging her ...

She dropped over the edge. But as she fel , she caught his right leg with her claws, dangling below him.

"Join your dogs, bitch!" He slammed his left boot into her hideous face, crushing one side. Another kick took her sole eye. A last kick-

Dorada plummeted, her fading scream carried up for long moments. ... Then silence from below, what had to be hundreds of feet down.

His relief was short-lived. The rock face began to grind forward, closing the distance between the sides. A stone mouth with rebar teeth.

Sweat broke out on his body, dripping into his eyes. He reached for the steel rods above him ... stretching ... higher still...

Missed.

Again, he tried to climb. His muscles were too deadened, starved for blood. The urge to release his grip grew undeniable.

One finger slipped. Then another. ...

Chapter THIRTY-THREE

Battles. Everywhere. Directly in front of Regin and Natalya. But just out of reach.

As the mountain continued to rise, the entire building wobbled. The glass of other cel s succumbed to the pressure, but theirs held strong.

All she and the fey could do was watch the havoc outside their cel . Though all the creatures in the Vertas had their torques, none of the Pravus did.

Regin laid her palms against the glass. "Put me in, Coach ..."

"I'm bloody ready to play," Natalya finished.

Packs of shifters wrangled, the Vertas mammal shifters versus the Pravus amphibious ones.

Winged demons skulked through the ward, dragging humans into dark corners to share for sex. Horde vampires fed from the mortals at the same time.Volos thundered up and down the corridor, his long mane of hair tied back in a queue, his hooves matted with gristle.

Mere feet away, five starving succubae waylaid Uil eam MacRieve. The females were torqueless, which meant they were probably a hundred times stronger than the Lykae would be right now. They attacked as one, launching him directly into the glass wal of Regin's cell.

She cried, "Break the glass, MacRieve!"

His fists were flying, but the females were dusting off his blows. "Wee bit busy, Valkyrie!" He fought as if his life depended on it, roaring and flailing.

Regin murmured to Natalya, "Most guys aren't usual y too keen on getting away." The succubae had ways to make males crazed with lust. "If he fal s under their spell, I'm gonna look away. Really. I am."

"I bet he's fighting it because he's found his mate."

Regin frowned. Then it would destroy him to be with another female, even under these circumstances.

Eventual y the ravenous succubae took MacRieve-a Lykae male in his prime-down, pinning him to the ground. The shock he must be feeling ...

When one of them ripped off his shirt, he spat in her face. "You bluidy whores! Rot in hell!"

Beneath her hands, Regin felt the glass cel wal bulging out. More splinters fractured across it.

"Natalya, on the count of three, we charge the glass. Hard. You harder than me. Because of my recent fileting and all ."

Natalya nodded, and they crossed to the back of the cel . "One ... two ... three." They ran, ramming their shoulders against the glass. Impact. The wal shattered, sending them sprawling forward. The pressure shot shards like bul ets into the corridor, riddling the succubae, tearing them apart.

Lying flat on the ground, MacRieve was mostly unscathed. He leapt to his feet and attacked the five, his claws slashing through their necks, finishing them off one by one. "My thanks to you, Regin." Slash.

"And to your friend."

"De nada, werewolf," Regin said, scanning the area for a sword, a freaking pipe, anything.

Natalya snatched up larger shards of glass, stabbing them through her jacket sleeves for later use.

She col ected still more, carrying them between her knuckles, ready to throw.

Regin cocked her brow at a dead guard's machine gun. She hooked her foot under it, hiking it up to catch it.

Natalya said, "Have you ever fired one of those?"

Lorekind scorned them. The weapons were so tackily human. "Look, I've seen Terminator. How difficult can it be? Now, let's go find Tiger!"

MacRieve said, "Whoa, where are you going, Valkyrie? The exit's the other way. I'll help you get there safely."

"No dice. Got someone back there."

He pointed in the opposite direction. "And I've got someone up there. Gods speed, females." He loped off.

She and Natalya raced away as fast as Regin could manage. While they searched for Thad, Regin also had her eyes peeled for Fegley, Dixon, and most especial y Chase.

"Is that Tiger?" Regin pointed far down the corridor. "At the edge of that big gap?" Through the smoke, she couldn't be sure.

Natalya swiped her hair out of her face. "It's him. Wait ... what's he doing? Isn't that where Lothaire's been kept?"

"Yeah. Exactly where La Dorada was heading." They tried to get his attention, but there were too many skirmishes. "Nat, go snag him! Quick, I'm right behind you."

"I've got this!" Natalya bolted away, with Regin lagging behind, limping over uneven ground. The floor was still swel ing up and col apsing as if it bubbled. Flaming rafters had begun hurtling down all around them.

Yet even over the din, Regin's ears twitched. "We've got company," she cal ed to Natalya. Pravus shifters had picked up their scent and were trailing them.

Within moments, she and the fey were surrounded by the dregs of the Lore-a motley col ection of creatures with viper eyes, forked tongues, and scales. Some had crocodile fangs and plated skin.

Regin cocked her weapon, brought it to her hip. "You don't want to mess with us. I'm about to mince meat and make hay with this thing."

The largest one laughed. Until Natalya's glass shard plugged his jugular. Regin aimed and pulled the trigger. The gun kicked as bul ets sprayed.

It was shredding their torsos like cheese, halving their bodies. "Let's do this! Rock out with your cocks out!"

When they'd all been dropped, Regin's injured chest was screaming in pain, her ears ringing. Her gun was hot, and she thought she might be a little infatuated with it.

Natalya said, "Let's go!"

"Right behind you-"

Volos stepped in front of them, blocking their way, his body stretching nearly the width of the corridor.

"You killed that evil woman, Mister."

Lothaire gazed up, spied some young male peering past the edge of the overhang. In no way had Lothaire destroyed La Dorada. He'd only bought himself time.

"I saw you do it-we're going to be all right now!"

He wanted to sneer, "Do I look all right, boy?" But his cause was greater than merely himself. And now victory was possible. He simply needed assistance with this predicament.