This time it was a direct hit to Ashe’s heart. Ashe didn’t try to dodge or parry. Instead, he let his arms fall to his side and accepted the blow. Sophie covered her head with a hand. The body fell to the floor with an audible thump.

Afterward, heavy silence descended in the hall.

Rhys said thickly, “I suspected someone was working with the Light Court. Nik, I’m sorry, I thought it was you.”

“And I thought it was you. You asked enough questions, I thought you were pumping me for information, and you killed the Hound I wanted to interrogate. I didn’t connect that the only one besides Gawain who wasn’t present for the attack was Ashe until he grabbed Sophie.” Nikolas sounded so soul weary Sophie’s eyes dampened. “He was right about one thing. Gods, what a clusterfuck.”

While the men talked, Robin tugged on Sophie’s sweater. Wiping her eyes, she looked at the puck. Ooh-ooh, he mouthed. He slapped the floor by her thigh. Then he slapped it again, and again, so insistently it caught her attention.

Here, Robin said telepathically. Down here.

Frowning, she concentrated. Robin was right. The massive shift was directly down below. This close, it felt bigger than ever.

For the first time, she focused on the floor of the cell. Part of it was wooden. She ran her fingers along one side while she studied the square. There were hinges.

A pair of boots appeared in the corner of her vision. She looked up as Nikolas knelt beside her. His expression was bitter but composed, until he looked down at her sweater.

Then his eyes blazed, and he grabbed hold of her with tense care. “Goddamn it, Sophie! Why didn’t you say something?”

“About what?”

Her gaze followed the direction of his, down to her shirtfront. Okay, that looked pretty bad. Blood had soaked into her sweater, and it had run down her side. She looked as awful as Ashe had.

Making a face, she told him, “I forgot about it. It looks worse than it is. He caught me on the collarbone. Nik, there’s a trapdoor.”

“Who the fuck cares?” he said. His touch was much more gentle than his tone, as he eased the collar of her sweater aside so he could inspect the wound. He pressed lightly against her skin near the long cut.

“Ouch! Stop that!” She tried to shrink away from him.

“Goddammit,” he growled. “Hold still.”

Something about the way he said that told her he was barely holding on to his self-control. She forced herself to sit still, although she couldn’t help from bitching about it.

“You will never learn how to ask politely, will you?” she muttered. “How hard is it to say, ‘Will you please hold still a moment, Sophie?’ Well, let me tell you, it’s not hard, because I just said it.”

“He cut you to the bone, you stupid woman,” Nikolas snapped.

She opened her eyes wide. “Why are you calling me stupid, like that was my fault?”

She had seen Nikolas angry before, but this time his rage seemed transcendent. “You hit him with a telekinesis spell while he held a knife to your throat!”

His taut expression was so full of rage and pain and residual fear she paused and tried to swallow the snarky response that rose to her lips.

Setting her hand gently to the side of his furious, dangerous face, she said in a soft voice, “Well, yes. Yes, I did. I’m so sorry I did something to get myself out of a bad situation instead of waiting for you or one of the other menfolk to rescue me. Next time I’ll go sit in a tower and learn how to knit, mm-kay?”

So… swallowing the snark hadn’t exactly been a success. As they stared at each other, she watched a muscle tic in the side of his jaw, and she almost, very nearly, yes indeed came so close to feeling bad about that.

Cupping her hand to his cheek, he placed the flat of his palm over her injured collarbone, gathered his Power, and spoke in his Celtic-sounding language. Warmth spread over the area, and she could feel the torn flesh knitting together. It was not an altogether comfortable sensation, but that was such a small price to pay for the healing, she gritted her teeth and stuck with it.

When he had finished, he pressed a kiss to her fingers and whispered, “You still make me. So. Crazy.”

She loved him so much it twisted her up inside. Stroking his lips with her thumb, she smiled as she whispered back, “And you’re still very much an asshole.” She shifted to lean her forehead against his. I’m so sorry about Ashe.

He took in a deep breath. It had to be one of them. I’m glad I killed him.

Another shock wave rose from the earth. This time the rumble was so long and sustained the structure over their heads groaned from strain. Nikolas’s face tightened. He said calmly, “Maybe we should step out into the courtyard.”

“No,” she told him. She patted the floor. “We need to go down.”

Gawain and Rowan shouldered their way into the cell. Coming down on one knee beside them, Gawain said, “Lass, this is most likely an oubliette. There won’t be anything but a pit down there and no way to get out if the building comes down around our ears.”

She twisted to look at Robin, who hovered at her elbow.

Down, the puck said. She had never seen him look so desperate. Robin needs to go down.

Robin isn’t going by himself, she told him. Turning to Nikolas, she said, “Going out to the courtyard is just a way to prolong death. While this isn’t a guarantee of anything, there’s a massive shift down there. Let’s at least take a look.”