“I wasn’t aware there were any new packs in the city.”
“There aren’t.” Bishop half smiled. “They’re a pride, and they’re unregistered. We’ll let it go for now, see how this plays out.”
Midas made a mental note to inform his mother. Their pack wasn’t opposed to another predatory species in the area. They were strong enough to hold their territory. But any shift in power sent out ripples, and with the coven in town, those ripples could become tidal waves.
A belch of smoke announced the salamander’s return, and he burst into flames close enough to singe Midas’s arm hair. The captain jogged over to hear the assessment, his arms folded over his wide chest.
“She’s alive,” the boy reported. “Her circle is holding.”
Relief buckled Midas’s knees, and he almost hit the dirt.
“There are a lot of bodies between her and the point of origin.” He chewed on his lower lip. “They’re insulating her, but they’ve mostly cooked down to their exoskeletons.” He ruffled his hair. “They look like…” He shook his head. “It sounds crazy, but giant roaches.”
“That’s exactly what they are,” Bishop told him. “Good work.”
Midas bit down on the question, but it escaped anyway. “How do we get her out?”
“We need to get the bodies off her,” Aubrey decided. “They’ll crush her if she breaks her circle.”
“We can’t afford to wait on equipment to arrive,” the captain said. “We’ll have to dig her out ourselves.”
“I recommend a pair.” Aubrey frowned. “More than that, and there won’t be room to relocate the debris.”
“I’ll go,” Midas volunteered at the same time as Bishop.
They looked at each other, and Midas swallowed his anger as best he could until they got through this.
“Here.” Remy passed Midas the rope she had tied off on a nearby tree. “Don’t get dead.”
Shocked by the sentiment, Midas quirked an eyebrow at her.
“I wouldn’t want to miss my chance.” She scuffed her shoe. “I like to keep my options open.”
“Aubrey,” the captain ordered, “get started on the outer ring. We need to contain this fire.”
With a snappy salute, he nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The boy shifted and scurried into the flames…and then he began devouring them. The magical inferno raged around him, but he kept mowing down the blaze with chomps of his wide jaws.
Tearing his eyes from the spectacle, Midas tossed the rope into the pit and climbed down, choking on the smoke. He called up when he was clear, and Bishop rappelled in to join him.
“Aubrey said she’s there.” Bishop pointed. “We need to shift as much refuse to the other side as possible.”
Careful not to put their weight directly on top of her, they began hauling carapaces, dirt, and other debris to the far side of the pit. Their skin burned, and the stench was overwhelming. Their lungs fought to get enough oxygen, and Midas stumbled more than once from dizziness.
An eternity later, they reached a hard shell that, once they dusted off the muck, revealed Hadley curled in a ball on a patch of dirt unmarked by the explosion. She was unconscious, but she was breathing.
“Big spoon to little spoon.” Praying for a smile, Midas finished clearing the path. “Can you hear me?”
The shadow pooled beneath her perked at the sound of his voice and slithered over her in a protective black shroud. Midas noticed Bishop watching and understood that he had known about Hadley. Based on the taste he’d had of Bishop’s blood, Midas wasn’t surprised to learn the fae could see through glamours.
“Ambrose,” Bishop said, and the shadow inclined its head. “Break the circle. We’ll do the rest.”
Midas cranked his head toward Bishop. “Ambrose?”
“That’s his name.”
Bishop gave him that much but nothing else, and Midas respected that he was protecting Hadley.
The shadow dove into her, weaving in and out, until she cried out in pain, and her lashes fluttered.
“Jerk,” she mumbled. “Back off.”
“Hadley.” Midas pressed his hand to the bubble. “Break the circle.”
Her lids raised a fraction, and her gaze locked with his, but she didn’t budge otherwise.
“Break the circle,” Bishop urged. “Come on, kid. You can do it.”
The shadow kept punching through her until tears streamed down her cheeks, but the pain rallied her. She twitched her fingers, dragging grooves in the dirt, until she reached the edge of the bubble. With a grunt of effort, she raked her nails through the line, and the magic collapsed around her.
Midas scooped her up in his arms, but she was already unconscious. The shadow coiled around her shoulders, clinging tight, but Midas held them both as Bishop rigged him a harness from the rope so the others could pull him and Hadley out. With so much manpower, it took a minute. Maybe two. Then he was free of the eye-watering smoke and dragging in heaving breaths of fresh air.
Bouncing on her feet, Remy made grabbing motions. “I’ll take her.”
She didn’t wait for him to agree, just gathered Hadley with help from another Remy, then ran to a grassy patch where paramedics waited with the ambulance.
The beast rose in Midas, its possessive instincts roaring, but he let it go. He had done all he could do. He had to turn her over to the experts, even as he wished for Abbott to tend to her.
The others began hauling Bishop out of the pit, and he flopped onto his back when he reached the top.
Aubrey, who was coiling the rope like he meant to store it, glanced across the clearing. “Who are they?”
Three men stood with three women and watched the paramedics rush to save Hadley’s life.
Midas couldn’t say how long they had been standing there, waiting, but they must have shown up after he and Bishop entered the pit. Otherwise, he had to believe he would have noticed them. Then again, if Aubrey hadn’t mentioned it, he might still have been oblivious.
His brain was stuck in a rut that made thinking impossible.
Hadley. Hadley. Hadley.
“This is exactly what we don’t need,” Bishop panted. “Gods above, this night just won’t quit.”
“Ares.” Midas located her among
