Zane cursed loudly enough for Brandt to hear.
He turned back to the fight in time to see the bandit pull a small leather-wrapped package out of Zane’s pockets.
The bandit stumbled backward, as though realizing for the first time a sword was embedded in him. But he unwrapped the package as Zane lunged for him.
Brandt wasn’t sure what happened next.
Zane flew backward, and his body slammed into a brick wall across the street. He impacted with a sickening thud, the sounds of bones cracking easily audible down the block.
Zane’s eyes went blank.
The bandit turned his attention to the wolfblades.
Off to Brandt’s side, the bricks cracked in the building next to him. What little light the stars provided disappeared as the whole building leaned over him.
Brandt looked up, frozen in place.
Then Kyler was there, pushing him aside. The giant man’s muscles bulged, tense with the effort of supporting the building, and he grunted a single word. “Go!”
Brandt looked up at the building, hovering above them.
Brandt ran, hating that he ran, but knowing there was no other way to honor Kyler’s sacrifice. He grabbed at Ana’s wrist as he passed her. The building resumed its descent well before they were clear.
Kyler screamed.
Brandt flung Ana forward, then leaped himself.
The building crashed down, a cloud of choking dust filling the street.
The sound of footsteps running echoed in the gloom, followed by a shuffling step. Brandt pulled at Ana, who resisted his efforts.
“Kyler’s back there!”
He didn’t have time to argue, to tell her Kyler wasn’t going to follow them. Their friend led the way, now, to the gates that awaited them all.
So he pulled, overpowering her objections with physical strength. After a faltering step or two, she followed.
It didn’t take long to come out of the dust. Brandt wiped his eyes. Ahead of them, Lola stood her ground against the shuffling bandit, sword in hand. Beyond that scene, Ryder and the girl ran.
Ryder stumbled, holding his head. Brandt couldn’t see clearly, but it looked as though he had been hit with something. Then he straightened and continued.
At least they saved one life tonight.
A stone as large as Brandt’s head sped from the rubble straight at Lola. She saw it coming and dodged, moving in close, hoping to find protection right next to the bandit.
Brandt summoned what little strength remained to join the fight, his sword leaping from its sheath. As the stone turned and raced toward Lola, he kicked at it, the power of his kick shattering the stone into pieces.
The bandit growled, “Pathetic.”
It was the first time Brandt had heard the bandit speak.
More bricks flew from the collapsed building.
Brandt cut through one with his sword, but the bandit caught the two pieces and circled them around. His control and strength still surprised Brandt, even after all this time.
He needed to get close enough to use his sword. The bandit was injured and relied on his affinity to win this battle.
In the moment of his distraction, a handful of bricks crashed into Lola from different directions. She grunted, then fell to the ground.
Brandt jumped into the swirling storm of stone surrounding the thief, driving his blade straight forward.
Brandt never had a chance. He was caught by several stones at once, and his blade never made it close. The power of the defense threw him off to the side, resting against the side of a building. Brandt looked up, uncomfortably aware of how dangerous buildings were now.
He tried to sit up taller, but his body refused to obey his commands. He looked around, finally finding Lola. She lay still on the street.
He couldn’t find Ana either. Had she also died in the attacks? Everything had happened so fast.
The bandit stepped toward Brandt. He growled, disguising his voice. “You shouldn’t have been here, fool.”
Brandt couldn’t fight. The bandit remained out of reach.
His team was dead. Thoughts of Kyler, Lola, and Ana filled his head. Hopefully Ryder would escape. He’d always been the most clever of them.
Brandt gritted his teeth. Their deaths had to mean something.
He searched for the bandit’s warmth. It was there, a quiet song, barely audible over the rampaging beat of his own heart.
Brandt imagined entwining his fingers in that heat, finding a hold deep within that couldn’t be broken. He might die, but he would die together with this man.
“Why?” he croaked.
He didn’t care much. No reason was worth the death of his friends. But an explanation would distract the man in those crucial first moments.
The bandit didn’t answer. A single rock, not much larger than Brandt’s index finger, floated between them. As Brandt watched, the rock fractured, flakes of stone fluttering to the ground like heavy leaves. The stone became a thick needle, pointed at his heart.
Brandt clutched the bandit’s heat in his will and pulled. He yanked as hard as his affinity allowed. A sweat broke on his brow as the heat came into his own body.
But nothing happened.
Brandt pulled and pulled until sweat poured from his forehead and armpits. The bandit should have died. He should have crumpled in agony as his blood froze in his veins.
But the bandit just shook his head. With a wave of his hand, the stone needle darted at Brandt. Brandt twisted, but the projectile pierced his chest, embedding deeply there.
A burning white agony blackened his vision. His body no longer obeyed its orders, and darkness swallowed him whole.
12
The wolfblade who called himself Ryder pulled her along. For the moment, she followed, the direction a welcome relief from having to solve her problems on her own.
Alena knew she was fast. She didn’t have many martial skills, but she had developed her lightness as far as she could. Of all the martial abilities, it was the one that came most easily to her. Had Ryder been healthy, though, she suspected he was even faster.
Despite the pounding of her heart, she studied him as he moved. She noticed the novel ways he changed directions, using walls, carts,
