“She’s going to be worse than the last time. Have you taken precautions?”
Lucian’s only answer was to stare hard at Kael.
Kael shook his head and sighed. “It’d be easier to talk sense into a wall.”
“I’m not far behind you,” Lucian said, not acknowledging Kael’s aggrieved comment. We’ll plan on making camp at the border. If I don’t catch up to you by nightfall, you don’t come looking for me. Keep going. Get these people to the Vale.”
Kael pressed his lips together, looking like he wanted to argue.
“Kael, we’ve discussed this. It’s not safe to wander in the jungle, especially at night. Until we meet up again, you are in charge. These people and their safety are your top priority. You cannot let your loyalty to me sway you from your task.”
“I won’t,” Kael said finally, sounding thoroughly put out.
Lucian understood the war waging inside of his oldest friend, but it did not mean he would yield. Not on this. “Make sure the Triumvirate are seen walking beside the survivors. These people need to know that their leaders are with them.”
Kael muttered something about scarlet hooded assholes, and Lucian bit back a grin, understanding the sentiment if not the words.
“I’ll see you soon, brother.”
“Safe travels, Lucian,” Kael said, his expressive green eyes somber.
With a nod, Lucian turned and walked away. He didn’t get far before a hand shot out and grasped his arm. Lucian spun, sword already halfway free from its scabbard. He bit off a curse when he saw who stopped him.
“What?” he snapped, shoving Ronan off of him.
“Where are you going?”
“Gathering the rest of the supplies,” he lied smoothly.
Ronan’s eyes narrowed with challenge. “The last of them were loaded into the wagon an hour ago. What are you really up to?”
“None of your business,” Lucian replied in a tight voice.
“I’m the Shield. In the Kiri’s absence I am the senior person in charge—”
“Tell that to her Advisor.”
Ronan scowled, but didn’t pause. “—and that means I outrank you. So spit it out. Now.”
A muscle spasmed in Lucian’s jaw. I do not have time for this shit. Leaning forward, voice dripping with something dark and not wholly sane, he replied, “No one outranks a Guardian. Not even the Kiri herself has power over me or my brothers.”
Ronan’s blue eyes glittered dangerously. “Want to test the theory?”
“I’ve already kicked your ass once, Shield. Happy to do it again.”
Lucian’s patience was frayed on his best day. Right now, with fear eating away at him of what he would face when he made it back to Effie, he was hardly fit to be around anyone he actually liked. Ronan was pushing his luck by testing Lucian’s control. Especially when the Shield did not fall into the category of being someone he liked. Not after leaving Effie behind.
The longer they stared at each other, violence and temper simmering between them, the better a fight sounded. A least it would be a way to let off some of the tension thrumming through him.
Finally, Ronan let out a deep breath and shook his head. “I’m not looking to pick a fight with you.”
“Pity.”
“You’re up to something. I want to know what. Especially if it puts the rest of us in danger.”
“I told you, Shield. It’s none of your business.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
Lucian could practically feel time slipping away. There was nothing to gain by wasting more of it on this conversation.
He knew it was a risk, letting Ronan see Effie in her altered state, but he was going to find out sooner or later. Lucian couldn’t imagine Ronan wouldn’t take his side in this. Not when he clearly cared about Effie. But if he didn’t . . . well, Lucian would deal with that too.
“You want to know so bad? Fine. Follow me.”
Ronan’s eyes widened, but he wasted no time catching up to Lucian’s ground-eating strides. “Are you going to at least warn me about what to expect or am I going into this blind?”
“Don’t push your luck, Shield.”
He didn’t speak further, but Lucian felt his displeasure building between them. Ronan’s unease was palpable. So was his curiosity. Not that Lucian gave two shits about it. After what Ronan did, he could live with his questions awhile longer. Lucian didn’t owe him a damned thing, least of all satisfaction.
They walked in silence for ten minutes, weaving through the destruction and taking a wide path around what had once been a courtyard until it opened up into the remnants of a garden.
Lucian came to a stop, eyes flaring bronze as his power illuminated the shimmering portal just ahead. The entrance to the catacombs was hidden in plain sight, just like everything else when it came to the Keepers. It didn’t take centuries of living to learn that the less secretive something appeared, the less interest people had in poking around where they didn’t belong.
A rose bush that was more thorns than flowers was the perfect hiding spot. Nasty looking enough to warn off anything that might be tempted to reach for a flower, it deterred unwanted guests more successfully than a sign or gate ever could.
“After you,” Lucian said in a deceptively courteous voice.
Ronan’s eyes narrowed. “Is this a trick, Guardian?”
Lucian let some of his pent-up anger filter into his words. “When I come for you, Shield, there’s no mistaking it. I have no need for tricks.”
The warrior was too well-trained to allow his reaction to the threat show, but his nostrils flared once, telling Lucian everything he needed to know.
“Walk straight ahead. You’ll end up in a dim hallway, just keep walking. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Doesn’t fill me with confidence.”
“Don’t care.”
Ronan grit his teeth and tightened his hold on the hilt of the dagger strapped to his hip—as if that would do anything to stop Lucian from completing a kill if that was his intent—and did as he was told.
Lucian watched him disappear between one step and the next, waiting two beats to ensure he was clear of the portal before following him.
The hallway was dank and dark, the few torches Lucian had left burning were extinguished. Up ahead Ronan spotted one of them and set it ablaze with a flare of his power.
“What is this place?” he asked in a low voice when Lucian strode past him.
“Catacombs.”
“I thought that was a myth.”
“Live long enough, Shield, everything turns into a myth.”
Ronan grunted. “Don’t like the thought of disturbing the dead.”
Lucian contemplated telling him that this was not the resting place of the dead and just as quickly decided against it. “Then don’t disturb them.”
Lucian knew he was being an ass, but it didn’t lessen his small flicker of amusement. Payback, in any form, was sweet.
His amusement was short-lived as they neared the room where Effie was being held. No matter what Kael thought, no amount of precaution would help prepare Lucian for this. There was no way to prepare for seeing Effie. To anticipate what the sight of her, mindless in her bloodlust, would do to him. How it would shred him.