{Corpus Christi, TX | June 2006}

Xelan stared at the Icarus poised over the Tantamount. He couldn’t move for the fear coursing through his blue-blooded veins. “Why would you do this? You’ll risk killing her.”

“The King disagrees.”

A test.

The compound behind them burned away. Cult of Night freaks evacuated. Their children were rounded up and separated from their parents under Rayne’s insistence. The rest of the Shadow, Ambush, and Pride teams saw to the distribution of the children to local shelters while Xelan had explored the grounds.

In the city’s center, he found this.

One Icarus, one nacre was all the Tantamount needed to send Corpus Christi into the Gulf of Mexico. Drilled directly into the fault line beneath the asphalt, the weapon amplified the friction between tectonic plates. It required nacre energy as fuel for the resonant explosive. This triggered a record-shattering earthquake.

As the nacre-charged Icarus stared at his Prince, Xelan calculated all the ways this might end them. The only thing which would make this situation worse—

“Xelan?” Rayne called as she searched for him.

Fuck.

The Icarus piqued to the General’s proximity and detonated the weapon.

“Run!” Xelan charged at her and took hold of her good arm. She didn’t resist, for once. He blared into his mic. “Everyone, run! Earthquake! Get to an open space away from the buildings!”

That might prove difficult among the skyscrapers lining every street. They trembled and screeched as metal and concrete bowed. The highway overpasses and flyovers twisted and warped.

They both pounded combat boots on the pavement as the street roiled and swayed. Xelan’s heart almost leapt from his skull when an enormous chunk of cement narrowly missed Rayne. He took the next corner, and she made to follow. A thunderous crash sent him backward when an apartment complex crumbled between them.

Xelan coughed around the smoke and debris. “Rayne!” He swiped some glass off his front. “Rayne!”

“I’m all right!”

He opened his wings to fly over the rubble when another groan stopped him. The skyscraper behind Xelan buckled and collapsed. The windows surrendered like sheets to the wind as shards rained down on him. He rushed around the corner of the next concrete death trap to escape the fall path. Too little. Too late. The heavy beams and concrete facade of the skyscraper’s corner pinned him to the sidewalk.

Xelan’s heart slowed, and his vision faded. In the distance, Rayne screamed his name with growing frustration at the futility of it. That too faded. The city collapsed around him, and Xelan fell unconscious.

Sometime later, a serenade reached out to him. A beautiful alto called his name. Soft hands brushed his skin. Her wild scent drifted to him on the breeze. “Tameka.” Xelan’s voice sounded like shit even to him. Dry and choked with debris, his throat did not appreciate the mortality check.

“I’m here, Xelan. It’s not safe for you to move you, yet.” Tameka didn’t sound much better than him, and the instant-concern he felt for her safety forced him to open his eyes.

Xelan scanned Tameka for injuries. Her mouth was bleeding, and she favored her wrist, but otherwise, she’d fared better than him. He said, “You’re okay.”

“Yeah but let’s not do this again.”

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you have an awesome time?” Kyle growled from nearby.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Despite Tameka’s protest, Xelan sat up. So many places on his body hurt, but his nacre had repaired the worst of his injuries in his sleep.

Lucas and Andrew stood outside the ruined building next to another ruined structure. They had waited away from the mission with Ambush team in case Shadow and Pride needed back up. Lucky for them and Caedes, they’d positioned themselves higher and out of the way. It was easy for them to fly out of danger with Andrew. There were no tumbling skyscrapers to block their flight.

Xelan called, “Report.”

Lucas explained, “Caedes and Sagan are searching for the two missing members. Colton and Six went to find land transport—”

“Who is missing?” An icy chill crawled up Xelan’s spine.

Lucas sighed and glanced at Andrew for help.

Kyle answered for him. “John and Rayne. We can’t reach them on the earpieces.”

Xelan climbed off the pile of cinder blocks and rebar.

Tameka tugged on his hand. “You’re hurt.”

Xelan opened his mouth to argue, but Kyle interrupted. “He’s hurt, but it’s his job to watch out for Rayne.” The younger man shook with animosity.

Xelan did not have time for this. “Lucas and Tameka, you’re with me—”

“Help!”

Kyle and Xelan exchanged a look. “That was Rayne.”

“I need help!”

The team bolted off the pile of rubble and ran toward her voice. Xelan stifled a wince as his ribs checked in with his nervous system. Her screams came louder and more strained. He flew past the others, leaving them behind. With every beat of his wings in her direction, Xelan imagined the various injuries Rayne had sustained. His heart hurt with each possibility. He’d hoped to protect her from the pain of this war at least a little while longer. As he rounded the corner of the last block under the freeway, the sight he discovered was not what he’d expected.

John laid prone under a propped heavy cement pylon. The kind that supported overpasses. His warm skin was pale and clammy in his unconscious state. Propping up the pylon, preventing further damage to her young friend, Rayne held the entire thing. With one arm. She trembled with the effort of the astonishing feat. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Veins and muscles strained alike.

Rayne screamed again, ragged and terrified, “Help!”

“I’m here.”

Her entire body let out a sigh of relief. “I—I don’t know how much longer I can hold this.”

Xelan circled around the pylon to her line of sight. “I’m right here. I got you.”

“I didn’t get to him in time. Is he alive?!”

Xelan reached under the concrete and knew without a doubt he was not strong enough to help on his own. “He’s alive, Rayne.”

In a small voice, she choked, “How am I doing this?”

“Because you’re a badass General, Callahan.” Keep her calm. Xelan grinned at Rayne, and her pulse slowed. She nodded at him. Good because he was freaking out internally. Into his earpiece, he called, “Lucas, I need you.” He gave their location, and Lucas arrived in seconds.

Behind Rayne, the Icarus’ eyes bulged. He glanced at Xelan, who gave a curt shake of the head. There was no need to make her feel more self-conscious than she already did. Lucas approached the opposite side from Xelan and reached under. He tried to hide the widening of his eyes, but Rayne let out a sob, anyway. She was stronger than both of them.

Her eyes went wild with panic, and the pylon lowered a millimeter. “Rayne.”

There was no response, and her heart rate skyrocketed.

“Rayne!”

She snapped out of it. “I’m here.”

“Look at me.” She did. Xelan worked hard to keep the concern from his voice. “You’re doing great. You saved John on your own. You’re so strong.” She gave him a weak smile that meant the world to him. “Just a little longer. I can’t wait to see how hard you punch now.”

Fresh tears poured, but she nodded for him.

They needed one more Icarus. Xelan almost groaned as he called Caedes on the earpiece.

The bald Icarus arrived and, without preamble, cursed. “How the fuck is she holding that up?”

Lucas clicked his tongue and shook his head, exasperated.

Xelan growled, “Not without considerable effort. We need to help her.”

Tameka and Sagan rounded the corner next. Both of them gasped.

Rayne cried, “Yes. I get it. Super impossible. Please help me save John.”

The young man stirred under the pylon then. This would be bad. As he peered up at Rayne and down the length of his body, he screamed, “My leg! Something’s wrong with my leg!”

Xelan grunted as he strained under the pylon. Heavy didn’t do it justice. “Soldiers!”

Lucas and Caedes took their strength’s worth and finally relieved Rayne of her burden. All three men strained with the load as the girls helped John escape the crushing weight. They didn’t get him far, but far enough to allow the three Icari to drop the substantial structure.

Rayne gaped, catatonic, at their efforts. The moment they dropped it, Xelan rushed to her side and checked her for injuries. Her good arm might not work tomorrow after the strain, but she was unharmed. He checked her eyes for focus. Shock. She went into shock.

“Caedes, I need your coat.”

After some light grumbling, he handed it over. He went to Tameka’s side as she examined John’s leg.

“How is he?” Xelan called over his shoulder. He draped the coat over Rayne.

“Xelan, I…” Tameka speechless was bad news.

Sagan said, “John’s fainted from blood loss. I think… I think his leg needs amputating.”

Somewhere hope waited just on the other side of this fresh hell. A hand brushed Xelan’s face and startled him. He turned back to Rayne, and she opened her eyes. Fierce, determined, strong. With a single nod from her, he knew. Everything would be all right.