Beyond the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #6)(24)

Not a bad thing to focus on, considering the dart she barely avoided before it slammed into her temple.

It was not until the pelting projectiles had slowed to an occasional unpleasant surprise that Harley at last realized that Salvatore had fallen several steps behind, his beautiful face covered in a sheen of sweat, his hair plastered to his head.

She stumbled to a halt, an odd alarm clenching her heart.

“Salvatore?”

He stabbed her with an annoyed glare, his eyes glowing with a golden light.

“Just keep running.”

A stray dart shot between them and Harley heaved a resigned sigh. She couldn’t just leave him. Not when he was obviously injured.

Why she couldn’t was not something she intended to mull over.

“Crap.” Moving to his side, she draped one of his arms around her shoulders and grabbed him around the waist, taking as much weight as he would allow as they continued down the tunnel. “What’s wrong?”

“When Levet broke into the cell, it sent a shower of silver in my shoulder,” he grudgingly confessed. “It’s draining my strength.”

That would certainly explain his inability to shift, and his weakness. Still, she couldn’t shake off the sensation that he wasn’t being entirely honest.

“We have to find some place to rest,” she said, her own legs beginning to feel the strain as the tunnel dipped and curved, leading to seeming nowhere.

“No.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “This tunnel isn’t safe.”

She sighed, pretending she didn’t notice his musky male scent and the heat of his hard body that was sending tiny flutters through the pit of her stomach.

“Are you always so stubborn?”

He managed a crooked, knee-weakening smile. “I’m charmingly determined.”

Charmingly determined? He was frigging beautiful was what he was.

Even covered in filth, with his suit in tatters and his hair tangled, he was drop-dead, mind-numbingly beautiful.

“You’re a pain in the ass,” she muttered, more annoyed by her potent awareness of this Were than his teasing.

“As long as it’s your ass…” His drawling words trailed away, his golden eyes narrowed. “Wait.”

She frowned, grudgingly coming to a halt. “I thought you wanted to keep moving?”

He reached out a slender hand to press it against the side of the tunnel.

“There’s a way out just behind this wall.”

Harley squashed the distraction of Salvatore’s presence and concentrated on the wall, feeling the echo just beyond the dirt.

“I feel it.” She opened her eyes. “Can we get through?”

Salvatore straightened, pulling away from her. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Before she could point out they were currently absent a pick and shovel, Salvatore whirled in a movement too fast for human sight and kicked his foot against the hard dirt. Harley winched as his foot punched a large hole through the wall, revealing there was indeed an opening on the other side.

Damn. He could knock off a man’s head with that kick.

Or the head of a mouthy female.

Dismissing the unpleasant possibility, Harley moved forward, tugging at the clumps of crumbling dirt to enlarge the hole. She had barely started when Salvatore was at her side, his breath rasping as he shoved at a particularly stubborn rock.

“You don’t have to be Superman,” she said tartly. “I can do this.”

His brief smile was strained. “The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can find someplace safe to hide.”

Harley grimaced, feeling as if she had been dipped, dredged, and battered in grime.

“This someplace better have a shower.”

Salvatore grunted, managing to shove aside the rock. Then, without hesitation, he pressed himself through the narrow opening. Harley rolled her eyes as she hurried behind him. Clearly it didn’t occur to him to allow her to take lead, despite the fact he looked close to total collapse.

Typical.

He’d rather fall flat on his face than admit he needed a woman’s help.

She had always suspected that testosterone sucked any common sense from the male brain.

Entering the cramped chamber carved in the dirt, Harley paused to take in her surroundings. Not an overwhelming task. There was nothing more than a pile of stones in one corner, and across the room, an opening that revealed some roughly carved stairs.

She had, however, heard Caine speak of his various spiderweb of tunnels, and she knew there was more here than met the eye.

“The stairs,” Salvatore muttered, heading toward the opening.

“Hold on.”

His expression tightened with a weary impatience. “Harley.”

“Caine always keeps stashes hidden, in case of a hasty exit,” she said, moving to the loosely piled stones. Her kick held considerably less impact that Salvatore’s, but it was enough to send the rocks flying to reveal a pile of objects that had been hidden beneath them. “See?”

Moving to her side, Salvatore reached to pluck the two loaded handguns off the ground, surprisingly shoving one into her hand before tucking the other into his waistband at his lower back.

The large ivory-handled dagger disappeared into a holster beneath his tattered pant leg, but he appeared far more interested in the tiny silver medallions that were half-buried beneath the dirt.