On the Hunt (Sentinel Wars #3.5)(45)
Author: Gena Showalter

Power filled Viviana. It flowed through her veins and seeped between her cells until she was vibrating with it. She sucked it into herself, reveling in the ease with which it poured from Neal into her.

Pressure built within her until she felt like her ribs would burst under the strain. She had to let it out—get rid of the energy before it killed her.

Neal had told her she could wield magic, but he had no idea where her abilities might lie, other than her obvious talent for finding Sentinel artifacts. Unfortunately, neither did she, and it was swiftly becoming too late for thought.

A few feet away, Neal fought the monsters that had charged them. She could sense his need to keep them all occupied and away from her, but there were four of them and only one of him.

In a blur of smooth motion, he lopped the forepaw from one of the beasts as it attacked. Its blood spattered across Neal’s arm, singeing his leather jacket. The thing howled in pain and fell back, lapping at its wound.

Two more surged forward to take its place, but one ignored Neal and looked right at her. Its Mr. Yuck green eyes flared with a hungry light and it sprang forward, jaws open.

A vibrant pulse pounded against the inside of her skull, nearly blinding her. Viviana gathered a ball of power and flung it out at the sgath.

Its body spun in midair, and it let out a pained snarl. It landed hard, skidding over the cracked floor before its sharp claws slowed it to a stop.

It turned, hackles raised, hissing as it slunk toward her.

She hadn’t hurt it. All she’d done was knock it around.

Viviana realized then that she was no match for these things. She wasn’t a fighter. She was a bookworm. An intellectual. She had no business wading into battle where brawn and blades were the only things that mattered.

Neal roared and spun in a deadly arc. The head of one of the sgath flew up into the air while its body continued to claw at him for another few seconds.

"Pull it together!" he shouted. "You can do this."

She wasn’t convinced, but if she didn’t do something, they were both dead.

That was the thought that brought a sense of calm down over her. She would not let Neal die, not when she had the power to stop it at her fingertips.

What she needed was a way to cage the beasts long enough for Neal to kill them—a way to protect him from their attack.

Viviana looked around for something she could use. Steel bars would have been nice, but all she saw was a broken pallet stacked with rotted-out sandbags. If she used her power to shove the pallet against one of the things and pin it to a wall, that might work.

The sgath stalking her circled to her left. Neal was too busy fighting off the others to stop it.

She formed a picture in her mind of what she wanted to do and convinced herself she could make it happen.

One by one, the busted sandbags flew off the pallet, freeing it. Elation filled her as she pulled on more of Neal’s power, working faster as the sgath closed the distance.

The last bag split open, spilling sand between the wooden slats. She lifted the pallet into the air, seeing a faint wavering of energy connecting her to it as it moved. She shoved on it hard, sucking in as much energy as her straining body would allow, and hurled it at the beast.

It hit the sgath, slamming it back against the rock wall. The thing snarled and clawed at the wood. Its jaws snapped, sending wooden splinters into the air.

The pallet was swiftly crumbling to uselessness.

Panic sliced at her; then she felt a warm touch brush over her mind. Neal. Even during his own life-threatening battle, he was worried about her.

She could grow to love a man like that if they survived.

Viviana held the disintegrating pallet in place while she looked around for another option. The only thing she saw was dirt, sand, and flimsy metal shelving.

What she wouldn’t give to have these sgath dead, stuffed, and behind glass in some museum.

Glass. That was it. She needed to put them behind thick, heavy glass.

Glass. That was it. She needed to put them behind thick, heavy glass.

As soon as the thought entered her mind, the power flowing through her leaped to obey. Heat shimmered from her, making the air waver. The plastic bags left in the pile of sand melted away, creating a chemical stench.

The sgath bashed through the remains of the pallet and lunged toward her, only to stop short as it neared the searing heat that was now making the sandpile glow a fiery orange.

Energy funneled through her so fast she could feel it chafing her insides. Heat built inside her skin until each breath came out as a puff of steam.

"Too much!" she heard Neal shout somewhere outside her world of heat and pressure. She didn’t respond. She couldn’t stand to let her focus slip for even a second.

The sand softened, allowing her to shape it into a thick, viscous blob. She kept the heat coming while she sent thick tendrils of molten sand toward the two remaining sgath.

Neal jumped away from the searing heat. She hadn’t realized where he’d gone until she felt his cool touch at her nape.

Something changed in that instant. She felt a click, as if a magnet had stuck against her necklace. A heartbeat later, the conduit she’d been using to pull Neal’s power into herself opened wide, letting a roar of energy sweep into her.

It was too much. She didn’t know how to control it.

She gritted her teeth and concentrated on finishing the job. If she was still alive when that was done, she’d find a way to stop the torrent of power from destroying her.

The molten sand flattened into a plane and shaped itself to cage each sgath inside. The smellof burning hair and the sound of feral screams bounced off the cave walls.

She couldn’t breathe. Neither could Neal. Now that she’d taken care of the threat, she realized she’d created another. She’d burned off the oxygen in here.

Black spots flickered in her vision. Behind her, Neal gasped for air.

Viviana cut off the flow of heat, and used the energy seething inside her to push the hot air from the room.

A cold wind swept over them. She sucked it into her lungs as she collapsed to the ground.

Neal eased her down, going right along with her as they crumpled in a heap. His sword clattered against the pitted floor. His arms surrounded her, holding her close. He was saying something against her hair, but she couldn’t get her mind to work enough to understand his words.

Across the room, the smoking skeletons of two sgath sat trapped behind grainy, tarry sheets of warped glass.

"Hell of a trick," said Neal. "How about we get the gadget and get you someplace safe?"

"Works for me." She reached out with only a faint wisp of power and saw the artifact glowing in her mind’s eye on the floor across the room. It was still inside the carved box, unharmed.