Repairer of the Breach (Stones of Fire Book 4) by Sarah Ashwood (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

on target to find her and make sure they both got out of this war alive, a war neither of them, honestly, should have ever been involved with. She ducked around careening bodies, avoiding wings, hooves, fangs, and claws. Her sole defense, besides her Glock, was the fact that angry shapeshifters seemed so intent on tearing each other apart that they were mostly ignoring her and Gary. Okay, she had checked on him. The two cops were nonentities, unless they happened to get in the way. She did have to pull her weapon on some creature that was slim and pale and almost translucent. A young man, she thought. It ran right up to her, weaponless, as far as Candace could tell. Nevertheless, with her Glock in its nose, and her snarling, “Back off,” it did, palms raised, and ran around her to be absorbed into the fray.

Nice to know all of these other shifters aren’t impervious to bullets, like Ballis, she thought.

Even as she did, a flash of light on blonde hair drew her focus.

Ellie!

She was behind enemy lines, so to speak, if one were taking sides. Candace wormed her way closer, struggling to make headway while staying safe. It was hard to tell at first, but as she neared, she could see Ellie was down on her knees in front of someone who was seated. It took crossing the line of battle, narrowly avoiding a confrontation with another of Adeola’s massive felines before she stumbled out of the battle and could distinguish who the person was.

Ciara Costas.

She was in her wheelchair, staring down at Ellie. The noise of the fight covered their voices.

Candace couldn’t tell what was being said, but she could see Ellie was speaking to the wheelchair-bound woman in quick, earnest words. There wasn’t enough light to judge by the other woman’s face what she was thinking or how she was receiving Ellie’s message, but it seemed improbable that any good could come out of Ellie directly confronting Ciara Costas. As Candace carefully approached, she couldn’t help wondering what on earth the two women had to say to each other, especially right now.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The conflict exploded before I could take a breath. I knelt there, stunned by the insanity that had erupted around me. I’d seen bloodshed and fighting before, but not on this scale. I think I was in so much shock at how quickly it had escalated that I forgot to be scared. I was in a kind of confusion while all around me humans morphed into fantastical creatures and a pack of big cats surged into action.

Someone shoved me. I jolted to my feet, catching my breath, to see Carter standing there in his human form.

“Get out of here, Ellie,” he said hoarsely. His naturally olive skin looked pale, even in the bad lighting, and his eyes held real fear. “Please go. Now. Get in the car. Go. Don’t look back.”

I could have argued. I could have stood my ground. But I understood that he was torn between fear for me and protecting his boss. Personally, I would’ve been happy for Sean Costas and Nosizwe to tear each other to pieces if it would end this infernal war, but Carter couldn’t refuse to defend his longtime mentor. For his sake, I nodded and whirled to run, ducking around flying shapes and shadows. None of the shifters seemed focused on me, only on each other. I’d made it to the edge of the fray when I stopped to look back and check on Carter.

Even in the melee, I could pick out his gleaming bronze form as he picked up a male lion that had pounced for Sean’s Minotaur form, raised it over his head, and threw it off. Even now, despite everything, protecting that man who, in my opinion, didn’t give two craps about him.

I changed my mind. I didn’t want him getting hurt or killed because of his misguided loyalties. And when I saw the terracotta warrior approach that he’d fought with in the coffee shop, I knew that was a distinct possibility. They’d brought up their own automaton to battle ours. Now Carter wasn’t merely defending himself or his boss, but taking on an equal.

Great. I can’t leave now. What can I do?

My gaze desperately roamed the scene. I couldn’t distinguish much, aside from the big cats and picking out a familiar shifter every now and then. Until my attention fell on a silent observer, tucked back a bit from the brawl, between two of the trucks that had been used to haul the Stones. The Stones, which now stood like an ancient ring of sacrificial, ceremonial stones around the carnage and bloodshed inside their borders.

I shivered. Okay, you’re being a little melodramatic, I warned myself, switching my concentration back to the lone figure.

It was Mrs. Costas, and I knew she wasn’t fighting because of her wheelchair and the physical limitations not being in or near water placed on her. I knew something else, too. In my hotel room earlier this evening, I’d looked up Merrows, studying them in an attempt to comprehend why her desperation to return to the sea had driven her to betray her husband. I still couldn’t say I understood, but I knew a little more about a Merrow’s power, and why, all those months ago, Britt, the bodyguard, had told me Ciara might look helpless, but she was actually incredibly powerful.

Could I get her to use her magic? To intervene? To stop this insanity before everyone was slaughtered?

I didn’t stop to consider the ins and outs. There wasn’t time. I dashed across the rough, uneven ground, skirting the battlefield as best I could. Sure, I had my Beretta tucked into my jeans, but I didn’t want to use it unless I was forced.

Luckily, after narrowly sidestepping a figure or two, who were more intent on killing each other than me, I crossed to the other side and worked my way over to Ciara Costas. Her head