Even the bashful Shy was pumping his fist in unison with his brothers’ chants.
The flame of the black candle flickered.
“Oh, I really think you might want to rethink that, dwarves,” the sultry strains of Karis’s voice suddenly echoed through the room.
As one the dwarves twirled on their heels, roaring at the lone female holding the tip of her sword at the center of Heapy’s chest.
Shy lifted his hands, looking as though he meant to tackle Karis to the ground.
The petite brunette laughed. “Oh, dwarf, I promise you don’t want to go there.”
And then Rayale’s pipes began to play. The beautiful dark-skinned pied piper stepped out from the shadows and bowed toward Giles and Lilith even as she continued to play her song.
The music seemed only to be attuned to the dwarves and no one else, because only they stood still and silent. Their eyes were wide in fury, though, as the final member of the deadly three stepped into the room.
Ying plopped her hands onto her hips, her golden bow gleamed like fire as she gazed around. “Well,” she looked at them, “are you gonna get out or stay and get cooked? The girls and I were just about to get our mani-pedis done.”
“The flame, if you could.” Giles jerked his chin in the direction of the candle.
Lifting a brow, Ying glanced over her shoulder. “Ah, demon, you’ve shown us your weakness. How wonderful.” And then, with a smirk that revealed just a hint of fang, she turned on her heel and blew out the flame.
Sighing with relief the instant he felt his body become his own again, Giles shifted to shadow, easily slipping free of the bonds and turned toward Lilith. “Lilith,” he said in a ghostly whisper, “can you ssshift yet?”
She shook her head. “No.” She sounded positively grumpy about it.
“Then may I asssist you?” He held out his hand.
“Absolutely.” Her smile was broad.
No one else in the room could have understood the gift she’d just given him by accepting his help. It was the first time she’d ever allowed it, tamping down his triumph of the moment, he inclined his head in thanks.
“Yeah, can we get on with this already?” Karis asked. “This wee little bastard here is eyeing me like I’m a slice of filet mignon and I really think it’s time to go.”
Grasping hold of Lilith’s hand, he transferred his shadow ability to her and pulled her free of the binds. The moment she was out he released her hand and she was whole once more.
Shivering, she rubbed her arms up and down. “Thank…thank you,” she clacked through her teeth.
Becoming human again he gathered her into his arms and held her tight. So grateful to have her with him and safe once more.
“All righty, then.” Ying smiled and bowed at the gathered dwarves. “Come after us and I’ll kill you all. So let’s just forget this little tete a tete shall we?”
Yanking on Giles’s collar, Ying jerked her head in the direction of the door, where Rayale was already backpedaling away though still playing her pan flute.
“Let’s go,” she singsonged.
Lacing his fingers with Lilith’s they turned and followed the xiather.
“Karis!” Ying snapped.
Turning up her nose, Karis lifted the hilt end of her sword and snapped it down on the thick head of Heapy, who crumbled in a pile at her feet.
Giles could not imagine what had possessed her to do such a thing, harming the ruler of the dwarves could incite their fury even further.
“What?” She shrugged. “He was freaking me out. Now let’s go.”
The moment they turned from the room whatever spell Rayale had cast with her music dissipated and the grunts and groans of angry dwarves rang out like a disturbed hornet’s nest after them.
“Quick. Quick. Quick.” Ying cried, racing with sure-footed steps up the steep embankment of a smoothed-out dirt path. “We gotta get to the top.”
No sooner had she spoken the words than she was pulling her bow off and with a speed born of dragon blood she snapped one flaming arrow after another into the hearts of dwarfs chasing after them.
Karis took to the lead in front of them, slashing and dashing her way through. Rayale was well in front of all of them, she was playing, but her power to drive off attackers seemed only to last within a certain range of sound and she seemed to be in charge of keeping the path to topside as relatively clear as possible.
“It would help if I could shift,” Lilith panted.
She was clinging to his fingers, running as fast as she could to stay by his side, but she definitely seemed slower. The dwarves had done something to her.
Giles could practically feel the stench of dwarf breath on the back of his neck. Short they might be, but they could run.
“Can I shift us again? They can’t take us in shadow.”
Shifting for someone not of demone blood could be painful and could even cause lasting harm to the person’s psyche, but they had no choice. She was lagging behind and the women weren’t slowing their pace one bit.