The delegates were too weak to levitate themselves out of the shaft, so Fenris and I ushered them into the elevator cage, choking on clouds of dust and rubble as we went. Fenris got into the cage with them, then shouted several Words. The elevator began to glow, then slowly rose up the shaft with a loud screech, taking the delegates to safety.
The next thing I knew, Iannis’s arms were around me, and I bit back a scream of my own as he jumped out of the collapsing tunnel and straight into the abyss below. We fell for ten very long, very terrifying seconds, and then the levitation spell finally activated, dragging us to a halt. I sighed in relief as we began to float upward, leaning my head back against Iannis’s chest.
“By Magorah,” I said, then took in a deep breath to ease the tremors in my body. “You scared the living hell out of me.”
Warmth swept through me as his arms tightened a little more snugly around me and he rested his triangular chin on the top of my head. “Are you alright, Sunaya?”
“Aside from my hand, I think I’m okay.” There was also the fact that my stomach was doing somersaults right now, but there was no need to bring that up.
Iannis swore, and he gently grasped my hand and lifted it to the light filtering in from above. It was already starting to heal, but the slices were very deep, and now that adrenaline was wearing off the wound hurt like hell.
“I’ll deal with this when we get topside,” he promised.
“Thanks.” I sighed, relieved that I wouldn’t have to suffer with the pain for several hours.
“No, thank you.” There was a hint of admiration in Iannis’s tone. “If you hadn’t severed Argon’s leg just then, I’m not sure what would have happened.”
“I’m sure you would have figured something out.” But pride swelled my chest, and I grinned for a moment until I remembered that Argon had escaped. “How the hell did we lose him, though? I don’t understand.”
“He had a gulaya.” Iannis’s voice tightened. “It’s an old-fashioned type of charm, very powerful and rare, that anchors the wearer to a particular place. It requires a lot of power to create, not to mention illegal ingredients, but if the charm is made properly the wearer can use it to teleport back to that single location at any time.”
“Well fuck.” I wanted to say more, but we floated out of the shaft, and I had to shield my gaze as my eyes worked to adjust to the morning sunlight spilling over the horizon. Iannis set me down, then gently encircled my wrist with his hand and spoke a few Words. A blue glow enveloped my hand, and I squeezed my eyes shut against the searing pain that ripped through my fingers as the magic knitted my flesh and bone back together.
After what seemed like an eternity, the pain faded. I opened my eyes to see that my hand was healed, and let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
“There you are.” Iannis let my hand fall to my side, and as I looked up at him, I was surprised to see his face was paler than usual. Maybe healing exhausted him more than I thought. “Are you alright now? I need to go speak to the other delegates.”
“I’m fine,” I said, biting back the questions that sprang to my lips. I stood to the side as Iannis went to talk to Fenris and the delegates, feeling a little bereft but knowing I couldn’t monopolize his company. The way the delegates blinked in the light as they spoke to Iannis, a combination of awe and gratitude on their faces, was a little bemusing since I was used to seeing little to no emotion on their faces. But I guess being rescued from impending execution after several days of forced drug injections and incarceration would bring out emotion in anyone.
I wondered if Chartis would survive the blood loss, gulaya or not. The detached part of his leg lay buried under the rubble by now. But then, he was a powerful mage in his own right, and I imagined he’d be nearly as hard to kill as Iannis.
Bosal ar’Nuris, the Education Secretary, spotted me standing by the mineshaft entrance and struggled to his feet. Fenris caught him by the elbow and helped him the rest of the way, and when I realized he was making his way toward me I closed the distance so he wouldn’t have to walk so far.
“Thank you for coming back for us,” Bosal said, his voice steady despite the rings of exhaustion around his eyes. His long, pale hair was scraggly, his robes stained with dirt and who knew what else, but despite his ordeal he held himself with the dignity I’d come to expect of mages. “I am ashamed to say that I worried you might not, but glad that I misjudged you.”
“You’re welcome.” I smiled and extended my hand. “I guess us shifters aren’t so bad after all?”