Page 80 of Red Ruin

“Even the ceiling array was charred.”

Oops.

Iris sighs at the ground. “The break might happen slowly, but it’s going to happen. We have until the ground collapses to come up with a battle plan.”

Instead of stepping off her special perch, she hugs my waist. “Bring us back to base. I have to send a message before whatever’s down there escapes.”

Us.

I flash the vamp a fang as I drag her against my body.

CHAPTER21

IRIS

Remy winksus out of the mountains. I cling to Vhex so that he isn’t “accidentally” left behind again.

We need reinforcements, fast.

But maybe someone else could make that call?

There’s a difference between herding Sentinels and leading them in an actual war.

We reappear above the Lomfort base as the sun sets.

No time for doubts.

Kobolds swarm our broken walls.

Their warriors attack with cold weapons, backed by mages tossing spells. Elemental power pulses and my body responds.

The massive kobold warlord spots us hovering. With a howl of challenge, he points his bloody sword our way.

“Dibs.” Vhex’s hellfire blazes.

“Wait.” I snag his arm and scan the field.

Our Sentinels trade blasts of magic with the kobolds’ spells and arrows. They know what they’re doing, bulldozing whole squads with each attack.

But we’re wildly outnumbered, and our arrays are down.

Every time a stray kobold breaks toward the Guides supporting the Sentinels from behind, the Sentinels have to circle back to defend.

Stupid.

But that’s how Sentinels are—they protect their own.

They’d even win eventually, but we can’t afford a drawn-out fight.

Worse is on deck.

“Fireball their mages, then take down the boss.” I soothe Vhex’s silks, making sure he’s stable enough to fight. “Come back to me every ten minutes, max. No rampaging. Got it?”

When Vhex grins, his fang pops over his lip. “Two minutes.”

His thoughts hum with dumb violence, but I set him loose anyway. Vhex blazes after the mages with a roar.

We have to learn how to fight together.

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