Page 114 of Ares' Shield
“Maybe we can get them to fight each other,” I whisper. “Trust me.”
“Okay.” Jayden runs a hand through his hair. “Ready?”
“We need to time this just right,” I say and flick my whip at the bigger lion, pushing him back.
“What are we doing?”
“When you drop your shadows, we wait until they both pounce, then dive out of the way.” I chew my lip, sure Jayden is going to argue but he just nods.
“Okay, ready?” Jayden raises his hands.
I nod and crouch into a fighting stance, ready to get the fuck out of the way as soon as they pounce. Jayden drops the wall of shadows and both lions watch us from opposite sides. They crouch, wiggling their huge golden asses.
“Should we move?” Jayden whispers.
“Not yet. They need to clash in midair.” My gaze never leaves the two lions ready to pounce.
They crouch even lower until their bellies are in the water of the fountain. I bounce on the balls of my feet, ready to spring into action. Both lions leap simultaneously.
“Now,” I yell and Jayden grabs me around the waist before I get a chance to jump out of the way.
Shadows wrap around us, taking us out of the way and depositing us closer to Raven. The lions clash in the air with a roar. They claw at each other for a second before landing and stalking away from each other.
Golden eyes find mine. “Fuck, it didn’t work.”
“They’re being controlled, Beth. Did you really think you could get them to destroy themselves?” Jayden shakes his head.
“I didn’t see you coming up with a plan to get us out of there.”
The ground rumbles beneath my feet as the largest lion runs at us. A paw swipes out before I can let out a scream and I’m flung through the air for the second time in as many days. The breath whooshes out of me in a rush as I fly through the air.
The lion chases my prone body with a roar and as I fall into the shallow water of the fountain, I inhale the chlorinated water. My lungs fill and I choke on the water filling my lungs. My arms are lead at my sides as panic sets in.
My lungs burn as they fill with liquid.
I’m going to die.
The ground rumbles next to me and the water thrashes as something huge bounds to my side.
Panicked screams sound far away as I attempt to kick my way out of the water, but a huge paw slams down on my body, and I scream underwater, letting more of the foul liquid into my lungs.
I’m pinned underwater, unable to move or breathe. My body is broken and black spots form at the edge of my vision.
Blackness overtakes me as I try one final time to breathe through the crushing pain.
22
“Beth,” someone screams, but it’s far away.
Pain sears through my lungs as someone pounds on them. Why the fuck are they pounding on my already crushed chest?
I cough and spit nasty water out of my mouth and turn to my side. Pain tears through my throat as I continue to cough up what feels like razor blades in my throat.
My entire body aches where the lion stepped on my chest. Jayden’s fingers slip through my hair soothingly as he pushes it away from my face while I continue to cough and hack.
“What happened?” I croak.
“He batted you into the water and then stepped on you. We barely got you out in time.” Jayden sits back on his heels.
