Page 100 of Liar Witch

It turns to fire in front of him. The dirt melting into a pool of glowing lava at his whim. The heat in the room becomes unbearable, sending beads of sweat dripping from my hairline down the back of my neck.

My eyes widen and I curse myself for the reaction and the smirks it puts on the others’ faces.Of coursethey’d be able to melt rock. Whywouldn’tI expect that?

It’s not like they’d dig tunnels inside a volcanic island like moles or something.

I shrug off a mental groan and head for the door, magic flaring in my strength sigils, allowing me to drag Shen’s moaning form behind me.

When the weight disappears, I glare behind me. Only to find one of the salamanders—Monroe—has her over his shoulder.

“A lady shouldn’t have to handle such filth,” he spits, disgusted.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Nilsa

Idon’t hesitate to kill every guard I come across on my way back to the cell block caverns. The salamanders don’t hold back on any that I miss either, and it gives me a chance to examine their strange skillset.

Sure, there’s the regular snapping of necks and dismemberment that anyone would expect from three burly shifters with a few hundred years of pent up frustration, but then there are the glimpses of something more. Something… magical.

I’ve never heard of shifters that can control lava. Yet these ones wield it like it’s an extension of themselves, melting rock in their bare fists and hurling the boiling hot liquid projectiles at their enemies.

It’s novel, though I’m certain a dagger to the throat is a kinder end. I’m not going to object to anything that makes freeing the sirens faster. In the end, it becomes almost a game; who can kill the most, the quietest, and without alerting anyone who might have a chance to set off an alarm?

Of course, when we reach the closest cavern—the one without Cassie in it—all hell breaks loose.

Instead of using the door like a normal person, Rossiter shifts, melting his way through the wall and plunging us into a fight I’d hoped to avoid.

Monroe drops Shen unceremoniously to the floor and follows Rossiter’s lead, shifting as he leaps through the gap. I’m still gaping at the lack of subtlety when Vespar blunders after them, narrowly missing me with his tail.

“Bloody impulsive shifters!” I curse, following after them. “Make sure you don’t burn the sirens whose cells you’re standing on, you idiots!”

This wasnotthe plan. They’re determined to bring every single guard right down on top of us as they exact their revenge on their former captors, and I have no choice but to go along with it.

I should have just left them in their collars and come back for them afterwards. Screw it. I should have left them in their collars.Period.

“If you can’t beat them…”Opal mutters, leaping from my shoulders and soaring into the fray with a hiss.

She shifts mid-air and lands on top of a guard in her tigress form before bending down to rip his throat out before moving onto her next victim.

“This is insane,” I mutter, casting a quick glance at Shen to check that she’s still trussed up and can’t go anywhere before I wade into the fight after them.

It doesn’t take long for more guards to show up. Then it’s a matter of flicking around, picking them off as the enormous salamanders draw their attention.

Goddess, this is tiring. I can barely keep up with dodging the huge shifters and their enthusiastic tails and the blows from the guards. I don’t manage to stay completely unscathed. A guard gets a lucky slice along my thigh. Another sinks a knife into my shoulder before Opal drags him backwards by her teeth. A stray elbow catches me in the gut, winding me.

A handful of small wounds. Each one would be bearable on its own, yet combined they conspire to sap at my strength.

It just goes on and on.

Dodge, jump, stab, parry. Repeat.

Blood flows. Fire is practically everywhere. Smoke floods the room. More guards pour out of every door as the fight drags on, a handful of them have got their hands on some huge, metal nets.

As if the salamanders would ever let themselves be chained again.

Those guards just succeed in painting a massive target on their backs. They’re dead before they can make it more than a few steps into the room, and anyone who approaches the nets meets the same fate.

Somewhere in all the chaos, the tide turns. The guards stop running at us and start fleeing.