Free Elder by Raine Thomas Page B

added with a huff. “Sparky’s never going to let me near him like this.”
    “I’ll clean you—”
    “You’ll do no such thing,” Tate interrupted as they edged around another corner. “You’re seriously drained. You should take it easy. Well, outside of hauling your backside out of here.”
    Appreciating Tate’s concern over her well-being, Ariana just nodded. When they reached the next bend, they both sniffed the air.
    “Oh, no. Please tell me that’s just me I’m smelling,” Tate said in a whisper.
    Bringing her hand to her nose, Ariana shook her head. “That is definitely not you.”
    “Damn.”
    That was when they heard the growling.
     
    Metis pressed a cloth against her head as she stumbled out of her destroyed laboratory and hurried after Cephalus and the two females. Her head was a solid ball of pain, but she couldn’t take the time to feel sorry for herself. She had to find the blasted females and save them from themselves.
    What a mess this had turned into.
    “Cephalus!” she shouted, hoping he was within earshot. “Do not harm the females!”
    When she reached her cottage, she hurried through the open doorway. Seeing the swath of destruction, she came to a stop and gaped. Her voice was trapped in her throat. If it hadn’t been, she would have screamed in fury.
    “You damned brute of a giant!”
    He was nowhere she could see. Wondering how long she had been dazed, she debated teleporting to somewhere within the maze in hopes of intercepting the females. But there was no way to predict where they’d end up. She had no choice but to do her best to follow their trail and pray that if Cephalus found them before she did that he was smart enough to keep them alive.
    Her eyes on the ground, she headed right. Cephalus had practically obliterated the tracks of the females, but that only made it easier for her to follow them. When she reached the turn leading to the clay golems, she frowned. If the golems fulfilled their purpose, the females would be held captive until she arrived to give the command for their release. That meant they would be sitting targets for Cephalus when he reached them.
    So she was once again surprised to the point of coming to a halt when she found nothing but a huge puddle of mud where her golems should be.
    Issuing curses under her breath, she edged around the mud to avoid getting filthy and then started running. The obstacles facing the females now that they had defeated the golems were only more fearsome.
    More deadly.
    She heard thrashing ahead and eased to a more cautious pace. There were guardians of the maze with the ability to roam freely. Even she wasn’t sure where they were at the moment.
    “I am near you, females,” growled Cephalus.
    Relieved, Metis again hurried around the corner and spotted the giant. His club dragged on the ground, leaving a clear trail.
    “And I scent something else, too,” he continued as his feet thudded on the dirt path. “Something that will rend the flesh from your bones before I can accomplish it.”
    Her eyebrows lifting as she also caught the scent, Metis fought back a surge of anxiety. If the females had encountered Tethys’ most precious creation, she was sure they were already dead.

Chapter 10
     
     
    Alexius had been right. Within five minutes, Clara Kate saw the outlines of the wings of her family and friends at the edge of the horizon.
    “We should be to Tate and Ariana’s location soon, if Zachariah’s gauge is correct,” he said.
    “Good,” she replied, giving him a smile. “Thanks.”
    He winked at her, an action that made her do a double-take. She’d never seen him wink at anyone. What did that signify?
    Hoping she was giving the wink more import than he’d intended, she returned her gaze to the wings in the distance and focused on flying. She felt bad having such thoughts. Alexius was a wonderful being. But she was nowhere near a point where she could even consider entertaining the attentions of a