Hels's Gauntlet [Forbidden Legacy 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Heather Long

later.”
    “Will Cassie be safe here with the younger Wizard?”
    The question struck Jacob as odd. Jude was his brother, but Vanagan’s expression betrayed nothing beyond mild curiosity and concern. “He’ll be fine. Don’t let his age fool you. He may not be the best combat Wizard, but what he lacks in skill, he makes up in raw talent.”
    “And he likes Cassie,” Paul supplied, breaking his customary silence. “We will go farther for those we care about.”
    Vanagan nodded and extended his arm. “I take it you both need a lift?”
    Paul and Jacob clapped their hands down on Vanagan’s forearm. Fortunately, Vanagan could not only teleport, he could transport, bypassing all but the most cursory folds of Underhill where it brushed against their world.
    Downstairs, Jacob’s heart beat wildly in Cassie’s keeping. Her fear pinged against the ties stretching between them. No matter how powerful everyone believed her to be or what stupid prophecy they subscribed to, she was still fragile. Her open, compassionate heart and her utter devotion left her dangerously vulnerable to the cutthroat world surrounding them. He focused his attention, sending a wave of love and energy down the gold and blue thread twining them together. Her wordless pulse of response surged through him.
    “Let’s go.”
    Vanagan needed no other encouragement. The world tilted hard to the left, and with a twist they appeared on the beach. Helcyon’s attackers were down another two men, leaving only five surrounding him. A dozen cuts bled freely, including one slicing clean down his cheek from the corner of his right eye to the top of his lip.
    He parried another blow, his fierce grin of welcome dissolving into concentration. Jacob didn’t wait for an invitation into the battle, slamming his fist into the kidneys of the closest attacker and releasing the spell in his mind. Fire scorched his fingertips as the being went down shrieking in agony.
    Vanagan seized another, lightning twisting together in a garrote between his extended fingers. Between one blink and the next, he wrapped it around the man’s throat and jerked him backward, separating the head from the shoulders in a geyser of blood.
    Paul separated his quarry with a controlled, almost nonchalant motion. The man lunged forward, intent on impaling the Wizard with his short sword. Catching the man’s wrist, Paul twisted until the bones snapped. With a whisper of magic, he slammed his foot into the man’s groin and seized his shirt front.
    Lifting him as though he weigh nothing, Paul threw the black-clothed attacker toward the rock face where he impacted and then melted, horribly, into the strata, strangling off his screams of agony as the pressure swallowed his chest.
    “Keep one alive,” Jacob ordered grimly, palming two hematite stones from his pocket and tackling one of the last two. He couldn’t create something from nothing. But clamping his hand over the assailant’s mouth, he shoved the hematite inside and activated them with a thought.
    The creature bucked, slamming his head back to strike Jacob’s chin. Teeth clacking together, he locked his arms and held on. Power shuddered over the man and his struggles grew weaker, and when the sick smell of ozone permeated the air, Jacob released the collapsed figure.
    Not dead.
    Yet.
    He looked up just in time to see Helcyon’s sword slice between the last assailant’s ribs. The man doubled over the blade, and slid off it until he joined his allies in a pool of blood.
    “Glad I listened to me.” He planted his foot on his captive’s shoulders, making sure he didn’t move. The hematite released a small blast of electrical energy into his body, overwhelming his neurons and scrambling his brains. Then it sucked back the same amount of energy from the man’s body, leaving him barely conscious, but alive. For how long would depend on his answers.
    Vanagan checked each of the figures, flipping them over, one at a time and jerking off