Munro (Immortals After Dark #18) by Kresley Cole

            He exhaled a breath. “We canna know for sure. Some believe they’ll only strike if you fight or run, but who among us can encounter a newling and no’ do either?”

            She seemed to ruminate on that, the wheels turning behind her coppery eyes.

            “Yet your circus intends to tangle with a pack of them? There’s no fighting that many. Humans certainly canna do it. You’re the most fragile species I’ve ever encountered. A bee can take you out. A trip and fall. A draft.” He shook his head. “Who is your thickskulled leader? Someone needs to talk some sense into him.”

            “You’re looking at her.” Strength and intelligence blazed from her eyes as she said, “Thickskulled I might be, but I will still defeat you and that pack.”

            She was the leader? His Lykae curiosity redlined. How had a wee slip of a female gotten hardened men—in this decade—to obey her orders? That would certainly explain her general’s tone. “Then walk me through your battle plan, leader,” he said, though he already saw all the moves on her fairground chessboard.

            She murmured, “Circus secret.” Sayer-kiss.

            Sexy little Transylvanian! If she whispered that in his ear, he’d come in his pants.

            Inner shake. “No matter what you planned, it still would no’ be enough. You canna use a hexed blade on all of them.”

            “I’m also handy with a sword and a rifle. We all are. And a bullet to the brain will fell a younger Lykae for long enough to take its head.” A knowing grin teased her lips as she added, “I understand that grenades are effective as well.”

            “Once you engage those wolves, there’s no falling back. No retreat. You canna imagine what the chase does to us. How it excites us.”

            “Very many things seem to excite you. Perhaps I can use that trait against my foes.” The unspoken words: . . . against you.

            Aye, lass. Try to excite me.

            She canted her head at him. “What if I told you I’d go with you after the newling battle?”

            “Trust the carnie’s word?” He was one to talk. “In any case, I’d never let you wade into that fray.” If anything happened to this timeline’s Kereny, he’d have to return to Quondam, force Ormlo to power the gateway once more, then travel back in time for her yet again.

            His mind flashed to the horrific toll for such a journey . . . what lay on their temple’s sacrificial altar.

            He now knew why Ariza had betrayed him.

            “You disregard my wishes so easily.” Kereny’s expression told him she was making a mental tally of each time. “How much longer must we be in this place?”

            Depends on the newlings. He had trouble scenting them from behind the falls, but he heard their distant howls. They remained between him and the gateway. “We’ll leave as soon as the demons clear out. Try to relax.”

            She rolled her eyes at that and returned her attention to the fire.

            As he watched the light flicker over her fine-boned face, he pondered his current predicament. Did he dare spend even an extra second in the past?

            He was confident that Ormlo couldn’t instigate a trap back in Quondam because the warlock had made an unbreakable vow to serve Munro’s interests above his own. Even so, the pressure to return remained. An earlier form of Munro was alive in this era, and no time-traveler could exist in the same age as the exact same being. The universe had a way of fixing the problem—by erasing the time-traveler.

            The warlocks’ gateway had provided magic to protect Munro, but its effect was short-lived. Hadn’t Ormlo warned that he needed to get in and out as swiftly as possible?

            After such a long and tumultuous life, Munro could soon fade to nothing. Feeling as if he had another sword raised over his neck, he held up his hands to check for wavering. Would the erasure take place over hours, giving him a chance at survival?

            Or seconds?

            He gazed at Kereny, her luminous copper eyes burnished in the firelight. He didn’t fear death, but the thought of being unable to save her life maddened him.

            Especially since he’d already failed to save her before.