The first guard he came to made the mistake of turning his head to muffle his cough. Aidan caught him from behind, wrapping his hand around the guard’s mouth and burying his dagger into the side of his neck. He dropped the body and moved to the next one.

Lightning hit at the same time Aidan arrived and the guard saw him. The man opened his mouth to warn his friends, but his words were lost in the thunder and rain. He tried again, but Aidan stopped him by slamming his dagger into his open mouth, pinning the human to the fort wall.

Aidan yanked out his blade and stepped over the body. His next few attacks went well and he met up with Brannie in under ten minutes.

And yet she still felt the need to complain, “Took you long enough, Mì-runach.”

Ignoring her comment, Aidan asked, “Do we storm the front gates, killing everyone in sight? Or sneak in silently, like my worthless brethren?”

Brannie actually thought on that a moment—he’d been kidding!—before she grudgingly replied, “Sneak.”

Then she sighed. As if such a suggestion was so beneath her.

Pushing her wet hair off her face, she motioned for him to follow her and then set off. They went halfway around the fort, finally stopping at a small door hidden behind a large bush.

Brannie pushed the door open and got on her knees. She leaned in, looking around before she signaled for him to, again, follow her.

With a deep breath, steeling himself, Aidan waited until Brannie’s adorable human ass disappeared inside. Then he went in after her.

* * *

The small door led them into a network of underground tunnels. A way in and out for Zealots who might need to escape.

Apparently all the Zealots were not ready to die for their precious one god.

When they got to a section of the tunnel that split in several ways, Brannie silently pointed in one direction for Aidan and she took the other. She knew he probably wanted to stick with her, but they were low on time and had a lot of ground to cover. Pretending to be her nursemaid would be a foolish move.

Brannie walked down the long hallway. Above her she could hear movement, some chanting. She assumed she was close to a center of worship.

The tunnel split off again and, as she briefly debated which way to go, she heard a shout of warning from above. Someone had found the bodies outside.

Another shout from behind her, though, had Brannie quickly moving to the left, her back flat against the stone wall. A few seconds later, Aidan ran by . . . and a squad of armed Zealots ran right after him.

She rolled her eyes. “Idiot.”