The Guardians Crown (The Guardians Book 5) by Wendy Owens

pushed himself up and they were standing, belly to belly, staring into one another’s eyes. Neither of them was willing to relent.
    Gabe heard Uri shouting at Sophie and then the sound of feet running. Using his foot, Gabe pushed the Wintok back; it stumbled to the ground, falling onto its back. Gabe went in for the killing strike, but when he raised the blade above his body, Uri’s sword came in, relieving the creature of its head, before Gabe could react.
    “What the hell?” Gabe gasped, looking around, realizing all of the lizard-men were dead. Soon after, he saw Sophie was not with them. “Where’s Sophie?”
    While waiting for an answer Gabe attempted to catch his breath.
    “The one she was fighting ran off, so she went after it,” Uri explained.
    “And you let her?” Gabe asked, not waiting and charging up the hillside.
    “I told her to. Do you want that thing running off and getting a tracker on our asses?” Uri protested.
    Haim bounced his hammer against his heel, attempting to free some of the brain matter lodged in the crevices. “She’ll be fine, it’s Sophie.”
    “You have no idea what’s out here with us. There could be an army just down that hillside,” Gabe argued. Not waiting for a response he ran down the hill, looking for any indications of which way Sophie travelled. While she left no trail, the Wintok she had wounded was leaving a hefty trail of blood. Gabe followed it. Twenty yards ahead he heard a blood curdling sound echo through the trees and a cluster of birds take flight.
    Rushing forward, and taking off into a full sprint, he lifted his sword, prepared to avenge anything the creature may have done to his friend.
    “Whoa! Watch it with that thing!” Sophie exclaimed.
    “You’re all right,” Gabe blurted out, coming to a stop. He looked over Sophie’s shoulder where he saw bits of the escaped Wintok sprayed all around.
    She raised her eyebrows, surprised by his statement. “Of course I am, why wouldn’t I be.”
    Gabe shook his head, he suddenly felt rather foolish.
    “You know, you’re going to have to get over these feelings you still have for me. It’s rather embarrassing for you,” Sophie commented in the most serious of tones, waiting until she was past him to reveal the most satisfying grin she had ever had.
    “What?” Gabe gulped. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he knew he felt like an absolute idiot. “What about the human?”
    “I let him go and warned him not to tell a soul what he saw here,” Sophie replied, not looking back.
    Gabe hesitated, “Are you sure that was wise?”
    “If you want to kill him, go ahead, I’m sure he won’t be hard to catch up to,” Sophie’s voice trailed off as the distance between them increased.
    Gabe sighed as he contemplated what they should do. With a huff, he sprinted to catch up with Sophie. He hoped she was right about the human.

 
     
    Rachel handed Gabe the canteen of water, then used the back of her sleeve to wipe away the sweat that had settled on her forehead. She looked behind them, trying to gauge the distance they had travelled. For the first mile, the group was heavy with talk.
    Haim had started a conversation, asking what they should do if the keeper did not want to give up the weapon, which had caused Uri to quickly move into defensive mode. He instantly cited the fact that a keeper’s job was to keep a weapon safe until the good guys needed it, not to keep the weapon from the good guys.
    During the hike Rachel remained silent. She focused on keeping pace with the others, considering she had been the one who insisted they take her along, she was not about to allow herself to become a burden. Gabe, however, was incessant, checking on her every few minutes, asking if she was all right or if she needed a break. About a half- mile back she had finally unloaded on him, expressing she was fine and that he needed to quit worrying about her.
    Since that time there had been an awkward silence that