We weren’t going to make it.
Thorne was 20 feet from the vault door when we burst through the smoke. 20 feet and Aria was on the other side with only Roric and two healers between her and a 400-year-old Archmage.
He didn’t even look at us.
He just slammed his palm against the vault door and spoke a word in High Lycan that made the stone scream.
The door exploded inward.
“THORNE!” Darius roared and threw himself forward, but a wall of silver magic snapped up between us and the vault.
We hit it hard and bounced back.
Inside, I could hear Roric shouting, “Protect the child!” and the sound of a blade being drawn.
I pounded on the barrier with my fists until my knuckles split. “MOVE, DAMN YOU!”
Thorne stepped into the vault calmly, like he was entering his own study. His white eyes lo
