The Barrier cracked. It didn't break; it cracked. A thin white line ran through the gold in front of Elizabeth's face, and the tiger saw it, and so did I. He smiled wider and hit it again.
Something pulled inside my chest hard enough that the edges of my vision went dark, and my other knee nearly touched the stone.
"Alash," said Elizabeth.
"I'm fine."
That was becoming a popular lie.
The tiger drew his arm back. I couldn't take another hit like that one. He knew it, and I knew it, and Daphne knew it.
"Cover me," she said.
I heard her clearly, and I still looked at her. "What?"
She was three steps to my left, her eyes on the tiger and both hands already raised. "Cover me."
