Breg snarled. “You should have seen how she writhed and begged. I should have killed her. I should have ripped her—”
His words turned into gurgling blood as Ved slit his throat.
He collapsed. Lifeless.
When Sabis rushed him this time, Ved grabbed him and hauled him off his feet. He was a force of nature—all wrath and ruin. They struggled against each other with snarls and low curses. But then Ved threw Sabis forward.
Into the pyre. There was a brief moment where he was perfectly silhouetted within the flames. Then the fire burned darker—voracious in its appetite. Sabis screamed, agonizing screeches that tore through the night. It seemed to last forever yet only seconds. A scent she’d never smelled before filled the air.
Burning flesh.
Before she could fully come to terms with the violence, before she could think to be sick, the remaining Xaal stepped forward. All except the qon, who simply watched.
There was no hesitation to them then. They came from all sides, attacking in coordinated ways even as Ved fought for the upper hand. Any time he managed to knock one back, another was there to take his place.
It was a bloody massacre.
She couldn’tseehim. The throng of fighters was so thick that Ved was just flashes of black armor in a silver sea.
They were going to kill him.
Isobel moved forward, and this time, Andrix didn’t stop her. She wasn’t certain what she could do, but she felt the overwhelming need to fight with him. To fightforhim.
Just as she was looking for anything that could be used as a weapon, her collar let off that dooming sound. “No,” she said desperately, pulling up short. A heartbeat later, she was thrown to the ground. Pain racked her body—an endless fiery current of it.
Her hair was pulled tight, and she was dragged backward. It was all she could do to hold on to the collar and keep it from choking her. Her teeth were clenched so tightly she feared they’d shatter.
Any moment—it would end any moment. She wished for mercy, or death, even. Anything, as long as the agony stopped.
As if by a miracle, it all faded away. Darkness filled its place.
She didn’t know if she blacked out or for how long, but when the world came back, it was with a vengeance. The fighting sounded closer; the snarls and the clashing of metal on metal seemed like they were echoing inside her brain. Her muscles twitched and spasmed, sending deep, aching pangs through her.
“Say his name. Call out to him.”
Isobel groaned and her captor shook her. A thick arm was around her midsection in a brutal grip, and something sat against her throat, cutting into her skin.
It wasn’t the collar—it was a dagger.
“Say it,” came the harsh voice. The Qon of Clan Rax. He was speaking Xaala, relying on the translator that still functionedin her ear.
She had little control over her limbs, but she attempted to kick and squirm anyway. Her captor responded immediately, tightening his arm around her and pressing the dagger just deep enough to draw blood.
His hold was so severe she feared he’d snap her ribs.
She pressed her lips together and tried to make sense of the fight before her. She still couldn’t see Ved through the thick wall of Xaal fighters. What if he was hurt? What if they all died here?
She let out a whimper—a pitiful thing.
Qon Rax hauled her forward three steps. Fisting her hair again, he jerked her head back. “I want him to know his starborn mate is in danger. Call for him!”
Mate?
The word clawed down her throat. Pushed into her lungs.
And when she inhaled, it was the force that drove and broke her voice. “Ved!”
Chapter 37
