“Go,” Raya shouted as she charged into another fray. “Help him.”
Ryland saw me as I destroyed any who crossed my path on my way to him. He barely looked fatigued, standing there, smiling. “Captain.” He tilted his head as he continued swinging.
Fucking showman.
The more men and women we took down, the more confident I became. We had to be making a difference, making some kind of dent in what was left of Thames’s army.
But it would be up to Lana to finish this. I stepped back as I felled the last of the group Ryland battled. I needed to find Lana.
A streak of black whipped by my line of sight. Jax’s panther jumped by me, ripping the throat out of a soldier before he shifted back. He left his claws out, swiping at the chest of another and gutting him instantly. He glanced back at me. “Bet you wish you got that partial-shift down now, huh?”
I narrowed my eyes, looking up as strox crashed down on Thames’s army overhead. I grinned wickedly at Jax and shifted my arms into wings.
Fuck yes, I didn’t think that would work.
I rode a gust of air under my wings to bring me into the group of enemies stalking toward Jax from behind before dropping into the center of them and unleashing hell.
When I’d taken down three, Jax finally appeared again. “Not bad, Stronholm. Perhaps I’ll allow you a place under my future command.”
A scream behind him seized our attention. Kalliah lay on the ground, one of Thames’s men standing above her, holding his sword over his head to strike.
Jax’s figure blurred in front of me, moving faster than I could fathom, but he wasn’t going to make it in time.
Though he was a few yards in front of me, I still ran. I couldn’t lose someone else—not Kalliah, not anyone.
Jax shifted and leapt farther than what should have been possible, front paws outstretched as he dove, not at the soldier but to cover Kalliah.
The blade came down and he roared, falling to the ground on top of her.
A blade shot through the gut of the soldier that wounded Jax.
Leif stood on the other side of it. “Fuck you,” he seethed, kicking the man back and turning to face Jax and Kalliah.
Jax shifted back to his Fae form, and when I made it over, I froze. He lay bloodied in Kalliah's lap, his left hand missing.
Leif stood motionless, in shock, but Kalliah moved fast. She adjusted, moving to lay Jax’s head gently on the ground before tearing at her pants, ripping the cloth.
“You stupid, stupid man,” Kalliah cried. “Why would you do that?”
Jax groaned. “If it’s a limb or your life, I’m choosing your life every time.”
Kalliah brushed a hand over Jax’s forehead. “Ian, help me staunch the blood so his healing can kick in.”
Raya’s voice shouted in pain from behind us, and I spun toward the noise.
“Never mind, go,” Kalliah ordered.
I hesitated, but she wouldn’t let me stay indecisive.
“Go, we’ll take care of him.”
She stroked Jax’s head, whispering reassuring words as Leif turned, guarding both of them. “I’ve got them,” he said.
My confidence wavered before crashing into a rock in my gut. Why did it feel like this was all suddenly spiraling out of control?
I ran toward Raya’s voice and saw her battling fearlessly, killing dark ones without hesitation. But their numbers were too great for her to fight alone.
Before I took another step to help her, darkness enveloped us. Shouts of terror and cries rose, even louder than the sounds of battle as everything disappeared from my sight.
