The maddening part? No one even guarded Mettius.
He lay where Thorne had left him, unconscious in the dirt. Vulnerable. Exposed.
To Augustus’s left, Lili arced her axe into a man’s stomach. On his right, Blaze soaked his shirt sleeve with more blood. But beyond the melee—two dozen bodies deep—Thorne kept glancing at Mettius.
He couldn’t reach him either.
Not yet.
“We need to clear this path,” Augustus said.
Blaze let out a sharp laugh. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Lili cleaved down the next man. “Maybe the sound of your own voice will scare them off.”
Augustus and Blaze exchanged a look, then in unison: “She’s talking to you.”
“Idiots,” she muttered.
They surged forward, a three-person wave of sweat and blood and steel. The path widened inch by brutal inch.
Then Augustus saw them—three figures ducking and weaving toward Mettius through the chaos.
His heart lurched.
Then eased.
Captain Abi Obong’o and her brothers, Rion and Herold, cut through the fray with surgical precision. Abi raised a hand, sharp and commanding. Rion broke left. Herold dove for Mettius and hauled him up by the arms.
Enemy fighters surged toward them. All fell beneath Abi’s sword.
Augustus ducked a blow and rammed his blade into a man’s chest. When he looked again, Herold had Mettius slung over his shoulder. Abi cleared the alley’s mouth. Rion circled behind.
Then they were gone—vanished into the smoke.
Safe.
Relief threatened to drop Augustus to his knees. He gritted his jaw and pushed it down. “New plan. We take out Thorne.”
Blaze jerked his chin toward another wave of men. “Not if they have a say in it.”
Steel met steel again. And again. Augustus’s blade was an extension of his body, guided by instinct. Parry. Slash. Kick. Next.
Bodies narrowed the street. The smoke turned to ash. And through it all, Thorne loomed—closer now. So close Augustus could taste the end.
Lili fought with wild precision at his side. “This is getting ridiculous,” she shouted, braid soaked through with sweat and blood. “There’s no end to them!”
“There is,” Augustus said.
Blaze flashed a wolfish grin. “Just admit it.” He lunged at a brute with a hammer. “You’re having fun.”
“I’m covered inblood and one man’s shitty entrails,” Lili said, darkening him with a lifted brow and a scowl. “I’m having agreat time.”
Blaze laughed. “You get used to it.”
Lili rolled her eyes and muttered, “I should have left you to the Nahrin.”
The siren’s mention hit Augustus like a slap. “Have either of you seen Selene?”
