Windows were locked. A side door was bolted shut. The farther I got from the battle, the more split in two I became.
I needed to find Drustan, but I couldn’t abandon Audrey and Caelena, either. Audrey released a loud screech, and fear raced down my spine as I jogged back toward the main fight, brainstorming ways to help while not getting in the way.
A blond siren soldier, with his mask down, appeared as soon as I re-entered the courtyard. His gold gaze was terrifying, and his grimace as he swung his sword reminded me just how useless I was in this setting.
“Shit!” I cried, barely dodging his blade as I ran away. He chased me and grabbed my hair, before throwing me on the ground. The air was knocked out of my lungs, and right when helifted his sword to spear me, Caelena was suddenly there, hitting the back of his head with the handle of her own blade.
His eyes closed, and his body dropped to the ground in a dramaticthump.
A woman and another soldier approached, fighting each other with their own knives. Blocking blows, striking others.
While still on my back, I tightened my grip on my knife.
Call to Drustan!Caelena shouted in my mind before vocalizing, “Now!”
“He won’t hear me!” I shouted back, slashing the back of the knees of the soldier the woman was fighting. He yelped, fell to his knees, and allowed her to take a knife to his shoulder. She twisted, before ripping the knife out and slashing him across the throat.
Blood splattered on me from the move, and I did my best to move on from it as quickly as possible. Perhaps that was all I could do. Avoid engaging in one-on-one battles myself but assist whoever I stumbled upon.
Caelena laughed darkly, shouting, “The prince will hear you just fine!”
I shook my head, “How? He’s not—whoa!” I dodged the blade of a sword as a woman sliced toward a siren soldier obviously doing his best not to causerealharm to her.
The soldier looked very conflicted. This was good.
I finally got to my feet, losing track of where Caelena was, when she shouted at me again.
“Call to him, Van! He needs your voice!” Caelena was suddenly pinned against the wall by a soldier, who reached for a blade on his hip. I started sprinting toward her, but she was quick.
She had already grasped the blade he reached for and sliced his neck with it. He screeched, gargling, grasping his throat.Lifting her legs, she kicked him off of her and left him on the ground to heal.
“I’vebeen mentally calling to Drustan the entire time.” Caelena was covered in blood, dirt, and bruises. She looked ragged. Her blonde braid was coming apart. “And for some reason, all I’m hearing back from him isyourname.”
The sound of footsteps approached me from behind, and Caelena glared at whoever was charging me. I ducked right as she lifted her arm to swing. The sound of a man groaning and collapsing behind me made me turn to see a soldier grasping for his bloodied throat.
“You have a very specific style,” I muttered to her. She clasped my arm and pulled me up, dragging me behind the stone statue of Queen Astrid to take a breather while the fight continued.
“Our voices are sensitive,” she pointed to her neck as she spoke to me. “If a siren attacks you, slicing their throat is the best way to both stun and retreat. It takes a bit longer to heal than other injuries.”
I nodded frantically, “Go for the jugular. Got it.”
“Call for Drustan—mentally, if you can.” Caelena looked fierce, like a true warrior. “Do it.”
Drustan!I tried to mentally shout. How the hell did you raise the noise level of a thought? The concept seemed so foreign to me.
“Louder!” Caelena pushed us down as a soldier was flung over our heads. His body hit the walls of the estate with a crunchingthunk, before he fell into the perfectly trimmed rose bushes. He didn’t move, so Caelena turned back to me to say something else, before her gaze caught something over my shoulder and widened.
I turned to see what grabbed her attention, and cursed when I saw Ilia himself, perfectly groomed beard and hair, marchingtoward Audrey, Liam, and Sergei in the center of the courtyard. The three of them were fighting Leon’s sister, Amber.
“Fuck.” I turned back to Caelena. “You have to help them.”
“I will.” She stood and pointed an accusing finger at me. “But weneedDrustan. His mating instincts to protect you are invaluable to us right now. Call him.”
“Okay!” I nodded as she sprinted off, snagging daggers and knives off the bloodied bodies of sirens. I couldn’t tell who had died and who was just healing. I couldn’t feel my own heartbeat, just an ache in my chest where I was unable to process the adrenaline of this moment.
Drustan, I called in my head.We need you. Come help us.
I tried to focus on him but wasn’t sure I even knew how to do that.
