There were so many. The last battle, we’d been prepared, but this sea of attackers felt endless and on the verge of overwhelming. We’d held the flank as we set out to do, and now the field was full to bursting with people from both sides. But… we weren’t pushing them back as we’d done so steadily last night.
It wasn’t until Valens’s own pain sliced through the middle of my chest with the vicious burn of a razor blade that I froze, nearly made a deadly mistake with the enemy I fought. Gritting my teeth through the agony, I lopped off the lesser fae’s head and spun wide, desperately searching for my mate.
I found him a dozen feet away, on his knees with his head bowed. I ran full tilt and skidded to a stop at his side. Somehow, there was a tiny bubble in the middle of the onslaught, with all the nearby enemies engaged with another wolf. Dropping a hand on his shoulder, I finally looked down.
All the blood drained from my face when I realized that his pain wasn’t physical. It wasemotional.
Henrik lay dead at my feet, his face a gory rictus of pain, eyes staring blankly at the clouds scudding by overhead.
“I’m so sorry.” I choked out the useless words, at a loss for what else to say.
“He fought bravely.”
“Yes, he did.” I reached down, sliding his eyelids closed as I whispered a passing prayer to the Goddess on his behalf. “May he race through fields of golden sun with those he loves for eternity.”
Valens made a strangled sound, looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes. A new enemy approached, a warlock with both hands raised as he began to weave an offensive spell between them.
“I’m sorry, Brute, but we have to keep fighting,” I called over my shoulder as I charged forward, putting myself between him and the warlock, buying him a scant few extra seconds to grieve.
I dispatched the warlock as quickly as I could, Valens back on his feet and by my side by the time the warlock fell. I didn’t ask if he was okay, because I knew he wasn’t. He was thinking of Bence, crying in the bunker with his dead grandmother’s body.
Thank the Goddess we spoke to Leigh.She’d take care of him until we could get back to comfort him. It was hollow solace in the midst of what would be great grief when the battle ended, but it was all I had.
I fought with renewed fury, slashing through every enemy who dared lift a hand against me. It wasn’t the healthiest of coping mechanisms, but I poured my grief and rage out with every body I felled. But no matter how I fought, no matter how many Valens cut down with the same vigor, more came.
Unlike yesterday, tonight was just treading water as the pixie glitter slowly stung my eyes and burned my skin, I accrued nicks and cuts with greater frequency, and by the time the moon rose and fled across the sky without a break in the constant battle, my exhaustion was beginning to wage war against my muscles.
Valens appeared at my side, sword fighting with a vampire, talking over his shoulder between thrusts. “You need a break.”
“Are you kidding me? Look around, there are no breaks!” I jabbed my staff at a lynx shifter, but he dodged neatly, taking a swipe at the back of my calf that landed. I hissed in pain through my teeth, taking a second stab.
He yowled when my blade sank in, surely nicking a rib at least.
That’s right, fucker.
“Yes, a break! If they don’t retreat again when the sun comes up, we’re going to have to rotate out with fresh fighters. You gave Brielle too much energy last night, so you’re still depleted. You need to leave the field, rest for a few hours.”
The lynx took that moment for a running leap toward my face, fangs and claws extended toward my eyes and throat. I blocked him sloppily at the last second, my reflexes definitely showing the effects of exhaustion.
But I was too stubborn to justquitwhile others continued to fight and die all around me. Others like Henrik, who couldn’t afford to die. Could any of us, really? We were at a disadvantage because for every mated wolf they killed, two of us died.
So I leaned on my training, falling back on the most basic of moves I could do in my sleep. No fancy flips or rolls or spins. Thrust, parry, leg sweep… They were simple, effective strikes. Valens stuck closer to my side, but didn’t insist I leave the field.
As the sun rose, exhaustion was my constant companion, and even I was starting to slow, weariness winning. Right as I was about to cry uncle, it happened.
Every opponent on the field began to just… retreat into the woods.
I hadn’t been paying attention the night before because we were trying to get Fiona off the field and then get back to Brielle. But tonight, it was impossible to miss.
What the fuck?
They ran and flew and wove through our numbers, racing away into the woods. Thankfully, our orders were to defend the castle, as it was our most defensible position, and that kept us near the ley lines so Kane and Brielle could keep control of the stone. I was too tired to give chase, so I leaned heavily against Valens’s side instead. “Why are they running?”
He shrugged. “They left at sunrise yesterday too. Whatever orders they’re operating under, they must include a strategic retreat.”
“So, what, they’re just going to keep attacking us every single night, fighting through the night and leaving to regroup every morning?”
“Maybe, or maybe that’s what they want us to expect. Whatever they’re planning, Kane and Gael are on top of it. They’ve got guards and cameras and Goddess knows what else monitoring the perimeter and the forests twenty-four seven. It’s not going to pick up magical movement outside the area, obviously, but it’s as good a warning as we’re going to get before an attack. Which meansweshould go sleep.”
