Fuck.
“Get down! We need to get down!” I hollered to the goblins, risking straightening up so I could run for the ladder. But the stone was coming, and fast. There was no time for the easy way down. “We have to jump!” A goblin grabbed my leg, wailing in terror. I picked her up, tucking her under one arm like a football, then grabbed the other. Only Rivetsky remained. “We have to go! Now!”
“Go! I will leap down after you!” he ordered, shoving at my calf as if he could budge me with sheer force of will.
Out of hands and time, I leapt, doing my best to land and roll in a way that wouldn’t break my knees or smash the goblins I carried.
We landed in the dust, and with the wind knocked out of me, I stared up, realizing that Rivetsky hadn’t jumped.
Shit.
I tried to yell, tried to tell him to hurry, but I was still breathless in the dirt, helpless as the boulder smashed into the catapult, the entire structure toppling over and taking the tiny inventor with it.
“No,” I cried, lungs finally starting to work again as I heaved myself off the ground and rushed toward the rubble. “Please, Goddess, no…” My words trailed off as the dust cleared, and Ifound him. His own creation had crushed him, the lower half of his body motionless under heavy steel beams.
“Rivetsky, we have to get you out and to the healer—” I grabbed the end of the beam and yanked, but it wouldn’t move.
“It’s okay, mighty warrior. Rivetsky has done his part and will be remembered as the Grand Inventor who brought glory back to the goblin people.” He coughed, blood coating his lips, his vacant smile giving the impression he was already slipping away.
His chest went still, and my eyes blurred with tears.
I barely knew him, yet somehow, my heart ached at his bravery. I scrubbed at my eyes, turning back toward the battle raging on all sides.
Though, it was thinning now. The dragons were swooping down, strafing over our attackers with claws extended, scooping up anyone who didn’t run fast enough and tossing them high in the air like rag dolls.
Holy shit, that’s terrifying.
The harpies had all fled, and as I watched the black dragon roast and theneata magic scorpion, I had the first flicker of hope that we might have a fighting chance after all.
But Narcissa’s wolves, I noticed, weren’t running. Red-eyed under her influence, they fought on, ignoring the dragons that killed their pack mates in droves.
Damn Narcissa, she really was the mistress of evil.
A quick check told me the two goblins I’d leapt down from the catapult with had lived, and other than a twinge in my back—that my wolf should be able to quickly patch up—I was okay. Gutted, but okay.
I swiped the back of my hand over my face, blowing out a breath. I was done crying. It was time to fight.
I swapped my staff for my guardian’s sword, feeling a gentle hum of approval from the blade as I gave it a test twirl, thenjogged to where Valens had just finished off another wolf. He glanced my way, blood spattering his face. The rest of our friends were spread throughout the battle, each and every one of them in a battle for their lives, despite the air support from the dragons. Someone had to end this.
“I’m going for Narcissa. Are you in?”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “There’s a whole army between us and the two of them, and Shay’s not here to flash us over there.”
“Yes, there is, and I don’t care.”
He studied my face for a moment, reading the determination there. “Then I’m with you. Let’s go.”
We ran. Dodging as many enemies as we could, dispatching any we couldn’t as a team, we cut up the center of the battle as if hellhounds were nipping at our heels. Given who we were about to challenge, they might have been.
When we finally broke free from the crowd, I spotted her. To my surprise, she had nothing but a dagger in her hands, though Bran stood ready to defend her mere steps away.
“Turn back,” he called, his voice carrying easily over the short distance, alpha dominance edging his words and making my wolf cringe. But he wasn’t my Alpha, and if he stood at Narcissa’s side, we had failed. He wasn’t a good alpha either.
“No,” I called back, closing the distance between us with ground-eating strides. Valens kept pace with me, positioning himself between me and Bran. I aimed for Narcissa, not caring if the bitch was supposedly immortal. Everything could die.
Everything.
She lifted her little dagger seeming about to throw it at me, but I ran straight for her, sword lifted overhead and ready to strike.
