Really fast.
Sawyer popped up onto his feet and shook the dirt from his fur as Butcher lunged again. Sawyer’s wolf kicked off the ground and soared over Butcher’s head, landing on the other side and avoiding being bitten.
I internally cheered, afraid that if I spoke, the Ithaki with the knife to my throat would kill me.
Butcher just looked pissed now that he realized he was unable to catch his prey. He lunged three more times in rapid succession and Sawyer dodged every single one.
He was so damn fast, vampire-fast, and I could see his strategy now was a strong evasive defense rather than offensively attacking. Sawyer looked barely winded while Butcher was panting like an out-of-shape dog. Butcher was doing all the hard work and heavy lifting and he hadn’t even grazed Sawyer yet.
Maybe I’d misjudged Sawyer’s fighting ability; he was clearly trained.
The air charged then, something that was hard to explain, but it felt thick and full of static electricity. For a second I wondered if I was the only one who felt it, but Sawyer’s fur stood up on end and he lowered his ears as if he was in pain.
Butcher’s wolf grinned, a slight blue mist lifting off of his skin.
Fey magic?
I wanted to move, to rush forward and help, but the knife at my throat tightened, and I was helpless with these stupid cuffs on. Sawyer whined, ears flat to his head as an ultrasonic noise picked up throughout the space. Every wolf in attendance winced, covering their ears with their hands, or flattening their ears if in wolf form. It felt like my brain was going to explode; my ears would start bleeding any moment. I wanted to reach up and cover them, but with a knife to my throat I just gritted my teeth and bore it.
Butcher lunged then and Eugene stepped forward to the very edge of the fight ring, “Tokyo!” he screamed at Sawyer, who shook himself before rearing up on his hind legs and catching Butcher’s wolf mid-attack.
Tokyo?
Did I hear that right?
Butcher slammed into Sawyer, who wrapped his front paws over the Ithaki’s shoulders and they snapped jaws at each other’s faces viciously.
The ultrasonic sound magic had stopped and I wondered if Butcher wasn’t able to do that and attack at the same time. Maybe the fey magic took too much concentration. Either way, it didn’t matter, because he was able to finally catch Sawyer, and now they were locked in one of the worst fights I’d ever seen. Theonlywolf fight I’d ever seen, but still. Sawyer grazed Butcher’s muzzle, raking his teeth along the skin and tearing it open as freshpurpleblood oozed from the cut.
Purple?
Whoa.
Fey blood was blue, my mom told me, and wolf blood was red. Purple Ithaki hybrid blood.
I was so enthralled in what I was seeing that I’d lost sight of the fight. Only when the sound of crunching bone cut through the space and the Ithaki present started to roar in triumph did I drag my gaze to Sawyer.
“No!” I screamed as Butcher tore into Sawyer’s flank, ripping away a piece of flesh and exposing his ribs. Sawyer howled, long and hauntingly deep.
“Morocco!” Eugene yelled and Sawyer collapsed to the ground, panting as fresh crimson blood oozed from the wound. He tried to stand, but fell back down.
Morocco?
They must have had a secret playbook of fights or something. I felt more and more like I was watching a college football game with a coach on the sidelines.
Oh God no. I couldn’t even focus on the fact that Eugene was shouting random countries and cities at Sawyer, I could only focus on the fact that it looked like Sawyer was down and couldn’t get up.
“Get up, Sawyer!” I yelled and the vampire-fey yanked my hair back painfully, causing me to wince. Butcher circled Sawyer like a shark stalking his victim. Sawyer snapped out at him a few times, but every time he tried to get up, he slipped and fell back down.
I couldn’t … couldn’t look, but I also couldn’t look away. Sawyer came here for me, he’d agreed to fight for me, and now he was going to die for me and I was going to watch.
Butcher leapt, going for the throat, the kill, and everything inside of me seized up.
No. No. No.
My first thought was that I didn’t get to kiss this guy enough, I never got to love him, I really wanted to have more time with him, I wasn’t done.
Sawyer watched Butcher lunge, almost with an expression of resigned fate, but as Butcher grew nearer, I saw Sawyer’s muscles tighten. When he was nearly on top of him, Sawyer rolled, letting Butcher have the upper hand and pin him underneath his body.
