He kicked Lady Sarhin’s injured leg and she grunted in pain. “I hope you’re sat there thinking about how to access those vaults. You don’t want Axel to have to force you to do it, because believe me, that’s not pleasant at all.”
Fuck, I was right. He didn’t realise I needed help to do that.
I’m going to enjoy killing you.I gasped this time, the faintest intake of breath, a knee-jerk reaction to hearing those six words in Melhak’s voice.
But it was enough.
His gaze snapped to mine, eyes narrowing. “It’s working, isn’t it?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.” He stood and backhanded me across the face, snapping my head to the side. “You’ve been lying this whole time.”
Pain blossomed in my cheek, blood coating my tongue where my teeth cut into the side of my mouth. It hurt, but as he raised his hand to hit me again, I grinned at him, because his wasn’t the only thought I’d heard.
Talis’s glorious words filled my head.Help’s coming. I can hear them.
Melhak’s hand connected, the other side this time, and I spat blood at his feet. “You’re so fucked.”
He faltered for a fraction of a second, crossbow half-raised, but it was enough time for the tickle of witch magic to settle around us.
I recognised Wyn’s shield from when he’d used it at Yates’s compound. I was still grinning as Melhak aimed his crossbow at Talis and fired. It bounced off the shield, landing back at his feet.
“What the—”
It was all he managed to get out before the roar of a pissed-off alpha wolf echoed off the walls, answered by two more. A strangled cry sounded somewhere near the front door, and Melhak scrambled backwards, dropping his crossbow and bolting for the patio doors.
Two klaryth daggers sailed through the air, burying themselves to the hilt in Melhak’s back as Dathal and Nathan Calder burst into the room.
Melhak staggered backwards, arms flailing, then collapsed to his knees with a grunt.
The other fae was already out the patio doors and halfway across the garden when Syl and Sasha flew across the grass to intercept him. They went down in a flurry of limbs and only the two shifters got up again.
Dathal hurried over to me and started to untie my bound hands. “Are you all right?” he asked, searching me for injuries. His eyes darkened when he saw the blood on my leg.
“I’m fine.” I gripped his hands. “But Talis isn’t. Melhak shot him with poisoned bolts,” I bit out just as Rys stormed into the room, expression thunderous. “The silver tip of one of them is still inside him.”
“Fuck.” Dropping to his knees in front of Talis, Rys put his hand on the base of his throat. He let out a pained sound and my heart stopped.
“Is he…?” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words.
“No. But he’s not good.” Without hesitation, he let his claws slide out and cut the remains of the bolt from Talis’s chest. Tossing it to the side, he glanced up at me. “Do you know what poison he used?”
I shook my head.
Rys’s dad had untied Lady Sarhin and Blake, and I grabbed her hand. “Can you help him?”
She looked down at Talis, now almost deathly white. His eyes were closed. If Rys hadn’t confirmed he was still breathing, I would’ve thought he was dead.
“I can if we knew what poison he used.” She turned to Nathan. “I left my bag in the car. Please fetch it for me.”
I looked at her in surprise, hope tentatively growing inside me. “You carry antidotes with you?”
She gave me a dry look. “After the last few months, I do. But not for everything, Axel. We need to know what he used.”
Both Dathal and Rys marched over to where Melhak lay curled into a ball on the floor. Dathal put his foot on his back and yanked out his daggers. Melhak’s groan was abruptly cut off when Rys grabbed him, hauled him to his feet, and shoved him against the wall.
“What poison did you use?” Rys growled the words, the alpha power in them crackling like electricity.
