The Savage Saxon threw into the snow recovered and came back at him as another Savage attacked Logan. The hunter was buried so far in the snow that Saxon couldn’t see him anymore, but he smelled blood.
“Shit,” he hissed.
He caught the Savage coming at him, lifted him off the ground, and propelled him toward a tree and onto one of the branches. The Savage grunted as the limb plunged through his heart before bursting out of his chest. Saxon glanced back at Elyse to find her standing where he’d left her, holding the stake like she was ready to stab anything that came near her.
“Stay there,” he called to her as he sprinted for Logan and Lucien while they dispatched another Savage.
Arriving at Logan’s side, he saw the vamp on top of the pile had Logan’s wrist in its mouth and was sucking greedily on it. Unable to stand the sound of the Savage’s slurping for one second more, Saxon plunged the stake into the thing’s back before tossing its body aside.
The second Savage lay across Logan’s chest. Saxon lifted the Savage away and rolled it into the snow to reveal the stake through its heart. Turning his attention to Logan, he bit back a groan when he saw the knife in the hunter’s belly. It had initially entered his flesh at his belly button but had sliced up to below his rib cage.
“Fuck,” Lucien said as he arrived at Saxon’s side. “Is he alive?”
Saxon ignored the blood cleaving Logan’s shirt to his flesh as he knelt at his side. He pressed his fingers to Logan’s neck while he watched for the rise and fall of his chest and listened for a heartbeat.
A faint pulse pushed against his fingers as Logan’s eyes flew open, and a strangled cry erupted from him. Blood spurted from his mouth and sprayed his lips as his hands clawed at the knife.
“Don’t.” Saxon clasped Logan’s hands and pulled them away. “Leave it in.” He didn’t know how much difference it would make, considering he had a six-inch gash in his stomach. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
“I’ll carry him,” Lucien said.
He knelt at Logan’s side and carefully lifted him from the snow. The look he sent Saxon only confirmed what Saxon knew; Logan was not going to make it, but they never left one of their own behind.
* * *
They were runningparallel to the road for a few minutes before a white cargo van screeched to a halt beside them. Saxon’s fangs extended as he prepared for another fight. The back door slid open to reveal Asher in the doorway.
“What happened?” Asher demanded.
“Let me get him inside,” Lucien said gruffly and nudged Asher out of the way as he hunched over to climb into the van.
When Elyse hesitated to climb into the back with them, Saxon opened the passenger door and helped her inside. “You’ll be away from the blood up here. Can I have your jacket?” he asked Declan.
Declan shrugged out of it and handed it over to him. Saxon draped it around her quaking shoulders, tucked her hair into it, and pulled up the collar before pulling down the visor above her. “Put your seat belt on and keep your face averted from oncoming traffic.”
“Take these.” Declan handed his sunglasses over to Elyse, and she slipped them on. They were too big and swallowed most of the upper part of her face, but they helped conceal her further. “You should probably drive,” he said to Saxon. “They’re not looking for you.”
Saxon kissed Elyse’s cheek before closing the door. He searched the quiet road as he ran around the front of the van and climbed into the seat Declan vacated. When he pulled away from the roadside, he resisted stomping on the gas and driving as far from the hospital as possible, but getting pulled over right now was not an option.
“What do we do?” Asher demanded from the back. “There’s so much blood.”
He didn’t have to tell them that, the smell of it permeated the air and caused Saxon’s fangs to tingle. The fight to get away from the hospital had taken more from him than he’d realized, and hunger burned through his veins.
Elyse turned in her seat to watch as the three of them cut Logan’s bloody shirt away. She winced when she saw the extent of the damage done to his body. There was no way anyone survived that kind of an injury. When Saxon reached across the aisle for her, she took his hand with her good one.
“Can you give him some of your blood to help him heal faster?” Asher asked.
Declan and Lucien exchanged a look before focusing on the hunter again.
“He’s too far gone,” Declan said, “and this wound is too grievous.”
“Maybe we can find a doctor,” Elyse suggested.
Lucien shook his head. “He won’t make it there.”
She lifted her hand to her mouth and struggled not to cry as those words sank in. Another person lost because ofher.
“Turn him,” Asher said.
