I huff and shake my head. The idiot stabbed himself with his own weapon.
I clamber away from him, leaving him to die in the mud and hurry back towards Rhys, who’s still struggling. The first guy is wailing on him, blow after blow, while Rhys tries his best to fend him off. But his strength is waning, and I’m too damn far away to help.
An arrow whistles in the night, followed by a yell from the bastard hitting Rhys. He falters, the shaft of an arrow sticking out of his back, but before he can reach around to pull it out, another flies through the air, impaling him again. This one hits true, and the man gurgles before slumping on top of Rhys, dead.
I rush over and throw the body off Rhys. “Where are you hurt?” I bark at him, unable to see much since it’s dark and we’re all covered in blood.
The man in question groans, flopping uselessly in the mud. “I’m fine, Theo. Just sore.”
A second set of footsteps splat closer.
“Holy shit. Are you okay?” Ollie exclaims, appearing beside me to peer down at Rhys.
“Fine, princess,” he sighs. “Just beat up is all.” He looks at me. “Give me a hand up, would you?”
I lean down and grab his uninjured arm to haul him to his feet. He grunts, a pained grimace etched onto his face as he staggers slightly before righting himself. While he recovers, I turn to Ollie.
“Those were some fantastic shots, princess,” I tell her, loving how she lights up at the praise. “How many times have you saved Rhys now? Two times?”
“Three,” she says smugly. That expression falls at Rhys’s scowl, and it’s like we’re all suddenly remembering what a colossal dickhead he was a few days ago as the tension thickens.
Rhys sighs. “Princess…” His voice is filled with regret and resignation.
Ollie stiffens, her expression turning wary as she regards the other man much like you would a venomous snake waiting to strike.
He goes to open his mouth, but a bloodied and mud-covered Alex staggers into us, breathing hard as he glances between the three of us.
“What the bloody hell are you doing? Did you idiots forget we’re in the middle of a fight?”
As if to prove his point, a Scourge comes out of nowhere and barrels into him, causing the two of them to crash into the ground.
It’d be funny if he wasn’t right and people weren’t fighting for their lives around us. A quick glance around shows that Simon, Tobias, and a few others who should be with the rest of the group have joined the fray, everyone using their fists or knives instead of guns. Hell, evenJerriis here, kicking the shit out of some guy lying in the mud.
Have I entered an alternate universe?
“Theo, duck!” Ollie shouts from somewhere behind me.
I don’t hesitate; I drop to a crouch and whirl around just in time to see a Scourge’s golf club fly above my head. A quick stab upward and into his chest has him collapsing to the ground.
“Thanks, baby!” I call back to Ollie, flashing her a quick, grateful smile.
She’s gained some distance from the worst of the fighting, giving herself space to fire arrows at the Scourge on the outskirts of the battle. I double check to make sure no one’s coming up behind her before jumping into the fray.
The fight becomes a blur of pain and death.
Around me, men and women scream and cry in agony while others gasp their last breaths before succumbing to their wounds. The mud thickens, saturated with the blood of the fallen, making fighting that much harder and more dangerous. At some point, I hear the frantic squawks of Ketchup and the snarls and growls of Harlow as the two assist us in taking down the Scourge.
I’m not sure how long it takes for the last of the Scourge to drop, but by the time they do, everyone is exhausted. We’re covered in gore and dirt, breathing hard as some people lean against one another while others sit in the grass, staring blankly at the dead and broken corpses littering the ground. A couple of them are even sobbing as they stare at the bodies of our group members who didn’t make it.
I’m barely standing, my heart still slamming against my chest as I pant and tremble from the adrenaline leaving my system. Every inch of my body aches, and all I want to do is curl up and sleep. But that’ll have to wait.
Sucking in a breath tinged with death and smoke, I clean my knife on a nearby dead man and place it back into its sheath. The next thing I do is look for my gun. It’s hard to see amongst the dead and muck, but after some unsavoury digging that has me shuddering, I finally locate it.
I’ve just finished cleaning it when Ollie staggers over to me, still breathing hard and shaking. “You okay?” she asks, frowning as she looksme over for injuries. Harlow pads behind her, tail low and eyes watchful as if she’s waiting for the next enemy to pop out and attack.
“I’m fine. Better now you’re here,” I say as I close the distance and envelop her in my arms, needing to feel her against me. To remind myself that she’s here, she’ssafe.
Ollie pushes weakly against me. “I’m sweaty and gross.”
