Layla glanced up at me, her glorious features now covered in blood, making me want to kiss her.
But this wasn’t over yet.
“I’m going after Auric,” I told her. “He didn’t do this.”
“I know,” Layla agreed, her voice wavering, but her eyes were clear. “Hurry. There’s a portal outside full of Nora Warriors.”
My eyebrows rose.
Then the palace rumbled again as a new set of boots trampled down the hallway. My feathers spiked in anticipation.
“Go!” Layla shouted.
I hesitated, only because I couldn’t possibly leave her here.
It was my job to protect my mate.
But Auric needed me, too.
My Commander.
My best friend.
I… I had to choose. And I hated this choice.
But a glare from Layla told me tomove.
The only choice wasus. And right now, she needed me to find Auric.
“Now, Novak!” she shouted, confirming I’d read her correctly.
With a nod, I ran through the door.
And slashed my way down the hall, massacring every guard I came across.
Bullets sounded and pinged off of my wings.
Fucking guns.
I hated guns. So archaic andcheap.
The walls shook again, showering me in dirt and debris as I sliced my way through, shielding myself until I was close enough to behead every guard who was stupid enough to face me.
Iston wasn’t chanting anymore. Because he longer had a tongue to chant with.
But these guards still came at me, mindless in the last order he’d given them to stop me.
Good fucking luck with that.
I had to protect Layla.
I had to find Auric.
Which meant I couldn’t leave anyone in my path alive.
Sheer numbers threatened to overwhelm me after I sliced my way through the next row of guards. They’d closed in on one another, using each other as shields, and that allowed one Noir to cut through.
A roar ripped out of my throat when pain shot through my hip.
