And then Texon is there. His enormous figure so large he’s blocking out the sun. I don’t see him move. One second he’s thirty meters away at the entrance, the next he’s between me and the speaker, claws extended.
The Xylan who threatened me lands on the ground with his chest torn open.
Holy crap.
The other three masked males react instantly. One swings a stun baton at Texon’s head. The fever brother ducks, spins, and slashes open the attacker’s arm.
I stand in awe, my mouth open with surprise.
This is not the gentle male who slept on my floor. This is what he was trying to tell me last night. He couldn’t protect his parents, so he protects everyone else. With lethal efficiency.
I scramble backward, trying to stay out of the way as a third attacker rushes Texon. They collide with a crack of bone and claw.
And then behind me come roars and more movement from the jungle. Scar and Rook burst from the trees, Heavy right behind them. Four Fever Brothers against four attackers.
The odds just shifted.
But the fourth attacker isn’t engaging the brothers. He’s circling and looking at me.
I see him coming and try to run but his hand closes on my arm and yanks me back. I twist, trying to break free, trying to remember anything useful from the one self-defense class I took years ago in Singapore?—
I drive my elbow back into his midsection. He grunts but doesn’t let go.
Dammit.
I stomp down hard on his boot and throw my head back, trying to connect with his face. I feel impact, hear him snarl with pain.
His grip loosens for just a second. I wrench free?—
The Xylan’s blade catches my side before I can get clear.
I cry out as white-hot pain shoots through my side. I gasp, hand going to my ribs, and my fingers come away red. Oh. Oh no. I know immediately that this isn’t a scratch, this is deep, and bad. Very bad.
A thunderous roar shakes the ruins.
The fourth attacker turns toward the sound, blade raised — and then he’s simply not there anymore. Texon has torn him away from me with a violence that I can’t fully process. I hear sounds. Wet, terrible sounds. I don’t look.
I’m sitting on the ground. When did I sit down? The dirt beneath me is turning darker. That’s my blood, I realize distantly. That’s a lot of blood.
“Ines.” Texon’s face appears above me. His hands cup my face. “Ines, look at me.”
“I’m looking.” My voice sounds strange.
“Hold on. Hold on, you’re going to be fine.”
He scoops me up like I weigh nothing. The movement sends fresh pain screaming through my side and I cry out before I can stop myself.
“I’m sorry,” he growls. “I’m sorry, I have to move you. The med lab is close.”
“Okay.” I focus on his face. The ridges on his forehead. The desperation in his eyes. I’ve never seen him scared before. “Okay. I trust you.”
Something flickers across his expression. Pain. Tenderness. Fear.
He starts running.
I hear Rook’s voice behind us. “Scar, look at this.”
And Scar’s response is grim. “Kryzon’s old crew. I knew it.”
