Page 48 of Her Silent Knight

He fell back onto the snow. Shit. Kaede took a deep breath. Blood pooled from the wounds on his chest and abdomen. Ignoring the pain, he attempted to lean forward again. A heel crashed into his face.

Dizzy, head spinning, he fell back to the ground. Blood from his cracked nose dripped onto his lips. The snowmobiles sounded closer now. Rhen and his crew would be of no help to him. They stayed out of each other’s way. That was their truce.

Helping each other wasn’t part of the deal. The only person Kaede could count on was himself. Him and his beast. His sense of smell was off, but it smelled like there were only two or three shredders dragging him off. That meant the rest were going after his mate.

Noooo,his dragon roared.

The sound echoed through Kaede’s mind, adding more pain to his already aching head.

We have to save her.

“Flame up.”

Trying....

Kaede nearly groaned when his body was drug over some jagged rocks. The rocks scraped against his skin, ripping flesh from his back.

They’re sharing us. Some are going to feast on us. Some on our mate. Our heat is fighting off the poison polluting our blood. I can’t flame up until we metabolize more of the poison.

Fighting always made his temperature rise. Yet, he was weak from the amount of venom flowing through him. If he was any other creature, the venom would’ve paralyzed him by now.

As a dragon shifter, it merely slowed him down. It made his entire body feel too heavy to move. Even his eyes felt too heavy to keep open. They’d drifted shut minutes ago. And the amount of poison in his system kept his fire from blazing.

He was in a fucked-up situation. If his mate was killed because he’d been too weak to save her, he’d never forgive himself. If she was harmed at all, he’d never forgive himself. Fuck his own life.

Hers was the one that mattered most. For her, he would fight through the pain while his dragon worked to rid the venom from their system. Kaede opened his eyes and held them open, allowing snow to fall into them.

It stung a bit. He didn’t care. He hoped it would help clear up his vision. At least clear it up enough so he could see what was going on around him. He no longer heard the snowmobiles.

Just then, a high-pitched shriek filled the air. The shredders that had remained behind. Had Rhen stopped to battle them? Or worse, was his mate battling a pack of shredders on her own?

Go to her. Our fire will be ready soon. Find the strength. You have to.

His beast was right. He had no other choice. Kaede squeezed his eyes shut. Water trickled from his eyes and down the side of his face. It burned his skin, signaling that some of the venom in his eyes was washing away.

He forced his eyes open again to allow more snow to fall in them. Bright light. He couldn’t see the sky. But his vision was no longer gray. He knew there was light shining down on him from the sun.

Kaede blinked. Burning water dripped down the side of his face as his head was drug over a rock. Fuck! Kaede blinked again and tried to lift his arm. He couldn’t move it yet. It felt like a fifty-ton brick was weighing him down.

The claws at his ankle dug deeper into his flesh as the shredders dragging him off made weird clicking sounds with their tongue. They were communicating with each other. His body was drug over more rocks.

There was a lot of snow-covered rocks littering the ground outside the gate of his mate’s cottage. He was no longer on her property. He had to do something before they reached the forest.

Their dens usually housed forty to fifty shredders. He was in no condition to battle that many of them. More shrieks reached his ears. Kaede blinked rapidly. This time the water that fell from his eyes burned less. It contained less poison.

Almost there,his dragon told him.

He couldn’t wait on his beast. His mate needed him now. Kaede tried to lift his hand again. He only lifted it a fraction to test his strength. This time, it was easier to raise his arm. Plan in mind, he lowered his arm to the ground once more.

He blinked rapidly again. The water barely burned when it dripped down his face. He could now see a little better. Still blurry. Yet, he could make out the dark clouds floating overhead.

Kaede inhaled deeply. His cracked nose had healed enough for him to be able to scent the shredders. Besides the one walking ahead of them, dragging him, there were two others. One on either side of him.

Outnumbered. That had never stopped him before. Kaede flexed his fingers then raised his left arm again, a little higher this time. As expected, the shredder on his left clicked his tongue, communicating with the others.

Hand raised, Kaede listened for the sound of... there it was, the sound of the air near him shifting as the shredder raised its long leg and brought it down swiftly. Moving off sound alone, Kaede jerked his hand back then reached for the leg.

He caught it just as it missed his raised arm and slammed into the ground. Digging his nails into the creature’s flesh, he gave a hard tug, pulling the animal to the ground then releasing its leg to reach for its throat.