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I knew they were mages because they were trying to shoot us with magic. Unfortunately for them, using weak fire spells was merely an annoyance for me. Part of our training had always consisted of learning to fight even when you were injured. Learning to fight through the pain was something Natas had taken joy in making us practice. So while the fire burning the side of my ribs hurt like a bitch, it wasn’t going to stop me.
I bit into his neck and ripped his throat out, spitting it out beside his now-dead body. My nose wrinkled in disgust, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a guard slipping around the back of the carriage, right behind Theon. With my little bird between me and the guard, there was no way I could get there quickly enough. Without thought, I shifted back to my bipedal form, grabbed the dagger from the dead Lord’s belt, and flung it right over Theon’s shoulder.
Theon froze with a gasp, but I was watching the guard with satisfaction as the dagger hit him in the chest, causing him to stumble. Theon turned with his sword drawn. The guard was hurt but not dead, so I jumped to my feet, grabbed Theon’s other sword that was still sheathed on his belt, and pushed him behind me.
On a yell, the guard came at me, raising his sword. I easily parried, and in three swift moves, I stabbed him in the gut. When he fell to the ground, I relieved him of his weapons, quickly handing Theon back his sword, standing, and leading my little bird on.
Wey joined us at the back of the carriage, lifting a brow at my nakedness. “Okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine. Had to shift, obviously,” I murmured, scanning the small battle as I gently pushed Theon between us. Most of the enemy guards were down, as were most of the Lords and Ladies from the carriages, but there was a small group of Resistance fighters frozen in place about twenty feet ahead of us.
“Fuck,” I said, pointing it out. “Holcot.” Lord Holcot must’ve been using his magic to hold them frozen like that.
“Let’s go,” Wey said in that fierce tone he always had in the heat of battle.
Shooting him a smirk, I said, “Lead the way, baby.”
He huffed, then jumped into the sky.
“Well, shit.” I glanced at Theon. “Can’t follow him that way.”
Theon grinned and pointed with his sword. “There’s an opening near Braz.”
Seeing that he was right, I charged, very aware of keeping Theon beside me.
I took out another stray guard just as we reached Braz and Florin. There were no other guards anywhere nearby, so I searched for my gargoyle for a quick second. Wey was close to Holcot now, diving at him from high in the air to take him by surprise. I stopped in my tracks when Theon let out a strangled sound.
If it wasn’t for my shifter hearing, I probably never would’ve heard it over the sounds of battle. But I was in tune with Theon, so the sound made me turn to him with my heart in my throat, afraid of what I might find. But Theon wasn’t hurt. He wasn’t surrounded by any enemies. He was safe, relatively speaking.
Still, I rushed the two steps back to him with Braz and Florin behind me, guarding my back, saying, “Theon? What’s wrong?”
I could practically feel the pain and grief coming off him in waves. He didn’t say anything, but he did point.
Turning, I found exactly what made Theon upset. Or rather,who.
Lady Goditha Holcot stepped out of her carriage. The bitch that had Samir killed. She wasn’t meant to be here, but that bitch deserved to die today.
I reached out to touch Theon’s shoulder, but before I could, the bitch yanked a young-looking human boy from her carriage and pulled him in front of her like a human shield.
Theon let out a choked sound as Lady Holcot held a knife to the boy’s throat.
“Theon,” I said, turning and reaching a hand out to him again. “It’s going to be—”
Just as I touched his shoulder, a huge blast of overwhelming heat blew me off my feet. Every inch of my body felt like it was on fire, and inconceivable pain burst through me. My body was being torn apart, shattered, ripped into a million pieces as molten hot spikes tore into my skin. I heard an agonized scream fill the air as lava singed what was left of my veins, my throat, my lungs.
I had just enough time to realize the scream was coming from my sore throat and to pray to the goddess that Theon would be okay before everything went black.
9
Theon
Darkness pressed in on me from all sides. I couldn’t open my eyes. I was lying flat, but I couldn’t tell where. My body felt leaden, my limbs unmoving no matter how I willed them to. Panic started to build in my chest. Why couldn’t I move?
“Theon.” Florin’s voice, strong and coaxing, cut through my frantic thoughts. “I need you to wake up now.”
The warm weight of his hands clasping one of mine wrenched my body free of its paralysis. Prying my eyes open still took great effort, but they eventually opened. Relief pulsed through me at the sight of our tent’s roof in the Resistance camp. I looked at Florin. Furrows creased his forehead, and dark circles colored the pale skin beneath his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” My voice came out a rasp, and I coughed, struggling to sit up.
