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“We don’t have time for this—”
“I’m not going to hide every time you risk your life. Am I your queen or not?”
I breathed hard, furious that this conversation was taking place now. “You’re my woman first.”
“We’ve got to move,” Viper said. “They’re closing in, and Clara will die without armor.” He stuck his head out again, his bow at the ready. “I’ll cover you. Go.”
If I continued this argument, then Queen Clara would die, so I didn’t say a word to Larisa as I left the protection of the rock and ran ahead.
One of the archers aimed his bow at me, but before he could fire, Viper fired first. Hit him right in the neckline between his armor and helmet.
I kicked him back, so the bow flew from his hands as he collapsed on the ground.
Toman was wounded but not dead, so he came after me with vengeance in his eyes.
Cobra fought two men alone, keeping Clara behind him as he protected her body with his.
More men came, and then we really were outnumbered. I sliced down one then grabbed him by the arm, protecting my body from the volley of arrows that fired down.
Cobra pushed Clara back farther in the stone, protecting her from the arrows that would have pierced her everywhere without her armor.
I dropped the corpse I held and reached for a dagger in my pocket. I threw it at the neck of the first, getting blood to squirt from his mouth before he hit the dirt. It turned into chaos after that, men everywhere, coming for the four of us with rage on their side. They fought for their immortality—so this fight would be their best. Overrun, I didn’t even have time to think about Larisa. I just hoped she’d listened to me.
I struck down my opponent then saw Fang break the neck of another foe. The crunch of bones was audible over the screams of the dying.
“Kingsnake!”
I turned to Cobra, who had taken on three fighters alone.
He couldn’t even make eye contact with me, his blade spinning in a flurry of blows. “Larisa!”
I turned to look, and that was enough for me to nearly lose my neck.
But Fang got there first. His body tripped their feet, and then he opened a nasty gash on the man’s neck.Go.
I saw Queen Clara run with Larisa. In the short glimpse I got, it was clear that Larisa was trying to get her to safety while we fought off the battalion of rebels. Two rebels chased after them.
Go!
I left Fang’s side and sprinted as hard as my body could go, rushing to Larisa before the rebels could get to her first.
They entered the maze of stone pillars, the men hot on their tails.
“Larisa!” I shouted, giving away my position so she would know I was there.
A man jumped out at me when he heard me, swinging his blade for my neck. I barely ducked in time. My sword burrowed in the opening between his arm and his torso, bringing a swift death before I kept going.
I made it around the pillars, seeing Larisa and a soldier locked in a battle of swords.
Clara was defenseless without her weapons, so she grabbed a rock and threw it at the soldier’s head.
They both moved so quickly that it missed.
The soldier challenged Larisa with his flurry of blows, moving so fast that she could barely keep up. Her blood wasn’t enough to best him, not when he had far more experience. But then she ducked his blade, elbowed him in the face, and swiped her blade at his neck. It went clean through, severing his head from his shoulders.
She stepped back and inhaled a deep breath when she saw the massacre.
My impulse was to run to her and cup her face in my palms, but now that they were both okay, my priority was my brothers and Fang. I sprinted back, seeing the pile of bodies that Fang alone had caused. He had the last soldier pinned to the ground with his body, and he bared his fangs and squirted venom into the sky.
