Page 120 of The Girl in the Forest

The shaft juddered as it sank into his chest. Bile was sour in my throat.

Levi jerked on my arm. I looked up, wide-eyed, then down at the body near my feet with my arrow still moving. I’d gone completely numb.

“A hybrid,” Levi snarled, plunging his spear into the man’s chest. “Make sure they’re dead.”

I think I nodded, but unreality was settling in as I looked around at the mess of mud and bodies. And Brin, with her sword, swinging wildly at anything still moving.

“Can you syphon?” Levi asked.

In answer, heat sizzled and raced up my arms.

“Mace’s orders. Help Fallon.” He pointed toward the troops fighting between the two flanks. The lines were weakening. Grayson battled in the far distance, while Mace did the same, only closer to our position. The Carmag was equally engaged. I read the strategy, the closing of a triangular attack to trap the creatures. With no escape, Fallon’s troops would then drive from the center, push the creatures toward the open passage, where a few stragglers still poured through.

I pivoted.

“Bedisa…”

My heart stopped at the sound of Grayson’s voice, my mate, speaking softly, intimately, and so deep in my mind. Where he’d always been.

“Grayson…”

His dark power was a welcome rush, even the anger… worry. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m not pleasing Fate today.” And I hoped he heard the snap in my mental voice. “We can fight about it later.”

A long pause. “Men fight at the side of creatures. Get to Fallon. Drive them back.”

That simple trusting order meant more to me than if he’d said I love you in that moment. I dug deep for the strength, ran through the bloodied mud, my feet skating on the sloppy ground. Julien was several feet away, disappearing, reappearing, clearing the path while Levi fought on my left side, keeping us moving.

Brin ran behind. As long as I could hear her panting, I knew she was close enough.

I syphoned energy every time my feet thudded against the ground. Every time I breathed, or shot at an enemy, drew blood. My pulse grew erratic. With each inhale, the energy became more unpredictable, as if it would shoot out in all directions on its own.

Gripping the bow helped. Focusing on the pull and resistance when I yanked the bowstring back, let an arrow fly. I would not break. I would not burn out in a flame of glory. I’d depended on my friends to get me this far—they depended upon me now, to protect them from a vampire queen who was just as determined to destroy them.

Ahead, the fighting was vicious, as if the creatures recognized the trap closing around them. Men fell, screamed. I closed my mind to the sounds. Breathed in the scent of death without noticing.

A pressure pounded in my head. I climbed over bodies. Dodged flailing arms, legs, slashing spears and tusks.

Then… to my left… an ominous crack. Levi went down.

“Levi!” I screamed his name, dove to my knees in the mud.

Grief was a flash fire… no, no, no! Not Levi!

I clawed at his clothes, looking for blood. Searched his pale face for some sign that he still breathed.

Levi rolled to the side, yanked a broken stick from beneath his leg and tossed it away.

My heart kept thundering even as I processed—a stick. It was a gods-damned stick, buried in the mud. Broken because he’d stepped on it.

“Levi’s all right. All right!” I sent the message through our mate bond because, surely, I’d distracted Grayson with my jolting fear. I wanted to reassure him. Not take his focus off the enemy.

“Bedisa—move!” The mental order slammed into my head like a hammer. I rolled to the side as a wounded man stumbled toward me, a sword raised over his head.

I raised the bow to deflect the blow, but Brin was there, slicing…

Her sword passed within inches of my raised hand. I felt the whoosh as the man’s body fell one way. What looked like his arm fell in another direction.

---