Page 68 of All's Fair in Lion and War
“He won’t for long.” Tor turned to Liam, his tone filled with urgency. “You got Lorelei? Or you want me to carry her?”
“You carry the guy, mister muscles, I’ve got the girl.” Liam slipped his arms beneath her and tucked her tightly against his massive chest. It was good to feel protected again. Now that most of her memories were rushing back into place, she knew how horrible this last year had been.
Saul had been the most honorable warrior. And his friends seemed to all be the same way.
“Shit. She’s covered in blood.”
Tor lifted Saul and put him onto his back. The position looked terrible for broken ribs, but she knew there was no way he was walking down on his own off the mountain. Neither of them would. Not after what Rivian had done to them.
The gunfire ceased. The mountain was suddenly eerily quiet.
“What the fuck are they doing over there. And holy fucking shit.”
Liam’s arms loosened for a second. Lorelei was afraid he’d drop her, but he remembered at the last second and tightened his grip.
“Is that a dragon?”
She couldn’t blame him though. If you’d never seen a dragon before, it was a little overwhelming.
She remembered her first time.
Her breathing had gotten a little easier being upright, at least all the blood wasn’t running into her lungs and mouth. The wounds were healing very very slowly, but her body was attempting to knit itself back together.
“Yeah, that’s probably Novik. Col’s dragon is black. That one is a bronze color, more like Naomi’s dragon.”
“Naomi’s dragon?” Liam’s voice was a cross between pissed-as-hell and you’ve-got-to-be-joking. “That little bit of nothing can turn into one of those. I thought she said she was from Jersey.”
“I-uh-well. I’ll explain later.”
Lorelei held in the urge to chuckle at the tiger’s misstep.
The dragon moved forward slowly and methodically, but Lorelei could still feel the tremors in the ground.
“Yeah, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” Liam’s tone deepened and he tried to hide the fear he was experiencing. She could hear his heart racing in his chest like prey running from a hunt.
Novik was advancing again across the clearing again. The whole scene was lit by the moon and the colorful lights dancing in the dark sky.
A ring had formed around Rivian. A ring of dragons. Lorelei could smell them. She’d never seen so many dragon warriors in one place before. Novik had a huge tribe. Some of them were holding lion shifters tied and gagged.
They didn’t kill everyone. Col got his wish.
Rivian was standing in the center of the circle, still holding the magick-bender female against his chest like a shield.
You’re going to die you worthless excuse of a man.
She wanted to hurt him. She wanted a pound of flesh. But she wasn’t going to get anything unless she could get out of Liam’s arms.
“I—I—need you to—” She coughed. “P-put me down.”
“What, little one? Sweetheart, yer barely holding yourself together. I’m not putting you down.”
“He-k-killed my husband. P-put me d-down.”
“Don’t you dare.” Saul’s voice growled from beside her where he was stretched across Tor’s shoulders. “This is between Rivian and Novik. He will kill him.”
Tears blurred Lorelei’s vision.
It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough.
