Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
KILLIAN
I absently scratched at one of my horns as I waited behind a tree near the back of the camp. All I could see was a huge, towering wall cutting through the ground and slicing at the sky.
Deep breaths, Kill. You got this.
I shoved my shaking hand into my pocket, mainly because I didn’t know what else to do with it. I wasn’t even on the front lines fighting, and I was scared shitless.
My job was simple. As soon as the fighting began, I would sneak through the back entrance, which was only guarded by a handful of soldiers, and guide the humans to freedom. My appearance might have been…monstrous, but I was still an incubus. One word from me could calm even the most terrified of souls. I didn’t like using my gifts, but some situations called for it.
Now all I had to do was wait.
I pressed my forehead against the nearest tree, relishing the sting of rough bark against my skin.
All I could think about was Z. I missed her constantly, but today her absence seemed especially pronounced. Maybe it was because I hadn’t yet been in a battle that didn’t have her leading it.
The only comfort was knowing I would reunite with her soon. And not only that, but I’d be able to tell her I’d freed thousands of humans. This was only one camp of many, but Lupe told me this was the biggest. If we could liberate these humans, we could do anything.
Hope left a surprisingly bitter taste in my mouth. I wouldn’t expect that from an emotion like that, but there it was. Maybe it was because hope was closely tied to failure.
Nebulous fear moved in riotous swirls in my stomach. I squeezed my eyelids shut and counted to ten.
Sounds erupted from just beyond the wall, and I instantly perked up, my eyes flying open, homing in on the door that would lead me inside. Shouts. Cries. Screams.
And there. A high-pitched whistle.
My cue.
I hurried towards the back door, my heart racing, and threw it open.
As we’d hoped, all of the guards manning this entrance had left to join the fray near the front.
The reason why this door was barely guarded became more apparent as I scanned my surroundings. It was on the opposite side of the camp from the humans, surrounded by wooden huts I believed belonged to guards.
They didn’t need defenses because the location alone was the most adequate one. Nobody would be stupid enough to plan anything here with dozens of guards resting only a few feet away. Fortunately, all of those guards were currently occupied, and I was able to venture forward with no interference.
But that didn’t stop the icy fear from trickling down my spine as I thought of all the ways this could go wrong. Very, very wrong.
I poked my head around the corner of the nearest building, finally setting eyes on the battlefield. A huge bear I knew to be Lupe threw himself at the nearest guard, clawing at his face. Bash lazily shot out bursts of green magic. Dozens and dozens of our men and women fought alongside them. The enemy forces were rapidly receding.
Yes! I resisted the urge to do a happy dance or even fist pump the air. This was working.
Now all I needed to do was find the humans and sneak them out?—
Gunfire ricocheted from the side of me, and I ducked, thinking I was under attack. But no, it wasn’t me getting shot at.
It was my army.
A human soldier fell to the ground, a bullet wound in the center of her forehead.
More and more gunfire.
More and more soldiers fell.
Terror wrapped its fingers around my throat as enemy soldiers materialized from around corners, hurrying out doors, jumping off roofs—way more soldiers than we’d counted when we did recon. There must’ve been at least three hundred more than we planned for. Were they just hiding away? Or had someone tipped them off that we’d be attacking?
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Bash and Lupe still fought with the others, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough, not against an army three times our size. Our numbers were falling rapidly, bodies strewn left and right. I didn’t see any of the human slaves yet. I wondered if that was purposeful, if the enemy had moved them.
I didn’t know why my eyes flicked to the right when they did. Maybe it was an innate sense or a little voice in the back of my head screaming, TRAITOR!
Because there stood Turner, stone-faced, standing beside a shifter nearly twice his size, with greasy red hair and a general’s patch sewn to his uniform. The two weren’t talking, but they stood close enough to send chills careening up and down my spine.
I was right. We had been betrayed.
The enemy knew we were coming.
I wanted to scream at Turner, demand to know what he was thinking, but now wasn’t the time. I needed to warn my brothers that this was a battle we couldn’t win. That we needed to get away and regroup. That we needed to?—
Something hit me over the back of the head.
All I saw after was darkness.