Finaan #2
I crouch to evade the sword—and fuuuuuuck me, that hurts—then punch the dick that this fool left wide open and unprotected when he swung.
He stumbles backward and I push myself up, ignoring the inferno raging in my leg.
I’ve only got a knife, and I wish to all the gods that my sword wasn’t on the other side of the cave, but at least it has a keen blade.
Shoving it into his gut in that moment before he gets his shit together, I twist and drag it up his torso.
He doesn’t realize at first that I’ve killed him. Wide, red-rimmed eyes look at me in shock, and then cant down to stare at the guts spilling from his belly.
I can’t hold back my laugh. “That’s what you get for attacking us,” I grunt as I shove him onto his back and turn toward the fight.
We’re so fucked. Ruxi and Glow are losing and I don’t know if I can help, but my need to protect Panta’s draikani is so fierce, so unchecked, that I move in their direction.
Then I see Wregen, and my steps shift before I even think about it. Seven or eight jotnar surround him, and he’s fighting for the life he’s determined to abandon.
I don’t want him. I’ll never be able to trust him. But I can’t let him die.
Before I can reach him, though, one of his attackers glances back and sees me, a hungry grin splitting his cheeks.
He mumbles something to the male next to him and stalks in my direction, sword raised in front of his face, blocking me from flinging a knife toward his neck.
Laughing as he draws closer, he stops just out of my reach.
“I won’t kill you yet,” he declares as if he’s already won. “You’ll be a tasty offering for our gods.”
“Try me,” I hiss.
He laughs and flings his sword out toward my bad leg, aiming for the piece of arrow that’s still jutting from my flesh.
Gritting my teeth, I shove myself in the other direction, landing on my back and shifting my leg so I can roll without embedding the tip even further into the bone.
Taking one more deep breath as I steel myself for the agony that’s about to ripple through me, I twist again, barely avoiding the blade hurtling toward my neck, and fling myself to his rear.
Before he can spin and shove his sword into my gut, I slice the tendons at his ankles and then throw myself to the side.
I’m not fast enough, though. He topples over, landing on the shaft still protruding from my leg.
He’s screaming, a mix of rage and pain that bounces off the stone around us, but I think my roar of agony is even louder.
Everyone turns to look at us.
Even Wregen.
Well, everyone except the fighter still focused on the male they’re desperate to subdue and carry back to Hel.
In that split-second when my mate feels my torment and lets himself glance at me—make sure I’m still alive—the jotunn attacking him slashes his sword across Wregen’s chest, slicing it open to reveal ribs and guts and a heart that is somehow still beating.
Everyone in the cave freezes, as if a god has taken control of our bodies and stopped the mayhem that might have killed my mate.
The male next to Wregen’s executioner rips the sword still dripping with blood out of a hand that’s gone slack.
“If his heart stops,” he snarls, “I’ll rip you open and eat yours while you watch.
We get nothing if we carry his corpse back to Hel. ”
The jotunn, who’s now trembling, opens his mouth to respond, but before he can, a shriek draws all of our eyes up.
Four dragons shoot toward us, their wings tucked into their sides, eyes blazing with a rage so potent, it feels alive.
They plunge into our midst, surrounding Wregen and the jotunn closest to him, and scream at Ruxi and Glow.
I don’t know what the fuck they said, but the dragon and wyrm do. They bolt away from Garmr and the jotnar and form a ball, Glow wrapped tightly around herself as Ruxi uses their own body to shield the wyrm from whatever’s about to happen.
“Get away from the jotnar,” I bellow at Svend and Rata, scrambling backwards as fast as I can.
But these dragons are focused on Garmr. The one that seems to be leading them—a magnificent red and orange beast with a beautiful female astride her—spews flames at the dog, and the others join in.
Their fires shift almost immediately from a color as bright as the lead dragon to white and then a blue that shimmers like the sea.
Garmr stands firm, snapping at the dragons who appeared from nowhere to fuck up his plans, but not for long.
Even his Hel-forged body can’t withstand the inferno raging all around him.
Before I’ve found a way to calm my galloping heart, the mutt is starting to tremble, his limbs shivering as he struggles to hold himself aloft.
He stands there for long seconds, eyes blazing as his gaze bounces between Wregen and the dragons.
And then he barks once, a command laced with frustration, and spins to run away.
The jotnar hesitate long enough to realize they’re the dragons’ next target.
When those beasts turn to face the defiant group, their resolve collapses, shoulders slumping even as their fists clench.
The male who threatened Wregen’s attacker growls something I don’t understand, and the jotnar pivot as one to bolt away.
Nearly as quickly as they came, they’re all gone.
I turn toward our saviors, struggling to catch up to everything that happened, but all of that can wait.
My gaze finds Wregen and my legs follow. He’s alive, and I don’t know how. Before the pain from stumbling toward him can register, I’m dropping to his side, my hands fumbling with his flayed skin to cover the wounds, as if I can keep him alive by will alone.
“Let me help him,” one of the women mutters as she catches my wrist. I look up into dark eyes that are so kind, I can’t hold back my gasp. “I have healing powers, and he doesn’t have long. Move aside so I can help him.”
Nodding, I collapse on my ass and shove away from her, resting next to his head to wipe the hair from his eyes and stroke his forehead.
“You’re going to live,” I swear as I cup his cheek.