106: Darius's POV

Nik was hurt.

I saw it happen, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, with the fresh new bonds between all of us, I *felt* it, too. There was no way I felt it as intensely as Nik or Ada would have, but it was there— a pain in my left side that was sharp enough to distract me for a few minutes. Just enough to make me have to catch my breath before I could continue.

My brother needed my help. I cut through enemies with my broadsword, my eyes flickering to Nik with every step I managed to take. I was moving too slowly. There were too many enemies coming at us. For every one that I cut down, three more seemed to take its place. Most were in wolf form, running straight into the slaughter. Our men had hardly fallen, but most were growing tired. It had to be the goal of this army. To wear us down until we didn’t have enough fight to hold on. Well, it was working. Nik, whom I had never seen even stumble in battle, had fallen. I couldn’t tell if he was dead, but I could see that he wasn’t moving.

I managed to get another five steps toward him before another onslaught of enemies reigned in. Fangs nipped at me, but none caught on as I bobbed and weaved around them. My blades sliced through fur and flesh, sending blood spewing. My body was drenched in a mixture of blood, dirt, and sweat. I risked a glance in the opposite direction as Nik and confirmed that Phoenix was in the same boat as me. He had originally started with his bow and arrow, but had quickly shed the quiver and traded out the bow for his knives. He was a master at hand-to-hand combat, which was impressive for how much he hated it.

A flurry of shadow caught my eye. Finn popped out of the shadows, breaking the necks of several wolves in quick succession. I watched for a few moments as the vampire king seemed to flash in and out of existence, transporting himself from one location to the next, leaving a trail of victims in his wake. The lines of blood dripping from his jaw told me exactly where he was getting his strength from. As long as it wasn’t our men, I didn’t particularly care how many throats were ripped out.

I tucked and rolled beneath a sword that swung at me, my blade connecting with it with a sharp *clang.* I’d been too distracted. Someone in their human form had gotten enough of a jump on me that I was lucky I was still alive. My blade slid across the metal of my enemy’s blade with a satisfying hiss. We stood and circled each other in the middle of the field we’d found ourselves in.

This wasn’t someone I recognized, but based on the sigil of their pack burned onto their neck, they weren’t from the Midnight Pack. How the hell had Alpha Bryant managed to develop such an army? The man before me rushed forward, his footwork sloppy. With a simple side-step and a quick whirl of my sword, his head fell into the grass beneath his feet. I watched his body fall to its knees before falling forward. His head bounced and rolled a few feet ahead of his body.

It was less than a second before three wolves leapt at me. I let out a roar as I danced around their forms, stabbing and slicing where I could. Figuring out how Bryant had achieved this could wait. Nik needed me now. I couldn’t get to him. Phoenix’s situation was no better than my own; in fact, it was worse, as a quick look told me he was nearly surrounded.

Finn was continuing his own pattern of assault, and it was very effective. In his short time on the battlefield, he’d nearly doubled the body count. Shadows quaked and rumbled, striking out at wolves that weren’t within arm’s reach of him. It was a sight to behold. I knew what I was about to do was a fool’s choice, seeing as he was our best warrior at this moment. But the fact was that he was my only choice.

I screamed as I lunged forward and slid my blade directly into the heart of a wolf that had leapt for my throat, “Finn!”

The vampire king’s gaze quickly found mine. I blinked, and he was at my side, ripping a wolf that came at him in half without a single muscle of his tensing from exertion. He called out, “What is it, your highness?”

My body heaved forward as a wolf ran into my back, making me stumble forward. I turned and swung my blade blindly, merely nicking the wolf on its ass. The roar of the battle was loud, but I did my best to be louder, “Get him out of here!”

Nik still wasn’t moving. I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. Finn chanced a look at the heap of skin and black leather that was my brother. He then looked back at me and gave a small shake of his head. Within a blink, Finn had ripped the throats out of six wolves coming at us. His eyes were still locked on me, and I nodded. I needed him to get Nik out of here. He could always come back. Hell, I hoped he would come back. But, as long as Nik was out there like that, Phoenix and I would be more focused on trying to get to him than winning this battle. He was our brother, despite all of his flaws.

Finn conceded. I saw the moment it happened on his face. He looked back over at Nik and sucked in a breath. A second went by, and Finn was gone. Another second, and he was at Nik’s side. He crouched down beside him and said something. I blinked, slicing the throat of a wolf near me, and both of them were gone.

If I weren’t surrounded by hundreds of wolves, I would have slumped forward with relief. While the feeling was still palpable, I had to refocus. There was too much going on for me to continue sacrificing my attention. I downed another four enemies, looking at the piles of bodies surrounding me. It was hard to even take a step anymore with how much these things were piling up.

“Darius!” Phoenix screeched from across the field.

I didn’t have time to turn around and look at what had led to his scream before something tackled me, sending me barreling into a nearby pile of bodies.