107: Ada's POV

I had passed out.

It wasn’t for long— only a few minutes. Gwynn had dealt with it on her own. I would have to remember to commend her for her ability to remain calm under pressure, as I was fairly certain I would have been a blithering idiot if someone had done what I had in front of me. As I came to, Gwynn shoved chocolate and a glass of water in my hands.

The bonds between me and the Alpha Kings were still present, just empty. I nearly cried with relief as I felt for each bond and found all three perfectly intact. Whoever had been hurt was still alive. That might not mean much, but it meant enough. There was still hope. I found it easier to fight through the nerves, now, as well. It was like what my brain and body had needed was reassurance that I would know if something would happen.

That most likely stemmed from what had happened with Phoenix, and how none of us had known the state he was in until he’d shown back up at Castle Oberon. My fear of the unknown with my mates ran incredibly deep. I cared for each of them so intensely that it genuinely felt like I wouldn’t recover from anything if something happened to any one of them.

Gwynn had moved me from the floor to my bed as I regained my strength and was sitting at my feet, watching me while I thought and nibbled on the piece of chocolate she had given me. As I finished the sweet, swirling shadows appeared in the center of my room. I jumped up, nearly losing my footing as I slid across the hard floor. Finn emerged from the shadows, cradling a body. I cried out as I took in the black leather and oil-slick hair.

I rushed over to the door behind where Finn was lying Nik on the ground, and screamed, “Help! Someone, come help us.” When I turned back around, Gwynn was standing at the side of my bed, tears streaming down her face, and her hand covering her mouth. I blinked and rushed over to Finn, who was kneeling beside Nik, “What the hell happened, Finn?”

He shrugged, pale fingers working the straps of Nik’s leathers meticulously, “I arrived after he was already injured. Darius insisted I bring him away.”

The door to my room swung open, and three guards and two servants burst in. After taking in the scene, one of the guards turned and ran, yelling something about the pack doctor as he went. I had to assume that meant help would be on the way soon, but in the meantime, it didn’t look like Nik was breathing. There was no rise and fall of his chest, no color in his skin. His lips were turning blue.

Blood seeped from his left side. The slow flow of the red liquid made me squeeze my eyes shut. Slow flow meant low blood. Darius had repeated that mantra several times in our combat training. Low blood meant close to loss of life. How the hell could I fix him? I didn’t know first aid. Maybe Finn could help. After all, he was a vampire with blood that was supposed to have a healing factor, since Nik’s healing factor seemed to be missing.

I reached over and tore through the leather vest that was covering Nik’s side. The material fell to the floor beneath him. I gaped at the deep wound. Layers of skin, muscle, and fat were flayed open. There was a small tubular portion that had begun poking out of the hole, and I was fairly certain it was Nik’s intestines that I was seeing. I fought off the nausea and turned to Gwynn. She was pale with silent tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were locked on Nik’s face.

My hands clapped, the loud sound echoing through the room, “Bed sheets, Gwynn. I need them,” I couldn’t do much other than stop the bleeding. Hopefully, it would help enough. She snapped out of whatever trance she was in and began yanking at the bedding. Satisfied that she was helping, I turned my attention back to Finn, “Give him your blood, Finn.”

The vampire king shook his head, pale hair falling into his face as sweat dripped from his forehead, “It wouldn’t work on him. He’s a wolf. I am as helpless as you, right now.”

“You have to know some—” I sucked in a breath as a sharp and pulsating pain hit my lower back.

Finn’s eyes widened. Eric ran into the room, medical bag in hand. I was frozen in place, kneeling beside Nik’s body. My hands were shaking. Gwynn approached and tried to hand me the bedding she had pulled. I couldn’t form words as the pain began to ebb slightly before returning full force. Something was wrong. Again. One of the others was hurt. They needed help. Finn was a force to be reckoned with, and Darius had sent him here. He needed to get back to the battle.

Since they were down Nik, they needed me to. Whether they liked it or not.

I breathed through the pain, forcing myself to look away from where Eric began packing the giant hole on Nik’s side. Slowly, I stood on shaky legs. Luckily, I was already in my fighting leathers and combat boots. I’d changed into them after the appointment with Eric. Something in me had insisted on them *just in case. I* ran my hands over my thighs, removing the sweat that had started to form there.

Fighting through the nausea, I locked eyes with Finn, “Take me to them. Now.”

He shook his head, “I will go back, but you will stay—”

“I will do no such thing.” I walked over to the table, sliding my knives into the sheaths on my thighs and grabbing the curved blade Darius had given me, “Eric will take care of Nik. They need us out there, Finn. Take me with you.”

Eric was handing out orders to the people around him. Nik groaned in pain, and I looked at him. He was still unconscious, his color graying. The pain was still present in my back, but hadn’t exploded again. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t getting worse. Darius and Phoenix were in trouble. The only thing I could do for Nik was try to keep them alive.

“You won’t be much help,” Finn tried, his stance blocked off.

I grinned slowly, my white-hot temper surging. Finn smirked as I sent magick up my curved blade, lighting it on fire. I held the flame there and formed an ice spear in my other hand. Shadows billowed out around me. I cocked my head to the side as I looked at Finn.

“I’m ready, Finn. Take me to them. Let’s bring our enemies to their knees.”

Finn motioned for me to step up to him, “Don’t die. Your mother will have my head if you die.”

“It’s not me you should be worried about,” my voice was icy.

He gave me one more once over, his smirk growing into a full-on grin. He pricked the top of his finger on my ice spear and shook his head, “No, I suppose not.”