Page 72 of When Kings Fall

I ducked and rolled away from those closing me in, coming up by the guy Bree had killed, and wrenching the knife from his corpse.

And then I tossed it at one of Colt’s opponents.

It plunged into their chest, right on target for their heart and they lurched, sinking into the snow wheezing.

Colt looked out at me and winked, before ripping the knife out too, then turning it on the other two hostiles.

As much as we were giving it our all, as soon as we took one down, several more took their place.

There were just too many.

The odds really weren’t in our favor.

And as much as I hated it and the connotations of weakness and failure associated with it, we needed to call a retreat.

A strategic fucking retreat.

I called out to Colt and Bree, “Head for the house!”

Against all rhyme and reason, we managed to break free with a whole lot of dodging, weaving and ducking.

“Go! Go! Go!” I yelled to Bree and Colt as we reached the door of the house and Colt punched in the passcode on the electronic lock.

They rushed inside and I slid in just in time, slamming the door closed and locking it as two of the hostiles crashed into it.

I spun around to face my loves, the three of us breathing heavily.

“How is everyone?” I asked, looking them over.

Thankfully, Bree looked untouched and Colt only had a mild bruise across his right cheek.

For my part, my ribs were killing me.

The guy who’d kicked me in the gut had done more damage that I’d let on, even to myself, while we’d been in the throes of battle. It was trying to move, let alone run.

Thankfully, adrenaline was helping me out, helping me to push onward.

“All good here,” Colt said.

He laid his hand on Bree’s shoulder and she jolted, jerking away.

“Sorry,” she exclaimed, holding up her hands apologetically. “I just… seeing him again… it’s a lot.”

“No need to apologize at all,” Colt told her.

“I’m so sorry this is happening, dark angel.” I gestured to the right. “Let’s get you out of here ASAP. We’ll head to the house entrance into the garage and make a break for it via snowmobile.”

Colt nodded. “Wild idea, but the only way out right now, unless we head through the trees.”

“Heading out on foot risks them catching up to us,” I said.”

“The fact we didn’t hear them coming points to them parking their vehicles really far out, so we access the snowmobiles and they’ll only be able to chase on foot,” Bree pointed out, already coming back to herself despite the shock of a demon from her past showing up right at our door and a massive attack descending on us.

That was our woman.

Resilient.

Courageous.

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