Page 73 of The Hunt of Night

I can’t grab a blade quick enough, so I drop my shoulder and throw myself into the assailant with the wind behind me. Freefalling through the air, the force of the magic making it more drastic than necessary, but I don’t have the strength to retract in time.

Thankfully, I knock the fucker away from Raiden, toppling him to the ground. Braced above him, he squirms beneath me, bucking and twisting to get me off him as he snaps his bloodyteeth in my direction. I scramble to keep the upper hand, fumbling for my two remaining poison-tipped blades before plunging them into his eyes.

I yank them out, repeating the motion again and again, plunging without care as I scream, the pent-up tension needing a release from my body.

My throat burns, and my actions are relentless. Even when he stops trying to fight me off, even when he’s dead, I can’t stop.

If he hurt Raiden…

No.

He can’t.

I refuse.

Raiden.

I stop abruptly, daggers raised and ready as the panic still sounds in my voice and my cries continue.

“Troublemaker.” The nickname cuts through the pounding of my pulse in my ears as I search desperately for the source, but the darkness Brody created is hazed by a red glaze over my eyes.

Relief floods my body as Raiden’s face comes into view, but the sight of blood gushing from the open wound at his neck is enough to set my panic into full force again.

“Raiden,” I rasp, cutting the distance between us as my daggers fall to the ground. I band my arms around his neck, clinging to him as I try to calm the racing of my heart, but it’s easier said than done.

“Take the alley. We’ll clear this up,” Kryll states, but before I can understand what he means, Raiden is moving.

A moment later, my back is plastered against a stone wall as my vampire hovers above me. His hand is clamped down on his neck, his fingers dripping with blood as it streams down his body.

“How can I help? Tell me how to help!” I choke, placing my hand over his as I peer around our new surroundings. We’redown a small dead end. One I’m familiar with, two turns from Pearl’s.

We should be safe here. But there’s nothing I can use to aid him.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I need to stop being a distraction to these men. Look at him. This is all my fault.

“We need to get you help, Raiden. Fast. How?” My voice is getting louder, the alarm clear in my tone as he smiles down at me. He fuckingsmileslike he’s not bleeding everywhere.

“All I need is you.”

I gape at him. He can’t be real right now.

“I’m the last thing you need right now,” I retort, anger coursing through my veins as I peer up at him. “I’m the reason Cassian was cut today and the reason you’re bleeding from the neck,” I snap, trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’ve been through this twice in one fucking day.

I need a break.

Fuck.

“Adri—”

“No, Raiden. Don’t give me any of this shit right now. Help me help you,” I growl, and his free hand grips my chin, squeezing for good measure as he forces me to look up at him.

Blood is smeared over every inch of him, glistening along the strands of his otherwise dark hair. I can’t imagine what I look like, but that doesn’t seem to matter to him.

“Give me a minute, Troublemaker. I’ll be fine.” His voice is dark, husky, tired.

“A minute? Fucking minute? Raiden your?—”

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