Page 66 of Eternally Yours

“Things won’t die,” said the other.

“Oh, they die,” I said. “You just need to aim for their fucking heads.”

Four against twenty-four weren’t great odds, but hopefully, we could hold them off until reinforcements arrived. Facing off against the approaching beasts, we drew our weapons. “On my command,” I said, waiting for the beasts to get closer. “Now!”

The next few minutes were a tangle of blades, gunshots, and roars. I hacked off three, then four beast heads with swift swings of my swords while Cat emptied and reloaded clips faster than I could blink. No doubt her tally was higher than mine. We managed to kill more than half of the animals and wounded the rest.

As the Iron Guard soldiers worked to finish off the wounded beasts, one escaped, pushing past them and charging toward me. I swung my blade, but the animal swiveled last minute, tackling me to the ground. I landed hard, its massive jaws embedded into my shoulder and I grunted as the pain seared into me. Blood trailed down its left eye, and that’s when I realized I’d managed to take off one of its ears in the fall.

But in the scuffle, I’d dropped my swords.

I scrambled, searching for a weapon while trying to keep the beast from chomping on my face. My hold on its muzzle slipped and the beast clamped down on my arm, teeth burying down to the bone. I roared, punching it in the face with my other hand as hard as I could, hoping it would let me go.

Fucker closed its jaw tighter and began to pull. If I didn’t pry its maw open soon, it would tear my arm off. As I hollered in pain, a gunshot exploded and blood splattered over my face as the creature fell limp over me.

Dead.

Cat approached, holding one of my swords. “You dropped this,” she said.

I stared up at her, her black combat boots inches from my face. “I still prefer blades.”

She leaned on the dead beast, her added weight making me grunt out a breath. “Next time I’ll just let one of these things make a meal out of you.”

“Hopefully there won’t be a next time. Help me up.”

Sliding the dead animal off me, Cat reached for my good arm and hauled me up. I took the sword, thankful it hadn’t been my dominant arm that was mauled. As expected, the toxins were already at work, slowing the regeneration process. My injured arm hung lifeless by my side, the pain deep and excruciating. It would take time to heal, but I’d manage through it.

As I tore off a strip of fabric from my shirt and wrapped it around my bleeding arm, one of the two Iron Guard soldiers approached. “West Wing is secured.”

Taking a quick assessment of our situation, Cat asked, “What’s the plan here, Nic?”

“I didn’t expect they’d attack so soon. Our forces are scattered,” I said, leaning my back against the wall as screams echoed through the halls of the East Wing and upper floors. Then a familiar hum rippled through my blood, flushing my system with a fresh dose of adrenaline.

Loren.

Pushing off the wall, I stumbled for a second. “Fuck.”

Cat reached a hand out to me, but I brushed her off. “I’m ok. I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” she said.

Rotating my mangled arm, I adjusted my armor and started to head in the direction of the screams. “It’s the bloodbond. Loren is here, but something is wrong. I need to find her.”

Cat blocked my way, putting a palm to my chest. “I know you’re worried about her, but your top priority needs to be your coven.”

She was right. As much as I needed to find Loren and make sure she was okay, I’d brought this fight to my family.

Waving the two soldiers over, I said, “Cat, you head to the East Wing, find as many survivors as you can and bring them here.” I tapped one of the guards on the shoulder. “Go with her.” Signaling to the other, I said, “You stay here. No one gets through those double doors unless vampire blood runs through their veins.”

“What about you?” Cat asked.

“I’m going up.”

“I can come with you. You need me.”

“I need you to find the survivors and bring them here. Tell me I can count on you.”

Her jaw clenched, but she nodded, taking off down the hall.

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