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“Go!” I screamed, shoving him towards the door. I knew the only reason he was considering waiting was to keep an eye on me. “I’ll be fine! Go!”

Stiffly, he thrusted a pocket knife into my hand.

“You only use this if it’s an emergency. Don’t exit the damn car.”

Before I could protest that I wasn’t a child and that I wanted to help, Ronan had run towards the direction of the woman. I hoped he made it in time, but, by the grotesque positioning of her arm and blood-splattered face, I found that doubtful.

My heart was heavy, and I yearned to do something besides sit like a pathetic princess. I didn’t want to have to wait for the knights to return. I was stronger than that.

Or, at least, I wanted to be.

Despite my thoughts, I knew it would be idiotic to leave the confines of the car. I wasn’t capable of defending myself adequately enough to help in a fight. I would only get in the way, and the boys would get hurt trying to protect me.

Or worse, others would get hurt because the boys weren’t around to protect them.

I pressed my hands to my ears, trying to ignore the gunshots. It appeared as if other people had joined the fight. A few dozen men and women, some that I had noticed before as being our car neighbors, were also taking shots at the ferocious Ragers. Those that didn’t have guns were using any weapon they could create: a bat, pepper spray, their own bodies.

My hand clenched around the knife. I was desperate to help, desperate to feel useful. I didn’t want to remain hidden behind a shield anymore.

It took every ounce of my self-control to remain seated even as Ragers moved closer towards my car.

I couldn’t see the guys anymore.

Even Ronan, who had only been a few cars away from me, had become lost in the fray. I prayed that they were alright.

Bodies were sprawled along the highway. Blood coated every available surface with a deep, garnet red. I couldn’t tell how many of the fallen were Ragers and how many were innocent people. In death, they all looked the same.

Was it wrong that I was relieved that none of the fallen were the boys? Was it wrong that I rejoiced at an unfamiliar shock of red hair on a body that looked similar to Asher’s?

From my other side, I heard a scream. I immediately turned towards the source, despite knowing what I was going to see.

The scream, though unfamiliar, were octaves higher than a normal person’s. This theory was only reinforced when I saw a small boy pinned down beneath an immense Rager.

For a moment, fury blinded me. I could barely think straight, let alone see clearly through the red haze clouding my vision. All I could think about Nik.

Nik getting attacked. Nik being torn apart. Nik.

Before I realized what was happening, I was charging from the car, knife raised. Mof made an unhappy squeal from where he paced in his cage, and I paused briefly.

“I’ll be right back,” I promised the cat, though I knewthe promisewas intended for the others more than the diminutive creature. The boys were going to freak if they discovered I was gone.

But they had to understand. This was a child.

Even if he didn’t have a strong resemblance to my brother, I would help him anyway. There was nothing else I could do.

Up close, I saw that the Rager was a female. Or had been. The verdict was still out on that one.

Her brown hair was falling out in clumps, black veins twitching beneath the surface. Her red eyes, as red as the blood covering her face, were fixated on her prey. It didn’t seem to matter that the person she was holding down was a little boy. It didn’t matter that he was pleading with her, tears coating his chubby cheeks.

And it didn’t matter that he cried her name, voice anguished.

“Mamma! Mamma, stop! Please!”

I faltered.

This woman was his mother?

But there was nothing resembling recognition in her feral gaze. No, his mother was gone, and in her place was a monster.