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Grunting, I held fast to the Brit’s forearm as he came to his senses. Sloan looked up at me before yanking the arrow from his flesh. His ice-blue irises found mine again before they fled to the floor. Without looking, I knew Eros was below us. My eyes found their way down to where the Dark Fae loomed, neither moving nor speaking. Two arrows claimed parts of his body, but Eros acted like it was nothing.

I mean, of course he’d be fine. Why wouldn’t he be? The dude was a fucking magician.

The Dark Fae hadn’t drawn his weapon and his magic was nowhere in sight, but I couldn’t let my guard down. It didn’t seem part of the dude’s M.O. to give up when he had the clear advantage.

Still, my gut told me something was off about Eros. He didn’t move as fast as last time. I tracked him better than I had during our first encounter. I sensed him as easily as I did Phillip or Sloan. Even his attacks were easier to evade. Maybe whatever Phillip did at the house before Eros got away handicapped the Dark Fae.

One could only hope.

I refused to think about what Eros may have done to Phillip in order to get away, or why the Austrian wasn’t hot on his heels. I couldn’t acknowledge anything but the fight in front of me, or I’d be kidnapped or dead by the time I finished one thought.

Swinging my arm up, I saved Sloan from another arrow, which sank into the tree behind us with a hollow thud. Guess Eros was done staring.

Game on.

Thankfully, I’d swung hard enough that Sloan managed to land perfectly on the branch I hung from. He crouched on it like some sort of ninja, and I admired his balance for a second before the sheen of a needle caught my gaze. Sloan quickly stabbed a syringe into his arm, likely the reverse serum, with his luminous eyes always on the Dark Fae beneath us. I took advantage of Sloan’s momentary distraction and dropped to the ground, crossbow aimed at Eros, whose face was still hidden behind cloth.

“V!” Sloan called out.

An aura of purple surrounded Eros, but his gaze was curious. “Something’s different about you,” the Dark Fae remarked before dodging my arrow.

Never pausing for a second, I ran full speed at him, holding a dagger in each hand. Eros’s purple magic smacked me down onto the floor and my back collided hard with the earth. I barely countered the bastard’s blade with one of my own a second after having the wind knocked out of me.

Holy shit, magic burns like the fires of Hell.

Sparks exploded between us, the smell of hot metal invading my nose. But my strength thankfully exceeded his, and I was able to push him off. Unfortunately, to my eternal “what the actual fuck,” an explosion of smoke consumed Eros. It slithered over me as if it couldn’t decide which of us to attack. Only a heartbeat later, I was lifted away from the ground before I could make sense of it.

Eros struggled inside the smoke, the sizzle of his magic consumed by grey clouds of whatever Sloan tossed the dude’s direction. So, the smoke was friend and not foe. I was one lucky bitch. Sadly, it didn’t last long enough to give us any real chance to escape. Because, as we took several retreating steps, Sloan was forced to take another protective stance in front of me.

Thick bands of light already beamed forebodingly beneath our feet. Quickly dropping his gaze to the floor, Sloan cursed under his breath and pushed me out of the way. Blue and purple magic slithered around his limbs and then encased his entire body in the two colors, instantly binding him to the spot. Like Phillip, Sloan hastily got to work trying to break the magic’s hold, and I could see the difference with his power at full strength compared to the memory of Phillip under the effects of the serum.

But Eros was quicker.

The Dark Fae stabbed another serum-injecting arrow into Sloan’s shoulder with so much force it exited through my companion’s back, and the sounds of flesh tearing destroyed any calm I retained. I’d never get used to the sound of someone else’s pain. Not this lifetime or the next.

A sound left my throat in horror, but I promptly aimed my crossbow at the Dark Fae and sent another arrow flying at him. Eros didn’t manage to dodge it in time, and my arrow sank deep into his shoulder much like the other two had. An angry sound left my enemy’s mouth before he yanked the offending arrow from his body. But not before I sent another in its place.

“What a pest you’ve proven to be,” Eros hissed, removing the second arrow from his arm. Purple magic collected in both spots, and I gathered he used it to heal.

Well, that sucks.

A breath later, his purple magic rushed me and I was taken off my feet. I barely avoided a head smack into earth with a small maneuver through the air. Thanks to that, I landed on my side.

“Fuck,” I cursed as the magical burn settled over me like I’d been set on fire.

I was really starting to hate magic.

My crossbow was thrown far enough away that I couldn’t easily reach it, and I rushed to get to my feet despite the burn brutalizing every part of my body.

Now would be a great time for Phillip to show up. Where the hell was that overconfident bastard when you needed him?

I got to my feet, keeping Eros in my peripheral but desperate to check on my companion. Sloan was still bound, but after a closer inspection, it was clear he wasn’t dead—something I was eternally grateful for. The very thought of losing the gorgeous bastard was on par with losing Phil.

I couldn’t make peace with losing either one.

I worried Eros would aim for my companion’s heart, but it looked like Eros hadn’t. It did make me wonder why the Dark Fae chose to keep Sloan on the cusp of survival and not strike him down the way Phillip talked about.

But I didn’t ponder it long.