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Tometi roared and slammed the demon into a nearby wall. It was a shove that hit with the force of a train, but Tometi was careful not to jostle me in the violent forward shift. Rilas went straight through the wall, hitting something on the other side with a grunt.

Frantic, Tometi gently lifted me into his arms as carefully as he could and searched for anything to stanch the bleeding. But it wouldn’t stop. My shirt was completely saturated already, the stab too deep and too severe.

I hadn’t lost this much blood in a long time. Without intervention, I’d bleed out. The shock numbed my initial reaction, and my head lulled back against Tometi’s bulging arm as I was hit with a wave of intense dizziness.

In a swirl of sparkles, Silas was suddenly in the room with us, postured for a fight. Time seemed to slow when I caught sight of the man I’d been most desperate to see again.

It couldn’t be overstated how incredibly relieved I was that he’d found me.

He was so fucking beautiful, and I’d taken every moment with him for granted.

I shouldn’t have. I should’ve kissed him every chance I got.

I should’ve told him I loved him every second of every day.

I’d been so wrapped up in the end of the world that I took my own happiness for granted, and as I bled out, I had nothing but regrets.

Tears blazed down my face as his familiar figure pivoted. “Silas,” I breathed, my voice laced with grief.

His silver eyes scanned the room until they found me, then they dropped to my blood-covered stomach. I saw fear beam in his gaze, but he couldn’t come over. Not yet. Salvator came rampaging through, his wolf all fangs and claws, limber and terrifyingly fast despite nearly no room to move in.

Rilas was overwhelmed in a second by the two. They worked in tandem to attack the demon as if they’d been fighting together forever. Silas and Rilas met in a spark of magic, the two colors colliding in a deafening explosion.

Tometi hurried us back, avoiding the violence with his hand pressing over mine in an attempt to control the bleeding.

Bright red liquid covered both our hands.

I hissed and groaned, trying not to push his hand away.

The pain was excruciating. I might’ve been on this side of agony more than a few times, but it never got any easier.

Silas’s magic was swift and deadly. It swirled and bound the demon before Rilas could counter it. The masked assassin activated an item, and the demon was hit with a sudden rush of magic. His head dropped forward like it had earlier.

Salvator snarled and leapt through the air in a magnificent display of agility. Without waiting, he removed the demon’s head with his great maw. I’d never forget the terrible stomach-churning sound of bone breaking and flesh tearing as he did.

The wolf strutted across the room on all fours with Rilas’s head still in its mouth, keeping it away from the demon’s destroyed body.

Silas stood over the carnage in his assassin attire, sword resting on his shoulder.

But just as quickly, he was in front of me to check on the gash in my stomach.

He tore my shirt to give him a better view of it.

“Silas,” I murmured, wincing.

He grabbed my face and brushed away an ever-flowing stream of tears. Our mouths met for a moment before he let loose a breath. “You had me out of my bloody fucking mind, little rebel. Who said you could get yourself hurt?”

“My bad,” I sassed, groaning when every word was followed by a throb of pain.

“Fucking hell.” His eyes flashed, and he glanced over his shoulder. “Where’s the lad when you need him?” Every word that left his mouth was a vicious snarl. “Wasn’t he right behind us?”

The abnormally large wolf shifted into a man, and he dropped Rilas’s decapitated head like trash. After casting a cursory glance at the demon’s body, he came over to my side and inspected the wound. “We were too fast for him. I doubt he’ll come in time. If I lick it—”

“Um, what?” I rasped. “Lick what now?”

Another bout of wooziness struck, and my head lulled back before I could finish my complaint.

Silas couldn’t look any unhappier if he tried, but he nodded in spite of his obvious distaste. “It’ll slow the bleeding and heal you enough to give us time. I don’t like it, but you’re losing too much blood, love. That demon bastard didn’t hold back. Without a strong healing potion—”

“You’re wasting time.”

Salvator pushed him out of the way and gestured to Tometi. The silent giant grunted and knelt down, holding me as gently as possible. The naked shifter changed into his wolf form again, eyes on me as if asking permission, but I was too confused to do more than offer a curt nod.

I was worried if I said anything, it’d come out sounding ungrateful and accusatory. And he was right. I was losing too much blood. I didn’t doubt Salvator suggested what he could out of concern I’d be overcome by my injury. They needed me.

The wolf crept forward, huffing. His insanely wide and long wolf tongue lapped at my stomach where the gash was.

“Fuck!” I ground out, pain lancing through me. I nearly arched back, but agony kept me in place. It was impossible to explain how uncomfortable it was to have a massive tongue moving across my open wound, but it was definitely something I hoped never to feel again.

“Careful,” Tometi warned, tensing as he held me. “You need to be gentle with her.”

The wolf huffed again as if to say he already knew that and went back to his languid strokes.

It was torturously slow and uncomfortable, but the itchy sensation of my injury mending told me it was working.

I had to fight not to react too much because every contraction of my wound made the pain infinitely worse.

Cutting a nasty glare at the wolf, Silas shoved Salvator to the side so he could crouch close to me.

He bent his head down and pressed our foreheads together, soothing me with a gentle touch to the face, while I was still cradled in a giant bear-turned-man’s arms and had a massive wolf licking my stomach.

Yeah, weirder situations didn’t exist.

“Shh, love. It won’t be long.” His eyes cut over to the wolf next to him. “Make it quick, yeah? I doubt you need to lick her the entire time, you wolf bastard. Enough saliva will do the trick.”

Saliva? Gross.

I dropped my head back again as another wave of discomfort spread through my waist. But it was cut short when my eyes caught on something. Black magic grew like vines from Rilas’s prone form. His head wasn’t where Salvator left it, either. It was closer to him.

What the fuck?!

“Wait!”

I tried to tell them what I saw, but the warning got stuck in my throat. Another slice of pain struck when the wolf’s tongue delved in too deep. I was left only to react to the uncomfortable anguish, ridiculously weak because of the blood loss.

None of my guys saw the vines webbing across the walls and floor.

Even Tometi was wholly focused on my injury instead of what was happening around us.

I fought to get the warning out, but I was too late.

Silas and Salvator were swiftly overcome by the lightning-quick magic.

Tometi tried to dodge its reach, but the vines got to him before he could get far.

I hit the ground with a groan and curled around my stomach.

The vicious echo of my injury had lessened, but it still hurt enough to render me breathless and vulnerable.

I quivered and tried to get to my feet, sensing him before he was next to me.

I called on my magic, damning how weak I was, but my hair was yanked back so violently I gasped, and the pink flickered out of existence.

Rilas was glaring down at me, his head reattached to his neck. His clothes were saturated in blood, but I didn’t see any open wounds. Unlike me, he’d been completely healed. And it also appeared he’d somehow gotten out of his cuffs.

Fucking great.