No, no, no.
I open my mouth to shout, to distract them, but no sound comes out. My entire body is tense as I watch this man fight for his life.
Suddenly, something hard bashes into my knees. The pain is horrible, and my knife tumbles to the ground nearby just as I hit the road. Bits of asphalt tear my clothes and embed themselves into the palms of my hands. My skin is burning as blood seeps from my hands.
The Elite is on top of me in seconds, his hands wrapping around my neck. My lungs tighten, and black spots appear in my vision. My heart is pounding in my chest as I realize today might be the day my life ends.
I’m surprised when the first thought in my mind is not that I am dying but that I will miss out on being with Erik. My heart breaks as I realize I will lose the opportunity to know more about him by perishing soon after we found each other. To show him how I feel. He will never know.
My lungs continue to fight for air as a cold sweat appears on my neck. My heart is pounding as my all-too-fragile body begins to lose its battle to live.
No.
No.
No.
I will not die like this. I refuse to die like this. With the last vestiges of strength, I gather power in my legs. With a swift jerk of my knee, I aim for the sensitive area between his mortal legs. The blow lands and my assailant lurches off me, rolling to his back. His lips hold a silent growl.
Gaining the upper hand once again, I pin him with my weight and shift to grab the small dagger hidden in his forearm. My fingers find purchase with the delicate blade. There is no time to hesitate. I know about cruelty. I know about killing, even. The needle-like blade slips between his ribs with a deft movement.
I fight down a gag when the warrior grabs my hand and forces the blade up higher. I feel the moment the knife makes contact with his heart. He smiles at me as he dies.
For just a moment, I see my father’s face. His smirk lurks behind the arrogance in the dying Mer’s face. These Elite, they belong to him. They are his faithful soldiers. It unsettles me so deeply I can’t tear my eyes away as the spark of life fades from his eyes.
Those dull, wet eyes stare at the heavens. My heart is pounding in my chest as I look up and realize...
Erik is gone.
I don’t see him anywhere. Coldness floods through me as I spin on my heels, my eyes darting around wildly, but I don’t see him. He isn’t here. The female Mer he was fighting is nowhere to be seen either.
I refuse to let this be the end of us. I leave the dead Mer, rushing around the corner. A DaePolice tank rolls by, but Erik is gone.
By now, I feel like ice. My entire body is fighting against the fear that is filling me. As I am looking for him, I hear something. Reaching out, I grab onto a lamppost as another explosion rattles the whole damn city. The cacophony of terror fills every street.
Not again. I take off sprinting.
People scream. Some bolt from their homes while others slam doors. I watch, my eyes wide open, as bits of old architecture crumble around us.
A silent scream is caught in my mouth as one male, paralyzed by fear, stands near the entrance of his apartment building. My heart seizes in my chest as I look up and see something large careening towards him. I rush forward, but the falling gargoyle is faster than I am.
Heat stirs in my stomach, boiling through my veins and causing my vision to go red. Death is so… wasteful. Useless. Shit if I know why the male’s life ended before my very eyes.
The only thing I can do now is stop more deaths. I need to stop more deaths. I need to find Erik.
Even the Daemons can’t maintain peace as people choke the streets and scream over each other. My eyes fly around the destruction, seeking my captain's familiar head of hair.
“Helena!” A voice filled with power and light accompanied by the flapping of wings cut from marble silences all the other noise. Phaedra hovers above me. I look up at her, aware of how feral my features must appear.
I stare at her, trying to mime my distress. I point beside me, raising my hand to Erik’s approximate height. She stares at me for a long moment before nodding. “Yes, I got him in the nick of time. He’s safe.”
Safe.
Relief floods through me, unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I sag against a nearby building as my legs wobble.
He’s okay.
“Helena,” Phaedra begins again. “I’ll take you to him.”