as I’m frozen to this spot. I can’t look away, entrapped by his stare as all sounds fade away. No bora snarling, no shouts from the people in the camp, just…silence as we watch each other. The strange hold he has on me breaks as his eyes track down to the ground, finding the glowing violet ring that surrounds them outside of the protection crystals. Looking behind him quickly at the bora, his eyes slowly come back to mine, and my fingers dig into the rough tree bark. Runa paces inside of me as my knees tremble and sweat dampens my lower back. A high pitch sound fills my ears as I realize what this means.
He’s seen me. No one could see us. They would know we were out here and wonder why. They would start asking questions that we cannot answer. We couldn’t be seen, and I just failed. I fucking failed. How did he even know I was here? I was careful, and he was distracted by the bora. I was sure of it. Yet the dark-haired male is looking directly at me.
He pays no mind to the bora family attacking the protection barrier around them, uncaring that they will eventually bring it down. He’s confident enough in his Elite’s skills that they just seem like pests. Even if there was a slight chance that the bora might kill themselves attacking the barrier or be killed by the Elites, the Elites couldn’t leave anyway. The trap stones we placed won’t let anyone leave the ring for a full day, but anyone can enter. Now that they know it isn’t just the bora out here with them, this changes things.
Josh suddenly appears next to me, and my panic escalates further. He takes in my features, looking over my body for injuries. His light brows draw together when he sees I’m fine, but then he takes my hand from the tree, slowly prying my fingers from the bark and bringing it up to his face to inspect. Seeing the blood on my hand, he looks over my bloody fingers and sees where the bark broke through the skin from how hard I was digging into the tree. He looks from the tree back to my fingers, then pauses when he finally looks at my face. Following my gaze, he eventually sees what I’m staring at, and he sucks in a shocked breath as his grip on my hand tightens.
Josh holds my hand as the male watches us, his stare moving to where our skin touches. His lips start to move, and the guy with brown hair, the one who was on watch while the camp slept, walks over to him before looking in our direction in shock. They speak, their faces tense until the other male’s face becomes confused. His eyes widen a little as the black-haired male continues talking to him. The tall male points to the violet glow the trap stones are giving off, and the brown-haired guy’s face turns hard, and then he’s glaring at us.
Now it’s my turn to grip Josh’s hand tightly. We watch them watch us, apprehension washing over me. What the fuck should we do now? We can’t run back to the location we agreed to meet up with the others. If the Elite’s somehow manage to send a message back to the Highers, they will know what direction to aim themselves in to follow us. They can’t survive now. We have to stay here and make sure the bora finish them off. The guys will come and find us sooner or later, hopefully out of sight, and we can make a new plan.
The bora start to renew their efforts, and the men give me one last look before they turn their backs on us. Their protection barrier forms more ripples, letting everyone know that it will come down any second now. I turn my body to face them fully, no point in hiding now that we’ve been seen. Josh stands at my side, still holding my hand, and we share a look before we take stock of the bora. Some are dead on the floor, their essence floating from them high up into the curved branches that cover our head. Others are twitching where they stand, still whimpering from the pain the barrier causes them every time they hit it. The shrieks of the ones attacking get louder, their growls more aggressive in their frustration at being held back from their prey.
I look further right and see the largest one walk away from the barrier, and then turn back toward it. Its large, narrow face dips low as its spiked tail moves straight and far back while its eyes remain intent on the barrier. It lets out a growling howl, and the other bora joining in as the sound pierces the air. This is the head of the family. The large bora charges forward and the others follow suit, aiming for the barrier as one. They hit it hard and fast, the ripples expand larger than before, becoming more widespread as the bora attack. The large, head bora brings his spiked tail high and whips it through the air to crash into the barrier one more time. The barrier stills.
Everyone stills.
And then it breaks.
The bora charge forward to attack, their excited snarls sounding around us, but the Elites are ready. An arrow flies through the air and lands in the middle of a bora’s chest, killing it instantly as it pierces its heart. The Elite with red, plaited hair styled down the center of his head swings his axe up high before coming back down on another bora, a pain filled howl following the action. Two bora charge at the wolves in the center of the camp as they bash through other Elites, and all I see is teeth tearing into flesh, claws scraping across bellies and bloodied fur on the ground. I watch on, not in anticipation, but in dread. I planned for the bora to be here knowing there would be death, and their deaths are on me.
This is for the best, I tell myself. There is no other way.
Twin blades flash in a twirl of violence as another dark-haired male slashes through the bora, aiming for their head near their temples and moving with ease, quickly charging from one to the next. The head bora is tearing apart another man on the floor, his arm dangling from its mouth. The bora drops it and goes back for more. I swallow hard and block it out, looking for the tall, dark-haired male.
I find him in the center of it all, that black blade of his moving so fast that three creatures are dead on the floor in no time. I watch as he turns, slicing the blade through the air into the mouth of another and then his free hand comes down to the back of its neck to hold it still. His blade hand tips down, making the end of his weapon pop out of the bora’s head through the roof of its mouth. My lip’s part at the strength and practiced ease he has at killing them, at how quick and precise he is with his movements.
A wolf’s cry shouts out in the air, and I slide my eyes toward the sound as a bora tears out the wolf’s throat, blood spraying across the ground as more move in on it.
This is utter carnage. A slaughter.
I look down, tearing my gaze away. Even though I know it had to be done, to protect my pack, to protect Kade, I’m the cause of these deaths. Shame fills me at the thought.
The fighting continues for a while. Josh still holds my hand as I continue looking at the ground, waiting for it to be over so we can confirm that the Elites are dead, and go home to tell the pack that we are safe again.
Eventually the sounds of growls, cries and shrieks stop, and I finally will myself to look up at the mess left behind. I suck in a breath as I see bodies, man, wolf and bora alike, littering the ground. It shimmers with red from the massacre in the glow of the trap stones. My eyes scan over them, taking in the mangled shapes and disfigured features, forcing myself to see what I have done, and also face the realization of what I failed to do. I know what I will find before I lift my eyes off the ground. I can feel their stares aimed our way, burning holes into my face. I steel myself, spine straight, my head held high and face carefully blank as I look at the Elites left alive. There are more than I expected. I take in their tense stances, hard eyes and furious expressions as I examine them.
These are the Elites. This is the reputation they hold. Fearless. Brutal. Merciless. Covered in blood and flesh from the creatures they slayed, they truly look formidable.
The tall, dark-haired male looks over my shoulder, his nostrils flaring before his hard eyes come back to mine, and I suppress showing any emotion on my face. I know what he sees. I heard them coming in the direction they came from, it would be pointless to try and hide. I feel Taylor, Sebastian, Hudson and Colten at my back, a silent strength as Runa nudges my skin as if to greet them. They would have assessed the situation and decided their best option was to stand with me and Josh. The Elites are trapped so there is no need to hide.
“Well, how do you think we should play this?” I ask the guys quietly. “They saw me and now they have seen us all. They can’t have the opportunity to find Eridian or tell the Highers they have seen us here. We have a day before the stones lose their power.”
“We could always get more bora, or another creature?” Josh suggests, releasing my hand to shove them in his pockets. “Gresin maybe?”
I stretch my fingers out, feeling the blood flow coming back into my hand. “I don’t think that will work. We already used the element of surprise. They won’t be caught off guard again. You saw how quickly they just destroyed an entire family of bora. It won’t work unless we get a lot of them, and that was the closest family near here and gresins are too dangerous.”
“We can wear them down. Go inside the ring and tire them out?” Taylor voices. “I could find some more creatures and bring them back here later when they are exhausted.”
My hand grips the strap around my waist where my blade is kept. “It seems our only option at the moment–”
I cut myself off as the dark-haired male suddenly moves forward, staring at the violet ring that circles them past the now useless protection crystals. The toes of his boots stop just before he touches the ring, looking down at it. The barrier blocks any further steps forward, and his brows draw together as he speaks to the other Elites. We’re still too far away to hear them, but the lines on his face give away the tension as he talks to them. More Elites walk over to the larger male, every so often glancing our way while others, including a female, tend to injuries.
“Let’s go,” I murmur, bracing myself as I walk forward toward them. They stop talking at our approach, watching our every move and looking over our weapons. We stop fifteen paces away. I grip the hilt of my blade, ready to attack them inside the stones we placed when a dark-blond male speaks up.
“Who the fuck are you?” He aims the question at Josh, folding his arms over his muscular chest. Josh stays silent. “Did you set the bora on our camp and put down these stones?” He nods at the dark violet glow surrounding them.
The dark-haired female, who must have finished treating injuries, comes up from behind them with a snarl on her face, looking at us as if we’re a disease. I pay her no attention and look at the silent, tall male who is still watching me, silently observing. I wonder if he’s the leader of this team. Every member seems to look to him for direction.
The red-haired male speaks next in a low voice, capturing my attention. “Did you enjoy getting our people killed? Have some fun watching them get slaughtered?” With his axe still in hand, he twirls it, most likely wanting to throw it at us. I hold back a scoff at his words. Of course, I didn’t enjoy it. I never wanted any of this, but here we are. Shitshow central. I have no doubt they have done worse things. Who are they to judge when they go around killing things all over Vrohkaria?
We keep at a distance, not saying a word as they get increasingly agitated with our silence. There is no point prolonging this, and we didn’t come closer to have a chat. I take a light-colored stone from the small pouch I have attached to the strap at my hips, rubbing my thumb over the rune engraved into it to activate it. Sensing movement behind me, I know the guys are getting ready to attack on my command. We have no choice.
The Elites watch us with murder in their eyes, but there is nothing they can do to stop what’s about to happen. They’re trapped inside the stones with no way out, only able to defend until the trap stones deplete. But by that time, we will have worn them down and taken them out. If we are careful, we are not up to their standards.
Raising my hand I bring my arm back high over my head, ready to throw it down at their feet through the barrier. As soon as the stone lands it will activate, slowing the movements of whatever is within a certain radius.
I shift my right foot further back to get more force into my throw. I’m about to let the stone loose when the dark-haired male crouches and places his hand onto the violet barrier. Pausing, I watch as it shimmers, blinking violet and translucent and then to my utter horror, it breaks entirely. The trap stones explode one by one into tiny pieces around them until the glow they held disappears.
I stumble back in shock, and the guys move with me. That’s impossible. No one can break through trap stones. They take years to make with the highest magic, powerful enough to hold most creatures. Edward had given me them from his collection that he had collected over the years. Now eight of them are gone, just like that, and they didn’t even work when we needed them to.
The guys tense behind me, not expecting what just happened as we slowly shuffle back, keeping our eyes on the Elites in front of us. We’re outnumbered, the trap stones broke, and they are looking at us like they want to rip us apart. We can’t fight them and win. We can’t take them all on and survive. The black-haired male comes directly for me, his gaze never leaving mine and ignoring the males around me. I do the only thing I can think of.
Throwing the stone at their feet, I grab Josh’s hand, turn, and then push the other guys to move and run.
The plan has changed once again, and I’m not sure how we will survive it.
