Libby and Derrick were positioned with the far north fighting force, and Hope could see Realm soldiers around them. They were in good position.
She looked around for anything they could use to block the entrance to the barracks if necessary. The room only held cots and mirrors. It was kind of creepy. She didn’t have enough weapons for all of the women. “Anybody against breaking some glass?”
“They’re unbreakable,” Lyrica sniffed. “I already tried. Thought I could use glass as a weapon. It’s not even the real stuff.”
“Figures.” Hope looked back at her phone. Sounds of the battle were excruciating, and a couple of the women started to cry. “It’s all right,” Hope said, watching carefully. “We’ve outmanned them, and we have better explosives. We took out their weapons depot as well as several of their missiles. They have a couple they can still send. But we are deactivating them as we speak.”
She could see what was happening in real time, but she wanted to be out there. However, her skills were needed here, and this was how she’d trained. She clicked her ear communicator. “Dage, your force needs to move to the left. You guys are going right, and Talen’s team doesn’t need your help, whereas Garrett’s does. Maneuver toward the Seven, not the vampires.”
“Copy that,” the king said.
She could see on the map when they started to move. Good. “Does anybody have eyes on Ulric?” she asked.
“Negative,” Paxton said, grunting.
A chorus of negatives came through the line.
“Keep looking,” she muttered. “Where is he? We didn’t miss him, did we?”
The sounds of more fighting came over the line, and nobody answered.
“What’s going on?” Lyrica asked, looking over her shoulder.
“We’re moving from the outside in,” Hope said. “We’re confining those we can and killing any we can’t.”
Lyrica peered at the camera feed being transmitted from Liam’s vest. He was punching a Kurjan soldier rapidly in the mouth, shattering teeth and then breaking bones. Finally, he knocked the Kurjan down and punched him hard enough in the temple that the soldier flopped down, out cold.
Lyrica gulped. “Are we sure we’re the good guys here?”
“Today, we are,” Hope said. She looked around the small group. “Can anybody besides Lyrica fight?”
Three other women raised their hands.
“Great. You all come to the front just in case. I don’t see the fight coming this way, but if it does, we want to be ready.” She looked at Lyrica and handed her a gun. “It’s a laser scope. You shoot lasers that turn into metal as they hit immortal flesh. You know how to shoot?”
“Of course I know how to shoot,” Lyrica said.
Hope turned back to the phone. “Collin, Liam, there are two Cyst soldiers coming up on your north. Be prepared. They’re working in tandem, and they’re moving fast.”
“Copy that,” Liam said.
“Got them,” Collin said, turning on the screen.
She watched as the battle raged on. The smell of blood, coppery and sweet, filtered inside the barracks, and soon smoke began to accumulate inside. Two of the women started coughing. Hope looked over her shoulder. “Everybody sit down on the cots. The lower you are, the better the air. So far, the battle’s not coming this way. If it does, I’ll let you know. For now, preserve your strength and breathe.”
They all followed her orders except for Lyrica, who remained at her side.
“Has anybody located Ulric?” Hope asked again.
“Negative,” Talen said.
“Not yet,” Dage said. Once more, everyone else replied in the negative.
Hope searched the camera feeds for a sighting of the Cyst leader. Where was he? Was it possible he’d left after Drake had died, expecting an attack? Hope chewed on her lip. She tapped the communicator. “Priority one is finding Ulric. Report in the second you identify his location,” she ordered. If they could take off the head of the snake, perhaps they could end this thing.
Even as she had the thought, a trap door in the floor flipped open, and Ulric jumped out, grabbing her. “You wanted me, Lock?”
Paxton sent healing cells to his pierced eardrum because he needed to hear Hope’s voice more than anything else. Her orders were quick and curt, but the woman definitely knew what she was doing. Even in the midst of battle, pride in her rippled through him. He didn’t deserve her, but hopefully she’d never figure that out.
Because no way was he ever letting her go.
He turned and took another Kurjan soldier to the ground, knocking him out instead of decapitating him. After the first attack, all of the Realm soldiers were trying to incapacitate rather than kill. If they were ever going to have peace, they needed to start now. Well, after they won this battle. Paxton kicked him a couple more times in the temple. He wanted to be kind, not stupid.
A Cyst soldier came at him, and he stabbed the warrior in the neck and punched him in the eye before beating on his skull until the monster went down. Pax took out half of the guy’s throat but left the other half. The Cyst would live, but it would take him a while to heal. For now, he could swallow his own blood.
Paxton methodically went through enemy after enemy as Hunter and Vero did the same at his side.
Vero covered his back nearly the entire time, fighting hard, his face fierce and blood flowing down his arm. He’d been wounded in the neck and hadn’t healed it all the way.
“Heal that,” Paxton ordered.
“Working on it,” Vero replied, turning out and kicking a rushing Cyst in the balls. He followed up with a series of punches that sounded like a bat hitting a metal pole.
The trio moved steadily inward until they finally reached the center of the camp. Pax spotted Dage and Zane—both kings panting, bleeding, but standing. It had always impressed him how the Realms’ leaders were the first to fight, the first to bleed, and the first to die. He thought it was a good example that humans should follow. The humans who sent soldiers to war remained safely at home. The system was messed up.
He paused as Realm soldiers lined up the wounded and defeated Kurjan and Cyst soldiers, positioning them on their knees near the main lodge. They’d spared a lot more than they had killed. He settled, his temper mellowing. It was a good thing they hadn’t killed everybody.
Dage strode forward and tapped his ear. “Somebody give me a status.”
Hope’s voice did not come over the line.
Paxton tapped his ear communicator. “Hope, do you have the stats?”
Everybody had reported in to her during the battle, so she should have them. Silence. He shared a look with Zane. They both turned as one to race toward the barracks when Ulric emerged with Hope pinned in front of him, his knife at her throat.
Everything inside Paxton stopped, settled, and then boiled so hot he had no choice but to ice it all over.