Sword in front, ready, he waited…and smiled. This is what he was best at—what he was made for: combat.
Before the elf could even get his sword around in a full swing, his head hit the snow in a black, sticky mess. The snowmobile continued down the hill to a ravine, headless body dumped before it rolled.
“Next?” Nikolai shouted.
Ah, two at once. Bring it. Feet still on either side of Elena’s body, he brought the sword over his head and swung in a full arc, slicing the torso of one, and causing the other to swerve wildly, losing control of his vehicle, which rolled several times before smashing into a tree.
The one with the slice through his middle came to a stop and dismounted the vehicle. He yanked the rifle from his snowmobile, grin visible in the rising sunlight. Shit. He’d figured out Elena was under the fur.
A quick glance revealed the third guy who had wrecked was limping toward his vehicle, probably to get his rifle as well.
Shit, shit, shit. If only he weren’t tied to her. Heart pounding, he focused on his opposition. They’d try to immobilize him with bullets most likely.
The wood elf engaged the magazine with a sharp click, and Nikolai snatched the dagger from his boot. As the gun tip rose, aiming right at the vulnerable human between his feet, Nikolai drew the dagger back and allowed all his well-trained muscles do the work. Landing hard, he held his breath as the shower of bullets began.
Forever, the sharp staccato of gunfire rang in his ears, as every nerve ending fired with pain. The woman under him remained motionless. If she died, so would he. Hopefully, his body would absorb it all, and none of the bullets would pass though him into her.
A shrill, familiar scream echoed through the forest, and then the gunshots stopped.
“The bastard!” Aleksi shouted from somewhere nearby. “Wood elves?”
He groaned and lifted his head to find her storming toward him, gold eyes flashing.
“Honestly,” she continued, helping him roll off Elena. “Is there no one with whom Fydor will not ally?”
Elena flinched as Aleksi ripped the fur off her. Relief flowed through him like warm water. She had survived. He wanted to sit up and check her for wounds, but was unable to move.
“Are you shot?” Aleksandra asked her.
“I—I don’t think so.”
“Well, then get up.”
She rolled to her side and tried unsuccessfully to push to her feet.
Aleksi, sword covered with black tree elf blood, crouched over where Nikolai lay sprawled on his back in the blood-soaked snow. She placed her hands on either side of his face. “Hang in there. I’ll get the bullets out as soon as your human baggage makes herself useful.”
Elena tried to stand again, but fell back on her back. “I can’t. My legs are frozen or asleep or something.”
“Then crawl. I need your help.”
She crawled the several feet through the bloody snow to his side, covering her nose and mouth with her hands. Obviously, the smell of his blood was affecting her.
“Hold out your hands,” Aleksandra ordered. “I can’t leave evidence that he has been healed. You must take the bullets with you.”
Elena held out her bare hands and placed them together. One, by one, for what seemed like forever, Aleksi moved her hands over his body, removing bullets with a pain that rivaled being shot in the first place. Fuck, it hurt. And still, they kept coming. Clink, clink, clink.
“You’d better be worth it, little human,” Aleksi said, finally sitting up. “There. I got them all. Niki, are you still with us?”
“Yes.” His voice was strained, but at least he could still talk.
“You need to teleport now. Right now. Can you do that? I know you’re hurt. Has a sufficient amount of time passed?”
He nodded, which was the best he could do with his body ripped full of holes.
“More will come if we remain here, and they might not be simple wood elves. Go to the cabin. It’s very close, so you won’t have to use a lot of energy to get there, and no one knows of it. Teleport there and heal. I’ll come to you when I can.”
Again, he nodded.
“Where is your dagger? The one I gave you?”
His eyes searched the area and stopped on the body of a wood elf with a jeweled knife hilt protruding from the gray skin of its throat.
“It’s how they’ve been finding you. I overheard Fydor bragging about it to a guard. He altered it and put a device in the handle so they could track you.” She walked to the body of the creature, ripped out the dagger, and wiped the black sticky blood off it onto its jacket. “And it’s how they’ll find me.” She stood on the bearskin that had covered Elena, raised the blade, and plunged it into her own belly. “Shame on you for stabbing me like this.” Her face contorted in pain. “I love you. See you soon.”