“How could they have known we were coming?” Alex growled as he considered his best point of attack.
“That's a good question,” Francis murmured, reminding Alex of the soldier's presence beside them. He stepped closer, forming a third point to their triangle as he aimed his crossbow at the men surrounding them. “Your Highness? What would ye have us do?”
Alex felt Josselyn tense behind him and a low growl rumbled through her, the vibrations spreading through his own body and lighting a fuse within his belly. The need to strike out against these men, who dared to raise a weapon against her, was making him see red.
“Take them out.”
Whether it was he who spoke or Josselyn herself, he wasn't sure. His body was moving before he could even register the words, as he charged head first into the wall of soldiers, ducking and rolling beneath a volley of arrows that flew his way and plunging his blade into the enemy. The sound of a crossbow firing combined with a loud growl and the clashing of swords told him the others had done the same.
A sword swung toward his head from the right, and he dodged it, reaching up to parry a second blade that struck out on his left. The man on the right made another swipe, the blade clipping the side of Alex's thigh. Wincing, he pulled a dagger from his belt and threw it into the man's gut, sending him staggering backward as he clutched his stomach. There was no relief, however, as the man on his left brought his sword down upon him, almost reaching his head before Alex could block him. He grunted under the strain of the man's sword. The soldier was huge, and he pressed down against Alex's blade with an impressive amount of strength.
A crossbow bolt whistled past Alex's ear, missing him by inches as it embedded itself into the soldier's sword arm. The man reeled back, his sword clattering onto the ground. Alex lunged forward, driving his sword into the man's chest.
He sucked in a breath of air, his eyes swinging to the right and left as he sought out his next opponent. Spotting a man running toward him from the right, he was preparing to meet him when a sudden, sharp pain pierced his side, and he looked down to see the shaft of an arrow sticking out of his back. With a strangled grunt, he staggered forward, dropping to a knee as he threw his sword up, blocking the man's attack. He stopped the blade, but it was soon followed by the man's foot, the heel of his boot smashing into Alex's face and sending him flying onto his back.
The arrow in his back was pushed deeper as the weight of his body pressed it into the ground, the head sliding all the way through to poke out the front. Spots dotted his vision as Alex looked up, squinting in the moonlight at the figure that loomed over him, his sword positioned to strike.
I'm sorry, Josselyn. I failed you.
Alex braced himself for the fatal blow but just as the tip of the sword was flashing toward him, a huge beast leaped in front of him, hitting the man's sword away with one great swipe of its paw.
“Alex!”
Josselyn's voice rang in his ears as the world around him wove in and out, the darkness fighting to take control.
“Hold on, Alex! Stay with me. That's an order from your queen.” Her voice was shaky, a desperate strain running through it that made him want to reach out and comfort her. If only his arms would work.
The fighting around them continued, with Josselyn's beast tearing through the men one by one, although it seemed to Alex that the beast was slowing, its movements growing sluggish. But perhaps that was just the way it looked from his distorted vantage.
A pair of worn brown boots and legs wrapped in leather stood in front of him, and he struggled to raise his head, trying to catch a glimpse of the princess's face. And then, there she was, on her knees beside him, her breath coming hard, her own eyes foggy with fatigue. What was making her tire so quickly, he wondered, wishing he could reach up and touch her beautiful face one last time. Her emerald eyes shimmered with unshed tears, but there was a fierceness to them that dared him to stay alive, to continue fighting for this woman whom he loved so much. Her lips were moving, and he focused on them, straining to hear the words she was whispering.
“I'm sorry.”
Her voice hitched, and she leaned down to press a kiss against his lips. Warmth spread through his chest at her touch. Maybe dying wasn't such a bad thing, if this was the send off.
“I'm sorry, Alex,” she whispered, pulling back to look into his eyes. “I should have chosen love. I should have chosen you.”
A smile pulled at his lips, even as his eyelids grew heavy. “I shouldn't have taken so long to give you a reason to.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“I'm fading, Shendri... not sure... how much longer... I can maintain... this form...”
Josselyn vaguely registered Kella's words inside her head as she stared down at Alex, his body limp as he lay sprawled out on the ground. She blinked, once, twice... her own eyes were growing heavy with fatigue, the price of Kella's existence...
Maybe I should just give in... let the darkness take me...
“Shendri... Josselyn... I need your help, there's too many...”
Ignoring the voice that filled her head, she reached down to touch Alex's face, only to stop short at the sudden rise and fall of his chest. With a burst of frantic hope, she pressed her fingers against his pulse, waiting... and there it was. Faint, feathery light, yes, but it was there.
He's still alive.
I could still save him.
A spark, small but intense, lit inside her belly.
The sounds of men shouting rose, filling her ears and bringing her back to the present situation. Footsteps pounded on the stone slabs of the courtyard, and the spark flared within her as she
