Chapter 227: Both Of You
The pincer closed fast, the way traps always did when the people setting them had been patient enough to wait for the right moment, and for approximately three seconds, the road dissolved into the particular beautiful chaos of a group of near-level-one-hundreds who had been walking for weeks and were extremely ready to hit something.
Victor moved first. He always moved first; it was a compulsion, it was written into the architecture of him somewhere deep and unalterable, and his wings came down like a judgment, and the nearest truck simply stopped being a truck in any meaningful sense. The shockwave rolled out from the impact, and the scavengers on the heights scrambled for footing they no longer had.
Ivan hit the rear line before they’d taken three steps, and the sound of it carried.
Voss didn’t run. Voss walked, which was somehow worse, his amber eyes calm and his weapons already materialising in his hands, pulled from nowhere the way he always did, and the beastmen flooding out of the trailers took one look at the size of him and made the kind of calculation that experienced fighters made very quickly, and inexperienced fighters made too late.
Felicity stayed exactly where she was put, which was behind Damien and slightly to the left of Kai, who had already done something quiet and efficient with a tripwire that three scavengers were about to discover. She had her hands around her stomach without thinking about it, the way she always did when things got loud, and her eyes were moving across the field the way Victor had taught her, counting, mapping, looking for the shape of the fight.
The hyena was still on his truck.
That was wrong, that was the kind of wrong that meant something.
"He’s waiting for something," she said, to nobody in particular and everybody within earshot.
Ivan heard her. Of course, Ivan heard her. Ivan had built an entire operational doctrine around the principle of listening to whatever came out of her mouth. His dark eyes swept the road, and his hand came up in a signal that Sam caught and passed back without a word, and the sound dome that dropped over the eastern flank was instantaneous and total, cutting the communication between the heights and the rear line with a neatness that made the whole right side of the ambush stumble.
The hyena raised his hand again, a different signal this time, and nothing happened, because Sam’s dome had eaten it, and the look on his face when he understood that was genuinely satisfying.
Damien felt her notice that and made a sound against her hair that was equal parts amusement and possession.
"Don’t enjoy it too much," he murmured. "You’re supposed to be scared."
"I’m supposed to be a lot of things."
"You’re supposed to be behind me."
"I am behind you."
Victor’s red eyes locked onto Lucan, who had already moved to Felicity’s side, his silver fur bristling with protective fury. "Lucan, get her out of here. Now."
The panther beastman didn’t need to be told twice. With a flicker of shadow, he wrapped his arms around Felicity and vanished, teleporting sideways into the dense underbrush beyond the road.
"Luna! Frost!" Victor called, his wings flaring wide as he created a momentary shield against the first wave of attackers. With practised precision, he opened a small pocket dimension, and the cubs instantly disappeared into his space.
The hyenas charged, their laughter turning to snarls as they realised their prey was fighting back. Voss transformed fully, his massive wolf form tearing through the first ranks with savage efficiency. Blood sprayed across the asphalt as he ripped through flesh and bone.
"Remember, these aren’t just scavengers," Victor warned, launching himself into the air. "They’re coordinated to watch for traps!"
Ivan’s massive fists connected with a hyena’s jaw, the crack echoing like thunder. "They’ve got magic users!" he shouted as a fireball seared past his shoulder.
Dimitri moved like a liquid shadow, his null field finding the soft spots between armour plates. The hyenas fell around him, but more kept coming, drawn by the scent of their prize.
"They’re hunting Felicity!" Damien hissed, his snake-like movements allowing him to slip between attackers. "This isn’t random!"
Victor nodded grimly, understanding dawning. The hyenas had targeted them specifically, knowing about Felicity, obviously, the city of the light was on their tails.
In the dense underbrush fifty yards from the battle, Lucan appeared with Felicity in his arms, his teleportation leaving them both momentarily disoriented. He pressed a hand to her mouth, silencing any potential sound.
"Don’t move," he whispered against her ear, his voice a dangerous caress. "Don’t speak."
Felicity nodded, her large ears twitching as she tried to catch the sounds of the battle. Lucan’s grip tightened around her, his body vibrating with barely contained rage. The scent of the hyenas had triggered something primal in him, a possessive fury that made his vision sharpen and his instincts scream.
He counted her breaths—twenty-three per minute, elevated but controlled. Good. Her heart hammered against his chest, but she wasn’t panicking. He tracked every tremble that ran through her body, every shift of her weight. His senses extended outward, cataloguing every sound, every scent in their vicinity.
When she shivered, he pulled her closer, his lips brushing her temple. "Cold?"
"Scared," she admitted, her voice barely audible.
Lucan’s jaw clenched. The admission sent a spike of protective fury through him. His Felicity should never feel fear. Never. The hyenas would pay for making her feel this way.
"Stay with me," he murmured, his hand moving to her rounded belly. "Both of you."
The possessive need to shield her, to claim her, to ensure no one else could ever threaten what was his, consumed him. He would burn the world to keep her safe. The battle raged on, but Lucan’s focus remained solely on the woman in his arms, tracking her every breath, her every movement, as if memorising her for eternity.