if it meant she could just breathe in my presence.❞
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GUNFIRE SHATTERED the air around us, and Mal suddenly knocked me to the turf before I could dive down myself.
"Stay down!" he yelled.
As if I didn't know that.
I twisted my head to the side and saw the Grisha forming a ring around us. They raised their hands, their elements reacting to them preparing to fight.
There was a sudden thump beside us as someone swung down from the treetops. Nikolai slashed through the bonds on our wrists and yanked me to my feet. "Next time, Oretsev, leave the lady to dive to the ground herself. She knows how."
I was stupid with relief. The moment I was upright, I all but tackled him into a hug.
"You're alive," I said breathlessly.
He froze for a moment, probably surprised. Before tightly embracing me back. "Of course I am, love."
"Not to break up this moment or anything," Mal grumbled. "But we're in the middle of a fight."
I stepped away from Nikolai.
He gave me a smile before looking at Mal to throw a rifle at him. "Here."
Meanwhile, I summoned my blades back to me, and placed them where they belonged.
Then I started to observe the chaos around us. I realized who Nikolai's men were, distinguishing them by their pale blue armbands. But it seemed for every blue armband there was five without one.
