The sword flew past Marcus's shoulder, but with reflexes honed through his years as a soldier, he caught it before it could strike the ground.
That was the last thing I saw clearly before the adrenaline finally began draining from my body.
Pain crashing through me all at once.
My head throbbed violently where it had struck the pew. My back ached. My injured shoulder burned sharply beneath the silk of this fucking dress.
But beneath it all, I couldn't help the relief crashing over my body.
Overwhelming, breath-stealing relief at the sight of Marcus standing there with his sword back in his hands, fighting his way to me.
Around us, the chapel had descended fully into chaos.
Garrick tore a rifle from one of the guards and fired several shots wildly across the room, but every bullet missed. He cursed violently under his breath before being forced into close combat against the other men dressed in tactical gear similar to Marcus's.
And Marcus—
God.
He moved like something powerful and ancient had been unleashed.
The sword flashed beneath the candlelight as he cut through the chaos with terrifying precision, every movement brutal and efficient despite the bruises still covering his body.
The dark-haired stranger who had first entered the chapel had vanished somewhere in the confusion entirely, swallowed by gunfire, screams and the smoke beginning to curl through the ruined room.
"You are safe now," Marcus breathed the moment he finally reached me.
The sound of his voice alone nearly unraveled me.
I could barely keep myself upright anymore, my back pressed weakly against the wooden pew as the room tilted sickeningly around me. My vision had begun to blur at the edges, dark spots swimming in and out while my trembling hand struggled just to keep myself from collapsing completely.
Still, I forced myself to stay awake, forced myself to keep my eyes on him.
I didn't want to miss a thing.
Marcus dropped to his knees in front of me immediately, one bloodstained hand cradling the side of my face while his eyes swept frantically over my body, searching every visible injury with growing panic.
His expression changed the moment he saw the blood at the back of my head.
Something almost broken crossed his features then.
"I will get you out of here," he said firmly, though I could hear the fear amidst the chaos that surround us. "Do you hear me? Do not close your eyes. Stay with me, Elena."
A weak breath escaped me.
"I'm trying," I whispered honestly. "But I don't know how long I can fight this off."
His hand tightened against my face immediately.
"No," he said, almost fiercely now. "No. You stay with me." His voice cracked slightly for the first time since I had known him. "I stayed in this life for you, Elena. Do not dare die before I can live out the rest with you properly."
Confusion flickered weakly through me at his words.
Why was he speaking as though I was dying?
But before I could question him further, Marcus was suddenly ripped away from me.
A violent force slammed into him from the side hard enough that both men crashed against the aisle.
"Marcus!" I screamed.
Garrick had somehow broken free from the chaos surrounding the chapel. Blood streaked the side of his face now, his suit torn open at the collar as he grappled with Marcus brutally across the floor.
But he was no longer holding a gun.
Instead, clutched tightly in his hand was an old ceremonial dagger stolen from somewhere within the chapel itself, the silver blade glinting beneath the candlelight.
Marcus recovered faster.
And with terrifying force, he drove Garrick backward before the Roman sword flashed violently through the air, forcing Garrick away from him.
The sound of metal colliding echoed through the chaos in the chapel.
"You fucking Roman!" Garrick snarled, striking toward him again. "You ruined everything!"
Marcus blocked the blow immediately.
"No," he bit out coldly. "You did."
Their movements were vicious now.
Not elegant, nor practiced, but desperate.
Marcus fought like a soldier born from war itself, every strike efficient and brutal despite the gunshot wound bleeding through his shoulder. Not to mention the countless others he endured. Garrick, meanwhile, fought like a man with nothing left to lose.
"I'll end this myself!" Garrick shouted hoarsely. "Once and for all!"
The dagger slashed dangerously close to Marcus's ribs.
I tried forcing myself upright, panic clawing violently through me now, but my vision blurred the moment I moved too quickly.
Then suddenly, the dark-haired stranger reappeared somewhere through the chaos.
I could feel his sharp eyes landing on me instantly.
Marcus noticed it too.
"Robert!" he barked sharply, shoving Garrick backward again. "Take Elena somewhere safe!"
The stranger, Robert, looked between us once before moving immediately toward me while behind him, steel clashed violently once more.
Robert reached me quickly, crouching down as though he was preparing to lift me straight off the ground. But the moment his arm slid behind my back, I shoved weakly against his chest.
"No," I gasped. "Help Marcus instead."
His grip tightened slightly, unmoved.
"Elena—"
"Garrick is dangerous," I breathed frantically, my blurred gaze struggling to find Marcus through the chaos. "Marcus is already injured, he's been shot, tortured—"
Then something flashed suddenly at the edge of my vision.
Metal.
Movement.
My eyes snapped upward just in time to see it, and everything froze.
Garrick's dagger driving straight through Marcus's chest.
Through the same place where the old wound had been.
Marcus froze, his dark eyes wide with shock.
The sword slipped from his fingers, the sound hitting the floor with a loud, thunderous clack.
And the sound that left me afterward—
it did not even sound human.
"NO!!"
Robert cursed sharply beside me as the chapel erupted again into chaos, but I could barely hear any of it anymore.
All I could see was Marcus staggering backward, blood blooming violently across his chest beneath the dim light as Garrick stood over him, breathing hard with his dagger clutched tightly in his hand.
No.
No no no—
My body lurched forward instinctively, but the room tilted violently around me instead. Darkness flooded the edges of my vision far too quickly this time.
Distantly, I felt Robert catching me before I hit the ground completely, his arms pulling me tightly against him as voices shouted somewhere nearby.
But the last thing I saw before everything disappeared—
was Marcus collapsing to his knees.