Adolphus’s POV
I didn’t hesitate. The moment my fists clenched, I launched forward with a surge of violent precision, driving my punch into the nearest masked man’s jaw. The impact cracked against bone, and he crumpled to the ground like a rag doll, unmoving.
No pause. No breath.
The others lunged at once, closing in with trained movements, but I was already moving. I ducked beneath a wide swing, twisted past another, and drove my elbow into someone’s ribs.
The thud of impact vibrated through my bones, followed by the pained grunt of my target. I spun, sweeping my leg under another attacker and sending him crashing onto his back.
Steel flashed.
A blade sliced past my cheek, close enough that I felt the breeze of it, but not the bite. I caught the attacker’s arm mid-strike and twisted it until I heard a snap and a cry of pain. The dagger fell, clattering against the rocks as I kicked it away.
The battle was relentless.
Flesh met flesh, fists cracked bone. Grunts and growls filled the air like a storm with no end. The scent of blood thickened around us, mine and theirs. My lungs burned with every breath, my muscles screamed from the constant motion, but I didn’t stop.
Couldn’t stop.
I had to get to her.
One by one, they dropped. Some unconscious, others too broken to stand. Until only three remained, circling me like wolves around a wounded buck. But I wasn’t prey.
I was the storm.
One of them charged with a cry, swinging wide with a dagger aimed for my ribs. I stepped into the motion, deflecting his arm, and drove my fist into his throat. He gagged and dropped to his knees, wheezing. The second lunged with a blade, but I grabbed his wrist mid-air and twisted it violently.
Crack.
The weapon clattered to the dirt.
I headbutted him, the force snapping his head backward before he hit the ground in a daze.
Only one remained.
His stance was solid, and he didn’t hesitate. He came at me hard and fast, slashing upward with a curved blade. I sidestepped at the last second, catching his arm and forcing it down. We grappled for control, his strength met mine, arms straining, muscles locked.
With a grunt, I pivoted my weight and brought my knee up into his abdomen. He gasped, stumbling back.
I didn’t give him time to recover. I slammed him down and yanked off his mask in one swift motion.
My breath caught.
"You," I muttered, my voice thick with disbelief and rising fury.
Recognition crashed through me like ice water.
One of Dorian’s men.
I saw the panic flash across his features just before he tried to cover it with a scowl. He knew I knew him, and worse, he knew what this meant.
"You were supposed to be loyal," I growled, grabbing the front of his tunic and yanking him closer. My voice dropped, deadly. "Why are you here? Where is Katrina?"
He hesitated, lips parting like he might speak, but then his eyes darted to the trees.
And I knew.
He wasn’t going to talk.
In a sudden, frantic movement, he reached down with his free hand, producing a small blade hidden beneath his cloak. The dagger slashed upward, catching my arm just beneath the bicep. Pain shot through me like lightning, hot, searing, but I didn’t let go.
I snarled through clenched teeth, grabbed his wrist, and twisted until I felt the weapon fall from his fingers.
"Where is she?" I demanded again, pushing the words past the white-hot pain in my arm.
Blood trickled down to my fingertips, but I didn't care.
He bared his teeth in a crooked grin, his voice rasping. "You’ll never find her in time."
The words sliced deeper than the blade had.
Rage boiled inside me, hotter than fire. My hands itched to finish him. To end it. But I forced myself to breathe. Forced my grip to loosen, even as every fiber of my body screamed to snap his neck.
Killing him wouldn’t get Katrina back.
Not yet.
My men finally burst into the clearing, eyes widening at the sight of the bodies littering the forest floor.
“Tie him up,” I ordered, stepping back and wiping the blood from my arm with the back of my wrist. “He’s going to talk. One way or another.”
Two of them nodded and dragged the rogue up roughly. He fought, snarling like a cornered animal, but they overpowered him quickly.
I stood there for a moment, chest heaving, every part of me burning.
Katrina was close, I could feel it. Her voice still echoed in my mind, her fear, her pain.
She needed me.
And I would tear this entire forest apart if I had to.
But I was going to find her.
No matter the cost.