Elias's POV
Then Nicklaus was there, his hands closing around the creature's throat. There was another wet crack, another head separated from shoulders, and the vampire crumbled to dust.
He helped me back to my feet, his grip steady despite everything we'd been through. "Thank you," I said, and meant it.
"Sure," he replied.
I rushed to Maeve, gathering her back into my arms.
"We should leave," Nicklaus said, glancing nervously at the corridors around us. "The colonies aren't far from Braywick. If we can get back to the surface—"
"We are not leaving here without my alpha," Giovanni snarled, panting. His eyes were wild, desperate. "We can't just abandon him."
"But this place is dangerous," Nicklaus protested. "We need to leave while we still can. Every second we stay here increases the chance that—"
"And let him die?" Giovanni's voice rose to a shout. "We can't do that. I won't do that. Our primary mission was to retrieve Lucian, and I am not leaving here until we get him."
