Rex reached her a heartbeat later. He wrapped one arm around her waist, gripping her tightly, pulling her against his chest with a force that left no room for argument. His other arm cut through the water, his legs kicking hard, pushing upward with raw, feral power.
Above them, the golden nets held long enough for Fin and Jax to wrench themselves free. Both men tore out of the creature's grasp, slashing the last clinging tendrils, then surged upward after Rex and Nova.
The water churned with saphire and darkness behind them.
But ahead—there was light.
Another tentacle shot toward Rex's leg, a blur of shadow and spikes beneath the water. Fin saw it first and cut across the lake like a golden streak, slashing the limb clean through before it could drag Rex under. All three men were fully alert now, instincts razor-sharp. They were running out of air and Nova needed it the most.
Rex surged upward, breaking the surface with Nova in his arms. She sucked in a breath—then immediately doubled over, coughing blood. Rex couldn't tell if it came from the wound in her side or the damage they had been feeling through the matebond long before the creature grabbed her.
"Hang on, Nova," he said, voice low, steady, terrifyingly calm as he swam at alpha speed toward the shore, one arm locked around her.
But another tentacle erupted from the water and wrapped around his ankle, jerking him downward with brutal force. He had no choice—he released her, spun underwater, and sliced the limb in half, dark magic bursting like ink in the current. Fin and Jax were immediately hit by their own attacks, dragged down again and forced to slash their way free.
Nova barely had a second to breathe before a tentacle wrapped around her waist and yanked her under again.
Rex saw the flash of her blonde hair disappear beneath the surface and didn't hesitate. He dove after her—fast, violent, single-minded—cutting through the water like a spear. He caught up to her within seconds. One savage strike severed the tentacle, sending it recoiling in a cloud of dark magic.
He pulled her against him again, holding her tight as her body went limp for a moment, and swam upward—but not straight up. Not this time. He angled diagonally, fast and strategic, instinct recognizing the direct path to the surface was too exposed. Beneath the water, he could see better. He could avoid the shadows moving beneath them.
He broke the surface again, dragging her with him. Nova gasped, choking on another mouthful of blood. Rex didn't give the lake a chance to reclaim her. He grabbed her under her knees and shoulders, hauled her fully out of the water, and sprinted onto the rocky shore.
Her lips were blue.
Her skin ice-cold.
Her breath barely there.
He carried her far enough that no tentacle could reach. He set her down gently, braced over her for a moment like he expected the lake to rise and follow.
And for a heartbeat, the only sound was Nova's ragged, blood-tinged breathing.
Rex did not think. He dove.
The water swallowed him again just as another tentacle drove itself straight through Fin's abdomen. Jax sliced the limb with a furious strike, but another grabbed Fin around the torso, and dragged him upward—but blood was already spilling from Fin's mouth in dark, heavy clouds.
Another tentacle tore through the water toward them.
Rex was already there.
He cut through the current like a blade, slashing the creature's limb apart before it could coil. Dark magic crackled through the water, dissolving into ash. Jax's lungs were burning—he was seconds from blacking out—while Rex, having caught air more recently, still had strength to spare.
Rex didn't hesitate. He seized Fin with one arm, hauling him against his chest, and kicked upward with savage force. Jax followed close behind, swimming hard despite the blood trailing from his side.
Rex didn't surface straight up—he angled diagonally again, scanning the water for movement, ensuring no tentacle would take them from below.
All three men broke the surface.
They staggered toward the shore, dragging themselves out of the freezing lake. Fin collapsed to his knees before Jax and Rex caught him under each arm, pulling him away from the water as fast as their limbs allowed.
They reached Nova.
Hyran was already hovering over her, chanting under his breath—deep red magic swirling around his hands. Heat rushed through her training suit, drying it instantly, warming her body, though her lips remained blue. He pressed another pulse of magic into her chest and throat, coaxing her breath back into rhythm.
Hyran turned and did the same to Rex, Fin, and Jax, sweeping his hands over them with controlled precision. The red magic steamed as it hit their skin and armor—drying, warming, stabilizing.
Jax's ribs were bleeding freely, crimson streaking down his side.
Nova was still bleeding heavily from her wound.
But Fin—Fin was far worse.
Aeron crouched beside him, and unzipped the back of Fin's combat-weave suit—a hybrid of armor and training gear crafted for mobility and protection. He tore it open fast. Then he reached for Jax's, unzipping with the same urgency.
Fin had a spike buried in his shoulder—missing his heart by less than an inch—and another embedded deep in his abdomen.
Jax had one lodged between his ribs.
Rex unzipped Nova's suit with quick, deft hands, and froze.
A spike had gone straight through her side—clean through—wet with fresh blood.
"Don't touch that with your bare hands," Aeron said sharply, his voice cutting across the cavern.
The room smelled of blood, cold water, and magic still crackling in the air.
Like a seasoned unit forged in war they moved with a brutal, wordless coordination—each falling into place as if they had been drilled for this exact moment. No arguing. No hesitation. Just instinct and purpose.
Aeron tore a strip from his shirt with shaking hands, wrapped it around his palm, and braced himself. He grabbed the spike lodged in Fin's shoulder and wrenched it free. A sharp, raw sound that tore out of Fin. The second spike came next, pulled from his abdomen with the same vicious efficiency. He yelled again. The pain was so severe even an alpha like Fin couldn't suppress the reaction.
Rex ripped his own shirt the moment he saw Aeron do it. He wrapped his hand once—no ceremony, no fear—and moved to Nova. He did not flinch. He did not falter. He grabbed the spike lodged through her side and pulled. Nova's body arched, a broken whimper escaping her. Her eyes squeezed shut, breath trembling, but she stayed conscious—barely.
Hyran was already at Jax's side, hands glowing with deep crimson light as he chanted under his breath. His magic curled like steam around Jax's ribs, pulling the dark magic out strand by strand. The spike slid free with a sickening crack, and Jax exhaled through his teeth.
Hyran didn't pause. He pulled dark magic out of Fin's wounds first and Nova second. Dark magic poured out in skeins of black smoke that dissolved the moment they touched the air.
The instant the corruption left their bodies— Aeron's palms glowed gold.
He pressed his hands to Fin first—the worst of them—his magic flooding the wounds attempting to seal. Then Nova—her side healing under a soft, radiant glow that steadied her breathing. Then Jax, whose ribs knit together beneath Aeron's touch with a faint hum.
It was quick.
Efficient.
Silent.
"These wounds will take longer even with magic." Hyran said, after seeing Rex frown by the blood still present.
Rex tore what remained of his shirt with swift, controlled movements, twisting the fabric into makeshift bandages with the precision of someone who had treated battlefield wounds more times than he cared to count. He wrapped Nova's side first—tight, firm, efficient—pressing cloth into the worst of the bleeding while keeping pressure on the edges of the wound.
Then he moved to Fin, binding the shoulder and abdomen with crisp, practiced hands, checking for swelling, for puncture angles, for signs of venom that Aeron's magic might have missed. There was no panic in him, only the cold, focused competence of a commander who had kept soldiers alive in far worse conditions.
Hyran remained anchored beside Jax, hands lit with deep red magic as he continued to extract the last remnants of dark energy from the wound. Jax gritted his teeth through the burn, every muscle coiled, but he held still.
And then—
"Ashbane has entered this temple."
The words cut through the cavern like a blade.
All of them froze.
Nova hadn't opened her eyes. She hadn't even lifted her head. Her lashes were still pressed together, her breathing shallow and uneven—but she was conscious. Aware. And her voice, though soft and strained, carried an iron truth that sent a ripple of dread through every man present.
"We need to move," she said, teeth gritted. Every breath she took hurt.
And just like that, the room shifted again— from triage to survival.