Don't Rush Me (Nora Jacobs #1)(70)

“Oliver Harrington?” Elijah gasps. “But he doesn’t use his magic!”

“Guess he does now. Oh, and by the way, I’m sure Nick Gorgeous and Terrance Balfrey are with him.”

I’m smirking at the stupid sorcerer who knows he’s beaten, so I see the exact moment he snaps. “You little bitch!”

He snatches up his knife and tries to stab me in the heart with it. I’m able to throw him off his target with my free hand but not stop him. The knife plunges into my shoulder instead. I cry out as searing white-hot pain rips through me. My scream is echoed by a mighty roar, and then suddenly Elijah is ripped away from me. There’s no time to look away from the gruesome sight that follows when Terrance literally rips Elijah apart from limb to limb.

“Terrance!” I scream as tiny droplets of blood splatter across my body. “T-man, I’m all right! You can stop now!”

Terrance whirls around at the sound of my voice, that all-black gaze looking me over from head to toe. My heart skips a beat at the sight of his rage, but I take a breath and will myself to be calm for him. “I’m okay, Terrance,” I say softly. “You saved me. You can calm down now.”

It’s hard to tell exactly where he’s looking with his eyes all black like that, but when they narrow, I know he’s honed in on the knife in my shoulder. “Nothing a healer can’t take care of,” I promise him. “Maybe you could calm down and find one for me?”

Terrance stands there, shaking from head to toe, and sucks in a deep breath through his nose. When he lets it out slowly, his rage settles a bit. His eyes are still black, but at least the trembling has stopped. It’s something. “Good,” I say. “Now, I know you’re still worried about me, and I know you’re still very pissed off, but do you think you could step out of the way and let someone heal my shoulder? It hurts pretty bad.”

Terrance growls, but stomps off. As soon as he’s out of the way, Nick and Oliver swoop in. Nick gets to work breaking me free from my chains, and I do mean that literally. He grabs the restraints around my ankles and my wrist and snaps them apart with his bare hands. I guess I can add super strength to the mystery that is Nick Gorgeous. Not that I’m surprised about that.

“Nora?”

I turn my head at the sound of Oliver’s voice and smile brightly. “It was you, wasn’t it? Who broke Elijah’s wards?”

Oliver’s face is pained when he nods. Seeing his distress wracks me with guilt. My smile fades, and I have to swallow a lump in my throat before I can speak. “I’m so sorry you had to use your magic for me.”

Oliver pinches his eyes shut and releases a sharp breath. He shakes his head. “Nora, I’m so sorry. I—”

“Move,” Terrance snaps, pushing Oliver out of the way and shoving Enzo in his place. “Fix her.”

Enzo bows as if he gets manhandled and ordered around on a regular basis, so I frown at Terrance on his behalf. “Be nice, you big grump. I’m fine now, and I’m safe, so calm down and stop being rude to people.”

Terrance growls at me.

“Careful, Nora,” Nick warns. “He may be responding now, but he’s still very volatile. He might not hurt you if he snaps, but the rest of us aren’t safe from him.”

“Sorry.” I look at Terrance again and force a smile. “Hey, T-man. I promise I’m okay. These guys are just trying to help. Take it easy on them, okay? Please? For me?”

Terrance huffs and crosses his arms over his chest, unwilling to calm down while there’s still a knife in my shoulder. Seeing that we’re at a standstill, Enzo moves his hands very slowly toward the hilt of the knife. “Nora, be very still,” he says. “I’m going to take the knife out now, and I don’t want to cause more damage than is already done. I’m afraid it’s going to hurt.”

“Okay.” I’m trying to look and sound brave, but it’s bullshit. I’m terrified. It hurt like hell going in, and I don’t want to feel that pain again.

“Hang on,” Nick says, stopping Enzo as he reaches for the handle of the knife. His eyes meet mine. “You should send your troll outside before he does this, because Terrance will lose his shit again if you start screaming.”

I roll my eyes. “Or, you could not be a douche and ask him yourself. He’s not my troll.”

Enzo bites his cheek as if trying not to smile, and Nick smirks. “Actually, he is your troll. And you’re his human. He’s claimed you as his, and you’re the only one he’ll listen to right now, so you have to send him away.”

My eyes bulge. “He what?” I shout so forcefully pain shoots through my shoulder. “You mean like a mate?”

Nick smirks again.

Terrance huffs again. “Not mate. Clan.”

Terrance seems to be limited in his speech ability right now, so I look to Nick for further explanation. “When you triggered his troll’s instincts,” he says, “that was his way of claiming you as his own. Him taking you into his home confirmed it. You are his clan.”

Whoa. That sounds serious. I glance at Terrance. “We’re going to talk about this as soon as you’re not ready to kill someone.” When he gives me a curt nod, I manage a smile. “Nick’s right. You should probably wait outside for a few minutes while Enzo heals me.”