Page 62 of Hers to Claim

Dasher and Dancer led the way in a mad dash down the drive.

“Keep up,” Kima called and set a hard, but not impossible, pace after them.

Just before they hit the curve at the bottom of the drive, the gunfire started. Mari gasped.

“Buck up, princess. Shit’s about to get real.” Kima dashed ahead of her, pulling one gun from its holster as she rounded the corner.

The gates were thrown open, and several of her guards that were still in human form took shelter behind the concrete columns of the towering fence. Three cars were parked on the far side of the cul-de-sac, outside the range of the magical protections that surrounded the compound and blocked the way in from the street. Dark shapes were hunkered down on the far sides of the cars, lit only by muzzle flashes when they fired.

She watched, mute with horror, as the convertible she had ridden in earlier in the night barreled up the street and showed no signs of stopping. At the last moment, the car jerked sideways and crashed into one of the cars that formed a blockade, sending some of the attackers flying and trapping others between the cars.

Mari froze and couldn’t even draw a breath. Dante and Rio were in that car. She knew shifters were tough, but were they walk-away-from-a-car-crash tough?

Cisco landed in front of her, fangs bared and wings flared. He scooped her up in his arms and bounded into the air, landing a dizzying second later behind the fence. “Stay behind cover,” he growled before taking off again and disappearing into the fray.

She moved carefully toward the gate and peeked around. The guards who had been there before were gone, moved into the heart of the fight. Beyond the gates lay a field of chaos. The gunfire continued, though more sporadically now. Mostly the fight had progressed to hand-to-hand and teeth-to-claws.

Cisco landed on the roof of one of the attacking vehicles and roared. Mari knew immediately that he was trying to draw attention to himself and by doing so to give cover to Dante, Rio, and the rest of the guards. The gambit worked, because the gunfire centered on him, but that didn’t ease the terror that gripped Mari’s chest.

She scrambled for her magic, and in this moment of fear and bloodshed it was impossible to find. A terrible sense of futility filled her. If she couldn’t protect those that were hers when it mattered, what good was all the power she had?

The uselessness stung. Maybe Cisco was right and she should have waited somewhere safe, rather than putting herself in danger when she wasn’t going to be able to help.

Rio peered over the top of the crashed car, taking in the fight around him. He half-dragged Dante with him as he bolted for the gate. Blood stained Dante’s tank top, but he was still moving partially under his own power. Bullets tore into the hood of the convertible as one of the gunmen turned their fire on the fleeing shapes of her men.

Hers.

No one had a right to them but her. White-hot anger bubbled up from the place inside her where the goddess slept. Magic burned along her nerves, branching out from the center of her until her fingers ached. Her need to protect Rio and Dante drove her magic. She used what Pricilla had done around the car as an example and wove a shield of magic around them that bullets couldn’t penetrate.

Dante felt the touch of her magic and looked up, meeting her eyes and then urging Rio toward her.

Mari focused on the battlefield again. She spun another shield around Cisco with a flick of her hand. Tendrils of her magic shot out toward the nearest attackers, binding them as they tussled with her guards. The goddess demanded their blood for daring to harm what was hers, but Mari shut down the call for vengeance hard, remembering that Kima had once stood opposed to them because she had been forced. Her father and those who had allied with him manipulated people to gain their compliance, using friends and lovers as leverage.

The enemy here was Vincent, not anyone else. She surveyed the battlefield looking for him, but he wasn’t present. The goddess inside her growled discontentedly.

Rio and Dante finally made it to her a few seconds later and Rio eased Dante into her arms before turning around to head back into the fray. Though she wanted to call him back, she understood that he wouldn’t leave the fight until Cisco was also safe.

Dante gasped in her arms as Mari’s magic shot through him, healing his wounds in an instant, though they had been well on their way already thanks to his shifter physiology.

A hellhound who looked like the twin of the one who had confronted Rio at the bar materialized in front of her, eyes glowing red as he towered over her. The alarm klaxons blared awarning that was much too late. He could grab her and teleport her away before anyone else could react.

He placed a hand on her arm and she felt the tingle of his magic trying to transport her. The world around her started to fade from view.

She struck out with her magic, wrapping him tightly in knots even someone of his significant strength couldn’t break and jerking his hand away from her.

Rio pounced on the man from behind, driving him to the ground at her feet. “Stay down, Halcyon.”

She silenced the alarm and surveyed what was happening around her. The fighting had mostly subsided. The hellhound’s escape with her had been the backup plan when it was clear they wouldn’t win.

She didn’t let herself relax until Cisco landed next to her, safe and whole. Then she fell apart in Dante’s arms.

Chapter 19

After a bit ofdiscussion, Cisco and Kima agreed to let the police handle most of the attackers who remained alive. They were equipped with a branch that specialized in taking care of paranormal threats. Kima would stay at the bottom of the drive with a handful of guards to greet them when they arrived and fill out the appropriate reports.

Mari continued to hold the magical bindings on Halcyon while the arrangements were made. The knotted web around him prevented him from teleporting away or moving around very much. When they were done, Cisco hefted the hellhound over his shoulder despite growling protests from Halcyon.

Dasher and Dancer ran at either side of Cisco in their shifted forms, snarling and snapping at their bound brethren.

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