Page 46 of Warmongers and Wands
Chapter 15
Bronwyn
As Stanley had said, the attack came at midnight. Hadur had sent Diebin into town on an errand, telling him not to come back until morning. We’d watched the fat raccoon run off through the woods, and I’d entwined my fingers with the demon’s, delighted that he’d been so concerned about his raccoon familiar’s safety.
I was glad Diebin was safely away, because the prospect of eighteen werewolves attacking us here in our home was nearly giving me a panic attack.
I stood as the alarm sounded, refusing to fight from a bed or a chair. But in my case, standing meant having crutches under my arms for balance just in case I needed to quickly hop across the room. I positioned myself near the table, where I’d lined up my enchanted spoons and the nipper-wand.
Hadur paced, anger practically rolling off him in waves. When the wolves crossed the perimeter of the summoning circle, he knew it. I knew it too, thanks to the alarms Cassie had placed along the magical barrier.
I tried to calm my breathing while Hadur moved to stand in front of me. It was sweet, really it was, but he was completely blocking my view of the one entrance to the cabin and thus my ability to throw any magic at intruding werewolves.
“Uh, babe? I can’t throw a spoon through your body, so you need to move over.”
He edged over a few feet.
“More. My accuracy in throwing shit isn’t major league. It would really suck if I hit you with a spoon or a charge from the nipper-wand.”
That got me another six feet of space. It would have to do, because they were coming, stomping like elephants through the forest, howling and shouting, no doubt trying to draw Hadur out of the cabin so the other three could circle around and smack the crap out of me.
Hadur’s hands curled into fists. I could tell it was all he could do to keep from charging out the door and taking these guys down. The air in the cabin crackled with his magic, and his eyes glowed an eerie amber. What was he doing? Was this just his energy spilling out because of the pending conflict, or was he actually using his demon skills?
Bright lights flashed outside the small window. I heard yelps and grinned, knowing that Cassie’s spelled flashlight had done its job. It also meant that the wolves were close. They were done waiting for Hadur to come to them, and instead had decided to come to us.
Idiots.
I exchanged a quick glance with the war demon and picked up a spoon in each hand. The door flew open. Three werewolves charged in, immediately jumping on Hadur. More werewolves streamed through the door, joining the other three and quickly overwhelming the demon.
I threw two spoons, shouting “sit” with each one. Two werewolves fell to the floor, instantly as weak as pups.
“Get the witch,” one of the wolves yelled.
Shit. I pivoted, shifting my focus from defending Hadur to defending myself. Four more wolves went down before I ran out of spoons and had to resort to the nipper-wand.
Three of the wolves that were on Hadur flew across the room, smashing into the log walls with a heavy thud. More wolves were trying to push their way into the cabin. Between the ones fighting and the ones on the floor, we were running out of space. I edged backward, brandishing the nipper-wand, thinking that instead of being beaten, I was most likely going to be crushed.
Two wolves rushed me. I dropped one with a shot from the nipper-wand and barely managed to down the other before he reached me. The wolves I’d hit with the spoons were beginning to get up and return to the fray. I backed away until my ass hit the wall, trying desperately to keep the attacking werewolves at a wand’s distance. Too late I realized that the wolves had deliberately separated us—Hadur at one end of the small cabin and me at the other, eighteen wolves in between us.
Three werewolves rushed me, one grabbing my arm. I hit him with the nipper-wand, the charge cycling through the wolf and into me. He yelped, I shrieked. The demon energy in the room surged, and suddenly I wasn’t sure what was the electrical zap of the wand and what was whatever Hadur was doing.
“Brad, you worthless cheating dog,” one of the werewolves snarled, grabbing the one that was trying to wrestle me to the ground in spite of the electrical charge I’d just zapped him with.
Brad turned around, his eyes narrowed. “Tenny, get your damned hairy paws off me right now. If you were less of a frigid bitch, I wouldn’t have to sleep around.”
Tenny snarled and dove at Brad, her hands curling into claws, her mouth lengthening into a snout full of sharp teeth. I squeaked and got out of their way as they tore into each other just like two mastiffs fighting over a bone. It was then that I realized Tenny and Brad weren’t the only ones. Instead of attacking me and Hadur, the werewolves had turned on each other.
And they were making a mess of our cabin.
I looked across the room at Hadur. “Get them out of here before they wreck the place!” I shouted.
He held up his hands. “I can only make them fight, not leave.”
Great. Guess that made me the bouncer then.
“Get out, get out,” I yelled, zapping werewolves with my nipper-wand. Hadur followed my lead, whacking werewolves out the door with one of the chairs. I hobbled on one crutch, continuing to shoot werewolves until my nipper-wand was out of charge.
Once all the wolves were outside, Hadur closed the door and turned to me.
