Page 134 of The Demon's Fire
Laurus tried to shadowflash. Before he could, Dax pinned his shoulders. “Can’t dematerialize, huh? Let me save you the trouble.” Dax opened his mouth, his fangs punching from his gums. At the last moment, the Firebrand warrior shook his head, encircled his shamed attacker’s neck with his hands, squeezed, and snapped off his head.
Aestus was on his knees at Kole’s boots, burned beyond recognition, his body twitching from the electricity which had been pumped into him. Kole withdrew his Boker to jam it into Aestus’s heart. With his free hand, he pulled the organ from the satyr’s chest, squeezing it until it exploded between his fingers. He let the body slip to the ground, returning to guard Skyler, dismissing Galena.
Hedra was tiring, her arms barely rising to cast another spell. Tyr rested his palm on her head while her wild eyes stared up at him, helpless to block his assault.
Finished with the witch, Tyr removed the holding spell on Sabine’s demon. “As much as I love a good fight, I’m tired of this shit.” He hauled back his arm to cast a deadly spell, dropping the asshole to his knees. His opponent’s face turned red, his eyes bulged, and he clutched his neck, gasping for breath. With his windpipe crushed, he collapsed at Tyr’s feet.
Sabine dodged another blow. Her Amazon adversary repeatedly hefted a heavy axe while the nymph bobbed and weaved out of its reach. When the moment was right, she crouched under a swing, brushed aside her opponent’s shield, and drove her Arkansas toothpick into the female’s heart.
Pumped from her victory, she bounced around, shaking her hands at her side as if to release energy. “Wow? What a workout. That’s what I’m talking about.”
Kole searched for a victim. But all opponents were dead or in a fight for their lives.
Ram was toying with a female vampire, motioning her forward with the crook of his finger. “Come on, doll. Try me out. I’ve got this long thing to stick in you.” Ram pulled a tactical sword from his back sheath to go with the Scottish dirk already in his hand.
His attacker bared her pointed fangs, saliva dripping down her chin and a growl erupting from her throat.
“You know you’ve got this very unattractive drool going on, don’t you, doll? Clean up your act.” When she lunged, Ram stepped aside. Doing a three-sixty, he faced her.
Her hands curled into claws when she charged again. This time she latched onto the satyr, snaking her hands around his neck, trying to snap it. But Ram came in low with his dirk, ripping it from the vamp’s stomach to her heart. When she fell to the ground, he used the blade to slice out the organ which meant her true death, her passport to Angor.
Brak stomped a boot on the hedon demon’s chest. Applying leverage, he withdrew his sword from the male’s chest, wiping it on his dead attacker’s jacket. “I’m fucking tired of being injured.” Though the wound was already healing, the giant Firebrand gripped his arm where the vamp had snacked on him. “I need a break.”
As the battle slowed, Kole spun around to fix on Skyler. He grabbed her waist with one hand and, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulled her in close. He willed heat to pass from his body to hers, warming her, empowering her with his strength. “Are you okay?”
Her words were muffled as she spoke into his neck. “Fine, but I must learn to pay attention to my visions. My mind wasn’t fuzzy a moment ago. I saw these Aeternals arming themselves at a portal. I thought it was a foggy … something.”
“Your power’s too new. You’ll learn to recognize when your gift kicks in. You’ll learn what’s real and what’s imagined. It’s all right.” Kole rested his chin against the top of her head, thankful she was safe.
“You might have been killed.”
“Look at me.” He pulled away, lifted her chin with his thumb. He thumped his chest with a fist, his golden eyes smoldering with fire. “I’m not dead. I’m okay. So are you. We all are.”
“Hand me one of your knives.”
Kole angled his head. “Do you know how to use a blade?”
“No, but I’m sure in the hell going to learn. Now hand it over.”
He shrugged as he passed off a knife. She white-knuckled the hilt, tip pointed forward.
Kole forced his attention from Skyler. A significant amount of dead meat surrounded the Firebrands. Gaping onlookers gathered in the street and on the sidewalk. He bit his lip, growling. “Shit.”
“Abso-positively-fucking-lutely,” said Tyr.
The Firebrands moved in to form a tight circle around Skyler. Kole tapped his D-chip. First, he called the gaffers. Next, Alarik. “We’ve got a real cluster fuck here. As we were hot-footing it away from Skyler Maxwell’s condo, a bunch of Aeternals came across at our jump point. Their bodies are currently scattered on the street. And we’ve got gawkers. A lot of them. I have Dax, but he can only scrub one human at a time. You better get a crew down here now. The gaffers will clear the bodies, but your people need to handle the minds.”
Tyr moved away from the protective circle. “I’ll hold our audience in place.”
“You hear that? Hurry.” Kole disconnected to comfort Skyler. Not that she needed comforting. He did.
****
Skylerthrew open the door to her suite of rooms at the Covenkirk Stronghold. She leaned against the jamb, one ankle casually crossed over the other, her relaxed demeanor false. “Commander.”
She had been re-arranging furniture in her new living room when she had a vision. In it, Kole thundered down the hallway toward her on two long, thickly muscled legs.
She opened the door before he knocked. He halted, fist midair. One corner of Kole’s mouth curled into the sexy grin designed to ensnare female hearts. It wasn’t going to work on Skyler. She steeled herself against his charm.
