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Pain shot through his leg, and his knee gave out. Cor had landed a vicious kick, and the pain short-circuited his brain. His fingers curled around a hunk of wood. He brought it up, stabbing it directly into Cor’s chest as the monster tried to launch himself on Clay. Cor stopped on a ragged gasp, his entire body going rigid as he was held suspended over Clay.
With a growl, Clay shoved Cor away. The pestilent leader fell to the ground, his shaking hands clutching at the stake protruding from his chest.
“This defeat won’t stop us,” Cor gasped as he glared up at Clay.
Clay swayed a little on his feet, pain radiating through his body. The man lying before him had been a well-trained soldier. It felt like luck more than anything had been on Clay’s side in that fight. But he’d won all the same. And they’d win again when it truly mattered.
“No, but at least you won’t be around to witness the destruction of your people. I’m sorry, but you never should have come here. We won’t go down without a fight.”
“Neither will we.”
Clay waited until he heard the last breath rattle up Cor’s chest. He was dead. Only then could he risk turning his attention to the house completely engulfed in bright yellow-and-orange flames. His heartbeat faltered at the sight. The bodies of countless pestilents were scattered, broken and torn around the yard. The trees had stopped moving, retreating from the lick of the flames.
“Baer! Grey!” he shouted as loudly as he could, but it was so damn hard to pull air into his lungs. He was pretty sure Cor had broken a rib or two with his damn kicks.
Something ran toward him, smaller than a lion, thank God. When it became clear through the dancing lights and shadows, Clay flinched at the sight of the cheetah with the blood-covered maw. It stopped sharply in a spray of dirt. Clay threw up an arm to protect his face and winced at the movement. When he lowered his arm again, Baer was standing beside him.
“You okay?” Baer demanded, sounding out of breath and maybe a little elated.
“Fine. Cor’s dead. You? Grey?”
Baer sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. “I’m good. Grey’s got some mild burns and smoke in his lungs, but otherwise safe.”
“The human?”
Baer nodded and motioned for Clay to follow him. They walked briskly around the side of the house, stepping over dead bodies and trying to keep a safe distance from the structure that looked on the verge of collapse. The pestilent stronghold had been out in the middle of nowhere, but someone was likely to see the flames or smoke. They needed to get out of there before fire trucks arrived.
At the back of the house, they found Grey and a young woman lying in the grass a safe distance from the house. Clay hurried over to them and kneeled beside Grey.
“Don’t touch me,” Grey growled between clenched teeth. There were burns on his shirt and pants. What could be seen of his skin was bright red or blackened. He’d been burned or singed over most of his body.
“The woman is unconscious,” Baer murmured.
“Load her up in the truck. I’ll help Grey,” Clay instructed.
“Just take her to the hospital.” Grey paused and hissed at Clay’s light touch as he moved into a sitting position. “She’s fine except for a strange case of mild amnesia.” Grey flashed Clay a weak, pained grin. The woman might not realize it, but she should be grateful to Grey for her inability to remember what happened in that house. No one should know about the pestilents.
As Grey got to his feet, Clay pressed a kiss to the side of Grey’s head. “I’m proud of you. You risked your life to save her. You did good.”
Grey snorted and then winced as if just making that sound hurt. “Save it for later,” he grumped, but it only made Clay smile. The man slowly picked his way around the house with Clay at his side. There was no sign of anymore pestilents, but Clay wasn’t allowing any stragglers to get close to him.
“And don’t touch me anymore,” Grey continued, his voice ragged with pain. “The only one allowed to touch me is your boyfriend and his magic fucking fingers.” Somehow Grey managed to wink at him. “He can touch me everywhere.”
“You know I’m going to slug you as soon as you’re healed.”
“Yep. But it’ll be so worth it.”
Clay couldn’t argue with that. He was looking for a little healing inside and out with Dane.
“Cor dead?” Grey asked after several seconds of silence.
“Yes.”
“It’s not over,” Grey murmured, and the darkness closed around them as they moved farther away from the house.
“No, it’s just beginning. But at least we’ve shown them that we’re not going down without a hell of a fight.”
