Cassidy barely hadtime to take in the strange scene that was a blend of romance and violence before one of the Savages ran at her. The Savage was almost to her when Kyle lowered his shoulder and barreled into the creature. The impact lifted the monster off the ground and flung it away.
“Kill them!” a woman screeched, and Cassidy assumed it was Jasmine.
Across the room, Cassidy spotted Dante, and their eyes met. He’d shut her out, but she felt a ripple of disapproval across their bond.
Her attention was diverted from him when a Savage lunged at her. She dodged its attack and, swinging out her hand, managed to deliver a solid throat punch. The Savage clawed at its throat as it stumbled back.
Over the years, her family had taught her plenty of defensive moves, and she’d learned how to fight dirty from her siblings, but her skin prickled as her cold sweat increased. She’d killed before; she would do it again, and she wouldnotbe a liability to Kyle and Dante.
However, she couldn’t deny that recalling the sensation of her stake piercing through flesh and bone made her stomach churn. And she did not want to do it again. Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to have a choice.
She ducked low when the Savage lunged at her again, but this time she couldn’t avoid it. Its fingers entangled in her hair before it jerked her head back. Instinct caused her to spin toward it, and she lashed out.
She landed a solid backhand across its face and experienced a moment of grim satisfaction when its head snapped to the side and putrid blood spouted from its mouth. Instead of releasing her, its hand entangled in her hair and jerked her head back. It ripped her off her feet.
The breath exploded from her lungs when she hit the floor on her back. She tried to gasp in a breath, but air refused to fill her constricted lungs. She couldn’t lie here; she had tomove.
Still unable to breathe, she put her hands on the floor and pushed herself to the side. Somehow, she’d managed to retain her stake, and as the asshole was jerking her hair up, she plunged the weapon into its foot. The creature howled and yanked its foot away, taking her stake with it but also releasing her hair.
Rolling onto her back again, she caught a glimpse of red, fury-filled eyes as the Savage ripped her stake from its foot. Getting onto her hands and knees, Cassidy pushed herself to her feet as air finally rushed back into her lungs.
With her stake in hand, the Savage charged toward her; before it got there, Dante crashed into its side. Wrapping his arms around the creature, he propelled the thing into the floor, shaking the building. The candles they knocked over, spilled across the ground. The flames sputtered before the melted wax smothered them.
Pinning the vamp beneath him, Dante released a series of bone-crushing blows to its face. Its cheekbones gave way, and its eye socket shattered, but Dante couldn’t stop pummeling it. Thisthinghad touched Cassidy; it hurt her, and he would make it pay.
“Dante!” Cassidy shouted when another Savage ran toward him.
As Cassidy sprinted toward her mate, she removed another stake from her pocket. The new Savage was almost on top of Dante when he turned toward it. When the thing leapt at him, Dante grasped its shirt and, with one hand, lifted it over his head and threw it across the room. The Savage skidded across the floor before crashing into the wall.
From the corner of her eye, Cassidy caught a rush of movement. She turned to see a woman sprinting toward Preston and a young girl. It took her a second to recognize the young girl was Julie as terror contorted her face and she’d lost weight.
The woman was almost to them when Preston stepped in front of her, and she crashed into him. When the impact propelled them into the wall, rotten wood gave way beneath their weight, and they disappeared in a puff of dust.
Julie stared at where her brother had stood with her mouth gaping open. Kyle tore the head from the Savage he was fighting and was about to rise when two more pounced on him. Cassidy started toward her brother when another Savage ran toward Julie.
Bloodlust emanated from the creature stalking Julie as its teeth clacked together and red burned in its eyes. Julie took a frightened step back, but like a deer caught in the headlights, she didn’t run to avoid her approaching death.
“No,” Cassidy breathed.
She looked to Dante as he plunged his fist into the chest of the Savage he was still battering and tore out its heart. He was fine, and Kyle was holding his own, but Julie remained frozen in place.
Cassidy raced toward the Savage and was almost to it when it reached Julie. The young girl shrieked when the monster grabbed her arms and lifted her off the ground. Cassidy watched in horror as the thing sank its fangs into Julie’s throat.
Rage propelled her to cover the remaining fifteen feet in a fraction of a second. Leaping into the air, she encircled her legs around the Savage’s waist, lifted the stake over her head, and plunged the weapon through its back.
She ignored the sickening crunch of bone as she pressed her weight into it, driving it deeper. The creature released its bite on Julie as it slapped at her over the top of its head. But it was already too late for this monster as the bone gave way and the stake plunged into the heart muscle.
Releasing her hold on its waist, Cassidy pushed herself away from the Savage and landed on the ground. Grasping Julie’s wrist, she pulled the girl out of the way as the Savage staggered back and fell to the ground.
Dante ran toward them, but the Savage he’d tossed over his head was close on his heels, and Kyle was still fighting off the other two Savages. When Dante spun to face the Savage, it collided with him, and they both tumbled to the ground.
Her instincts screamed at her to go to Dante as they rolled across the floor, punching and kicking each other. She was about to tell Julie to hide in the corner, but then Dante came out on top of the Savage. From what she could see, he was the only one with a weapon in hand.
Her brother got his legs up between him and one of the Savages and thrust upward, but as he propelled the Savage away from him, it caught Kyle’s foot and yanked him toward it. Her brother grunted as the Savage dragged him across the floor. When the other Savage charged at him, Kyle kicked it under the chin with his free foot. The Savage’s head shot back, but the blow only deterred him for a couple of heartbeats.
Cassidy pushed Julie behind her and nudged her toward the corner of the room. “Stay over there.”
She didn’t wait to hear what the girl said before she yanked the stake from the back of the asshole she’d killed and ran to help her brother. She was almost to Kyle when Jasmine reemerged from the wall. The dust covering her hair and clothes caused the fire in her eyes to look as if it burned hotter.
