“Okay, she’s had long enough with the prick. I’m going up there.”
The vampire’s hand shot out and gripped Zane’s wrist, prompting a disgruntled growl.
“I like you, vampy, but I don’t appreciate you getting between me and my mate unless it’s because you’re fucking her and I’m fucking you. That’s one of the few acceptable scenarios.”
Rasmus smirked before his expression hardened. “I agree that’s a good reason, but so is letting our mate have some time with the mage.They need to figure things out and seal the bond. Until that happens, we’re all vulnerable. Especially her.”
The vampire made a good point. A harem was weaker when one or more partners hadn’t sealed the bond. No wonder my mate’s magic remained volatile each time her emotions flared.
“I can help with that,” the incubus said with a grin. “Put a little lead in the mage’s pencil because, let’s be honest, the sap needs all the help he can get.”
I somehow doubted that, but Zane loved to trash-talk the storm mage.
“Five more minutes, and then I’m going up there.”
“Five minutes and weallgo up there,” the vamp said before his eyes locked on the fae bastard talking intently to my witch’s friend. Neither of them looked especially happy.
I wondered what the fuck was going on. As far as I knew, Glynda was not a powerful witch and therefore unlikely to interest a fae like Farris. But it wasn’t the first time I’d caught the attraction simmering between them.
“Interesting,” Rasmus murmured, but before I could ask him what he’d picked up, panicked screams cut through the background music and chatter. My brain stuttered at the sight of a hellhound bursting through the main entrance across the dance floor.
The vile beast roared, sending toxic spittle flying everywhere. More people screamed as they tried to escape. The slathering hellhound snatched up a scantily clad male siren. His screams died as the hound bit him in half.
What the fuck was happening right now?
Two fox shifters ran past us, unwilling to face off against a hellhound. Not that I blamed them. Those things were difficult to kill.
“We need to get Raven out of here!” Zane pulled a long sword from his pocket realm.
I wanted to shift, but there wasn’t enough room, even though my bear was pushing against my skin with increasing urgency.
“The stairs are inaccessible,” I pointed out, gesturing at the hellhound busy swiping at a large wolf shifter trapped at the bottom of the staircase. It disemboweled the shifter and bit off a chunk of leg before lurching forward, snarling and drooling.
Zane launched into the air and landed on its back. He laughed like a lunatic while sinking his blade between the beast’s shoulder blades.
I took that as my cue to leave. Since the hellhound had cut off access to the mezzanine floor, I frantically searched for a way up there while praying the storm mage would keep my mate safe until we arrived.
Two witches in black leather corsets threw attack spells at a second bipedal demon while a third witch lay motionless on the ground.
Rasmus moved past me and leaped up the side of the staircase, jumping over the hellhound as it fought with Zane. He disappeared from sight. I wanted to follow, but my bear was nowhere near as athletic as a fucking ancient vampire.
A naked wolf shifter emerged from a side room and blinked when confronted with a horned demon attacking two witches. Instead of helping, he shifted and ran away, leaving behind a petite female cowering in fear.
Fucking coward.
Because so many had fled, I had more space, so I shifted into my bear. He roared in fury, causing the crystal chandelier above my head to explode in a shower of glass.
The horned demon snarled in my direction. This gave the taller witch enough time to drag her friend away. The pair of them eyedme nervously as they slid past, but my attention stayed fixed on the demon.
It slunk toward me, chittering in amusement. “Princess,” it hissed, as red, glowing eyes scanned the room.
She and I needed to have a conversation about her demonic heritage. I still couldn’t get my head around the idea that the demon king was allegedly her father.
We’d been so caught up in helping her find the vampire and then rescuing the merman that I’d brushed the topic under the proverbial rug in the weeks since the winter solstice demon attack. With demons on the rampage yet again, it appeared as if Nymon was ramping up his efforts to find his long-lost daughter.
If she really was Nymon’s daughter, he’d stop at nothing to drag her back to the demon realm. And if that happened, we were all fucked because none of us could follow her down there.
The incubus stabbed the hellhound with his sword, distracting it while I leaped forward and swiped at the horned demon’s chest. My bear’s claws swiped through flesh and bone, sending black blood spraying over my fur as the demon screamed. Magic might have little effect on these creatures, but razor-sharp claws could do some serious damage.
