The others lunged for me all at once, but I was faster than them, faster than Darius, faster than any vamp we’d ever come upon. They were no more than smudges in my peripheral vision as I darted and danced, keeping them at bay with the threat of blue fire.
One of the fae soldiers lunged for me with his blade, but I dodged easily. As his momentum carried him past me, I spun around fast and swung for his head, connecting hard. The force of the blow reverberated into my hands, jarring me for a brief moment before he dropped to the ground, dead weight.
The other fae watched me in shock.
Fae weapons were powerful in their creators’ hands, but I had fae blood running through my veins, too.
“Take her down!” one of the soldiers ordered an unseen assailant behind me, and instinctively I dropped to the ground. A sharp pain bit into the top of my shoulder, but I’d dodged a deadlier thrust, and now I used my position to my advantage, grabbing the soldier by the knees and knocking his feet out from under him.
He hit the ground with a thud, and I leaped to my feet and bashed his skull in with the tip of my staff.
The two Darkwinter Knights remaining quickly turned tail, charging into another skirmish that had broken out behind us, hoping for an easier target with the witches.
Obviously they’d never seen witches fight.
I scanned the crowd for my sisters, catching sight of Haley just as she sliced open her hand. She was on her knees, and now she pressed her bleeding palm to the concrete, calling forth a line of yellow fire that separated the witches from the hunters and fae who’d been attacking. The enemy leaped backward to avoid the path of that blood magic, but it had distracted them just enough to give the witches another advantage. Channeling their active powers, the group fighting with Haley pummeled the soldiers with a coordinated magical attack, lighting up the darkness.
“Gray! You good?” Ronan appeared at my side, his eyes black, a gash across his forehead, but otherwise unharmed. He eyed my blood-soaked shirt, but the wound at my shoulder had already knitted back together.
“Vampire healing for the motherfucking win,” I said, and he nodded once, then charged back into the fray. I was close on his heels, taking out two hybrid panthers who’d tried to double up on him from behind.
Together, Ronan and I fought our way through a tangle of hunters, easily dodging their comparatively weak human attacks. I’d just turned around to get a read on the rest of the group when I saw six vamps circling a couple of witches, herding them down an alley away from the rest of the fighting.
Away from anyone who might protect them.
“Ronan!” I shouted, but I didn’t wait to see if he’d heard me. I was already racing toward the vampires, unwilling to consider any outcome but their immediate destruction.
They had Verona and my sister, Addie. There was no way they were going to survive this.
Charging in at vampire speed, I slammed into the first one from behind, bashing the front of his skull against the brick exterior. He spun around, grappling for me even as blood streamed into his eyes, but I was faster, my staff already igniting.
Without a word, I touched it to his chest, lighting him up.
Movement just behind me, and I slid the staff backward, catching another vamp hard in the groin. He dropped to his knees, and I spun around, swinging. The staff cut through his neck, melting away muscle and bone, thoroughly decapitating him.
Four left, and two of them were taunting Verona and Addie, but the witches were holding their own, defending themselves with a combination of Verona’s potions and the hawthorn stakes Addie had brought. I saw her slam one into an attacker’s chest just as the other two grabbed me.
My staff clattered to the ground.
I twisted out of their grasp, but these two were relentless, coming at me again and again, both of them stronger than me, nearly matched on speed. One of them finally got his hands around my upper arms, and then the other grabbed a fistful of my hair, wrenching my head backward.
Behind them, I caught a glimpse of Ronan charging down the alley, fire in his eyes, fire in his steps. But just before he reached me, he stopped and smiled, and a Darkwinter Knight stepped out of the shadows, shoving his blade right through Ronan’s heart.
It was Emilio’s death at the warehouse all over again, and I screamed in horror as Ronan went down. He dropped to his knees, his blood spilling on the street before him, his eyes going vacant.
He caught my gaze for the briefest moment, then fell forward.
Dead.
It had happened in an instant.
Fear and grief overwhelmed me, twin serpents that slithered around my chest and threatened to choke the life out of me.
But…no. It wasn’t real. Itcouldn’tbe real. I blinked rapidly, feeling the logical part of my mind try to claw its way through a sticky haze. Ronan wouldn’t have been caught unaware like that, wouldn’t have stopped to smile, leaving himself exposed. He’d fought too many battles, lived too many lifetimes to make such a rookie mistake, especially after he’d seen Orendiel take out Emilio with the same dirty trick.
My instincts kicked in fully, and every last one of Darius’s lessons on shielding came flooding back.
These bloodsuckers are fucking influencing me.
