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The goblin fel back, yanking me along as I held on to my dagger. I landed atop him and promptly slid the blade out of his body. His eyes were flickering-
-I could stil see life--and grimly, I brought my blade across his throat, severing from side to side. Confident he was dead, I leapt up to gauge my position.
Camil e and Morio were spreading something through the goblins--I could tel that much, though I wasn't sure just what they were doing. A web, a net of shadow seemed to be gliding over a group of five of them, dark and thick, oozing like poison. The goblins stared at my sister and her husband, petrified.
The looks on their faces shook me, and I wondered what the hel Camil e and Morio were up to. But there wasn't time for more than a fleeting thought.
Smoky had downed another two and was onto another.
I turned to the next and tapped my blade against my thigh. "Come on, boy, let's get it on."
He said something in Calouk, but I didn't bother trying to translate. I raced toward him ful -tilt with a loud shriek. The goblin swung to meet me, his short sword parrying my attack.
Our blades whistled, singing as they cut through the air. I managed to deflect his blows each time, but he was getting the upper hand.
Just then, a noise startled me, and I turned to see a goblin who'd been hiding behind a tipped-over table careening my way, his serrated blade outstretched. I threw Lysanthra at him and dove out of the way. As he stumbled past, my blade lodged in his stomach.
I whirled and gave him a massive kick on his backside. He went plummeting to the ground, driving my dagger through him.
The smel of blood was thick and nasty as I quickly kicked him over and grabbed the hilt of my blade, yanking it out of his body. Turning, I was just in time to meet another goblin, but his blade was already whistling down. As I ducked, trying to rol out of the way, I heard the clang of metal against metal, and for a moment, found myself staring at eyes gleaming at me, out of a dark shadow. The goblin's blade had been deflected before it could reach me and, with a grunt, he fel to the ground, bleeding from the heart.
I scrambled up, startled, feeling a rush of chil wind pass by, the scent of graveyards and bonfires riding high on it. Hi'ran? His energy lingered around me, a comforting embrace, and yet . . . and yet . . . it was not him. I whirled toward the dark cloud, but in that moment, it dissipated.
"What the . . . who are you?" I shouted at the vanishing shadow, but it was gone, as if it had never been.
"What did you say, Kitten?" Camil e's voice sliced through my thoughts.
I wiped my blade on the dead goblin's tunic, realizing the room had become silent around us. Camil e, Smoky, Morio, and I were the only ones standing.
The air reeked of blood and death, and a shiver ran down my back. I wavered a moment, feeling Panther rise. She wanted to hunt, to join the fight, to fol ow whoever it was who had kil ed the last goblin, but there was no one left for her to battle. I pushed the desire down, whispering to myself, soothing the big cat trapped within.
As the others joined me, I saw that Smoky, in his white and pale blue, was spotless as usual. Morio and Camil e were as blood-spattered as I was.
"Aren't we al just a delightful mess?" I asked, glancing at them. "Except you, Dragon Boy. Someday you have to tel us your secret. You're family now."
He merely grinned.
Morio slid his arm around Camil e's waist. "At least we took care of this mess."
Camil e nodded but glanced at me. "Who were you talking to a minute ago?"
Kicking the goblin, I shrugged. "I . . . don't know." For some reason I couldn't bring myself to talk about it. "Let's go see if the others need us."
Smoky frowned. "I suggest we advise Exo Reed to dispose of the bodies. Permanently. Lately the undead seem to have had a thing for Seattle, and we don't want a bunch of goblin zombies--or worse--running around."
"Reanimation," Morio said. He glanced at Camil e. "Not that we'd know anything about that."
She stifled a laugh that sounded mildly hysterical, and we headed out of the room. Exo was standing there beside Chase, who gave me a tight smile.
"Al done," I said. "Exo, you'd better burn those bodies unless you want trouble. Don't chance them ending up on their feet again. Ash them."
The werewolf nodded, his face serious behind the Elton John glasses he'd taken to wearing. "I'l cal my cousin. He's got space on his land for a bonfire." He glanced at the double doors. "I guess it's too much to hope that the room's in one piece."
I stared at him, feeling sorry for the hotel owner. He was just trying to do his job. Goblin invasion had not been on the menu. But my thoughts kept running back to the strange shadow who had saved my life. Who the hel had it been, if it wasn't Hi'ran?
"Um . . . no. I'm sorry. Not a chance."
He sighed. "I didn't think so."
