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"Shit," the one guy said.
The other lifted the clavum in his hand and braced to meet her. Dahlia's lips curled into a smile, imagining how she would tear this fool apart. Two inquisitors? They didn't stand a chance againsther. A slightly deranged laugh began to build up in her throat, and she refused to slow her steps.
"Dahlia!" Behind her, Roarke's voice broke the calm of the impending battle.
"Go back inside," the first man - the priest - yelled. "We have this under control."
"Fuck that," Roarke said, and Dahlia heard his feet slapping on the concrete as he charged in.
So she yelled. Pulling at the abyss, she forced the sound of death at these fools. Let this be Mei's revenge, using the power of nu gui against them. Leaning into reality, she allowed herself to change, but this time she took on the darkened talons of those who had died too young. Let them call her what they wanted, but this? She had just become so much more than a valkyrie. She was a fucking eidolon!
"There's two!" the hunter yelled.
"Backup's on the way," the priest promised before pushing a Word at Dahlia.
It hit like a wave, forcing her back, but she leaned into it. Still, the asphalt slid under her feet, draining her vitality as she fought the power of their magic, but Roarke was coming in from the side. The hunter rushed him, hitting Roarke, and the priest's concentration broke.
Dahlia charged as the man whipped off another Word, but this one wasn't at her. Roarke's body flew across the parking lot to slam against the brick exterior of his own apartment, but she was now so close. Ducking the hunter, she reached for the priest, but these two knew what they were doing. The hunter kicked out, tripping her just enough to make her miss, and the priest cast a Word at her.
Off balance and unprepared, she tumbled over herself, the power pushing her out of reach yet again. Dahlia threw out her arms and stopped rolling, only to find herself mere feet from Roarke. This plan wasn't working. She needed to do something, but the headlights cutting across the wall over Roarke's head proved that the odds had just gotten a lot worse.
"Roarke," she snapped, grabbing Thane's book from her back pocket just to throw it at him. "Do something about that priest!"
But his eyes were looking over her. "Fuck. This is so bad."
She turned to follow his gaze to see six more people piling out of another dark SUV. That made this fight eight to one - or two if Roarke could manage the Words. Dahlia had faced worse odds in her afterlife. She wouldn't run now. Not when her people needed her most.
"I choose who lives," she growled as she pushed herself to her feet. "I choose who dies!"
Then she was running again. Dahlia hit the hunter hard, forcing him to the ground. The priest opened his mouth, but she managed to kick him in the gut before he could get anything out. At the same time, the other six were rushing in, and shit was about to get really fucking messy.
And then Thane was just there. He slid to a stop at her side, using the momentum to plant his fist in a hunter's face. Dahlia ducked around his body to grab someone on the other side, but this group had a lot more coordination than the priests in Dallas. Two different stakes came at her, so she did the only thing she could. She grabbed the closest man's arm and pulled, feeling the pop as it ripped free of the socket.
"How dare you come at me?" she roared, using that man's arm like a club. "This is my home. This is my battle. You are not welcome here!" And she knocked a hunter off his feet, blood splattering everywhere in the process.
Another Word hit her, yanking away her vitality, but these fools had no idea that she could ignore it. She had been full for so long that she didn't care about the drain. She just wanted death. She intended to get her revenge.
Behind her, Thane was grappling with his own opponent. An uppercut made the hunter he hit double over, but the red stain proved that it hadn't just been his fist. When Thane turned, the clavum in his hand was bloody, and he wasn't slowing down. He turned for the next as another Word came, and this time it hit them both.
Pain raced up her body just as Thane screamed. She was barely aware of the hunter aiming for her lover, but Dahlia knew better than to stop. The Church didn't quit. They didn't let anyone live. This fight was the kind where she could kill or be killed, and Dahlia had lived too long to give up now. She also wouldn't lose anyone else the way she'd lost Mei.
"Die," she breathed as she slammed into the guy, saving Thane in the process.
And then the drain on her body stopped, leaving her with nothing but the pain. Someone screamed. Half the priests turned, and Dahlia barely had time to catch sight of dark skin and blood. Cain was here, and he'd just broken the priest's concentration. The odds had just changed again, and these fools had no idea who they were fighting.
But that moment of distraction was too much. A Word hit her hard, sending her flying to the side. Dahlia's body slammed into a car. Cain's, she realized belatedly. The hit knocked the wind from her chest, but at least the pain spell had stopped. Unfortunately, she'd just been punted right into the middle of four hunters.
She grabbed the closest man's leg, pulling him down hard enough and fast enough for his head to bounce off the ground. Shoving herself up, her shoulder slammed into another man's waist, driving him back. Regaining her balance, she intended to run, but a hand landed on her arm, pulling her around.
All she saw was silver. She didn't have time to block. She couldn't get away. The best she could do was twist, hoping that stake wouldn't pierce her body. Time slowed, her mind cleared, and she wondered if it really was true. Did all the sensation missing from the abyss hit when they experienced a true death? Would she be strong enough to speak her last words the way Mei had?
Suddenly, the man lurched forward. The stake skidded harmlessly off Dahlia's upper arm as Thane buried his own clavum into the hunter's neck. The body fell, still scrabbling at the wound that would soon kill him, and time rushed to catch back up, but all Dahlia could do was look up and meet Thane's eyes.
"You choose who dies," he told her, "and you are not on that list."
And together, they turned to rush back into the fray.
ChapterThirty-Eight
