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Nero was right: they didn’t need assistance.
Blair’s attention immediately refocused on Torrin. He stood, open-mouthed, gaping at the two Raeths who were annihilating his forces. Panic registered on his features as he watched them move closer to him, inch by inch.
As she observed, the leader of theCitizensbrought a cell phone to his ear. Torrin sputtered out a slew of words before a black-haired man with cold, blue eyes suddenly appeared at his side from behind the Hummer.
Before Blair could react or call attention to the new threat, the man’s hand came to Torrin’s shoulder in an action that had her stomach twisting.
They disappeared.
ARaeth. Torrin had a bloody Raeth in his employ.
Hissing, Blair caught Remmus’ gaze, confirming he’d seen the same thing. “Our war just became infinitely more complicated.”
Remmus nodded solemnly, his faintly shadowed jaw clenching before Blair turned her attention back to Nina and Isaiah. The sovereigns had ceased moving forward now, their prey largely dead or dying in scattered clusters around them.
Clearing what was left of the mortal mercenaries with vicious ruthlessness, the oppressive energy that pressed against her chest and constricted like a noose around her throat finally ebbed.
That was when she heard it.
Laughter.
The haughty sound was nearly unintelligible at first. As time wore on, the feminine sound became louder, echoing over the battlefield like an eerie enchantment. It was soon chorused by a deeper, male tone, the sinister duet disconcerting to their unwilling audience.
They were laughing.
Around her, the Raeths tensed, all at once shifting to defensive positions. The unnerving melody washed over them as Blair shivered in trepidation.
Maniacal. Malevolent. Ominous.
She’d never heard Nina’s voice take on such a malicious quality before. It left her feeling baseless, without an anchor, drifting in a sea of uncertainty that was dyed an inky black in warning. Blair could only gaze to where the duo had stalled twenty yards away.
Their blades were rooting out those with still-beating hearts and ending them. From the look of it, they were nearly finished.
“Kaien, are you able to walk?”
Nero’s low voice, a bare whisper, traveled no further than the group that stood above Kaien’s seated form. Beside him, Jaeda’s breathing stuttered, and the tangible pulse of her power increased almost two-fold.
A ripple of air fissured, signaling the arrival of another woman she recognized as Rukia, Isaiah’s mate. Derikles, Isaiah’s second in command, must have teleported her into the battle zone.
Neither spoke, their attention turned toward where the two Raeth sovereigns had only just finished culling the remaining mercenaries.
In a matter of moments, both Raeths would succumb to recoil. Blair had seen it time after time—once the battle was over, once their part was played, their abilities would cast back upon themselves.
Time stood still when Nina and Isaiah moved in disturbing unison to face Blair and the host of Raeths. Covered in the blood of their enemies, their weapons dripped red. With a harrowing shock, Blair realized that both Raeths’ irises were tinged crimson.
In vampires, the color signaled bloodlust, and invasive takeover of a vampire’s higher reasoning in a primitive lust for blood. In Raeths, she now knew the same color meant they’d succumb to the destructive impulse within.
Neither sovereign moved in the halting moments that followed, but their disconcerting crimson eyes cataloged every nuance of movement from the beings that stood opposite them. Predators: cool, logical, and waiting for them to show weakness before they pounced.
Blair had never been afraid of Nina. Until now.
The Elemental, Isaiah’s mate, showed no fear as she began to walk slowly toward him. And much to Blair’s surprise, Kaien dragged himself off the ground with a barely contained grunt.
Instead of moving toward his twin, he staggered. Instantly, Blair was at his side, supporting his much larger frame. “I’ve got you.”
Her teeth sunk into her abused lip while she helped Kaien right himself, then slowly begin to close the distance between them and Nina. Dry, crimson-painted grass crunched underfoot, and Blair couldn’t help but feel anxiousness creep into her bones.
Rukia’s low voice, unintelligible, carried in the faint breeze as she spoke to her mate, but Kaien’s voice was meant for Blair alone. “Now would be a good time to practice your meditations, kitten. Breathe in, breathe out. Let all that tension just melt away.”
