Swept into the dance, I was unable to control what was happening. And then, as the fighting came to a halt, all eyes on me, I began to laugh, terrified, as the vortex began to spin in earnest.
Lainule pushed through the crowd, somehow withstanding the winds. I could hear Ulean at her side, though I could not hear what they were saying. The slipstream was as useful to me now as a piece of gum.
But as I tore the room to shreds with the fury of the wind, they joined forces and the rocketing gusts shot out from under me just as quickly as they’d come. I went crashing to the floor, along with everything else caught in my maelstrom. Landing hard, I felt something in my side strain, but I ignored it as I tried to scramble to my feet, only managing to send myself into a dizzying stagger. Lainule grabbed me by the shoulders and gazed deep into my eyes.
“Clear.” She whispered so low only I could hear her, but within seconds my mind cleared and I found myself blinking, trying to make sense of what was happening. The sounds of shrieking, the sounds of dying, crowded in on me and my head began to pound. I whimpered, collapsing into her arms.
She pushed me back. “You have no time for this. We have work to do.”
I forced back my tears and looked in the direction in which she pointed me. The remaining Shadow Hunters were fighting tooth and nail. The dead-from both their side and ours-lay scattered on the ground, blood painting the floor red.
Lainule forced a dagger into my hands. I glanced at it-not the obsidian blade, but a fine silver dagger with inlaid sapphires on the hilt. She pushed me forward and turned to join two of her knights who were battling it out with a particularly tough Shadow Hunter.
I stumbled over one of the dead Cambyra, but managed to catch myself before I fell. I looked up to see Luna screaming as one of the Shadow Hunters fastened on her shoulder with his teeth. Zoey was beating on the creature’s back, and Peyton was racing over to her side. Kaylin was off somewhere else, embroiled in another battle.
I shook my thoughts clear and leaped over the body in front of me, racing in to plant the silver dagger deep in the Shadow Hunter’s shoulder. This time no bloodlust overwhelmed me, but my own desire to see these freaks dead took over. I stabbed him several times, twisting the knife as I plunged it in up to the hilt.
The Shadow Hunter stumbled, falling to his knees, and without a single hesitation, Luna brought out a short dirk and planted it in his forehead. She yanked the blade out again and the Shadow Hunter gurgled and fell forward, hitting the floor with a slick thud. I shoved him out of the way with my foot and turned to find the next one.
And on we went, driving through. There had been at least twenty of them coming through the door, and who knew how many more behind them, and so we fought through the mob, one after another, losing count. Peyton, Luna, Zoey, and I formed a quartet, moving in from all sides, our daggers on overtime.
At one point, we dropped a Shadow Hunter just in time to see another attacking Rex. He was doing his best to fend off the creature and looked about to shift, except I knew that even in his cougar form he wouldn’t be able to fight the Shadow Hunter. It transformed into the true monster it was and bit down on his leg, ripping a chunk of flesh from the bone. Rex screamed and toppled, and the four of us moved in. Peyton jumped in front of her father, trying to protect him, as I attacked from the side.
When they were in their natural form, the Shadow Hunters were far more deadly, albeit with less choice in weaponry. I landed the dagger in its shoulder, plunging deep into the muscle. Zoey swiped it down the hindquarters, leaving a nasty trail, and Luna began to sing a charm that made the blood flow much more quickly. The Shadow Hunter, bleeding out, turned on us, mouth gaping wide, wicked teeth razor sharp and serrated.
I glanced at Rex. He was near the sideboard, and there was room beneath it for him to hide. I motioned to the heavy furniture. “Get beneath it, bind up your wounds. I know it hurts, but get under there.” He’d be safer out of the way, and his leg was bleeding like a stuck pig.
Peyton pushed him under, shoving her bandanna in his hand. “Use this. Please don’t faint on us. You have to take care of yourself until we’re done. Keep yourself alive.”
She turned back and we whaled on the Shadow Hunter, stabbing the beast over and over until it broke away, looking for someplace to hide. But at that moment, a couple of shurikens came singing through the air, striking it in the forehead between the eyes. The creature collapsed before it could make it another foot. Kaylin dashed over, grabbed up the shurikens, stopped to give an astonished Luna a quick kiss, then raced off again.
Peyton made certain that Rex had bound up his wound and then the four of us pressed on. We swung back into the fray. I caught sight of Rhiannon and Chatter, working in tandem, creating fireballs to scorch and disrupt the Shadow Hunters. Grieve was still in wolf form, attacking as he could. Wrath and Lainule were working with the Fae. Lannan and Regina were yucking it up over another dead body, and the vampires were still scuffling. And Ysandra and her witches surrounded three of the Shadow Hunters, finishing them off with a well-placed lightning bolt.
The dizzying scent of blood was too much. I staggered over to an urn and, using it to lean on, upchucked everything I’d eaten that day. The sour smell filled my nose, and my mouth felt like I’d eaten rotten eggs, but my stomach felt better. I wiped my lips on my sleeve and turned around. One last shriek echoed through the room, and then, without warning, we were standing alone, no one left to fight.
The sound of heavy breathing and an occasional moan filled the room as I stared over the carnage. It was hard to tell how many were dead.
I quickly scanned for my friends-everyone had made it, though Rex looked worse for the wear. It was hard to tell where our enemies’ blood left off and our own took up. The vampires gathered around Lannan, and Lainule called for the Fae to line up. Ysandra snapped her fingers and the Consortium members still alive joined her. We added up our losses.
Twenty vampires were missing. No doubt they’d been staked. And five of the twelve Fae warriors were dead. Two more were severely wounded and I doubted they’d make it. Five members of the Consortium team were dead.
Grieve counted the bodies of the Shadow Hunters. He looked up, his face grim. “Thirty-five. We lost thirty… possibly thirty-two,” he added, glancing at the wounded men. “It’s bad but not as bad as it could have been.”
Lannan motioned for his remaining men to begin separating the bodies. “Make certain the Shadow Hunters are truly dead. Then take the remaining Fae warriors and scour the grounds. Nobody goes unattended. Make certain our defenses are back in order.”
As they began the gruesome work of cleaning up the dead, we wearily filed back into our planning room. We were all covered with blood and I noticed more than one vampire’s nose twitching as we walked by. But to give them credit, they didn’t make a move.
I was at the back of the line heading into the room when Lannan stopped me. I turned to him, still caught up in the adrenaline surge of the battle. He stared at me for a long moment, then pushed me against the wall, his tongue slamming into my mouth as he spread my legs with his knees.
My blood ran hot at his touch. I pushed against him, not wanting to feel aroused, but the adrenaline surging through my body was desperate for a release. “Lannan, stop. Grieve will kill you. Especially with emotions running so high. And frankly, though I wouldn’t weep over your death, we need you right now.”
“You need me right now,” he said, his hand pressing against my breasts. “Admit it. You need me. You need to fuck and you need to fuck hard. You don’t want love right now, you want pure carnality. Pure lust, to work off the strain of battle.” His hand slid down to unzip my jeans.
“No, stop it-stop.” My body responded, but my anger was just as real. “Don’t touch me.”
Lannan slid me along the wall, around the corner. His men went about their work, never once looking up at us. But I could see the Fae staring at me, and I motioned to them. They began to head our way.
“Keep it up and Grieve won’t need to put a stop to this.” I bit his lip, drawing blood, and without thinking, licked the drop that welled up off his mouth.
He snarled, jamming his hands down my pants. I could feel his fingers oh so near me, and my body wanted to squirm, to assist him, but before I could battle it out in my mind, one of the warriors shoved him away from me. I dropped to the floor, tears of desire and of humiliation spilling over.
The warrior helped me up and turned to Lannan, who was staring at him with pure fury. But he simply shook that gorgeous mane of golden hair back into place and, giving me a long look, whispered, “We aren’t finished with
