“There’s no smoke,” she says, which gives me a little hit of unrelated excitement. I mean, the word asphyxiate isn’t terribly sophisticated, but the fact that it was so easily absorbed into her normal way of thinking makes her feel, somehow, mine.
Wrong moment, I order myself. This is life or death, not the time to be falling in love.
First problem, cover. Second problem, not being surrounded by fire. Third problem, fight or flight.
Fourth problem, manage to form my feelings for Kitten into words before it’s too late.
Preferably in that order.
More screams fill the air. From Sabers in the fire or falling to Thane, I don’t know. Figures begin to emerge, hot with the desire to destroy. Four, nine, twelve, twenty, too many.
“Fight or retreat?” Seth demands – exactly what I was thinking, just not at the top of my list.
We’ve already lost our advantage. If we give up on the fire, we’ll be trapped, burned alive in the cottage. We would heal, slowly and painfully, but I can’t listen to Kitten’s screams as her skin melts off her muscles and her body turns to ash. It’s just fire, the kind all forests experience at some point, and not the magical kind that would burn this kingdom to the ground. If we can’t put it out, it will run its course to a natural or magical barrier. But that would be too late for us.
The wind shifts, and the tornado of smoke that was building descends like a sudden blanket. Just like that, we have cover.
“You’re welcome,” Seth says.
“We’re still going to burn,” I point out.
“We have to run. We have to get Pax and run,” Shade declares, turning towards her injured horse.
Somewhere in the smoke a wolf yelps, growls, and kills something with a terrifying blood-curdling howl.
“Thane,” Kitten squeaks, trying to run after the sound.
Seth snags her waist just in time.
“Fight,” Killian roars, rushing to our Alpha’s aid. Weapons materialize around him in wisps of Shadows. Spears, one after the other, that he launches in quick succession.
“I’ll protect you both if you can deal with that fire,” I say, moving between Seth and the majority of the incoming Sabers, my sword drawn and my Allure bracing itself for the attack.
Seth pulls Kitten in close to him.
“Vexy, close your eyes. Concentrate and try to pay attention. If you can listen as well, that would be great,” he says.
I snort – Seth and serious was never going to last long.
He wraps himself around her, forming a shield at her back, the two of them behind the best cover we have – the horses.
Desires map themselves over the land, singing a warning as five armed Sabers rush from behind the cottage.
My sword is already in one hand, and I draw my dagger in my other, smiling. Finally, something I can kill.
The first man, his rough servant’s cotton hinting that he’s not lived a Saber lifestyle in a long time, slashes, and I slip past his heavy strike. My power slows the movement, allowing me to step in close to his ear. I want to use my sword, but my power wants to see him fall at my feet far quicker than the dance of weapons allows. They’re not allowed near Kitten, no matter how rarely I use magic in straight battle. If I don’t need information, I enjoy swinging my blade – but not today.
“Cease and fall,” I whisper, and he drops.
Fear hits me hard – was that too loud. Did Kitten hear?
But she’s still working with Seth, her eyes pinched shut and her hands raised. She didn’t hear me.
I didn’t hurt her.
Cold steel slices through my bicep, arcing with the spray of blood onto the ground. Because I was stupid enough to turn my back, to hesitate, to take my eyes off the attackers around me. Growling, I spin, sidestepping the swing of a short woman, and slash my blade up through her chest. She falls and a tall bald guy steps in her place.
His broadsword glances off my blade, letting me get in close and avoid the attacker at my back.
“Kill each other,” I whisper.
I move out of their way. The three nearest Sabers attack and eliminate each other. The last man, the tall bald guy, staggers as he realizes what he’s done.
“Cease and fall,” I say, turning and not waiting to see his body drop.
Getting back to Kitten is more important, and dealing with the Saber who snuck behind me. She doesn’t see me coming though, frozen mid-step so my blade can embed through her back. I relax time, and her body slides smoothly from the steel to fall in a heap on the ground.
“Fire’s out,” Seth calls, his arm hugging around Kitten, keeping her back to his chest.
She has a sheen of sweat across her forehead, and she’s rubbing her chest, which is completely at odds with the smile on her face.
At some point Seth lost his bow, but as he walks Kitten closer to me he hooks the toe of his boot under it and flicks it into the air, catching it with cocky ease.
Pax and Killian are moving cautiously in our direction, appearing out of the smoke blood splattered and alive with battle aggression. Seth keeps pulling Kitten toward the cottage, while I push my power as far as it will go. I can’t reach the trees in every direction, but where I can reach is empty of the kind of desires attackers would possess.
With all of those things in place, our current and projected safety, I sheath my short sword and press a hand firmly on my wounded arm.
But my senses, and Killian’s, will fail to pick up more danger if Sabers are hiding under Concealing Potions.
“She’s not here,” Pax growls.
Naked Pax, because minutes ago Thane had control of the form.
The problem with fighting partly as a wolf and then as a
