“We have bigger issues at the moment,” I warned, pulling away from him. He snarled.
“Unhealed fang marks could kill you, and because he’s the first mate he’s the only one who can heal them.”
Lovely.
“It’s fine, Kieran. I’m a big girl.”
All of us ducked as a vampyre flew overhead, a draken struggling in his grip.
“Come on!”
We fought our way through the horde, the demons easy to kill but difficult to fight when there were so many. The vampyres were more difficult, faster and stronger than a draken, and thirsty for blood. I charged straight for D’Arcy.
“Wren, wait!”
I wouldn’t. I cut my way through the demons like a woman possessed, hacking and screaming. A vampyre dropped in front of me, his red eyes hungry as his veins glowed with draken blood. I stabbed him in the heart, watching in satisfaction as he disintegrated on the spot. His friend was not so slow and caught me on the shoulder as I whirled with the small dagger. I spun and struck out at him, not expecting to garner much damage. He clutched the small wound on his arm in pain, howling like I had amputated him. In astonishment, I watched as he burned away from his arm up, until he was nothing left but a pile of ashes. Kieran and the others caught up to me, while Ronan grinned like a lunatic.
“Demon bone blade; told you it would come in handy!”
I rolled my eyes and continued towards the middle, my eyes never leaving the head of blonde hair that spun neatly, looking for Sabien in the crowd. It gave me an idea.
“Sabien! Give out a distress call! As a blood relation Benedict will hear you! He’ll come!”
Sabien nodded, but Ronan held an arm out. “D’Arcy will know where you are! He’ll have every demon here converge on the spot and kill you!”
I gripped my daggers, not knowing what to say. Ronan was right. I couldn’t ask anyone to willingly die for me or anyone else. Sabien looked around as drakens blood seeped into the rock, and then he looked back to us, his eyes afraid. He put an arm on Kieran’s shoulder, and something unspoken passed between them.
“Make it count,” Sabien ordered.
Kieran closed his eyes in sorrow, then opened them again with a determined glint. “Get ready to defend Sabien; he needs to stay alive until Benedict gets here.”
I didn’t have time to react, say goodbye, or even express how awed I was at how easily someone could just decide to sacrifice himselffor someone else. Sabien exhaled, then let out the most terrifying, soul-wrenching scream I’d heard in my life. The enemy paused, then as one ignored the drakens they were battling and turned their eyes on us. I put both daggers in my right hand and flipped my short sword to my left. We formed a tight circle around Sabien and braced ourselves. Kieran and Ronan both shot me looks that held more emotion than any kiss we’d ever shared. I looked up as D’Arcy’s eyes found us and the pathetic protection we had set up. I closed my eyes and felt Benedict’s enraged growl rumbling in my consciousness. I opened them and licked my lips.
The demon hordes attacked.
It was chaos and pain as they fell upon us, claws and teeth scrabbling to get close to Sabien. The other drakens roared as they realized why they were suddenly left alone, and they jumped to attack the fleeing backs of hordes. My heart caught as they fought through the horde to get to us, their own wounds dripping dark blood as they roared and slashed instead of fleeing and saving themselves.
“He’s close!” Sabien yelled, his eyes wide with terror. The vampyres clustered together and attacked us as they pushed the smaller demons ahead first, who pushed and climbed over each, forming a seething mass of claws and teeth that tried to consume us like a tidal wave. I couldn’t feel my arms from the constant hacking and slashing, but I didn’t stop. Kieran and Ronan whirled with the precise efficiency born of years fighting together, but it wouldn’t be enough.
Sabien shouted as a vampyre got a hold of his ankle, and yanked him from our circle of protection, right under our feet. I threw myself on top of him, stopping his progress. The vampyre grabbed me by the throat and pulled me to his face, his red eyes boring into mine. He licked a drop of blood that dripped from my forehead, and he turned towards D’Arcy, a shocked expression on his face.
“SHE—"
His head disappeared, rolling off to the side as a sword sliced cleanly through it. I shoved his body off me, and Kieran gave me a nod and turned, stabbing two more vampyres as they crawled towards us. I looked around in awe and terror at the chaos, but my heart sank. It was easy to see the demons had brought superior numbers, and despite the close quarters, drakens didn’t fight their best on the ground. Magick began to spark in the air, hot and heavy. All action stopped as D’Arcy simultaneously froze the closest ten vampyres around him, their bodies dropping in a heap. A dozen demon imps crawled to the bodies, their hands punching straight into their chest cavities and pulling out their undead, yet still beating hearts. Their faces were frozen in a rictus of tortured pain.
“HE’S WEAVING A SPELL! WE CAN’T WAIT FOR BENEDICT!”
Sabien stood slowly, getting his feet under him. He held his hand out, and I mutely gave him one of my daggers. They had seen me safely through all my trials here so far, gifted by the first people to show me any kindness in life. I prayed they would see him through this. Sabien stood facing D’Arcy, who glowed white as the thick magick surrounded him and the bodies. Screams rent the air, and I couldn’t tell if it
