by Donna Grant
Even with the Warriors and Druids, as well as Con and Guy, nothing seemed to put a dent in them.
“Stay dead,” Guy ground out as he kicked a Dark in the face who was trying to get up.
Thorn wiped the blood from his face with the back of his arm and looked around. The street they were on was completely deserted. The shops were closed and no cars ventured down. People avoided it at all costs.
All because at the entrance stood Tara and Reagan using their Druid magic to keep everyone out.
“We need to hurry,” Galen said as he glanced at Reagan. “It’s taking a toll on them.”
Ramsey used his claws to cut off a Dark’s head. He tamped down his god, the bronze color of his skin fading as well as his fangs and claws. “I’ll help the girls.”
“Let’s get them moved,” Darius said.
Con stood in the center of the street. The impeccably dressed King of Kings was as filthy as the rest of them. His suit jacket was long gone. His shirt was in tatters and barely hanging on his shoulders while his pants were better served in the trash.
Con removed his cuff links and put them in his pants pocket. Then he turned his head to look at Thorn. “Why did you no’ tell me you and Darius needed help?”
“Because we had it,” Thorn said. “Besides, Edinburgh wasna the only city being attacked. We couldna spread ourselves too thin.”
“Too late for that,” Guy mumbled.
Thorn picked up a Dark and was reaching for a third when Fallon appeared with Larena, Aisley, and Phelan.
“Fresh meat,” Galen said.
Aisley immediately went to stand with Ramsey. Tara and Reagan were teleported out by Fallon, who returned a heartbeat later.
“I’ve got them,” Fallon said as he took two Dark and disappeared.
In a matter of minutes, Fallon had all the Dark in the warehouse waiting to be turned to ash. Aisley and Ramsey lowered the spell that would allow everyone back down the street again.
Thorn looked to the sky. It was past one in the afternoon. It had been hours since he checked on Lexi, and he would be lucky to see her before dawn at the rate things were going.
“We need to split up,” Thorn said as he walked to the corner and looked down the connecting street after Fallon teleported away with Ramsey.
Con said, “Agreed.”
Fallon returned and they huddled together. “It’s a large city,” he said.
“There are eight of us,” Darius pointed out.
Con nodded. “Four teams of two.”
They all took sections of the city. Fallon teleported those to their location that was far away. Thorn remained as near to Lexi as he could.
He wasn’t sure how he ended up with Con, but it didn’t matter who he fought with. They all had the same goal in the end.
“She’ll be fine,” Con said.
Thorn glanced at him with a frown. “I know she’s fine.”
“Then stop worrying.”
“I’m no’.”
Con grinned as they reached their destination to find over a dozen Fae. “I always thought you were a better liar.”
Thorn rolled his shoulders. “I put her in the safest place in this city. Nothing can touch her there.”
He dove to the side to avoid a blast of magic from a Dark and came up to his feet with his teeth bared. There were no Druids to keep the mortals from seeing what was going on.
Thorn waited for the screaming to start. He only belatedly realized that all the mortals around were under the Dark Fae spell and had no idea anyone was fighting to keep them alive.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
Rhi moved through the crowd near Edinburgh Castle, killing Dark Fae as she went. Her sword was coated with blood as she spun and brought her weapon down in a slicing arc.
She fell to one knee as a blast of magic hit her in the back. Rhi quickly rolled and spun around to face her attacker.
There were five Dark lined up before her, each promising death in their eyes. For as long as Rhi could remember, she had been fighting the Dark. Tonight was just another battle among thousands.
“You’ve some nerve showing up here,” one of them told her.
Rhi made a face at him. “Really? That’s all you got, you pale-faced Pop-Tart? And if you know who I am, then you know why I’m here.”
“I know who you are,” said another. He looked her up and down. “It’s Rhi. She’s a Queen’s Guard.”
The Dark on the end to the left rubbed his hands together. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.”
Rhi rolled her eyes. “Don’t count your chickens before the eggs hatch.”
“What?” they replied in unison.
“For jerks who feed off humans, you know nothing about them.”
One shrugged his shoulders. “They’re food.”
Rhi was tired of talking. She leapt across the space, her sword up and ready to fall. As soon as she landed, she decapitated one Dark and swung the sword in a wide circle.
She leaned backward, arching her back so that she could see the Dark behind her upside down. Rhi flipped over without putting her hands down and thrust her sword back into the gut of a Dark.
Two blasts of magic hit her in quick succession. Her left shoulder burned in pain, but she ignored it as she went after her next victim.
The three remaining Dark circled her. Rhi smiled to herself. There was nothing like a battle to remind her of what she enjoyed. Killing her enemy was at the top of her list.
She spun, her sword an extension of her. It cut through the air, slicing an arm off one Dark as it slashed through the middle of another’s head.
Rhi stopped and plunged her sword into the second Dark. She faced the last of the group and paused. Every Dark Fae in the area was now focused on her.
Someone dropped down beside her. Rhi swung her sword, stopping it just before it reached his neck. She gaped at Phelan and Aisley.
Phelan smiled. “Want some help?”
“They’re fast,” she whispered.
Phelan flexed his fingers as his skin turned gold when he released his god. Long golden talons sprouted from his fingers. He looked at her with Warrior eyes that were metallic gold from corner to corner. “Let’s see.”
Rhi glanced at Aisley. The Druid stood with her feet apart glaring at the Dark.
At once, the Dark rushed them. It was all-out chaos. Rhi kept her eyes on both Phelan and Aisley in case things got too difficult, but both the Warrior and the Druid were holding their own. Aisley with her powerful Phoenix magic and Phelan tricking the Dark with his ability to manipulate reality so they had no idea where he or Aisley were.
Rhi had no idea how long they had been fighting. Dark littered the ground in piles while the humans stood there dazed. She had been hit many times by Dark magic. It burned through her skin and muscle into her bone, making her ache. Rhi refused to give in. She bellowed in rage and cut down two more Dark.
She turned when Phelan shouted her name. That’s when Rhi saw a man standing above her in the shadows of the castle. Her watcher.
At least this time she could see him. Too bad she didn’t have enough time to confront him.
“Rhi!” Phelan shouted again.
He was making his way to her. Rhi pivoted and went in his direction, meeting him halfway.
“What is it?” she asked.
Phelan spun her around and thrust his claws into the neck of a Dark before Phelan grabbed his spinal column and jerked it out. “It’s Lexi.”
“Lexi?” Rhi asked with a shake of her head.
“Thorn’s woman. She’s at Darcy’s flat,” Phelan said as he fought.
Rhi stopped a Dark in his tracks with her sword in his belly. “What about her?”
“The Dark have been noticing Darius and Thorn at the building. They think someone is there.” Phelan paused and looked at her. “They’re going after Lexi.”
* * *
Lexi was looking at her hair, searching for dead ends, she was so bored, when t
he first tremors made her sit up on the couch. She went to the windows and looked down to see dozens of Dark facing the building. Large bubbles of magic appeared between their hands that they then threw at the building.
The second tremor had glasses falling off shelves. The third made pictures crash off the walls as the windows began to crack.
Thorn had said the flat was warded. The Dark couldn’t get to her. But she hadn’t thought to ask what would happen if the building crashed. Not that it would matter. Lexi wouldn’t survive anyway.
She rushed to her purse and put the dagger up her left sleeve. This could be a tactic to get people out of the building. Lexi wasn’t going to fall for that. She was staying put.
After her last encounter, she felt no need to go head-to-head with a Dark again.
The building shook and groaned with each crash of magic. Lexi stood in the doorway of the bathroom. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had for protection in the studio flat.
There was a loud crack and a moan from the building. Windows shattered and suddenly the entire front of the building fell off. Lexi was hit with a blast of cold wind. Bricks and mortar continued to fall as exposed and torn electrical wires sparked.
This situation was quickly turning from bad to worse. Lexi looked to the door. She might make it. There was no telling how the stairwell would be, but if she remained, she would be crushed beneath the weight of the building.
Lexi took off toward the door. The building had broken off six feet from the door. Plenty of room for her to make it. She was nearly there when another volley of magic tore off an additional chunk of the building, including the doorway out of the flat.
She scrambled to catch hold of the kitchen counters as she began to slide with the rest of the structure. Somehow, Lexi managed to get a grip and pull herself out of danger.
With her chest heaving and adrenaline pumping through her veins, she turned and scrambled back on her hands and feet when she realized how close she had come to being taken out with this last part of the building.
Lexi looked around. There was nowhere for her to go, nowhere for her to hide. Despite all the protection and the wards, she was going to die anyway.
She got to her feet and looked down at the Dark. They were pointing at her and wearing smiles. In the middle of the day a group of Dark had destroyed a building, but the humans around them didn’t care.
Lexi looked down the street. No help was coming in the form of police or Thorn. He would have no idea what was happening since he was fighting the Dark himself.
The Dark were preparing another round of magic when Fallon appeared beside her. He took hold of her hand. Lexi smiled, because she was going to get out of it. She couldn’t believe her luck.
Fallon suddenly bellowed in pain. He flew back into the flat with such force that she couldn’t hold onto him. The building moaned loudly as the floor beneath her feet began to tilt.
Lexi looked down the street to see Thorn running toward her. But he was too far away. She screamed his name as she lost her balance and was thrown, the air whooshing around her.
“Nay!” she heard Thorn roar.
At least the Dark wouldn’t kill her. It was the last thought in her mind before she had the wind knocked out of her.
Lexi opened her eyes to see a woman holding her. She had silver eyes and black hair pulled in a bun. She glanced down at Lexi.
“I’ve got you. Hold on.”
Lexi struggled to get air back into her lungs as the city vanished. Her stomach turned, threatening to be sick. She closed her eyes, but that only made it worse.
“It’s over,” the woman said.
Lexi opened her eyes to find herself on a hillside. She sat up, and turned away as she emptied her stomach.
“Sorry about that,” the woman said. “It happens to those who’ve never teleported before.”
Lexi wiped her mouth and lay back on the cool ground. “What just happened?”
“The Dark were coming to kill you. They figured out there had to be something of importance there for the Dragon Kings to return again and again.”
She put an arm beneath her head to look at the woman. “Is Fallon all right?”
“He will be. My name is Rhi, by the way.”
Lexi saw the astonishing beauty of the woman, from her flawless complexion to her amazing figure, despite the burned holes in her black jeans and turtleneck. “You’re Fae.”
“Light Fae. I’ve brought you to Dreagan.”
“Why did you save me?”
Rhi smiled, though it held a sadness Lexi didn’t understand. “It’s what I do. And because I’ve been told Thorn has taken an interest. Speaking of, I better return and let him know where you are before he gets all thorny and such.”
Rhi laughed at her own joke. She turned and pointed to a path. “Follow it, and you’ll see the distillery. Before you reach it, you’ll come to a manor. They’ll take you in.”
Lexi opened her mouth to thank her, but Rhi was already gone.
* * *
“Lexiiiiiii!” Thorn bellowed.
Thorn cut a wide swath through the Dark as he fought to get to the building, using his dragon magic of sound manipulation to disorient the Dark. His heart had literally stopped when he saw Fallon take the hit and Lexi fall. One moment she was there, and the next she was gone.
He was a madman, his rage uncontrollable. All Thorn could think about was getting to the building and searching for Lexi.
Thorn was focused, everything falling away but the Dark and the overwhelming, vast need to annihilate every Fae he could find.
Not even blasts of their magic could stop him. He roared through the pain and continued his killing spree as he saw Lexi fall over and over in his mind.
Thorn cut down a Dark Fae and turned to look for another. Blood and sweat dripped in his eyes. He blinked and swung out at the presence he felt beside him.
“Easy.”
He fought them, throwing them off. “Lexi!”
“Enough!” someone yelled.
Thorn shook his head, trying to clear his eyes. Suddenly his arm was held, the hold strong enough to keep him in place.
“Thorn,” Con said. “Enough!”
Thorn paused at the sound of Con’s voice. He blinked several times and found the King of Kings to his right and Darius to his left.
“She’s no’ here,” Con told him.
Thorn looked around, seeing that every Dark who had been on the street was dead. That should’ve made him happy, but all he could think about was Lexi. He was getting ready to jump to the floor where Lexi had been when Fallon appeared next to them holding his side that was already healing.
“I’m sorry, Thorn,” Fallon said. “I had her. I almost got her away.”
Thorn nodded and shrugged off Con and Darius’s hold now that the bloodlust had diminished. “Thank you for trying. How did you know?”
“I heard the Dark talking about meeting up here. I had a bad feeling,” Fallon explained.
Thorn glanced up at the flat as papers fluttered to the ground and furniture leaned haphazardly over the side. “Is she up there?”
Fallon looked from Thorn to Con and back again. “She fell.”
“She’s no’ here,” Con said.
“That’s because I got to her in time.”
Thorn whirled around at the sound of Rhi’s voice. He was so happy to know that Lexi was alive that he went to Rhi and hugged her. “Thank you,” he whispered, squeezing his eyes closed. “Thank you.”
She patted his shoulder and pulled away. “You’re messing up my clothes, handsome. She’s at Dreagan so you can stop worrying.”
“How did you know we needed help?” Fallon asked.
Rhi shrugged. “Phelan told me.”
“Nice of you to show up this time,” Con said.
Rhi gave him an icy smile and turned her back to him, flipping him off as she walked away. “Bite me, jerk.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
; Now that Thorn’s mind was clear and focused, knowing that Lexi was safe at Dreagan, the scene before him sank in. “Shite.”
“We need to get them moved,” Fallon said of the Dark.
Con nodded, a grim look on his face. “Quickly.”
Thorn tossed four bodies at Fallon, who caught them and teleported away. A second later, Fallon was back gathering more. Thorn saw movement down the street and spotted Rhi. The Light Fae was also busy removing the bodies.
“We need to hurry,” Con said.
Thorn threw another body at Fallon. “We are.” When Con didn’t respond, Thorn frowned at him as he continued to work. “What are you no’ telling me?”
“Let’s get this done first.”
Thorn straightened and grabbed Con’s shoulder, whirling him around. “Tell me now.”
A muscle ticked in Con’s temple. “Kellan told me two Dark were spotted on the outskirts of Dreagan an hour ago.”
“It’s just two of the buggers. Granted, I’m no’ thrilled about it, but it could be like here,” Thorn said and swept his arm wide.
Con’s gaze was steady, even. It was a look he had perfected eons ago to hide his emotions.
That’s when it hit Thorn. “There’s more Dark now.”
“A few.”
“Lexi is safe as long as she stays on Dreagan.”
Con gave a nod and went back to gathering the dead.
Thorn was relieved once more. Until he remembered that there was a section of Dreagan that wasn’t part of the magical boundary keeping the Dark Fae out—the distillery.
* * *
Lexi stared up at the sky as she lay on the grassy slope of the hill. Her heart was still pounding in her chest. She sent up a prayer of thanks that Rhi had been able to save her.
For a moment, Lexi had really thought her life was over. There had been a second of clarity where she had seen Thorn and heard his bellow.
In that flash of time, there was a world of regret that went through her mind. Not talking to Jessica or Crystal since they returned to the States, or calling Christina’s parents.
The biggest, however, was waiting for Thorn to make the move with her. She had known he was interested, but hesitant. Having been raised in the South, she was taught it was always the guy’s decision to make the move.