by Kay, Sharon
Caine whipped out a curved, dangerous looking blade and charged forward.
“No!” Alina yelled. One thing she knew about these ugly, four-armed monsters was that their skin resisted fire. And if she followed Mathias’s assumed statement, then she saw only one logical choice. “Caine, stop! Get back here!”
He halted and slid a wary glance to her.
Fine. If he wouldn’t move, she’d have to be extra careful. Summoning her power, she willed the ground beneath the Neshi demons to open up.
The ground shuddered as a cluster of cracks appeared under their grotesque feet. And in a cloud of dust, howls, and grappling limbs, they plunged down.
Alina closed the gap and turned to Caine. “I told you to get back.”
He stalked over and stood right in front of her. “I don’t know whether to kiss you or lock you up in an ivory tower.” His eyes were tormented with pride and concern.
“I’ll take the kiss later.” She folded her arms. “They can land all around us now. Maybe even inside the building. I can’t stand here hiding anymore.” She grabbed Gin’s hand. “We have work to do.”
Gin nodded. “We have to get out there. Come with us, baby.” She held out her other hand to Mathias. “I need your fire.”
“Arawn said you were gonna do whatever the hell you wanted,” he muttered, but took his mate’s hand. “Let’s go. Caine, you too.”
Alina darted curious eyes to Caine. He still looked conflicted, but he’d said he’d be at her side the whole time. Time to see it through.
They approached the gap in the barrier, where demons were fighting in a tightly packed group. Metal clanged and scraped. Grunts and battle cries echoed. A blinding flash lit the night, and a huge section of the barrier simply disappeared.
“Oh shit.” Gin stared at the melee in front of them.
“Well, that gives us another place to focus. Come on.” Alina pulled her toward a spot near a big maple tree and stopped. “All right, listen. Our talents don’t really combine for anything that’ll help right this minute. So we stand back to back. You do your thing and I’ll do mine. The guys will help cover us.”
Gin, Mathias, and Caine all stared at her like she’d spoken an ancient dialect. “Wow, I didn’t know you had this take charge side. You sound just like Nicole when she gets an idea,” Gin murmured.
Alina shrugged. “It’s like a job I might do with my dad,” she said. “Sometimes it all goes to shit, and you have to make adjustments and get out in one piece. Look over there—you can get those guys.” She pointed to two Serus demons who were spewing clouds of toxic breath toward several Lash.
Gin nodded, and Alina turned to assess the field. There were still a lot of tightly clustered fighters, but she only needed a second to take down an enemy. All she needed was for one of them to step far enough—there!
A Viper circled around a thick shrub. Alina was ready. Vibrant energy coursed through her veins as she willed the ground to open beneath him. With a surprised grunt, he was gone.
Another grunt sounded from much closer. Caine. She looked over her shoulder to see him fling a throwing star at a Serus demon.
“Don’t worry, I got this,” he called over his shoulder.
“Okay.” Three shimmering circles drew her attention to her other side in time to see nine Vipers fall out. They hit the ground and sprang to their feet, fangs dripping and eyes hungry.
They were all together and separated from the larger group. She only had a heartbeat to act before they mixed in with the rest. Raising her hand, she commanded to ground to open in a wide gash. The Vipers bellowed and disappeared.
“Whoa, I felt the earth shake that time,” Gin yelled. “Guess you’re doing okay?”
“Yeah.” Alina turned around in time to see Gin fling a loop of fire around a Ghazsul demon’s neck. The loop closed with a sickening hiss. “Any sign of Nicole and Brooke?”
“Look.” Mathias pointed to a spot near the center of the field.
Alina stood on her toes. Several Vipers were gagging, clutching at their throats. Still more were covered in a disgusting sludge of yellowish red liquid. One by one, they fell to their knees. As each one fell, Kai or Gunnar was there to fling a fireball or sever a head.
“Yes! They’re doing their thing!” Gin yelled.
The throng of demons parted and Alina caught sight of Nicole and Brooke, standing just as she and Gin were. Back to back, hands out, power flowing to take down Elegia’s goons in disgustingly painful ways.
A screech rent the air above them, as two winged Ghazsul demons crashed hard to the earth. As they tried to rise, a furious wind beat at their wings, keeping them pinned to the ground.
“I’m guessing that’s Nicole’s work. Help her out and finish them off, Boots,” Caine said.
“I’m on it.” Alina concentrated on the ground beneath the flailing creatures and it swallowed them up. Across the mess of bloody creatures, Nicole met Alina’s eyes and flashed a huge grin, then motioned for her to join them.
“They want us over there,” Gin said. “It’s not that far. Let’s go!”
Alina grabbed Caine’s hand, knowing he’d probably object to them moving through the crowd of fighters. But she felt a tangible pull toward her sisters. This is where she was supposed to be. This was their moment.
With the women in between and the men flanking, they ran toward Nicole and Brooke. A giant Ghazsul flew in a crazy dive and landed directly in front of them, but Mathias was ready with a well-timed fireball. Alina’s heart thundered in her chest as she dodged a severed Neshi arm and then nearly slipped on blood-slicked grass.
Finally they reached her sisters. “Ready to destroy an army, girls?” Nicole’s eyes shone with unbridled joy.
“Yes!” Gin said. “Um, did you get Rosa?”
“Yeah. She’s over there somewhere. She was going after Elegia’s witch group.” Brooke pointed away from Watcher HQ, back where the rogue witches had huddled.
Alina couldn’t see anything except a constant barrage of light. Flashes and flares lit the dark sky with greens and blues.
“All right. Let’s stand like this.” Nicole arranged Gin in one spot and put Brooke at her back. Then she placed Alina and herself at opposite ends. “This way I can freeze Brooke’s water or fling Gin’s fire easier. And we still do whatever our individual talents allow. Okay?”
Gin, Alina, and Brooke nodded.
Caine pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen. “It’s Arawn.” He put the phone to his ear and proceeded to nod, frown, and curse until the call ended.
“What is it?” Brooke asked.
“Trouble in other parts of the realm. Seems this isn’t the only area overrun with an invading army. Tarsa is outnumbered. Rivkin is burning. The farm villages like Ivydale and Cotton Creek are in bad shape.”
“Oh shit,” Gin said, eyes wide.
“But we need to stay here and fight, right? We can’t be in three places at once,” Alina said.
“Exactly,” Caine said. “Which is why we need the Makara. We’ll send them to the other locations that Elegia has targeted while we stay here.”
“Perfect. Hang on.” Alina knelt on the ground. She placed both hands flat on the soft grass and drew on her power. Though the undead warriors hadn’t specifically told her how to contact them, she somehow just knew. On a deep level she couldn’t explain, she understood that the earth acted as a conduit from her to them.
She formed a crack in the earth, then widened it to a wide gaping hole ten feet across. In her mind, with her hands in the dirt, she reached out to the undead Makara chief. I need you to fight.
For a minute, nothing happened. Her sisters and the Watchers around her held their breath.
Alina swallowed hard. Come on!
The earth trembled under Alina’s knees. Her power swirled around her, making the hair on her arms stand up and filling her with purpose. With an eerie rumble and low keening moan, the hole filled with a rush of red shapes that built and grew, r
ising toward the top.
Slowly, majestically, a group of ten Makara floated up to her with Zhaber at the front.
Alina stayed where she was at the lip of the crater, gazing at the undead leader. Calm loyalty and confidence etched his lifeless face. An odd dichotomy, but Alina held no fear or doubt. Red lines of flickering light zapped around his cloaked figure. His eyes were dark, yet held bright sparks that if he was human would seem like excitement.
“You summon us, my lady?”
“Yes, I do. We are at war. The enemy has many faces. They are stronger due to a drug created by their leader, a vampire female. My sisters and I must stay here and fight. I need you to travel to other regions and fight against the vampire’s other armies.” Alina looked up at Caine, who stood next to her. “Can you grab something with that flowery chemical smell on it?”
“Sure.” He darted to a downed Neshi demon and dragged it close to the edge of the hole.
“All the enemy has ingested a plant that makes them smell like this guy.” Alina pointed to the dead Serus. “That scent will be your identifier for who to kill or capture. I need you to go to Tarsa, Rivkin, Ivydale, and Cotton Creek.”
Zhaber moved close to the Serus demon and inhaled, then bowed low and his voice rasped like gravel. “We shall fight, my lady. We are honored to do as you ask.” He turned to face his kin, assembled behind and below him like a great red mass of nebulous power, and barked out a command in a language Alina had never heard before.
And then they swept up from the ground.
Like red ribbons, they slithered over the grass and around trees and the building, their feet not touching down. They moved like silent wraiths through the frenzy on the field and away, splitting into four groups and disappearing from sight.
Holy fucking shit.
Caine didn’t think he’d ever get over the sight of his tiny woman commanding a legion of crimson undead warriors. Alina had done it with every confidence, just as she had ever since they’d come out here.
Shit, it was like she locked up her feelings in order to—
His eyes landed on a sight that chilled his blood, and at the same time fired to life every fighting instinct he had.
The Viper general who’d led the charge into his home village.
Here, among Elegia’s forces.
Giving Mathias’s sister Ria a seriously hard time.
Fuck. The desire for revenge burned in Caine’s blood, warring with the need to stay close to Alina.
She must have sensed his mood, or maybe had just followed the direction of his eyes as his breath sawed in and out of his lungs. “That’s him, isn’t it?” she asked.
Caine nodded, past the point of coherent speech. Seeing the Viper, alive, healthy and fighting, unraveled all of Caine’s logical thoughts. A small part of him argued that he needed to think clearly, to call on his tactical skills no matter what the threat.
But all he saw was the destroyed village at the edge of Lake Coriander. All he saw were charred bodies. Leafless trees blackened and poking angrily at the smoky sky.
“Go,” Alina’s soft voice cut through the riot in his mind. “I’ll be fine with my sisters.”
Caine turned to her. Green eyes that were on fire and yet still sympathetic. Sweet face framed by her short blond hair. “I don’t want to leave—“
“Shh.” She laid a hand on his arm. “This is your chance. I’ll be fine. Plus, this way I can be your back up.”
He let out a breath, staring at her and falling for her even more. He leaned down and pressed a swift kiss to her lips. “I’ll be back. I promise.”
“I know.” She smiled.
Her confidence and her understanding of what he needed to do were the last pieces to fall into place. She’d be safe. He knew it. Without looking back, Caine darted into the fray.
He reached the hulking Viper. Green scaled skin covered huge muscles and it turned its snake-shaped head to snarl. Its enormous fangs protruded from its gums, and its odd lipless mouth was pulled back into a sneer as it struck blow after blow against Ria’s raised sword.
“Ria, I got this one!” Caine yelled.
She turned surprised eyes toward him, and he knew he better explain or she’d be pissed, thinking he was motivated by a need to help her because she was female. “It’s personal.”
“Oh. Fine. He’s all yours.” She took a step back and whirled, launching right into an attack on another Viper.
Revenge surged in Caine’s blood. He lunged but the Viper blocked his strike with lightning speed. But Caine wasn’t deterred. Strike harder, strike faster—
A sharp piercing pain sliced across his chest. The Viper grinned. “You can’t beat me, demon.” Its forked tongue flicked out between venomous fangs.
“I can,” Caine grunted. “And I will.” He feinted left, then ducked to the right and aimed for the soft spot beneath the Viper’s rib cage.
The thing whirled but not before Caine’s sword struck home. Blood welled up from the snakehead’s wound.
It bellowed in rage, then smirked. “Stupid Lash. That will heal in less time than it will take you to realize you have no chance.”
Caine ignored the taunt as a sudden gale lifted his hair. The wind power increased, until his clothes were plastered to his body. The air temperature dropped from its moderate, no-jacket-needed conditions to a frigid blast. The howling wind only added to the chill.
The Viper seemed caught off guard. Caine took advantage, slicing deep into its belly. The creature clutched its stomach, doubled over.
Caine dared a glance around the field. And for the second time he was rendered speechless.
The four sisters stood in a circle, backs together, facing out into the fray. And they were…levitating?
Holy hell. They were three feet off the ground.
Each was using her power and, at this moment, Nicole and Brooke appeared to be using their ice knife technique on a massive scale.
Brooke’s hair whipped around her face as she splashed water from a bottle up into the air. She held each drop suspended as she shaped it into a long shard. Nicole grabbed the icy daggers and flung them out one by one, at each and every enemy. Though a dagger wouldn’t kill someone who was dosed full of lily extract, it disabled them for a second.
And that was all the Watchers needed to finish them off for good.
Caine’s opponent roared. Caine turned and stepped to the side to dodge a blow. The Viper’s sword thudded hard against the ground.
Next to them, Ria grunted as she continued to fight her Viper opponent. “Goddamn fuckers!” She lunged. “Wish the ground would swallow you up!”
Caine swung at the Viper general. The two parried, blow after blow, neither gaining the upper hand.
The ground shook with regular tremors, and every few minutes Caine saw a line of fire streak across the sky and take down one of the enemy.
He knew Alina was there. Knew she was in the protected circle of her sisters. And knew she wasn’t afraid to use her power. To his left, a hole opened up and swallowed three Serus demons who had just ‘ported in.
Caine’s opponent charged again, then at the last second he leaped over his head. Caine whirled, but it was a second too late. The Viper’s sword sliced down his arm.
He grunted, stifling the pain. This asshole had been alive too long for a shredded arm to stop Caine.
“Had enough, dick?” the general mocked.
The ground next to him shuddered as two Neshi demons fell hard, liquid spewing from every pore of their orange bodies. And in the next beat, the ground simply swallowed them up.
“I see the Watchers have acquired some new talent,” the Viper sneered. “Too bad it’ll never be enough.”
Caine roared and darted to one side, then changed direction. His sword caught a glancing blow off the Viper’s shoulder.
Beside them, Ria whirled in a hyper-fast rotation. It was her special skill, and one that no opponent had been able to overcome. In fact, her current Viper opponent see
med clueless as to how to attack her.
As he stood, a Neshi demon behind him stumbled, gagging. They both fell into Ria, who broke her spin and jumped back, but bumped into Caine. It was only one step, one split second, but Caine’s opponent took advantage. With a wicked slice, he brought his sword down—
Caine dropped and rolled, years of training kicking in despite the fire shooting through his torn arm. No fucking way was this Viper walking away from this fight. He jumped to his feet and stabbed.
His sword pierced green scales before the Viper turned toward him. So as it moved, the blade tore through its belly.
It screeched and raised its sword, but Caine thrust his blade upward, through vital organs and soft tissue. With a hard jolt, he stopped at the thing’s sternum.
Breathing hard, he pulled his blade out and the general slumped to his knees. Caine held up his palm to summon demonfire—
Two other Vipers jumped him, coming out of nowhere. Tackled to the dirt, they lay in a tangle of blades, fangs, and limbs. Sharp hot pain pierced his chest.
“Caine!” Alina’s desperate shriek carried across the din, but it was like a sparrow’s song on a windy night. There and then gone. Alina…
Weight pressed him down. Blackness closed in.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CAINE WAS LYING IN THE rain with an angel hovering over him. Lights and colors shifted through his vision. Red shapes, red blood, green…eyes? Overriding his other senses, the scent of moonflower infused his aching body with soothing, peaceful love.
Love?
He blinked. It wasn’t raining. Alina leaned over his body, tears falling in crystal trickles and splashing onto his face. She was talking, her voice frantic and echoing like she was far away. What was she saying? He tried to reach for her, but his arm didn’t work. Why was that? I need to touch you. His mouth wouldn’t work.
Her words finally came through. “I have to tell you something. Right now.” A tiny soft hand cupped his face. “I can’t let you die without—”
No! He forced a strangled sound from his throat, because words were well past the realm of possibility. Don’t say it! She couldn’t admit she loved him. If that were even what she was going to say. He didn’t want her to, knowing what would happen. Holy gods, no.