Vameer
The faint sound of Rune’s shout in the distance distracts me.
A dagger stabs into my chest. And I feel the tip of it pierce my heart.
Gravito bursts out of me, blowing back nine of the ten guards attacking me.
I grip the tenth by the throat and pull him closer.
The dagger pushes farther into my chest.
And I ignore the pain while I pull him even closer.
His eyes are wide as the dagger sinks to the hilt. My heart beats steadily around it.
I lean in so my face is inches from his as I hiss, “Your magic isn’t strong enough.”
I turn my hand, so my fingers are hooked under his chin. Then I rip his head from his body.
I throw the head at the tent up the hill, pull the dagger free from my chest, then chuck it into the eye socket of another guard.
By the time the blade lands, the wound in my chest is already healed.
Two guards turn in the direction Rune went and jump.
But I jump faster.
I reach them before they even reach the trees.
They struggle as I drag them back to earth, but I have each of them in a headlock. And I will not be letting them go.
Fire Touch roils through my veins.
They were headed toward my mate.
I let my Fire Touch loose as I drag them to the burning cabin.
I’m out of daggers. So this will have to do.
They push gravito out. Trying to dislodge my hold. But it doesn’t work.
I hardly feel it as I walk them into the structure.
Into the inferno.
Flames swell. Heat rages. And the vampires in my hold turn to ash.
I walk out of the cabin alone, brushing guard dust off my shirt.
The forest is a mess.
Trees are burning.
Guards are swarming over everything.
The humans that are still left are shooting.
And Tosa has yet to show his face.
Another fucking portal appears in the sky. Dread disappears in a flash of gold.
It’ll be great when he kills that druid.
I jump to my uncle and Barth. And Volik jumps to meet us.
“We need our girls home with the pup before we can level this place,” I say out loud. A reminder for all of us.
Then another portal glows to life. A few paces to our side. Facing us.
I expect Dread.
But a different, unknown man steps through.
He’s big.
The man is dressed like an ancient warrior. Leather kilt. Leather sandals. Bare legs. Bare chest. And a thick fur draped over his shoulders, held in place by a chain.
He glances around, like he didn’t mean to come here.
Bullets continue to rain down. Uncle continues to throw ice daggers. But I continue to study this stranger.
He has the black eyes of a vampire. He has black horns.
But the base of his horns look too thick to be vampire horns. And instead of being shaped like a vampire’s, they end in stumps a few inches from his skull.
I narrow my eyes at the rough, uneven surface of the stumps.
Did he… saw his horns off?
The newcomer looks back to our group and points at Volik. “You are Versailles. I’ll be on your side.”
He grins, revealing no fangs. Then he claps his hands together.
The black surface of the portal behind him vanishes. But the gold doesn’t. It gathers above him.
And when he turns his palms out, toward the swarming guards, the gold magic flies forward, knocking several vamps off their feet.
I glance at my brother. “Who the fuck is this?”
“No clue.” Volik sends out a blast of gravito as he pulls his final dagger from his holster. “But glad he is on my side.”
Another whistle of something in the air.
The new guy darts his hand out.
A portal flashes.
It’s pair flashes at the top of the hill.
And then the tent explodes.
This gladiator lets out a booming laugh as embers of the burning tent float through the air.