Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(112)

“Neil, you have to help him,” I said even as he was putting me down, having already determined the same thing.

Neil tossed his shirt over his head and before it had time to hit the ground, he changed and howled, calling the C?n Annwn to his aid. The enormous dogs growled and leapt into the fray. Daniel pulled the pikes out of his body, tossing one behind him and keeping the other in his hand. He wielded it against the red cap closest to him. The small, fierce goblins were more wary now as three canines approached with deadly hunger in their eyes.

Daniel surged forward, catching a red cap on his pike and shoving the cold iron home through the goblin’s chest. He hauled his prey high into the air, letting gravity work its magic as the red cap fell forward, impaled on the iron. Blood dripped from his mouth and Daniel tossed the fallen foe aside.

Neil and the hell hounds moved in on the last two. They chose their targets and pounced carefully. The hell hounds gleefully tore apart the goblin, reveling in the blood and gore. The final red cap saw the writing on the wall and began to back up. He left his weapon behind and started to flee. Neil began to give chase, but Daniel called him back. The werewolf changed and looked at his former master curiously.

“It won’t do any good,” Daniel said, pain evident in his voice. He stumbled a bit as he walked back toward me, and I could see the blood on his clothes. He’d lost blood he couldn’t afford to lose. Daniel had gotten used to a free blood supply. Most nights Daniel fed from both Devinshea and me. He’d been meeting only half his need with me the past few nights and had nothing at all the night before. “The rest will come anyway. We need to get away.”

Arawn stepped forward. “The vampire is right, but there is something I can do to aid our escape.” The death lord looked down at the two fallen goblins. He pointed to the one Daniel had impaled. “This one is still viable. His heart is beating. Nim, do you have a knife?”

“Of course,” the brunette said as if the answer should have been obvious. She pulled a long knife out of her pack and handed it to her lover.

Arawn did not hesitate. He brought the knife down on the goblin’s neck with brutal force, neatly separating the body from the head. He smiled down, satisfied with his work. “That’s better.” He looked to the hounds and whistled sharply. They turned their heads and ran back to their master, muzzles covered in blood. “Good job, boys.”

Nim frowned as she came to stand beside me. “This part is creepy.”

Daniel staggered his way back to me as Arawn held his hands out, and I felt a chill permeate the courtyard, a wave of cold that made me shiver. The leftover body parts of the ex-goblins began to quiver and shake in a way that dead body parts just shouldn’t. The body stood up, not seeming to care that it had a pike through it or that its head was staring up at it from two feet away. The parts the dogs had left whole were also doing their best to get themselves upright.

I helped Danny remain standing and looked at Neil as he changed and got back into his clothes. We watched as the Lord of the Dead proved his mastery. The former goblins were joined by a couple of skeletons that looked to have clawed their way from the ground.

Nim rolled her eyes as she stared at a corpse with a little meat still hanging on the bones. “Yuck. They’ll be coming here for days. I’m not cleaning this up, Arawn. You can do it yourself.”

Arawn smiled, satisfied with his work. “You will block our retreat,” he commanded his small army of the dead. He closed his eyes and even I could feel he was sending that cold magic out from him. “You will fight the red caps. Delay them any way you can.”

I felt Daniel shake and my arms tightened around him. “You can feel that?”

Danny nodded shortly, trying to concentrate. “It’s taking everything I have to not join them, Z. He can take me over. He can make me do whatever he wants.”

I shot a quick glance at Neil, who knew exactly what that felt like having experienced it at Daniel’s hands before. I expected at least a little hint of satisfaction that the man who had caused him to feel this way was getting well acquainted with the experience. He simply looked at me and came to Daniel’s other side. He pulled Daniel’s arm around his shoulder and gave his support.

Daniel leaned against Neil. He took a deep breath, his eyes tight with strain. “Neil, I am sorry. I didn’t understand what I was doing. Not really. Could you forgive me?” The question was asked in a calm voice but I knew Daniel well. He was worried about the answer.

Neil simply nodded. “I promise I won’t leave like that again. I’ll stay and fight it out with you, but I won’t leave.”

I hugged Daniel’s side as Nim and Arawn turned back to us. Nim frowned at Daniel. “He looks sick.”

“He’s fighting,” the death lord replied. “He’s strong but he hasn’t fed. It would be easier for him to resist the effects if he’d properly fed.”

“When she’s safe,” Daniel insisted.

Arawn’s eyes narrowed. “I could force you.”

“Then you’ll fight all of us.” There was a dark growl behind Neil’s words.

“As you wish.” He shrugged as though he didn’t care either way. “But you should know that my concern is Nim. If your weakness threatens her in any way, I’ll do what is necessary.”

Nim shook her head. “He’ll be fine. We just need to get to Chima’s. We can make it there and the red caps wouldn’t dare enter her territory.”