Sin & Salvation (Demigod of San Francisco #3)(87)

“Is the blood bond the reason you’re still here?”

“No. And it’s also not why we’re going after Kieran when he told us to stay behind. We pledged an oath because we wanted to, not because we were forced to.”

We neared the steps to the parking lot and had to slow as the corpses behind us stumbled and fell trying to keep up. Many of them still had very little working knowledge of the bodies they inhabited, and sand wasn’t easy to traverse.

A group of fresh warriors, all in black, ran along the walkway above the barrier. I glanced back at the large host in black and red still standing their own on the beach. I’d severely helped, yes. Maybe I’d even turned the tide. But I hadn’t come close to winning the battle for Kieran.

“Look!” someone said.

A large gray wolf with an odd spot near his left eye, one I’d come to know well, slipped around me and leapt over the stairs to the sand. It landed gracefully as another wolf followed. Then more. People behind me cheered. My blood ran cold.

“Mordecai, no—”

One of the other wolves, a bigger one, stopped beside him. Another, this time black. Another. They collected behind and around him, pushing back any enemy combatants who ran at our group.

For one solid beat, I stared into the striking hazel eyes of the boy whom I’d helped shape into a teen, and whom the Six would help shape into a man. He nodded solemnly, if a wolf can be said to look solemn, and joined the others. Snarling, they raced off toward the vicious battle on the sands, then slammed into the enemy warriors, tearing them to the ground.

“No! How did—”

“Let him go,” Henry shouted and urged me on. “His pack will protect him. The youngest wolves will be shepherded out should the worst happen. They protect their future generation.”

“They didn’t do a whole lot to protect him last time.” I would have run after him, but Donovan grabbed me with his magic and yanked me behind him.

“Trust,” I heard Henry say as he followed.

The fresh group of warriors met us, swords or magic held at the ready. I slashed, punched, and cut, making them stagger, but my impact was waning. Clearly the tales of yore were grossly exaggerated. My magic was crazy, but I was still human.

“Save your strength.” Donovan pointed, then fist pumped the air. “Yes!”

Henry gave a shout of glee. “They made it!”

A ball of fire punched a sudden hole through the fighting, throwing five black-clad people aside like dolls, and a petite woman with blond hair and a fearsome expression ran in the fireball’s wake. The ground rumbled beneath me as fear once again swallowed me whole.

Right behind the petite blonde, dressed in black spandex and heavy boots and carrying two knives, ran my ward. Daisy.

“Get out of here,” I screamed, running at her with abandon. I pulled a big surge of power from the Line, momentarily infusing my weakened body, and yanked a soul from a woman in red running at her with a glowing ball. I infused the soul with my desire, stuffed it back into the body, not bothering with a prong, and grabbed Daisy with a desperate grip. “Get out of here! There are too many of them!”

“Lexi, right?” the blonde woman said in an Australian accent. She said it casually, as if we weren’t in the middle of a raging battle. “I’m Dara, the ruler of magical Sydney. Great to meet ya. I’ve heard so much about you.” She smiled a flawless, white smile.

Something exploded on the ground—no, wait, exploded up from the ground—catching the fresh men who’d almost reached the steps. Rocks, it seemed, of all sizes, blasting up through flesh.

“I got your ward’s note, and I have to say, she’s very persuasive.” Dara smiled down at a fierce-eyed Daisy, who held her knives at her waist, her gaze constantly moving. “She reminds me a lot of me when I was her age.”

“But Kieran… Daisy? What?” I asked, out of breath and torn.

“Sorry, Lexi,” Daisy said, finally looking at me. “But we needed more people, and Zorn wouldn’t listen, so I contacted Sydney on my own. Mordie helped. I told him that we’d make sure Kieran won this, and we needed more people to make that happen.”

“You—what?”

“We have to go,” Henry yelled in my ear. “Valens will be too much for Kieran!”

“Yup, you definitely need to head on.” Dara grabbed my arm and helped Henry hurry me along. Donovan caught a collection of darts in the air and hurtled them back the way they’d come. “We need Demigod Kieran to win this. Our whole way of life is on the line. Don’t worry—I’ll watch Daisy. She’s much too special to let anything happen to her. And non-magical! Amazing. Go on—you’ve already cleared the way for us. We’ll just tie everything up.”

“But Daisy—”

Air blasted the warriors who’d survived the rock attack, throwing them over the barrier and onto the sand below. Ten people ran out from around Dara, on the chase. Another group peeled away from behind her, taking off after the lingering clusters of Valens’s people farther back in the parking lot.

“Good to have you,” Donovan said to Dara, wrapping me up in his magic and dragging me behind him.

“I couldn’t miss an opportunity to fight beside a Soul Stealer, now could I?” Dara shouted at our retreating backs. “I want to be in the history books with you!”