A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)(32)

And I was going to show them exactly what it meant to cross me.

I was going to break them down, piece by piece, then toss them over the edge.

This is my world. And they’re not having it.





Serena





We made our way up a narrow stone staircase. Draven was first, in front of me, while Jax, Hansa, Jasmine, the young Druids, and the wards followed. Rebel deployed Bajangs on each level of the castle to distract the Destroyers and the incubi roaming around—we could hear the commotion beyond the staircase wall.

She and eight Bajangs were left with us as we advanced toward the top level. I used my True Sight as I looked up. Six more floors and we’d reach the top platform. My heart felt smaller with every step I took.

A loud bang made my blood freeze, and the staircase shuddered from a blast, thick clouds of dust swallowing us from behind. I immediately drew my sword and leaned against the wall to keep my footing as I whirled around.

Destroyers had burst through the staircase, the stone wall torn about thirty steps down from our position. There were dozens of them, accompanied by incubi, too many for the space available and our numbers.

“Out of the way!” I shouted, and pushed out a strong barrier.

Our group below instantly obeyed and stepped aside, enough for the invisible pulse to shoot past them and smack the hostiles hard. They fell backward, but were quick to recover.

The Bajangs immediately leaped into action, their flexible feline bodies sneaking through the tight spots, their long fangs sinking into several Destroyers, while the others tried to move up toward us, their eyes glimmering with the anticipation of murder as they hissed.

“Draven, you four go ahead,” Jasmine said, referring to me, him, Jax, and Hansa. “We’ll hold them off!”

“No, you can’t!” Draven shot back, lifting his sword with both hands, clutching the grip. I felt his fear of losing her after having just found her, and it tore me apart on the inside.

The wards jumped in and used the narrow space to their advantage, and the Destroyers became like sitting ducks in that staircase—unable to move much, allowing the wards to use their mind-bending abilities in full.

“Milord, go! We’ll take care of this!” one of the wards shouted over his shoulder.

“Fijian!” Jax managed to shout before Hansa cursed under her breath and pushed him up the stairs.

“Go, Jax,” she growled. “They’ve got this! We need to go before more of them show up!”

“Draven, go!” Jasmine insisted as she turned to face the incubi and Destroyers, some of them wailing and crying as they collapsed on the stairs, while others struggled to move past them and come after us, their swords drawn. She gave us a quick glance over her shoulder. “I’ll see you up there, darling!”

She muttered under her breath and sent out spheres of concentrated blue flame from her hands, each engulfing a Destroyer, the fire eating away at their flesh. The creatures writhed in pain, screaming and howling as the Druid spell consumed them.

Draven blinked, breathing rapidly, before finally acquiescing. “I’ll hold you to that!” he called, grabbing my hand as we ran up the stairs along with Jax and Hansa.

We took two steps at a time, putting more distance between us and the scuffle below. Jax repeatedly cursed as we darted through the next two levels.

A small door opened to the side just a few feet ahead. We were moving too fast to stop in time, and bumped into the three creatures that rushed through it. I jumped back as far as the narrow staircase allowed me to, bringing my sword up in self-defense. It was then that I noticed that Jax, Hansa, and Draven had stilled, looking confused.

Jovi and two males who wore nothing but dark green military pants stood in the middle, both tall and armed with broadswords.

“Jovi!” I exclaimed, rushing forward and drawing him in for a quick hug.

A familiar growl made me turn my head toward the small door, where one of the two shifters he’d taken with him was waiting, a slew of dead incubi scattered along the corridor behind them. I then looked at the two males, trying to figure out who they were.

“This is Patrik, and Thadeus,” Jovi said, pointing at each.

“Oh, I can’t explain how happy I am to see you all!” I gasped.

Draven nodded firmly. “Let’s go. We don’t have much time.”

Indeed, I could still hear the fighting below, swords clashing, Destroyers hissing and Bajangs roaring. Without further ado, we continued our race up the stairs, followed closely by the shifter.

“You managed to turn Thadeus,” I said to Jovi as we ran.

“Believe it or not, that was the easy part,” Jovi replied, breathing heavily. “Finding them clothes that fit was the bigger challenge. These dudes are tall!”

I would’ve laughed, had it not been for our life-threatening circumstances. They’d most likely stripped two of the incubi I’d seen in the corridor below, and Patrik and Thadeus seemed taller than the average Druids, who were already at least one head above the incubi. The borrowed clothes looked awkwardly short on them.

“But at least they’re dressed now,” Jovi added. “You have no idea how awkward it’s been running around with two naked Druids.”

“Not as awkward as you staring at our lower naked parts!” Thadeus retorted from behind.