A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(63)

The girls were talking and giggling, completely unaware of the five invisible daemons, prowling a stretch of road just five houses down from us, as they circled an unsuspecting Mara couple.

“Crap! The protection spell didn’t take!” I hissed, then pointed at the figures.

My blood instantly rushed through my limbs, firing me up. My instincts flared, and I took a deep breath. We watched in silence as the Mara couple made it indoors, their living room lights flickering yellow in the windows. The daemons kept moving around, huge and quiet, then stilled as Rewa and her two Imen servants reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Go, go, go!” Jax whispered, and jumped off the roof.

He landed with a dull thud. Hansa jumped after him, and I followed. We drew our swords and ran after the beasts.

Rewa stilled and put her arms out, stopping the Iman girls in their tracks. Her eyes were wide with horror as she realized there was something moving, something invisible right in front of them.

“Rewa, run!” I shouted, and sped up, my twin blades out and thirsty for daemon blood.

She noticed me, but it was too late. As the Imen girls moved back, they were snatched by two fiends and dragged away in opposite directions, screaming and flailing their arms. Blood blossomed on the lower halves of their beige skirts.

Jax and Hansa darted forward and split up, each going after an Iman girl.

Rewa froze on the spot, a large daemon inching forward. She was only a few yards away, but I feared it would be too late by the time I reached her.

“Rewa, damn it, run! Run!” I yelled, and pushed out a pulse barrier. It barely nudged the beast, but it was enough to snap Rewa out of her fright and shock. She tried to run off, but the daemon slashed at her back.

She cried out in pain and tripped, falling flat on her face.

I pushed another barrier out. It was the only sentry power I had against it. I caught a flicker of red eyes as the daemon turned to face me. I jumped, my swords up and angled to go right through the creature’s skull. One blow and Rewa would get another shot at running.

A rib-cracking force knocked into my side, cutting my breath off. Something hit me hard mid-jump and threw me off course. I caught a glimpse of Hansa and Jax swinging their swords as they fought off the daemons trying to snatch the Imen girls.

I heard a rough growl beneath me before I hit the cobblestone hard.





Hansa





My opponent was as large as the creatures we’d encountered in the Valley of Screams. I had a feeling they all came in such menacing sizes, but I’d fought against their kind before. The second time around was less of a shock and more of a mission.

The daemon had left the Iman girl I was trying to rescue with deep cuts on her legs, but I kept the beast busy by repeatedly charging it. I brought my broadsword down hard and missed, the blade hitting the cobblestone with a loud clang.

“Run! Get to the taverns above!” I shouted at the Iman girl.

She nodded, horror imprinted on her face. I hoped the shock and adrenaline would keep her light on her feet despite her injuries. She managed to get up and darted up the stairs, leaving a blood trail behind as she hurried out of the daemon’s reach.

I felt a rush of air as the fiend tried to nab me with its claws, but I leaned back, and it missed me by inches. I then brought my sword up and managed to cut through the creature—I felt the sword hit something. Its grunt told me I’d managed to annoy it, its red eyes flickering with rage.

I grinned and went straight for the eyes, when a pair of claws struck my left thigh, stabbing the muscles. I cried out from the pain, as if I’d been punctured by three knives at once. Jax came down from behind with a growl, shoving his swords into the daemon’s eyes.

He then moved in front of me, watching the air tremble around us as the second daemon got ready to attack. I caught a glimpse of the other Iman girl running up the stairs. Jax had managed to free her from the beast’s claws.

I was losing blood fast, my left leg getting weaker with every second that passed, but two of us against a daemon gave me the surge of energy I needed to hold my own for a little while longer. I heard Harper’s grunts and Rewa’s yelps as the young sentry held what looked like two beasts back, while holding her side. She needed our help.

“Ready?” Jax said, and I nodded.

We both came at the daemon fast. It dodged Jax’s swords with swift moves, but I changed direction mid-move and charged it just as it tried to get away. My blade slashed across its face, and I heard it grumble as it avoided another hit from Jax and vanished below.

“Harper!” I gasped as I turned to get to her and Rewa, but stilled when I saw a masked stranger pounce off a nearby roof and intervene.

His sword came down hard. Harper stared at him for a second before they both moved back to back against the two daemons left.

“Rewa, run! Now!” Harper said.

I tried to get to them, but Jax swept me off my feet and hauled me up into his arms, running down the stairs in the opposite direction.

“No! What are you doing! Harper!” I growled, though my voice sounded weaker than usual.

“She’ll be okay,” Jax shot back, holding me tight against his chest. “There’s two of them now. You, on the other hand, are losing a lot of blood fast!”

I nearly dropped my sword as Jax jumped over the remaining steps left before the infirmary level. My head was getting lighter, and I eventually heard male voices as the image before me faded.