Wicked Edge (Realm Enforcers, #2)(87)

Daire impacted Vadim with the sound of muscle slamming muscle. If the darts held planekite, the poison would flow into his bloodstream any moment. Vadim jabbed him in the throat, and Daire countered with a knee to the groin.

Vadim’s eyes widened, and he stepped back.

Sometimes a guy just couldn’t play fair. Daire grabbed Vadim’s head and slammed it down on his knee. Vadim countered with a double-edged blade, slicing up Daire’s torso.

Daire hissed in pain, and his central nervous system misfired. His vision dimmed.

“Daire?” Felicity called from far away.

Her voice. The tone of fear in it, shot his eyelids open. He didn’t have much time, but no way was he leaving her in fear. Rocking back, he shot a hard punch to Vadim’s nose. The cartilage shattered, and the demon yelled in pain, striking up with the knife again.

Daire grabbed Vadim’s wrist, twisted, and used the demon’s momentum to plunge the knife into the demon’s throat.

Vadim gurgled and reached for the knife handle. Blood flowed around the blade.

Daire shoved and let gravity take them both down, making sure he landed on the knife, which shoved all the way to the ground. A couple of really strong twists, and Vadim’s head rolled away.

The air whooshed out of Daire’s lungs, and he fell to the side, trying to sit.

Logan grabbed his armpits and shoved him up.

The cold stone scratched his back, while fire lit him up from inside. Daire glanced down at the two darts protruding from his chest. Electrical shocks rippled through him, and his stomach cramped. He closed his eyes and his back began to burn. “Get me off the rock,” he mumbled.

Logan swore and tugged him away from the rock. “Sorry.”

Felicity knelt next to him and cupped his face, her touch so cool he leaned into her palms. “Stay with me, Daire. Just dig deep and imagine your body fighting the planekite.”

He nodded.

“I love you. Please don’t leave me.” Her voice sounded thick with tears.

He wanted to reassure her, but it took every ounce of power he had left in him to concentrate on not allowing his heart to melt in his chest. The pain was unbearable. But her voice, those sweet words, provided something for him to hold on to.

The veins and arteries in his body swelled to the point of bursting. His heart beat too quickly, and his lungs began to shut down in protest. Fighting the pull of unconsciousness, he opened his mouth and yelled.

Fire roared out of him to crackle against the wall.

Felicity leaned in closer, and he tried to push her way. “Get back,” he ordered through gritted teeth. “Back. I’m going to explode.” A raw burst of energy uncoiled deep inside him.

“Get back!” he yelled.





Chapter 32


Felicity gaped as the veins in Daire’s neck turned a shocking, sizzling red. He threw back his head, tightening the muscles along his jaw and elongating his jugular.

Pain rode the air around them. She glanced at Logan, her lungs seizing. “Go get your brothers.”

He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you.”

“We’re fine. Go now.” She used her best mom voice. Logan faltered but then turned to do as she said.

She immediately pushed forward to straddle Daire’s legs. Her hands shook, but she pressed them to his furnace-hot cheeks. Her heart hurt to the point her ribs vibrated. “Listen to me, Daire Dunne.” She leaned in. “I finally found you, I love you, and I’m keeping you.” Risking the burn, she pressed a hard kiss to his scalding lips.

He shook his head, sweat pouring down his rugged face. Red cut into the whites of his eyes, and with the green created a Tim Burton distortion of Christmas. “Get off me, Cee Cee.”

“Never.” She lowered her chin, keeping his gaze. “You mated a demon, witch. So suck it up, use whatever power you can get from me, and fight this planekite.”

He blinked, and blood trickled from the corner of his right eye.

She pressed harder. This had to work. The man meant everything. “Listen to me. Planekite doesn’t hurt demons. You mated a demon and should be able to tap into my powers, such as they are. Close your eyes and imagine a cooling balm inside your veins and around your organs.” She would not lose him now. “I love you. Use that.”

His gaze softened. “I love you,” he whispered.

“Right back at you. Now concentrate.” She closed her eyes and tried to visualize every ounce of power she should’ve had in life going to him. To saving him. The walls around them were weak, and he had to beat the drug inside his veins. That was the one that mattered.

He began to shake, low mutterings escaping from his mouth in an ancient language she couldn’t interpret.

She kept in the moment, trying to help him. Instead of words, she tried to force a healing balm into his brain. Since she could hurt him just by communicating telepathically, why couldn’t she help him with images? They’d mated, and she could help him.

His face heated to the point that her palms burned, but she still held on. Smoke billowed up from his jeans. Blood flowed, already burned, from his ears.

Yet she held on.

Finally, with one final shudder, he fell back.

“Daire?” Panic clogged her throat as she followed him down, peering at his face.

He blinked open his eyes. Green and white with black pupils. Beautiful green. “Cee Cee.”