Rapture Untamed (Feral Warriors #4)(49)

Jag leaped at the fiend, but the venom was already doing a number on him, and the Daemon disappeared back into the darkness before he could touch him.

Fuck!Blood ran down his leg.I'm beginning to see why they call this thing a wraith Daemon.

You saw him?Hawke's voice.

For half a second after he attacked me. He disappeared before I could counter.

Hawke's yell tore through his head.

Hawke?

A groan of pain filled his mind, followed by Hawke's voice, tight with agony and excitement.That thing is incredible!

Dammit, Wings. You're the only one who would find the real goddamn bogeyman fascinating.

Jag, is everyone still with us?Tighe asked.

Kougar?

Here.Kougar's

voice,

though

barely

recognizable.Got

clawed...in...head.

Mind...slowing.

It's the venom,Jag said. To Tighe he said,Everyone's still with us, but Kougar's got venom in the brain. We need to get the hell out of here, Stripes.

For once I completely agree with you. Tell them to pull back. Dammit. I can't get out through the warding in human form. We're going to have to shift again.

Back into your animals, boys and girls,Jag said to the group.We're leaving the way we came in.

Tighe yelled, a cry of fury and pain.Goddamn that hurts!

I can't shift,Hawke said.

I can't...shift, either,Tighe gasped.

Kougar?Jag called.Kougar!

No answer.

Oh, shit. There's a second Daemon outside.Tighe's voice rang with fury and desperation.I can feel Delaney's worry shifting to terror.

A bolt of raw fear tore through Jag. Olivia could possibly fight the Daemon as she had before, but stealing its power at this point could kill everyone out there, and he knew her well enough to know she wouldn't risk it. She'd never endanger the others. Which would put her in grave danger herself.

They're in trouble,Tighe called.Jag, get out there. You're the only one who can reach them!

Hawke yelled with pain.

If he left now, he'd be leaving his brothers in the dark with that thing, with no way to communicate. No way out. Deep in his gut, he knew he was their only chance of survival.

I'm not leaving without you,he told the three.But we've got to find a way out of here.

Fast.

Olivia wasn't going to die on him. She was not going to die.

But another slice of pain ripped down his back, and he wondered if they hadn't all reached the end of their lives.

Olivia's flesh literally rippled as she watched a Daemon approach for the second time in as many days, the experience no less horrifying...no less terrifying...than the first time. Because, although she'd discovered a defense against the Daemon, she couldn't use it without harming her friends.

Did this son of a bitch hurt Jag? Kill him?

The thought stole her breath like a fist in the gut. She didn't want Jag dead.Please, not that.

"Where do you think my shots will do the most good?" Delaney asked calmly beside her. "The head or the heart?"

"Go for the head. I'm not sure he has a heart."

The crack of gunfire shattered the stillness of the day. The humans would almost certainly come running, which would only make matters worse; but they had to stop this thing if they were going to stand any chance of reaching the Ferals.

Delaney fired several more times, hitting her target every time - twice between the eyes, once in the neck, and once in the chest where his heart ought to be, but he never slowed. He didn't seem to feel the bullets.

Pamela Palmer Rapture Untamed

"Well, that sucks," Delaney muttered. She holstered her gun and pulled the hunting knife she now wore strapped to her belt.

Olivia nodded to herself as she watched the woman. Not many humans could remain calm in the face of such a monster. Tighe had chosen well.

The four stood together, shoulder to shoulder, Olivia and Delaney in the middle, Ewan and Niall on either side. The Daemon hesitated, his gaze on Olivia. Did it recognize her? She couldn't be certain, but it looked like the one that had attacked her last night.

Olivia's heart pounded, her skin crawling with sheer terror. She had to try to feed from the thing without hurting the others. Which meant she'd either have to draw it away or draw its attack.

But as she took a step forward, Niall's firm hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Olivia, no."

"Release me, Niall, and stay where you are. All of you. I've faced this thing once and survived." And it was this one, she was almost sure of it.

Niall's hand fell away. But as she moved forward, the Daemon floated back.

Interesting. Did it sense her plan? Did it remember her, too? Maybe it would just keep moving back, away from them all.

Without looking back, she judged she'd put about three meters between herself and her companions. Not nearly as much space as she'd like, but the distance between her and Daemon was now less than that between her and her friends. She might be able to feed from it without endangering them.

The back door to the house opened and a woman walked out, the same woman she'd seen in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. Mystery, they'd called her. Her gaze met Olivia's and held, as if Olivia were the only one of importance, the only reason the sorceress had bothered to step outside.

"Come to me, Therian."