September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(72)

“Not yet you aren’t. Give it a few more decades,” he quipped. “You’re right though. Arys is not the forgiving type when it comes to you.”

“Do you feel that?” I asked, slapping his arm to get his attention.

Jenner grew quiet, and I felt it when he reached out to appraise our environment. “I don’t think we’re alone here anymore.”

“Vampires,” I breathed. “A lot of them.”

“These aren’t friends of yours I take it?”

“Sneaking up on me while I’m conveniently trapped in a warehouse? Not likely.” I didn’t doubt this had something to do with the rebel vampires Kale had dealt with. This must be their answer to the open message I’d issued.

Jenner took the lead, hesitating for a moment at the door. “Let’s try to get to the car. If we don’t make it, we fight.”

“Right.” I nodded, but my stomach turned. A fair fight I could handle. A gang beating was nobody’s friend. I’d only survived the last one because of Willow.

I followed Jenner outside, my hand ready on the hilt of the Dragon Claw. At first the warehouse yard appeared empty. Looks were deceiving. They were close. I could feel them.

One by one they emerged from the darkness. I stopped counting at twenty. At least a dozen stood between us and the car. And really, fleeing would only encourage their behavior. It would do nothing to enforce the role I claimed.

A shock of pain stabbed through my leg. They would smell the bite and know I was injured. We would definitely have to fight.

Jenner and I stood back to back, watching the circle of vampires form around us. We were surrounded.

Chapter Eighteen

None of the vampires were well known to me. I found some relief in that. It promptly died when I saw that they had Owen. He hung between two of them, having been beaten into submission.

Blood trickled from his nose and mouth. Still, he glared fiercely at the two holding him. Admirable. I couldn’t help but worry that Dayne would blame me for this. I could not let Owen die here tonight.

I expected one of them to act as ringleader, maybe toss out some lame movie bad guy lines. Jenner didn’t give them a chance. He immediately went on the offensive, hurling shot after shot at the ring surrounding us. His aim was true and deadly. Two of the vamps he hit exploded in a cloud of dust.

That was all it took. The fight was on. Those with power of any kind were quick to use it while others came forward ready to rip us limb from limb.

Having no other choice, I followed Jenner’s lead. The nearest vamp baring fangs at me took a blast to the face. It maimed but did not kill.

“Focus your intent,” Jenner hissed as he fended off three at a time. “Kill them in your mind. No mercy.”

My concentration was scattered as I sought to watch all of them at once. It was impossible. They came too fast. I was overwhelmed. The pain shooting through my ankle didn’t help.

The Dragon Claw felt good in my hand as I plunged it into the guts of one vampire who mistakenly lunged at the wrong time. A second one met the same ending. The victory was short-lived. Half a dozen descended on me using both fists and power. I went down beneath them, holding the dagger above me to protect my head.

‘Arys,’ I cried out in my thoughts, reaching for him in desperate need. Unable to form a coherent thought while fangs slashed at my arms and fists pummeled my head, I let him see and feel what I was experiencing.

‘I’m on my way. Willow’s coming now. Throw everything you have at them. No mercy.’

I would have found his words funny, as they echoed Jenner’s perfectly, if I hadn’t just taken a knee to the stomach. I rolled onto my side, clutching the Dragon Claw uselessly. The blows never stopped coming as both my back and my front received a flurry of hits.

Jenner was fighting hard, doing a far better job than I was. Still, he too fell victim to the sheer number of them. On his knees beside me, he groped for my hand.

The connection sent a surge of strength through me. I envisioned every vampire surrounding us flying backwards as if a bomb of power had gone off amid them, and then it happened. The power followed my intent, sending vampires sailing in several directions.

The simple act gave me a greater appreciation for Arys’s bloodline. Together we rose. Pain shot through my ankle, and I whimpered.

“Give it everything you’ve got,” Jenner ordered. “Don’t hold back.”

I struggled to fill my lungs with air. I ached in places I didn’t know could ache. Our reprieve was brief. For every vampire we killed or beat down, three more took its place.

The air moved unnaturally, and Willow appeared beside us. I breathed a sigh of relief. His silver wings flared wide, and he drove back the opposing vampires. I thought it was over, that he had saved me again. I thought wrong.

No sooner had Willow appeared than the air rippled once again, and Brook stood there smirking with black wings spread like shadows behind him.

“Sorry, Willow,” Brook said, his voice oily and his black eyes gleaming. “Can’t let you interfere this time.”

“That’s not your call to make.” Willow faced off with the demon. “Why concern yourself with the activity of vampires? What’s it to you?”

The remaining vampires still outnumbered us. They all seemed a little too pleased to see Brook, like they’d been expecting him.