Warrior (Relentless #4)(140)

But now I needed time with her. I’d stopped by her room earlier to tell her I’d see her tonight, and her shy smile had told me she was looking forward to it, too.

I rounded the last curve in the road, and the tall gates of Westhorne came into view. A pit of dread formed in my stomach when I saw the gates hanging open with no security lights on and no one in sight.

“Chris,” I said.

“I see it,” he answered, all traces of humor gone.

Instead of driving through the gates, we stopped on the road and grabbed our swords from their scabbards. With a blade in each hand, I strode through the gates. I didn’t try to be quiet because if there was someone hostile on the inside, they’d heard the bikes and knew we were there.

A vampire flew out of the darkness before I’d taken a dozen steps inside the gates. He was fast, but my heightened hearing warned me of the attack.

I moved to the side, and his claws shredded the sleeve of my leather jacket as he went past me.

I spun to face him and saw Chris engaged in battle with a second vampire as seven more came around the corner of the gatehouse. My gut twisted.

Westhorne was under attack.

Sara. I was too far from the main building to sense her, and not knowing where she was or if she was safe made cold fear flood my chest.

The vampire laughed. “Let’s do this, warrior. I have a stronghold to destroy for my Master. Then I’m going to celebrate with some fine young Mohiri blood.”

My Mori roared, and a familiar rage ignited in me.

The vampire was still laughing when one of my blades cut him in half at the waist. He screamed and tried to hold in his intestines before his two halves collapsed to the snow-covered ground. His feet landed near his head, and he screamed again when he realized he was in two pieces. A downward swing of my blade ended him. I would have left him to suffer, but a vampire can regenerate if they are put back together. This one was never coming back.

Two more vampires rushed me, and their speed told me they were not young. I was faster and stronger, but they made up for that in numbers. One came at me from the front, and I slashed a blade across his chest before I whirled to confront the one attacking from the back. My sword whistled through the air as the vampire lunged for me, and I felt it connect with flesh.

The vampire shrieked and staggered backward, holding up two stumps where his hands had been. “Take him!” he screeched.

The remaining vampires advanced with more caution. Two went after Chris, who had killed his opponent, and the other four came at me. I brandished my swords. It was going to be a fight, but I’d faced tougher odds. And this time they threatened my mate. I could taste the bloodlust in my throat.

Shouts came from the stronghold, followed by the unmistakable sounds of battle. My heart rammed into my ribs at the knowledge Sara was in there somewhere.

“Nikolas,” Chris bellowed.

I spun back to the fight as a vampire dove at me. He hit me full in the chest, and the two of us went down. We hit the paved driveway, and I disentangled myself from him and rolled away, still gripping my swords.

I lay on my back and swung the sword in my right hand as the vampire jumped at me again. The blade cut a deep wound in his midsection, and he soared past me to land on his back several feet away.

“Need some help?”

Desmund appeared out of nowhere to stand over me, wearing his signature arrogant smile and carrying a sword I was sure had not been used in many years.

He didn’t wait for me to answer. He went after the nearest vampire, moving so fast, only my demon sight allowed me to track him. Blood sprayed, and the vampire’s head flew through the air to hit the stone gatehouse wall with a sickening crunch.

“What took you so long?” I gritted, moving to finish off the vampire on the ground.

Desmund smirked and went after another vampire. “I couldn’t find the right sword to go with this outfit.”

Chris grunted in pain, and I looked over to see him go down under three vampires. Desmund ran to him and lifted a vampire off him like it weighed nothing. With incredible strength, he threw the vampire in the air and skewered it through the heart.

Another vampire came at me, and I fought him as Desmund made short work of the two left on top of Chris. I dispatched mine and glanced at Chris, who was getting to his feet and holding his shoulder.

“You okay?” I asked him.

“Yeah. Got me in my sword arm, but I can still fight.”

A girl’s scream pierced the air, and my heart nearly exploded from my chest. Sara. I had to find her, protect her.

Eight more vampires came through the open gates. The three of us turned as one to face them, but Chris had trouble holding his sword. I couldn’t leave him and Desmund here to fight these vampires alone. Battling my most primal instinct to find and protect my mate, I did the only thing I could.

“Chris,” I bit out as more shouts and screams came from the stronghold. “Will you find Sara? Desmund and I can handle this.”

“I’ll find her,” he said fiercely.

The moment he left, the vampires surrounded us. At least half of them were mature, and I had to wonder how so many older vampires were working together like this.

Desmund looked sideways at me. “Try to keep up.”

The two of us fought wordlessly, and the only sounds came from the vampires who shouted at each other and screamed when they fell under one of our swords. The younger ones died first, and the older ones proved why they had survived this long.