Demonstorm: Heart of a Vampire #6 (11 page)

The bear roared again. As she tried to rise to her feet, it sank its fangs into her calf and jerked.

She fell back, her head thumping against the road, sending stars exploding in front of her eyes.

The hell hound stalked closer, its foot-long, ruby red talons clicking the pavement with each step.

Beside her, the demon rolled out from beneath the truck, still clutching his net.

He tossed it at her head.

Rolling away, uncaring as rocks dug through her clothes and against her skin, she managed to throw a spiked punch at the bear’s muzzle. The demon beside her growled, grabbing his net for another try.

The creature fighting Sean howled, then the sound abruptly cut off. Something thumped to the ground.

The demon after her dropped his net and drew a sword from a sheath on his hip, raising it in the blink of an eye.

Just in time.

Sean slammed one of his swords against the guy’s blade.

The hell hound dug one of his talons into her thigh. She couldn’t stop the scream ripping from her chest as fire roared up her leg.

Sean grunted and she saw a gash crossing his chest, his shirt ripped open.

Blood flowed as he stumbled back and crashed into the driver’s side door of his truck.

Chapter Ten

A
n eerie feeling drew over Sean. He looked over the chaos and the two nasty looking animals attacking Mayah. Blood drenched her legs.

Four creatures remained in the fight—the huge brute on the ground, the two beasts mauling Mayah, and the horned demon dancing in front of Sean.

He had to end this quick. Get her to safety.

The feeling spreading through him increased, like some glimmer of a flame deep inside had turned into a roaring blaze.

Must keep her safe.

Must kill those who dared attack her. Hurt her.

His vision drowned in a dark hue as the door holding back his demon essence cracked.

With a war cry, he lunged forward, thrusting his katana through the heart of the demon in front of him. It reacted far too late as Sean swung his second blade, and decapitated the creature.

The giant on the ground roared as he jumped to his feet. He rushed Sean and their gazes met. Fright crossed his face and he stumbled. Something in Sean’s eyes must have given the demon pause.

Twirling his katanas, Sean stepped forward, slamming both blades into the creature’s stomach. With a powerful strength he’d never before felt, Sean jerked the blades up the length of the man’s chest. The fear on his face spread as blood bubbled from his mouth.

Jerking his swords back, Sean let the creature fall. Then he turned to those who dared harm
her
.

His instincts screamed. Must protect.

He slashed his katana at the dog-thing’s flank. It bit into fur and flesh, sinking deep. The dog squealed, whipping around and trying to bite his legs.

“Mayah?” he called, dodging snapping teeth.

She blinked, clenching her jaw as if struggling to pull herself together. Then she raised her fists and slammed them on either side of the bear’s head.

It roared as blood spilled from the gashes running from its ears to jaw.

Mayah rose to her feet, wobbling a bit.

As if the opening which had allowed his demon magic out was slowly shutting once more, Sean’s wounds began to fill his mind with agony. He was weakening, his movements slower. Each escaping drop of blood carried his strength and energy.

He needed to finish this.

Now.

He spun, dodging a swipe of the dog’s enormous claws.

It lunged, snapping its toothy muzzle.

Sidestepping the attack, Sean lifted both his blades, then swung them down. The katanas bit deep.

The dog squealed. Shuddered. Fell.

The bear slammed into his back, sending him to the ground. His chest and ribs neared their breaking point, as if about to be pulverized beneath the weight.

Mayah shouted and the weight shook.

Once. Twice. Again.

The bear roared each time, but its sounds grew dimmer. Weaker.

Sean gathered his strength and, in a burst of energy, rolled, throwing the bear from him. Staggering to his feet, he grabbed his fallen swords.

Mayah punched the bear’s bloody face again.

Stepping back, she raised her hands and whispered something. Her eyes flashed completely black as a ball of blue fire grew in the air in front of her. She screamed and the flames flew at the bear, devouring it.

The creature roared, jerking in a strange, dark parody of a dance. It whipped its head around and stared at Sean, all-encompassing anger filling its gaze.

Then it, too, fell. Unmoving.

Sean staggered toward his truck, grateful when Mayah grabbed one of his arms and slung it over her shoulder, helping him into the cab. He half sat, half leaned against the driver’s seat, staring down at his bloody self.

“You okay?” he hoarsely asked Mayah.

When she didn’t answer, he glanced up. Her gaze was glued to his bloody chest.

“No.” She laughed, shakily. “I’ll be all right. Nothing some food and time to heal won’t take care of.” She rubbed her thigh. “Sure hurts like a bitch though.” Finally meeting his gaze, she stated, “Thanks.”

“For what?”

Her cheeks pinkened with a blush. “For having my back.”

“You had mine as well.”

She took a deep breath, then let it out on a sigh. “I’m not used to it. So just accept the thanks, all right?”

“Okay.”

“I need to take care of the demons.” She hurried away. Reaching the first body she used the long claws on the gloves to pull out its heart, then set it in the middle of the road.

She disappeared for a moment, before coming back, holding the second demon’s heart. Once all of them were in a pile, she lit them on fire.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, you assholes,” she mumbled, a deep burning hatred in her voice.

Sean fumbled for one of the coolers, slid off the lid and grabbed a bag of blood. After ripping off the lid, he gulped it down.

Mayah turned and saw him. She watched, her original look of revulsion absent. Instead, he could see thoughtfulness flit over her face, as if she was merely curious.

He downed another bag before he felt steady enough to try standing once more. Pulling out a small first aid kit, he took Mayah by the arm and maneuvered her around to the back of the truck, lowered the tailgate and set the bag down.

He grabbed her by the waist, lifting her onto the truck. She gasped, her hands covering his, as if unsure whether to push him away or not.

“Let’s get your wounds taken care of,” he said.

Mutely, she nodded.

Drawing back the shredded leg of her jeans, he looked over the wound on her thigh. Already, healing marks were visible as her skin began to knit back together.

He tied a loose bandage around it to catch the bleeding, then moved to her ravaged ankle. It too was starting to heal.

After fixing her up and getting her some food, Sean straightened and glanced at the bodies littering the road. With a sigh, he ignored the lingering pain and tiredness sweeping through him, and dragged them off to a ditch in the field.

There was nothing to be done about the blood staining the road. At least it should pass for fresh oil mixed with other fluids from a car.

After assessing the damage to both his truck and the SUV Brüs’s men had driven, he made a quick decision. “I’m going to drive you up the road, find someplace the truck can be hidden. Then I’ll come back and take care of their car.”

She nodded and wearily climbed in the cab of the truck. Slipping off her gloves, she tucked them back into the golden box.

He drove away, alert for any signs of damage to the engine.

Sighing, she laid her head back. “Our odds of making it to the fortress keep getting smaller and smaller, don’t they?”

“They do,” was the only truthful reply he could give.

Which made him want to hit something. Demolish it to a powdery dust.

Because she’d gotten hurt, had come close to a lot worse than damage to her leg. In the pit of his stomach a growing worry remained.

What if his clan, and all the other Arcaine, had been right?

What if he wasn’t good enough for this job? For Mayah?

What if the next time they were ambushed he wasn’t able to keep her from being hurt or captured… or dying?

Chapter Eleven

M
ayah let her head rest against the seat, closing her eyes and forcing herself to eat more though she remained nauseated. There had been a couple narrow escapes back there, for both of them.

She opened her eyes, staring at the lingering twilight as she forced herself to take another bite. The mere act of raising the sandwich to her mouth seemed to expend her last bit of energy. Now that the fight was over, adrenaline had fled, leaving her weak as a kitten, exhausted and confused.

Sean pointed to a wide expanse of trees in one of the grassy fields, a few miles from the road, as he turned the truck toward it. They bumped over the ground, Sean taking it slow in case of any unseen rocks or ditches.

Finally, he parked the truck, hiding it behind the trees.

He leaned back, rubbing his eyes. As his hands fell to his lap, he slid his knuckles against each other. “We’re going to have to take a back road to the fortress. Figure out some way to get up there that Brüs will think we’d never attempt.”

“We need to hit hard and fast, get Cyrus out before Brüs kills him.”

Sean slowly shook his head. “Brüs knows you’re coming. From all the intel we have on him, he won’t dare kill your brother until after he captures you.”

“You don’t know that. You can’t be sure.” Her heart picked up speed as panic fluttered in her heart.

Sean turned his head to stare at her. “Do you honestly believe Brüs will kill Cyrus before he knows for sure he has you? He’s an intelligent battle commander. Wouldn’t he be better served keeping Cyrus as bait? If he kills your brother, he knows you might
see
it, and then you won’t come.”

Logically, she knew he was right. But in her heart a deep sense of unease remained.

Sean sighed. “We’ll talk some more when I get back. We still have a few hours’ drive until we hit the last town. There should be a package waiting for me, which includes some maps and satellite images of where you said the fortress was located. We’ll look them over, all right?”

“Fine.”

He left the truck, jogging across the fields toward the other car.

Mayah had always trusted her intuition. And it was telling her they didn’t have time to backtrack and go the long way.

But she had to know more.

Slipping the necklace from her box, she clasped it around her throat, then rubbed the large crystal dangling from the center.

Closing her eyes, she waited for the visions to come.

Darkness surrounded her.

Light flashed.

She found herself once more striding down the halls of a strangely built place. Atlantean.

In front of her, someone sobbed. The Princeling, mourning his lost family, his lost people.

A small girl approached him, carrying what looked like a set of giant broadswords.

They glowed with a light that reminded Mayah of the hell fires of home. Demon blades, forged in her realm. Nothing like them could possibly be created on earth.

The girl bowed, then placed the swords on the princeling’s lap. He looked at them for a long moment, silent. With a violent scream, he shoved them to the floor. They clattered together, the iridescent light growing brighter.

“These mean nothing to me anymore. Everything I fought for is gone. It’s over.” He turned his back on the girl, and the swords.

Light flashed.

Darkness reigned.

A low panting moan came from a corner of the inky blackness. A pinprick of light grew until Mayah saw fully into a dungeon’s torture room.

Her brother lay stretched out on a table, his hands and feet bound to the post on each of the four corners. He was nearly naked, only his groin covered.

Gaunt.

So thin she could see the outline of bones beneath skin covered in bruises, some freshly purple, others an older, sickly green.

Mayah tried to step forward, but the vision didn’t change, even though she felt like she was moving.

From a dark corner of the room, Brüs emerged. He stared directly at her, holding something glowing orange in his hands. A ring of some sort.

“I knew you’d come,” he said.

Brüs reached for her, but she wasn’t truly there. He was in her mind, in her vision.