Scratching and clicking sounded high above us, and I pushed Raine to the side as an outlier fell from the ceiling. The creature landed on its feet before me, and I wasted no time before slicing the outlier’s head off in one clean swipe. When I lifted my sword, red fire raced up the blade, and I dropped the weapon seconds before the fire reached my hands.
“Cruel seven devils,” I cursed. “And that’s one less weapon we have.” Lifting my hands, I grabbed the five metal stars hidden in the belt crossing my chest and let out a long breath. “We’ll have to make sure they count.”
~ Raine ~
IwatchedasDarian’slast star sliced across an outlier’s eyes, blinding the beast. The creature shrieked and shook its head from side to side, and I threw my sword to Asher. He sliced the outlier’s head off and promptly dropped the sword before fire consumed it.
“So that’s it, then,” Asher said grimly as he wiped his sweaty palms on his chest. “We’re outta weapons.”
“Not quite,” I said, reaching at my thigh and grabbing out my hidden dagger.
Asher raised a brow, and a grin stretched across his face. “Of course, you had that up there.”
“Isn’t that what dresses are for? To hide weapons?” I said with a shrug.
“Not exactly,” Darian said with an approving smile. “But it should be.”
Many of the outliers had now been taken care of, but there were still a number of the creatures around the room. The Katakin monsters had joined to form bigger groups as they ran out of weapons, and against the far wall was a large group of ogres, satyrs, goblins, and shifters. An ogre stood at the head of the group, wielding a small table before her as she faced off an outlier that snapped and clawed the air in front of her.
Goddess, they’re going to die.“We have to help them,” I said, swallowing against the grit coating the back of my throat from the thin layer of smoke in the air. “That table won’t do anything to protect against the outlier.”
“Neither will your dagger, unfortunately,” Darian said, moving closer to me as if he was afraid I would sprint to their aid.
On the other side of the room, two more groups were bunched together with their backs pressed to the walls. Losak and a few of his monsters stood with at least fifty others. Losak faced off three outliers, holding a single sword, while Cassar, the boar shifter, stood at his side shouting obscenities at the creatures and making animalistic grunting sounds.
The other group had Kenric, the alpha of the House of Axeran, and Drustan, the alpha from the House of Nesarin, along with at least thirty others. An outlier bared its teeth at Drustan as its tail flicked from side to side, and the vampire held his sword preternaturally still as he waited for the creature to attack. Kenric had a broad grin on his face as he threw an ax that sank into an outlier’s neck, and then he took a sword offered by a goblin behind him.
Most of the newbloods weren’t in the ballroom, and I assumed they’d fled when the outliers first appeared, but Lana stood huddled behind Drustan with a handful of other vampires. Her round eyes frantically darted to the four outliers surrounding them.
A hiss sounded from above, and Asher grabbed me around the waist, jumping forward with me in his grasp as a burning section of curtain fell and landed on the floor in the spot I’d just been standing in. Burning embers rained down on us, but thankfully, none of them landed on our skin.
“Thanks,” I gasped, and his hands lingered on me before he released me. A ring of fire surrounded us now, the flames crackling and popping as they rose into the air.
I ducked lower, where the air was cooler, but I kept my dagger before me.
“This isn’t lookin’ good, Dar,” Asher said as two outliers crossed the room, moving toward us. “If we can’t find a way to stop that fire, we’re as good as roasted. You shouldn’t have come back for me.”
Darian licked his cracked lips and rested a hand on Asher’s shoulder. “I have no regrets.”
The siren pulled his hand back and took an offensive stance as an outlier neared on our right. The creature scurried through the flames as though it was walking through blades of grass, and my dagger felt pathetic in my grasp. Straightening, I took a steadying breath and let the blade loose. It spun through the air until it landed with a sickening thud into one of the outlier’s red eyes. For a moment, the creature’s clicking sound faltered, but then the clicking started up again, even louder than before. The outlier shook its head, and its remaining good eye fixed on me.
Well, shit.All I’d done was anger the thing.
Asher pulled me back behind him protectively. “I don’t suppose you have anything else under that dress of yours?” he asked.
“When I dressed for this party, I didn’t exactly know I would be fighting giant, wrinkly fire rats,” I responded, stretching out my empty hands.
He was silent for a moment, but then he pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around one of his fists. “You did good, Sharachi.”
Darian moved closer on my other side, and the pair of them stood as if they thought they could protect me from the two outliers coming at us from both sides.
“What are you doing? You don’t have any weapons left. If you touch them, you’ll burn!” I shoved at their bodies, but the pair of them stood like immovable statues.
Asher rubbed a hand across his chest. “There aren’t many outliers left. If we take these two down, you might survive until Kade or Locke finds you. With this damn throbbing pain in our chests now, our brothers must know you’re in danger. Let’s just hope they’ve finished up with the fae.”
My throat tightened at his words, and I turned to Darian, hoping he had a plan that was better than the ridiculous nonsense coming out of Asher’s mouth. Darian’s beautiful jaw was set, and his blue eyes shone with resolve. “If you die, we all die, and there’s no sense in Kade and Locke dying as well. It’s been a pleasure, lovely.”
Anger spiked within me, and I wanted to kill them. I was no one and they had no right to act like my life was worth more than theirs, but…even the fae had detected that I was bonded to them. I knew it wasn’t all about me. They were also hoping to save Kade and Locke.
