The next warrior he faced was a fae. The supernatural moved with a grace matched only by the elves. In one hand he held a short sword, and in the other, a ball of light was forming. The fae moved forward and lunged with the sword. Decebel ducked under the strike and pivoted around. He instinctively raised the blade he held in front of him and felt the fae’s magic hit it. The sword seemed to absorb the spell, warming slightly in Decebel’s hand.
The fae’s face hardened as he realized that Decebel’s blade wasn’t just a mundane weapon. “Our brethren disgrace us by letting you mutts wield our weapons,” the fae spat at him.
Decebel’s wolf growled. He hated when an enemy tried to have a conversation while they were fighting. The wolf didn’t want to throw insults. He wanted flesh, bone, and blood clutched in his jaws. Without responding, Decebel leapt forward, but at the last minute, he knelt down, sweeping his blade at the fae’s knees. He felt the resistance as the weapon made contact.
The fae stumbled forward, but he caught himself before he fell to the ground. Decebel didn’t give him time to recover. He jumped and slashed the sword down just as the fae raised the hand that was filling with light once again. The fae bellowed as his hand was severed at the wrist and dropped, hitting the ground unceremoniously.
Decebel wished he was in his wolf form so he could take down his foe by his neck and give it a good shake until it broke. But a blade across the throat and then a stab to the heart would have to suffice. When the warrior was on his back staring up lifelessly at the grey sky, Decebel’s wolf threw his head back and howled in victory. As if the sprites agreed with him, more thunder rolled and flashes of lightning joined their applause.
He didn’t take more than a few seconds to enjoy the kill before another enemy was in his face. This time it was two vamps. Decebel glanced around to see if he could make out any pack mates. He located Fane and Cypher about twenty feet away, but that was all the time he could take because one of the vamps had landed on his back.
The stench of old blood clung to the bloodsucker and made Decebel’s wolf want to sneeze to rid himself of the smell. He felt the bite of sharp fingernails digging into the flesh on his shoulders. Decebel dropped forward into a roll, effectively catching the vamp off guard. His hold loosened, and the wolf managed to get free. When he was back on his feet he reached out with his bare hand and wrapped it around the other vamp’s neck who’d gotten too close and gave his wrist a sharp twist. The vamp’s neck broke, and he collapsed to the ground as Decebel released him. Then Decebel brought his sword down and cut off his head.
The vampire who had jumped on Decebel’s back, hissed. He really hated the hissing. Before he could engage the creature again, Vale, the fae warrior who had joined their side, stepped in between them to cut off the vampire's head with the two short swords he held in each hand. Without so much as a “you’re welcome,” he kept moving, slicing through foe after foe. His moves were so smooth that he appeared to be dancing instead of fighting.
“That’s just not right,” Drake said, panting, as he stepped up next to Decebel. He was watching Vale with no doubt the same dumbstruck expression Decebel had. “When you fight, you should not look like you’re frolicking.”
Decebel couldn’t help chuckling. “Please let me be there when you tell him that he looks like a frolicking dancer when he fights.”
Just then Vale jabbed one sword into the ground and raised his free hand. Light shot from it, flying across the field. It hit a troll in the face, and the being turned to ash.
“On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t tell him that he frolics when he fights,” Decebel corrected.
“Agreed,” Drake said. “Watch out.” His words were spoken so calmly and matter-of-fact like that Decebel wouldn’t have thought two vampires and two trolls were closing in on them.
“Does going into battle always get you this excited?” he asked Drake.
“After going toe to toe with my enraged mate, this is child's play.” Drake grinned.
They both lunged forward at the same time, side by side, and plunged their swords into the impetuous vamps.
“Okay,” Decebel said through gritted teeth as he pulled his sword back and then sliced it across the vampire’s throat. “This is much easier than fighting with Jennifer. At least with this fight we get to kill something.”
“Exactly.” Drake beheaded the second vampire attacking him and then faced off with one of the two trolls as Decebel did the same with the other.
Peri usedher magic to propel herself forward, jumping as far into the battlefield as she could. The instant her feet hit the ground, she was surrounded by struggling fae, vampires, and even a warlock. She held up her hands, which glowed with power. Like an automatic weapon, she shot out pulse after pulse of her magic, hitting the vampires in the chest, disintegrating their hearts and then burning their bodies from the inside out. She saw the warlock’s eyes widen before he turned and ran the other direction. Peri wouldhave laughed if three fae males hadn’t begun attacking her, makingher focus once again on those who weren’t surprised by her display of power.
The fae circled Peri, attempting to get behind her. She’d be damned if she was going to let that happen. Instead of shooting for the obvious spot, center mass, Peri sent her power down to their feet. If she aimed for their chests, they would either block it with the fae blades they held or their own magic. But they wouldn’t expect her to knock them on their asses with her magic. Sure enough, once the white light hit their feet, they fell like three bags of rocks.
As soon as they were on the ground, Peri kicked the sword out of the hand of the closest male. Then she stomped her foot down on his chest and sent her power down through her leg. Yes, she could do that. When he was dead, she moved on to the next one. He attempted to jump to his feet, but Peri was there the second he was in the air. She grabbed the hand that held his blade, pulled it around behind him, and jammed it into his spine. Without a second thought, she let the male fall. Now, the third male was back on his feet, and he looked quite pissed. That was good. Intense emotion caused mistakes in battle.
He roared as he lunged for her. Peri manifested her own blade just as he reached her, and it slid into his chest as if he were made of butter. The man’s mouth dropped open, blood spilling out and down his chin as he looked at her.
“You chose the wrong side,” Peri said and then lifted her foot and placed it on his hip. She shoved hard and pushed him off her blade.
“Peri, behind you!”
She heard Fane’s voice, and her head whipped around while she swung her blade upward. The side of the sword landed against a vampire’s neck and cut straight through, removing the bloodsucker's head. She’d have to remember to thank Jacque’s mate for giving her a heads up. She was not in the mood to be a vampire’s snack.
Peri took the momentary reprieve from an enemy attacking her to look around the battlefield. She pushed the wet hair that had escaped her high ponytail out of her face. Lightning cast from elemental sprites lit up the sky, and she saw the carnage around her. It wasn’t only water on the ground forming puddles. There were little streams of blood running across the dirt collecting in small pools. The dirt bore black scorches where lightning had struck it, and piles of ashes that were formerly vampires littered the turf. She also smelled burning, but she couldn’t see anything on fire.
Peri looked over to where the elemental sprites were standing. They were doing their thing—wind pushing back any foe that tried to get near them. And every time a fae threw magic at them, one of the sprites shot up a wall of ice to block it.
“Damn,” Peri muttered. She’d forgotten how formidable the sprites could be.
Her eyes caught sight of Vasile. Side by side with Fane, they battled two large warlocks. Peri saw a couple more warlocks coming up behind the male wolves, and she started their way. But before she took more than a few steps, Cypher, king of the warlocks, was there. He took out the two sneaking up behind Vasile and Fane with one swipe of his huge sword. His eyes met Peri’s, and he gave her a nod. He was making it clear he was keeping an eye on the Romanian alpha and his son. Not that Vasile needed it, but there was no such thing as too many allies.
Movement from the corner of Peri’s eye made her turn to see a female vampire running toward her, teeth bared. It was attractive.Not. Peri held up her hand and shot a bolt of light at her, stopping the vamp in her tracks. Peri let out a breath as she realized they were winning. There were definitely more piles of ashes on the ground than vampires still standing. As soon as the thought filled her mind, she knew she should have ripped it back.
