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Daisy launched herself at the enemy before he could prepare. She was a non-magical Chester fighting a huge magical man twice her age and size; fighting fair was just irresponsible.
The business end of her knife pierced his stomach. He grunted and reached for her, ignoring the painful wound. She was already moving. To stay still in this situation was to be overpowered and die.
Dodging his reaching arms, she took the hilt of the dagger in both hands and slammed the blade into his body. It squelched as it came back out, and then she jammed it in again, aiming for a kidney and a quick death. Her aim on this part of the body was terrible—she knew she’d miss—but it would hurt like hell, and if he knew what she was going for, it would freak him out.
Welcome to being mind-fucked, my friend.
A fierce snarl nearly pulled her focus. Her brother, Mordecai, was engaging his guy just down the beach. Sand flew into the air. She couldn’t watch, though. One slip and she’d be toast—the reason Mordecai hadn’t wanted her in this fight in the first place. She’d be damned if she’d die and give him a complex.
“Stupid bitch,” her big-eared enemy wheezed.
Big ears…
Maybe she’d cut one of those off, just for shits and giggles.
Ducking behind him, she bent and stuck her knife in his inner thigh,reallyclose to his nut sack. If the kidneys didn’t freak him out, this would.
His high-pitched scream made her smile. She jumped, slammed her blade into the top of his shoulder, and climbed him like a tree. He spun while reaching around, trying to throw her off. But this was why she’d embedded the knife—as a handle.
He spun the other way, slowing a little. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Working faster than she ever had in training, she scrambled up to his shoulders, wrapped her legs around his head, clutched the knife, and spun her upper body down and to the side, ripping her legs with her. Gravity helped her to the ground. Before she hit, she pushed her arms wide so the knife didn’t end up in her middle.
The impact cracked something and knocked the airout of her. Fuuuck-ingouch!Her execution of that move needed work.
Struggling for breath, she clambered up. To give in to the pain was to give in to death—or so Zorn always said. Right now, she believed it.
She barely caught the sight of a black animal rolling across the white sands, leaving a bright red trail in its wake. A panther, struggling for life. Mordecai in wolf form was on it a moment later, his snarl sending a jolt of uncontrolled, primal fear through Daisy’s middle. That was new. She’d never heard that note in his growl during training.
Then again, she’d never felt this sort of unbridled intensity during training, either. This fucking thrill of adrenaline. It was a high unlike anything. A calling, maybe. Good thing she’d ended up in the magical world, where people thought this mentality was somewhat normal. Otherwise, she’d be ushered into a jail cell.
With Mordecai still busy, she took two side steps, spun, and attacked, dagger ready. The enemy hadn’t gotten up yet, so she pounced on his back and dug the knife between his shoulder blades.
She yanked it free and bounced off, waiting for his movements to determine where to strike next.
He didn’t so much as twitch.
A howl of pain grabbed her attention. Mordecai ripped across the panther’s belly with his claws beforegoing for the jugular. The panther struggled feebly, beaten.
All Daisy had to do was stall before Mordecai handled the other half of her guy. Well…more like a quarter at this point. That was the deal: he’d said he could handle one and a half of these guys—older and more experienced shifters looking to pick a fight. They weren’t as dominant as her sixteen-year-old brother, though! Mordecai had wanted to do the responsible older brother thing and stand down for Daisy’s sake, but fuck that! This was an ego boost for him—a coming-of-age moment that Mordecai needed. That he was overdue. He was too humble to seek it out himself, and so she was happy to help serve it up for him. He deserved the win!
The man still lay prone, unmoving.
Worry crept through her. She really hoped he was playing dead to surprise her.
Except…shifters didn’t play dead. They were like the god Zeus in that way. Their egos couldn’t handle standing down.
Zorn’s voice sounded in her head:One must never be greedy for a kill.
That didn’t really apply. She was trying to keep the guy alive. The guy, and herself.
She inched closer as a more useful Zorn quote trickled into her mind:One must never let down one’s guard, even when the enemy is on the very brink of death.
Well, yeah, obviously.
She darted in and pierced him in the shoulder, good and deep. That strike would hurt like hell. Even the most stubborn person would react. Nothing.
