“I killed Azazel,” he said, so quietly she barely heard him.
Shock and fear ran through her spine at the random mention of the name. “What?” The word escaped her as a whisper.
“I killed him. I saw what he’d done to you and I—” Emmeric swallowed hard. “I couldn’t abide by that.”
“I know. Thank you.” Although Iyana was very much opposed to senseless violence, in this case it seemed to be for the better good of humanity. She worried,though, what it would do to Emmeric’s soul. Would he carry this around with him forever?
He nodded minutely. “I’d do again too, if I had to.”
Maybe he doesn’t hate me…
Iyana opened her mouth to reply, but a branch snapped in the trees. Altair, Talon, and Kaz were all in sight, so someone—or something—was in the woods watching them. Emmeric nudged her behind him until she was between his broad back and the horse. His hand rested on the pommel of the sword at his hip, his second blade strapped to his back within easy reach. The other three quickly picked up on Emmeric’s wariness; Talon drew his sword, whereas Altair and Kaz’s defenses lay beneath their skin. Iyana suddenly felt inept and very much like a burden. All her companions were capable of defending themselves and she could barely muster up a spark of fire after intense concentration, and that was only in ideal, peaceful circumstances. Hopefully it was only a deer.
A group of seven men clad in all black skulked out of the shadows. Iyana deflated as her heart raced. Not deer then. Damn.
Emmeric’s sword rang out metallic as he removed it from its sheath, pointing it at the men. The man at the front of the group had shaggy brown hair, a wicked scar through his left brow running down his cheek, and soulless eyes which lit up with greed when they saw Iyana. A wolfish grin pulled his scar taut. She hid behind Emmeric a little more.
“I know who you are,” he said in a singsong, pointing at her with a dagger. Emmeric tried to hide her even further. The man studied the rest of the group. She saw when he recognized Emmeric and Talon, and then as he realized he had them outnumbered by two men. No doubt loving the fact that only two people in Iyana’s party were armed. But they didn’t realize they had a star and a leopard shifter, and Iyana wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.
“Looky what we found, boys,” said the man, who was obviously the leader of this little band. Iyana assumed they were either bandits or bounty hunters. “Two treasonous bastards, and one escaped prisoner. Seems like we’ll be the ones collecting the emperor’sverygenerous reward.”
“How much is the reward?” Kaz asked. Iyana cut her a scathing glance, but Kaz shrugged. “What? I wanna know.”
The man turned his dagger now to point at Kaz. “Don’t you be thinking you can take the money from us, little girl.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” Kaz said brightly. “Just curious by nature, I guess.”
He squinted at her but answered the question. “Two thousand gold pieces for the girl. Alive. Five hundred each for the traitors, dead or alive.” Iyana’s heart stuttered in her chest. That amount of money for her alone would feed all of Imothia for at least a year. And that was without the extra thousand for Talon and Emmeric. Should they be overpowered, Iyana would be bound and dragged back to Uther, while all her friends lay dead in the dirt. She knew better than to think these men would keep any of the others alive.
“Damn,” Talon cursed. “I thought I would be worth more. I’m a little offended.”
“As you should be,” Kaz added. “You should be worth at least a thousand gold pieces—more if you factor in your luxurious hair. Grumpy though… five hundred sounds about right.” Emmeric didn’t engage in the banter, instead keeping track of the movements of all seven bounty hunters as they slowly spread apart to surround them. He was in military mode now, and Iyana was happy to be close to him. She noticed Altair also marking each man, murder in his gaze. Just in case, Iyana reached out to her magic. Although she wasn’t sure it would protect her, it made her feel ever so slightly safer.
The leader’s eyes flashed at Kaz. “You’ve got a mouth on you. I may keep you as a pet, see what else that mouth can do.”
“You couldn’t afford me, sweetheart.” Kaz blew him a kiss.
He raised a brow, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Did you not hear the reward?”
“Oh, I heard. I’mextremelyexpensive.”
“Hey, boss,” called a short, stumpy man who had moved into position closer to Kaz and Talon. “The mouthy one, I think she’s—” But he never got to finish his sentence, and would never utter another one, as Kaz shifted swiftly and tore out his throat with her gleaming canines.
All chaos broke loose.
The remaining six bandits rushed forward, unfazed by the gigantic black leopard now terrorizing them. Emmeric drew the second sword from his back and engaged two men at once. Swords swung gracefully through the air, Emmeric dancingaround his opponents with a skill and speed Iyana hadn’t known he’d possessed. Metal clanged as weapons clashed together. Iyana feared briefly for his safety, but he appeared to be in his element, toying with the men when he could have easily ended them without breaking a sweat.
The others were holding their own. Kaz chased one man around the clearing, swiping at him with paws as large as his face—he was screaming. Talon was fending off a rather large man who wielded an ax, but also appeared to be enjoying the swordplay. Altair was playing with his food. He’d once told Iyana he was restricted from killing anyone while he was on the earth, and so he instead used his super-speed to run around the man, stopping to throw a punch, then darting off again before his victim pinpointed his location. Iyana almost felt sorry for the man, he looked so confused, but she had only counted five…
An arm latched around her neck, cutting off her air. She scrambled at the arm, scratching to be let go, but met leather vambraces instead of skin.
“Stop struggling.” Hot, fetid breath blew across her face. The chokehold loosened enough for Iyana to drag in a large gulp of air, but the cool press of a knife at her throat made her stand still. Her hands remained on the man’s forearms, but stilled; she didn’t want to risk him accidentally slitting her throat.
“Iyana!” Emmeric roared. She couldn’t see any of the others, but from off to the side Iyana heard the sound of bodies hitting the ground.
“Stop!” the man yelled. Iyana finally recognized his voice as the leader. “If any of you come any closer, I’ll cut her throat, reward or no reward. Now, if you want her to stay alive, I suggest you all allow me to walk out of here with the pretty lady.”
He rotated enough so that her friends were in her sightline. The bodies of the other six men were scattered across the clearing. Only the one Altair was facing was still breathing, but it wouldn’t be long before one of the other three ended him. Kaz was growling, blood coated on her maw. Altair, Talon, and Emmeric all stood close by, but Iyana knew none of them, not even the star with his speed, would be able to reach her before the man killed her.
