She kept her eye on Derrick. She’d love to carve him into tiny little pieces, but he remained behind the others, and she wasn’t about to chase him into a horde of Savages. She wanted him dead, but she wasn’t an idiot.
“Take him down!” Derrick commanded and then staggered and fell against one of the buildings.
When Declan staggered behind her, she sensed the weakening in his body, and her pulse skyrocketed as a clammy sweat coated her body. If they didn’t get out of this soon, it wouldn’t matter that she wasn’t stupid enough to chase after Derrick.
She glanced over her shoulder at Declan, but she couldn’t tell he was weakening by looking at him. His skin continued to pulse with that red and black color while he used the Savage to batter back a Savage stupid enough to lunge at him.
She heard the twang of more bolts releasing, and Declan grunted. “Are you okay?” she demanded.
“Yes, keep going.”
She wanted to ask him where, but she bit the question back. If they went into the woods, the Savages would track them until Declan was too weak from blood loss to continue. But they couldn’t go for one of the houses; these bastards would burn it down. When she glanced at the sky, she saw no hope of the sun rising anytime soon.
She lunged at a Savage who tried to get around her and at Declan, but the monster was too fast. It slammed into Declan’s side and shoved him against the truck parked at the curb. They hit the vehicle with enough force the fender dented, and it lifted off its front tire before crashing to the ground. Declan released his shield as he punched the Savage.
Some of the others took the opportunity to close in on them. Willow didn’t have enough room to get the blade into it, so she twisted it in her hand and bashed the hilt into the skull of the first one who attacked Declan.
She didn’t know how Declan was standing with the amount of blood loss and damage he’d sustained tonight, let alone still fighting them. However, he wasn’t slowing as the amount of power emanating from him caused her skin to crackle.
The darker and more encompassing the color swirling around him became, the stronger he was. But how long could that strength continue if he didn’t stop losing blood?
Declan tore the head from one before ripping a bolt out of his body and driving it into the heart of another. When another one jumped at Willow, he plunged his hand into its midsection, caught it in midair, and flung it aside before smashing his bloody fist into the face of another.
Kill. Kill. Kill.Keep her safe, no matter the cost. Kill. Kill. Kill.The thoughts hammered relentlessly in his head. It was as if all reason had fled his body, and only the most primitive part of him remained. He welcomed that primordial part as he tore into the flesh of these monsters.
When more of them joined the fray, they pressed against him until his back was pushing into the metal. Beneath the weight of them all, the metal dented as the bolts still sticking out of his back were pushed deeper into his body.
He had to get out of this. If his ribs stopped one of those bolts, it could be pushing through to his heart now. When one of them tried to drag Willow away, he caught her wrist and yanked her back as he punched the others. His blows staggered them, but that didn’t provide any reprieve from the crushing weight.
The only good thing about being in such close quarters with them was they couldn’t release any more bolts. That didn’t stop them from twisting the ones already embedded in him. He welcomed the rush this newfound pain gave him. If these things knew they satisfied the needs of the demon inside him, they’d stop, but the creatures didn’t realize how much he thrived on the agony they inflicted.
Then Derrick was breaking through the crowd and coming toward them. Declan ripped another bolt free as he lunged forward. Derrick hadn’t been expecting the sudden movement or for Declan to break through the Savages surrounding him.
He didn’t have the time to drive the bolt into Derrick’s heart, but he sank it into his belly and jerked up. The hot rush of Derrick’s blood poured over his hand before the Savages pushed him back again. Derrick gripped his stomach as he staggered away from the fight.
Lifting her foot, Willow planted it in the belly of the next Savage who came at her and, leaning against the truck, held the monster back. She maneuvered the blade up and between them, gripped the hilt in both hands, and plunged it into the Savage’s throat.
The jewel in the hilt sparked and released a brilliant flash of color before the Savage erupted into ashes. Willow was so unprepared for the sudden release of weight against her foot that she almost fell on her ass. Declan’s hand snagged her arm to stop her from hitting the ground.
Silence descended as the floating ashes drifted down to cling to her skin. The fight paused as the Savages stood with their mouths agape. Over their shoulders, she spotted Derrick, holding in his intestines and looking as astounded as the rest of his cohorts. He hadn’t known what kind of weapon he possessed.
Willow broke free of her paralysis, and lunging forward, she sank the sword into the belly of another Savage. His eyes widened, and she swore she saw a flash of fire in his eyes before he burst into ashes too.
“Holy shit,” Declan breathed.
And now he knew what was so important that the Savages had risked returning to the tunnels to uncover it. The fact they hadn’t returned for it years ago meant they hadn’t known where it was. They’d probably spent the past five years searching for it before finally deciding to return to the tunnels.
However, it didn’t seem like any of them knew about the sword’s unusual ability. He bet Kirkau had kept that little detail hidden from them. Which meant he didn’t want them to know what this sword could do because it probably worked against demons too.
For the first time, they might possess a powerful weapon against the demons, and they had to get it out of here.
Willow gripped the sword in both hands and swung the blade at the closest Savages. She’d never been more awed or scared of a weapon before. She wanted to release it and run or destroy it, but mostly, sheneverwanted to let it go.
Grasping it in both hands, she lunged toward the closest Savages who scrambled away from her. They fled like cockroaches from the light as they pushed and shoved against each other to get away. She considered following them and unleashing the sword’s wrath, but this might be the only break they got.
“Let’s go,” she said.
Seizing Declan’s hand, she kept the blade far away from her as they ran for the woods.
