I felt rather than saw him smile grimly behind me. “Then try not to get yourself killed, darling. I’d hate to have survived three centuries just to lose you to these bastards.”
Chapter 29
Valen
Suddenly I felt the fire in my chest renewed and the love I felt for Archer well up inside me until it threatened to overflow. He was here, now, protecting me. Though I didn’t have the time to ask, I could only imagine what he’d sacrificed to get away from his parents so quickly. Or what he’ddone…
But there would be time to worry about that later. Right now we needed to stop the Purity Front from destroying more of the school than they already had. I may have been on my way out as a professor, but that didn’t mean I wanted the Purity Front to get a foot inside the academy again. Not after what they’d nearly accomplished last time. In fact, as far as I was concerned, they needed to be snuffed outpermanently.
“Watch the tall man over there,” I said, gesturing without taking my eyes off the others in front of me. “He’s been throwing some deadly spells my way.”
“Well, he’s never met the likes of me before,” Archer growled through his teeth. “He doesn’t know what I can do.”
I had to admit, there was something incredibly arousing about seeing Archer’s polite facade slip away to reveal the fierce witch beneath. His blue eyes blazed with determinationas he raised his hands, magic crackling between his fingers like miniature lightning.
The tall Purity Front member must have sensed the shift in our dynamic because he turned his attention toward Archer, probably thinking the smaller witch would be an easier target than a pissed off vampire. The poor bastard had no idea what he was in for.
Archer’s lips moved in a quick incantation, his voice carrying that academic precision even in battle, and suddenly the air around us shimmered with heat. I watched in fascination as the temperature spiked, and then Archer thrust his hands forward with a sharp command in an ancient tongue that made all the hair on my body stand on end. This wasn’t just any fire magic. This was summoning.
A massive fire elemental materialized between us and our attackers, its form towering nearly nine feet tall and composed entirely of writhing flames. The creature’s eyes were like molten gold as it turned toward the Purity Front members, and I felt the heat wash over me in waves that would have been uncomfortable if I’d still been human.
“Holy shit,” one of the masked figures breathed, stumbling backward.
The tall one who’d been targeting me raised his battle wand, but Archer was already directing the elemental forward with graceful gestures that reminded me of conducting an orchestra. The fire creature moved with surprising speed, its flaming hands reaching for the nearest attacker.
“Behind you!” I shouted, spinning to parry a strike from another Purity Front member who’d tried to flank us during the distraction.
My blade sang as it met theirs, the familiar weight of steel in my hand grounding me in the chaos. This was what I’d been practicing for. Combat, protection, and the deadly dance ofviolence that came as naturally to me as breathing. But fighting beside Archer, feeling his magic crackling in the air around us, added a dimension I’d never experienced before.
The fire elemental let out a roar that shook the remaining mirrors on the walls, then swept its arm in a wide arc. Three Purity Front members went flying, their clothing singed and smoking as they crashed into the equipment racks. The acrid smell of burned fabric and fear-sweat filled the air.
“We need to get out of here!” the tall one shouted to his remaining companions. “This wasn’t supposed to happen!”
I pressed my advantage, driving forward with a series of quick strikes that forced my opponent back toward the wall. Behind me, I could hear Archer muttering commands to his elemental, keeping the creature focused on the other attackers while staying clear of the flames himself.
“You picked the wrong people to attack,” I snarled at the man trying to skewer me with his silver blade. “And you definitely picked the wrong student to threaten.”
“I think you’ll find it’syouthat’s made a miscalculation,” he sneered.
And then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone. I blinked, confused for a split second, my sword cutting through empty air where he’d been standing just a moment before. Teleportation. Of course these bastards would have escape routes planned.
“Valen!” Archer’s voice cracked with panic behind me.
I spun around to see what had him so alarmed, and my blood turned to ice. The tall Purity Front member had reappeared directly behind me, his silver blade already in motion toward my exposed back. I was too close to dodge, and too off-balance from my previous attack to defend properly.
Time seemed to slow as I watched death approach, and all I could think was how unfair it was. I’d finally found love afterthree centuries of loneliness, only to lose it in the same day to these prejudiced fucks.
But then a figure stepped between us, moving with inhuman speed. At first I didn’t recognize him. But as his face turned, I realized I knew that face. It was Archer’s father. The Quinn patriarch had materialized out of thin air, his own blade intercepting the Purity Front member’s strike with a ringing clash of steel on steel.
“I don’t think so,” he growled, his magic flaring around him like a visible aura of power.
The Purity Front member’s eyes went wide behind his mask. “You… but I thought you were?—”
“What? One of you?” his laugh was cold and bitter as he drove his attacker back with a series of precise strikes. “Did you really think I’d stoop to your level? That I would allow you to hurt my child or his…companionright in front of me?”
I stood frozen, trying to process what I was seeing. Archer’s father, the man who’d called me a monster just hours ago, who’d threatened to destroy my career and have me arrested, was now fighting to protect me. It madezerosense.
“Father?” Archer’s voice was small and confused, the fire elemental flickering as his concentration wavered.
