Page 43 of Bond of Passion

Chapter 15

Everything happened so fast.

Deja spun, feinted, and flipped through the air, her knife whirling like a blender blade. Her style was shallow cuts to cause distracting pain and massive blood loss and also prevent her dagger from getting caught in bone or scales. She must have put a thousand lacerations into the four demons trying to kill her when a bloodcurdling roar turned everyone toward the sound.

Tavin.

Holy hell, Tavin was tearing through flesh and limbs and bones like the demons were nothing but rag dolls. He was using his feet, her sword, his teeth. He’d taken a lot of damage though, his naked body so beaten and bloodied that with every move he splattered his own blood around the room.

She swore he was bigger too. His teeth sharper. And his eyes glowed with an unholy crimson light.

Gorm went for Tavin with his railroad spike as Tav concentrated his efforts on the goat-headed guy.

Oh, hell no. Tavin was hers to kill.

Deja leaped onto Gorm’s back and jammed her dagger into the base of his skull, dropping him instantly. She hit the ground on her feet and whirled to plunge her gore-covered blade into the throat of another guy whose eye sockets held nothing but meat.

Before she could ponder why, Tavin clamped his right hand around goat guy’s neck, and a heartbeat later, pop! No more eyes.

Damn.

She didn’t spare another second watching Tavin fight. There were still two assholes trying to kill her.

Time stretched, and screams rang out. A few grunts and shouts were hers as enemy weapons and fists hit their marks. She barely felt any pain, but she was taking damage.

Blood painted the walls, and screams became the soundtrack to a scene she could only have envisioned in nightmares before this. She’d grown up learning to fight, torture, and kill, but she’d been spared the worst of it because her parents had believed her to be weak. Not worthy. They’d sheltered her, forced her into the paperwork side of the family business because she had been horrified by her family and her people.

But right now, she put everything she had into killing those who were trying to kill her. She dug up every lesson on killing she’d ever learned, and she fought like a beast.

She fought like a Neethul. And as she watched the last demon go down, she was proud of herself. Even her hyper-critical brother would be proud of her.

Panting, pain throbbing from a million cuts, abrasions, and contusions, she stumbled to the couch and braced herself against the arm.

Tavin stood across the room from her, blood dripping from his fingertips and fangs, his eyes burning like molten gold. She had no idea how he was upright. One of his ankles was clearly broken, and the jagged end of his femur bone on the other leg poked through the skin. His chest had been flayed open, revealing his rib cage on the right side, and one eye had nearly been punctured by a quill sticking out of his cheek.

And still, he remained standing, his gaze locked on her, his shoulders heaving with each rattling breath.

“Gristlen,” he whispered. “My Gristlen…”

Gristlen? Why would he say that? Why would he—?

Something whistled through the air, and suddenly, Tavin dropped, a dart dangling from his shoulder.

Snarling, Deja wheeled around, weapon raised.

“Easy, Deja.” Sin, her clothes drenched in blood, came inside, hands up in a gesture of peace. “I’m here to help. I just had to drop Tavin before he did something stupid.”

Oh, thank gods. Deja lowered the knife. “I’ve never been so happy to see anyone.”

“Yeah, well, sorry I’m late. Some asswipe shut down the closest Harrowgate. I had to walk ten miles. Well, nine. I got a ride on a farmer’s tractor for the last mile.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder behind her. “Then there was the murder mob out front.”

“And they are...?”

“Toast. So much toast. Like, I should check Tavin’s fridge for butter and jam.” Sin raked her gaze over Deja with a frown. “Did you change your hair or something? You look different.” She shrugged. “Could be all the blood.”

Panic dropped Deja’s gut to her feet as she felt her throat for the enchanted necklace that altered her features just enough to keep her from looking too much like she had as Gristlen. It was gone. Which explained why, in Tavin’s delirium, he’d called her by her old name.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t remember.