She hesitated and then did as he instructed, and he noticed her hands were shaking. He checked the witches. They were closer. Any second now, they would be at the door. The night was against them too. It would be dawn in only a few hours. He could make it work. He would drive until the sun threatened to break the horizon and then he would find the nearest house and make it his own.
“Don’t worry.” He pulled his twin swords from the bag and rose to his feet, coming to face the door as he realised that they wouldn’t be escaping without a fight. “I won’t let them near you.”
“Wait. Night, there’s something you need to—”
The door burst open, cutting her off.
Night launched at the fair-haired female in a black dress who entered at the front of the group, catching her off guard as he narrowed the distance between them in a flash. He brought his blade down and growled as one of the witches behind her grabbed her and pulled her back, and another swept her hand out.
His sword bounced off an invisible barrier just in front of the witch.
Night flashed his fangs. So that was how they wanted to play it. Fine. He backed off, closing the gap between him and Lilian, his fingers flexing around the hilts of his swords as the five witches entered the suite. His gaze darted over them, cataloguing everything about their physical appearances and how they moved, his mind swiftly calculating which ones could handle themselves in a fight and which had been brought to provide protection for the warriors.
His senses charted how strong they were, and which were the biggest threats to him and Lilian.
The fair-haired female and the brunette who came to stand beside her were the two most liable to do some damage. The other three who remained at the rear seemed more like the backup, witches brought to defend the ones who stared him down, their eyes glittering with stars and malice.
That feeling went both ways.
Night bared his fangs at them and growled as he backed off a step, trying to gain more room in the cramped space. The suite had only one exit, which meant if he wanted to get Lilian away from danger, he had to go through five witches.
So be it.
He embraced the hunger that rose within him as he stared the witches down.Witches. Dark memories crowded his mind and sharpened his focus, and the scar across his throat tingled and burned. He readied his swords as he let his bloodlust rise, stoked it with thoughts of cutting down these witches, removing another five of their vile kind from this planet.
“What do you want?” He added a hint of fear to his voice as he mentally prepared himself.
His feint worked.
The fair-haired witch stepped forwards, the silver stars in her grey eyes fading as she opened her mouth to answer him. The sense of power in the air weakened as she relaxed, foolishly believing he wasn’t a threat to her.
When he was Death himself.
Night crossed the distance between them in a flash, using all of his speed this time, and was behind her in an instant, one sword against her throat and the other arm around her waist, the blade he gripped in that hand aimed at the other warrior witch when he twisted the one he held towards her.
“We’re leaving,” he snarled. “Try to stop us and I’ll kill you all.”
The witch in his grip went deathly still. None of the others looked inclined to do anything reckless.
“Move.” He glanced at Lilian.
A mistake.
The brunette witch launched at her and he snarled as he shoved the one he held away from him and lunged to intercept her. He took a hard blow to his back as a spell hit him, and bellowed as lightning arced through his bones, but refused to go down. He stumbled into the brunette witch, knocking her off course, and caught the stricken look on Lilian’s face as he went down with her, landing on top of the female.
He snarled and shook off the electricity coursing through him as it ebbed, stabbed his left blade into the floor and pushed up. His head turned and his throat burned hotter, stinging now. He tried to swallow and panic lit his veins when he felt he couldn’t.
Night brought his right sword down, fury burning up his blood as he swung it at the brunette witch. She shoved her hands towards him and hit him with a blast of magic that sent him crashing into the ceiling. He grunted as he dropped and hit the floor again.
“Lilian,” he gritted and his vision wobbled. Whatever spell the bitch had hit him with was messing with his senses and twisting them into a mangled mass that had him tasting his words. “Run.”
That word tasted like ash.
Night grimaced as he staggered to his feet again, cursing Lilian when she didn’t move. He stumbled in front of her, blocking the path of the witches, refusing to let them get to her. If she was too afraid to run, then he would just have to protect her.
He would have to find a way to kill these witches before they could kill him.
He set his sights on the brunette. Attempting to attack Lilian had separated her from her group, making her more vulnerable. A little at least. He could make it work. He waited for the spell to fade enough that he could sense the positions of all the witches again and then launched at the brunette. Magic laced the air and he threw himself into a slide, narrowly dodging the spell. The window to his left exploded and he slammed his feet into the brunette’s ankles.