Page 70 of House of Demons and Bones

None showed fear, even though the enemies outnumbered us ten to one. Three hundred was all we could gather, but they were the best in the realm. The academy held over a thousand students, but they weren’t ready for this battle—they’d be slaughtered. Plus, only my Deathsong could slay these abominations. The supernaturals would slow down the horde while the heirs channeled their power into me. That was the plan.

“Courage!” Cade called. “Fight in groups. Guard your left and right!”

“Yes, sir!” the warriors answered.

“Kill them all! Only allow your princess to live,” the enemy commander bellowed, leveling its claws at the heirs.

The Shrieker horde rolled toward us like a dark tsunami.

“Formation!” Killian raised a fist and roared.

The heirs stepped behind me, hands on my shoulders, their magic channeling into me. The warriors from different houses spread into a V shape. Their role: engage and stall any Shrieker that broke past our first defense, which was the heirs and me, and stop them from breaching the Veil.

Thunder cracked the air as Killian’s lightning struck the commander, but my father’s creature didn’t fall, inky smoke pouring out of its eyes and shielding it. My father had grown much stronger. He could wield part of his power through his vessel.

Killian struck again, lightning arcing down from the sky and hitting the first row of Shriekers. A dozen dropped, but not all died instantly; some thrashed on the ground. Killian’s lightning couldn’t kill the commander while my father inhabited it, so he found a better use for his power.

We’d thin their numbers while isolating the commander until we could all deal with it together.

The heirs poured their powers into me. My body buzzed with their elemental magic. Fire, wind, earth, and water twirled and fused with my own power until I became a beacon of raw energy. Sy threw back her head and roared as I unleashed the channeled power. A wave of destruction swept across the battlefield, tearing through the Shrieker ranks like a scythe. Magic exploded against scaled flesh and machine parts.

One massive strike from our combined force demolished hundreds of Shriekers.

The heirs cheered and laid their heated hands on my shoulders again, ready to rinse and repeat.

The enemy commander waded through the web of lightning Killian threw in his path. I was his only target.

Rock charged toward the commander, Deathsong gripped in his hand. I’d offered him the blade that could kill Shriekers, and now I watched closely, making sure the evil weapon wouldn’t turn on him while my father’s spirit possessed the commander. Cassius and a small supporting group joined Rock’s charge, working to keep my father’s vessel occupied.

Rock leaped up several feet, thrusting Deathsong toward the space between the commander’s eyes, but the commanderblocked him with a red broadsword. Fire sparked from the clashing blades. My father hissed a command, trying to summon Deathsong back. The evil blade flashed with dark light but stayed firm in Rock’s grip. I exhaled in relief. I’d fed the blade my blood and imprinted my dark flame along its edge before the battle—its loyalty now remained with me and my people.

The commander snarled and slashed its claws at Cassius as the expert swordsman swiped his longsword at its neck. This commander, protected by my father’s power, wouldn’t fall easily. The abomination shifted forward and broke the blade-lock with Rock. When it swung its red blade toward Rock, the werewolf dropped to his knees and drove the evil blade up toward his opponent’s groin.

That was an excellent move.

A column of smoke cocooned the commander, and my father’s corrupted power blasted out, slamming into the warriors around him. Our warriors’ shields held, but the force still drove them back several feet. Through his vessel, my father fixed his gaze on me—a clear dare to face him.

But I had my hands full working with the heirs to weaken the Shrieker force.

The heirs’ combined powers surged through me, coiling tight and mingling with my touch. I unleashed another magic bomb and let it drop into the Shrieker ranks like a comet, reducing hundreds of them to ash.

Whooping, the heirs reached for me again, eager for another strike. Killian also hurled a series of lightning bolts into the Shrieker mass, his death power riding their tail. Dozens of Shriekers crumpled into lifeless heaps.

Then all of a sudden, the Shriekers swarmed. Our backup warriors charged forward, colliding with the enemy from all sides. Swords clashed against metallic claws. Battle cries shook the earth and the burned woods.

Killian’s lightning and the heirs’ and my combined powers hammered the densest crowd of the Shriekers. But with these fuckers everywhere, the heirs and I couldn’t spare time to build up our combined magic bombs. After a dozen strikes, burnout clawed at our edges. Then my heart dropped to my stomach when the second Shrieker army crashed in.

The battle raged. A spare team from different houses poured their magic through me, but our reservoir drained fast, exhaustion breathing down our necks. I couldn’t let myself deplete, which would make me lose control, and then before I knew it, I’d drain the Veil and all the magic behind it.

The Shriekers pressed forward in endless waves, their shrieks piercing the air as more poured through the scorched woods. Even if I unleashed my ace and risked my father discovering my new power, I’d torch my own people too, as these abominations had broken our formation and tangled with our forces on all sides.

The heirs’ magic bled out fast. Blood trickled from Louis’s nose as he swayed on his feet. Silas fought to keep his wolf from taking control, his ragged breathing matching the amber flicker in his eyes. Cade’s face was ash-gray. Even after I’d stripped the Fury and curse from him, the mage prince was running on fumes after too many years of being siphoned.

Rowan tried to play it cool, but the dull sheen in his silver eyes gave him away.

The enemies kept swarming us. The heirs had sent messengers sprinting to their kingdoms, but what good would the reinforcements do? Their magic and weapons couldn’t even scratch the Shriekers. A fresh supply of magic to channel would be nice, but with Shriekers surrounding our warriors, I couldn’t blast through hundreds of abominations without taking our people with them.

The battlefield erupted into a hellish symphony, screams mixing with the clash of metal and claws. I launched a small-scale magic bomb at the Shriekers surrounding two vampires and a shifter, obliterating the abominations. But I was too late to save a warrior from the House of Vampires, as a Shrieker’s scorpion claws had already punched through him. A fae warrior dropped next, his eyes staring up listlessly. Then two witches fell, one’s head nearly severed by Shrieker claws, the other with her chest ripped open.

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