Page 125 of To Ashes and Dust
Damien ripped his dagger from the darkling in front of him. A third darkling crouched low, head tilting as its bottomless black eyes moved over me. I stared the creature down, chest heaving as I readied for it to attack. It bared its jagged teeth at me before Damien’s dagger burst through its head, the blade emerging between the creature’s eyes, and it disintegrated.
“Damien, get everyone out of here.” I panted, and his wide eyes met mine. “We’ll distract them.”
“No,” he said. “I’m not leaving yo—”
“You’ve already got one.” My gaze shifted to the terrified male who stood behind Damien. I didn’t blame him. He’d been among the new recruits who’d joined just a couple of weeks ago. He wasn’t ready to face this.
I took Damien’s hand as I locked my gaze with his. “You’ll have a better chance of saving more if I stay behind. I can defend myself, they can’t. Get them out of here, and then find me.”
Damien’s chest heaved as he stared down at me, conflict streaking across his face as he fought between his duty to protect his people and his mate.
“I will be ok,mea sol.”
He tilted his head to press a kiss to my forehead. “I just need ten minutes.” His eyes fell on me for a moment before he looked back to his brothers, an unspoken request lingering on his parted lips.
“We’ll protect her with our lives,” Zephyr said as he shifted back into his immortal form. “Get Johnson and the others out.”
“We’ll buy you all the time you need,” Barrett added.
Damien’s eyes fell back to me, his hands gripping my arms. “Keep your thoughts open, Cas. I’ll come get you as soon as everyone’s out.”
I nodded, pressing a kiss to his lips. Screams poured out from somewhere in the building, and I released him. “Go!”
Damien took a step back, hesitating, but he grabbed the arm of the recruit and slipped into the shadows, disappearing. Terror crawled over my skin as I watched him vanish.
I clasped my hand over my mouth, shaking. He would be ok.Wewould be ok.
Ghastly shrieks rang out down the hall behind us, echoing off the walls. We whipped around, and my heart plummeted as a mass of darklings rushed for us.
“Get to the stairwell!” Barrett yelled, pushing me forward as we ran for the door at the far end of the hall.
“Where the fuck are they all coming from?” Zephyr shouted.
“I don’t know! It was so sudden! They just appeared out of nowhere!” Vincent said as we burst into the stairwell.
I hit the railing, looking down the shaft to the base level. Should we go down, try to get them out of the building? The blood drained from my face as more darklings stalked into the base of the stairwell, searching. Vincent and Zephyr took one look over the edge and pushed me upward.
We rounded the stairs, air catching in my lungs as the air grew impossibly cold. I’d never felt such a strong presence from darklings, and it terrified me to think just how many hunted us. It had only been a few seconds since we’d separated from Damien, but it felt longer.
Shrieks spilled into the stairwell below as the darklings burst through the door where we’d just come from, fanning out as they searched for us.
“Go!” Zephyr shouted behind me. I followed close behind Barrett up the winding staircase, Vincent tight on Zephyr’s heel.
Darklings appeared in the open doorway of the fourth floor, their claws stretched out for me and my heart stopped. Zephyr shoved me out of the way as a mass of darklings crashed into him, knocking him into the railing. My palms and knees met unforgiving concrete, and I grimaced.
I whipped around to find the mass of darklings, but I couldn’t see—“Zephyr!”
I climbed to my feet, knees throbbing as more darklings spilled from the doorway. I couldn’t move, the world going quiet. Barrett shoved past me as a darkling lurched for us, slamming his palm into its chest, flames erupting as the darkling shrieked and dissolved into dust.
Vincent launched into the horde of darklings attacking Zephyr, and I lost sight of him too.No!
I ran for them, but Barrett threw up an arm, holding me back. Panic flashed across his face as we watched the mass of writhing bodies, claws, and fangs, darkness rising off them like steam. I clasped my hands over my mouth, horror sinking into my bones.
Water erupted from the mass of darklings in thick tendrils, whipping in all directions. They were knocked back down the stairs and over the railing, their shrieks echoing off the walls as they plummeted.
Barrett released me as two darklings launched for us, intercepting one. I knocked the other’s outstretched arm away from me, slamming my dagger into its chest. I stumbled back, nearly falling as another took its place. I dropped beneath the grasp of its claws, slicing the dagger up into its chin and through its skull. The creatures crumbled into dust, but more flew at us, so many more, the darkness below churning like a maelstrom. Barrett pushed me back, and I fell onto the steps as two more darklings crashed into him.
Vincent burst from the horde, Zephyr clutched in his arms as he dragged him into the hall of the fifth floor. My eyes roamed over Zephyr, his eyes closed, body slumped in Vincent’s arms.Oh God, please no. Vincent’s eyes snapped to Barrett and me as I pushed myself to my feet. We couldn’t get separated; I needed to get to them. The stairway was too narrow for me use my flame magic. I wasn’t skilled enough to not risk burning Barrett and the others in the process, not to mention setting the building on fire.
