Page 127 of Memories Like Fangs
Suddenly, I felt that same tingle dance down the back of my neck. This time, it was harsher, making my hair stand on end. A shadow loomed overhead.
It was too fast.
It was too close.
The boys didn’t even have time to warn me or intervene.
I turned around, blades ready.
But I was nowhere near quick enough.
A hunter rushed me. A shotgun aimed right at my head.
I braced for the hit and the pain so I could retaliate as fast as possible after the blow.
Thankfully, it never came.
Instead,mi libélulitadove like a valkyrie. Her wings were snapped back until just before she needed to land. Her crystal blade cut straight through the hunter’s back and out of their chest to stick into the snowy ground. It happened so quickly that the hunter didn’t even have time to scream. They dropped theirweapon as they died. Ever the bad bitch, she stood up from her crouch and tossed one of her locs out of her face.
“You okay, pumpkin?” She asked breathlessly.
I stared up at her. There was not a scratch on her or her clothes. Miraculously, she didn’t have a single drop of blood on any of the light pastels of her clothes either. She was only windblown: her cheeks flushed from the cold flight, eyes blazing bright and fierce with life and color, lips parted like she was trying to catch her breath. Her wings still fluttered behind her, casting colorful moving auras across the white. I stood up and was in front of Byrd in two strides, taking hold of her face between my hands.
I swallowed Byrd’s squeak of surprise with my lips.
I kissed her long and hard and passionately. Even if it was just a small fraction, I tried to worship her like the queen that she was with each stroke of my lips. She’d saved my life, and I kissed her to thank her for it in the dirtiest way imaginable. I kissed her like she was the only thing that mattered because she was. I kissed her like she was my sun, moon, stars, universe, and truth. Even still, it didn’t feel like enough to convey my love for my girl.
When I finally pulled back, her smile was dazed but hungry for more. Our pants mingled together, intertwined like our fates.
“W-What was that for?” She asked.
“Just something to hold us over until later.” I ran my thumb along her jaw, still feeling the lingering buzz of adrenaline in me while also sending shivers through both of us at the delicate caress.
She licked her bottom lip, and my eyes couldn’t help but follow the movement. “I’m definitely going to hold you to that.”
“Hey!” Cody called out as he cracked a hunter across the face with the butt of his crossbow. “I hate to interrupt your cute littlemoment, lovebirds, but we are kind of in the middle of a battle over here!”
“Mhmm, ready to get your body count up, Sweetness?”
Byrd laughed. “Shut up and try not to die.”
We fought together, moving like a duet that shared one body. Every move, every strike, was synced perfectly. Every twist of her hips matched the arc of my blade. Her vibrating wings and tail covered my blind spots. She had my back while I guarded her flank. We danced across the battlefield like twin storms, tearing down everything in our path. One of my daggers flew over her shoulder to nail someojetecreeping behind her before I summoned it back. When she called out for me to duck, I listened just as she whipped her tail to stab a man through his neck with one of her spikes. I raised my eyebrow at his weapon of choice as he choked on his blood.
“Is that a baseball bat with fuckingnails? What is this,The Last of Usor some kind of cartoon?” Byrd questioned.
I chuckled. “I love you so much.”
Countless bodies dropped all around us, from us and the dragons and other shifters, too. Ayrie and the rest of Byrd’s cousins fought like absolute legends. The white snow was dyed red with blood from the hunters. Smoke and steam rose from the melting snow underneath the sizzling magic and vehicular carnage.
I scanned the field before us.
The hunters were losing, their numbers dwindling quickly. They were struggling and desperate.
The enchantment’s shield was doing its job. Actually, it was doing overtime to drain the power of the attacking hunters, weakening their already pathetic attacks, and dulling their responses. Even at full strength, they wouldn’t have stood a chance. Up above, Lilah dueled Maisie and Talli in a magic fight, blood red, coral orange, and neon purple magic flying across thesky. The Blood Bitch was powerful, but she was outnumbered and underpowered. She was losing ground.
We were winning.
Easily.
