Page 151 of The Vampire's Thirst
When a bolt zipped by his ear, it struck a berserker who had been about to attack him from behind. The guy was draped in a lion shifter’s pelt and probably in a frenzy after the ceremony where he had drunk animal blood laced withamanita muscaria. The behemoth fisted the projectile lodged in his chest, but Dax lobbed off his head before he could yank it out. Chay acknowledged the shot with a grin, doing the Mohammed Ali thing with his feet.
Dax nodded his thanks and swept his eyes over the battlefield. Unable to dodge a warlock’s spell, a newbie Firebrand went down, the bones in his legs snapping. Though Galena rushed to his side, short spear in her fist, she was too late to save him.
Whipping his jungle bolos through the air, Dax beheaded a satyr before the guy could swing a blade.
Near him, Tyr faced a berserker whose shield prevented the warlock from using his spells. Dax decapitated the Arisen Dawn soldier with a flourish of his blades, saving hisfreronthe effort.
Chiara’s arm was stiff in front of her, palm out toward a succubus, now crumpled on the ground. Distracted watching his mate, Dax took a bear claw to the jaw, blood spurting down his chin. Recovering, he whisked his blades in a figure eight, a little showy, maybe, but scary as hell. He sliced through the shifter’s neck. Kicking the furry remains out of his way, he sought his next victim. With his fangs cutting into his lower lip, his eyes turned crimson with excitement.
Eleven dead opponents later and spitting out the bad taste of tainted battle blood, he checked on his lover. She swayed, narrowly missing an Amazon’s blade. With Chiara weakened, the female Aeternal raised her weapon to swing again. Dax charged vampire fast to his little witch’s side, a bolo clanging against the attacker’s sword before she could strike. His lips curled into a feral snarl as their weapons locked in battle. The Amazon, however, was no match for his strength. He pushed her off and, in a smooth motion, lobbed off her head.
His attention back on Chiara, he caught her before she collapsed to the ground. “It’s time,” he said, steadying her on her feet. “You waited too long.”
“Thanks.” She gave him no argument. He shivered when Chiara’s lips feathered across his ear before she retreated from the field of battle. “Return to me, vampire.”
Dax charged an incubus who ducked under his blades, locking arms around his hips, taking him face down into the dirt. The male tried to flip him and steal his lifeforce, but with his biceps and thighs quivering, the vampire muscled himself to his feet.
Figure-eighting his jungle bolos in an intricate dance of death, he forced a retreat. When the incubus twisted on his heels to run, Dax shouted, “Oh, no you don’t.” Sharp steel to his neck, the vampire made a clean slice.
Kole was all fire now. One blast from his right hand incinerated an Arisen Dawn soldier while his left struck down another. Dax shook his head.Ambidextrous sonofabitch.
Near the commander, Sabine and Nico held their own. The Blood Coven warlock’s magnetic force drew weapons from opponents’ hands while his nymph mate lobbed off their heads.Teamwork.
Braelyn retired from the field, obviously drained by her mind control spells. That left Rein to his battle rage. Blood dripping down his chin, his huge ass fangs on display, his arctic blue eyes feral, he tore through the neck of a djinn who tried to smoke out.
Dax barreled toward an Amazon jacked up on Gold Dust, her eyes rolling around like pinballs while drool clung to her lips. Despite the drug, she was dangerous, lacking any concern for her own safety. She lunged, her short spear nicking Dax’s shoulder. Close to his neck but no points. He pushed her back with fancy sword work.
The Amazon charged again, straight-arming her weapon, aiming for Dax’s heart. He fell into a low crouch, his blades taking her out at the knees. Slice. Slice. Gruesome. Effective. The crazy-eyed bitch died, her pupils still dancing as Dax swung again to decapitate.
Thorn, all claws and canines, was in a savage fight with Karth, who had defeated his brother Luka in a challenge for alpha of the pack. The wolf Arisen Dawn soldier raised his blade. Before he could drive it home, Thorn dropped, rolled, and bounced to his feet. From a low squat, he attacked, flinging the pack’s alpha to the ground. Blood, fur, and chunks of flesh splattered the air. Once Thorn trapped Karth beneath his massive weight, he wrapped his teeth around the traitor’s throat. Legs kicking, hands flailing, the other shifter struggled until his howls of defeat echoed across the field. Then Karth’s body hung limp, the Firebrand’s jaws locked tight on his neck.
Dax almost took out Ram when they bumped into one another.
“Oops,” said the satyr, returning to his fight with a vampire. With the bloodsucker tiring, Denim whipped up a dust storm which had the guy swiping at his eyes. With his attacker blinded by his mate’s elemental spell, Ram’s dirk hacked through the guy’s bone and tendons, leaving the body headless.
His black T-shirt stiff with blood but few wounds himself, Dax finished off five more Arisen Dawn soldiers, his blades singing as they sliced and diced through flesh. The ground beneath his feet was a quagmire of entrails and blood. His vision obscured by gore, he swiped a hand across his eyes.
Jezzi was in trouble, but Kole moved to the panther shifter’s side, blasting her opponent with enough voltage to fry his brain.
Arisen Dawn soldiers beat retreat. The roars, the howls, the battle cries, the blade-on-blade clashes, the scuffling of feet in the dirt, the raucous sound of chaos dissipated bit by bit until the field grew silent except for heavy breathing and groans from the injured.
That’s when Bade screamed, a sound which broke the eerie quiet. “No.” The young vampire’s boots ate up the dirt as he raced over littered body parts toward his friend. Sig lay in the grass, his neck nearly severed, his legs folded at an odd angle, and a blade hilt sticking out of his chest. He was too young to survive such injuries. Galena kneeled at his side, her shield abandoned, her fingers closing his lids. Chiara would cry for him, the young demon who had flirted with her in the game room while they played pool.
Tyr stood vigil over a female, a recruit he had helped train. The valley was strewn with bodies, some belonging to Firebrands, mostly warriors dead before song or legend would remember their exploits. Heroes all.Freronswould carry them home, shoulder-high, forever youthful, their souls undamaged by the darkness which comes with time or disappointment.Hell. Except for Sig, Dax didn’t even know their names.
Bade stood tall beside his friend, a fist to his heart, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Amid green grass which was stained crimson with blood, Kole tapped his wrist. When he disconnected from a call, he reported to his Firebrands. “The human army routed the insurgents who slipped through us to Earth.” His fire-gold eyes surveyed the battlefield, his arm limp at his side, his ax still clutched. “Incinerate the dead Arisen Dawn traitors.”
While warlocks and animus demons carried out the order, the commander lumbered toward Sig. He rested a beefy hand on Bade’s shoulder. “Ourfreronwas brave. We will remember him along with all our fallen.” Kole bent to retrieve the demon Firebrand’s sword. For his wall, no doubt.
With the bodies of their enemy torched, the injured Firebrands carried off by healers, and their own dead on the way home, Kole sent his warriors from the bloody field. He would be the last to leave the valley. It was a duty, a tribute Dax had seen too many times before. Jarek and Nace would be doing the same in their sectors.
He offered a shoulder to Thorn, whose side gushed blood. “You need a healer.”
The shifter accepted the assist. “I need my mate. Have you seen my brother?”
“Yeah. Luka held his own. Musta been tough to put down his own pack, but he did it.”
