Howling in glee, the ghosts attacked. But the Scidairans weren’t about to cave without a fight. And though their powers dwindled every time they tried to raise a spell, they still wielded power.
Against phantoms, this came in the form of a red powder that trickled down their blades when they sliced open the pouches tied to the hilts. As soon as it hit the metal it flared, as if they’d stuck the entire weapon into a forge. From that moment on, when they found a way to shove those blades into Brude’s army, the men fell as if physically gutted, after which they melted into the ground like ice on a sunny afternoon.
Still the shades fought like berserkers, the smell of blood sending them into a frenzy. And when one of them impaled a member of Floraidh’s coven, the entire horde shrieked in delight as the woman screamed, her flesh melting away from the blade like plastic put to the flame.
The blonde guarding Albert hesitated for a second, then decided she needed to off the old man before she defended the coven. But that was all the time he needed. He grabbed her wrist, working hard to keep her from moving her weapon anywhere near his vulnerable parts. As they struggled I saw Vayl speed to my dad’s side. The sword went flying as he broke the Scidairan’s arm and flung her into a tree, taking her out of the battle. Forever.
“Vayl, watch out!” I yelled as one of the lancer-toting women ran up behind him. Then I lost track of the action on his end of the line, because Cole had shoved me to the ground just in time for a blade-swinging Scidairan to graze my neck.
“Thanks,” I breathed, as a coven member dropped beside me, her eyes staring sightlessly into the night. I snatched her blade, which looked to be the bastard child of a scythe/ battle-axe affair.
“I need a weapon,” Cole whispered. Viv handed him her dagger just as another Scidairan fell near us. He grabbed her short sword with his free hand, then switched the weapons when his shoulder informed him it could only lift so much weight tonight and the sword wasn’t its choice.
“Jasmine!” Vayl caught my eye, directed me to Iona, who’d gone down under the lancer attack of a tall, skinny Scidairan with lank black hair. I tackled the woman from behind, throwing her down so hard I could hear the air shooting out of her luûg oackngs.
The lancer fell out of her hands and we both scrambled for it. She shoved me aside, surprisingly strong for a girl whose arms were no bigger around than string cheese. I responded with a punch that landed just under her chin, snapping her head back.
She rolled aside, giving me room to grab the lancer. Before I could deactivate it she jumped on my back, her bony fingers wrapping around my neck and squeezing until I began to see spots.
I threw an elbow once, twice, three times, but she just kept strangling. So I stood up and fell straight back. Into the ravine. She broke my fall nicely. And, in time, I was sure her ribs would heal. In fact, I hoped they would. Because she’d landed close enough to Grief for me to grab my baby before scrambling back to the bank and shutting the lancer down. “Iona?” I patted her cheeks. “You going to live?”
She shook her head.
“Wrong answer,” I said. “Try again.”
“All right, I’ll live. But don’t ever tell anyone that fucking zap gun made me pee myself.” I helped her sit upright. Handed her the lancer and took another battle survey.
Brude’s force had done a number on Floraidh’s coven. But they’d suffered heavy casualties as well. Still, I thought we’d win. Until I spied Samos at the edge of the clearing, holding Viv in front of him, his arm around her neck as if he meant to break it sooner rather than later. Cole stood maybe three yards out, his hands raised, talking so softly I couldn’t hear. Why couldn’t I hear? We hadn’t cut off his audio feed. I tapped at my ear. Realized my party line had fallen off.
“Vayl!” I yelled. “Samos is trying to escape!”
I began to run toward him, realized my sverhamin hadn’t replied, and peered over my shoulder. Brude’s army, having defeated Floraidh’s coven, had backed Vayl and Albert to the edge of the ravine. The fact that they’d hadn’t touched Vayl and had barely put a slice in my dad said more to me about the two of them than I’d ever understood before.
Albert stood straight as a flagpole, Vayl’s sword swinging sure and true in his strong right hand. This was the man who other men had told me they’d willingly die for. Not because he knew pretty speeches. But because he put himself out there first. He understood the cost of battle and the real reason men and women fought; I saw it there in the lines on his forehead and beside his eyes. And his little grin told me he was glad to be back at it. Even though he was grossly outnumbered, the action filled him with the purpose he’d lost when they’d forced him to retire.
Beside him, Vayl wielded another sort of power. It must rise from the same side of the grave as Brude’s army, because it was taking a heavy toll. When his blasts of ice and wind hit their shields, they shattered. The ancient warriors flinched and cried out as sleet began to fall from the sky just over their heads, cutting through their armor as effectively as a cleaver through steak.
Nobody could keep up that kind of attack indefinitely, but Vayl would last a lot longer than Albert, whose teeth had begun to chatter despite the fact that sweat ran down his forehead. They needed to win, and fast. Especially since Samos had disappeared into the woods, leavinûe wun g Viv panting on the ground. Since I couldn’t see Cole anywhere, I had to assume they’d made an exchange, Cole’s body for Viv’s. And now that eternal thorn in my side had what he wanted.
“Brude, call off your men!” I yelled.
He stood on the opposite side of the glade, having found a stump from which to survey his troops. He eyed me like I’d just been led to the sales block. What a nice piece of horseflesh she is, said his expression. So shiny and full of spunk. “This creature must die as well,” he said. “Unless you would like to enter into another agreement with me.”
“Jasmine!” Vayl didn’t even glance my way. How could he while working with Albert to fend off twelve of the most bulletproof fighters in the multiverse? But his tone made it clear I’d better damn well listen up. “If you make one deal with this scum, you and I are through!”
“What the hell kind of ultimatum is that?” I demanded. Tightening my grip on the hybrid blade I’d borrowed, I mowed into the back of the line, hacking heads and torsos like they were nothing more than jungle overgrowth, blocking my path to the real showdown.
In retrospect, it’s probably good that Iona borrowed a Scidairan blade and came along for the ride, because I was so furious I paid no attention to anything or anyone beside me. I did hear her panting, her weapon clanging on the misses and hissing on the hits, so I’m sure she saved my life numerous times. But my mind was on that goddamned vampire.
I swung the blade and beheaded a bald shade dressed like a Nazi, clearing my view so I could see Vayl’s pale, frost-rimmed face. I stuck the axe in the spine of my next victim, who went to his knees. When he didn’t move out of my way fast enough, I planted my foot in his back, finding myself mildly amazed when I met actual resistance, and pushed. He fell over and I moved forward again, yelling, “Since we hooked up, I’ve been a stellar girlfriend! Hell, I haven’t even had impure thoughts about my neighbor who looks just like Jason Statham. So where do you get off threatening to dump me? Especially when this whole deal was your idea!”
By now only a couple of fighters stood between Vayl and me. But the battleground had become no less dangerous, because I’d totally lost my temper and little fireballs had begun to fall from the sky. “Now look what you made me do!”
“To me!” Brude called. His remaining forces, some frostbitten, some burning, ran to his side. He glared at me. “This is not over!” he bellowed. “I am not conceding. I only leave the field because I am called by a master I cannot refuse. Do not forget—you owe me a boon!”