Fangs flashing in his nightmarish face, the other guy charged.
Kane crouched for the blow, waiting until the Kurjan reached him before throwing his weight to the right and away from Amber. The guy hit like a truck. They landed hard, sending snow spraying. Kane grunted as his ribs protested.
All emotion shut into a box, he jabbed his knuckles under the soldier’s throat, impacting the larynx. Leaping up and back, he calculated the Kurjan’s weight and arm span—about an inch shorter than Kane’s. Interesting. Most Kurjans reached almost seven feet tall. Not this guy.
The guy rolled backward through the snow to his feet, purple eyes swirling with fury and pain.
He charged again.
Kane waited until the last second and kicked out, breaking the guy’s jaw. Even through the furious storm, a painful crack echoed.
The soldier staggered back.
Tuning in his senses, Kane counted the Kurjan’s breaths. Yeah, he was panting. One more blow to the face should do it.
Darting forward, he punched for the nose and karate-chopped the throat of his opponent. The Kurjan dropped to the ground.
Yanking his knife from his boot, Kane dropped to his haunches and jammed the blade in the Kurjan’s sternohy-oid muscle to the side of the jaw. Shoving in harder, he yanked to the right, slicing through bone.
Blood sprayed along his chest.
With a grunt, he forced the knife the other way, effectively decapitating the soldier.
Pushing the body away, he hustled to the man he’d shot, plunging the blade in the unconscious body. His aim was off this time, and he had to fight the hyoid bone. He was the one panting when the Kurjan’s head slid free.
Wiping the Kurjan’s blood on the snow-covered body, Kane stood to face Amber.
Her skin was whiter than the snow.
Standing, she swayed in place, the storm battering her. Those black eyes were wide, the pupils huge as she stared at the dead Kurjans.
She was going into shock.
“Amber!” He lowered his voice to command and slid the knife back in his boot.
Her head jerked up, and she stumbled back.
Wind blistered his face, but he leapt forward and grabbed her arms. He shook her. “Snap out of it. Now.”
He was such an asshole. But they didn’t have time for her to fall apart right now. Pulling her to him, he gave her a quick kiss to the top of the head. “Hold it together.”
Amber looked up at the fierce warrior. Had he just kissed her on the head?
Two more Kurjans ran up the embankment from the lake, and Kane pivoted to shield her.
Movement echoed behind her and she spun around. Fear rammed into her gut. More monsters.
Scooting so her back settled against Kane’s, she dropped into what seemed like a fighting stance. Maybe.
“How many?” Kane ground out.
“Three.” So, five more scary monster freaks against two good guys, one of whom was a pacifist. Life sucked sometimes. Odd that her mind had blanked and was thinking rational thoughts instead of her heart stopping in a huge attack. Maybe it was the adrenaline ripping through her veins yelling at her to flee. But there was nowhere to go.
The Kurjan closest to her sniffed the snow-filled air and then frowned. He sniffed again. “Destroyer?”
Kane stiffened against her.
Instantly the other Kurjans focused on her, all sniffing the air.
Okay, that was just weird. What in the world did she smell like to these guys?
“Amber,” Kane hissed in a hoarse whisper, “as soon as you feel me move, hit the ground.”
“You can’t take out all five of them,” she muttered back, panic threatening to send her to the ground anyway.
“Not much of a choice.” Hopefully the wind camouflaged his voice from the Kurjans. “Drop, I’ll take these two guys out and then flip over you for those three.”
Maybe she should’ve kept a gun. She could’ve at least threatened them with a weapon. Evened the odds at least.
“This is crazy.” How many times had she said those words since meeting Kane? “What if I charge these guys—try to throw them off balance?”
Kane paused before answering. “No.”
Too bad the guy hadn’t realized she wasn’t very good at taking orders. She bunched her muscles to leap—
And a helicopter spiraled out of nowhere to drop next to the shed. Snow scattered in all four directions, completely obscuring the area. Two huge men jumped out, bullets already spraying. The Kurjans dropped to their bellies, returning fire from the safety of the snow.
Kane whirled and tossed her over his shoulder, running full bore for the open door of the ’copter. Leaping inside, he shoved her behind him, gun out and already firing.
The massive bird lifted into the air. The two men from the ’copter sprayed bullets and kept their opponents on the ground as they ran and jumped for the seat facing her. The door shut, and the helicopter rose into the storm.
Gasping, she plastered herself to Kane’s side.
One of the men leaned a gun out an open weapon and continued firing until they were roaring away. Then he leaned back with a grim smile. “Nice morning.”
The wind beat against the machine, sending it rocking.
Kane shook snow from his hair. “Good timing. How?”
“Satellite. Saw the Kurjans send a force this way, figured the soldiers were coming for you.” The guy’s golden eyes swirled with emotion—maybe anger, maybe fear. Perhaps both.
Kane nodded. “Amber, this is my brother Talen.” He pointed at an equally large guy with deep green eyes. “And my brother Conn.”
“Ma’am,” they said in unison.
They were as big as Kane and had metallic eyes. And she had been dead wrong about Talen being a pacifist. He was all massive soldier, intense and deadly. She coughed out air. “More vampires.”
Conn nodded. Talen let fangs flash, his eyes glowing. Oh, for goodness’ sake. For some reason, Amber had figured it was just Kane having odd eyes. “Thanks for the rescue.”
Talen cocked his head to the side, and he studied her like a wolf considering dinner. “I’m getting very faint vibrations from her, but nothing that would lead a pack of shifters to her door. Are you sure she’s a destroyer?”
“Yes.” Kane settled back in the seat, somehow keeping her close. “There’s some sort of shielding spell—very powerful. Once the shielding wears off, she’s like a beacon.”
The pilot, his hands working the stick, turned around. Silver eyes took her measure. “I’m Dage.”
“The king?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“Yes. Thank you for agreeing to help us.” His gaze returned to the snow outside.
So the king went on dangerous missions. Interesting. Or maybe he’d come since his brother was in trouble. Well, Amber understood family. “Ah, I heard you found my grandmother?”
“Yes.” Conn’s gaze raked over her. “The storm is still over Utah and Hilde’s being treated by Realm doctors at wolf headquarters. The doctors are watching the head injury closely, but she’s strong. And stubborn.”
“That’s an understatement,” Talen muttered. He flushed and then leaned back with an apologetic smile. “I, ah, video-conferenced with her about safety and protocol. She, ah, didn’t care to listen.”
Dage flashed a quick smile Amber barely caught.
Great. Her grandmother was causing havoc already. “Does she, ah, know . . .”
“Yes.” Conn leaned forward. “Your granny is well aware of demons, vampires, and Kurjans.”
“Then she has some explaining to do,” Amber murmured. How could her grandmother keep such information from her for so many years? If the demons were eventually coming calling, Amber should’ve been told. Head injury or not, Hilde was going to come clean.