Warrior

Chapter 10-3

Wordlessly, Chris and I set off in opposite directions. We’d worked together enough that we didn’t need spoken communication at times like this. If things went according to plan, we’d neutralize the threat here and secure the young trolls before Sara and the others had time to wonder what was going on.

I took down four more guards before I came upon one that was definitely not human. I stared in disbelief at the vampire patrolling the grounds with his fangs and claws extended. A vampire working with humans?

The vampire spun as I moved toward him. “Mohiri!” he snarled and came at me with a speed that matched mine.

My sword cut deep into his side, and he hissed in pain as he lunged away from me. He hit the ground and rolled back to his feet in one fluid motion. I started toward him again, but his sudden cocky grin alerted me to the fact that we were not alone.

I leapt to the right and spun, my blade slicing through the shoulder of the vampire behind me. He opened his mouth to cry out, and I brought my sword around to remove his head before he could alert any others nearby.

The head was still rolling across the ground when I went after the first vampire, who had turned to run. I pulled a knife from my harness and threw it at the fleeing vampire. The silver blade sank into his back, and his choked gasp told me it had struck home.

As he crumpled to the ground, I strode to him and yanked my knife free. Wiping the blade on his shirt, I sheathed it and turned toward the back of the house.

A large pool came into view, along with three human guards. The first two went down quietly, but the third managed to cry out before I knocked him unconscious. I entered the house through the open French doors, only to encounter two vampires who must have heard the guard’s shout.

The vampires came up short when they saw me, and their hesitation was all the opening I needed. I got one in the chest with a knife. Before he hit the marble floor, I swung my sword and gutted the second one. He clasped his stomach, trying to keep his intestines from spilling out, and his mouth opened in a silent scream as I brought my sword up to end his life.

I started to move past the bodies, but a shout had me running outside and speeding around to the front of the house to find Chris battling three vampires. Two were missing an arm and one clutched at a gash in his chest.

“Sloppy,” I bantered as I jumped into the fight to take on a one-armed vampire, who barely had time to snarl at me before I beheaded him.

Chris snorted as he swung his sword at the vampire holding his chest. His blade easily parted the vampire’s ribs and sliced through his heart.

“I was doing fine until you came to ruin my fun.” He spun and ran his sword through the chest of the last vampire who had stupidly stood there as his brethren were killed.

Wiping his blade on one of the fallen vampires, Chris swore and looked at me. “Vampires? What the hell is going on here, Nikolas?”

Before I could answer, shouts came from the direction of the main gate. “Sounds like Erik is here. He’ll handle it –”

Chris grunted and fell to the ground beside me as bullets tore up the grass around us.

I threw my body over his, not sure how badly he was hit. Bullets were not usually deadly to us, but enough shots to the head or heart could kill anyone. I scanned the grounds, and my demon sight quickly located the shooter hiding in a tree.

“Stay down,” I ordered Chris. Moving fast, I was at the tree and scaling it before the male could get off another shot. I was not gentle when I knocked him out and let him fall fifteen feet to the ground. As a rule, I didn’t kill humans, but I had no mercy for someone who worked with vampires.

Chris was sitting up, inspecting a wound in his thigh when I got back to him. “It’s nothing,” he said when I knelt beside him.

Something glinted on the ground, and I picked up a twisted piece of metal. “Silver bullets.”

“I guess the humans were willing to work with the vampires but not willing to trust them.” He grimaced as he used a knife to dig out the slug before he let his demon healing take over. “f**k!” he muttered when he pried the piece of bloody silver from his leg.

“You two okay?” Erik called, running toward us.

Chris stood, waving off the hand I extended to him. “We’re good. You take out the gate?”

Erik reached us. “Yeah.”

I looked at the house. If the people inside hadn’t realized they had company, they did now.

“We need to find those trolls before something happens to them,” I said.

“How do you want to do this?” Erik asked.

“You guys take the front. Chris and I will go around the back. If you find the trolls, don’t touch them. The last thing you want is their parents coming after you.”

“Understood.”

Chris and I set off around the house. Just as we reached the back corner, loud growls split the air, followed by snapping and barking.

“What the hell are they doing here?” I raced around the corner to find the werewolves locked in a battle with two vampires. The black wolf dodged the clawed hand that came at his face, and then he lunged to wrap his powerful jaws around the vampire’s throat. There was a loud snap as he shook the limp body like a rag doll and tossed it aside. He turned to help his friend, but the rusty-haired wolf had already finished off his vampire.

I scanned the grounds, but there was no sign of Sara, and I couldn’t sense her nearby. She and the troll must still be with the car. I stalked toward the two werewolves, intending to send them back to Sara before they got themselves hurt. I did not want to deal with an angry Alpha on top of everything else today.

A shot rang out. The black wolf staggered, and an agonized whine escaped his lips as he collapsed to the ground.

“Chris,” I shouted, running for the wolves as more bullets hit the ground.

“On it,” he yelled back.

I hit Peter and knocked him to the ground. It was impossible to cover both wolves, so I tried to protect their heads and upper bodies from the bullets. Silver was harmless to Mohiri, but it could be fatal to werewolves.

“Got him,” Chris called a few seconds later.

I rolled off the wolves and knelt on the ground. Peter leapt to his feet, but Roland lay on the ground panting heavily. He whined when I turned him onto his side to look at his wound.

My gut clenched when I saw his bloody chest, and all I could think of was how devastated Sara would be if anything happened to him.

I pulled out my phone and tossed it at Peter’s feet. “Call your father and tell him Roland needs medical help immediately.”

Peter shifted and grabbed the phone. “He’ll be okay though, right?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “He’s been hit in the chest with a silver bullet.”

Peter blanched, “S-silver?”

“Yes. I told you two to stay put. Where is Sara?” I barked at him.

“She’s with Remy,” he answered shakily. “In-in there.”

He pointed at the house, and my stomach dropped like a rock.