Rhi rolled her eyes. “Don’t count your chickens before the eggs hatch.”
“What?” they replied in unison.
“For jerks who feed off humans, you know nothing about them.”
One shrugged his shoulders. “They’re food.”
Rhi was tired of talking. She leapt across the space, her sword up and ready to fall. As soon as she landed, she decapitated one Dark and swung the sword in a wide circle.
She leaned backward, arching her back so that she could see the Dark behind her upside down. Rhi flipped over without putting her hands down and thrust her sword back into the gut of a Dark.
Two blasts of magic hit her in quick succession. Her left shoulder burned in pain, but she ignored it as she went after her next victim.
The three remaining Dark circled her. Rhi smiled to herself. There was nothing like a battle to remind her of what she enjoyed. Killing her enemy was at the top of her list.
She spun, her sword an extension of her. It cut through the air, slicing an arm off one Dark as it slashed through the middle of another’s head.
Rhi stopped and plunged her sword into the second Dark. She faced the last of the group and paused. Every Dark Fae in the area was now focused on her.
Someone dropped down beside her. Rhi swung her sword, stopping it just before it reached his neck. She gaped at Phelan and Aisley.
Phelan smiled. “Want some help?”
“They’re fast,” she whispered.
Phelan flexed his fingers as his skin turned gold when he released his god. Long golden talons sprouted from his fingers. He looked at her with Warrior eyes that were metallic gold from corner to corner. “Let’s see.”
Rhi glanced at Aisley. The Druid stood with her feet apart glaring at the Dark.
At once, the Dark rushed them. It was all-out chaos. Rhi kept her eyes on both Phelan and Aisley in case things got too difficult, but both the Warrior and the Druid were holding their own. Aisley with her powerful Phoenix magic and Phelan tricking the Dark with his ability to manipulate reality so they had no idea where he or Aisley were.
Rhi had no idea how long they had been fighting. Dark littered the ground in piles while the humans stood there dazed. She had been hit many times by Dark magic. It burned through her skin and muscle into her bone, making her ache. Rhi refused to give in. She bellowed in rage and cut down two more Dark.
She turned when Phelan shouted her name. That’s when Rhi saw a man standing above her in the shadows of the castle. Her watcher.
At least this time she could see him. Too bad she didn’t have enough time to confront him.
“Rhi!” Phelan shouted again.
He was making his way to her. Rhi pivoted and went in his direction, meeting him halfway.
“What is it?” she asked.
Phelan spun her around and thrust his claws into the neck of a Dark before Phelan grabbed his spinal column and jerked it out. “It’s Lexi.”
“Lexi?” Rhi asked with a shake of her head.
“Thorn’s woman. She’s at Darcy’s flat,” Phelan said as he fought.
Rhi stopped a Dark in his tracks with her sword in his belly. “What about her?”
“The Dark have been noticing Darius and Thorn at the building. They think someone is there.” Phelan paused and looked at her. “They’re going after Lexi.”
* * *
Lexi was looking at her hair, searching for dead ends, she was so bored, when the first tremors made her sit up on the couch. She went to the windows and looked down to see dozens of Dark facing the building. Large bubbles of magic appeared between their hands that they then threw at the building.
The second tremor had glasses falling off shelves. The third made pictures crash off the walls as the windows began to crack.
Thorn had said the flat was warded. The Dark couldn’t get to her. But she hadn’t thought to ask what would happen if the building crashed. Not that it would matter. Lexi wouldn’t survive anyway.
She rushed to her purse and put the dagger up her left sleeve. This could be a tactic to get people out of the building. Lexi wasn’t going to fall for that. She was staying put.
After her last encounter, she felt no need to go head-to-head with a Dark again.
The building shook and groaned with each crash of magic. Lexi stood in the doorway of the bathroom. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had for protection in the studio flat.
There was a loud crack and a moan from the building. Windows shattered and suddenly the entire front of the building fell off. Lexi was hit with a blast of cold wind. Bricks and mortar continued to fall as exposed and torn electrical wires sparked.
This situation was quickly turning from bad to worse. Lexi looked to the door. She might make it. There was no telling how the stairwell would be, but if she remained, she would be crushed beneath the weight of the building.
Lexi took off toward the door. The building had broken off six feet from the door. Plenty of room for her to make it. She was nearly there when another volley of magic tore off an additional chunk of the building, including the doorway out of the flat.
She scrambled to catch hold of the kitchen counters as she began to slide with the rest of the structure. Somehow, Lexi managed to get a grip and pull herself out of danger.
With her chest heaving and adrenaline pumping through her veins, she turned and scrambled back on her hands and feet when she realized how close she had come to being taken out with this last part of the building.
Lexi looked around. There was nowhere for her to go, nowhere for her to hide. Despite all the protection and the wards, she was going to die anyway.
She got to her feet and looked down at the Dark. They were pointing at her and wearing smiles. In the middle of the day a group of Dark had destroyed a building, but the humans around them didn’t care.
Lexi looked down the street. No help was coming in the form of police or Thorn. He would have no idea what was happening since he was fighting the Dark himself.
The Dark were preparing another round of magic when Fallon appeared beside her. He took hold of her hand. Lexi smiled, because she was going to get out of it. She couldn’t believe her luck.
Fallon suddenly bellowed in pain. He flew back into the flat with such force that she couldn’t hold onto him. The building moaned loudly as the floor beneath her feet began to tilt.
Lexi looked down the street to see Thorn running toward her. But he was too far away. She screamed his name as she lost her balance and was thrown, the air whooshing around her.
“Nay!” she heard Thorn roar.
At least the Dark wouldn’t kill her. It was the last thought in her mind before she had the wind knocked out of her.
Lexi opened her eyes to see a woman holding her. She had silver eyes and black hair pulled in a bun. She glanced down at Lexi.
“I’ve got you. Hold on.”
Lexi struggled to get air back into her lungs as the city vanished. Her stomach turned, threatening to be sick. She closed her eyes, but that only made it worse.
“It’s over,” the woman said.
Lexi opened her eyes to find herself on a hillside. She sat up, and turned away as she emptied her stomach.
“Sorry about that,” the woman said. “It happens to those who’ve never teleported before.”
Lexi wiped her mouth and lay back on the cool ground. “What just happened?”
“The Dark were coming to kill you. They figured out there had to be something of importance there for the Dragon Kings to return again and again.”
She put an arm beneath her head to look at the woman. “Is Fallon all right?”
“He will be. My name is Rhi, by the way.”
Lexi saw the astonishing beauty of the woman, from her flawless complexion to her amazing figure, despite the burned holes in her black jeans and turtleneck. “You’re Fae.”
“Light Fae. I’ve brought you to Dreagan.”
“Why did you save me?”
Rhi smiled, though it held a sadness Lexi didn’t understand. “It’s what I do. And because I’ve been told Thorn has taken an interest. Speaking of, I better return and let him know where you are before he gets all thorny and such.”